#beatrice is yasu but her form is not yasu

[leminhthinking]

just some Yasu thoughts idk

full spoilers ahead and somewhere along the way i also... talked a bit about my own condition. not really ready to be very open about it here haha

what are Shannon, Kanon and the witch (Beatrice) to Yasu? just, what are they to her, and what is their relationship with her, her view of self and her view of life? in different corners of the Umineko fandom, there are many different interpretations. some might say that this is DID or another unknown form of plurality, while some other would argue they are Yasu's imaginary friends, or original characters even. while these explanations are all valid and can work in their own ways, an explanation i find works best is to view Shannon, Kanon and Beatrice as Yasu's personas and another way for her to view reality, being as lonely as she is.

the DID explanation does not work for me, because all of them seem to be created with a purpose beforehand, for Yasu to do something she wanted to: Shannon for Yasu to be a perfect maid, Kanon for Yasu to be a guy and (for Shannon) to have a brother - someone to protect her and be with her, and the witch for her to perform tricks on others and be as free as she can be. of course, these purposes changed as time went by. another reason why this explanation does not work for me is how Shannon's love for Battler was shifted to the witch, how it is (seen to be) done very voluntarily, contrary to what would usually happen in DID systems.

nevertheless, a lot of Shannon - Kanon - the witch Beatrice's narratives could be very relatable to systems. of course id know that idhjfiajsdfh theyre why i knew i was a system in the first place.

the imaginary friends/original characters explanation, however, took a very opposite approach. instead of explaining Shannon, Kanon and the witch's existence by something Yasu could not control, this interpretation placed that control entirely in her hands. which is cool, actually, but in this way, Yasu's existence in them is often ignored. because, why not? following this explanation, Yasu and these three are very *different* people, and different people can only influence each other, not becoming one another. in a way, for me, this interpretation neglects the true nature of Yasu and Shannon - Kanon - the witch's relationship, and therefore neglects the heart.

and that left me with the persona explanation, which puts Yasu and her needs in the center, while still gives her control of everything Shannon - Kanon - the witch do and whatever happens between them. in this way, Yasu is each and everyone of them, and they are all her, and thats what clicks for me. Shannon, Kanon and the witch existed in Yasu's viewpoint as various forms of her, and everything they do, everything they encounter, is a sort of rewritten reality. its like looking back to something you did and labeling it as being done by another version of yourself.

an easier to digest example of how this could be done is the story about the broken vase in Banquet. here, the vase was broken by young Beato/Yasu from the start, but by rewriting that reality - lying, as some might call, the blame shifted from her to a random cat. that cat is the manifestation of her action's result, only in another form. the only difference here is that Yasu does not see herself as that cat, and i think thats also why its easier to understand too? lol

so what happened to Yasu that made it possible for her to *be* all Shannon, Kanon and the witch at the same time, to me, is that she first (consciously) divided her selves into parts, then gave these parts forms and names, and lastly did things while deciding which parts did it. it can works in reverse too: Yasu could be doing one specific thing and later on label it as a Kanon's action for example. in her point of view, in her altered reality, these parts- these *people* all have free will (which is also her free will. because they are her), can act accordingly, can have their own emotions.

with this interpretation, the truth behind the three's interaction to each other can be very different from what is portrayed. Kanon reassuring Shannon and being angry on her behalf could be an inner monologue where Yasu felt sorry for herself, needed reassurance and tried to give herself just that. and then that one part in Confession of the golden witch where all three of them - Shannon, Kanon and the witch Beatrice - got into a fight because they have different desires, different love interests could be Yasu punishing herself for loving many different people at once, for wanting to reach different futures at once. and so on and so on...

when their actions, specifically, their interactions between each other, are viewed and translated into reality like this, it brings about a whole other meaning, as a whole new depth to Yasu's character. we now have more insight on how Yasu viewed herself - shattered, like pieces of mirror, with different needs assigned onto different selves; on how she must have truly felt in different situations, and how she actually coped with it, and how in the end, she was always really really lonely...

#leminhthinking in paragraphs #umineko #umineko spoilers #confession of the golden witch spoilers #beatrice the golden witch #shannon umineko #kanon umineko

[knoxs2nd]

yasu and clair's presentations of their lives are stories - the message bottles, clair's stageplay - where they're characters who are fundamentally removed from the audience. she's even physically separated from people by the stage setup/curtain, or the glass of the bottle.

as a coping mechanism, yasu framed her own life as being removed from others. she's in the golden land, perfectly content on her own, while "incomplete" souls who have different names and personalities than her have to deal with the outside world.

yasu never got to the point where she was okay with "leaving the stage" or the golden land, to go outside, as herself. see the ep8 magic ending where beatrice asks why she should leave rokkenjima. what's to be gained from leaving? and battler asks her instead - what's to be gained from staying? outside, you can live.

yasu didn't want to live outside of the golden land, but she was still so lonely. so, she coped with her loneliness by romanticizing the idea that even if she's removed from the real world by residing in the golden land, someone could still "see" her. which, obviously, she channels into her writing. because with writing, even if you're not in the same place or time, readers can still create a relationship with the writer (that's yasu!) and that would be enough to ease her loneliness, to be acknowledged.

(of course, we know that as much as yasu romantizes Good Readers Who See The Heart, we know that really, she just wanted the person she loved to be the person to acknowledge her. because she's not this perfectly removed, distant writer she likes to pretend to be.)

writing has a lot of meaning to yasu, but with her specifically writing to create a relationship with a reader? she needed someone from the "real" world, to become invested in her as a character, to "see" her heart and acknowledge her existence. when a reader is invested in a character and a story in that way, then as a reader, you've established your own "relationship" with the character and make them real for yourself with your love.

even as yasu was planning her own death, she had to cling to the thought that, even after her death, maybe she won't end up as lonely as she was alive. the golden land tohya wanted, where the whole family gathered, and the golden land in ep4/5, where you sip tea with your beloved.

*tear rolls down face* the cruel audience members who don't care about the heart and just want to be entertained like lambda, triumphing in the story when lambdadelta realizes she wants to enter the story herself, because she can admit she's actually emotionally invested instead of being too cool to care

versus the lonely characters like yasu who keep looking out at the real world and their audience, secretly wishing to join them, but convincing themselves that the best they can have is to be acknowledged, seen, and loved by their readers.

the ep8 magic ending being the culmination of what yasu thought would be the happiest, best thing that could happen to her, in that she finally formed a relationship of love, where someone saw her. versus the tragedy of us readers knowing that shouldn't have been nearly enough.

yeah, according to clair, from her passive, distant perspecive, people are stories waiting to be seen, but also, according to lion, her alternate universe miracle, people are characters who always need to use their own power to be active participants, to fight and struggle for their happy endings.

#character: clair #character: yasu #episode: 8 #character: lion #favorite #character: lambdadelta

[gothamcityneedsme]

the major reason i dont like ange having a witch outfit is that its never written in the text that she does.  and like.  umineko is a visual novel, right, so a lot of things aren’t elaborated in that way sometimes, but i DO think that if she had a magical girl transformation that it would be addressed.  battler’s cape was addressed, why would ange walk in with a whole ass new outfit without a word.

anyways i also dont like the design of her witch outfit, or any of the beta designs either. not sure if ryukishi conceptualized them or anything but i am not a fan of any of them regardless if he did or not.

tbh i just think ange should have a cape like battler, or NOTHING.  nothing preferably, she was the witch of the future basically since her introduction, she had no need to be transformed into a witch, she always was one.

#shitpost #and like...other than battler and maria we don't see any other witch transformations like that #//not addressing yaus's various symbolic forms as they are symbols even moreso than battler/maria's witchforms #i would argue that yasu actually doesn't have a main form b/c the whole point of the story #is that her identity is so fractured that she is formless #she has so many forms that theres nothing that #i would ALSO argue that the most 'yasu' of yasu would be. 1 obviously what we get ni ep7 with her entire backstory #aka where she doesn't have any solid form herself and is surrounded by her delusions (gaap/zepar/furfur/etc) #(even shannon in that form) #and 2 claire who exists only to be yasu's corpse #3 the man from 19 years ago #who...you know. is a voice on the phone and not a physical presence #(*correction on 2 beatrice in ep7 exists as yasus corpse while claire is sort of her living corpse that exists to be properly killed) #beatrice is yasu but her form is not yasu #ok also for my ange arguement: Erika was always a witch and was given her outfit that she didn't 'transform' out of #she had a swimsuit as a piece too but her metaform always had jessica's dress #ALSO her wedding dress wasn't a new transformation or anything so meh #also evatrice is more like yasu-esque rather than a true witch-form of eva #also note that rosa who is ALSO textually referred to as a witch DOESN'T HAVE A WITCH FORM #IM JUST SAYING.

[happycricketbox]

umineko hot take but also big fat spoiler :

i don't really like the portrayal of Yasu as a person with androgynous body with Shannon's hair/face (or even any portrayal of her, really) because well, wasn't the whole point of Clair existing because Yasu didn't want to reveal her sorry existence, or something to that effect at least, sorry idk how to word it better. Willard understood that and respected that. If you're gonna reveal Yasu's form anyway than what was the point of all that... lol

I guess it was there for clarification sake but honestly it's one of those things that i see and go "oh... damn... i wish i hadn't seen this" (much like how i feel about the illusion breakdowns in the ep7 manga)

Yes i know i am the minority because Yasu is definitely a popular character and i am more of a Clair enjoyer who is perfectly fine with Yasu's nonexistence as a separate character. I am a bit befuddled however as to why i have never seen anybody else who share this opinion? In fact i've seen *so* many people brought up Confession of the Golden Witch as a necessary read. If it were me i'd tell people to avoid it honestly, it shatters the ambiguity and mystery aspect of the story that sadly i only came to appreciate long after i finished the whole thing.

(though it did bother me how Shannon and Kanon feels like they seem to be totally unrelated to Beatrice at during ep8, but then again ep8 was just one big messy magical extravaganza)

#instead of brain there is clair vaux bernardus #this was supposed to be short wtf #cricket reviews #this is my long ass opinion piece/review tag now i guess #i'd get more response on twitter for this but you cant spoiler tag there sooo

[ultraericthered]

The 17 best characters in Umineko, according to my opinion.

1. Lambdadelta - Super adorable, super hilarious, super whimsical, super scary when need be, SUPER PAPER! Lambda has got it all!

2. Bernkastel - I love me a great villain, and Bern is one of the best in this whole franchise. Extra cool points for being Evil Rika Furude.

3. Erika Furudo - I want to deck her in her smug little gremlin face but then also wrap her in a warm blanket and keep her all snug and protected in equal measures, which is a VERY hard thing to pull off as perfectly balanced as Erika somehow does and I adore her for it. 

4. Sayo Yasuda/Beatrice - Pretty much the centerpiece character of this entire narrative. Never fails to be fascinating and entertaining.

5. Maria Ushiromiya/MARIA - Uuuu! While at first Maria seemed a bit too try-hard to be for Umineko what Rena was for Higurashi, I got attached to her quickly and she proved to be a wonderful character.

6. Battler Ushiromiya/Black Battler - It’s almost unbelievable how much Battler’s character grew on me and won me over. A far more heavily flawed individual than Keiichi was, but just as interesting in his own right. Plus, he’s even got a badass evil doppelganger! 

7. Ange Ushiromiya/Ange-Beatrice - Easily the most sympathetic character in the cast aside from maybe Maria, and ultimately the true hero of this tale. Following her journey was always a highlight.

8. Jessica Ushiromiya - Tough-as-nails but a bit scatterbrained and blunt as hell, not to mention a pansexual icon. I can’t not love her!

9. Ronove - He’s too friendly and likable to be a nefarious demon!

10. Gaap - Another very fun and likable (and hot) demon character.

11. Virgilia - Beato’s mentor really helped kickstart our deeper understanding of magic, witches, and Yasu’s character while always being a pleasant and comforting presence to have around.

12. Eva Ushiromiya/Eva-Beatrice - Eva was the most fascinating and complex of Kinzo’s children who aren’t Yasu, making me care about her yet also detest her at different points, back and forth. She also has a kickass evil doppelganger in the form of her “black witch.”

13. Willard H. Wright - I’m a sucker for eccentric and antisocial Holmesian detectives, and Mr. Wright really made the most of it.

14. Lion Ushiromiya - They’re just precious, and show us what could have been had Kinzo not been even more horrid than he was.

15. Kyrie Ushiromiya - Imagine if Kyoko Kirigiri grew up and lost a good chunk of her moral standards, and you’d have Kyrie. Whether she be acting for good or for bad, she’s undeniably one cool MFer.

16. Hideyoshi Ushiromiya - How did Eva ever manage to score a guy so caring and kind? Easily the least bad of the Ushiromiya adults in terms of morality, even if he is sadly under-developed.

17. Juuza Amakusa - Formerly of the Yamainu and now serving as Ange’s hired bodyguard, he’s another fun morally sketchy character.

And the runner ups are....

Tetsuro Okonogi - I love the guy, but he appears in literally every single When They Cry entry, so he’s not exactly unique to Umineko.

Dlanor Knox - Have a difficult time separating her from Erika in my mind, so she doesn’t really stand on her own as a character.

