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# Ange Ushiromiya
, also known by the names and , is the daughter of Rudolf Ushiromiya and Kyrie Ushiromiya, and the younger sister of Battler Ushiromiya.
As the last living Ushiromiya family member in 1998, Ange sets out to find the truth of the Rokkenjima Mass Murders. She first appears in "Banquet of the Golden Witch""."
Appearance.
Ange has upper-back auburn hair that is usually tied in small pigtails and is secured by a cheap accessory that was given to her by Battler. She has square bangs hanging over her forehead and dark-blue eyes.
As a young woman, she wears a black blazer with a black belt over a white collared shirt with a lavender bow tie, along with a white skirt, long black stockings, and plain black shoes. She wears a red armband with the Ushiromiya crest on her left arm. Kasumi Sumadera points out that she inherited the shape of Kyrie's eyes and nose. In addition, Ange seems to be well-endowed, which she also inherited from her mother.
In her appearance as a six-year-old girl, she wears a green dress with a lavender bow and white socks and plain shoes; the Ushiromiya crest is displayed on her left sock. She also wears a golden butterfly key given to her by Battler.
Personality.
Before the Rokkenjima incident, Ange was like any regular young girl; cheerful and upbeat who loves her family, especially her older brother Battler despite not seeing each other so often. She also hates being alone.
After the events on Rokkenjima with Eva the only supposed survivor and the rest of her family dead, Ange's personality changed. Due to the hardship she had been put through from the loneliness she suffered and the pressure of being the next head, as well as being manipulated by Bernkastel into rejecting Eva as a surrogate mother, Ange lost her smile, developing her cold, calm, and cynical personality.
As a young woman, Ange can also be sarcastic at times and like her brother, she has a habit of saying, "It's useless, it's all useless" during difficult situations. Despite her cold and calm front, she would sometimes be emotional, especially during the EP 7 Tea Party when she broke down after Bernkastel shows her the truth of the Rokkenjima Massacre. It can also be noted that deep down, because of her grief, she became bitter and lonely, resulting in Ange wanting to find the truth. It is also what clouded her memories on the happy moments she had with her family.
Abilities.
When Ange inherited the titles of Golden Witch and Endless Witch from Eva, as well as the name Beatrice, Bernkastel recognized her as the witch ANGE-Beatrice. She was taught magic by MARIA through Maria's diary.
When ANGE-Beatrice's magical abilities manifest, she is recognized as the , as she was able to resurrect Sakutarou from the remainders of his vessel; Beatrice was unable to accomplish this, as she believed Rosa destroyed Sakutarou by denying his existence. Ange is also able to summon the Seven Stakes of Purgatory as well, even in areas full of anti-magic toxin.
Because she hails from 12 years in the future, ANGE-Beatrice has developed a high-magical resistance, making her dangerous to witches, who see her as the ideal witch-hunting witch. While Ange herself denies the existence of magic, she admits that it "can" exist for others. Ange's moveset in Golden Fantasia shows that she is also capable of close-range combat.
In "Twilight of the Golden Witch", Ange fully unlocks her magical abilities, now able to revive anything she wishes to within the cat-box and uses the Golden Truth to stop Bernkastel from definitively destroying her family with the Red Truth.
Background.
Ange was Rudolf's illegitimate child with Kyrie, as at the time he was already married to Asumu. Because of this, Battler rebelled and left the Ushiromiya family, partly so that when Ange is born, she would have a loving home and family.
After her birth, she had a nice childhood for the first six years of her life. Ange grew to be very close to her brother Battler despite only meeting him on her birthdays. At some point in time, she sneaked into her parents' room and found Kyrie's diary which details on how much she hated Asumu. On one of her birthdays, she and her family went to an amusement park where Battler won cheap hair ornaments from a crane game, a possession which she would treasure for the rest of her life.
She was also close to Maria, and would often play with her doll Sakutarou at every family conference. However, on the family conference of 1986, Ange was sick and so could not attend. That same year, the Rokkenjima Massacre occurred with only her aunt, Eva, surviving the incident. As a result, Eva became her foster parent. When Eva took her in her care, she welcomed Ange with open arms, telling her that she could count on her for anything, so that they would slowly become happy again. At first, they had a good start for a good relationship, but this would eventually all come down to nothing.
The short story The Witches' Tanabata shows that Ange made a wish for her family to come back. Bernkastel visited her and told her that she would grant Ange's wish if she denied Eva's offer of a loving relationship, convincing her that there was only room in Ange's heart for one mother, Kyrie, and she couldn't let Eva take her place. Because she was still a child, Ange believed Bernkastel and followed her instructions, purposely destroying her relationship with Eva, even until the latter's death.
As a teenager, she was enrolled at St. Lucia's. By the time she was already a teenager, it has already become common public knowledge that Eva would give all her assets to Ange by the time she dies. As a result, the public already started to believe in the Rudolf's family culprit theory, and thus she became a subject to bullying by her classmates, as her classmates believed that even though her brother and parents tried to take the gold for themselves, Ange would still inherit everything. It has also became public knowledge that she had a full-blooded relationship with Battler, and that they are not half-siblings. She has also learned all about the illegal and fraudulent businesses that her parents were involved in.
Because of this, she was a lonely teenager, and escaped her harsh reality by reading Maria's diary and creating imaginary friends. Through this, she was able to create an illusory version of Maria, Sakutarou and the Stakes of Purgatory. She also learned about Maria's life story before the Rokkenjima incident. She learned magic to become the Witch of Resurrection and learned how to summon the Stakes of Purgatory, although initially, she was only able to summon Mammon, who later on became her close friend. For a bit, her teenage years became a bit bright and happy and eventually was able to summon all seven sisters, who eventually became her Furniture.
At the same time, however, bullying became much more harsh, and one day, she asked her Furniture to kill her bullies, but they couldn't, and so one by one, they refused her order, and at the same time denied their existence, thus "killing" them. She also ended up killing Maria, Sakutarou and finally her best-friend, Mammon, who told her that in the end she is just a lonely person. It was not until that at the end of her graduation she would be able to summon them again. On Eva's deathbed, she finally asked her what happened on Rokkenjima, but ultimately, Eva refused to tell her, grabbed her hair and told her to ask her parents who are now in hell. She dies without an answer and Ange inherited all of Eva's assets. This marked the beginning of her search for the truth of Rokkenjima.
Relationships.
Overview.
Relatives
Meta-World
Other
Battler Ushiromiya.
Battler is Ange's older brother, and despite Battler's falling out with Rudolf he still loved to hang out with Ange. During a trip to an amusement park, Battler won some hair ornaments from a crane game as a gift for Ange, which she still cherishes.
Beatrice.
Ange is a successor to Beatrice because of her role as ANGE-Beatrice, however the two have an antagonistic relationship. Ange wants to defeat Beatrice to free her family from 1986 Rokkenjima no matter what. In "Twilight", Ange fights back against Beato and Battler before finally coming to accept her.
Side arcs usually feature the two bickering with one another and fighting over Battler.
Eva Ushiromiya.
As the only survivor of the Rokkenjima Mass Murders, Eva gained custody of her niece Ange, who had been absent on the day of the 1986 family conference. She tried to accept Ange as her new daughter, but her intentions were muddled by her grief regarding the loss of her son George. She thus tried to raise her as the successor in her son's place, but Ange was less receptive to her strict upbringing and unwilling to accept her as her new mother. This was further strained by Eva's constant comparisons of Ange to her deceased son. As a result of Ange's rejection of her and increasing pressure put on her by the public, Eva's relationship with Ange grew increasingly sour and resentful. By the time of Eva's death, their relationship had deteriorated beyond repair, and Eva's categorical refusal to tell Ange the truth about her family's death infuriated her further. She died cursing Ange, with her final action being to grant her the entirety of the Ushiromiya fortune and name in an attempt to lead her to the same fate she ended up in.
In the final two arcs, it is revealed that Eva had refused to tell the truth to Ange in an attempt to hide the fact that her parents had been responsible for the massacre. The side story The Witches' Tanabata also revealed that Bernkastel played a role in Ange's rejection of Eva, by having her promise to never accept Eva as her new mother for the illusory possibility that that would allow her parents to one day return home.
Juuza Amakusa.
Amakusa is Ange's bodyguard. She is sometimes annoyed by Amakusa's joking attitude, but she seems to regard it as just the right relaxation after she figured out how to treat him. On the other hand, Amakusa is swept away by Ange's free-spiritedness, but he thinks that such a life is not so bad. The two may be more alike than they think.
Lambdadelta.
Lambda is also an opponent to Ange, similar to Battler. However, Lambda sees value in Ange as a tool to help her stay with Bern forever. She tries convincing Ange to become her piece instead of Bern's and stall the game for as long as possible, but it fails. Lambda considers Ange a failure after this and is not very interested in her development in later arcs, as seen in "Requiem of the Golden Witch" when she tells a distressed Ange to pipe down as the true events of the Rokkenjima Mass Murders are playing out. However, in "Twilight of the Golden Witch", Lambda comes to sympathize with Ange and names her and the rest of the Golden Land residents as her mikos, fighting on their behalf.
Maria Ushiromiya.
Maria is Ange's older cousin through her paternal aunt Rosa. Ange was initially very close to Maria, and would often often gladly taken Sakutaro and all the other toys and played with her cousin and even let her into the exclusive alliance of witches created by her and Beatrice. However, when Ange made fun of her one day because her mother had told her that Sakutarou was just a plush toy and not a real child like them and their classmates, Maria expelled her from her life and her magical world, even going so far as to write in her diary that she hated Ange as much as she hated Rosa after the latter destroyed Sakutarou.
Kyrie Ushiromiya.
Kyrie is Ange's mother, seemingly caring for Ange deeply, as she would let Battler live as she knew it would make Ange sad. However, in "Requiem of the Golden Witch",it is revealed that Kyrie saw Ange as nothing more than a chain to hold Rudolf, never truly loving Ange as her daughter.
Rudolf Ushiromiya.
Rudolf is Ange's father. While their relationship is never greatly expanded in the story, Rudolf does greatly love Ange from the bottom of his heart and so does she, fondly remembering him and Kyrue dearly and part of the reason she refused to accept Eva as her new mother was because she doesn't think anyone could ever replace her parents.
