Let me explain. I don't hate Umineko. And I like Episode 7.

This review contains full Umineko VN spoilers and some minor manga expectations.

My issue with Umineko, especially Chiru and episode 8, isn't the less direct episode 7 reveal — I actually prefer the VN's approach to the manga's by far (where I think the Yasu Confessions chapter goes against her wishes in episode 7 and is worse for Umineko as a whole, despite being interesting on its own), and I actually like episode 7 quite a bit. I didn't like how in the manga Ryukishi basically changed the approach he was so insistent on with the VN and basically made a cheat sheet, as well as some other things, that made Umineko basically yet another mystery to me, losing part of what made it special despite my many issues with it. Some people aren't aware of this, but Umineko actually caused an outrage in Japan after finishing, mostly due to feeling like they were looked down upon (such as by the in-story goats and Erika) and not revealing the culprit directly. I think he got too much hate for this, and if anything, I completely disagree with the latter being an issue at all. One thing I really respect about Umineko to this day, especially in episode 7, is letting the reader connect the dots themself and make their conclusions, which made it unique. I also don't like how the manga basically made the episode 7 tea party 100% canon, making some of my issues, that I discuss later on, an even bigger deal for me.

My issue isn't Ange's escapism itself either, but more so the execution. This is a bit of a personal issue, so I don't think Umineko is "objectively bad" or anything, but long story short, I had a bit of a similar (but not exactly the same) experience as Ange as far as "not knowing" the real truth of a matter was and it being basically impossible to find it out, only having to rely on a "catbox" of contradicting accounts. It was bad enough to make myself closed off for years, so in that way I can relate to Ange. What I don't like though is that Ryukishi presents extremes of either her killing herself or basically revolving her life around baseless optimism, rather than a more realistic middle ground that someone would pick. I don't really get the idea of "the two extremes making the themes more beautiful", either. I've also been told that the magic ending is more "balanced", but Ange still ends up completely changing her way of life in any case, whether it be pursuing the mystery at the cost of having anything else in her life in the trick ending, or writing books and doing charity work due to the tragedy that happened in the magic ending. If we link that back to what I went through, my personal choice was that once I realised finding out "the truth" was impossible, I would move on by starting from square one in another place as my own person. I would remember the lessons taught and grieve for the people that I lost, but I would become my own person in a place where no one knew me. Of course, that also isn't the sole way to develop as a person if you have bad things happen to you, but I find it more believable. Ange basically written into a corner by Ryukishi where everything in her life sucks and it also felt forced because he really wanted these extremes to come up. I likely find this to be more of an issue than the average reader precisely due to how relatable the concept was to me.

Besides my own life experience, I also take issue with the way Ryukishi sees mysteries and himself as a mystery writer. For one, I'll point out that Ryukishi sees Higurashi and Umineko as works for different audiences. He considered Umineko to be a thinking man's media, so to speak, and not Higurashi, which is unfortunate to hear considering how much heart and soul he poured into it. Following up on this, it is weird how he limits himself to only referencing classical Western mystery novels and Japanese honkaku (rather than shinhonkaku), while also giving off the impression that he thinks he's the first one to ever do what he did. Other works have explored similar ideas to "without love it cannot be seen". Ryukishi is not the first one and I do not like how he acts like he figured out the mystery medium, while he purposefully limits himself to just classics, even going as far as being inspired by and mentioning Agatha Christie, even though she was pretty subversive and experimental herself even at the time. By the way, the first source I linked in this paragraph also confirms that he was, in fact, at least partially, looking down on some "loveless" readers through the goats, which I am not a fan of.

And speaking of "without love it cannot be seen", the way this idea is handled is really weird to me, especially in episode 8. For example, you have the Ushiromiya family basically get called "equally guilty" for causing the disaster, even though comparing Jessica, who did literally nothing wrong, or Maria to someone like Kyrie and Rudolf (who for example tortured Jessica to death, or enjoying killing children) is absolutely insane. And then you have the speech that Kyrie told Eva about how "she would be evil in different what-if circumstances", which with episode 8 and overall meta context is crazy. "Sure, Eva, I was the one who tortured and killed those people, but what if YOU were the one was the culprit?". Overall, I am a believer in "sympathise, don't empathise" in such situations, which some of those other shinhonkaku explore. Being told to feel equally sorry for Kyrie and Maria is just bizarre to me.