The Seven Stakes Sisters of Purgatory - A fun take on the Seven Deadly Sins/Demon Lords, but lack much dimension or individuality.

The Chiester Sisters - Much as I enjoy them, they always did seem kind of out of place in this series, and they’re even less developed than the above sisters group.

All the other characters I can take or leave (Dr. Nanjo, Kumasawa, Gohda, Gertrude & Cornelia), I like them alright (George, Krauss, Natsuhi, Sakutaro), or I have more conflicted feelings on like if I mostly like them but sometimes hate them (Featherine Augustus Aurora, Genji, the Goat Servants), I mostly hate them but sometimes like them (Rosa Ushiromiya, Rudolf Ushiromiya, Zepar & Furfur), or I just flat out hate them but enjoy the shit out of hating them (Kinzo Ushiromiya. Fuck Kinzo. Oh, and Kasumi Sumadera too.)

#When They Cry #Umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #characters

[akatokuro]

(1/5) The most heartbreaking piece for me in EP7 pre-Battler is the "I'd rather be a witch." scene. We got this amazing detailed worldbuilding by Yasu/Beatrice and Gaap, then when Gaap mentioned Shannon, Yasu/Beatrice replies with, "She can remain the same, respected servant she is now."

But then we cut to Shannon again and we are silently and harshly told that even if the “stupid, clumsy servant that is Yasu” is gone, her core aspects can’t be removed the same way, which leads to Shannon being “re-introduced” as a lonely servant who messed up from time to time, as opposed to “perfect servant who is benevolent to Yasu”.

As much as Yasu wants her aspects she deemed negative for her begone, she can’t. It has to go to “someone else”, that being Shannon. The whole thing might’ve looked like huge display of magic in your face, which isn’t wrong, but it’s also magic being unveiled. “Shannon & Yasu’s” room was never a two-person bedroom.There was only Yasu in it, but under the veil of Shannon. VN-wise, it was always only Shannon’s sprite that got displayed when the two interact until Yasu crafted Clair’s form, and by that time, Shannon is pretty much alone.

And let’s not forget this is an underage, lonely person in a brutal situation for their age, being confused about the bed they’re trying to sleep in, and trying to comfort themselves to sleep in a bed that “wasn’t theirs”. Loreley being played during this scene also did well in bringing the tears, personally. 

Yeah, the entirety of the Shannon dynamic being unveiled was incredibly devastating to me. And yes, no matter how Yasu built her up in her head, once Shannon officially adopts the mantle of Yasu’s “outward human face” while Yasu’s own heart retreats further inwards, performing perfection in the real world isn’t possible. And whatever face performs for the outside world will inevitably start making connections to others in the outside world, even as you dissociate it from being your “true self” in a lot of ways, which starts to lead to many of Yasu’s problems. 

But that indirect portrayal you’re talking about is a lot of what makes it hit hard. Because everything about Yasu telling her own story contains her trying to rationalize things, try to figure out ways to not succumb to despair, to convince herself “It’s not so bad. I’ll be okay.” Because she has already been conditioned to adjust her expectations, to resign herself, to cope, that dishonesty is virtue, and that the only thing she can change is her own perception.

You really have to read into even EP7′s narration - and I think this was done masterfully - to get a sense of what Yasu and Shannon are “really saying.” Like, think about the sequence in Shannon’s dream where she reunites with “Yasu” (now Beatrice) - who starts going on about how empty and miserable Shannon’s life is, and encouraging her to abandon the human world and come live with her in “Paradise” forever instead. Think about the implications of what this actually translates to for a depressed young kid. It’s really, really dark - and the admission that Yasu/Shannon hates her job and situation to the point of seeing no point in continuing to live when you think about Shannon smiling placidly at George and telling him “oh, being a servant is fun, I’m content…”

Man, I’ll knife-fight anyone who pushes the interpretation that Yasu is a weak person who didn’t try hard enough! That includes you, Ryukishi!

#akatokuro vs askbox #seacats inquiries #requiem of the golden yasuda

[sayo-beatrice]

Legend - EP 1

Massive spoilers for Legend of the Golden Witch! Do not read if you are not okay with spoilers! 

First Game Legend of the Golden Witch

Culprit: Sayo Yasuda Accomplices: Nanjo, Genji, Kumasawa, Eva, and Hideyoshi

Preparations: In Chapter 6, after talking with the cousins, Shannon ran off claiming that her break was over. It stated that she was headed toward the rose garden, but we didn’t see her after that. In this same chapter, Kanon was unaccounted for the entire time. Rosa and the cousins soon left Maria alone in the rose garden, since she refused to stop searching for her lost rose. Yasu, as either Shannon, Kanon, or Beatrice, gave the letter to Maria while she was searching for her rose in the garden. In this game and almost all the other others, Yasu told her to read it to everyone at dinner. Along with this, she must have taken the rose on the way to the rose garden to keep Maria there, otherwise it was simply a prediction of hers (it would make sense, she predicted the typhoon).

First Twilight: In the dining hall, Yasu killed Krauss, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, and Gohda, hence the blood on the seats. It is not certain why she killed those particular people, but it was most likely so that the adults wouldn’t solve the epitaph before Battler, which is what she wants to happen. With the help of one of the servants (she is the head, so they will obey her, and nobody else would help her; for more context, the servants with the exception of Gohda all accept Beatrice as their second master in Chapter 12), Yasu moved their bodies to the rose garden storehouse and painted the magic circle to give off the witch’s presence.

Although it is very discreet, Yasu presumably bribed Eva and Hideyoshi to conspire with her. Before she is killed, Eva refers to the blood as “horrible makeup” with a very firm tone. In Chapter 10, Hideyoshi did not allow George to come near Shannon’s body with the excuse of preserving her dignity. Nobody except Eva and Hideyoshi saw “Shannon” on the ground. That’s where Willard’s solution comes into place. “Illusions to illusions. The corpse that cannot return to earth returns to illusions.” Shannon’s corpse isn’t real because Kanon was at the scene, so lies took place.

To explain the scene at Natsuhi’s room, we will go back to Chapter 6. Maria rants about how scorpion charms ward off witches such as Beatrice. Shannon reaffirms this theory, and later puts it to use while planning the six murders. In Chapter 8, Jessica gives her scorpion charm to Natsuhi, and she hangs it on her door. Yasu most likely saw the charm and gave up on killing Natsuhi (keep in mind the purpose of killing the parents). She then settled for Gohda, who is the only servant who didn’t know the truth about her. To add the finishing touch, Yasu added the fake blood she uses later in the murders to her door to scare her, which fully recreated the scorpion charm myth.

Second Twilight: According to the epitaph, the victims of the second twilight will be “two who are close.” The only two who are close are the married couple of Eva and Hideyoshi, and are also dangerous accomplices who could expose her, so it would be twice as reasonable for Yasu to murder them. At a time where Kanon was unaccounted for, Yasu went to Eva and Hideyoshi’s room dressed up as Kanon. She shot them in the head and placed the stakes in the bullet spots in order to stick to her epitaph motif. Hideyoshi was placed in a running shower to create further chaos and confusion. It can be presumed that they were shot first because otherwise blood would be all over the walls and the bed.

Afterwards, Yasu went to the kitchen to get Genji as a watchdog in order to paint the magic circle. We as the readers are tricked to think that they are innocent and just checking on the couple. This can be predicted because the magic circle just suddenly appeared when Kanon came back with Kumasawa. It is said that it is a perfect closed room, but if they knew that these events occurred, they would probably come to a conclusion that is the same as mine. “Illusions to illusions. A chain of illusions can only hold back illusions.” Eva and Hideyoshi never mentioned a chain locking the door, only Kanon and Genji, so it had to be a lie. Even if the chain existed - logically, it would be easy for Yasu to lock the chain before leaving the room, creating the illusion of a perfect closed room.

Fourth Twilight: In Chapter 12, Eva talks about how she placed a receipt into the study door before she asked Natsuhi to go check on Kinzo. When Eva and Natsuhi went along to check on Kinzo, he “disappeared” and wasn’t in the study. Additionally, the receipt was in the exact same place as Eva put it in as they entered the door. To clarify, the receipt really exists because Natsuhi later says that she threw it in the trash when she saw it on the floor.

This would create a closed room scenario if not looked upon carefully. But with the evidence presented, it can be concluded that Kinzo was never there in the first place, even though everyone says he is. What would this suggest? He was already dead. “Illusions to illusions. Let the man of illusions go to where he belongs.” Krauss, Natsuhi, and the servants are “seen” with Kinzo throughout the first half of the novel. But looking back at what I just said, that is not possible. This means they are all faking his death, most likely to prevent a crazy incident to happen within the Ushiromiya family (I mean, look at the Rokkenjima Mass Murder). Knowing all this, it would be extremely easy for Yasu to stage Kinzo’s death to the unknowing family members.

Fifth Twilight: Considering the alibis, there is no possible way for Kanon and Kumasawa to hear a door closing in the boiler room. Kanon rushed down to the boiler room and saw “Beatrice.” Since Beatrice is Yasu, Kanon yelling at Beatrice would represent Yasu’s internal conflict about being a murderous sadist who causes grief to Battler and the others. In the end, Yasu goes through with it and stages a death for Kanon, so she can finish the last twilights easier. She presumably used the blood-like substance that was on Natsuhi’s door to stage Kanon’s death. “Illusions to illusions. The witch and stake of illusions can pierce naught but illusions.” The stake that apparently pierced Kanon was near him, not in him. Additionally, he was face down and the only confirmation of his death and the stab wound was Nanjo’s inspection.

Sixth, Seventh, & Eighth Twilight: The letter in the study must have been sneaked onto the table by one of the servants; most likely Genji. After all, Genji was with Kanon during the preparations for the second twilight, so he must have also slipped the letter under the door. While everyone was looking at the epitaph in the study, Maria and the servants were the only ones who weren’t seen. Maria couldn’t have done it because she legitimately believes in magic. After Natsuhi kicked Maria and the servants out, they went to the parlor. When the group in the study came down after getting the phone call in the study (from Yasu or Maria, this would also imply that Genji lied about the radio and phone not working), Maria claimed that Beatrice came through the door in the form of golden butterflies and spoke to them.

Again, when Genji said he was going to give all the keys in the mansion to Natsuhi, he lied because Yasu couldn’t have gotten in otherwise; Genji would have to lock the door in order to create an illusion for Maria. “Illusions to illusions. Illusions are the blind girls's song. Illusion of a closed room.” Adding onto Maria’s claim, she stated that Beatrice told her to face the wall and sing while she killed everyone else in the room, in order to prohibit Maria from seeing how she really does it. Either Yasu or Maria made the phone call and just left the wire hanging. Afterwards, Yasu left a taunting letter for Natsuhi and waited for her in the area with the portrait. Lastly, on the notion of Kumasawa being frightened (as Maria stated), it can simply be explained as her anxious nature toward the subject of death. Even if she knows something is going to happen, she’s still scared, as seen during the second and fifth twilights upon the body discoveries.

Final Moment: Natsuhi never fired the gun until the fight with “Beatrice.” The only logical explanation is that the gun had blanks (not by coincidence, Yasu had access to Kinzo’s room and his weapons; this means that she could tamper with them), because Natsuhi has no reason to kill herself as Jessica thought she did. Additionally, Alliance of the Golden Witch gives us two useful truths to help prove this:

“The bullet that killed Natsuhi was not fired from Natsuhi's gun; the thing that shot Natsuhi wasn't a trap, it was a real shooting murder with a gun raised and trigger pulled!”

The letter was about a duel between who should be the family head, as described as Natsuhi through her battle cry. Yasu revealed herself (dressed as Beatrice) to the children and simply waited for the explosives to go off (Rokkenjima used to be a military base of sorts, as elaborated on in Requiem of the Golden Witch).

Aftermath: It is said in the credits that Maria sent a message bottle to sea about the mass murder, but this was probably a fabrication by Yasu in order to conceal her identity to the police. The deaths by the game’s end were symbolized as “goats chewing them up,” which most likely refers to the Goat Butlers. Also, Shannon and Kanon can apparently exist as different beings inside Purgatorio, possibly because it is described by Bernkastel as “Beatrice’s realm,” and that Beatrice herself is a representation of the rules of the games (she doesn’t know about Yasu yet).

Pure Theory: Lastly, in Twilight of the Golden Witch, it is implied that Yasu committed suicide by drowning in the real world after the massacre and Battler tried to save her. Unfortunately, he didn’t succeed and instead suffered major brain damage and amnesia, making him a new person (Tohya Hachijo). This would mean that the only logical explanation for Battler not knowing anything in Legend of the Golden Witch and thinking it’s his normal life is that when both Yasu and Battler (Tohya’s former life) arrived in Purgatorio, Yasu started her game plan immediately.

Bonus: Here I will talk about how I think the Umineko universe and its writing works. It’s a bit simplified, but I hope I make sense.

Real World: The universe of Umineko When They Cry has multiple layers. The main two consist of fantasy and the real world. The message bottles are Yasu’s plans to murder the entire Ushiromiya family, but she never went through with them. In the first and second episodes, we see two of her message bottles in action. In addition, Ikuko’s novels (the third to sixth episodes) are based off of Yasu’s other message bottles that we haven’t seen.

