Here’s a playlist containing all of Episode 1’s music! Please always be mindful of potential spoilers in related videos though!
3 Likes
I forgot that I never thought to share these here.
These are a series called Umineko Motion Graphic, a series of animations set to music depicting the events of each of Umineko’s episodes as they were released. This one is episode 1. Make sure you have annotations turned on for translations!
I think it’s about time the lyrics to the opening, ‘Umineko no Naku Koro ni’ were shared here! These lyrics are provided by Lyric Wiki!
English Translation
The wind becomes a storm
And infuriates the waves
The sea roars and awakens the Witch who has lived for a millennium
I have long awaited for this day!
I have long feared this day!
Who will fate celebrate?
Oh Witch! Oh Witch!
What will you announce?
To the moon that crosses through the night, the tide floods high
And the cry of Black-tailed Gulls beckons the turbulent clouds
The golden curse, the left behind words
And the secretive smile are blot red
With closed eyes, what are you yearning for?
Even if you tried to collect your broken pieces
I pull from your fingers that I touched; I can’t reach you
We can’t see the glossed truths and falsehoods if there’s no love
Beatrice! Cruel Witch!
Your beauty is unmatched
Beatrice! Oh! Your kindness is capricious
I can never be freed from your spell
If this pain must endure, then at least once have mercy on me
In the dancing wings of butterflies, dreams and reality come and go
The sound of the rain that won’t stop falling hides the truths and lies
The opened banquet, the chosen sheep
And the intertwining hatred fill the cup
In an imprisoned world, what are you searching for?
Even if you’re wishing for a miracle of being able to forgive one another
My voice is scooped out by the wind and it doesn’t reach you
The repeating loneliness won’t disappear if there’s no love
The joy and sorrow return after they pull close
Let’s drift to the dark midnight’s sea
Tears and scars, everything mixes together
And you, of pretense, fall into the darkness
The noise of the waves. The voice of the sea like a song
Listening to them seems to purge my committed sins
The noise of the waves gently rocks my cradle
I serenely fall asleep and have happy dreams
With closed eyes, what are you yearning for?
Even if you tried to collect your broken pieces
I pull from your fingers that I touched; I can’t reach you
We can’t see the glossed truths and falsehoods if there’s no love
What will those closed eyes see?
Even collecting scattered fragments
They drop from the touching fingers
Without being able to unite completely
Fake and disguised appearances
Without love, you don’t see anything
Without love, you don’t see the truth
Romaji + Italian
Il vento diviene bufera
Infuriano i marosi
Il mare chiama mugghiando la Maga che ha vissuto mille anni
Ho tanto atteso questo giorno!
Ho tanto temuto questo giorno!
Il destino, chi festeggerà?
Oh Maga! Oh Maga!
Che cosa mi annuncerai?
yo wo watariyuku tsuki ni shio wa takaku michite
umineko no naku koe wa fuon no kumo wo maneku
konjiki no noroi to nokosareshi kotoba to
himeyaka na hohoemi wa kurenai ni nijimu
tozasareta hitomi de nani wo motomete’ru
kowareta sono kakera wo atsumete mite mo
fureta yubi wo koboreru kimi ni todokanai
kazarareta kyojitsu ai ga nakereba mienai
Beatrice! Maga crudele!
Di bellezza senza pari
Beatrice! Oh! Di dolcezza capricciosa
Mai potrò liberarmi dal tuo incantesimo
Se questa pena deve durare, almeno una volta abbi pietà
maiodoru chou no hane yume to utsutsu yukikai
furiyamanu amaoto wa makoto mo uso mo kakusu
hirakareshi utage to erabareshi hitsuji to
karamiau nikushimi ga sakazugi wo mitasu
torawareta sekai de nani wo sagashite’ru
yurushiaeru kiseki wo negatte ite mo
koe wa kaze ni saraware kimi ni todokanai
kurikaesu kodoku ai ga nakereba kienai
yosete wa kaesu yorokobi kanashimi
kurai yowa no umi e nagasou
namida mo kizuato mo subete ga majiriai
itsuwari no kimi wa yami no naka e
Rumore di onde. La voce del mare come un canto
Ascoltando sembra purificarsi la colpa commessa
Mi culla dolcemente il rumore delle onde
Sereno mi addormento e ho sogni felici
tozasareta hitomi de nani wo motomete’ru
kowareta sono kakera wo atsumete mite mo
fureta yubi wo koboreru kimi ni todokanai
kazarareta kyojitsu ai ga nakereba mienai
Cosa vedranno quegli occhi chiusi
Pur raccogliendo i frammenti sparsi
Cola dalle dita che si toccano
Senza potersi unire fino in fondo
False apparenze dissimulate
Senza amore, non si vede niente
Senza amore, la verità non si vede
Kanji + Italian
Il vento diviene bufera
Infuriano i marosi
Il mare chiama mugghiando la Maga che ha vissuto mille anni
Ho tanto atteso questo giorno!
