I mean, it’s not so much reaching the right conclusions that I’m thinking so much as it is just talking with her about it on her own terms. Hopefully this makes sense…
What I’m trying to say is that neither George nor Jessica (nor Battler, albeit with “witches” instead of “furniture”) allow Yasu to “define” her “language” to them - they’ve already got definitions in mind, and interact with her based on that. From what I recall (in Ep2 at least, and so far in Ep6 - I’m a bit past halfway in my reread), Jessica doesn’t ask Kanon what being “furniture” means to him as much as she works off the assumption that it’s “being a servant” - which is pretty much what George does with Shannon. I understand what you’re driving at, but I guess the situations don’t seem that much different in my mind - Jessica’s just vocal about it, while George probably keeps it mostly internal (I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Shannon had a somewhat similar, if less emotionally charged, conversation in the past).
As for Shannon/Kanon/Beato’s origin stories, that’s a good point! I hadn’t actually thought about that. Given the emphasis that’s placed on the three of them having an equal chance at winning in Ep6’s love trial, I think it’s safe to say that all three of them allowed her to “be herself” in different ways - it’s just that Kanon ended up being the one shouldering most of her negative emotions. It’s still fascinating to me to see how all three of them are “still her,” just with different aspects stripped away.
None of the cousins should be blamed for not understanding Sayo. It is Sayo’s fault for being unable to properly communicate her emotions, and I’m always surprised when I see people acting like Jessica/Battler/George should have somehow been able to see through Sayo’s feelings and understand that something was wrong. They’re not mind readers, they’re humans.
Umineko spoilers:
Blatantly saying one thing and meaning something else in the narration before making it clear to the readers that you may or may not do so is not an okay thing to do.
(Apologies in advance if I’m misunderstanding what you’re trying to say here - this is my read of it, correct me if I’m wrong)
I understand where you’re coming from, but I feel the exact opposite - I don’t understand how someone can look at the kind of baggage Yasu is carrying and put the blame on her alone. Some of her problems are things people have trouble accepting today, let alone 30-odd years ago - it’s completely understandable to me that she’d be too terrified to come clean about it. On top of that, she’s someone who’s been trampled over and had her voice and feelings invalidated for her whole life - she’s crying out for help in the only way she knows how to (and while I can’t speak for anyone else, as someone who’s suffered from severe depression, it feels incredibly genuine to me - just another one of those things I adore about Ryukishi’s writing). I’m not saying she’s blameless - ultimately, the decision to use the bomb and start spinning her roulette is squarely on her shoulders. The point is, everyone else played their own part in letting the situation develop to that point to begin with, and that includes the cousins.
When it comes to the cousins - Jessica does ping onto the fact that Kanon has some deep-seated self-esteem issues for sure, and I give her credit for that (even if she doesn’t approach him on his own terms). From a Rokkenjima Prime perspective, Battler’s got the excuse of being absent for six years and not having any idea how things have been in the interim. I’m not saying this just to rag on him, but George? I think he absolutely should’ve noticed something was wrong - his girlfriend (or the girl he was crushing on - admittedly I’ve kinda forgotten the timeline when it comes to the two of them getting together) developed such a serious self-esteem problem that she started calling herself subhuman. I’d argue that the same goes for Jessica, seeing as she thinks of Shannon as her “best friend,” but from what I recall we never really see “furniture” come up between the two of them, so it’s a bit less clear.
Battler in the Meta-World sorta does this indirectly, for that matter - for the first two and a half episodes, he’s (understandably, mind) clinging to his vision of the family as “good people” who would never hurt anyone, and to his “narrative” of being the hero standing up to the evil witch, that he doesn’t - can’t - accept anything indicating otherwise. In doing so, he ends up rejecting a lot of what Yasu is trying to tell him about her heart (e.g. dismissing Beatrice II’s backstory in Ep3).
I feel the need to clarify - I don’t blame any of them for not figuring out what was tormenting Yasu on their own, because that would’ve been a monumental task; I blame them for not picking up that something was wrong and approaching her on her own terms about it. They may not be mind readers, but neither is Yasu - she had no way of knowing how they’d react to her if she came clean about everything, so she tried probing them about it in the only way she knew how, and the “answers” she got were not encouraging.