Fantasy still plays a major part in the real world and how it shaped the characters. As seen in Twilight of the Golden Witch, Tohya comes to terms with everything in the end, with all of the magic and human characters around him. This was not just for us to see nor was it only an ending that wasn’t supposed to make sense. It would imply that the magical perspective of Battler and his adventures with Beatrice was part of Tohya’s thoughts and his regret over Yasu’s death.

Fantasy and Magic: Ange also has these types of thoughts, as revealed more clearly. Starting from the third (mainly the fourth) episode, we see that she uses Maria’s diary to escape in a fantasy world and go back into her past where she played around with the members of Mariage Sorciere. Bernkastel embodies her nihilistic thoughts of her life and the people around her. While it is supposed to look like the Ange we see in each episode is traveling to one world to another, it is actually a linear explanation of her experiences with a bit of magic added in.

The eighth episode concludes Ange’s journey, and shows that she has come to terms with everything that has happened to her family and herself. Ange in the seventh episode can be interpreted as what Tohya imagined she would feel when she discovered the truth, as Requiem of the Golden Witch is basically Tohya discovering the truth. This includes Yasu’s whole history, not just her plans to murder the Ushiromiya family.

#umineko no naku koro ni #umineko when they cry #legend of the golden witch #battler ushiromiya

[yasuda-yoshiya]

EP2 reread notes, Part 1

It’s been a long time, but my Umineko reread has been slowly progressing! Here is a long-overdue update.

My readthrough of Episode 2 has actually been complete for months. This episode is both particularly important to me and covers a lot of particularly sensitive material, and as such I was hesitant to just post my rough notes in mostly unedited form as I did with the first episode; I really wanted to make sure I could properly express a lot of things about this episode in particular, and to that end I’ve been fleshing out my notes into a more substantial commentary this time.

As such, it seems appropriate to split this one into multiple posts. I’d like to hope I can get the others out fairly soon, now that a lot of the draft has been fleshed out! But for now, here’s the first part of this episode, focusing on Shannon’s half of the flashback arc.

Prologue

* The way George's narration in the intro is worded really does emphasise just how much he values his relationship with Shannon primarily as feeding into his own self-worth, making him feel like he can play the part of the "guy teasing the girl he likes" when that's always been something that he's only been able to look at enviously from the outside before. It practically comes across like he's using her to act out his own pre-existing personal script for his "dream romance" a lot of the time. It always bothers me that Ryukishi captures these disturbing nuances so well, but doesn't really seem interested in following through on critically exploring them with George the way he does with his other characters...

* Well, I suppose you could say that Yasu values George for basically the same reason, that he makes her feel like "someone who can know love" when she sees that as an unattainable dream for herself. It's sort of interesting to me in theory to think of the George/Shannon relationship through the (very cynical) lens that it basically amounts to two people both using the other as a piece to achieve happiness for themselves, but it's hard for me to really see that as an equal thing when the whole dynamic is so transparently skewed towards George happily getting to achieve his dreams and play out all his personal fantasies with no worries while Yasu is quietly making all kinds of agonising internal compromises with herself in the background.

* The metaphor that Shannon uses about the huge tank at the aquarium "being no different from an infinite sea to the fish swimming inside" always really gets to me. I think the whole concept of being able to define your own reality and the idea that "if I just believe I'm happy, then I am happy" is one that feels very personally familiar and important to me, so Yasu's particular idea of "magic" and the way Umineko is built around exploring that is a big part of what makes it resonate so much with me. I always have mixed feelings about what Shannon expresses here; I think there's a lot of genuine truth and power in the sentiment (a lot of the value of life really does come down to what you perceive it to be), but at the same time I sort of feel like if you've reached the point of consciously telling yourself "my world is complete to me as long as I don't know what I'm missing" as a coping strategy, then by necessity that means you've already kind of gone past the point of being able to wholeheartedly believe in that illusion. In a way, that's what Beatrice ultimately breaking Shannon down represents. But at the same time, I still sort of find myself wanting to say that consciously struggling to "build a self-contained world for yourself" in that way can still lead to a valid and genuine sense of fulfilment, even so - and in a broad sense I think being able to find peace and satisfaction in something that you know to be imperfect is a skill that everyone has to learn to an extent.

* This idea also pretty much sets the stage for one of the main themes of the episode as a whole. The fish tank metaphor represents Shannon's attitude to her relationship with George that amounts to "This love can obviously never really happen, but I can create an illusion of love that will be real to us", and trying to convince herself that that's fine; much of the conflict between Shannon, Kanon and Beatrice that follows in the rest of the episode is centred around Yasu fighting with herself over whether she really can feel content with that much or not. In contrast, George's immediate thought in response is basically "However big it might be, it still just looks like a tank to me", which...well, it's no surprise that Yasu is so afraid of what might happen if he finds out that his relationship with her isn't really his dream come true, but an attempt to create an indistinguishable illusion of that dream being possible. It's vital for him to remain ignorant of the fact that their "tank" isn't actually an infinite sea.

* God, George is awful. That's all I've got to say about the rest of this sequence. I'm tired of talking about George.

* The whole scene at the shrine is really powerfully written, and possibly the first part of the series where we really hear the unfiltered voice of "Yasu" speaking. The symbol of the shrine mirror as a metaphor for Shannon's unchanging fate and the obstacle to Beatrice's resurrection takes on all kinds of new dimensions given everything that mirrors mean to Yasu; the thing that Yasu needs to destroy in order to become "human" in her eyes is "her self", her own reflection in the mirror. The physical reality of her own body prevents her from being the person she wants to be - a sentiment that goes way back to Yasu's feeling as a child that the reality of her own pitiful face reflected in the mirror was a threat to her image of herself as the great witch Beatrice. The way Yasu translates these pre-established parts of her personal mythology into a new context to convey how she feels about her present situation always feels very authentic to me.

“Furniture”

* And now we flash back to the origins of Shannon's feelings for George. I do find it a little easier this time to understand why George noticing and unobtrusively helping to smooth things over for Shannon when she made mistakes was so touching to her; she's so used to being unnoticed and taken for granted as a servant that it would mean a lot when George showed consideration for her as a person. And I do appreciate that his "humble-bragging" moment afterwards is framed as totally transparent and that he's willing to laugh at himself when Jessica mocks him for it too; I can see why a little flaw like that could seem endearing and humanising to Shannon from her perspective at the time, in the sense that it makes him feel approachably human and not just "admirable".

* Well, like I think yumeta said on Goats, Shannon and George's dynamic actually seems okay when they're allowed to mutually acknowledge and laugh about each other's "childish points" together, but it's when George gets in the creepily patronising role of talking about "rules" and "orders" and gleefully enjoying one-sidedly making her uncomfortable that it gets really gross to me... Unfortunately, George is really specifically invested in feeling like he's "becoming an adult" and "overcoming his childish phase" through this relationship, so it feels like he ends up actively working to stay securely in control of their dynamic as much as he can to prove that he's "a real man" or whatever. Being honest about his immature aspects and letting Shannon poke at his "cute points" too much probably hits too close to his insecurities for him to be willing to keep it up for all that long - which is a shame because I think that's probably the kind of relationship Yasu feels most comfortable with, as you can see from BeaBato.

* The way the narrative transitions between these two scenes gives a lot of insight into how things like this must have influenced Yasu's current view of herself. The memory of Eva's whole "you're not worthy of George, know your place you servant" rant in the past becomes a reminder to Yasu in the present, something she uses to reinforce to herself that she was foolish to think she could be anything more than furniture; this scene really makes it easy to see how Yasu finding out the truth about her body would have just fed even deeper into reinforcing these kinds of messages about her "inferior, unworthy, subhuman" position that she'd already been receiving her whole life because of her social status. Those two parallel aspects of her seeing herself as "furniture" definitely feed into each other a lot, and the subsequent scene with Natsuhi abusing her just goes on to further hammer this home; the idea that Yasu is less than human is something that her environment has drilled into her for a very long time, even without taking into account the issue of her body.

* At the same time, though, I think it's important to note the implication that Yasu evidently refused to meekly accept Eva's words at the time and did keep pursuing her relationship with George regardless. It's clear that Yasu's lifelong mistreatment as a servant alone *wasn't* enough to totally crush Yasu's sense of self-worth; continuing to pursue a relationship with someone so "far above her station" shows that despite everything around her reinforcing her inferior position, Yasu was still able to believe strongly enough in her own right to happiness that she was able to actively reject that deeply ingrained impulse to resign herself to her current misery on the grounds that she should just be grateful for what she had. A big part of the tragedy here is that it feels like Yasu having her status as subhuman and unworthy of love physically "confirmed" to her when she solved the epitaph really pushed her straight back into those terrible thought patterns, just as she was starting to cast them off.

* But even after enduring all of that, Yasu still can't bring herself to totally give up and accept that she can do nothing but resign herself to a fate of being furniture - instead she ends up fighting with all she has to overcome that subhuman status in a different way, as portrayed through Shannon's use of "Beatrice's magic" here. Much as it might be easy at first glance to dismiss Yasu's concept of herself as furniture as passive and self-defeating, I think it's important to note that her narrative is specifically centred around her desperately fighting AGAINST that perception of herself and trying to overcome it in whatever way she can, even with everything around her constantly trying to push her back down into the resignation and stagnation that "Shannon" represents. I feel like it's really missing the point to frame Yasu's pessimism about herself as primarily a problem of her own innate personality, rather than a problem of her initially strong hopes for herself being slowly crushed and eroded as an inevitable consequence of her brutal circumstances and the awful environment she's had to adapt to.

* The particular way that Beatrice tempts Shannon into breaking the shrine mirror - in other words, into going through with testing the explosives - is very illuminating in terms of what pushed Yasu over the edge. If love is the all-important "single element" and the only thing that can make a person's life worthwhile, then continuing to live in her "body incapable of love" would be dooming Yasu to a hollow and meaningless life, as far as she's concerned. On the other hand, if Shannon continues to "deceive" George by hiding the truth about her body, using "magic" to make that illusion real, then she can live as if she was a real human for a time - but the further she goes with that, the further she goes past the point of no return and commits herself to having to create the catbox in the end to preserve that love, because it can't last indefinitely. But as Beatrice puts forth, isn't that still better than living a hollow life forever?

* And of course the wonderful Kanon-kun comes to the rescue, driving Beatrice off and telling her to stop trying to lead Shannon astray. But Beatrice isn't concerned, because she knows her words have left their mark - as evidenced by the butterfly marks on Shannon and Kanon's hands. Even the framing of the narrative itself is designed to reinforce that sense of inevitability; at this point we've already witnessed the scene where Shannon breaks the mirror, so we "know" - as Yasu "knows" - that Shannon isn't going to be able to resist in the long run. Yasu just isn't able to resign herself to being unhappy forever; she'll take her chance at happiness even knowing it's likely to lead to ruin.

* And honestly, even though Yasu frames that as Shannon giving into an evil temptation, is it really so evil to want some level of happiness? What Shannon wants is only what any "normal" person would automatically be entitled to. I think Yasu's "Beatrice" in this episode generally becomes a lot more sympathetic when you understand that her anger at Shannon basically comes down to her refusing to accept her assertion that her miserable situation is fine as it is, and that she doesn't need or deserve anything more - because, frankly, Shannon *is* wrong about that. That genuinely is a messed up attitude. But of course, the other side of that is that, in the course of arguing that Shannon isn't fine as she is, she's also putting forth that her current state is truly miserable and pathetic and unfixable without resorting to drastic measures - and there's obviously a ton of unealthy self-loathing in that too, in a different way.

Wonderful Utopia

* Aaand then we flash forward into the future to show that George and Shannon's relationship is going smoothly, and Jessica and Shannon are talking together happily about it. This is a little dark when you consider the implication in light of the preceding scene (because Shannon gave in and accepted Beatrice's "magic", everything is going fine).

* This is really yet another thing that shows a huge amount of courage from Yasu when you think about it; Yasu was totally aware that going on an overnight trip with George could easily lead to her body being exposed, but she still went along with it. She was willing to risk "breaking the magic", even though that should have been unthinkable if she totally believed Beatrice was right about her relationship with George. Like Ryukishi said in the Answer interview, it must have been a very complicated feeling for Yasu when she found out that George booked separate rooms for them after all; of course she'd be glad not to be exposed in the short term, but in a way, it might have been a relief for her to have been "forced" into confessing the truth and taking the reaction as it came, to have the choice taken away from her. This is pretty much the same mindset on which Yasu ends up building the whole mystery roulette - deep down, she wants someone to stop her and "make her confess", so she gives the survivors all kinds of openings to "expose her", but she still needs someone to corner her into revealing everything. The fear of the consequences makes it impossible for her to step up and do it of her own accord. Even so, taking that kind of gamble with George here at all must have taken a lot of bravery...

* In contrast with Beatrice's mockery and derision of Shannon in the previous scene, now that Shannon has "accepted her" Beatrice is very friendly to her. The whole arc here, with Beatrice acting at first like she's truly happy for Shannon and George and has their best interests at heart and Shannon coming to see her as a friend, but then eventually revealing her true nature as an evil sadistic witch who was deliberately tormenting Shannon by making her know a happiness that she couldn't ever really be allowed to have...it totally works as its own story on the surface level, so nothing seems "off" about it on first read, but it really does hurt so much when you understand that it's Yasu reflecting back on her decision to keep pursuing love despite knowing she's "furniture", and how she tried to pretend to herself that that was a pure and noble thing when it really ended up being just a cruel way to increase her pain and deceive both George and herself with the false promise of a relationship that could never be fulfilled.

