Introduce Yourself!

Rokkenjima Talk
#139

Hey there! I don’t really remember how I found this forum, but I’ve been lurking here for quite a while, never actually posting anything though.

Anyway, I’m sii_kei, a 24-year-old architecture student from Romania.

Back in 2007, I started watching Higurashi (season 2 wasn’t even out yet at that time). Sometime after Higurashi Kai, I was searching on youtube for related videos and stumbled upon Umineko’s alternative opening (the one that listed all the characters on the island). The description said it was “the new Higurashi”.

I was curious about it and after some search, I discovered the Animesuki Umineko forums. I played Umineko (a pirated version, which I really wanna make up for by buying the Steam version now, heh) with the Witch Hunt translation and original artwork, eagerly awaiting each new patch about every half year and reading theories late at night for oh so many nights. (I was lurking on the AS forums just as I’ve been lurking here.) It was the best story I had experienced and I quickly started uploading Umineko tracks on Youtube for others to enjoy. However, I was very disappointed by the anime… which made me write this review on MyAnimeList that apparently made a lot of people check the VN or manga as well, lol.

(As a side note, thanks to Umineko, I also got to read Agatha Christie’s “And then there were none” and that’s how I discovered my favorite literary genre. My love for mystery novels started because of Umineko and developed into a full fledged obsession. And I’ve been writing a mystery novel myself this past year…)

So all in all, been a fan of 07th Expansion for more than 9 years and I played Rose Guns Days as well and loved it… However, I still haven’t played Higanbana. Currently playing the Higurashi steam releases and looking forward to replaying Umineko on steam as well!

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#140

Hi there ! I’m adeninesuts ( I know it’s pretty long ), I’m 17 years old and I’m French ! I discovered 07thexpansion last year with Higurashi because it was entierly translated in french ( In France, Higurashi is called " Le Sanglot des Cigales ", which means " The Sob Of Cicadas " ). I immediately fell in love after reading Onikakushi-hen, it was so good and I wanted so much to discover all of the secrets of Hinamizawa, so I finished Higurashi in only one week !

After that, I started to read Umineko On 5th October of the last year. Fun fact, and as you all know, the story of Umineko also begins on October 5th. I love Umineko and I think it’s really a masterpiece. However, I didn’t read Umineko as fast as Higurashi because I took the time to make theories and speculations about most of the secrets of Umineko, I loved to do that. I also read the first part of Higanbana, it was good, like always with our Ryukishi

Currently, I am reading Rose Guns Days and I think that I am going to love it too !

Thanks to 07thexpansion, I could discovere the world of Visual Novel and could read some of theme, like " The Song of Saya " and " Rewrite "

Besides this, I’m not a big videogame player, although I love the Monster Hunter, Pokémon and Mother franchise !

That’s all for me ! In short, I’m a new 07thexpansion fan ( since I saw that some of you are fans for several years )
And at last, like I said, I’m French so my English isn’t perfect, sorry for that !

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#141

Hello. I’m Ellixer, 20 years old in a few weeks and Vietnamese, though I’m currently attending university in America. I’ve watched and played the first arc of the Higurashi anime and visual novel and read the entirety of the manga (plus a few extra bonus arcs). Also read the Umineko visual novels and the manga. I started reading Umineko a few years back, more or less on a whim after I discovered the PS3 patch and fell in love with the story and characters. After that I started Higurashi and (somewhat) recently finished the manga version of that.

Umineko is my favorite but like I said the only other 07th Expansion series I’ve read is Higurashi. I went into it after looking up a few images which led me to the conclusion that the series must surely be fantastical and as such I never bothered to theorize and find answers until the answers were more or less given to me, which is a mistake I’ll have to live with. To be fair around Episode 4 and 5 I figured the story has to be a Mystery but by that stage I was too engrossed to stop for any reason.

I found Rokkenjima through a steam post announcing the coming tea party for Legend to commemorate the official Western release of Umineko. I hope to make some contribution to that and perhaps witness how a newcomer would view the story from a fresh perspective.

