Episode 1 review

Umineko has already begun to make me feel like a fool in the span of a single episode. I don’t even know where to begin with my thoughts.

I guess I’ll start with what is undoubtedly the star of the show: Beatrice. What a character, holy shit. It’s only been a single episode, but I feel like she might be in the running for one of my favorite antagonists ever. What I like about her the most is that I feel like it’s impossible to get a read on her true character and intentions. The scenes of her and Shannon on the beach, her and Kinzo in the rose garden, and the chess game with Kinzo towards the end of the episode originally lead me to feel like there was a chance that she wasn’t entirely malicious. That deep down, all that she really wanted was for her existence to be acknowledged. Then the episode ends the way that it does and… yeah, I don’t know how you possibly couldn’t come to the conclusion that this bitch is a being of pure, distilled evil.

I feel like my emotions towards her actions were amplified by a theory that popped into my brain as I was reading. I noticed that three of the four siblings shared physical traits with Beatrice: Krauss, Eva and Rosa all look like they could be her children. They all share blond hair and more pale complexions. Eva in particular looks like the spitting image of Beatrice, and shares several mannerisms with her. I was sure that Kinzo must’ve eloped with Beatrice and she gave birth to his children. However, by the time I reached the end of the episode I came to the conclusion that this couldn’t possibly be the case unless Beatrice has become so detached from humanity that she’s able to derive pleasure from doing these horrendously obscene acts of cruelty to her own flesh and blood. This episode’s Tea Party amplified my feelings. Not only was her torture of Rosa seriously screwed up, but she reveals that an unknown number of these time loops have already taken place based on how many body parts of the Ushiromiya family she has.

It’s funny though, despite all of this, I somehow can’t bring myself to completely hate her. Partially because she’s such a charming and over the top presence whenever she’s on screen, and partially because I want to believe my original theory based on those few moments where she actually seemed to have a sense of empathy. I both love and hate her as a character so much. I get the feeling that this is exactly how the author wanted me to feel. God, she’s such a well-written character.

The rest of the cast has also been fantastic. Shannon, George, Kannon, Jessica and Rosa all got some amazing development this episode. Shannon and Kannon in particular were just… so tragic to me. The way both of them come to understand the value that they have as human beings makes it all the more sad that these conclusions that they were able to reach will likely get erased by the time the next time loop starts. Rosa coming to terms with the fact that she hasn’t been a particularly great mother to Maria at the end right before the demons devour them both was also incredibly sad.

I’m really confused as to how the game between Battler and Beatrice is supposed to work… in fact I’m not sure if I completely follow what exactly is happening in that regard at all. Are the two of them from a different timeline, observing the events taking place in a different time loop together in some kind of alternate dimension? Is Battler communicating with Beatrice telepathically within the time loop? Assuming that there are two separate Battlers, one observing the time loop and one actually within it, then the Battler within the time loop seems to be vaguely aware that the game is taking place, but at the same time not fully aware… I’m having a hard time being able to discern all of this. I’m sure that’s the point and that it’ll all be explained in the future though. It just adds a layer of mystery to the story, and is another way that the game has me hooked.

Also, forget about what I said in my review of the first episode about not using the medium of a visual novel to the fullest. God, I was such an idiot for saying something like that. The way that the red text was used to explain whether or not what Beatrice was saying is truthful during the game scenes with Battler was a magnificent idea. It did a great job driving the tension during the scenes between her and Battler, and was even used against him to drive him to despair. It was truly, truly brilliant.

I am completely and totally on board for this ride. I cannot wait to see where things go from here. The characters are excellent, the tension is sky high, and everything about this episode was just extremely compelling. I want to explore these characters more, I want to learn even more about Beatrice and the other witches, I want to see if there’s any way that the Ushiromiya family can reconcile all of the deeply rooted issues that they have with one another. I am so, so pumped to continue to play this, and I really hope that the rest of the episodes continue to deliver high quality storytelling that’s on par with this episode.