Umineko no Naku Koro ni episode 2

Summary:

Starting from when we last left off~

Episode I-II - First move.

All the family members are at the dinner table fretting over who exactly gave Maria the white umbrella when Maria tells them that it was in fact Beatrice, of course everyone else doesn’t take her answer seriously.

At dessert time, Maria takes out a letter that ‘Beatrice’ gave her, sealed with wax and Kinzou’s ring emblem.

Remember who he gave the ring to?

Maria does her psycho look (have I mentioned that I HATE this girl?) and reads the letter, wich says that Beatrice is the Ushiromiya’s alchemic advisor and that Kinzou has terminated their contract and in such she is to get her gold back and all that the Ushiromiya’s posses as interest.

Kinzou added a special clause in order to give his family a chance to keep all their wealth and honor, the special clause of course is to find the gold. (which location is hinted on the epitaph under Beatrice’s painting)

The special clause also includes that if anyone finds the gold, all that was collected will be returned as well, and by anyone it means the servants are included.

Since the ring is in Beatrice’s possession, this means that the Ushiromiya’s inheritance has been passed down to another person.

All Kinzou’s children are very upset by this and go this door and demand an explanation (for this bullsh*t!) meanwhile Kinzou is (laughing his head off) wondering who will be able to win this game whilst doing his evil grin.

After dinner, Battler and his mom discus whether Beatrice is in fact real or that maybe one of the 18 in the house just making them believe there’s one more person out there. They reach the conclusion that it must be one of them (by applying the “turn around the chessboard” way of thinking, aka. “Put yourself in your enemy’s place”) since

if the 19^th person does exist why did “she” go trough the trouble of secretly handing a letter to Maria? A person that doesn’t want to be seen doesn’t need to prove that they do exist.

While discussing this, Battler’s father tells his wife that the conference will start and that it will probably last the whole night, he also wants to tell Battler something if he’s awake when the conference ends. When Battler tells him that this is not like him, he tells him he fears he will be killed this night. Meanwhile, Krauss shows Natsuhi one of Beatrice’s gold bars, proving that they do exist.

Oooh shiny!

Jessica finds her mother in a hallway suffering from a headache and gives her the charm Maria gave her, Natsuhi thanks her.

Outside, the younger members of the family are going to the guest house when George invites Shanon to a play cards with them. (Jessica says: Bring Kanon too! :D)

Shanon goes to the servant room to ask Kanon but he tells her that Krauss has changed the work schedule and that he and Shanon are to patrol the guest house in the midnight shift while Gohda patrols the mansion and Kumasawa and Genji spend the night at the guest house. When Shanon tells Kanon that the kids want to play with them he tells her that inviting “furniture” to play unnecessary.

Kanon says: No playtime for chairs and tables!

It turns out that Shanon and George are in love with each other so much so that when outside at the rose garden, George orders Shanon to take the ring that he is giving her (since Shanon says she couldn’t possibly accept it –since she’s nothing but a chair after all XD-) and tells her that the next day he will be expecting her answer but that wasn’t an order, all that she needs to do is place the ring in any finger she wants.

Shanon is patrolling the guest house when a golden butterfly passes by behind her.

Muahahahahaha

The next day, Kanon and Genji go to the kitchen only to find out that Gohda hasn’t gotten there yet and that the phone line is dead. Genji goes to inform Natsuhi about this and wakes her up and makes her aware that breakfast is not ready yet……and of the strange marking on her door.

But where is my damn breakfast?!

Natsuhi asks Kanon if he has found Gohda but he tells her that not only is Gohda still missing but, now they can’t find her husband (Krauss), Rose, Ruddolf and Shanon. Eva suggests Natsuhi to check Kinzou’s study and Genji gives her a key because it would be difficult to speak to Kinzou trough the door.