I’m not entirely clear on how I feel about it, but in my opinion it’s on Sayo to take the first step. If help is needed, help should be sought out. Sayo waited for years for someone to understand her, help her and take her away from the island, but she never took the first step needed. It is my belief that her impassiveness is one of the main thing preventing her from escaping her fate, and in the manga she admits as much (although the manga also agrees with what you said, that her friends should have noticed something was deeply wrong). She did not leave the island on her own to pursuit Battler when he didn’t come back. She did not explain to her loved ones the mounting issues she was facing. She did nothing with the power she earned from solving the epitaph. She did not let go of her feelings for any of the cousins or otherwise communicate to any of them. She allowed the massacre to occur without any input or resistance. She refused to live a life outside the island in fear of the truth of her body coming to light (at least the manga portrayed it as such. I hear Ryukishi said something different). For six years she waited for someone to come and avoided any change that may buckle what little she had. Tragically, though hardly unexpectedly, no one came and nothing changed. Her coming clean to George, I believe, would eventually turn her toward a much better future. Similarly, after she explained her situation to Battler in plain words, she was perhaps the happiest she had ever been throughout all eight episodes. Personally, I do not believe it is correct to put this on the cousins. Maybe they should have seen something. Maybe they were too focused on their own problems (though I do think this is an incredibly selfish view to take, no matter how trivial their problems may be in comparison). But I believe that if one does not try to achieve change, one should not expect it.
Out of Sayo’s personas, Kanon was the one who showed the most worrying behavior, and Jessica did her best to support Kanon before Kanon rejected Jessica in the worst possible way (he didn’t even give Jessica a chance to confess, but immediately said he knew she liked him and said it wouldn’t happen). Shannon showed barely any such signs and appeared as a complete contrast to Kanon. How is George supposed to notice that something is wrong with Shannon when she never appears to be upset or unhappy when she’s with him? This just bring me back to my ‘they’re not mind readers’ line because they have no way of knowing what is going through Sayo’s head.
Again, Sayo didn’t have to instantly tell them the truth, but perhaps she could have dropped more obvious hints before George, such as, I don’t know, showing a visible feeling of discomfort whenever George talked about having children or whatever? Frustration or worry over them getting married?
The fact that Sayo had basically dropped all of her negative emotions on her Kanon persona made Shannon less riddled with such negative emotions. So of course George had no way of knowing about Shannon/Sayo’s complex or her worries because she never acted like Kanon and displayed noticeably worrying behavior.
And speaking of dropping hints, all of the cousins made it incredibly clear by their words or actions that they really care about Sayo (at least George and Jessica did), George going as far to tell Sayo ‘thank you for being born’ (at least in the manga). However, even after that, Sayo still didn’t have enough confidence to tell him the truth which leads me to believe that no amount of questioning from the cousins would have forced her to say anything. In Sayo’s mind, she would have been rejected, so a confession like that was never going to happen.
To be fair, in the manga, George, by his own admission, noticed something was wrong with Sayo and ignored it. That’s the chapter after Confession. It is unknown whether this counts as an intentional hint by Sayo though, and to be honest I don’t think giving out hints can really substitute for communication. The same chapter acknowledged both views I think. Sayo admitted that she refused to look for a way out and George and Jessica admitted that they could have done more to help her (and at least in George case, not actively ignore the hints that something was wrong).
To be honest, those are the scenes in Golden Land, that is, the fantasy world. It doesn’t really change the fact that Sayo’s ‘cries for help’ when it comes to Shannon were incredibly vague and not even remotely concerning when compared to Kanon’s (and Jessica did at least try).
And I repeat, even after George told her something like ‘thank you for being born’, she still refused to believe he would accept her. Not only does it show Sayo’s lack of self-esteem, but also incredible an lack of faith in George who’s been nothing but a sweetheart to her the entire time.
I feel like people sometimes cut Sayo too much slack. Like yes, she has a crappy background, and I know why she did what she did, but a lot of her actions are incredibly questionable and other people shouldn’t bear the blame for her own insecurities. If people constantly tell you they appreciate you, and that they care about you, and you STILL don’t trust them, then really, who is the one at fault? Sayo had every opportunity to open herself up to people who let her know they appreciate her no matter what, and still didn’t take it.
Ultimately, it is Sayo’s fault for resorting to unhealthy behavior.