Ho tanto temuto questo giorno!
Il destino, chi festeggerà?
Oh Maga! Oh Maga!
Che cosa mi annuncerai?
夜を渡り逝く月に 潮は高く満ちて
うみねこのなく聲は 不穏の雲を招く
黄金色の呪いと 遺されし言葉と
ひめやかな微笑みは 紅に滲む
閉ざされた眸で 何を求めてる
壊れたその欠片を 集めてみても
触れた指を零れる 君に届かない
飾られた虚実 愛がなければ視えない
Beatrice! Maga crudele!
Di bellezza senza pari
Beatrice! Oh! Di dolcezza capricciosa
Mai potrò liberarmi dal tuo incantesimo
Se questa pena deve durare, almeno una volta abbi pietà
舞い踊る蝶の翅 夢と現行き交い
降り止まぬ雨音は 真実も嘘も隠す
開かれし宴と 選ばれし羊と
絡み合う憎しみが 杯を満たす
囚われた世界で 何を探してる
許しあえる奇蹟を 願っていても
声は風に浚われ 君に届かない
繰り返す孤独 愛がなければ消えない
寄せては返す 喜び 哀しみ
暗い夜半の海へ 流そう
涙も傷跡も 全てが交じり合い
偽りの君は 闇の中へ
Rumore di onde. La voce del mare come un canto
Ascoltando sembra purificarsi la colpa commessa
Mi culla dolcemente il rumore delle onde
Sereno mi addormento e ho sogni felici
閉ざされた眸で 何を求めてる
壊れたその欠片を 集めてみても
触れた指を零れる 君に届かない
飾られた虚実 愛がなければ視えない
Cosa vedranno quegli occhi chiusi
Pur raccogliendo i frammenti sparsi
Cola dalle dita che si toccano
Senza potersi unire fino in fondo
False apparenze dissimulate
Senza amore, non si vede niente
Senza amore, la verità non si vede
2 Likes
Hello, some of you may know me from Kazumatsuri, I just finished episode 1 of Umineko and have a lot of thoughts about it so I created an account here to make this post. I’m going to make a lot of comparisons to Higurashi but I won’t have any spoilers beyond really surface level stuff, however if you’ve read Higurashi it will certainly help understand my perspective and where I’m coming from.
I tweeted a few things as I was going along but I want to get all my thoughts together in one place. I don’t remember exactly when I started, it was before the steam release, although I’m now playing the steam release, I would guess it’s about a year ago and it took me until now to finish the first episode. Part of that comes down to me having less time to read VNs recently but a big part of it is just how intense it it.
First of all, Higurashi is my second favorite VN only after Rewrite, but Umineko has felt completely different so far and I’m not as into it yet as I was with Higurashi. Also as a quick aside, the soundtrack and the environmental sounds are so amazing, miles ahead of Higurashi which was my gold standard before, however part of the reason why it took me so long to finish is that compared to Higurashi is it’s way more intense right from the start. The early episodes of Higurashi, from what I remember, was like 70% SoL followed by 30% horror mystery all at the end. I really don’t like horror for the most part but Higurashi drew me in with the interesting character and world which allowed me to get through the horror and made me care enough about the mystery to get to the end and want to keep going. Umineko on the other hand, at least in episode 1, was like 10% character introduction and SoL and then went straight into intense mystery/horror and never let up for the remaining 90%. I slowly worked through it in small chunks because I heard people say it’s even better than Higurashi which I loved but it’s was way too much for me to take at once.