Featherine Augustus Aurora.
Ange first meets Featherine in her human form as Tohya and soon becomes her Reader. Though Ange speaks to her very rudely, Featherine overlooks this and is actually amused by it greatly.
Role in the Story.
Legend of the Golden Witch.
Ange is mentioned at the beginning of the game by Eva asking how is she doing and Kyrie replying that she is sick and is staying with her family.
Banquet of the Golden Witch.
At the end of the episode, Ange invades the meta-world to stop Battler from falling for Beatrice's deception. Beato welcomes her to the game after seeing that she's Bernkastel's piece.
In the ???, Ange speaks to a bedridden Eva and asks what really happened on Rokkenjima that day. She learns nothing and soon inherits the assets and headship of the Ushiromiya family.
Ange then stands atop a skyscraper and considers jumping off when Bernkastel approaches her, saying that she can defeat Beatrice and take her family back if she joins. Some guards appear to get Ange away from the edge, and she agrees to Bern's plan and jumps off.
Alliance of the Golden Witch.
Gretel
Beatrice introduces Ange to Battler, who has no idea that Ange is actually his sister. Ange gives her name as "Gretel," as Bern had given her a golden rule: in order to stay with her beloved brother, she must never reveal her identity to him. However, when Battler falls into utter depression and defeat, Ange tries to regain it and tells him that his little sister is waiting for him back at home. "Don't leave me...alone..." Ange says. Battler soon realizes that the Ange of 1986 is waiting for him, and then the thought of 'Gretel' being his sister quickly consumes his mind. Before he can say anything to her, Ange is painfully ripped to shreds and disappears from the Meta-World.
World of 1998
Ange goes to investigate what really happened on Rokkenjima, taking her bodyguard Amakusa with her. She meets with Professor Ootsuki, a member of the Witch Hunters, a group of people obsessed with the mystery of the Rokkenjima Incident. Ange also interviews relatives of those who died in the incident, namely Masayuki Nanjo and Sabakichi Kumasawa. Along the way, Ange is hunted by Kasumi Sumadera, who wants to kill her and ensure that the Ushiromiya family wealth goes to her company.
Ange and Amakusa finally head to the island itself, getting assistance from Captain Kawabata, who had ferried the Ushiromiyas to the family conference in the preceding years. It is there that Ange faces off with Kasumi for the last time.
During the credits, it is stated that Ange died in 1998.
Dawn of the Golden Witch.
Ange suddenly awakens in the room of an infamous author, Tohya Hachijo, who wrote novels about what happened during the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Case of 1986. Ange doesn't believe what Tohya wrote and quickly discerns that Tohya Hachijo is the witch Featherine Augustus Aurora. After much discussion and arguing, Featherine hands Ange a copy of her newest work: "Dawn of the Golden Witch". Ange is then given the opportunity to find out the truth of Rokkenjima, by herself, by reading the manuscript. During that time, she is shocked how Battler became the new Game Master as well as his new motives in reviving Beatrice. She continues to read to learn why Beatrice later became so important to Battler. Ange later becomes displeased with her brother's initial cold treatment of the Chick Beato; while even though Ange still had a grudge against Beatrice, Ange agrees with Chiyo Kumasawa that Battler's behavior was very displeasing for any woman and grew sympathetic to the Chick Beatrice.
Requiem of the Golden Witch.
In the Tea Party, Ange and Lion are summoned by Bernkastel to a theatre stage to watch the true events of what transpired on Rokkenjima, where they are tortured with the story of Ange's parents, Rudolf and Kyrie being the true culprits. After watching the events all the way through, Ange is ripped apart by Bernkastel as Lion looks on in horror.
At the end of the story, Battler finds a young Ange in the Chapel, who asks him to tell her what happened on Rokkenjima on October 4th, 1986.
Twilight of the Golden Witch.
A young Ange is taken to Rokkenjima by Battler, allowing her to finally join the family conference. Ange soon realizes that things are different, as the family members are acting incredibly nice to each other instead of fighting over the inheritance. Nevertheless, Ange puts her suspicions aside and joins the conference festivities, which ends with a quiz session.
After the quiz session, Ange falls asleep and is taken to the parlor, being given a prize from the quiz. She later wakes up and falls into Bernkastel's game, being lured to the dining room by a black cat and discovers the corpses of her family. Ange is then attacked by several Goats repeating that Battler, Kyrie, and Rudolf are the culprits, and Ange is swiftly rescued by Erika and EVA-Beatrice. Ange then realizes that Battler had been lying to her about her family in this 8th game. She accepts her role as ANGE-Beatrice and joins with Erika and EVA to seize the Book of the One Truth (Eva's diary) so she can learn the real truth of Rokkenjima.
After repeated fights with Battler and his allies, Ange seizes the key to Eva's diary and retreats to the City of Books. She reads the One Truth and encounters several goats yelling that "This is the truth" in red before hurling herself off the City of Books into a void.
Ange reawakens in the Golden Land and reconciles with her family, plotting with Battler and the others to stop Featherine and Bernkastel from revealing the truth of Rokkenjima. After a fierce battle, Ange is able to unlock her powers as the Witch of Resurrection, summoning her family and all the fantasy beings to unite as one and deal the finishing blow to Bern.
Ange is finally given a sendoff into the future by her family, who present her with two doors. Beatrice also performs a candy trick for Ange, with the possible answers being Magic or Trick; the player's answer determines which door Ange chooses.
In the Trick ending, Ange is on a boat heading to Rokkenjima and is holding the present from the quiz session, which she then throws into the ocean. When Amakusa asks why she did this, Ange shoots him and Captain Kawabata, suspecting them of trying to kill her. Ange is congratulated by Erika for becoming a fellow Witch of Truth, and Ange sets out to discover the real truth of Rokkenjima.
In the Magic ending, Ange resigns her position as the head of the Ushiromiya family and leaves Okonogi in charge of her family's estates and to deal with the Sumadera family. Through arrangements made by Okonogi, she retires to live privately and becomes the last Beatrice.
As she discarded her original identity as "Ushiromiya Ange", therefore the "old Ange" had "died", which corresponds to the statement that Ange died in 1998. In actuality though, she's still alive, but under a different identity.
Decades later, Ange establishes herself as a writer named , whose most well-known work is an adventure series called . Because of her works, Ange is given the opporunity to meet Tohya Hachijo again. During this meeting, Ange learns that the real Tohya Hachijo is actually her brother, who survived the Rokkenjima Incident but developed memory problems. While they go their separate ways, Ange eventually invites Tohya to the refurbished Fukuin House for a Halloween Party, allowing Tohya to cope with his memories as Battler.
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Ange Ushiromiya
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# Ange Ushiromiya/Gallery
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Ange Ushiromiya/Gallery
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# Ange Ushiromiya/Other Appearances
This page details Ange Ushiromiya's other appearances and involvement in "Umineko"-related media outside the original story.
Ange is a playable character in "Golden Fantasia".
Ange appears in the collaboration event as a unit.
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Ange Ushiromiya/Other Appearances
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ange Ushiromiya/Sprites
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Ange Ushiromiya/Sprites
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# Angel Mort
is a family restaurant. It is a frequent meeting spot for the club, and it is where Shion Sonozaki works at part-time.
Description.
Angel Mort originated in Okinomiya and soon became a restaurant chain with branches in Tokyo and Kakiuchi City. The main branch in Okinomiya is owned and managed Mion's uncle Yoshiroh.
History.
Despite being a "family restaurant", Angel Mort is actually aimed towards an otaku clientele, evidenced by the revealing outfits worn by waitresses and the veritable merchandise scene for Angel Mort figurines. Some customers are especially perverted and will purposely trip waitresses to make a mess and make them clean up, bordering on sexual harassment.
The otaku crowd comes in full force whenever a Dessert Fiesta is held: an all-you-can-eat dessert event that requires special tickets to attend. Ticket scalping is thus a common occurrence.
It is suggested that there is a blacklist used for barring people from entering restaurants when they do enough bad things like harassment or illicit ticket dealings, however Mion doesn't confirm or deny if such a thing exists.
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Angel Mort
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# Angel Mort/Backgrounds
<tabber>
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# Angel of 17 Years
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Angel of 17 Years
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# Angel of 17 Years East Shi-44a
is an extra arc from . It was first released at Comiket 81 on December 31, 2011.
This page contains a translation of the story by haguruma on AnimeSuki. Translation found here
Plot Summary.
Ange and Virgilia make a business selling yaoi doujins at Comiket and experiment with potential pairings, much to the dismay of everyone involved.
Release History.
Original Booklet.
This arc was first released as a text booklet at Comiket 81 on December 31, 2011.
"Umineko no Naku Koro ni: The First and the Last Gift".
This arc was rereleased in "" on December 16, 2015.
Ports.
"Symphony of Catbox and Dreams" adapted "Angel of 17 Years East Shi-44a" into visual novel format for the first time, featuring voice acting.
Transcript.
Angel of 17 yearsEast/Shi-44a07th Expansion--------------------------------------------４４Angel of 17 yearsUmineko no naku koro ni
New Release:Big Brother Battler Absolute Uke---------------------------------------------11pm
Ariake International Exhibition Hall、
East Hall 5、East/Shi-44-a “Angel of 17 years“
“Here is not the end of the liiiine!! Right now it's at the corner to East Hall Oooooone!!”
“I'm sorry! Is this here 'Angel of 17 years?'"
“Ah, sorry. The queue is outside. Would you mind waiting there? I'm sorry, please?”
“Oh, you're still doing preparations. Can I still place a reservation? I'd like to get 20 copies of the new Battler Absolute Uke one!!”
“Miss Kotobuki, please draw something for me!! Kyaa, Miss Lia is here too!! Can I please shake your hand?! Kyaaakyaaaa!!“
7pm
Tokyo Bay, Ariake Washington Hotel. A suite.
“Kanpai.“
Ping. The sound of elegant glass reverberated.
“We were all sold out around noon. That's what I call a success. How many copies did we bring along today?”
“10.000. Hohohoho, and we actually sold all of them?!“
Ange and Virgilia tipped their glasses and enjoyed today's victory and the delicious drinks (of course, at 18, Ange drank alcohol-free ones).