Like, I could understand if Jessica or George gave Sayo a reason to believe her true self would be unwanted, but that never happened. It was all in Sayo’s head.
In addition to all this, don’t forget one thing: If we know one thing about Yasu, then it is that she is a terrific actress to keep this charade going for so long and that she regards her personas less as aspects of herself, but more as characters she has to play in order to please the people around her (or at least that’s her main objective when she’s Shannon, like I said before, Kanon has more leeway). And in any case, she never breaks character. If she phrases things oddly in a way that could be taken as a hint, then she does so always in a way that is in-character for whomever she currently acts as.
Knowing that, I find it very difficult to blame George for anything. There are two reason: First, we get to know the two of them at a time where they are already a couple and second, never forget that the entirety of Umineko is a work of in-universe fiction that is subject to the bias of the writers. When just looking at the first two episodes, George isn’t portrayed in a very flattering light. He tends to play the class card to make Shannon do things she is reluctant to do and even in his proposals he is forceful and proudly displays his entitlement. Yasu obviously has a very cynical view on him and the way the narrative emphasizes what an awesome dude he is kinda sounds like mockery when contrasted to the way he speaks. This leads me to think that even though the later episodes claim that she does have feelings for him, Yasu herself might just go out with him because she thinks that is something Shannon would do. Because in her mind, Shannon is a different entity than herself. And take everything that is stated later on with a grain of salt, because Tohya knows virtually nothing about how they got together and tends to portray everyone in the best possible light.
This long ass rant was necessary for my next point: What if George would have straight up asked her what’s bothering her? Since we don’t know how they got together, it may be very well possible that he did. And here comes Yasu’s crippling turtle tactic into play: Because she never breaks character, she cannot allow Shannon to talk about things concerning Yasu’s state of mind. Therefore even if he did ask, I am 100% sure that Shannon would just assure him that everything’s fine, if she didn’t even already do that sometime before the story begins.
This kinda reminds me of a different story with a far better adjusted character who did the same thing… Any Sense8-fans here? In a way, Yasu’s fear of rejection and of not being understood that leads her to totally deny herself when interacting with others is somewhat similar to Kala’s storyline there. Kala is obsessed with pleasing the expectations of everyone around her and somehow slithers into an engagement with that absolutely awesome guy Rajan, who has fallen totally for her, is super attentive, extremely fun and not to mention filthy rich, but she doesn’t really love him and just keeps the charade going because she wants to please him and her parents. At several times in the story he does notice that she is clearly uncomfortable with what he’s doing for her and flat out asks her, again and again, going even as far as suggesting to break up, but she always assures him that she’s happy and everything is fine and that he has no reason to worry and along those lines she pretty much trains him to overlook all the glaring signs that something is wrong. Why does she do that? Because she’s extremely afraid of this house of cardboards breaking down, she is afraid of the change, of the disappointment and of course of how people will react!
And that’s fucking Shannon! Down to the letter! That’s why I am so cynical to believe that even if outright asked, Yasu would never just tear down her walls, but instead hide behind them, like always. Keeping the charade going, like always. George may have been not as flawless a guy as Rajan in how he dealt with the signs, but even if he did act upon them, it is doubtful that it would have changed much. Heck, it is very likely that he did and Shannon simply trained him to overlook everything, similarly to what Kala does in Sense8.
I guess my most unpopular opinion would be (Full Higurashi spoilers) I have nothing against the syndrome being behind it all, I find it pretty well thought, absolutely not deus ex machina and even believable (for the most part), plus it brings on the table really interesting topics tackled in the beginning of EP8 about scientific research and what we are ready to accept or not, and I love that part, it’s such a bold move from Ryûkishi. Really, I can understand why some complain about it, but for me it just works and I don’t know what kind of explanation people expected after all the seemingly impossible events of the story that could be closer to something that could happen in reality. And I believe the general idea behind it could definitely be found, even if there are not clues to everything like in Umineko. It’s just that the setting of Higurashi is more in a ‘flawed’ reality than in a reality that happens to fit the codes of an intented genre.
I guess this opinion is really unpopular but, I Like Leo more than Battler.
To be fair, Higurashi is an actual book from the “Rokkenjima Prime” layer in Umineko, as mentioned by Battler and some other characters, like Lambda.