As for the actual story, I found it interesting that it set up the supernatural elements started early and were basically explicitly confirmed from very early on. Early on I was leaning towards Battler’s side that the witches don’t exist but by around the midpoint it was clearly obvious that they do which made Battler’s actions in the second half and especially in the tea party particularly interesting. I’m interested to see where the story will go in the second episode and how the overarching meta-narrative will continue and eventually resolve. I’m really curious to just start the second episode to see whether it will be like Higurashi and tell the same story concept with different actions or whether it will do something completely different. With Higurashi I was interested for the first episodes what the answer to the mystery was and how it could possibly wrap itself up, which how it did it why I love Higurashi so much, with Umineko so far I’m more interested in how the nature of the characters and how the interaction between Battler and Beatrice will continue, rather than how the actual events of the story will be explained or not explained. Also because totally not Rika showed up in the second epilogue I’m interested to see if any more connection between the two stories will happen as I complete more episodes.
Wow, when I actually finished it I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to keep going right now but after writing all of this I’m actually super excited to keep going. Anyways, that was my sort of stream of consciousness thoughts, so far it has been good but hasn’t drawn me in in the way Higurashi did yet, the epilogues certainly helped, if it weren’t for being the same developers as Higurashi I probably wouldn’t have finished the first episode but I’m going to hopefully eventually make it though and see if the subsequent episode can draw me in more. I’m interested in talking about this with people here and hopefully I’ll eventually do something like this for episode 2.
2 Likes
Ohoh So I see that you’ve accepted the witch huh? Interesting. I’ll be interested to see your thoughts on episode 2 then.
You say that early on you were leaning towards Battler’s side and thinking that there was no magic used. Could you possibly tell us if you thought of any theories or ways that a human could have done the killing without the need for magic tricks. I’m really interested to see what you might have to say about this.
1 Like
Hmm… early on with like the storehouse and with Kinzo escaping the room and such there were fairly plausible explanations for how it could have been done by humans presented within the story but as it went on with Eva and Hideyoshi and basically everything after that it gets harder to come up with any reasonable way for them to have been done by humans. What really sealed it for me was the brief perspective shift to Natsuhi when she died, which, although it could be a case of an unreliable narrator, basically was the point at which I was fully convinced. I’ll definitely be interested to see what happens in episode 2, I’m planning on at least starting in a few minutes.
1 Like
So, you seem to have fully accepted that witches are real and doing all of this by magic. however, you aso just gave an explanation on what could be happening when you said[quote=“ArchonofFail, post:67, topic:25”]
it could be a case of an unreliable narrator
[/quote]
Keep going with your theories even if you aren’t sure if they are right (trust me, I have a lot of stupid theories posted here). Suppose that you are correct about the narration being untrustworthy, what else might that mean? What can we trust? What can’t we trust? When else might the narrator be lying to us? Why would the narrator be lying (which means we also have to ask who this narrator might be.)?
1 Like
Heh, it’s kinda weird seing one of the people that once theorized now being in the role of the observer. And yet, it’s basically going to be the rite of passage of this topic (and the other ones by extension) so to speak.
Now, before I get into any theorizing, I’ll get into my background with When They Cry in general. I have none. However, the one thing I knew about Umineko in particular is that it is inspired by “And Then There Were None” by Agatha Christie, and even if I wouldn’t have gotten that confirmed by someone, I would have suspected it because there are too many parallels between the stories for a mere coincidence. So first off, I’d like to talk a bit about those parallels and even where there are differences. As such, the next paragraph contains both minor and major spoilers to “And Then There Were None” (abbreviated as ATTWN at points). You have been warned.