Their circle, “Angel of 17 years”, was a huge success. They had become a super major circle, which everybody in the Umineko BL fandom knew about.
The two had already done some stuff here and there before they teamed up, but they never were that famous. But when they fused together their abilities, it was like a chemical reaction. It was less like flowers blossoming, more like an explosion when their powers combined, and in the blink of an eye they raced towards being a top circle.
“10.000 volumes of a set of 3 new Doujin, a fan and a paperbag, totally sold out. So that's what we can do when we work together...”
“Our reputation in the stores is increasing as well. We already have orders from several BL stores and from Kujira no Ana for reprints.“
“We will take over the whole world of BL from here. Take this, Hongkong Alice Dream Orchestra!!“
“The queue for Hongkong Alice is always so amazing, isn't it?! What kinda books are they selling anyway?”
“They do shooting games, BL shooter. You never heard of Mouhou? The main character and the boss of every stage, they're all shota.”
“My my, I see, I see...I think I will have to give that game a try. Hohohoho...”
And so Ange and Virgilia kept on enjoying their bourgeois conversation...
“Well then. One victory is only the door to the following battle. Even if I achieved complete victory with big brother's absolute uke doujin, the time is still moving forward. If I have only the same for Winter Comi, the readers will get bored!”
“You're right. I'd kinda like to open up to a new pairing.”
“What should we do next? Say what you want, I don't mind omitting big brother for once.”
“There are so many beautiful pairings we could do, right?! I think we should test them all.”
“So, let's do a strategy meeting! There's not much time until we have to apply for Winter Comi!”
Thanks to it being possible to apply via internet now, they can postpone their application a little more. But it's still rather common for the application deadline for Winter Comi to be only a few days after the end of the Summer Comi.
In other words, they had to think about which stories to do for Winter Comi, while the excitement from Summer Comi was still fresh.
“So, be frank. Who x Who?! It all depends on the pairing!”
“But we also need to have motivation to work with it. We have to decide carefully.”
So, why not do a list? So let's start from the top, who do we have? Well, if we start from the top, first there is...how about Kinzo x Genji?”
Virgilia instantly snipped her fingers and their suite started changing slowly, until it had become Kinzo's study. The bed had also grown a canopy, worthy of a king, and next to it with a BOPP and a BOPP Kinzo and Genji appeared.
“...Hmhm. Who's gameboard might we have landed upon now?”
“Oh, master...might this be the beginning to Lady Beatrice's game again?”
“I don't know. But whatever, we are the pieces of the witch. My role is, as always, to head towards the thunderstorm and scream, BEATRIIIIICE.“
Virgilia whirled her finger around and the two, without their own intent, were moved towards the side of the bed.
“...What plan is this?!“
“I don't know. ...Uhm, why is my hand suddenly on your shoulder?“
“...my hand is placed on your shoulder as well, master.“
“Urgh. There are words, boiling up from the back of my throat..."Genji! My dearest friend!"“
“It is the same with me, the words are pushing themselves out. …"My master...I yearn for you so deeply..."“
"“If only you had not been born a man, I would have never had to wed my wife...“"
"“...My master...these feelings fill me with joy...but I am naught but furniture. I could never become your companion, master.“"
"“Aaaah, why must you always call yourself furniture, furniture. Even though you know of my feelings, you always call yourself furniture!" ….what am I saying here, Genji?!“
“...I don't know. "My master, don't jest...“"
"“Very well, so you are furniture. ...If you really are furniture, then from this point on, I will allow no resistance and no back talk..." AAAAAH, my body iiiiis...!!“
“Ma...Maaaasteeeerrrrr!!“
“Yes, like that. And now a little push to the bed!!“
“Stop! The master servant relationship is okay and all, but isn't there any twist to it? If not, it's not exciting. Hey, you two, back to the start position!“
When Ange clapped her hands, Kinzo's and Genji's bodies sprung up straight and they returned to their original positions once more.
“You okay with this? It's exciting if you turn master and servant around. The way you did it before just had no twist to it at all! But if you do it like this...!“
“Again my body is moving without...! …"You are so still, Genji. If you are like this, it reminds me of the time we spend together as we were young."“
"“...It brings back memories, doesn't it. Of a time when we were not master and servant.“"
“Aaaah, I can't disobey!! "…Now that I think of it, when you start speaking in such a strict manner. ...It brings back memories of how you talked back then.“"
“Genji?“
“...you're getting old, aren't you? Kin-chan!?“
"“Aaaah, Genji, it is so nostalgic to hear you talk like this...!“"
"“I...I am not doing it of my own free will...Why, why am I talking like this...?“"
"And so Genji's arms violently locked around Kinzo's neck. With a sudden noise Kinzo's body fell back unto the bed."
"“Aaah, Genji, what are you doing?“"
"“I...it is not my intention. My body is moving on it's own!“"
"And so Genji hung over Kinzo, who in turn lay on his bed..."
“Y'see!! That's how it's done! You understand?!“
“Hm, sure, I do understand. Junior on senior and reverse pairings are the basic of the basics. ...but, if somebody has grown tired of those basics it all comes back to you, that way we never reach a really good work.“
“But a double twist only means we return to the same point where there was no twist at all!!“
“...Ah well. Let's leave this argument aside for now. Let's just search for another pairing.“
“Yeah, you're right. People searching for Kinzo and Genji are pretty rare anyway. And I really don't wanna draw old people actually.“
“Then, how about Gohda x Kanon?“
Virgilia snapped her fingers, Kinzo and Genji became a cloud of butterflies and vanished, instead this time Gohda and Kanon appeared.
“Of course Kanon has to be Seme, right?!“
“But what if we twist it around and do Gohda-Seme? Gohda's muscular macho-body is looming over Kanon's white and slender shape...“
“Wha, what is the meaning of this?! My, my body is so ho...hooooot!!“
“Wh...why are you suddenly undressing in a place like this...?!“
Gohda suddenly felt a burning sensation all through his muscular body. Unable to stand this heat, he exposed the muscles he had built up in front of Kanon.
“...Hmph...are you intending to show off now?“
Kanon's face flashed and distorted as he turned his gaze away. Understandable. The strong upper body that Gohda exposed when he took off his shirt was something that Kanon could not hinder to yearn for.
“...Wha...what the..?! My lips are starting to move...?!" Gohda...every time I see them...I get so jealous of all those muscles."“
“Kanon? Why all of a sudden?! ...Eeh? My mouth is moving on it's own!! "Hehehe. A man has to look like this. With a meager body like that, if I may be so frank, you could never defend yourself."“
“Hey, what...stop, what the...“
“...No, no, my arms are moving on their own...“
“Please, let go of me...ungh...“
"“Hehehehe...A majestic body, isn't it?! …If you don't train properly, you can't even protect yourself...“"
“Tha...that's none of your business! Let...let go...!!“
“I already said so, I'm not doing it myself...! ...Aaah, my arms are moving!!“
“No, stop, let me go, let me go...ngh...gnnnh!“
"“Is that all you can do? Kanon, you are really cute. Please let me make you regret firsthand that you didn't train your body properly..." wha...aaah...aaaaaaaaaah!!“
“Go...Gohda...no, stoooooooooooooooooooop!!“
“Yes, about something like this, hohohoho.“
“But it's boring without a twist. I would like it better if reversed. The unexpectedly weak Gohda is harassed, in the truest sense, by the red eyed Kanon, wouldn't that be cool?!“
Ange clapped her hands and Kanon's eyes began to glow red.And with his slender arm he easily twisted Gohda's arms and pushed him down unto the bed instead.
“Aaaaouch ouch ouch, it hurts. It really hurts, Kanon!!“
“"'Stop with your miserable whining. You are a proper adult, aren't you?! Hihihihihi.“"
"“Wha, whaat?! Kanon? Kanooon!!“"
"“What is this? Even though you have such a huge frame, you scream like a girl. ...what a pitiful guy you are. And I only have to tease you a little, right here..."“
“"Pu...puaaAAAAaaahh!!" Ka, Kanon, that really tickles, Aahihihihi!!“
“So, that'd be Kanon x Gohda. You see?! Virgilia, you always kinda miss putting in twists. But even if, I kinda don't wanna draw any Ossancharacters.“
“...I don't really like muscle guys being the Uke. I understand if a slim boy is playing that role, but...“
“So isn't it the king's class to turn exactly that around?! One principle of a pairing is to turn what you'd expect from their appearance to be turned around!“
“Based on that Juniors on Seniors theory, wouldn't that also mean Battler x Rudolf?“
“Aah, no, that's all wrong. The basis is, big brother is an absolute Uke. And no matter how you look at Rudolf, he is Seme-Only, right?!“
“Yeah, you're right. Basically, no matter who you pair Battler up with, he is exclusively Uke, isn't he?! For example, if we'd do Will and Battler, Battler would be the Uke.“
“Wi, Will x Battler?! My that is...one interesting pairing, right?!“
“Hohohohohoho. We really just have to put two guys together and we immediately make a pairing out of them. That's when our true worth shows, right?!“
When Virgilia snapped her fingers, Kanon and Gohda disappeared and instead, lying on top of each other, Will and Battler appeared on the bed.
“Hey?! What the...where am I?! What is this, why in this position?!“
“Ouch. Don't trash around so much.“
“That's you Will, right?! For me and you to be on the same stage, that's a pretty unusual scenario, right?“
“...What I'd rather like to know is, why we are on a bed and why I was summoned here while looming right above you.“
“I don't really get it myself, but...I smell the presence of a wicked witch. What kind of witch could have called us here like this?“
“Uhohohohohoho. Welcome to the banquet of the witch of roses, you two! Well, play sweet music in this world of aesthetics...!!“
“Aouch ouch, that hurts, Will! Please get off of me!“
“"Get off of you? ...You, as my dog, are trying to give your master orders?"“
“What?! What are you talking about?!“
“I don't know either. "You are my dog. ...The only thing a dog is allowed to do is bark. Let me hear it. Let me hear your sweet howl again..."“
“Sto...stop it Will. Stoooooooooooooooop!!!“
“If you think about it rationally, you could turn it around and make my good-for-nothing big brother a Seme too...normally. A perfect Ikemen like Will could actually be kitty that gets totally spoiled, that would be so unexpected. But no, that's no good! Big brother is supposed to be always the absolute Uke, no matter who he's with. That's important. It will even come up in a test.“
“Not only that, it's also because there's already the Will x Lion pairing, right?! The general rule is, Will can't be paired up with another character.