Other complaints I had included annoying gimmick characters like Sakutarou, repetition at the start of episodes 1-6 (though it got better after episode 3) and an almost fetishization of murder that a lot of mystery has the decency to be above, at least with innocent victims (like Eva-Beatrice throwing people up and down and up and down again). I also don't care about most episodes besides 1, 7, and maybe 3. 5 had some cool moments but was whatever and I thought 6 was underwhelming. Additionally, the console sprites (I am not a fan of the original WTC sprites outside of Ciconia) are quite mediocre, especially considering WTC's popularity. It's insane to me that WTC, as influential as it is, cannot get sprites with a better art style.

On the plus side, the music is incredible. Definitely top 3 OSTs of all time.

Finally, despite what I said, I have great respect for Ryukishi. He was a social worker (and it shows in Higurashi and Umineko), and he definitely was committed to his vision (before he got an unjust amount of hate for Umineko, and for the wrong things too, in my opinion). I just think that he does not know what he's talking about when it comes to some types of trauma like Ange's and the mystery genre. Again, I don't think Umineko is "objectively" bad, and I do admit I have a bit of bias, but as someone who has been on both sides of the fence (I once had it at a 10), I've had various perspectives on it, and I think that, despite now thinking mostly negatively about it, I will continue thinking about it from time to time in years to come.

A while ago I made a pretty negative (at least compared to the Western consensus on the work) review of Umineko. This work has certainly made an impact on my life, with Ange's struggle being relatable in ways that I am not comfortable sharing, but suffice to say that this is the single most relatable work I've experienced to date, for better or for worse. My view of Umineko is completely reliant on my whims to the point that I wouldn't be surprised if whether I think it's good or bad depends on what side of the bed I woke up that morning. Numerical ratings are far from a holistic metric of how someone views a work, but it has ranged in scores anywhere from 2/10 to 10/10, changing frequently. I've tried giving it a neutral 5 or left it unrated, but even that felt off. I have never had a work I was so conflicted on live rent-free in my mind. So you can view this as another view of my "heart", so to speak. Without love it cannot be seen, different perspectives of the same person can be valid at the same time. I will leave this review and the old one up. It just feels right that way. Now let's dive in.

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie is one of my favourites books. It sparked my interest in the mystery genre, and made the now cliche setting of a rich group of people being invited to a mansion on an island that gets caught up in a storm and cut off from civilisation a favourite, for sure. Umineko really has an interesting spin on it with how it revolves around a Japanese family with Western names, and how the island leaving no certain clues of what actually happened leads to any sorts of interpretations. The "magic system" largely revolves around walking concepts taking form as objects or entities. The author and heartless truth are concepts turned into characters that walk around and interact with the cast from what seems to be an entirely different genre. The mish-mash of genres is a constant since the ending of episode 1, and it's glorious to see how Beatrice and Battler spectate how the pieces behave through the 4th dimension, and how the soundtrack (which is absolutely top-tier, I don't know what they were smoking, but I'll be having some of that) encompasses a variety of genres, to the point of having techno-dubstep-whatever playing over characters arguing in a mansion ripped straight from ATTWN, or what is essentially Touhou music during magic fights. And I just LOVE the concept of the red/blue truths and will forever miss them in other mystery/death game media where they often just do a basic trial or something instead.

Umineko does so many things from so many different genres that it's easier to say what it isn't rather than what it is. I will say, though, the common sentiment of "if you call Umineko a mystery, you missed the point!" isn't really on the money in my opinion, and I don't think it's a view Ryukishi would support. Umineko is often called "a battle of anti-mystery and anti-fantasy", mystery is in the name. People aren't machines, and detectives are people. Who knows what sort of previously unseen evidence the detective overlooked? Who knows what happened on an island with no known survivors and no remaining evidence? The circumstances are so bizarre that it wouldn't be surprising if magical creatures descended onto the island at only that point in time, and before and after. All that is left to speculate, and that's why it's important to try to look at it from any possible point of view. Only then will we get close to MAYBE seeing the unattainable "what actually happened". Part of the point is that it is using that mystery to make the characters and readers try to reach the "heart" of the matter, to see it with love and not just treat it like a game. There are real people with many sides to them in all walks of life, even characters in mystery novels. All sorts of people get affected — culprits, such as Beatrice, whose life tipped the dominos that led to the tragedy; victims, such as Battler, who died and what was left behind was a new personality in the form of Tohya that complete disassociated from the disaster; those left behind, such as Ange, whose entire lives revolve around a single event. In a way, a "deconstruction" of the mystery genre with an uncertain solution is one of the best ways to explore such themes, because it demonstrates that anyone can be good and evil, victim or culprit, in various situations. We are all walking catboxes, even we aren't sure what is actually going on a lot of the time. Eva and Rosa can be abusers or victims of similar abuse themselves perpetuating the cycle, you often don't get the full story no matter how hard you try.