Aside from Umineko I play video games (I’m not picky about the genre but I do prefer narrative games), read visual novels, watch anime and occasionally read manga.

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#142

Hello, I’m new here. I’ve joined after buying Umineko on Steam where I found out about the Umineko Tea Party.

I read Umineko when it first came out, first EP1-4 in English and then EP5-8 in Japanese as I couldn’t wait for the translations. It’s one of my favorite series so far and I’m looking for a way to relive the mystery of it if even a little bit.

So because of that, I am anticipating all the posts by the first time readers, but as for myself I will refrain from commenting anything other than some thoughts I remember from the time after each episode. So for the most part I will be silent. If anyone wants to know anything, I suppose they can send me a private message.

Good luck to the first time readers and remember to keep an open mind.

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#143

Hey everyone! I’m Sarah, 25, from Belgium. Got here from someone linking this on Steam; very excited about the organized Tea Party! Cheesy as it may sound, reading Umineko genuinely changed my life and the way I think about certain things, and I consider the entire series to be in my top 5 novels of all time. I’m QuothTheRaven on MyAnimeList (though I don’t have much time for anime anymore these days) and AlkaSeltzer over on Steam; I tried to express my adoration for the series in my review in the hopes of attracting some newcomers, but honestly, as much as I love writing (one of my main hobbies, apart from photography (I hope to go pro one day), gaming and playing the piano) I discovered I’m not that great at writing reviews–I’d very much like to just sit down each and every potential reader and explain to them in great detail as to why they should read this amazing novel, haha.

Anyway, I believe I originally discovered Umineko through the Higurashi anime. To this day I’ve not yet read the VN–yes, I know, for shame! I plan to do so in the future though, especially now they’re being released on Steam. When I discovered Umineko, EP 1-7 were already fully translated, and I just remember consuming them like a madwoman one feverish summer, utterly overwhelmed by this gorgeous world, the complex characters and relations between them, the beautiful mystery, the logic battles and puzzles… The wait for EP8 to be translated was a painful one indeed (I know some conversational Japanese, but my kanji knowledge is basically nil), but the second it was released I read it in a single sitting, and my god, what a ride it was.

EP8 spoilers: (I’m unsure if this is okay in an introductory thread, but if not, I apologize)Ange’s suicide had me bawling like a little child. Perhaps it was partly because suicide is a subject close to me, or because I’d been up for so long reading already, but I’m not one to cry easily; I in fact hadn’t cried like that at anything in any medium, ever, and I haven’t since.
'Looking down from Bernkastel’s balcony, could [Ange’s corpse] have looked like a lovely, red-pressed flower?
It couldn’t have looked like anything.
Just like the death of one lonely little girl who rejected the world didn’t matter to anyone in the world…’,
“You managed to die. …However, this doesn’t mean that everyone will be waiting for you in heaven. …After all, you reached this place by rejecting all of those in heaven,” and the description of how even then, her soul was still living, her memories decaying, but how she would always remember the anguish, even after she’d forgotten the reason why she was suffering, utterly broke my heart.

So yes, as I mentioned, I’m quite excited about the Tea Party. I’ve been wanting to reread Umineko for the longest time, but life got in the way, so this seems like the ideal time for it. I hope a good few newcomers will be joining us; it’d be amazing to see some fresh, unspoiled perspectives, and, hopefully, theories! I don’t know how frequent my own posts will be, as I’d find it terrible to accidentally spoil something for someone, but I will do my very best to participate :3

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#144

Wow wow wow! So many newcomers! A big warm welcome to @Ebola, @EternalMagician, @sii_kei, @adeninesuts, @Ellixer, @Kylon99 and @LadyRevan! Lots of representation from counties all over the world, I love it!

