Terthna
Professional Lurker
To be fair, the original visual novel is even more disjointed, from what I've been able to dig up on it. There's so many layers to the plot, but the further down you dig into it, the less interesting and more convoluted it all becomes. For example, big spoiler for anyone interested in checking out Umineko for themselves, but;When the Seagulls Cry (Umineko no Naku Koro ni)
(26 episode series)
When I first decided to check this out, I was actually thinking that this was Higurashi because I'd misremembered the title. It turns out the two are related, going back to their roots as murder mystery games. As far as the two series go, they just have a somewhat similar premise and tone. Oh, and a couple of characters who look and act like characters from Higurashi show up, and in the background at a couple points when we see the creepy 9 year old girl watching the cheerier moé parts of Higurashi on TV. They were somewhat amusing nods to Higurashi, along with the title page they used for commercial breaks.
Anyway, since I'd seen Haruhi before I watched this, I couldn't help but be reminded of the episode where they all go to some rich guy's private island to solve a murder mystery, because that's exactly how this series started out. Well, that and by getting the fact that the protagonist, Battler Ushiromiya, was a perv who was obsessed with big breasts right out in the open as soon as possible. I may share his fascination that way, but I'm not into my cousins like he is. But then it's pretty obvious whoever made this series was a perv themselves since every female character except the three loli characters has at least D-cups and dresses like a slut. Kind of makes me think of Eiken, actually...
Moving on, the creepy 9 year old, Maria, just happens to be obsessed with witches and the supernatural and the like, which is handy. After all, she single-handedly moves the plot along at points, and to an extent actually got it moving to begin with. Up until she sees Beatrice the witch and reads the creepy letter she gave her after dinner, the show pretty much consisted of rich people being boring rich people while they set up this incredibly stereotypical scenario right out of the game Clue. For the most part, though, Maria is just there to be creepy and to simultaneously fill the moé quotient of the series.
So the murders start happening, and there's supposed to be a supernatural element to it that makes it creeper or something, and it kind of sort of was, except for the fact that I also found it kind of boring at the same time. The idea is that they're supposed to be figuring out this riddle so they can not only be spared their lives and get ten tons of gold, but they're all convinced that someone who is just a regular old human being like themselves is just killing them and trying to scare them into finding this gold for them, like probably any sane person would. So they spend all their time trying to figure out who the culprit is just so they can all die in the process, as Beatrice finally reveals herself and her magic for the audience and kills them. Why? Because she's a witch, and that's how she gets her jollies, apparently. Or something. Let's just say she isn't entirely consistent with how she's written.
As I mentioned before, this shares the whole time loop premise with Higurashi. The difference here is that instead of the characters just getting a new chance to avoid their fates, it's about Beatrice trying to convince Battler, one last skeptic among the family, that she's really a witch and that she's really using magic to kill people. Apparently it's really important that he believe in her or something so she can kill him and own his soul or something, I don't know. This could have been kind of interesting if it hadn't been basically an excuse to have Beatrice kill off everyone in different gruesome ways using magic, with the deck stacked completely in her favor, at least up until she basically gives up. Also, it's not like any sane person, having just heard that their skepticism is basically all that's keeping them alive is going to admit that they believe in magic so they can be killed. But then, there are a lot of missed opportunities in this series. Like at one point Beatrice puts on a little cannibal feast for the last rich Ushiromiya sibling made out of parts of her family, including her own daughter. This could have been disturbing as hell and actually live up to being a horror like it's supposed to be, but instead it was so over the top theatrically that it just comes off as funny. But I will say that the series did actually manage to have a few moments.
Like this:
View attachment 671
That's right. Witch? More like, "Bitch! Make me a sandwich!" (From the cannibal scene, FYI)
Unfortunately these doses of humor are somewhat sparse, and much of it is unintentional. Like say the opening and closing themes, which aren't bad, they're just completely over the top and disproportionate to the "drama" in the actual show. It's not for lack of trying either; it's just that I found the attempts at drama and horror to be much more amusing than any of the humor that was written into the series. Add to that the few interesting moments where it seemed like Beatrice might have lost, even with her completely stacked, messed up game, only to have her suddenly come out of it using some contrived countermeasure, and you could definitely say that I was disappointed by pretty much the entirety of what I saw. Then Battler's sister came along and it looked like he might succeed again, only she died and the series ends with an unresolved sequel hook instead.
There's also the matter of the conflict that takes place in the series. There's the main one with Kinzo, the paterfamilias, being a complete ass who actually seems to want the majority of his family dead, along with all of his loyal servants and even his good friend and personal doctor, for reasons that are never really rationally explained. Also not really explained is the conflict between Beatrice and the two other witches who look like Higurashi characters. They are established to not like each other and to be engaging in a kind of competition over this matter with Battler verbally sparring with Beatrice about whether witches and magic exist or not, but the reasons for this are left very vague. Basically it comes down to me asking myself why I should care.
I think, aside from being boring, the next biggest problem with this series is that it never really solves anything. There are plenty of questions raised, but none really answered. I suppose I could be wrong, and maybe there's some upcoming season which will explain everything as with Higurashi, but I'm not seeing anything about a continuation on Wikipedia or Anime News Network. The next biggest thing is the slew of other characters we never really learn anything about, which makes it difficult to care about them as anything other than the tools Beatrice and the other witches use them as. The funny (and annoying) thing is, a lot of them actually seem to have constant heel-face-turns that are never really explained and are simply a plot convenience. Like say how the same seven demon sisters who helped to slaughter the Ushiromiya family in the main 1986 storyline suddenly care about Angie, Battler's sister who they orphaned to begin with, and basically help her to grow up to be a witch herself in 1998. All so she can go back to 1986 (means never explained) and help her brother defeat Beatrice. Beatrice herself tends to bounce back and forth from being sympathetic and kind(er) to being just a monster.
These major weaknesses added to the often slow pacing (especially in the first half), and lead me to suggest that even if you liked Higurashi, you might want to skip this one. I'll throw it a bone for trying, though. 3/10.
Beatrice does not actually exist. Neither does Shannon or Kanon; all three are merely alternate personalities of a character that isn't even mentioned until the seventh game, Sayo Yasuda. Sayo is a MTF transsexual servant to and illegitimate child of Ushiromiya family head, Kinzo, and his daughter, and is the one who is mostly responsible for the massacre central to the plot.