* The way Beatrice is so persistent, even while still maintaining her friendly facade, in reminding Shannon not to "get too full of herself" and forget that her love is only possible because of Beatrice's magic - in other words, not to delude herself into thinking that George and Shannon's love might actually go deep enough to survive the revelation about her body - is extremely upsetting. I don't actually think she's wrong about this (that George is really in love with an "illusion" of Shannon rather than Yasu herself), though to me that's more a testament to George being a jerk than to Yasu being fundamentally unlovable - but I think the genuine truth in what she's saying makes it a lot harder for Yasu to shrug it off.

* This part makes it clear that Shannon's attitude has changed quite a bit since we saw her hopelessly lamenting earlier. She concedes to Beatrice that her relationship with George could only have started because of her magic - but she wants to believe that, now that their relationship has progressed this far, she doesn't need that magic any more. She wants to believe that their love has become strong enough that it can survive George finding out the truth. And that “should” be the case, right? If everything George says about the strength of their love is true, it should be able to overcome that kind of barrier easily. That's why Shannon was willing to take that risk of going on an overnight trip with George. Beatrice sort of indulgently agrees for now, but she also insists that Shannon keeps the brooch around just in case she does want to use it again; as much as Yasu would like to totally believe that George would accept her, she can't abandon the catbox as a fall-back option.

* It really hurts to read this because Yasu obviously really, really wanted to believe in what Shannon is saying - it's really easy, and heartbreaking, for me to imagine Yasu originally choosing to keep going with George knowing that she was only constructing an "illusion" and that the magic would have to end some day, but then as things went on, to start to let herself believe that, you know what, maybe love could conquer everything! Maybe there's hope for her to live as a human after all! But it also makes perfect sense to me that Shannon ultimately "loses" to Beatrice on this, because the reality of the signals George was giving her (laughing off and dismissing any tentative attempts Shannon made to bring up her issues or to question his perception of their relationship and the picture he was painting of their future) make it very, very hard to believe he would really react well to hearing the truth.

*Another aspect of this is that...well, from Yasu’s perspective, the longer she goes without revealing the truth to George, the more chance there is for George to become strongly  invested in her as a person and to develop the kinds of resilient feelings that could theoretically withstand the revelation about her body - but also, the more devastating the potential fallout becomes when George finds out about her “keeping this secret for so long” and “letting things proceed this far without telling him”. I’m hesitant to talk too firmly about this, but I think that kind of uncomfortable balancing act in terms of considering "when to tell your partner” is probably something a lot of people in similar situations to Yasu can relate to, and it’s remarkable to me that Ryukishi is able to capture the stress of that kind of situation so well.

* The way Shannon reflects on Beatrice's underlying loneliness and how she becomes a lot more approachable when you get to know her is really sweet and endearing! The way Yasu writes Beatrice's character here in her "friendship" with Shannon is very consistent with the image of Beatrice we get from Maria's (and even Natsuhi's) scenes with her later - of someone who seems like an intimidating, all-powerful witch on the surface, but actually has a lot of endearingly cute and childish traits once you get to know her, getting all excited over the sweets Shannon brings her from Okinawa. It really comes across here, just as it does with Maria, that she's really desperate for company and genuinely overjoyed to have someone to talk to since she's been trapped on the island for so long - she may be "all-powerful" in magical terms, but the loneliness of living in an environment where no one else can recognise or acknowledge that power, and the unexpected joy of having someone who can actually see it and be grateful for her use of it, is also evident.

* I really like how those things that Beatrice's character expresses about Yasu still translate so strongly when she's being written into a completely fictional, metaphorical scenario - the person who Beatrice is enjoying being able to help with her magic and receiving gratitude from here is...well, uh, herself, in pure physical terms, but the reaction that Beatrice would theoretically have to Shannon as a separate person in this fictional narrative also expresses important things about her character. Aah, I just really love the unique way Yasu is characterised through these constructs, it's so clever and multilayered and I could gush about it endlessly, ahaha.

* And once again, Kanon comes along to break up this chat and scold Shannon for listening to the witch. God, Kanon and Beatrice's mutual antagonism in this episode is really intense. I'll talk about it a lot more when we get to the more Kanon-centric parts of this episode, but they really do hate each other a lot, and the things that mutual hatred expresses about Yasu's self-loathing always hit me particularly hard.

* It's amazing how easy it is in hindsight to read this scene as Yasu wrestling with herself; it all flows very naturally once you understand what they're really talking about. Yasu really wants to believe she can overcome her being "furniture" by achieving love, but Kanon represents the part of her that remains cynical about that possibility; he believes that she's letting Beatrice delude her into mistaking the illusion of love she's created for something real. He's kind of right, too; though I absolutely don’t believe it’s impossible for a strong love to withstand something like Yasu’s secret in principle, Kanon is right that George and Shannon's relationship isn't really the perfect fairytale love that Shannon would like it to be, and Shannon really has put herself in a very dangerous and precarious position by letting her relationship with George proceed this far. At this point, though, Shannon seems stronger than Kanon; she's optimistic enough about George right now that she wants to believe she doesn't need Beatrice's magic any more.

* It's sort of important to note that Kanon and Beatrice are pretty much aligned on their view of Yasu's situation - yeah, it sucks and it's hopeless, she's totally furniture, George won't accept her at all - but their opinions on how Yasu should respond to that are very different. Again, though, that's probably best saved for when we get more into their interaction...

* Regardless, for now, while Shannon is in this positive frame of mind, she decides to give Kanon a chance at Beatrice's "magic" too, lending him the brooch. And note the implication here - if Yasu is really so happy and optimistic about Shannon's relationship with George, as this scene tries to push so hard, then why does Kanon still need to be given a chance? This sort of implies to me that Yasu's not as confident in George's acceptance as she might want to admit; it's kind of ugly to say that Yasu might have been partly thinking of Jessica as a "backup plan", as Confession puts it, but there is an element of that in here. But I'd also argue that Yasu wants Kanon to try to pursue love because the idea of gaining happiness as Kanon specifically is so important to her that she needs to check out that possibility too.

* Kanon grudgingly decides that "maybe he might learn something if he tries this magic" - in other words, despite his skepticism, maybe if Yasu did seriously try living as Kanon, it could make him happy in a way he didn't foresee. This gains even more weight in light of Confession - we know that hearing Jessica express interest in Kanon gave Yasu a totally unexpected rush of euphoria. This new gambit, to give Kanon a chance of "magic", is informed by that - Yasu has to try to pursue and explore that new sense of happiness she experienced back then, even with Shannon already being in such a committed relationship with George.

* In a way, it's sort of interesting that Yasu's decision to pursue love with Kanon comes at a point when Yasu is feeling more optimistic about herself - at the point where she's able to try to tell herself that "love can overcome being furniture", and where she's willing to take risks like the overnight trip with George on that basis, even though Kanon and Beato's words of warning obviously represent her lingering doubts about that. Kanon normally shows so much pessimism about himself that trying to achieve love himself would be unthinkable - if Yasu's unable to even fully believe in Shannon being able to achieve love, when Shannon is so intentionally designed to be lovable and to compromise Yasu's internal self to that end, then how could Kanon possibly have a chance? But when Shannon momentarily experiences hope through her own relationship and becomes more optimistic about herself for a while, that sort of serves as a stepping stone to letting herself believe that maybe Kanon’s chances might not be so remote either. I guess you could say that's something good that came out of the George/Shannon relationship, although when all was said and done Yasu probably regretted making things even more complicated for herself by opening up this avenue too...

* And that’s as good a stopping point as any. Next time, I get to talk more about Kanon-kun, which is always very exciting!

#umineko #umineko reread

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 8 & 9 (Part 1)

“think of her as my daughter” “is it okay if i date her then” “what” “what”

The chapter opens on Kumasawa and Chick in... Uh, Battler’s meta-study? I guess? who even knows anymore

The two of them set out a plate of cookies for Battler. D’aww.

In, uh... i don’t even know anymore but at any rate, Elder comments on Chick “sparing no efforts for the sake of her beloved Father.” Yasu really, truly loved Battler, didn’t she...

“To think that I would give Battler cookies... Why should I, the ruler of the night, do so much for a guest who comes so rarely?” lol

Ooof, and then Battler returns, clearly not too happy to see Chick and Kumasawa there. Kumasawa explains that Chick baked the cookies on the table for him as a gift.

“Battler looked at the plate on the study desk that was piled up with beautiful cookies... and the message card of encouragement lying next to it, and his face twisted with a complex expression, which might have had traces of both sadness and anger contained within it...”

He does thank her for the gift, but goes on to say he “doesn’t like sweets.” “I am grateful for her feelings. ...I’m in the middle of a vital game right now. This is the final game... and it’s vital both for me... and Beato as well. So please. Try not to trouble me any more than is necessary.”

Kumasawa balks and tries convincing Battler to at least try one, clearly quite upset about it. “Master, do you think there might be poison inside them!?”

“...Yeah. If Beato ever came to give me cookies... Of course I’d think that she’d put some kind of crazy poison in them...” I can’t help but feel sympathetic for both of them, here. Battler’s wracked with guilt over the end of the last game and what he did to Beato, and Chick doesn’t understand what she’s done wrong (because she hasn’t, really) to warrant the cold treatment he’s giving her... It’s really sad.

In Featherine’s study, Ange seems unsure of what to think. “I don’t have a clue why Onii-chan and Beato act so friendly together. Right now, I think of Beato as our greatest enemy, the one we must defeat... Still, even so... As a woman, I... can’t say I like Onii-chan’s reaction.”

“Onii-chan’s reason for defeating Beato isn’t to destroy an enemy out of hatred... It feels like he wants to give a sincere answer to her questions.”

“...Beatrice. I want to ask you something.” wait is this

“When Ange asked her question, Beato, who had been reading a Fragment book in the shadows of the study, jumped.” oh fuck it is

i was going to say “so let’s recap here” and go over the like fifty different layers of meta here but i don’t even know where to start, oh well let’s try anyway

so we’re reading a story (umineko) about a story (forgery dawn) written by a character in-universe (tohya) about two characters (featherine and ange) reading a story (kakera dawn) about another character (beato), and ange turns around to ask someone else (also beato) a question about the story she is in

i hate this

Anyways, back on track. Ange cuts right to the point, asking Chick why she calls Battler “Father.” She repeats what she’s said before - that Battler created her - and Ange asks why she’s so dedicated to him in the first place. “It’s almost as though... that’s your goal as a piece.”

“Yes... That is the goal that gave birth to me.” Ange asks if Battler gave her that role, and Featherine clarifies that he merely “set a piece with that goal” on the board - and, furthermore, that the first game master - Beato as we know her - was the one to create Chick to begin with.

“...Aaaah, this is getting confusing.” ANGE

Ange summarizes that Chick calls Battler “Father” affectionately, in part because he was the one to put her on the board to begin with, and then asks who gave her the goal of devoting herself to Battler in the first place - only to realize that the answer is the original Beato, who isn’t around to explain anymore.

“I will... do anything for Father... My existence will bring him happiness. ...That is my one and only pleasure... And... And... if I could one day have Father acknowledge my efforts... it would be my one and only joy...”

oh god hope started playing help

“...What the hell. If you only wanted to serve him, I’d say you’re just another furniture of the witch... but you want him to acknowledge your efforts? That’s less like furniture and more like...” And then it clicks: “That’s less like furniture and more like... you’re just a girl... who loves Onii-chan.”

“The guiding force behind this Beato’s actions... is that of a girl who adores Onii-chan. But then, what does that make this Beato? If the first Beato liked Onii-chan, then she should’ve adored him and done things for him herself. Why would she create ‘a piece of herself,’ a separate entity, to do it...? This way... even if she does attract Onii-chan’s attention, it will be towards the piece version of herself, not the creator who made that piece. [...] It’s as though this love is destined to go unrewarded... No matter how devoted she is, she will never get anything out of it.”

“That’s right... This Beato was created as a ‘piece’... because of an impossible reason...”

Ange and Chick discuss the old Beato a bit more, and Chick decides to start calling Battler “Battler-san” instead of Father. She goes back to reading her Fragment book, as dedicated as ever...

Back in the tale itself, Battler’s sitting alone in the study. “There was no colour in this dimly lit room. However... for just the short time that the plate of cookies had been placed there, the room had seemed at least a little cheery...”

He summons an image of the cookies on the desk and just sorta looks at them... then summons a piece of the old Beato. “Come ooon, have a bite~ It’s not every day that I’ll make these by hand...! Have no fear, I’m confident in how well they’ve turned out.”

One by one, he summons a few of the other magic characters - Ronove, Virgilia, Gaap, etc. - and has them make a pithy comment of some sort. Battler ends up reaching out for the plate, only for everyone to disappear just before he touches it... that is, everyone except for Beato.

Even though this is basically a conversation Battler’s having with himself, there’s a lot of interest to it. “...The more the new ‘me’ differs from the form you wished for... the more you are reminded that I can never be revived again, correct...?” Battler starts crying, though he also says, “If you never appear again... that’d be a relief.”