Despite my complaints about Erika and Bernkastel seemingly further enabling the sentiment that all mystery except rare exceptions like Umineko is a cold "puzzle mystery" where the detective walks in BBC Sherlock-style, solves the puzzle because they don't care about human suffering, and then walk out, the feelings of those affected be damned, they really do add a lot to the narrative. Erika is the antithesis of what Ryukishi wants someone with love to do. It's not that you have to stop thinking entirely, it's that you have to see the "love" and various sides of things. You can be so far gone in your attempt to try to logic everything out that you end up seeing a very shallow, and often incorrect, worldview. And that is one potential path that Ange could take, a life of obsession, chasing something she can never obtain. Someone so deeply buried in this hole that they won't climb out of that they reject any potential for future growth and happiness over something they have no control over.

In my view, there are three Uminekos. The first Umineko was something you had to be there for — the ambitious 8-part story with months and years between episodes which had people online in both East and West speculate about what could possibly happen, and the following frustrated reception, from which Ryukishi never truly recovered from. The second Umineko is the bingeable, complete 8 visual novel episodes that most readers who review it on this website complete. Finally, there is the manga, in which Ryukishi makes changes (for better or for worse, depending on who you ask) to the original vision. To be honest, I find it regrettable how often the view of "the VN doesn't answer anything, if you actually want an answer read the manga!" is. It Say what you want about Ryukishi's dry prose or higher-than-thou conceit (boy do we know I have a lot to say about that), but the original vision for Umineko is a work of passion, passion that you will rarely find elsewhere. It was a saga spanning years of author/audience interaction, with all sorts of possible theories and views coming up. It was a work so unapologetically dedicated to showing the "without love it cannot be seen" theme that it went as far as to call out people who don't think for themselves. Rarely will you meet an author who gives as much of a shit as Ryukishi.

And actually, the worst thing you can do is get mad at Ryukishi for you not being able to solve it. The hints are all there, especially in episode 7, they aren't talking about some random maid named Yasu and various other things like Shannon being in the same room for no reason. But that's just life, you can't expect to figure everything out. I've read plenty of things where I didn't fully get everything but I never once blamed the author. And actually, you don't need to be able to have a valid solutions for things like Yasu's identity, episode-specific murders, or the freakin' epitaph. You don't even need to put that much time into it. It's certainly nice if you do that and especially if you figure those things out, but it's not necessary. What's important is that you try.

The readers that Ryukishi is not happy with are those that don't try. Let me clarify that I think the Umineko manga has its merits, such as with the art and Yasu's Confession, and I am glad that people are finding out about Umineko through it and enjoying it. However I think that the years of unjust hate after episode 8's original release got to Ryukishi, and so despite writing "his own version of the story that doesn't disrupt the catbox at all, it's just another view" (which no one listens to btw, it's frequently accepted as the "canon version of the story"), it gave the "goats" what they wanted. Yasu's Confession is the antithesis to what Will did in episode 7 — solving the core of the mystery in a respectful manner, with "love" for the culprit. In a vacuum it is a cool backstory, elaborating on things that are left ambiguous or more vague in a manner more preferable for some readers, but in return for this and Bernkastel being far more specific with her words at the end of the episode, a large part of what made Umineko special gets damaged, because getting told "okay, here's what ACTUALLY happened" in a story where not knowing the "objective truth" is contrary to that work's vision. And Yasu didn't want this kind of reveal, and that reveal was done in episode 7 anyway. Episode 8 is Ange's conclusion, really. Yet the manga rips the guts out of the mystery in as much detail as possible when it was never the point. Yes, the backstory is well-written, but I don't think it fits within the grander picture of what Umineko was originally striving to be.