Virgilia snapped her fingers and Battler vanished into a cloud of butterflies.
But Will remained. Turned towards the bed, where there was nothing, bent over on all fours.
“Battler...? Where did you go? Tch, what kind of side show comes next?“
As if in response and to replace Battler, a cloud of butterflies gathered in front of him and formed into the shape of Lion.
“...Li, Lion?!“
“Wi...Will? …...where...are we...“
“Ngh...my body...on it's own...“
“Will? What is it?! Wha, wait, what, why...?!“
Will's fingers, …started very gently to undo Lion's buttons. While Lion, blushing, tried to fight against it, Will pushed both of Lion's arms into the bed with one of his hands.
“"...now it's time."“
“Eh? Wha, what is...“
“"Your gender. …This time I will make you tell me."“
“Wa, wait...! Please, please stop, Will...! Is this some kind of joke?!“
“"Don't fight against it...You can't oppose me anyway..."“
With a loud clap Ange joined her hands and the two bodies stopped moving in an instant.
“Stop, that's no good, no good! Isn't it obvious that Lion has to be the Seme?! Did you really do any research about our fans at all?! Please, start again with offense and defense reversed!“Ange clapped her hands again and Lion brushed Will's hands away.
“A, are you alright, Lion?“
“"...How dare you just take whatever you want from me."“
“Lion?“
“Th, that's not of my own volition! My lips...my body is moving on its own!“
Lion turned Will over and got on top. And while he did...his fingers went towards the latter's behind...
Pinch...pinchpinchpinchpinch...
“Ah, that hurts!! Sto, stop it, ouuuuch!!“
“"Why are you struggling against it...? …..Please, just relax a little. ...Even if that means that your butt will become soft like Mochi"...“
“What kinda crap are you talking about?! Sh, shit, my body isn't listening to me!“
“"Just stop resisting. ...With my fingers...I will take you to heaven."“
“Hi...hihihihihihi. How is that? This is real Lion x Will! Because I am Justice!!“
With a stream of blood running from her nose, the witch of the roses laughed loudly. But Virgilia seemed to object, with her arms folded in front.
“Nevertheless, Lion x Will is something that's almost too much of what is important for the king's class, isn't it?! The exciting part is the well aged Will being the lead here.“
“...Virgilia, you're into Ossan characters, I see. From the very beginning you had an eye on mixing older guys into the pairings.“
“Are you against that?! Isn't a middle aged man, with deep knowledge about the upsides and downsides of life, with a slightly out of shape body, the best seasoning, like white and black pepper on good meat? If you ask me, Will x Lion is still way too soft. If Hideyoshi were to intrude on this scene, he could snatch Lion away, that'd really catch my attention!!“
“Un...uncle Hideyoshi? And he's doing Lion in front of Will...?!“
With a bang the door burst open, and...and Hideyoshi in just his underpants came barging in!
“"Doesn't that look mighty nice. I could hear ya dirty moaning 'till out in the corridor!"“
“Un...uncle Hideyoshi?! Thi...this is...!! I mean, why are you dressed like this?!“
“My...my body's movin' on it's own! M'sorry, would'cha help me please!! "Kihihi! Right now ya really do look lika broad. Well, girl or not, who cares. I will take a little sampling now anyway." ….No, m'sorry, sorry!!“
“I've no interest in you uncle Hideyoshi! Ah, no, uncle Hideyoshiiiiiii!!“
“Li, Lion...!! Da...dammit, my body doesn't move! Who's behind this?! What kind of ill-natured witch?! Even Bernkastel wouldn't have such a disgusting taste!!“
“Hohohoho. But we Witches of the roses like it to see unlucky scenarios. …Now be obedient and offer us a situation that will become a good offering for the Winter Comi.“
“Stop. Personally, Lion just isn't an Uke. If somebody is one, than Will is the absolute Uke.“
Ange clapped her hands and immediately Lion flew out from under Hideyoshi and the latter started attacking Will, who was suddenly situated beneath him!
"“I tricked ya. ….My interest was t'wards ya right from the staaaaart!!" M'sorryyy, I'm not that kinda character!!“
“'Un, uncle Hideyoshi!! I...I don't care what happens to me. Just...just let Will go...!!'“
“Uh...UuuuooooaaaAAAAH!! I would rather be ripped to shreds by a gang of caaaats!!“
“It worked with Lion x Will, so instead of having Hideyoshi x Lion, why not try to arrange this as Junior on Senior as well?!“
“Ah, I see. Yes, why not, that's possible as well...But, no, that's no good, I won't let that happen! Will is an absolute Uke, I won't move from that standpoint!“
“But Lion is being done this and that to by a filthy old man! If the absolute Uke Will suddenly turned out to be a Seme, wouldn't that be the perfect twist?!“
“So, Will attacks Hideyoshi and takes back Lion, and that leads to Will x Lion? But then it's a double twist again and we're back to having no twist!“
“No, no, think about it, Will turns the tables on Hideyoshi and then he ends up taking both of them! It's better the dirtier the Seme actually is! Through that, the beauty and fragility of the Uke can really shine! Aah, I'm getting all excited, this tension, we need a name!! We need to draw this plot at once, come on, come on!“
“...That's really like you, Virgilia. You say the most terrible things in a totally cool manner, and give them a name. That leaves me speechless, and envious...But, I'm really sorry, I really don't want my pens to spit out Hideyoshi's butt!!“
“Ange, you really don't understand anything, do you?! A beautiful white rose only becomes prettier with an unsightly piece of might hanging over it!!“
“But an unsightly piece of meat is an unsightly piece of meat, no matter how you draw it!!“
“But wouldn't it be lovely if Battler was attacked by Hideyoshi?!“
“Hmm...hmmm, how about that. ...wait a second. My poor imagination can't seem to produce that scene in my brain...“
“Hohoho. Well then, let us stage it on the gameboard!“
“"Now Battler, just be patient a little, 'kay? Soon it'll be over. M'sorry, sorry, alright!"“
“GYAA!! Somebody heeeeeelp!! I hate this witch's game!! Just kill meeeee!!“
“I don' wanna do this!! Please someone kill meeeee!!“
“Uaargh, I'LL PUKE!! No good, no, no, absolutely no! No matter how much of an Uke my big brother is, Hideyoshi x Battler just doesn't work!“
“Then how about the other way around? "Hey, Uncle Hideyoshi. You're in real good shape for your age. How about letting a guy younger than your son have a little fun with you...". how about that?“
“Black Battler...! Well, yeah, that wouldn't be that bad...Black and white Battler sure both have their charm. Well, Black Battler could...“
Virgilia snapped her fingers loudly and gave birth to Ange's idea...On top of the bed, two Battlers took shape.
The Battler being pinned down was the Battler we all know pretty well. The Battler pinning him down somehow had a nihilistic and wild aura about him.
“'"...Battler, I will free the true essence of your heart...“"
“What is this now, I can't even move my body...!“
“Hihihihi...I understand your true hearts desire, just by us being the same Battler...“
“Sto...stop that nonsense, ah, aaaaah!!“
"“Now, obey me, ...let go of your defense...yes, yes, like that...you're a good boy..."“
“No, stoooop. No...no further...aaaaaAAAhhhAhh!!“
"“You're pretty noisy...I will have to shut you up...“"
“What's this even supposed to mean?! Hiiiiih!! Somebody heeelp! MUUUUM!!“
“Isn't Seme-Battler just wonderful as well?! A good replacement for that unsightly meatpile Hideyoshi... How about it? Are you getting used to Battler being a Seme?“
“Hmm, hmmmm, sure, it's not that bad...It's horrible!! And by the way Virgilia, stop it! Get your hands off Hideyoshi! You'll only make me stop drawing old men all together!!“
“If BL was curry rice, then middle aged men would be the sauce!! Because they are already advanced in age, they bring out the vivid white of the rice even more!“
“If anything they are like pickled leek as a sidedish!!“
“Well then Ange, how about a compromise? What would you say if we make them young?We could stage it in the younger years of Krauss, Rudolf and Hideyoshi...“
“Hmm, let's see...It's okay, but not great.“
“Could you even draw them properly if we were to make them young?“
“Wouldn't they still be old men on the inside?! If they weren't, you wouldn't be able to feel that middle aged men attraction, wouldn't you?!“
“Why can't you understand the principles of this world? Just look at it and understand! The harmony between middle aged men turned young again!!“
And with a bang!
“"Rudolf. …You seem to forget your respect in front of your older brother!"“
“"What are you planning to do, big brother?! No, stop...!!"“
“Wouldn't Ronovitalized or Boy-Kinzo be splendid as well?!“
“Hmm, let's see... Even if they are young, I just can't stand beards. That means, no matter if they are young or not, just stop, let's move away from the old men!“
“Ange, you just don't understand the fine points of mature men!! Why don't you understand the deepness of the world of men?!“
And with another bang!
“"Pukuku. Master Kinzo. Even if I look like this...and though I do love you and do not care about the gender of anybody, why can't we...?"“
“"It is a shitty life isn't it?! Let us go insane...together."“
“And then there's, ah yes, the group of 98. How about Okonogi x Amakusa?!“Bang!
“"Amakusa, are you still hung up on that girl?"“
"“I told you I hate talking about the past, Okonogi, Sir."“
“"That is true, well then I shall make you forget about the past. If you don't mind. It's an order of your boss anyway..."“
“"He...cool..."“
“Stop, stop!!! I see the demand for that, but I'm not really keen on drawing BL on the people of '98!!“
“Well then, how about Hachijo Tohya? Of course I'm not talking about Ikuko!“
“What the...who would we pair him up with? There's just no partner for him. And I told you, I wanna step away from the old men!!“
“Wouldn't it be just perfect if Tôya were to be assaulted by Black Battler?! Why can't you just understand this world, Ange?!“
Bang!