“The ‘me’ you were expecting... has already disappeared. My soul, femininity, sparkling personality, and splendid character were cultivated in a thousand years spent as a witch. Unless an exactly identical thousand years is traversed, it is impossible to become me.” Battler comments that Bern’s already guaranteed Beato will never be revived, and Beato retorts that Battler’s hoping for it regardless.

“One day, the new ‘me’ trips and lands on her head, and all her memories of the past are restored! ...You were hoping for something like that, weren’t you? Ahahahahahaha! A delusional plot like that wouldn’t even pass in a light novel these days!”

Battler comments that Beato was hoping for pretty much the same thing from him in the past, and she goes silent. “Does this mean... that our relationship... is exactly the opposite now of how it once was...?”

“...Well, at times, I did continue the game believing that you would eventually notice and remember, that a miracle would occur.” Battler asks her how it felt, and she cackles and tells him to “look inside his own heart.”

Battler reflects on how maybe he’d be able to cope better if Chick didn’t like the same as Beato herself, and she says, “Well, do as you wish. In the past, I toyed with you and tormented you... Now’s your chance for revenge against me.”

“...I would if it was you. It’d probably make me feel a lot better. ...But... that Beato... isn’t you.”

“Because the new Beato seems like a different person, I can’t accept her. Even though I know she’s a different person... she keeps reminding me of Beato’s face.”

“In that case... why not think of her as my daughter?”

oh no thanks for being born is playing now I’m actually crying

“She does share my blood, so consider her a daughter that closely resembles me. After all, she is my double, but hasn’t lived a thousand years, so calling her that is not incongruous. Imagine that I have died, left behind a daughter... and entrusted her to you. That way, won’t it become a little easier to think of how to deal with her?”

“You are free to press my likeness upon her. You may also let loose your pent up resentment on her in my place. Making her bear my sins and torturing her as you please may calm your grudge. If that doesn’t match your tastes, you can also guide her down the right path so that she does not end up on the inhumane road that I have tread. [...] ...With a miracle of a thousand years, she might even become me.”

With that, Battler realizes just how harsh he was being to Chick earlier, and notices that the card she left with her cookies is on the floor... except he can’t read it through his tears (or the ink is smudged by his tears, I’m not entirely sure which tbh).

Meanwhile, back on the board, Shannon, George, Kanon, and Jessica have been transported into Zepar and Furfur’s smoking room... lounge... thing. magic gonna magic

Shannon’s apparently told George a bit about what’s going to happen, leaving Jessica as the only one completely in the dark. He mentions “a test for a pair of lovers,” though.

Shannon and Kanon put the two halves of the brooch back together, and it shatters, unleashing Zepar and Furfur. YESSSS HERE WE GO

BEAAATORIIIIIIIIICHEEE

And then the two Beatos appear, right... Elder introduces Chick as her “double and little sister.” bern wasn’t kidding when she said beatrice didn’t necessarily mean “a single woman” back in ????1 huh

Zepar and Furfur explain that with the brooch broken, their work is almost done - “It was decided when the contract was made. It was decided that we must lend our power one more time before our final farewell.”

“So, this is truly the final miracle!”

Elder goes on to explain. “Those gathered here are ones cursed to have unsuccessful love unless a miracle occurs. The power of the golden butterfly brooch, which can grant this miracle, is your last chance, and like it or not, this chance is limited to this evening! This miracle can be given only to a single pair!”

Jessica does not take this well at all, understandably. When Shannon asks, Kanon says, “I didn’t know... how I should explain it.” Chick expresses confusion as well, asking Elder if she can’t explain it any better.

“With our blessing, the pair can cultivate their love at their leisure! No need to worry about suspicious demons!” “However, without our blessing, your love will vanish, disappear, wither, and decay.” Jessica angrily asks why.

“Because it is fate!! You may choose not to accept it, you may choose not to resist it!!” yeah i feel like i should have something to say here but really this is pretty blatant isn’t it

“Ushiromiya Jessica, the future you two share is far more grim than you realize.” YEAH NO KIDDING

Elder repeats what’s been said before - unless he and Jessica win, Kanon will end up leaving the island, never to return. “You will probably leave the island yourself in search of the one you love, but such a venture will doubtless be in vain!”

Jessica’s pretty angry, but she remembers something Kanon told her a long time ago - namely, that if Shannon were to ever stop working on Rokkenjima, he’d probably quit as well. Yasu really did think of everything, didn’t she?

On the other hand, if Kanon and Jessica were to win, Kanon would stay on the island with her, and they’d be able to develop their relationship from there... but, in return, George and Shannon won’t get together, though it’s not explained why (yet, at least).

“Without the power of the golden butterfly brooch, neither love is fated to bear fruit.”

Jessica, understandably, asks why the hell that is, and Elder replies, “It is due to your sin of falling in love with furniture, which is not allowed to love.”

George suggests looking at it as a test “to see who can display the strength of their feelings more strongly.”

“When I gave Shannon that engagement ring, I swore to fight all trials and barriers that stand in my way. ...No matter how unreasonable or incomprehensible these trials might be... I cannot choose to avoid them.”

“...We must fight openly for that single miracle. Even if I lose at the end... I’ll be able to accept it if we both gave it our all. And because of that, I will be able to cheer on the victors from the bottom of my heart.”

Shannon apologizes, saying that she’s “determined not to flinch in her resolve,” despite knowing what’ll inevitably happen to Jessica and Kanon’s relationship if she and George win. God, I can understand why Yasu would’ve felt so horrible about this...

“Love brings about conflict, and this conflict gives rise to determination. As the demons of love, [Zepar and Furfur] could understand more fully than any others how noble that determination was...” god

And then Elder comments that Chick is just as eligible for this miracle as the other two pairs of lovers. Hey readers are we getting the hint here yet huh

“With the miracle of the golden butterfly brooch... even your wish... your wish that your affection for Battler will be acknowledged, can be granted easily. ...And without a miracle... you also can never be bound to him.”

Zepar and Furfur state that they were planning on including Chick from the beginning. Jessica, Kanon, George, and Shannon all agree to it and restate their resolve, and Elder asks Chick if she feels the same way.

“...Yes... If there is even a small chance that Father - ah, no... that Battler-san will acknowledge me, I’m willing to put myself on the line.”

And so the demons of love declare, “Let’s begin this trial of lovers, the fight over a single miracle of magic...!!”

Meanwhile, Erika’s gone up to her room on the second floor of the guesthouse. This time around, it’s on the other end of the hall from the cousins’ room. gg batora

She tries making some of her duct tape (or packing tape, as of the Mangagamer release, but we haven’t switched to that yet so shhh) seals from the previous game, only to find out it’s not sticky enough to be used for... pretty much anything, let alone her seals.

“Letting Erika get her hands on duct tape gave her a fatal weapon to use against witches.” i’m just quoting this because i love how it sounds out of context

Dlanor points out that in all likelihood, any substitutes for the tape have also been tampered with, meaning Erika’s out of luck. She kinda takes it in stride and flops over on the bed, clearly in a bad mood.

“...Why do you hate magic, Lady Erika? [Maria’s cup-and-candy magic] was nothing more than a foolish trick to deceive CHILDREN. Everyone knew THAT... Was it really necessary to go so far to destroy that ILLUSION?”

Erika replies with, “Well, I am a self-proclaimed intellectual rapist. I can’t stand having magic confuse the truth.” Dlanor can tell that there’s something other than just “pleasure” behind her actions, though. Erika denies it and turns away, then starts talking to... herself, probably.

“I love you.” SHIP SHIP SHIP (nah i don’t actually ship it sorry)

Erika proceeds to go through random bits from her backstory, from the niceties her then-boyfriend told her to some of the strange things that started popping up - a new wallet, new cologne, suddenly having a part-time job, and so on.

“I found tons of evidence that I loved you. I found tons of evidence that you loved me. But I couldn’t find any evidence that you haven’t been cheating on me.”

“If you really find it that hard to trust me, we’re through. Stay away, just go home, bitch, I don’t love you anymore. Don’t cry dammit, it’s disgusting. Just die. Stop shouting, dammit, you’re annoying the neighbourhood. Just get the hell away from me and never come back.”

“...Without love, it cannot be seen? ...Hah. That’s backwards. Because of love, you end up seeing things that don’t even exist. It’s nothing more than an illusion, one that no one except you can see, and one that even you can never touch. Without love, humans would never need to sift through truth and lies.”

I’m pretty sure I already said it, but... Man, even if I’m guilty of not looking at Erika with enough ‘love’, her backstory here falls completely flat for me. For one thing, it’s coming after she had so much fun tormenting Natsuhi in Ep5 and destroying Maria’s illusion in the lounge earlier - it ends up feeling to me like a pithy attempt to make her sympathetic, and... it just doesn’t work. I can’t quite put my finger on why it doesn’t work for Erika, when we’ve got other terrible characters like Rosa and Kinzo (and even Yasu, to an extent) running around, but... it just doesn’t.

Part of that, and the second thing, is that Erika’s backstory just doesn’t make sense to me. While we’re never given an exact number, the narrative does say that she’s younger than Jessica and Battler, putting her around 16 or 17 at the oldest (I’m not sure where I got 14 from, don’t ask). This backstory? Suggests a woman who’s in her 20′s or late teens at the youngest to me, not someone who’s in middle school. I mean, yeah, sure, willing suspension of disbelief, plus as Bern’s piece who knows what the hell kind of person Erika was to begin with, but... it just doesn’t work for me.

...Though I suppose it’s kinda funny that one of the themes I like about Umineko so much - how two different, contradictory options are both “true” - is what trips me up with Erika, huh?

At any rate. “Right now, I am happy... Though it may be temporary, I have become the Witch of Truth. ...As I am now... I no longer need to worry about being tormented by non-red words.”

Erika ask Dlanor how she’d respond to her accusations, and the two of them re-enact the “game” Erika had against her boyfriend. It’s horrifically one-sided, in Erika’s favour.

Before leaving, Dlanor says, “A splendid game, Lady Erika. Even before you became Lady Bernkastel’s piece, you truly were a splendid wielder of the blue TRUTH... However, Lady Erika. Humans are only allowed to use the blue TRUTH. The only thing that can counter blue truth is red TRUTH. Humans are not allowed to use the red TRUTH... In that case, how should your opponent have shown his TRUTH?”

Erika just sorta replies with “who knows.” I’ll admit to feeling a pang of sympathy for her here...

“...You certainly were the victor in that GAME. However, allow me to say this as a protector of the TRUTH. [...] ...This game is your VICTORY. However... you still have not denied the six points of blue truth evidence that I showed to claim that I still loved YOU. ...Even you are HUMAN. You cannot use red truth to deny those POINTS.” 

Erika smugly replies that she “used the detective’s authority” to have her argument elevated to red truth. “I am human, yet superior to humans. A detective and a witch. I am the Witch of Truth, Furudo Erika. Any other questions? Parting remarks?”

Dlanor hesitantly says no and leaves, leaving Erika laughing bitterly on her own. Glancing at the clock, she notices that it’s almost midnight.

“The curtain has finally opened on the second day, October 5th. ...I wonder if the murder this time is happening somewhere about now. I hope our victims leave us some interesting dying messages this time.” yikes™

Elsewhere, George is confronting Eva about his engagement with Shannon. it’s finally murder time

#kyuutext #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni chiru #dawn of the golden witch

[sg2tiger]

That almost every theme and metaphor in the series comes back to Sayo's existence. I remember after my first read, I felt that the Ushiromiya's were a little shafted in Chiru, but then I soon realized that while they kinda were, the more you learn about Sayo, the more you realize she's kind of like a culmination of every aspect of the Ushiromiya family's tragedy. And returning back to Sayo's motivation, I feel like while it was profound, the impact could only be felt if you went back and (cont)

(I feel like I might have missed an ask here, but this one is showing up as the first of three…going to just answer this one on its own because I felt like it deserved its own topic)

I would disagree with you about the Ushiromiyas. In fact, I’d say that the only characters of the original 18 who didn’t feel sufficiently developed by the end of the series are Hideyoshi and Nanjo. And yes, that includes Chiru - starting with EP5, let’s think of the characters who got a lot of significant development in Chiru (mind you I can’t include EP8 having not read it myself, so this is just EP5-7).

I know this one’s gonna get long too so let’s save some scrollbars.