@sii_kei seems like you’ve been pretty involved in directing people to read the VN! Good job :wink:

@adeninesuts Great to see a fellow MOTHER fan here! We gotta stick together~

@LadyRevan I can really feel your love for Umineko oozing from your post! I’ve written at great length about how much Umineko has changed my life in the past, so I can really feel you there. I’m sure we’re going to get along great!

I hope you guys are looking forward to participating in the Umineko Episode 1 Tea Party which just commenced! Head on over to the Episode 1 General Discussion and share your thoughts!

And don’t forget to check out our Discord Chat! I’d love to meet you all there.

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#145

It feels weird introducing myself to so many familiar faces…

Hello! Like many I come from Kazamatsuri! I’m a 19 year old American studying CS.

I haven’t actually read any 07th expansion works yet, but, uh, I really liked Lucia’s route in Rewrite and I already own Higurashi so, there’s that…

Well pleased to meet all of you I haven’t met and pleased to re-meet all of you I have met! Hopefully I can read some 07th expansion works ASAP so I can actually participate!

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#146

Welcome to the club @arete! I hope you’ll consider picking up Umineko for the Tea Party that just started!

#147

@Aspirety Absolutely loved your blog post on Umineko, you articulated so very well all the reasons this series means so much to me :heart:

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#148

Here I am, yet another person who has been dragged from Kazamatsuri to Rokkenjima.

I’m studying Aeronautical Engineering (going to start the 2nd year next September), in Barcelona, Spain, where I live. As you can see, I’m Mogaoscar, but people from Kazamatsuri already call me Mogao, Mochi or even Moaggro (due to MMO facts). Feel free to call me as you wish. I’ll accept pretty much everything.

As for the avatar, fear not, I’ll change it once I find a nice picture referencing Rokkenjima that I like. Meanwhile, you have these lovely Kanjis on the sand.

Well, all my contact with Visual Novels so far has been the KEY ones. I literally just learnt from Umineko because many people were talking about it in Kazamatsuri, so I decided to give it a go and see if I like it. Therefore, I won’t understand any Rokkenjima references and will be a bit lost during my first read.

Like most of you, I’m also into Anime and Japanese culture, in fact, I started learning Japanese a year ago. Something I really got into recently is piano, though my playing skills are close to nonexistent.

With all this said, I hope I get into Umineko fast and that I enjoy it. This way you’ll see me more around here instead of migrating back to Kazamatsuri. :sweat_smile:

Pleased to meet you!

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#149

You make it sound like I’m dragging people from Kazamatsuri to come here ^^;

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#150

Well, certainly you are making an effort to spread the word of Rokkenjima ^^, not that it’s bad by any means though.

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#151

Welcome to our fragment! Glad you took our advice to heart. :smile:

You are a man of many nicknames, my friend. :stuck_out_tongue:

Having just finished Episode 1 myself, it’s certainly enjoyable to read. Hope you end up liking it, too. :wink:

#152

Hello Rokkenjima. I’m a 21 y/o guy who’s currently living in the good ol’ US of A. I did use to live in Australia for about 11 years.

Higurashi was one of the first anime that I watched back in early 2014 and is the anime that is probably responsible for my unhealthy addiction. Thanks Ryukishi, you ruined my life. I was so happy when I heard that Higurashi had a ‘sequel’ of sorts and that both vns were going to get English adaptations on Steam. I’ve read most of the way through the first chapter of Higurashi and finished the first chapter of Umineko last night. I absolutely adore the Higurashi anime and wish more people watched it.

I found Rikkenjima through r/visualnovels I think. I saw that there was this discussion thread going on and was looking forward to reading it. Somehow that became me wanting to contribute

Outside of 07th Expansion I read some other vns, watch anime, read manga and play Osu! I’m also a pretty rabid Skyrim fan and love delving into that game at any opportunity.