Now first, probably the most obvious similarity. Both stories are murder mysteries taking place on an island cut off by the rest of the world, thereby creating a giant closed room. But then we already get into differences. In Christie’s book the people on the island don’t know each other, whereas on Rokkenjima we have members of a family and their servants, so they obviously aren’t strangers to each other. Then we have a minor difference in that the number is different, 10 in ATTWN and 18 in Umineko. Now, where this difference in number gets interesting is the piece of text that is murdered after. In Agatha’s story that’s a nursery rhyme called “Ten Little Niggers” (also please don’t take this word as offense, it is merely how the nursery rhyme is called in the book), in Ryukishi’s one it’s the Epitaph under Beatrice’s portrait. However, if we look at the numbers, we have ten in the text and ten on the island in ATTWN, but we have a minimum of 13 required to die on Rokkenjima when 18 are on the island. Next, we get to another similarity, namely that the murderer proclaims to be an additional person, U.N. Owen in Christie’s novel, Beatrice in Umineko. From there we go to another difference: ATTWN is hammering the fact in that there is no 11th person by having the people on the island search the entire island to confirm that there is no possible hiding spot. That way, the island in that story feels small. In Umineko though, the story tries its damnest to make the reader believe in a 19th person and makes the island itself feel way larger by having the forest as this taboo place. Now last but not least we get to the motive of the culprit, and this is the only thing that we don’t know yet in Umineko, so I’m basically going to superimpose another parallel by seeing how it is in ATTWN. In that story, the culprit was basically playing Judge, Jury and Executioner (if you remember, all ten had committed a crime that they were prosecuted for, found innocent, but actually had committed it except maybe for the culprit) and was just fascinated of murder mysteries and had it as a knack to murder after the nursery rhyme. So what is the motive in Umineko? If the culprit is Kinzo, then it could be reasoned that it is literally trying to resurrect Beatrice, someone that exists at least in Kinzo’s mind. And since she’s still not back when thirteen have been killed, he’s continuing to kill the rest, ending with himself. In that case, his supposed death earlier would then be faked of course,as others pointed out, it’s one of the less believable identifications, and burning yourself, while painful, is something you can do later on to preserve the illusion. If it’s anyone else than Kinzo, then the motive is most likely stated in the Letter of the Witch. This is going from the similar plot object of the tape in ATTWN where the killer announced why he is going to kill everyone. So that letter states that she is collecting interest. In a metaphorical sense, this most likely means that the culprit holds a grudge against the entire family and possibly themselves as well, because why would they otherwise kill themselves afterwards? So yeah, that’s my two cents on motive. I’m actually not saying that anyone specific has done the deed here though.
So now to something else I noticed. The entire conflict of “Does magic exist?” and the arguing for both sides, especially in the first Tea Party (the human one) eerily reminded me of arguing between a religious person, doesn’t matter which religion, and an atheist. And just like that discussion is more or less a fruitless one but has points for both sides, we have the same situation between Battler and those that have accepted Beatrice. And this might actually be an underlying theme for this episode, possibly the entire novel, I stumbled across here. As for me, which side I fall on?
I’m… undecided myself, to be honest. The reason for that actually lies in a meta perspective. From a meta perspective, the answer “A witch did it, it’s magic” is a lame one, because then there isn’t much of a mystery. That answer just seems like a copout to me. And yet, if we look at it from another perspective (although I think not really turning the chessboard, because I’m not looking from the opponent’s point of view, it’s more akin to the phrase “Thinking outside the box”, you’re free to point out if the famous phrase from this episode actually does apply), if the answer is indeed magic, then the actual mystery we are supposed to figure out would be where the hidden gold is, so even with magic as the answer there could be a mystery to solve.
Now, there’s a reason why I didn’t go over most questions that were asked in the thread, and I’ll go about that in my closing points now. You see, in the epilogue, because the plea of Maria to find out the truth utterly contradicted her portrayal in the story, I assumed for myself that the entire thing is actually told by an unreliable narrator, basically that the thing I read is the story that’s passed down as legend now and therefore went through several changes as folktales use to do. That means however that there’s too little to discern fact from legend, so I didn’t really have anything to go off of, and couldn’t possibly form any theories on my own. To form theories on my own, except for the one that the first episode is entirely uncredible, I’ll now need several permutations of the same story, to be able to find out what the core truth is that this legend was born from.
4 Likes
Episode 1 of Umineko, huh…? This is where everything begins. The start of the journey, as the curtains open for the grand tale which is about to unfold.
My feelings towards it is mostly positive, but as far as all the other episodes go, episode 1 was probably the weakest among the first four, which isn’t really its fault or anything. It basically means that it got better and better with each new episode. Kinda like say, comparing Dark Souls 2 with the first one. Both are great, one’s just better than the other.
The tone of episode 1 is also kinda different from the rest as well, and I think that helps it to stand out from the others to some degree. The kind of story you see with episode 1, and what you see later on changes, but at the same time, retains the same enjoyment as one would derive from it.
3 Likes
@MagusVerborum and I are just about done editing the final part of our Episode 1 play-through, and I’m really excited to get to talk about it now that we’ve been through it a second time. For some initial thoughts I’d say it’s been really interesting seeing seemingly innocuous dialogue come back and be relevant. I also really love how drawn out the gap before the end credits is, that was emotionally devestating to me the first time through. I don’t know how much more I can say without verging in to spoiler territory, but hopefully I can be back with a video on the topic in a couple of days 
3 Likes
So, since I had time off from the Little Busters bookclub on Kazamatsuri, I decided to grab life by the horns and read Umineko for the first time to see if I could catch up to the tea party for Chiru’s release. I didn’t know what to expect; Higurashi is my favorite story of all time, and part of me didn’t want it dethroned so fast, as seems to be the status quo. Merely by being on Rokkenjima I have absorbed knowledge about Umineko, first and foremost being that I shouldn’t compare it to Higurashi. Umineko also seems to have a reputation as a complex story, which doesn’t fit my tastes these days as I grow to enjoy the simpler, more idealistic things. Regardless, I dove into the murky haze with an eager grin.