Going in order of family rank because why not:

Kinzo: EP7 gives us a lot of insight into his character. Since he’s alive in Lion’s world, we know that the Kinzo we’re seeing is the real deal, and not a fabrication like previous Episodes. Aside from being a bit less mad as a result of Lion not dying, I’d say the Kinzo that Will meets with is otherwise exactly the same as the Kinzo from other worlds. Though the flashback he shows us is very tinted by rose-colored glasses, it also tells us quite a bit about his past. Maybe the story about how he met Bice is idealized quite a bit, but we still get a good lens into how his life was toyed with by the Ushiromiya elders, and how this could have driven him into the mindset of the Kinzo we know. In fact, isn’t it quite similar to Yasu? He was forced to live a life that he felt he had no control over, and so he turned to his hobby of the occult as a form of escapism, much like Yasu turns to her fantasies, or Maria turns to her own occult interests. This is an overarching theme among various characters in the series - the idea of ‘running away’ to an idealized fantasy as a means of escaping an unfortunate life. Finally, in the flashback scenes where we see Yasu solve the epitaph, we get to see how he deeply regrets what he did to Kuwadorian’s Beatrice, and how much he just wants to apologize one last time. He knows he’s being unreasonable when he asks Yasu to call him ‘Father’…but he begs her to do so, because now, at the end of his life, he just wants to feel that feeling that he rejected so much from Kuwadorian Beatrice (who we know was not allowed to call him Father) and feel like a parent. We know that what Kinzo did was inexcusable, and so does he, but in the end all he wants is to repent before he dies. Considering EP7 is our biggest look at a living Kinzo and not a representation of him as shown in the games where he’s long dead, I would say Chiru actually gives us the most significant information about the family head.

Krauss: EP5 shows us how much he truly loves his family. He tells Natsuhi that they’ll file for divorce once the whole business with Kinzo is over, and that he’ll make sure to secure a happy life for her and Jessica. He’s thinking of them before anyone else, basically saying ‘sorry I was such a shitty husband and forcing you guys to deal with my dumb financial decisions’. We also know from Natsuhi’s flashbacks that, when Krauss was away from Rokkenjima’s stifling environment and always trying to impress Kinzo, he was actually a really easygoing guy. EP7 also shows us how he does care about his siblings, with how he sticks up for Rudolf while Natsuhi berates him for his infidelity driving Battler away. That image EP3 cemented for a lot of people, of Krauss being a misogynistic ass and bully to his siblings, was unfortunately damning and I don’t think that’s fair. That was a young man trying to impress his very traditional father, and since Krauss is the heir apparent he’s always had that pressure hanging over his shoulder. When you take Krauss out of that environment where he’s trying so hard to be worthy of a father who never acknowledged him, he’s actually a really good husband and father, and he does love his younger siblings despite it all.

Eva: EP7 tea party. ‘nuff said. I also know EP8 deals with some of the inherent issues between her and Ange, so I imagine she gets some good development there, as well. We also have the whole fight with George in EP6 which, while not necessarily positive development (development does not have to be positive!!), shows a lot about her parenting style and the harsh way she brought up George, while believing that was for his best well-being.

Rudolf: EP7 tea party…er, ‘nuff said. But also, Chiru as a whole gives us a much better picture of Rudolf’s inner character than previous Episodes (where he was often shown through Battler’s perspective) had. We see in an EP7 flashback how much he regretted having cheated on his wife with Kyrie and getting her pregnant, and how he saw raising Ange as a form of repentance (I’d assume he actually meant repentance for what he did with switching Battler’s birth, IE, actually letting Kyrie raise her own child this time). Even during the whole tea party shenanigans (which mind you I haven’t hit yet in my reread so these memories are a bit more outdated) we get a feeling that he probably isn’t nearly as thrilled about what they’re doing as Kyrie is (not that this excuses him, at all), and how he still, if nothing else, wants to make sure Battler is spared - and that he sits them down and tells them the truth about them being parent and child. Like I said, character development does not have to be praiseworthy, but I think Chiru definitely gives us a lot of insight about Rudolf’s character.

Rosa: Rosa is a lot less developed in Chiru than she was in the question arcs, but that’s okay, because she was developed a whole lot in the question arcs. However, EP6 does show us a bit more insight into her situation with Maria’s father, which was one of those little mysteries that hadn’t really been addressed up to then. EP5 also shows the more wise side of Rosa when we see her discussing the epitaph with Battler and Erika, and her tendency to think that her opinions are stupid or meaningless even when she’s actually onto some big insights with the epitaph. This shows us more just how much her siblings beat into her head that she was stupid and inferior, so even when they’re not around, she tends to be the type of person who thinks that every word from their mouth is going to be stupid and that they’re bothering other people by even talking about it. A lot of my friends have these exact tendencies, always apologizing for saying things they think are dumb or being afraid to ask questions, etc, so I would say that even little scenes like this that give you more insight into the sort of character someone is are important. Rosa is also one of those characters with a very negative reputation, so I feel like a lot of people tend to overlook just how much emotional abuse Rosa herself has suffered through, and that she is in fact pitiable (not that it excuses her abuse of Maria at all, but it does EXPLAIN it quite a bit).

Jessica: The love duel in EP6 and her whole relationship with Kanon is expanded on, even if much of it is just a rehash of the ideas from EP2. We also see her in sharp contrast to the gung-ho and determined George, and how she’s really hesitant about even participating in the love trial for a long time (note her fight scene with Kyrie). EP7 also gives us the ghost story about the time she got pranked in the VIP room, and tells us that her asthma is FAKE and something she does to get out of uncomfortable situations. We also find out a very interesting attitude that serves to explain (faintly) why she maybe didn’t notice Kanon = Shannon - when the truth behind something feels more uncomfortable and ominous to her than a lie or an excuse, she’ll take the excuse. The idea of the servants banding together JUST to prank her was way too over the top and unsettling, so she decided that believing in her own active imagination was a better alternative. Perhaps on some level she did notice that Kanon was just Shannon in different clothes…but the fact that she was developing feelings for her long-time meido made her uncomfortable, so she played along with the idea that Kanon was a boy.

George: His confession to Shannon in…was it EP6? About his past character and jealousy over her relationship with Battler, tells us a lot about George’s personality and how he’s ‘evolved’ since he met Shannon. His fight with Evatrice also expands on the kind of home life he suffered, which was harsh even if he did respect that his mother had his best interests at heart. In general I’d say we get a more realistic depiction of George in Chiru than we did in the question arcs, where more often than not he was portrayed as little more than the wise, level-headed, calm and dutiful older cousin. The love trial also reinforced the ideas shown in EP4 during his fight with Gaap, about how strong his determination to marry Shannon was, and how - despite some rather ugly emotions initially making him interested in her - he really does love her.

Battler: Pretty sure I do not have to write an essay to show how much character development Battler gets in Chiru XD

Maria: Like her mother, Maria takes more of a back seat role in Chiru compared to her development in the question arcs…however, there’s still a lot we can get out of her scenes. Her fight with Erika in EP6, and her story to Will about how she met Beatrice in EP7, both show just how strongly she believes in Beatrice and her magic, even if on some level she might realize that it’s a lie. EP7 gives us a lot of insight into why Maria developed the way she did, growing up being bullied at school for not having a father, and how raising the subject made her mother become aggressive. She falls into her occult hobby out of a desire to stand out and make an identity for herself…which Beatrice then fosters as the two of them become friends and create Mariage Sorciere. When you put this information together with the things we learned about Maria in the question arcs, her entire life clicks into place and you can really understand what kind of person she is, and why she’s another example of the overarching theme of escapism in Umineko.

Natsuhi: Um, all of EP5. Like, literally all of EP5? EP5 is the Natsuhi episode. Almost all of her development comes from EP5. Before Chiru, we actually didn’t know all that much about Natsuhi or her life - yeah, she’s The Lead Mom in EP1 and that does focus on her somewhat, but after EP1 she’s generally relegated to ‘that temperamental and bossy bitch who’s obsessed with Kinzo’s dignity and will yell at you if you insinuate that Kinzo was his mistress’. EP5 actually gives Natsuhi multiple layers of character, and I don’t think I need to really lay it all out here - if you’ve read EP5, you know just how much Chiru did to develop her character. As an aside, though, also that scene in EP7 where she chews out Rudolf for his infidelity, which shows that she’s not afraid to Tell It Like It Is when it’s something she feels strongly about, and how she really does sympathize with Battler in this situation.

Hideyoshi: Poor guy. RIP character development.

Kyrie: …Hahaha…haha…ha…haaaa……… (EP7 tea party aside, though, her fight with Jessica in EP6 also gives us a lot of insight into her character…and perhaps, uh, foreshadowing. EP5 too reinforces how cunning she is since wasn’t she the one who initially felt the 1985 conference was ‘off’ and suspected that Kinzo might be dead, convincing the other siblings of the whole plan to force the truth out of Krauss in ‘86? And probs EP8 also goes into more detail about her since I know that’s The Ange Episode and this is obviously a pretty huge issue for her)

(you said Ushiromiyas specifically but let’s just cover every character anyways)

Nanjo: RIP. Though, we do get to squeeze a little development out of him by way of it being confirmed that he was one of the three Secret Keepers who knew the truth about Yasu and Kuwadoriantrice. Other than that, though… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Genji: Genji’s always been a tough nut to crack, and I really do wish we got to know more about him. However, EP7 paints a very strong picture of what he’s really like underneath his undying loyalty as a servant and friend to Kinzo. He actually went against his master’s wishes and lied about the baby being dead because he didn’t want to see Kinzo repeat his mistakes on this child. Granted, the end result of his actions was…uh, not so great, but he had good intentions at heart. And he did watch over Yasu like a father figure for all those years…to the point of agreeing to help her in her ultimate murder-suicide plan. We get a lot of little scenes throughout EP7 that show us what kind of person Genji really was. I wish we got more, but at the same time, I’d find it hard to argue that anything in the question arcs developed Genji’s true character more than those EP7 tidbits did.

Kumasawa: Much like Nanjo and Genji, we can learn a lot just by way of knowing that she was one of the three who kept Kinzo and Yasu’s secrets. We also see what a loving and motherly figure she was to young Yasu, and how much she influenced her (for better or worse) - she helped her stop losing things, she developed her interest in mystery, she fostered her belief in Beatrice and fantasy…Kumasawa played a very large role in Yasu’s development. The scene with Will in Lion’s world also shows us how Kumasawa felt very strongly about what Kinzo did to Kuwadoriantrice, despite keeping his secret for all these years. Even the EP6 meta scenes with her and Chick Beato, IMO, give an image of how she must have been with Kuwadoriantrice - the scene where she speaks out against Battler throwing her cookies on the floor comes to mind, and I can see Kumasawa probably lashing out at Kinzo’s angry behavior (like if Kuwatrice called him ‘Father’), with Genji stepping in to try and stop her before the situation could escalate.

Gohda: Um, some of the stuff he says in the Yasu Theatre segments give some insight about him for people who hadn’t read Notes from a Certain Cook? Maybe? You got me. Gohda didn’t really need a lot of development from Chiru, IMO. I did find a lot of his moments in EP5 pretty funny, though, where he was constantly on the verge of accidentally spilling Kinzo’s secret, and it was suuuuuper clear that Natsuhi was not amused by his careless comments.

Shannon/Kanon: Bruh. C’mon.

But yeah, so ultimately Umineko is a story about Yasu and her struggle, but I absolutely can’t agree that the others weren’t developed even in Chiru, or even with your assessment that Yasu was basically the one major factor behind the whole tragedy. Because half the point of Umineko is that it was everyone’s fault that things wound up the way they did. All their various problems intersected at different points and made things more complicated, and not just for Yasu!! I think it’s really unfortunate to boil down Umineko to little more than a story about Yasu like that, because one of the things I like about it so much is the fact that every character gets strong, multi-faceted development (except Hideyoshi and Nanjo and maybe Magical Gohda Chef, RIP). It’s a story about all of them. And when we say, ‘without love it can’t be seen’, I also think it’s a mistake that a lot of people equate love specifically to romance because that was such a big part of Yasu’s struggle. But Umineko is also very much about other kinds of love, especially familial love. I’ve posted about this subject before, but if the Ushiromiyas could have all just gotten over their various issues with each other and loved each other like a goddamn happy family, the tragedy would not have happened. 

The whole family played a significant role in the story, and the tragedy, and while Yasu was like The Rika of Umineko (the ultimate central character and true protagonist), I don’t think it’s fair to ignore the importance of the ones around who influenced her so much. It’d be like saying once you find out Rika is the most important Higurashi, Keiichi and Mion and the others don’t matter anymore. Even though their friendship and bonds with Rika are the driving force behind her overcoming her insecurities and escaping her own tragedy. One thing Ryukishi does do really well is creating a diverse cast of characters and crafting a story around them where they all matter in some way, and aren’t just there to fill up space in the background.

…I was originally gonna answer all the asks at once but I think now I’ll probably do the other two as a separate post and leave this one specifically about the family.

#umineko #umineko no naku koro ni #umineko spoilers #asks #down-the-rabbit-well #umineko discussions #umineko asks

[sean-gaffney]

In the Sea of Fragments (which has been around since Higurashi, let’s remember, as it’s where Rika and Frederika swapped theories), Yasu can rewrite things however she wants, since this is all a coping strategy anyway.  So Kanon is brought into being, a quiet boy who “serves Kinzo just like Genji.  Yeah, that’s be cool.”  (Genji sighs quietly in the background.) 

Meanwhile, Beatrice is now the one who’s been suffering waiting for Battler’s return. 

And finally, let’s make her Battler’s ideal woman, big-breasted and blonde, by giving her new form, like the woman in the picture that Kinzo helpfully just had hung up.

I mean, Requiem of the Golden Witch really is the Answer Sheet, isn’t it?