What makes someone a "loveless" reader isn't trying to solve the mystery, it isn't wanting a different ending or themes, and it most certainly isn't being anti-escapist vs. the story easily being interpreted as an escapist one. Umineko is a work that encourages thinking from beginning to end. What actually makes someone a loveless goat is not trying to see... with love. It's being a "media consumer" that's looking for the next talked about "peak fiction" that just wants an answer and to move on without any regard for the characters and what they're going through and the themes of the story. It's the people who want another "puzzle mystery" where the sole purpose for many readers is to see murders happen and find the culprit. It's not one's fault for not figuring out absolutely everything in Umineko without outside help, but it is possible, and in any case I don't find it acceptable to blame the author for it.

And it is a mystery, at least in part. Mysteries that deal with a "catbox" situation where many solutions fit the bill have existed since at least the middle of the 20th century. Japan has had shinhonkaku — new generation Japanese mystery that breaks the tropes that classical mystery has overused like a broken record. Umineko is not the first, and it certainly won't be the last to try to see things with "love" even in the Japanese mystery catalogue alone. Any work that claims to be the end-all and be-all of a genre or whatever is very questionable by default. Mysteries that don't just involve being solved like a logical puzzle by a misanthropic detective are in abundance, too — plenty of mysteries all around the globe, especially those made in modern times care about the feelings of culprits and victims and how they affect those around them. That's not what really matters here, either, though — what makes Umineko so noteworthy is how it combines so many of these genres, themes, inspirations, aesthetics, musical styles and mixes them to deliver this core message. It is a story that tries to be so many things, released and constantly affected by the two-sided interaction between author and reader. It's honestly really hard to apply "the death of the author" to this where only the product matters in a vacuum, it's just not how it was made. Episode 3 ended up being different from the original vision due to Episode 2's audience reception, for example.

It's not just murder mystery casts that should live by the idea of "without love it cannot be seen" (within reason, I mean narcissists and psychopaths exist and the healthy approach with those is cutting contact, but moderation being key goes for anything in life). It is all of us. The people we meet and grow apart with, the ones we feel apathy or disgust for and the ones we love, everyone involved has not a singular story, but multiple stories to tell. Even they themselves rarely know that. In a way you don't really need 150+ hours on average to deliver such a relatively simple idea, but when it works, it really works.

So there you have it. Another possible view at the catbox that is my opinion on Umineko. It's very possible that tomorrow I'll wake up and think that it is awful. I feel like it's fitting that someone who has been on both sides of the spectrum write both highly negative and highly positive reviews on this work. Either way, I'm sure I won't stop thinking about Umineko for a long time.

Trying to stitch my thoughts together is more than a little difficult here.

Umineko is a game that holds as many virtues as it does small flaws. It can offer some of the most impassioned and thought provoking themes I have waded through in recent memory, offer up interesting character beats and thematic throughlines closed so tightly, you'd think this was a masterwork decades in the making. But, it is also present to flaws that exist outside this sphere, flaws in the pacing, in the prose, flaws in the sheer girth of some of the content on offer. Which is why it's difficult to offer great praise to Umineko.

In my reviews, I try to avoid discussing negative aspects as I find them to detract from any overall point or any quality look into a work's themes. With Umineko though, these negative aspects are a part of the themes, as the greatest theme of the game is in how we engage with media. The core heart of the game can be found in a battle between people debating mystery vs fantasy, whether mystery is really all its chalked up to be, and whether fantasy is worthwhile as a narrative to follow. It's an interesting discussion, one obviously inspired by R07's own experiences in writing Higurashi, which had a fantastical concluding arc that (in my experience) was upsetting for many fans of the time. Even though, that concluding arc is still very contentious, and a bit of spite can be felt in Umineko's discussions on this media. On the ideas of mystery and fantasy.

"To open the catbox" is seen as something undesirable, to preserve the mystery, but the reader is constantly egged on that the inside of the catbox is that of fantasy. It leads to this incredible desire to want to open it up and figure out the inner machinations of it, but that feeling is fleeting. Another flaw of Umineko's comes in here, and that is its length, it's very long and drawn out but it's to an advantage. That feeling of wanting to unravel every last mystery dissipates the more the characters sit around and discuss it. Are the answers really that interesting, compared to this? Could any locked room mystery solution really compare to the battle of wits that Battler has with Beatrice, Erika, or Bernkastel?