I should note I was using the Steam version, unvoiced and with the original art. After Higurashi, Ryukishi’s art has grown on me immensely.
I was never the type of person to speculate or craft theories with any amount of dedication. I tend to only deal with concrete facts, and keep an open mind at all times instead of pursuing a track. That said, the first chapter surprised me. I had been underestimating myself, and thought this beast was far too different for me to enjoy. I was wrong; I soon felt the teeth of Ryukishi’s writing sink into me, caught in the jaws that I had been accustomed to from Higurashi and Higanbana, and was pulled beneath the waves.
I loved this chapter. It was, in my opinion, the perfect introduction. As some pointed out, it takes a while to get started, but like Higurashi, I won’t complain because Ryukishi knows how to make me care about the story and its characters. It was around the scene where Krauss turned the tables on his siblings that I knew I was home again.
The characters are amazing. They are flawed, believable, and sympathetic, almost frighteningly so. Rosa slapping Maria and reflecting on how bad of a mother she afterwards, while hard to watch, is a great example. Battler stands by Keiichi on a golden pedestal as my favorite visual novel protagonist, for being sharp and determined yet still believable as a young, rebellious teenager estranged from his family. I can’t wait to see more of him spinning the chessboard. Kanon and George stood out as well.
I love how this chapter explores the idea of fantasy versus reality. Battler constantly challenges the existence of Beatrice, stating that witches can’t exist in the human world. We’re tossed into a pit where we juggle the idea that things only exist because we believe in them. Is this an allegory to the belief in God? As a man of faith, this hits me hard. I believe human nature dictates we gravitate toward the unknown and believe in irrational powers, to compensate for the flaws of humanity. Battler entertains the idea of witches at several points, proving he isn’t just a strawman and is instead a conflicted person bent on solving what seems impossible. At least once Battler proclaims the virtue of allowing others their beliefs as long as they don’t force or harm others, which is a message I can never get enough of.
So, I was blown away. You were all right. Now, I can finally understand what 99% of Rokkenjima is talking about. 
Time will tell if Umineko topples Higurashi from the sun-bathed peaks of my heart. I’m not sure what awaits, but I hope I learn a lot.
8 Likes
My friend after almost 1 month finally finished the first episode, he posted his theory on Reddit.
3 Likes
I’m confused. Is Battler a Christian or an atheist? His way of thinking is that of an atheist, but he’s wearing a cross, though I guess you can’t really say a cross makes someone religious or not.
And I haven’t seen any girls interested in fortune telling and the like.
1 Like
I haven’t either. But I suppose that’s just a big thing in Japan perhaps?
1 Like
It may be different nowadays, but when I was a girl, we were interested in astrology readings and tarot cards, and movies like Hocus Pocus and The Craft were popular with wannabe witches. It could be that we’re so used to things like horoscopes in Western culture that we don’t see it as remarkable or mystical.
1 Like
That’s basically a goth fashion thing, which seems to be one of Ryukishi’s inspirations for several character designs.
3 Likes
Kanon can sense people?
1 Like
Poor Maria. You can see how much she’s been hurt. She just wants people to be nice to each other…
1 Like
So, I’m getting the strange feeling that the murders of Twilights 6-10 aren’t going to be Beatrice. I think Natsuhi is going to kill someone right now.
So Beatrice seems to care a lot about Maria. More so than even Kinzo, so I’m thinking that maybe… Aunt Rosa is really Beatrice’s daughter?
Yeah, the tea party really reminds me of an atheist and a religious person arguing. What Battler’s saying makes sense, since there has to be a way, but Maria and the others are trying to guilt him into believing.
Strange how Beatrice’s character profile doesn’t fit her… She doesn’t hate Battler at all.
2 Likes
Your comment about the tea party reminds me of a fan-theory I saw going around when the anime first came out. People were saying the whole series (specifically the anime, as it has no ending) was an allegory for the futility of arguing atheism against religion. I’m not sure I agree with that assessment, but I think it’s interesting to note that others have felt the same way.
1 Like