#sean reads umineko #umineko spoilers

[knoxs2nd]

laughing about how yasu and battler were both bastard children whose dads tried to bring them into the family legitimately

and guess who it worked out for and who got fucked over :)

it makes that knife really twist even harder that after the ep4 sequence of battler forgetting his sin, the best way beatrice can think to hurt him is to tell him that he's not even a legitimate child!!

baby yasu: battler is so cool and kind and thoughtful...i love him so much. he's so good.

older, bitter yasu: A;LSKDFJAS;DF ARE YOU FUCKING SHITTING ME!! HE'S JUST LIKE ME EXCEPT HE GOT A FUCKING LUCKY BREAK ALL CAUSE HE HAD A GOOD MOM!!!?????? FUCK!!!!

thinking about how yasu's dream world of lion is just, the verse where she ended up as lucky as battler, where she was accepted by her surrogate mother, the liars never got caught, the rest of the family was fooled, and she could grow up happy, healthy, and loved

yasu-battler parallels because both of their lives were born of magic - lies from the adults in their lives who built up this narrative of who they are and where they belong that formed their whole sense of identity

except yasu had her life's illusion shattered when she solved the epitaph

meanwhile, battler gets to go around loudly saying he doesn't believe in magic, witches are fake, and he'll find the truth, like some big hero

so beato gets to look on going "this idiot doesn't even know his own life is an illusion, just like everything he says he wants to deny"

and it takes until she's lost all of her will for her to get hurt enough to do the worst possible thing to battler - tear down HIS magic

#character: yasu #character: battler

[knoxs2nd]

shannon really is yasu's favored child - SHE is approached by beatrice and offered the brooch, SHE wins the love duel, SHE gets to accept george's love while kanon has to reject jessica, SHE gets to talk to people and form relationships with them, SHE's always the one helped by kanon.

shannon herself puts it best in ep6, about how her happiness “tramples” all over kanon’s, and how that’s been a constant throughout their whole lives. but i’m always more interested in how come yasu keeps picking shannon over kanon and beatrice.

shannon has always been yasu’s ideal, so she gets all the nice things. or more like, is the one who “deserves” the nice things so she gets tea parties with beatrice, fun dates with George, friendship with jessica, and dreams of a happy future filled with love.

she also gets to be the cool knowledgeable older sister for kanon - she gets to teach him about the beauty of love and the golden land. she also gets to indulge and comfort herself with happy fantasies, is strong-willed, and doesn't have to doubt herself or george's love for her.

meanwhile, kanon gets to sit in the actual bushes and secretly be jealous. beatrice gets to support shannon and play pranks for funsies. in fact, beatrice supports shannon in love while she laughs in kanon’s face about his love.

yasu even keeps shannon pure by keeping away "unsightly" feelings. she “separates” beatrice from shannon when she realizes – “oh shit i really like playing pranks.” shannon has to be the perfect, ideal servant, so yasu bids farewell to being "with shannon" after her realization.

ideal, perfect shannon is what yasu feels like her safest choice for happiness is so she pushes her hard, but it’s ironic because yasu keeps piling on these additional chances for shannon to succeed. of course shannon's most likely to "win"! she’s yasu’s golden child!

of course, battler spends ep6 going “ok i know that yasu keeps picking shannon for Reasons and i respect that but can we also be nicer to kanon and beatrice, PLEASE??” LIKE, SHANNON GETS TO WIN THE LOVE DUEL, BUT WHO SAVES THE DAY AND THE WHOLE STORY??? KANON AND BEATRICE

#episode: 6 #character: shannon #character: kanon #character: beatrice #character: yasu

[knoxs2nd]

i like how they establish early on yasu's backstory that people having "real names" plus an official/work name, plus a casual name for friends was no big deal and just how everyone lived their lives. it helps with understanding yasu's naming/persona system

it also makes you realize that none of her personas have 3 names

beatrice: has her official name and a casual nickname (beato)

shannon and kanon: have their blessed names and their real names (sayo and yoshiya)

also...only beatrice having a "friend name".....

you could think of it as yasu's relationships to maria, george, and jessica. maria is her friend so she gets to call her by a nickname to show their closeness. george and jessica are love interests so they get to call shannon and kanon by their "real names" as a show of trust.

man, even the end of ep4 with beatrice and maria in the golden land together is basically them going "we don't need anything but our friendships" even if really, beatrice also wants romantic love (someone to call her by her true name) and maria wants her mother's love (which sakutarou is also a representation of).

everyone just wants many, distinct forms of love, for all their different selves - as as friend, as a lover, as a family member.

#character: beatrice #character: shannon #character: kanon #character: yasu

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 3 (Part 1)

Who decides who has the right to fall in love, and who decides who is or isn’t “furniture”?

oh god the chapter starts with hope i’m not ready for this

We get a quick recap of how things usually go - the typhoon hasn’t arrived yet though it’s fast approaching, Team Natsuhi is concerned about covering up Kinzo’s death again, Jessica and Kumasawa have left to go pick up the rest of the family on Niijima, and so on. Shannon and Kanon are busy preparing the guesthouse.

Shannon mentions that she likes cleaning the guesthouse (even though the mansion has more than enough rooms for the whole family), and Kanon says, “Yeah, it’s nice and quiet without Madam and all the annoying servants.”

The two of them discuss Shannon’s carelessness, but interestingly, instead of shrinking away from Kanon’s criticism, Shannon smiles and thanks him for helping. This is actually really interesting, I’d forgotten how much more... assertive, for lack of a better word, Shannon is here. Hell, when Kanon says “there’s nothing to thank me for,” Shannon calls him out on just wanting to spend time with her, saying he’s “such a kid.” She doesn’t even blush when he mentions George.

Maybe I’m reading into it too much, but hmm. It kinda feels like it’s a reflection of Tohya’s memories of what Shannon was like, in 1980? It’s true that Battler met Yasu face-to-face more than once (Shannon, Kanon, herself as Beato towards the end) on Rokkenjima Prime, but... well, his first impression of Kanon is unsociable and awkward. It’s true that Shannon is kind of clumsy, easily embarrassed, and shy, but thinking back to previous episodes - the narrative sorta put young Shannon in a bit of a “big sister” role to Battler and Jessica, didn’t it?

What I’m trying to say is, it reads to me like Tohya’s drawing on his memories of a “big sister”-esque Shannon, circa 1980, and extrapolating that to 1986. Of his four episodes, we don’t get a focus on Shannon and Kanon alone together very much - they die right off the bat in Ep3, they’re surrounded by the other adults in Ep4, and Ep5 is more focused around Natsuhi.

I’m not really sure what I’m driving at with this, or if it means anything. It’s just kind of an interesting parallel to Yasu’s Eps - there, Kanon was definitely the one “in control” during some of their scenes together (I’m thinking mainly of when she’s invited to play cards with the cousins), whereas here, Shannon is definitely leading the conversation. At any rate...

“You keep making fun of me and George-sama... but how is it going between you and Jessica-sama?” STRAIGHT TO THE POINT HUH

And when Kanon tries changing the subject, Shannon pushes him onto the bed and asks why he opted not to welcome the rest of the family with Jessica. He puts up a weak protest of, “Because I have work to do.”

“Liar. You don’t actually have any work at all.” yeah well you’d know wouldn’t you

“Normally, Kanon was the one in control, but when it came to romance, it was the opposite.” Interesting that the narrative decides to make that note, seeing as Shannon was pretty clearly “in control” before the subject turned to romance!

Even putting Jessica/Kanon aside, though, I can think of another very good reason for her to decide against meeting the relatives - Battler. Kanon and Battler’s first encounter in the rose garden didn’t go smoothly, but in that case, she had the advantage of being able to run away and hide. If she were on the boat with the relatives the whole way from Niijima to Rokkenjima? Not so much.

“...Despite what happened after the cultural festival, [Jessica] really does like you, Kanon-kun.” He reacts, seemingly in disbelief. “Even though... I’m furniture...” And this time, Shannon calls herself furniture as well in response. This really is almost a complete reversal of how things were in, say, Ep2 - Kanon is pretty reactionary here, as opposed to his proactive “stop it nee-san we’re furniture” approach earlier.

Kanon repeats the refrain of “we can’t love humans because we’re furniture,” but Shannon makes an interesting comment in response: “Maybe we’re furniture... just because we think that.”

I can get two meanings out of that - from a Yasu standpoint, this is the kind of internal argument she’s been having for a very long time. The emotions are what makes love what it is, not the physicality, so she shouldn’t have anything to fear in revealing her true form to George, or Jessica, or Battler. They should love her for who she is, not what.

...And yet, on the other side, there’s what Beato says. Yasu’s secrets are so much deeper than just some negative emotions or thoughts she’s had from time to time - in the case of Shannon and George, their whole relationship is built on one of her “secrets,” and to Yasu, there’s a very real danger of the whole thing coming crashing down on her if George learns the truth. While I’d like to think that, for all of my ragging on him, George would truly be able to accept the truth about “Shannon,” there’s absolutely no question that the nature of their relationship would change from then on. The same goes for Jessica and Battler. She’s trapped between “They love me for who I am, it’ll be fine,” and “I’ve been deceiving them and lying to them for years, no one could forgive me for that.”

...And that’s without getting into all the complicated emotions that are around her relation to Kinzo...

Carrying off of that, the second meaning: it’s meant as a message to Yasu, from Tohya/Battler. Even knowing the full weight of the secrets she’s carrying, and how much she’s tearing herself apart in agony, he’s saying, “I - we - would still love you.” Sort of like how George and Jessica’s fantasy fights in Ep4 were a “love letter” about how much Shannon and Kanon - and by extension, Yasu, even if they weren’t consciously aware of her - meant to them.

And, you know what? I can really, truly believe that all three of them - Battler, Jessica, and George alike - would still love her. The nature of their relationships would most definitely change, but I can readily believe that their love would still be there. We already know Battler did, to the point of throwing away his own identity for her; even if it’s one-sided, George’s passion and determination about making the family accept his engagement with Shannon (or, if they won’t, how he’ll leave them behind) is extremely strong; and while Jessica’s infatuation with Kanon might be fundamentally due to her emotional needs (how much she wants to fall in love), there’s also her friendship with Shannon. Even if she’s a bit thoughtless in how she treats Shannon from time to time, I think that friendship means an awful lot to her.

Anyways, back to reading. Kanon states, “I don’t have any special feelings for Milady Jessica. I only think of her as the daughter of the family we serve.” O-ouch, Yasu...

“You know... there is a chance that George-sama... will propose to me tonight.” And Kanon’s expression changes immediately. They both know exactly what that means.

“You really think you can marry a human even though you’re furniture?” Shannon calmly replies, “I think I can.”

Y’know, if this were any of the first four Eps, I’d know how to read this immediately: “I think I can” means that Yasu’s made up her mind. Her roulette starts spinning at midnight.

In the context of Ep6, though... I’m not immediately sure what to think. Maybe it’ll get a bit clearer as I read more of it. (I’m actually going to make a note to come back to this exchange once I’ve got a better picture of the Ep as a whole)

“That dream future that George-sama has imagined for you two... is something you can never give him.” Oh shit. I completely forgot that Kanon lays it out that bluntly. Tellingly, Shannon hesitates in response, in contrast to her confidence throughout the scene this far.

“I’m impressed you’ve managed to trick him for this long. Do you really think you can keep tricking him like that forever? Even though you still haven’t been able to tell him that you’re furniture?” As utterly terrified (and not without good reason, mind!) Yasu is about telling the truth to anyone, she still resents herself for not being honest, still feels like she’s lying to everyone about who she is. As much as I do believe that the cousins would understand just how heavily everything was weighing down on her if she did come clean, I can also very easily see why it’s such a frightening prospect to her. Which, again, is a conflict she has herself:

“...Being furniture or being human... has nothing to do with this. I believe that George-sama will accept all of me.”

“And yet you don’t have the courage to check and make sure.” Shannon doesn’t reply, instead switching tracks to saying that she’ll probably accept George’s proposal.

Shannon’s lack of response here is interesting to me. If she had replied, even if it were to just reaffirm “I’m sure George will accept me,” then I’d read it as a reassurance from Tohya - that Yasu doesn’t need to be frightened, because the emotions behind her relationships are very real, and very strong.

The fact that he didn’t put such a “love letter” in at this moment, though... I think it’s a gesture of respect. To contrast, when Yasu is utterly horrified to learn of Kinzo’s assault on Beatrice II, Genji, Kumasawa, and Nanjo (from what I recall - it’s been a while since I read Confession) all jump to Kinzo’s defense, explaining how he was in pain and how much he was suffering.

Which, I feel, is true! Ep7′s depiction of Kinzo and Bice’s interactions do make me believe that he would’ve suffered a great, great deal at her death. The thing is, in telling Yasu that when she reacts with disgust and horror, they’re effectively invalidating her own feelings. She’s horrified, but Kinzo didn’t mean to rape his daughter, he was hurting too, so please don’t hate him too much? Intentionally or not, they’re making her feel like she’s being irrational in reacting so strongly.

In comparison, Tohya’s writing doesn’t admonish her for being so scared. There’s no sense of “Don’t be afraid, you should know we’ll accept you,” - which, given Yasu’s intense self-loathing, would probably sound to her like “If your love for us was real, you’d know we’d accept you, you wouldn’t be afraid of telling us the truth.”