“"How long are you planning on denying me...? You know it, don't you? I am you and you are me. Whatever you are desiring, I know about all of it …..and I can grant you all of it ….in all of the world only I can do that..."“
“"Stop it...stop it, Battler... I am not Battler...I am Tohya...Stop...Stoooooop!! Do...don't go in...inside me...unnngh, aah!!"“
“I don't dislike it, visually I don't dislike it at all! But I told you that I don't like old men. Even if they look young, I don't want to draw them!!“
“Even though the world is made of one half women and one half men, one half of the men is middle aged men!!“
“...Virgilia. There is one thing that I became convinced of during this argument.““Yes, I as well understood one thing.“
“Virgilia! I can and will not, in any way, go along with your Ossan fetish!! So who draws for you?! Who tones the pages?! I do, I!! I will not pain myself by using my pen to draw any old men asses or whatever!!!“
“Ange, your outlook on life is too narrow!! You say you try to insert a twist into it, but the only thing I see are basics over basics!! The first thing you have to twist around is after all the pairing!! And above all, if you don't understand the beauty of Ossan, then stop telling BL stories!!“
“What the...you perverted witch!! You are nothing more than an Omake for the circle created through my pen!!“
“You dare to say this, even though it didn't even leave the cradle until I gave this circle a name!! Just shut up and folow draw the manuscript according to my knowledge of BL trends.“
“How much of your shitty, boring BL novels did you sell?! It's all thanks to my drawing ability!!“
“YOOOOUUUUU!!! YOU DARE TALK TO ME, LIKE THAT LITTLE GIRL?!?!?“
“WHAT IS IT, IN THE MOOD FOR A FIGHT?! YOU OLD BAG!!!“
…and so the popular circle, which had appeared like a shooting star, 'Angel of 17 years' disappeared like one as well, along with this legend.
But their passion for BL runs hot through the veins of these girls even now. It is not like they broke up their friendship...or as if their enthusiasm suddenly had run dry.
Even today they are, on some event, publishing the passion they have turned into manuscripts...
“Well. Originally I'm from a place towards the center of the island. But isn't it nice that you can come here to buy stuff you like and can come into contact with people of similar taste, all relaxed. Not only that, but you can talk with the people of the neighboring circle. ...Oh yeah, my space is right here.“
Ange's passion hasn't cooled down, even now.
To have had one circle together with Virgilia, called 'Angel of 17 years', was after all a true momentary miracle.
After that, Ange's Dôjin-circle never again got a place at the wall.
There was a proper line at her stand, but never again did it expand all over East-Hall.
“Well, it's best if the action suits your body. Comiket is not about how much you sell. It's about publishing the things that you yourself love.“
It's not about what is popular right now.
You just draw what you like how you like and if it's appreciated that's the best of course.
This time Ange applied as a circle about "".
…Of course all BL.
“Now that I greeted my neighbors, I'd better start preparing everything. ...Oh hello, how are you. Please come again later.“
“Ohohohohoho. Hello. I think I will...“
“Ah, it's you, Virgilia!! I didn't recognize you without make-up!!“
“Ange...!! It's nice to see that the make-up on your face and neck are different shades again, Ohohohoho!!“
““GAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!““
You would have thought they would now engage in a fight, but as the staff of the preparation committee came passing through, they pretended not to know each other, just like an urban champion...
“...Well, we both progressed on the road that we liked best. So wouldn't it be better to just accept the others route as well?“
“I think so too. I was immature as well. Let's just enjoy each others doujin work.“
“So, do we reconcile?“
“Let's do that. As two people who love BL.“
So the two finally shook hands.
And so, they stopped quarreling about their past disagreement.
“So, you are writing novels, Virgilia?“
“Yes. A BL novel about "Higanbana“. This is my newest work.“
“Thank you. Please take my new publication as well.“
Virgilia's newest work was Tea Gentleman x Headmaster.
Ange's newest publication was Nonomiya x Hikaru.
“...as always, all about your Ossan fetish, right?! ...But the headmaster as the Uke, who's supposed to like this?“
“You aren't better, you still don't understand the fine points of middle aged men.“
““GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!““
Just as the sand on the beach, the BL pairings in the world will never run out.
Even if your principles and positions are different, you still want to get along with the people of your Doujin-group of interest..."The End"
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Angel of 17 Years East Shi-44a
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# Angel of 17 Years East Shi-44a/CG
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Angel of 17 Years East Shi-44a/CG
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# Angel of 17 years
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Angel of 17 years
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# Angelic Bright (song)
"For the album, please refer "
Angelic Bright is the opening for the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kizuna Volume IV Nintendo DS console game. It was performed by Ayane, written and composed by the famous anime producer/lyricist and composer Chiyomaru Shikura and arranged by Toshimichi Isoe. A titular single featuring the full version was released on 10th March, 2010.
Video Releases.
<tabber>
"From Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou
</tabber>
Lyrics.
<tabber>
</tabber>
External Links.
Translation:
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Angelic Bright (song)
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# Angels Who've Lost Their Wings
is the fifty-seventh event in . It is a New Year's event that ran from January 1, 2023.
Related Units.
The following units increased event-related drops when brought into battle. They are units and character stories associated with this event.
All following units have a rarity of SSR.
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Angels Who've Lost Their Wings
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# Animate Times Keiichirou Kawaguchi Interviews
Animate Times conducted interviews with Keiichirou Kawaguchi, director of the and anime series. Part 1 came out on September 30, 2021, the day that "Sotsu"'s final episode aired. Part 2 came out on October 30, 2021.
An English translation was made by rockmor, which may be seen here.
Transcript Part 1.
Deciding to join in immediately after reading the plot
"Finally, Sotsu is reaching its climax. How do you feel about it?"
Director Keiichiro Kawaguchi: We’ve been working on it continuously since "Gou" and I feel like we’ve finally reached the climax. We are still working on the final episode, but I think we are finally at the stage where I can talk to a lot of people about it.
"Is the reaction from the people around you big?"
Kawaguchi: It is. People around me who like Higurashi often tell me that they are looking forward to the next episode.
"What specific responses did you get?"
Kawaguchi: Many people are still curious about the rest of the story. I’ve also been watching the reactions on social media, and it’s refreshing for me to see viewers enjoying the story week by week.
For me, there was a long time when I couldn’t say anything, so now that I can finally talk, I don’t know where to begin *laughs*
"*Laughs* It’s a series of developments that have me eager to see what happens next and following Gou social media are abuzz with discussion."
Kawaguchi: That’s right. As for Sotsu, many of the secrets have already been revealed, but when Gou was on air, I really enjoyed seeing the feedback. (At the time of publication) it’s still unknown what will happen to Satoko, so many people are wondering if the situation will ever settle down.
"I heard that preparations for the production had been underway for quite some time, but how long you have been involved as a director?"
Kawaguchi: I think it was about three years ago when I went location hunting, so it must have been around that time. At first, I was invited by the president of Passione to talk about making a new Higurashi anime.
At that point, I hadn’t heard whether it was going to be a remake or a sequel, but the plot I received was very interesting and I wanted to deliver it to the audience by myself, so I responded the same night that I will do it.
Immediately, I received a mountain of additional materials *laughs*
"By the way, what kind of impression did you have of Higurashi before you took on the role of director?"
Kawaguchi: I have always enjoyed the older works as an anime fan. I had already been working in the animation industry, so I hadn’t been able to watch as many games as I would have liked, but this time, when I saw the plot, I knew it was something I wanted to do, so I studied hard.
"The game is very big, isn’t it?"
Kawaguchi: I was once offered a storyboard job for , although I had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. At that time, I was presented with the materials, and when I saw the enormous amount of text, I was left with the impression that this work would be very difficult.
"Was the content of Sotsu already written into the initial plot?"
Kawaguchi: In the beginning, the story was not divided into two parts, Gou and Sotsu, and although the core of the story was fixed, the number of episodes had not been decided yet. We hadn’t even decided that Hayashi (Naoki) would be in charge of the series composition yet.
From a viewer’s point of view, “it’s a pretty wild anime”.
"From here on, I would like to ask you to look back at each chapter and tell us about the production. Let’s start with Onidamashi-hen and Oniakashi-hen."
Kawaguchi: Strangely, though we were trying to depict the story behind the first episode of Gou, but I think we were able to create a “new Higurashi”. I think many people were expecting to see the other side of Rena that was not shown in Gou, but that Rena is there because Satoko became a witch. I’m sure the viewers had a lot to think about.
"How do you feel about the reaction of the viewers through the Onidamashi-hen and Oniakashi-hen?"
Kawaguchi: I knew Satoko was going to come off as a real jerk *laughs* I think we were able to make a big impact in many areas, such as the fact that Rina (Mamiya) has become a good person.
"As you said, I was really surprised at what Rina said and did, and how it unfolded."
Kawaguchi: Rina had developed a sense of regret by repeating the loops, but for Rena it didn’t matter if she changed or not.
From the perspective of a viewer who knows how they feel about each other, I think it must have been very sad. I think we were able to express ourselves responsibly, and we felt like it was what we wanted to see it as viewers.
"How did you feel when you saw the anime yourself?"
Kawaguchi: I thought it was pretty wild *laughs*
"*Laughs*"
Kawaguchi: It’s been a long time since I’ve started working on this project, so I was able to enjoy it with a surprisingly fresh feeling. In the animation production process, a director’s job is done when he finishes checking the storyboards, and after that, his main job is to check various things, so it was quite a while ago that I was actually working with my own hands.
So I enjoy it from the audience’s point of view to the extent that I often agree with their reactions *laughs*
However, while looking back at it from various perspectives, I believe that I was able to properly present the idea of “This is Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu” in episodes 25 and 26 (Oniakashi-hen).
"If you had to pick a memorable scene from Onidamashi-hen and Oniakashi-hen, what would it be?"
Kawaguchi: I think the scene between Rena and Rina at the garbage dump is well done. The animation also did a great job. Especially Mai Nakahara, who played the role of Rena, did an amazing job with her acting. Since I was not asked to act so crazy in Gou I was more impressed by the craziness of this scene.
The story is made with the original work in mind. What is the scene where the various feelings unique to this work intersect?
"In Watadamashi-hen and Wataakashi-hen Mion developed L5."