Its limits could actually be treated as an interesting plot point in the future, kinda makes me excited to see what WTC5 will be all about.
Of course I know about that, doesn’t change anything about what I said, you can still imagine it exists as a reality on its own.
Another one from me: (RGD season 4 spoilers)
Olivers death was a horribly written death. It felt forced in order to bring the wild dogs into the final battle and it being at the same time as Yuki’s took away its impact
I completely agree with you.
The worst thing is, that he died for a god damn body double.
Super ultra turbo unpopular opinion in RGD: I don’t like Leo 
Jiro Suzuki is by far the best artist to work on either When They Cry manga.
Although he’s underdeveloped he’s such a fun character.
I like his jokes… and his invincibility is amusing. He is fine, I don’t dislike him, but I don’t like him either. I just didn’t miss him when he was away. Like he was unneeded to the story? Idk, long story short: he didn’t bother me, but didn’t do much for me either.
This is my opinion, which I think will be unpopular because it’s a bit combative (full Umineko spoilers):
Imagine we were trying to figure out Zepar and Furfur’s genders. Their descriptions say that they are of opposite genders. As good detectives, we hold both versions of the story in our heads at once, analyzing the evidence for and against each one, and eventually arguing in favor of one of them. Now, in some sense, this is a self-defeating exercise. For starters, the only way we could ever know their genders for sure is if it was stated in red text, and no such statement exists. More importantly, though, the fact of their genders being ambiguous has a specific emotional impact, which is deliberately introduced by the storyteller and which can’t be captured in a framework that only admits of the possibilities “Zepar is a woman and Furfur is a man”, and “Zepar is a man and Furfur is a woman”. To argue in favor of one of those two possibilities is to destroy the impact of their ambiguity, and to deny Zepar and Furfur the freedom of identity that defines their characters.
However, in another sense, arguing over Zepar and Furfur’s genders is precisely what makes them ambiguous in the first place. I mean that in two different ways (naturally). First, just as with all mystery in Umineko, their genders are ambiguous for the purpose of being argued over. Mystery novels are fun because we can come up with theories and debate them with our fellow readers, so debating over Zepar and Furfur’s genders may be to enjoy and respect their characters more than if we simply maintained a self-righteous silence. Second, I believe that the ambiguity of Zepar and Furfur’s genders is actually manifested and given power in the real world by arguing over them. Every story in which Zepar is a woman gives her freedom to claim that she is a woman, and every story in which Zepar is a man gives him freedom to claim that he is a man.
And that’s pretty much how I feel about people saying “Sayo is a woman” or “Sayo is a man”. (Sorry, I told you it was going to be combative.) Battler figured out a lot of things about Sayo, but he understood that he could never pronounce on their gender, because it is a truly sealed catbox that only Sayo themself could peek into. And I think that fixating over the two options of Sayo being a man or a woman causes us to ignore the more important question of what role this dilemma plays in Sayo’s character.
Just like Zepar and Furfur’s ambiguity, Sayo’s indecisiveness is a crucial factor of their personality. They dither over whether to pursue George, Jessica, or Battler; they endlessly ponder whether to go through with the murders; all of their magic is left to the whim of chance; and one of their favorite techniques of the game is to postpone decisions as long as possible. Beatrice is the Endless Witch, because she is the witch of endless postponement. She is famous for escaping from closed rooms, and what more closed room could there be than the principle of excluded middle: either a thing is true, or it is false! The world asked Sayo, “Are you a woman or a man?” Sayo said, “I am…” and never spoke again for the rest of eternity, and vanished from the excluded middle in a cloud of golden butterflies. Just as Lambdadelta defeats the seemingly inescapable dichotomy of winning and losing by trying to make the game last forever, Sayo perpetually flees from the psychic amputation of pronouncing themself to be a man or a woman.
Nevertheless, I don’t really have a right to tell people to not propose their theories about Sayo’s gender. That would be to tell them to stop thinking, which is Umineko’s cardinal sin. What I want, ultimately, is someone to say “I love Sayo the woman”, and someone to say “I love Sayo the man”, and someone to say “I love Sayo who is both”, and someone to say “I love Sayo who is neither”, and someone to say “I love Sayo who could never decide that question for themself, so neither will I”. That love is what keeps Sayo, and Umineko, alive for us.