Instead, while he does reinforce throughout his writings that, yes, the cousins really, truly did love her (albeit based on what little they knew about her), he doesn’t push that she “should’ve” been brave enough to speak up. He respects her feelings on the matter and doesn’t invalidate them, even as he tells her how much he loves her in her entirety.

Anyways. “As Shannon looked up at the ceiling, she spoke of the imagined future that she and George would create. Though some anxiety over the future appeared on her face... so did joy from discovering what it was like to live with love.”

Kanon says that she’s “incredibly stubborn,” and she replies, “I want to live life my own way. ...I’d like to stop being afraid, about who’s furniture and who’s a human.” Yasu...

Kanon sulks over to the window, reflecting on how Shannon’s tale “had no chance of a happy ending. ...However, he also knew that no words of his could change her mind now that she had made her decision.” The harsh truth of the situation is that, no matter how much Shannon postures about how “being furniture” shouldn’t matter, about how she’s sure that George can accept it... Yasu still can’t bring herself to believe any of it.

Kanon asks why she’s even bothering talking to him about it, and she says, “What I want to know... is how you feel about Milady.”

As usual, Kanon denies having any attachments to Jessica, and Shannon immediately calls him out.

“Why do you think that’s a lie?” “I know. I’m your big sister. [...] I know everything about you, Kanon-kun.” ahahaha oh man 

“I’m rooting for you in the only way I can!! Otherwise... even I...!” Shannon asks him to finish that thought, and he screams, “Even I... wanted to love Milady...!!!”

At Shannon’s prodding, Kanon lets out how he really feels about Jessica. It’s pretty easy to read in terms of Yasu - she’s confronting her own emotions, and finally finding a word to put to them: love.

“In fact, by saying it aloud, he finally understood how he truly felt.”

“Both of us are exactly the same, locked up on Rokkenjima and living without any hope at all...! And yet, Milady was able to light her own path and create her own fate...! She was so dazzling that I envied her!! I felt as though, if I could be with her... I could find my true self, instead of the pitiful person I am now...!!” Oh lord, does this hurt to read.

On one hand, like with Jessica urging Kanon to try her “create another self” thing way back in Ep2, I get a strong sense of bitterness from this dialogue, for the exact same reason - “I’ve already been fucking doing that and it’s not working, stop tormenting me with that,” if you will.

On the other hand, though... I can kind of imagine these being Yasu’s own, raw thoughts on the matter. If Jessica’s able to find a way to truly be herself despite the burden she’s shouldering, then maybe... if Yasu were by her side, she’d be able to, too?

Kanon reflects on how much it hurt to reject Jessica after the cultural festival. Said it before, will say again: I’m sure that Jessica wasn’t the only one crying herself to sleep that night...

“You know what? Whether or not you deserve to fall in love is something that you decide for yourself. Being furniture or not has nothing to do with it.”

I just want to let that line stand on its own for a moment.

Ultimately, that’s the one thing Tohya is trying to tell Yasu through his own writings, and one of the things Umineko itself has been quietly poking us with all along - that everyone is deserving of love, of having someone reach out to try and understand them, of having someone see them for who they truly are underneath the mask they present to the world. That everyone is human, everyone carries both the potential for kindness and cruelty inside of them. That making the effort to see and understand someone’s heart is difficult - but it’s worth it.

With that, Shannon “grants” Kanon the right to fall in love. He thanks her, feeling “as though I can finally... see the sea...”

Shannon reinforces that she’s decided on accepting George’s proposal. “I intend to leave this island and start a new life in our new world. [...] I’ll leave this island... and after that, I’ll never return again. ...I’ll have to say farewell to you, Kanon-kun.”

And then it gets interesting: “If you do love Milady from the bottom of your heart, and if your feelings are at least as strong as my feelings for George-san... then you and I will have to settle whose feelings are really stronger.”

“This way is best for both of us. ...Don’t give up on your feelings for my sake.” “Even though my selfishness might keep you from your happiness...?” “I’m fully aware of it... My happiness... is hurting you as well.”

“We have no choice but to hurt each other.”

“...Nee-san. Living with you... made me happy.” “Me too. I wouldn’t have lasted this long without you.” “...And I wouldn’t have realized how dazzling Milady is... if it weren’t for you.”

The two of them decide that no matter what the outcome is, they’ll celebrate and support whoever wins.

“After all, by now... We are not furniture.”

#kyuutext #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni chiru #dawn of the golden witch

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 2 (Part 2)

In which Battler gets a rude awakening, and Ange and Ikuko drop anvils on our heads.

When we last left off, Battler was making a beeline towards... Um, Meta-Kuwadorian, I guess? To meet with Beato.

hoooo god. Kumasawa is there, and greets him with, “Welcome, Master. Beatrice-sama is waiting for you. This way, please...”

The narrative is pretty obviously set up to parallel Battler/Beato with Kinzo/Kuwa-Beato, I’m aware of that, but oh god is Kumasawa’s greeting loaded as hell in hindsight.

“This place was a villa set aside for Beatrice’s use. It was a sacred site for her only, built so that she could spend her days without being affected by the outside world.”

Battler reflects on how glad he is that Beato was revived and “everything’s okay,” and I’m actually starting to feel a bit nauseous here good lord

“The dining hall [...] existed so that they could enjoy some black tea while discussing the truth, now that he had finally reached all of it.” As much as the Kinzo parallel throughout this scene is making me sick, the prospect of Beato and Battler talking things over once he figures things out is an appealing one.

oh goooooooooooood. Battler asks how Beato’s doing (and if she’s the “same as usual,” critically), and Kumasawa replies, “Oh yes, she is in very high spirits now. She has been waiting for you all this time, Master.” She doesn’t actually say anything to suggest Beato’s different somehow...

I think I need to adjust my thinking here a bit. On a logical level, I was fully aware of how Genji, Kumasawa, and Nanjo had a hand in Kinzo’s treatment of Kuwa-Beato (and how much of a role they played in Yasu’s downward spiral), but on an emotional level, I don’t think it really sank in until now, assuming this is indicative of how they responded to the situation in the real world as well.

I don’t know why this is making me feel so strongly now of all times, given that I’ve been well aware for a long time that everyone on the island had their own part to play in bringing about the tragedy, but... Eugh. I’ll be damned if Kumasawa’s behaviour here isn’t leaving a horrid taste in my mouth for whatever reason.

Anyways. Battler enters the dining hall, to find Beato... who bows to him. uh oh

She thanks him for “giving me this form,” and Battler, being Battler, breaks down into tears. okay who am i kidding i 100% teared up the first time i read this scene because i was relieved to see she was back

Poor Battler’s so caught up in his own emotions he doesn’t even realize at first that Beato’s demure behaviour isn’t an act she’s putting on...

He apologizes to her, and she replies that he has nothing to apologize for, calling him “Father” in the process. The music fades out almost immediately. hoo boy

“Beatrice was born for your sake, Father.” In hindsight, the way Ep6 handles this concept - that Beato exists “for Battler” - is something I feel very meh about. Thinking back on it in general, I suppose Ep6 is probably one of my least favourite episodes of the bunch - Erika feels like she’s overstayed her welcome (barring her death at the end, that scene was amazing and no not just because she died), the attempt at making her sympathetic falls flat on its face, the whole Greek Chorus thing with Featherine and Ange is kinda... weird (I do enjoy it, but something about it feels very strange, even beyond the whole meta in your meta in your meta shenanigans), Ep7 goes on to handle the question of “who does Beato exist for, if anyone,” much more gracefully than this (It’s still interesting to see the different halfs of Beato playing off each other, and I think it’s an important clue as to the nature of Beato as we know her and as a facet of Yasu, but it just doesn’t really feel... “right,” to me?), and to top it off, it goes on and on. I felt like Ep5 was stretching it with just the first twilight plus Hideyoshi as far as murders went, but Ep6 doesn’t even get past the first twilight. I mean, sure, a lot of the plot’s taking place in the Meta-World now, but still - seeing as Battler spends like 60% of the episode in a coma, it doesn’t really work for me. 

BOY I’M GETTING SIDETRACKED A LOT HUH

Anyways! Battler asks Beato to stop being so polite and to talk how she normally does, and she’s completely clueless... Battler changes the topic to the food on the table, she replies that she wanted to prepare a “modest reward” for him completing the 6th game, and... Kumasawa interjects, still without explaining the situation to Battler. Sh-she does actually know what’s going on here, what Battler was expecting, right...?

Battler confronts her, and she gets flustered. Beato, meanwhile, gets ready to pop open a bottle of champagne, saying, “In the hopes that you will prove victorious over your longtime rival, Furudo Erika...” and Battler promptly loses it, scattering things everywhere. “Who... are you...?”

Oooh. I’d forgotten that when Beato replies, she uses “watashi” instead of “warawa”. Not that it doesn’t make sense, or that it’s a surprise, but it’s interesting in hindsight, given that the use of “watashi” in Ep4′s Tea Party was one of the biggest clues in the first half of the series to Yasu’s existence.

At any rate, when she repeats that she was “born for Battler’s sake,” he snaps and shouts at Genji (in another layer of meta? man i don’t even know anymore) to explain what’s going on. When Genji informs him that she truly is Beato, he states that she’s “totally wrong, a fake.” O-ouch...

It’s quite easy to read Battler’s denial here as similar to Kinzo’s (likely) reaction to Kuwa-Beato in the real world... which, granted, is the point, but still!

Again, for some reason (maybe her closeness to Yasu while she was a servant? shruuug), Kumasawa’s responses to Battler rub me the wrong way a lot more than Genji’s do, saying that Beato “was only born a short while ago” and that it’d “be cruel to expect her to act as she once did so soon.”

“The old Beatrice-sama had lived for a thousand years... This Beatrice-sama, on the other hand, was only born a short while ago...! If she appears to be a different person, well, that just can’t be helped...!”

Battler asks if that means he has to wait a thousand years for her to become the same Beato we all know and love, and Kumasawa says that someone’s personality is determined by more than just their birth. Cut to Ange and Tohya!

“Even if you had two of the exact same person, they could change enormously depending on their upbringing.” dot dot dot

“Even though they might be the same human to start with, their upbringing could change them so much they effectively become two different people.” dot dot dot

Ooh, I’d forgotten that this line is dropped so earlier - Tohya/Ikuko makes a comment about how the term “person” relates to “personalities,” and Ange thinks, “If a personality is what makes a person a person in our eyes, you could probably say that a second personality represents a different person entirely, even if it inhabits the same flesh body.”

In hindsight, this line is something else I feel kinda lukewarm about. I mean, it’s a pretty obvious “HEY READERS ARE YOU LISTENING,” thing, but good grief is it ever beating you over the head with the whole “SHANNON AND KANON ARE THE SAME PERSON” thing. Not very subtle at all, really...

“...It seems you’re quite a skilled reader... For most of my readers, it would be necessary to spend several hundred pages to explain how a single person can become different people depending on their upbringing and time.” LOL

And Ange fires back with, “Don’t underestimate your readers. We aren’t just reading. We read... and we think.” I wonder if we’re seeing a bit of Ryukishi’s internal frustration surfacing here?

That’s not a jab at him, for the record. Given Umineko’s underlying theme of making an effort to think about other people and understand them, I’d be frustrated to have readers dismissing it as impossible or what-have-you as well.

“If I make a hundred people read it, only 90 people will actually be able to. However, only 50 will actually understand what it means. And not even 20 will actually think beyond that... And all I ask is that they think it over a bit.” Hmm. Interesting echo on Yasu’s desires, huh... That even if a thousand people should read her tale, as long as just one person understands, that’s all she wants...

Ange observes that Ikuko’s forgery has the same “scent” as the message bottles, which is likely why the Witch Hunters became so interested in her to begin with. Well, that makes sense, given that her forgeries were written by someone who was actually there!

“...Why does her tale have the same scent as Beatrice’s, I wonder...? Is it because... she actually has reached the truth, as she claims? Does this mean that anyone who knows the truth could create an endless number of message bottles? Is that what the catbox world is like...?”

With Ange’s determination to find “a hint of the truth from within this story” so she can bring an end to the catbox, we cut back to Battler... showing the 6th game to a Beato piece.

After having a very one-sided conversation, he snaps again. Poor guy...

“You created many kinds of furniture, as well as several tales in the past... When I saw that, I was sure... you were having a great time doing it, but that’s wrong. You were... unbelievably lonely.” Oh, Yasu...

Battler acknowledges that chick!Beato is alive, and the Beatrice he knew as she was a thousand years ago, but the fact that she looks identical to Beato is what causes him grief. While there’s no doubt that Battler’s arc in Ep6 is very deliberately mirroring Kinzo’s arc with Bice’s death and Kuwadorian Beatrice, I feel like there’s a critical difference starting to surface here - where Kinzo was unable to emotionally accept that Kuwa-Beato was actually his daughter, until after it was too late for him to try atoning for his sins (whether or not he actually could is up for debate, but), Battler eventually does, at least outwardly. Even when chick!Beato regains her memories, he still seems to accept that the Beato he knew is gone, as shown in the funeral at the start of Ep7.

I suppose whether or not that’s a good thing, given that he still treats chick!Beato exactly the same as the old Beato come Ep8, is up in the air, but...

#kyuutext #umineko #umineko no naku koro ni chiru #dawn of the golden witch