"What is Umineko...?" 
Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, also known as Umineko: When They Cry, is a sound novel produced by 07th expansion. You might be familiar with their other works, such as Higurashi. "What is it about, though?"
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However, the conference turns violent. The inhabitants of the island dying in mysterious, occult-like ways. The murderer is speculated to be the Golden Witch, Beatrice. A mysterious witch that has been rumoured about for years. Because of a typhoon, nobody is able to escape the island. So the family members argue over who is the culprit, whilst also dying one by one. |
Beatrice very happily takes the credit - but Battler finds Beatrice unforgivable. Battler's refusual to believe in witches creates an anti-magic toxin that is harmful to Beatrice's existence. So he and Beatrice have a battle of wits to determine whether or not the murder was done by human hands.
As the reader, you are directly challenged to solve the murder - and to decide whether or not you think the murder was done through magic, and who you think the killer and the motive is.
"Why should I read it?"
The Characters
Just about nearly the entire cast of Umineko has a moment in the spotlight. Even the worst among them have their redeeming qualities - and while there were characters and villians who did awful things, the writing made it very very hard for me to confidently state that I hated them. Umineko digs into the family members pasts, their personalites, relationships and wants and needs.
The Themes
Speaking of which, one of the themes in Umineko is that of generational trauma. This family has a lot of it. And oh god. I love it.
Umineko also has the main theme of "Without love it cannot be seen" - which relates to what I said earlier about how the writing makes the villians hard to hate. "Without love it cannot be seen" also directly relates to the Magic vs Mystery aspect of Umineko. You will come away from Umineko looking at life a lot more magically, and at everybody around you a lot more kindly. |
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The Mysteries
Also!! the murder mystery aspect is just so fucking fun. an absolute blast - and theorycrafting as you go?? its so much fun!!
I do...wanna say that um.
A youtuber called Nezumi made a video about Umineko, and she suggested that you should take notes while reading Umineko, and like.
She is not joking!! Take notes!! I wish I did!!
The Heart
The writing of Umineko can sometimes be unpolished, but the writing gets across the emotions very potently - if a little bit melodramatically at times (but tbh?? i love it lol).
I'll admit, there was a point in the game that made me cry for like 10 minutes straight. It was amazing. ACTUALLY I AM TEARING UP A LITTLE NOW THAT I AM REMEMBERING IT RIGHT NOW OH DEAR OH GOODNESS. DFOIGHFDHOFD. just. if you enjoy crying please read umineko.
"Wow Witchkat!! Umineko sounds pretty great!! How long is it?"
140 hours.
"Are you fucking joking me?"
no :(
"Well, can I just watch the anime?"
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm being deathly serious...! There are a lot of issues with the Anime which could ruin your entire Umineko experience. Such as:
- Plotholes there weren't in the VN.
- As in, a plothole where if I explained what the plothole was it would make the culprit's identity obvious.
- Some scenes were left out :(
- Really weird pacing...?
- Episodes 5-8 were never adapted.
- Some emotional beats don't hit as hard as they should
"Okay then....how about the manga?"
Yeah it's alright!!
"But about the VN... What are my options...?"
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| Original PC Version | Pachinko+Steam | Console |
Steam/MangaGamer Version
The MangaGamer port is easy to find on Steam. It comes with the OG sprites from the original release and a selection of sprites from the Pachinko version. Personally, I absolutely love the OG sprites created by Ryukishi07. The expressions and energy on them are absolutely amazing, they're cute!! |
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However...this version doesn't include that much CGs, and it doesn't have any voice acting, either... To be honest, Umineko is a very long read - and the voice acting helps. Luckily....! There are ways to access this voice acting...!
07th Mod
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You can use a tool called 07th mod that'll allow you to mod in the voice acting and the CGs into the game. This isn't the version I personally used, so I cannot tell you much about it, but from what I've seen, it's pretty great!! |
Umineko Project
Umineko Project was how I experienced Umineko. It came with sprites, cgs - and the sprites also had lipsyncing on em. It's very very well polished IMO!!
"Those all sound good. Maybe I'll check it out!"
Great! But do please keep in mind that Umineko has a large amount of trigger warnings to be aware of: Sexual assault, abuse, child abuse, suicide, gratuitous violence, implications of incest, death, miscarriage, unreality, dissociation, real "imaginary friends", magical thinking, maladaptive daydreaming & ableism.
And as much as I do love Umineko, it does have a few creepy moments where Battler creeps on the women of the family. Do keep that in mind.
If you're curious to learn more, I recommend watching NezumiVA's video on Umineko.
If you do end up reading Umineko, tell me about your experience with it on my tumblr!! When-they-meow!! I really hope I managed to somehow convince you to read Umineko - and if you like Umineko, try out other 07th expansion works, too!! Thank you very much for listening!!