A looooooong time ago, I allowed Snowzi to request a review as a reward for winning my Lilium challenge. Now, over a year later, I have finally gotten around to watching (and reviewing) the sort-of sequel to the highly praised Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
Plot Summary
When Battler and his family all gather at the family-owned island to discuss the successor to the family name, all seems normal. However, people quickly start being killed through methods that seem to only be possible using magic. This is supposedly the work of Beatrice, the "Golden Witch" who has lived on the island for many years. Battler, however, is adamant that magic does not exist, and so he must disprove the magic to the most difficult of foes - Beatrice herself.
Story
The story is definitely Umineko's weakest point. It's convoluted, hard to follow, and doesn't quite know what it wants to be. One of the most frustrating aspects is that there is no clear divide on what is certainly true and what is supposedly true, and that causes problems in that, after a point, nothing seems to be real and everything seems to be pointless.
The other large issues is that Umineko doesn't really end, or rather, it doesn't have a proper end. It ends after a cliffhanger that brings up much more questions than answers, and makes the entire series seem pointless.
3.7
Characters
The biggest issue with the development of Umineko's characters is that nearly half the cast gets little to no screen time, let alone development. However, a few characters are developed well. The frustrating thing, is, after a point we seem to watch the same development happen over and over again, making the character seem shallow when in fact they are not.
5.2
Animation
While there is a certain beauty to the series, there is a lack of quality there, too. The color scheme is a little more dull than it should have been, and there really was not very many scenes that impressed.
7.3
Music
Both the openings and endings were done extremely well. The background music held its own, too, though no track in particular stood out very much.
7.7
Overall
While there are some good aspects of Umineko, it is simply not complete. The first season was intended with a second season in mind, and without that second season, it becomes confusing and worthless. Add in a lack of quality, and I simply cannot suggest you take the time out to watch it. If the idea interests you, I suggest explore it through some other medium, such as the video games or manga.
Crescent Moon
5.98
Recommendations
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
If you're looking for something similar, but complete, this is what I recommend.
Danganronpa
Another show with brighter colours and better executed mysteries.
Other
Before I watched this, I watched a review on it in which the reviewer just ended up slashing it to death. I went in convinced that it wasn't really as bad as he said it was. ...it is. It is as bad.
And... ugh, I feel like this was more of a rant than a review. It's hard for me to explain why I do or don't like it without spoiling much. Actually, I don't even know if I could explain why I don't like it even then.
And honestly, even though it's bad, it does have a tendency to stick with you. I might buy some of the manga when I have the money just to see where the story actually goes.