Kawaguchi: I was thinking to myself, “What a horrible thing to do to Mion” *laughs*
"So you were watching from the audience’s perspective after all *laughs*"
Kawaguchi: I still want to reset my memory and take a closer look back at the story, because I’ve read the plot before I had time to enjoy Mion’s struggle. I’m sure I would genuinely think something like “Satoko is terrible” or “Mion is cute”.
"As you said, the struggle of Mion is striking."
Kawaguchi: I wrote the scenario for Gou myself, so I was tracing the development of the original work, and in between, I was working on it with the idea that each phenomenon was happening here. So, I’m finally able to show you the other side of the story.
I would like you to go back and look at it together with the original because you will understand why the scenes depicted in it were not depicted in Gou.
"There were many descriptions of what might be going on behind the scenes."
Kawaguchi: That’s right. Like dropping Rika into the toilet tank.
"Are there any points that you would like us to pay attention to again?"
Kawaguchi: The climax of the fight between Mion and Satoko is the point where the story connects for the viewer, since it was shown in Gou for a moment.
In this scene, Satoko was originally taught gun skills by Mion, but Mion didn’t remember that in the world of Sotsu. It’s a scene where these various feelings intersect… it’s a good scene *laughs*
"Were Satoko’s actions in Gou and Sotsu there in the original Ryukishi07’s plot?"
Kawaguchi: Most of the events were there from the beginning, but since I was entrusted with the depiction of them in the anime, I tried to add intensity. I haven’t heard what Ryukishi07 has to say about it yet *laughs*
"Have you been able to see him much, considering the state of the world right now?"
Kawaguchi: Yes, I even met him a few times during recording. However, his company was present at every recording, and the feedback time was very quick, so we were able to incorporate his requests in many places.
Not only in this work, but also in the second half of the project, I was not able to talk to the voice actors as much because I was working remotely a lot. In the first half of the recording, we were able to communicate closely in the same booth, so there was no problem with communication, but I also would have liked to have had some casual chat if possible.
Exploring the character of Satoko through SSR Teppei
"In this work, Satoko was acting behind the scenes as the central figure of the story, but she was depicted in a stronger way in Tataridamashi-hen and Tatariakashi-hen."
Kawaguchi: It has been long-awaited. In the previous work, there was a story that Satoko may have been abused. But in Gou, there is no mention of it. Furthermore, I think many people were surprised by the change in Teppei’s character. When I read the plot, I felt that Teppei was like a heroine *laughs*
"That’s true *laughs*"
Kawaguchi: This time, he is a more important character than in the previous work, as he is sometimes the main focus of the story. In the anime, the character Teppei comes into his own, including his dialogue, so I have been looking forward to his appearance for a long time.
"Some fans refer to Teppei’s reformed form as “SSR Teppei” *laughs*"
Kawaguchi: Yes *laughs* I don’t know if I can call it a change of heart, as that may be the original Teppei.
But the question is, what will Satoko think when she meets the reformed Teppei? In that sense, I think we were able to delve deeper into the character of Satoko this time than in previous works. This time, Teppei played a major role as an opportunity to do so.
"Compared to the previous series, the emotions of Satoko and Teppei seemed to be paired, and as a viewer, I couldn’t find words to describe my feelings."
Kawaguchi: It was unexpected, and I think it brought me back to myself for a moment.
"It was one of the few unexpected elements for Satoko. In that sense, Ooishi reaching L5 is also quite a rare case."
Kawaguchi: Chafurin (who played Ooishi) looked very happy and joyful in his performance *laughs* As for the story of the child guidance center, I traced the old story on the surface, but added some minor changes. And the parts of the story that were not dared to be drawn should become clear in Sotsu.
"So, in Ooishi’s words, it has really become a “farce”."
Kawaguchi: It’s terrible to think about it from Keiichi’s side.
"This work depicts the emotions of the characters in a way that has never been done before. How was the process of creating it?"
Kawaguchi: Probably because it’s something that had never been done before, it was rather easy to create. On the other hand, I may have been more careful with Gou.
"So it was easier for you to work on Sotsu?"
Kawaguchi: It’s a story about the future of Gou so I was able to bring everything to the surface. Even Ooishi’s peeing scene *laughs*
"That was a real shock… *laughs*"
Kawaguchi: I think that Higurashi is an interesting work, with serious and comical elements mixed together.
"The same goes for Teppei in his apron."
Kawaguchi: Right *laughs* But as a matter of fact, the truth is that the villagers despised the Houjou family. In this anime, it is said that there are no bad guys, but everyone has a little bad in them somewhere, and there is no absolute justice. I think such human relationships are also an interesting point.
"Now, please tell us what you’ve prepared for the final episode."
Kawaguchi: I really worked hard on the last part, and I hope you will watch it. (At the time of the interview) it’s not finished yet, so maybe it will be something you won’t be able to look at *laughs*
All joking aside. I’m sure you already can predict a lot of what’s coming. However, we’ve written it as the culmination of Gou and Sotsu and the end of the original and previous anime, so please look forward to it. I’m sure you will be satisfied with the end.
Perhaps the last two episodes can be enjoyed together as a one-hour special. That’s how much you can enjoy them in one set.
Transcript Part 2.
Experiencing Sotsu and the last of Hinamizawa
"So, how do you feel about the last episode?"
Kawaguchi: As for the ending, I think now that there was a scene that was a little bit like Evangelion 3.0+1.01 *laughs* The way they jump from one place to another. When I saw the movie, I knew I was beaten *laughs*
"There may have been some similar parts *laughs* It was quite impactful in terms of development."
Kawaguchi: I needed details to match the development of the story, so I used all our sakuga powers in the action-packed episode 14, while I kept the atmosphere of episode 15 calm. All in all, I really wanted to do some more location hunting, but with the current situation…
"Looking back on the production process, please tell us about any particularly memorable events."
Kawaguchi: I wanted to carefully recreate the scenery of Shirakawa-go, which is the model for Hinamizawa, so I went on location hunting early on. In the original game and the old anime, there is a picture of a panoramic view of Hinamizawa, but for this work, we made a new one.
This panoramic view appears in the first episode of Gou and the last episode of Sotsu but I think you’ll get a different impression of Hinamizawa if you look at it again from a bird’s eye view after everything is over. As for me, I was deeply moved when I saw this view after all the work was done, thinking that the time had come for me to graduate as well.
"You probably remembered all the work you’ve done up to this point."
Kawaguchi: That’s right. I hope to be invited back to work on Higurashi because I enjoyed working with the team so much.
Also, the station platform that appears in the final farewell scene is based on the old Nagoya station. The station building from that time has already disappeared, but I gathered as much material as possible to create this scene, so I hope it will be worth seeing.
There is a magazine called Tabi to Tetsudo (Travel and Railways), and they helped me with an anime I was involved in called ISLAND, so I asked them for help again. For example, I wondered what the bullet train’s departure announcements sounded like back then. There is a lot of attention to detail in points like this.
Is this a happy ending or a bad ending?
"The story ended with a grand finale."
Kawaguchi: It has shown what happens after all of Higurashi so far. However, if you ask me if this is a happy ending, I don’t know. As in the older works, I think that after the tragedy is averted, everyone will grow up and leave Hinamizawa someday.
This time, Satoko and Rika become separated, but I can’t say if that was a bad ending or a happy one. However, I think this is the way the story should end. In any work, the characters live on beyond the happy ending. I think we were able to present that to the audience in this work. I hope you will continue to watch over them as they move forward.
"Yes, it may not be your usual happy ending."
Kawaguchi: It may make you feel sad. However, I wanted to convey that there is still hope for us as we move into the future.
"Is the development of the climax also in line with the original plot?"
Kawaguchi: The major framework follows the initial plot. When I read the plot, I felt that this is what it means to make a sequel. When I heard about this, it was the time when remakes were popular, so I thought that Higurashi would be in the same trend. To be honest, I was worried about whether I could surpass the previous anime, but it turned out that it was actually a completely new work. However, even though it was a new work, it followed the old one and the ending could satisfy you even if you’ve read the plot.
"What was the deciding factor for you to participate in this?"
Kawaguchi: After reading the plot, I thought, “I want to do this myself”. I added my own perspective to the content, but it basically follows the plot written by Ryukishi07. The plot itself was very interesting, and I hope it will be published someday.
Where is Eua? What are Satoko’s witch powers?
"Returning to the topic, please tell us about the battle between Satoko and Rika in episodes 14-15."
Kawaguchi: I thought it needed to look good as an animation, so that’s how it turned out. Satoko had Eua, and Rika had Hanyuu. Satoko and Rika’s outfits are designed to reflect their respective intentions. One day, I’d like to see the final battle scene made into figures someday *laughs* Tough, it may be hard to sculpt because of the kimono.
"Aside from the outfits, there were also many things that fans of the old anime should not miss, such as the fight on the roof of the school."
Kawaguchi: Yes. I included some homages to older work. I’m sure it was worth seeing from an animation perspective as well. Also, since the story takes place in the 1980s, it incorporates the animation style of the same era. Like Madhouse’s Genma Taisen (Harmagedon). I was trying to replicate that sense of spectacle.
There are many parts of episodes 14 and 15 that are supplemented by visuals, and I think they make for interesting viewing as anime. In that sense, this is the episode that I’d like you to keep attention to.
"Please tell us what you focused on in producing the look of the anime."
Kawaguchi: Overall, there are a lot of “painful” visuals there, and the taste of Showa-era anime is also incorporated here. For example, Tiger Mask is drawn in such a way that you can feel the pain just by looking. There were also other things that I did that are not allowed in recent anime, such as drawing girls with certain facial expressions, but was sure that it’s OK if it’s Higurashi, so I included those anyway.
"In the last part of the story, the relationship between Eua and Hanyuu was settled."
Kawaguchi: That’s right. They also had a showdown. Compared to the fight between Satoko and Rika, I think the fight was less messy and more orthodox. As a result, Eua has left, but that doesn’t mean that she has disappeared from existence. I think Eua will still be Eua somewhere else from now on. Though, I don’t know if it will have to do something with Satoko and Rika in the future.
"So she has not disappeared."
Kawaguchi: That’s right. I’m sure she still exists somewhere.
"Eua was introduced as a new character, but was there anything that Ryukishi07 asked you to do with her?"