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#153

Hi everybody, my name is Vijayagopal Krishnan, but I go by Inuconandoyle or Vijay / V.J. I’m a 21 year old Computer Science student living in the US. My experience with 07th Expansion is limited to the Higurashi anime (specifically Higurashi no naku koro ni and the second season, Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai), which is one of my favorite anime series, and there’s also Lucia’s route from Rewrite, which I really enjoyed reading. I do plan on reading Umineko, which I’ve heard a lot of good things about and the Higurashi series when I get the chance.

Outside of 07th Expansion, I’m a fan of Key Visual Arts and a member of Kazamatsuri, where I first found out about Rokkenjima via introducing the site over there. I’m also a fan of anime, I watch Let’s Plays, occasionally play video games, I’m a huge music nut and finally, I like to make bad puns, though I’m going to try to limit myself with that hehe.

And that’s pretty much it. I hope I can get to know all of you, make some new friends and I’m looking forward to discussing with you guys about Higurashi, Umineko, and much more. :blush:

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#154

Welcome, VJ! I don’t know what kind of witch possessed you to come to our fragment, but I’m certainly glad you’re here! :smile:

Umineko’s pretty good so far. I really want to read some Higurashi as well, since Onikakushi-hen is all I’ve read…Tea Party when? ;;

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#155

My name’s Pri, I live in the United States.

I got introduced to Ryukishi07’s works through hearing about the Higurashi anime way back when. I never really got into Umineko until a few months ago though, when I heard people singing its praises on the visual novel subreddit. And now, since Umineko and Higurashi are coming out on Steam, I definitely plan on reading them.

I also found Rokkenjima through the Umineko release thread on the subreddit, someone saying it was a good place for new readers to discuss it.

And as for my interests outside of 07th Expansion, I’d have to say I like visual novels in general, along with some anime like the Monogatari Series. I also like drawing, even if my specialty doesn’t go much further than “cute anime girls”.

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#156

Welcome to @Seraphitic, @Inuconandoyle and @gogopri! I hope you’ll all consider joining the Umineko Tea Party we’re hosting right now! Just hop onto the Episode 1 discussion topic and share your thoughts, or if you’re artistically inclined, share some Fanart of Episode 1 in the Umineko Fanart Topic!

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#157

Heya! I’m stevenharryw, or soggysadboi, depending on where you see me.

I’m quite new to 07th Expansion works, as I’ve only seen the Higurashi anime series, and read Lucia’s route in Rewrite. I recently picked up the Umineko release on Steam, and I’ve been excited to see what it’s all about! I also own the first couple chapters of Higurashi as well.

I’m over on Kazamatsuri quite a bit, as I’m also a huge fan of Key, which is how I discovered Rokkenjima.

For those of you I haven’t met before, I look forward to getting to know you all! :smiley:

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#158

Hi everyone, I’m Oppai, a guy living in England.

I’ve read Umineko (The VN and the Manga, haven’t touched the Anime yet),I’ve got a good bit through Rose Guns Days, I’ve watched some of the Higurashi anime but I haven’t read it (Which I’ll probably get around to soon considering their steam release) and I’m literally a few pages into the manga of Higanbana. Umineko’s my favorite so far but I’ll withhold judgement on any of the others until I actually finish them.

I started reading Umineko because the cliche of murders taking place on an island full of money grabbing family members really appealed to me as soon as I read it and I assumed that’s what the whole VN was going to be about. I’d not seen one piece of art or read anything about it when I started reading it in late 2015. You can imagine the amount of times my jaw hit the floor in the early stages, really empathised with Battler a lot in those early episodes.

I found Rokkenjima the same day I’m posting this, through the link Asperity posted on /r/visualnovels to the first episode of the Umineko Tea Party Podcast and just kinda followed links from there.

Outside of 07th Expansion I watch a lot of Anime, read a lot of manga, read a shit ton of VN’s seeing as I’m on summer holiday, play a lot of video games, standard stuff really.

The only interesting thing I’ve got at the moment is that two of my friends are currently reading Umineko and I’m having such a good time watching their progress.

Hope we can have fun you guys!

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