She enters his study and finds him staring outside his window, they have a conversation on whether Natsuhi longs for her family or his husband’s family to which she answers that she is Natsuhi Ushiromiya and the only family she longs for is the Ushiromiya family, Kinzou mumbles that if Krauss had been a woman and she a man…but doesn’t say the rest …Natsuhi tells him that she will protect the Ushiromiya’s honor without fail, Kinzou tells her that the one winged eagle is engraved in her heart and that she truly his daughter even when not connected by blood.

Once she ends her conversation and goes into the hallway, she meets Eva and Genji who tells her that there is something strange with the shed and that it’s locked. When they get there, there is a weird symbol drawn on the shed.

Eeeeerie

Back in the guest house, the kids are playing cards (don't they have Monopoly or something??? D:) when Genji suddenly comes in and asks Dr. Nanjo to go with him to the shed, the kids follow them and Maria stays at the room because she wants to watch TV.

She’s watching Higurashi No Naku Koro ni! XD

They get there only to see a horrible scene…

They should have just stayed and watched TV with Maria. :/

Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, Gohda and Krauss have been killed.

It seems all of them have been dead for 6 hours and that the culprit disfigured their faces after killing them.

George asks if there are only five people there, his father tells him that there are six people…

Damn it! D:<

Impression:

Holey moley! I did not expect so many deaths in one episode, let alone episode # 2!!

Maria Maria Maria, I hate her weird creepy looks and her annoying voice....uugh I'm biased, I don't like little kid voices like that.

Watching this episode bored me until the deaths to tell ya the truth, mostly because I felt it was only repetaing what we already knew from episode one, that there is a with that gave Kinzou gold bars and they had to find it according to the leyend. We at least know now what exactly will happen when they do find the golden bars, that is, if they start like NAO!

Anyways, next episode should clear some things up...or maybe not...yeah, I'm leaning towards the later. >_>

Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Episode 1

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

When Seagulls cry

Sinopsis:

Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place primarily in the year 1986 on a small, secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島^?) owned and lived on by Kinzou, the head of the wealthy Ushiromiya family. Kinzo is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island for the annual family conference, where the adults plan to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island, and shortly after, strange things start to happen and people start dying.

Summary:

Episode 01.- Opening.

The show starts with a stormy night and Kinzou getting informed by his physician that he only has 3 months to live. Kinzou calls out to an unknown woman by the name of Beatrice and telling her that he will give back everything that she has given given him.

The next day Kinzou's family members are seen sailing to his island, named Rokken, as they are going to attend the anual Ushiromiya family reunion. Battler, our main character and a happy-go-lucky pervert, jumps out of the boat as it seems he prefers to be on solid ground than water, he presents us the rest of his family that were traveling on the boat with him.

[George Ushiromiya: Battler's cousin, the smart one of the bunch, he has a gentle demeanor.

Maria Ushiromiya: The youngest cousin, cute and creepy at the same time.

Rosa Ushiromiya: Maria's mother, she looks way too young to be an aunt! XD

Hideyoshi and Eva Ushiromiya: Eva is the sister of Battler's father, Hideyoshi is her husband.

Rudolf Ushiromiya and Kirie: Battler's parents.]

They are greeted at the deck by Battler's cousin Jessica, which Battler hasn't seen in six year and is very impressed by her "growth", and as well by granny Chiyo (a servant of the family) and Toshirou (another servant). Maria notices that somethingis missing at the cliff near the deck, Jessica tells her that the old shrine that was located it there got destroy by lightining. They make their way to the mansion.

[Jessica Ushiromiya: Battler's 18 year old cousin, Battler wants to squeeze her boobs....she is not amused.

Chiyo Kumasawa: An old woman, servant of the family.

Toushirou Goudai: A male servant.]

Once they get to the mansion, they are "greeted" by Kanon (another, young male, servant) and once inside they meet Shanon (another, young female, servant).

Meanwhile Klaus, Genji and Kinzou's physician are outisde of his door trying to get him out of the room with no success.

[Kanon: A serious looking, quiet boy, servant of the family. He thinks of himself as furniture for their employers.

Shanon: A cute and shy female servant, quite voluptous, a fact that Battler doesn't mind.