It makes sense in this way, that all the mysteries we do get upfront answers to are rather lackluster. The mystery of the epitaph is solved, and it's more a vehicle to explore the nuances of another character while the actual path to solving it is so obtuse as to be borderline impossible for any player not writing every detail shared about Kinzo and his island down. In the Episode 7 Tea Party, we are offered not a mystery, but a brutal series of murders, reflective of this desire to open the catbox. We open it, and we could receive one of the worst endings possible, one that betrays almost all of our expectations about these characters we trust. Similarly, Bernkastel's game in Episode 8 offers us the one truly solvable murder mystery, complete with correct answers, and it's the absolute worst outcome the player could receive. But, the point of that is not the answers, it's the fun you have speculating and piecing together the clues.

The fun is in the dialogue. How you talk to others, and engage with them. This can be applied to all media, not just mysteries, but it's most apt here. To further this theme, Umineko even denies us a catharsis in an answer to all the events of the prior episodes. A new character alludes to them, but he offers us vague nudges, the onus is still on the player to piece it together for themselves. Beatrice herself is never truly 'revealed', we don't get a Higurashi moment where we learn who the mastermind behind the cycles all ending the same really is, we get nudges (very blunt nudges), but respect is given to the characters. They want to keep that vulnerability a secret from prying eyes. Even the true mystery, the one Ange wants to learn, the truth of 1986 is... left up in the air. We only know how it started and how it concluded, but as Battler shows in Episode 8, does that mean it had to be a massacre? Everyone could've had fun until the very last moment, all of this relationship drama they had could've been hearsay, all the family issues illicit rumors.

That is the heart of Umineko, to accept the magic. Battler takes the place of Beatrice in her portrait when he understands this, to keep the catbox closed so that the truth, however unpleasant and brutal, can never be found out. To let the dead rest, and to not pry and deface their memory. This feeds into the ending, the one true choice the player is allowed to make. Was Beatrice's magic truly magic, or was it a trick?

At this point, I found the latter option completely incomprehensible as a choice. Who would get here and decide "That was a trick", it's an obvious wrong answer based on the themes of the work. As George says, it's on the onus of an adult to clap at a magician's trick and not ruin the magic for the children, but I can look back on my own experiences with the game and remember how I was in the Question Arcs. I loved the idea of denying this magic, and proving it was all a trick, I completely fell into this idea and actually would realize things the same moment Battler did. It was probably the most immersed I've ever been in a game, and that offers me a reasoning why someone would choose 'Trick'.

'Trick' is the option for someone not paying attention. 'Trick' offers an ending that fulfills that, one where Ange embodies Erika, the detective who denies all magic and would seek to ruin the beauty of magic even for children. This ending is not an ending, it fulfills none of the themes of the work and is a conclusion that does not connect to the final Tea Party segments. When I reached the credits and saw the credits from the last seven episodes play out, complete with the first opening of the game, I knew what this ending truly was. It was a sign of a cyclical nature, the player indulging in the behaviors the game advised against, and ultimately repeating the past. Returning, to Rokkenjima, despite leaving it behind.

In sharp contrast, the 'Magic' ending is an ending that fulfills Ange's character and offers a conclusion worthy of everything she had gone through up to this point. It finishes by offering us a bit of 'Magic', a reveal on the fates of Battler and Beatrice. While this section didn't leave much of an impact on me, the Hidden Tea Party at the very end of the game did. Decades later, Ange writes for children, and uses her money to help them, even as she ages and nears death. In this aged state, she is offered her miracle, the blessing of that 'Magic'. She gets to meet Battler again, and then the two return to the Golden Land. Battler embodying the 'Love' behind the 'Mystery', and Ange embodying the 'Fantasy'. It was an ending that really hit me in the moment, gave me a pause for thought as everything reached this point.

I can't say Umineko is a flawless masterpiece, or it touched me in a really deep way (that was Higurashi). But, I find myself appreciating R07's humanity more and more. I played both this and his previous work completely in the original intended fashion. Original sprites and backgrounds, no new "modern generic anime" CGs, no VA, and I think that was best. It allowed me to grasp his works in a much more personal way than I thought possible, it gave me more immersion hearing a looping rain sound effect at my workplace, and the absolutely perfect music cues hit at their fullest potential. Like I said, I can't say any of this work is perfect, I can't even really say I would recommend this to most people, but it's left an impression that I will probably never shake.

A game made of 'Ai'.