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