Kawaguchi: We hadn’t received any details about Eua, so we weren’t sure what kind of person she would be at first. I think I remember we talked about whether or not she had a cane after I received the rough drawings… Ryukishi07 described her as someone like a perfect version of Hanyuu.
"There are many things that resemble Hnayuu in her appearance, aren’t there?"
Kawaguchi: That’s right. I remember being surprised to see the horns floating around her head. Maybe Hanyuu will be able to detach her horns when she grows up too *laughs*
"It was also impressive how Hanyuu beat Eua."
Kawaguchi: Yes. The last cut of the anime was with Hanyuu, and the title Sotsu (Graduation) refers to the fact that she ends up watching over the people of Hinamizawa from now on. I think the drawing by Akio (Watanabe) is used for that shot.
"You are talking about Akio Watanabe, the chief animation director."
Kawaguchi: Yes. Akio is a big Higurashi fan, so he was particularly enthusiastic about this project.
"By the way, in the scene of the parting with Rika, Satoko’s red eyes were seen again, so is it reasonable to assume that the witch’s power remains inside her?"
Kawaguchi: There must be some of it left. However, she is determined to stay away from using that power and just move on to the future. She returns to the village and is going to use his powers, but manages to hold off. I would say that Satoko the witch is back to being just Satoko.
"And at the end, Satoshi appeared, was this also in the plot?"
Kawaguchi: Satoshi is also in line with the plot. However, Yuu Kobayashi (who played Satoshi) was also surprised because it wasn’t planned for him to speak at first. I told her I was sorry that she had to appear only in the last episode *laughs*
No complaints about the performances of these veterans! Noriko Hidaka’s performance as a new cast member is impressive!
"How did you feel about the performances of the cast members?"
Kawaguchi: Those characters are already the ones with their VAs, so there was not much to say here. There were times when I had to explain the character’s situation in terms of the story, but as far as acting was concerned, they did perfectly.
It was unfortunate that we had to record separately from the midpoint of the production due to Corona, but I got the impression that everyone knew what the other cast members were going to do. It was a great help to me because the flow of the dialogues was so natural that I couldn’t believe it was recorded separately. Also, I loved the old anime, so I was happy to see that Rena’s acting had not lost any of its charm.
"This time Satoko was the main character, but how was Mika Kanai’s performance? I feel that the story required more technical acting than before."
Kawaguchi: She was able to capture Satoko’s various emotions and make her an even more popular character. I think the level of difficulty has increased, but the performance was done really well, as expected.
"Did you give any directions regarding the performances?"
Kawaguchi: I only gave a rough direction. Also, I gave the script to Kanai early on.
"And in this series, Noriko Hidaka has joined the series as Eua."
Kawaguchi: Eua has an unpredictable and wild personality, and as a god-like being, her divine nature has been well incorporated into the story.
One of the most memorable moments for me personally was at the end of the anime, when Eua’s horns were broken and she became a child. We had planned to record the child’s voice and the adult’s voice separately and adjust them later, but Hidaka was able to play both roles perfectly. I was interested to try out if this was possible, and the performance was so good that we used it directly in the on-air version.
"As one would expect. Was there an intention behind the casting?"
Kawaguchi: After thinking about a cast that would fit the character Eua’s personality, I sent the offer to her. I heard that at first she thought Higurashi was a coming-of-age story, and was surprised when the characters suddenly started killing each other *laughs*
The endpoint of many Higurashi
"I believe the viewers who watched the last episode must have had a lot of thoughts and emotions."
Kawaguchi: I’m sure that new and old fans alike had many emotions. I wanted people to feel that even though these are characters, they too have a life and the time moves on for them too.
"Finally, is there any point that you would like us to pay attention to again from Gou and Sotsu?"
Kawaguchi: Due to the nature of the work, I would like you to start with the first episode of Gou. However, there is a lot packed into episodes 14 and 15 of Sotsu, so this is a particularly good place to look back at.
I created Gou and Sotsu with the feeling of it being the endpoint of the many different Higurashi, including the original works, comics, and social games. However, we hope that you will support it as various related projects are continue to be developed. As for myself, I would like to follow the work as one of Higurashi fans from now on.
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Animate Times Keiichirou Kawaguchi Interviews
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Anime
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Anime
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Animecon 2018 Q&A
At the Finnish convention Animecon in 2018, Ryukishi07 did a Q&A. Ryukishi teased upcoming works like "Iwaihime", a new "Umineko" episode, and a new installment to .
Translated by DiabolusLapis.
Transcript.
Interviewer: Could you start out with explaining how your career started and how the circle 07th Expansion was born?
Ryukishi07: It’s a very boring story, but I just thought about what I wanted to do with my life and simply decided to try what I wanted to do, and this is what happened!
I: Your career started in doujinshi circuits. What’s it like making games for an audience similar to Comiket?
R: I did work for an audience similar to Comiket happening in August and it’s been very stressful but also rewarding.
I: Wasn’t there another happening in December as well?
R: For the happening in August there’s a lot of time to do work to prepare, but for the happening in December there’s only 4 months to prepare which makes it harder.
I: Could you tell us how your masterpiece was born?
R: I got an idea from the American movie and thought it’d be fun to make a Japanese version of the movie’s scenario.
I: "Higurashi" is told through many stories that raise questions about the plot, questions which are then answered in the later games. Where did the idea for constructing the plot like this come from?
R: By drinking Coca-Cola, you get a lot of ideas! *laughter*
I: Which character is your favourite in "Higurashi"?
R: It depends a lot on when you ask the question because it changes for me all the time, but at the moment it’s Satoko Houjou.
I: 07th Expansion’s games are described as sound novels, where the world of sound plays an important role. How does this affect the writing?
R: For example, you can hear sound in an anime. I wanted to combine anime, manga and visual novels and create my own coherent ”chain”.
I: Your games have been released for various consoles. PC, Playstation, and Nintendo DS. Do you have a favourite console?
R: At the moment it’s either Playstation 4 or Nintendo Switch.
I: The When They Cry series later became very popular and was made into manga, anime and even movie adaptions. How does this popularity feel?
R: I’m very grateful for all the support that I get from everyone.
I: Was it possible to imagine, when making the first "Higurashi", that it would ever become this popular?
R: In my dreams I thought it’d be amazing to become that popular, but of course it was still a surprise.
I: Nowadays a lot of visual novels use shocking and horror elements. Do you feel like "Higurashi" was a ”trendsetter” in that regard?
R: I feel like works like that existed before as well, I don’t feel like a ”trendsetter”. I’m an especially big fan of Kamaitachi no Yoru, it was an inspiration for me because it was also connected to horror, so I wanted to a work with horror as well.
It was presumed that sound novels were mostly based on horror, but nowadays you can find a lot of cute girls in them as well. But even these cute girls can be horrifying! *laughter*
I: After the "Higurashi" series, there was . What inspired you to write it?
R: I wanted to make a more Western-based story, since I previously made a story based on Japanese country life.
I: Did you have to do any background research for writing Umineko?
R: I went to a small island where there was believed to be a ghost. Of course there was no ghost but I tried to capture the feeling from that island, but since there wasn’t actually a ghost there I had to come up with some white lies in my work. *laughter* It was challenging, since there wasn’t actually anything on that island.
I: What motivated you to show clearer answers in the Umineko manga?
R: Because as the final release, I thought it would make it special.
I: In "Umineko" there is a character named Yasu, whose persona and feelings are presented to the reader indirectly through the stories she has written. How was the process of creating this character?
R: From the start, I had considered a character who was a criminal, but then felt like that would be too extra, and so I ended up with a character like Yasu.
I: There are apparently plans for a new episode of "Umineko", could you tell us about this?
R: There will be a new character, who will be revealed soon, so be prepared for that.
I: There is also a new When They Cry game in the works, could you tell us more about this?
R: It will be more international this time, and there might even be a Finnish character!
I: "Higurashi" refers to cicadas, while "Umineko" refers to seagulls. Do you already know what the next When They Cry series will refer to?
R: I haven’t decided yet, but I want it to have the same theme, like being connected to plants and rain. It’s still in the works, please wait and be excited.
I: Do you know if the new part will be released in English?
R: If someone is ready to translate, then absolutely. My English abilities aren’t enough for this.
I: What’s your opinion on the games being translated to English and gaining an international audience?
R: I’m very thankful and appreciate that people have been able and wanted to translate my works. I see a lot of appreciation for the translators and they’ve definitely had a lot to work with.
I: You’ve previously worked with Key Studio on their game Rewrite. Rewrite’s art director Itaru Hinoue also visited Finland this year. When working on Rewrite, did the two of you get to work together?
R: Yes, it was our first time working together.
I: Who are your favourite characters from the game ?
R: There are a lot of characters, but Alice is my favourite.
I: A game called "Iwaihime" is also in the works. Could you tell us about this?
R: I was asked for a horror work and I decided that since there are primarily two types of horror in Japan, creepy horror and horror that focuses on monsters, I wanted to bring these two types of horror out in the finished work.
I: Video games are very popular today, perhaps more than ever before. How well do you think visual novels are surviving in the video game genre?
R: I hope that it could become as big of a thing as novels, anime and manga, and I think it has a chance, but at the moment smart phone games are more popular in Japan, which makes me a bit sad but I’m still hopeful.
I: Which work you’ve written are you most satisfied with?
R: A very hard question… *laughter* It’s always the one I’ve most recently released that I’m the most satisfied with.
I: How do you stay motivated when writing?
R: At the moment I’m very motivated simply because work is work, but previously my motivation was that I played war video games on the Xbox and when I lost, it made me so angry that I wanted to work! *laughter*
I: You said that your most recent work is always the one you’re most happy with. If you could go back and change something about an earlier work like Higurashi or Umineko, would you change anything?
R: I gave it my all, so there’s nothing I would like to change. If I changed something, that would make it an entirely different story.
A lot of people ask me about going back 10 years in time, but 10 years back in time would mean that the pages would be empty, there wouldn’t be any text yet, which would probably mean playing a lot of games!
I: What other hobbies do you have beside playing war video games?
R: All kinds of killing games!
I: What’s your favourite anime?
R: Girls und Panzer.
I: What’s your favourite game?
