I could make that claim about any character in any story. Even the human characters in Umineko are all there for a purpose. They each have a vice or two that they represent, there are lesson to be learned from them. The only reason there is a difference between the humans and the meta characters is because you decided there was. The reason you could not related to them as human was because you chose not to. The fantasy and mystery characters were every bit as human and relatable as the rest of the rokkenjima cast, but because you dismissed them as “not-human” you failed to see that.
Remember, Beatrice herself is a fantasy character. Viewing her as simply a witch to be defeated was what Battler did in episode 2. But as early as episode 3 Battler had already begun to understand she had human motivations, emotions, and struggles. The humanizing of the fantasy cast is something that started in 1-4, it was nothing special or unique to Chiru, and as I stated, it was a natural progression.
[quote] I want to see people and characters for who they are and what they do,
and not have to use representations within a metaworld to try and
understand them.[/quote]
You say that, and yet you have completely thrown out the majority of the cast as characters by thinking of them merely as representations. Dlanor is just as valid of a character as Natsuhi. Erika is just as valid as Maria. Virgillia just as valid as Kumasawa. The fantasy and mystery characters do represent things on the human levels of the story, but they are also characters with their own humanity all to themselves. Dlanor fulfills her duties as a Inquisitor of Heresy to the letter, but still maintains her own personal opinions and emotions, which often conflict with her duties. Will leaves his job because he believes the way his rules are being used lacks heart.
Whether it is the purgatory sisters, or Bern and Lamda they all have the types of complex emotions and relationships you are looking for. By throwing that out you have made the metaworld into a barren shell of what it really is. It’s not surprising that Chiru is lacking in humanity or heart when you do that. But that’s not because the story didn’t have those things, it’s because you refused to see them.
That is not at all how I interpreted that choice, nor do I think that was the intended message. The point was that there is no absolute truth. Even the book of one truth is merely Eva’s interpretation of the events. As we saw from Natsuhi’s diary in episode 5 it could very well be full of cruel thoughts that would give an incorrect impression of the truth. The Rokkenjima incident left little to no evidence. Even the two survivors probably only had limited knowledge of what happened that day. They would not know the motives of the murderer, the complex reasons behind everything. They would not know all the answers, only what little they saw and how they interpreted it.
The point of the magic ending was that in the absence of a single truth any number of truths are valid. Ange’s choice was about choosing a happy truth instead of a sad one. It was about remembering her family fondly instead of doubting each of them. When any of them could be the murderer is it better to treat them all as the murderer or none of them? When the only thing it will affect is how fondly she is able to remember them the answer is clearly the latter. What does she gain by learning the “truth”? What does she lose?
The point was that there is more to a mystery than the answer. That there is more to a story than defeating a villain. It wasn’t about deluding yourself with a lie, or rejecting reality. It was about optimism instead of pessimism, hope instead of despair, love instead of hate.