When They Cry - Higurashi and Umineko

I like it for the art (original, of course). And the laugh.

Yeah, I had never read a mystery novel in my life before reading Umineko, so that's not really a problem. Though I guess having read a lot of them might make the genre deconstruction elements more enjoyable.

I supposed that is true as I too only experienced mysterious in the form of parodies or pastiches like Scooby Doo, myself. I have no experience or any kind love for mysteries and you need to that to get Umineko. With that said, I had been reading a blog where it mentions how Umineko can border on the the line on self indulgent and intellectually masturbatory at times but it also notes how in Chiru, Umineko confronts those who do not care for the heart of the story as goats who destroy everything. I only liked Umineko for the designs but as for the actual misery, I think I will stick to the manga.

Well, some of these goats (the ones who honestly try to understand) are acknowledged as Worthy Opponent (s) by the main characters. Also, In-Universe, they're randos who get all fired up from theorizing about actual people who actually died, so I think it's pretty fair to see them as a bit disgusting. I don't know, maybe it's because I've only read the manga which is said to be more "balanced" about this issue, but I didn't see any of the supposed hate for the audience that many mention when they talk about the final arc.

(Also, it's funny but the design of the fantasy characters is one of the things I like less about Umineko. I didn't know it was possible to have too many ladies who don't wear pants).

edited 4th Mar '18 4:27:58 AM by Cozzer

I guess it isn't not so much hate but rather disappointment that many fans didn't get the heart of the story. I will admit that I more attracted to the ideas but not the actual heart of the story myself, I suppose that R07 is just disappointed in fans who just wanted to find the culprit at the expense of everything else.

edited 4th Mar '18 3:13:46 AM by GAP

I don't know if anyone here has mentionned Haworthia? From what I get it's a sort of musical prologue to the new When They Cry, and you can already hear excerpts of the Drama CD. I have no idea when the full CD will come out though.

The tag line is "This planet/star is dead. No… actually it probably died a long time ago."

So I see that someone has made a page for the latest series from 07th Expansion, TRianThology… Does that mean someone here has actually read it?

edited 19th Mar '18 5:36:36 PM by Lyendith

Okay what the eff?

Is it accurate to say that the only way to understand Umineko, you have to understand Beatrice/Sayo/Yasu/Shannon?

Weell... I would say that you'd need to understand, at least a bit, every character. And since she's one of the three main characters yeah, understanding her is a pretty big part of understanding the whole thing. Which doesn't mean justifying her, just understanding how she got to be what she was and to do what she did.

There is no "only way to understand". The most important choice in the visual novel highlights that. The important part is what you take from it, personally.

You can easily argue that Beatrice is the main character, so understanding her is the core of the mystery, yes. But as said, it applies to most human characters since everyone played a direct or indirect role in the tragedy. Except Gohda. Poor guy.

edited 10th May '18 12:18:10 PM by Lyendith

Has Umineko "ruined" your life? Has Umineko enhanced your life? Is it possible to be "critical" of the show? I am asking this because I heard that it helped some people with their thinking and I am curious about what you think about it?

edited 24th May '18 2:43:42 PM by GAP

I have heard stories about how it positively influenced some people's lives indeed… I wouldn't necessarily go that far but it did make me reflect on some things and also indirectly helped me let go of others…

Hell, I think a big part of my resolve to become a professional translator came from translating the Umineko manga.

It did make me think a lot about a few important things I hadn't thought about, so I'd say it improved my life (well, apart from the obivious "being enjoyable and causing me emotions" thing). It really drives home hard how you should be ready to challenge your first impression about anyone, how everyone has layers and the only way to really understand a person or a situation is to go deep enough that you can't really judge it or them anymore.

No, fiction doesn't affect my emotional or mental state long term. Even short term Umineko didn't really cause any emotional peaks or highs the way some stories do.

Also Higurashi was better anyway.

I'm usually very little affected as well. It does have an overall positive influence, as it's in the very least stimulating.

Also, Umineko is better than Higurashi.

There's something fascinating about the way Umineko presents itself, and infinitely frustrating in how open-ended it is. I love the concept of psycho, omnipresent witches playing chess with people's lives. I hate that the whole story is framed around "disprove magic even though magic is clearly at work," and I dislike all of the new information that rushes into the plot later; the introductions of Rika!Witch and Satoko!Witch didn't help.

Granted, I glimpsed the manga, watched Youtube clips, asked around, and did everything to digest the plot without playing the novels, so my view is rather skewed.

I wouldn't say it ruined or enhanced my life. It just made me appreciate Higurashi more.

edited 25th May '18 10:12:53 PM by Soble

So what are the major criticisms of Umineko's writing? I am referring to the technical aspects, not just plot, structure, etc.?

I haven't really heard much about it, nor do I remember much, and to add to it, it's a fan translation. I think it's servicable enough. I'm also more used to normal novel writing, which you don't see in the visual novel format. Or at least not without it feeling very out of place and clunky. I'm also not sure I've read or heard anything that isn't at least occasionally awkward in any kind of game format.

Huh… Hard to say since I've only read a few parts of the story in Japanese, but if I had a "technical" complaint it's Ryûkishi's tendency to go into lengthy tengents about economy, history, or dispensable trivia like Hempel's Raven.

Uminekois having a kickstarter for an official dub with a full cast from Funimation.

also this version's planned to get official new story content

This… looks and sounds fantastic. I didn't think voicing the narration was a good idea, but damn, it works…

Though I wonder why Beato is wearing lipstick in the opening. >.>

Edited by Lyendith on Nov 5th 2018 at 12:30:49 PM

Hope it makes enough.

Yikes. Double post, but they delayed the Kickstarter again because an essential staff got a health emergency, this time with no start date planned. It was supposed to start today btw. Man, I hope we don't get Mighty No.9'd or they outright cancel this.