Klaus Ushiromiya: The eldest of the Ushiromiya siblings and the heir of the family.

Kinzou Ushiromiya: The man that has 3 months to live, Battler's grandfather.

Genji Runoue: Another, older looking male, servant.]

On the entrance of the mansion, Butler and his cousins are looking a a giant painting on one of the walls, a painting of a woman called Beatrice the witch, which was ordered by Kinzou himself.

During dinner, Battler explains to us that the Ushiromiya was a wealthy family thanks to their spinning mills back in the late 1800 and early 1900, but that they lost many family members and wealth after the Great Kanto earthquake on 1923. Kinzou was the one that had the task to bring to his family their previous glory, and has been successful (by unknown means) for the last 20 years.

After dinner, Kinzou's sons and daughters (along with their spouses) are having a conversation about their father's assets. It is revealed that Klaus is diverting his father's funds to his own business (a hotel).

[Natsuhi Ushinomiya: Klaus' wife, according to Eva, she is just being used to give birth to the next heir of the family.]

At the beach, Battler, Jessica, Maria and George are having a picnic. They start talking about a legend that is tied with their family as it involves on how exactly Kinzou got his family fortune back.

Battler says that Kinzou told them that he once met the Golden Witch Beatrice and made a pact with her; in exchange of his soul, Beatrice would give him 10 tons of gold (20 billion yen).

Back to the conversation with the siblings. Rudolf, Eva and Hideyoshi tell Klaus they will let him handle the funds with 4 conditions:

1.- He must find the gold.

2.- He will allow each sibling a portion of the gold.

3.- The heir of the family will receive 50% of the gold, the other 50% will be split between the siblings and that of course includes him. This means he will receive 12.5 billion yen and they (Rudolf, Eva and Rose) will get 2.5 billion.

4.- The gold will be split when Kinzou dies, but 10% will be paid to each of them as of now and the rest before March of the next year. (A 700 million yen deposit)

But Klaus is not out of the loop as he may seem, he knows his siblings are in financial problems just as much as them, and he doesn't hesitate at telling them. All in all, they all are in need of money so they will find the gold at any "cost".

As the day progresses, the clouds begin to gather. The younger cousins after coming from their picnic at the beach and receiving a scorpion medallion from Maria (for protection against magic) from Maria, they return to the mansion and start to search for a sick rose they saw when they arrived and marked with a bow, but to no avail. Maria asks for her mother's help when she saw her walking by.

Since they can't find the rose, Maria starts to make the most annoying sound ever (aaauuu~ over and over again) until her mother snaps and smacks her around, much to the surprise of Battler and his other two cousins. They leave the two to settle things by themselves but since Maria is still making that annoying sound and would not give up on searching for the flower, Rose left her there by herself.

After a while, the rain picks up and Maria, naturally, is nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile, Kinzou is talking to the storm again, screaming to Beatrice that she is late and he'll start by giving her his family crest, now the banquet can begin.

Battler, George and Jessica help Rose find Maria, she was standing not too far away with an umbrella (which she didn't have before). Rose apologizes to her, she just responds that she couldn't find the rose. When asked about her umbrella, she tells them that Beatrice was the one that lent her the umbrella.

Impression:

Let me start by saying that the intro and ending video are really great. They capture you with their eerie magical ember like butterflies, the changes between the beautifuly colored antique like designs, in both the characters and backgrounds, to red colored old movie scenes is a nice touch that adds to the dramatic feel of the show. Even the songs are attractive in a spooky kind of way.

This show was based off a video game and the when the cry series (like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni -kai) so we can expect to get confused at some point of the story. I wonder if the killings that will happen (because there's no doubt that they will) will be as graphic as it's others when they cry series.

A lot of information was given in this episode and we got to meet the cast, but not much has happened as of yet, I only hope the action/mistery starts with the next episode.

I enjoyed this episode quite a bit and would recommend you guys give it a shot.

Next episode is called: First Move.