R: Even though I like war video games, I also like zombie video games.
I: What’s the best thing about your work?
R: The state of flow, when you’re so focused on your work that you forget to eat and even to go to the bathroom.
I: When you write a story, how do you come up with the characters? Do you get any inspiration from other characters or real people?
R: I want to connect older characters to newer characters, it’s very important to me to make that connection. But sometimes when playing games I just see a character that I think is cute and it gives me inspiration.
I: Have you ever thought about adding your old characters in a new game, like for example having the characters from "Higurashi" in a new story?
R: Inside my head, these characters are my friends, but now that the work on that story is done, these characters are gone. But if I had to work with the same story, the characters would probably return back into my head.
I: What advice do you have to aspiring writers and visual novel creators?
R: Seriously or not seriously?
It’s important to think of your own style. If you want to make it your job, it’s very important to know what your own thing is.
There are three different styles: liking money, wanting praise from other people, and just liking writing. So if you like writing, but also like getting money from it, that’s very good!
You should consider, even though there are people who write and write and write without making money, money is still a big motivation. And even though you like getting money, you should also want to write because you enjoy it, that’s more important.
I: What kind of stories do you like writing the most?
R: Of course it’s fun to think about women with big boobs, but it’s also fun to think about environmental issues… *laughter*
I: You’re mostly known for writing games, but would you ever want to try making an anime?
R: I don’t think I’m good enough at drawing for creating it, but if someone else would do that I would be very proud and happy.
I: Our interview is coming to a close. Is there still anything you would like to tell the audience?
R: I want to complain about how warm Finland is, I had heard about how cold Finland is and only brought long-sleeved shirts, and then I got here and it was sultry and far too warm, so I would like to say that nobody told me Finland would be warm!
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Animecon 2018 Q&A
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ankoro Princess
was the forty-eighth event in . It is the second oiran-themed event, after Red-Light Sisters. It ran from August 1, 2022 to August 10, 2022.
Boosted Units.
The following units increased event-related drops when brought into battle. They are units associated with this event.
All following units have a rarity of SSR.
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Ankoro Princess
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ano Hi e (song)
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Ano Hi e (song)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Another Round of Red Truths with Ryukishi07
This is a transcript of an interview conducted by Nicole Seraphita of APGNation with Ryukishi07, first posted on May 19th, 2015. Original interview link is archived here, and video link is here. Spoilers for "Higurashi "are included in this interview.
Transcript.
Ryukishi07 talked about how he would sometimes write a story without knowing where his plot would go. This “organic” style of writing, he said, is more fun for him because it was like reading a story for himself. He would often be surprised where a story would go as he wrote it on the fly. Specifically, he mentioned that the fight scene between Rena and Keiichi in episode six of Higurashi was something he went into writing not knowing what the outcome would be. He admitted that he later tried writing in a more traditional style, complete with an outline and clear direction for the plot, but in the end felt that having a clear goal in mind made the plot of a work feel more rigid and thus less fun to write, because he knew everything that would happen ahead of time.
When constructing a story, Ryukishi mentioned that he sees fiction as a game between him and his readers, especially when he was writing a mystery such as Umineko. To this end, he would often go on the Internet while writing and look up what his fans were saying about his work, and then use this feedback to adjust the direction of later installments in a series. This would sometimes lead to changing the course of his writing entirely, as was the case of the second episode of Umineko. When fans complained about the second episode was far too difficult to solve, he scrapped his original plans for the third episode, which would have been an even more devious mystery, and instead wrote an entirely new scenario to replace it. In this new version of episode three, he introduced the character of Virgilia, a good witch who acted as a guide to help the player to solve the game’s mystery. Interestingly, Ryukishi also mentioned that Virgilia was originally a completely different character, who would have been been far more devious and tricky than the witch who appeared in the final game. The design and personality of this prototype character would later form the basis of the young detective Erika Furudo, who would later be introduced in episode five of Umineko.
When constructing his stories, Ryukishi also mentioned that one of the best ways to see if you are on the right track with a story is to have a friend read your work. In Ryukishi07’s case, he often would look for a disgusted or scared face when another person, often BT or his brother, would go through a script he was writing. As his goal is often to scare or gross out his audience, this is exactly the sort of reaction he looks for in another reader. This revelation led to an interesting reaction from the audience, as one person yelled, “He’s a witch!” referencing the fact that the witches in Umineko, who are often very cruel and devious, seek much the same reaction from the game’s protagonist, Battler Ushiromiya.
Finally, Ryukishi mentioned that one of the keys to any good story is to have well-rounded characters with multiple sides to their personality. He mentioned that among his characters, Rika from Higurashi was a stellar example: when she is with her friends she is a typical bubbly and cute little girl, but when she is alone she displays a far different personality. That makes the player question just how old she really is and the mystery that goes along with that question. Ryukishi would then proceed to mention the opposite can also be true to trick the reader. The character of Mion likes to play tricks and seems like she should know something about story’s mystery, but in the end does not.
Ryukishi once more set aside a bit of time for questions from his fans. The most interesting revelation among these questions was the fact that Ryukishi’s attempts to trick and horrify his readers only applied to his mystery works, which include Umineko and Higurashi, while his other more traditional stories, such as Rose Gun Days, did not include this element.
Before moving on the interview, I’d like to talk for a moment a bit about the panels in general. One thing I noticed when interviewing Ryukishi07 is just how energetic he is when speaking. His words were often accompanied by quite a bit of gesturing and laughter that was fun to watch as he described not only his work, but also how much he appreciated his fans. It is rare for a creator to be so connected to his fanbase, so it was refreshing to see Ryukishi mention how much he cared about the opinions and theories of the people who read his work, and even went so far as to go on the Internet and research what was being said about his works. Also, in the second of the two panels I attended, he mentioned that he views each of his stories as a game played between himself and his readers. While at every turn he would try to put forth a mystery, he would then call for his readers to solve it. This back-and-forth is a theme that came up many times over the course of both panels and my interview and marked Ryukishi07 as someone who is more connected with the people who enjoy his work.
(...)But what is important for this article is my second interview with Ryukishi07. I arrived at the small press room about 10 minutes before the interview was to begin, and sat for a moment charging my phone. While I sat messing with my phone for a minute, Ryukishi07 and the rest of 07th Expansion that had been in attendance at
the convention arrived and stood a few feet from where I was sitting. Naturally, I was incredibly excited just to be anywhere near one of my favorite authors. But from there things just exploded. When I arrived in the press room, I was the only reporter who had bothered to show up. Which meant that I was able to sit in the front row, right in front of Ryukishi07 himself, and ask as many questions as I wanted.
My first question was why Ryukishi07 used witches as the main antagonists of Umineko. Ryukishi then replied by say that, when compared to humans, witches live for a very long time. This means that when compared to mortals, who generally act on the straight and narrow to try and live a good and productive life, immortal witches have all the time in the world and can sometimes grow bored of life and try cruel and evil things for the sake of experiencing something new. He would then go on to compared a witch’s existence to playing the game Skyrim for a second time. While the first time you may try and complete the main quest and be the best hero you can be, the second time through you might decide to be an evil person for the sake of experiencing the game in a different way.
I then would go on to ask about the fan theory that the character of Rosa Ushiromiya and Beatrice in Umineko are, in fact, the same person. Ryukishi explained that he was aware of this particular theory, and would go on to admit that he sometimes showed references to false theories, such as this one, to throw off and trick his readers. What exactly this means for the validity of the Rosatrice theory I will leave to the fans.
After some questions for the moderator of the panel, who asked the difference between a visual novel and a sound novel, what it felt like when Ryukishi07 got his first fanmail from the United States, and what it felt like to have his works adapted into an anime, I followed up the prior question with another topic that has been hotly debated in the 07th Expansion fandom as of late.
We discussed the topic of the character of Sayo Yasuda from Umineko in our last interview with Ryukishi07 back in January, but this time I asked the author in particular, since many fans see Sayo as a transgendered character, if any themes related to that topic went into her creation. This question took Ryukishi sometime to answer, and he commented it was a difficult question to answer, but a good one. What did eventually come back was that he desired to keep some parts of Umineko a mystery and to leave it to the fans to come to conclusions of their own regarding the subject.
Further questioning included such topics such as the connection between the characters of Erika Furudo and Bernkastel from Umineko and Rika from Higurashi. Ryukishi sees his characters as actors and compared using the above characters in Umineko as being similar to Harrison Ford playing both Han Solo and Indiana Jones, in that the person behind the role is the same, but the character they are playing in each movie, or in this case game, is very different. He would then go on to mention that Higurashi and Umineko take place in worlds that are very distant from each other, yet still connected.
Finally, I asked Ryukishi07 about his time doing artwork for the card game Leaf Fight. The amusing answer: at one time, while 07th Expansion was still working on card games, when people would order cards from them, Ryukishi07 would sometimes package a free copy of Higurashi with the cards as a form of promotion of the then-new visual novel.
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Another Round of Red Truths with Ryukishi07
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Answer of the Golden Witch
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Answer of the Golden Witch
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Answer to the Golden Witch
is a analysis book written by KEIYA and published by 07th Expansion. It includes a record of a discussion between KEIYA and Ryukishi07 spanning about 4 hours on February 10, 2011, about one month after the release of the final episode of the "Umineko" main story.
The discussion was translated by Seizonsha. Translation can be found here.
The Purpose.
KEIYA (K): I want to congratulate you for completing Umineko first.
Ryûkishi07 (R): Thank you very much. I was really able to write what I wanted to write, because of you.
K: Even though the way to end it was sadly not quite what many players had expected it to be.
R: And what was it that so many players expected? I really want to know.
K: “Won’t he reveal the solution a little more clearly?” was the expectation of many people, I think. But you have said in interviews and so on, that “there wouldn’t be a clear solution like that”. And it really became a finale just like that.
R: So that’s where you’re coming from all of a sudden *laugh*. It’s a little misleading to say, that I said something like “I wouldn’t reveal the answer”. I have made it to the point where in a classical mystery someone would say “All the mysteries have been solved!”, the answer has been made clear enough and not few people have actually arrived at the truth. For me there has always been a path leading towards the truth and there have been enough people on it at certain points to be sufficient. The people arriving there have arrived because they thought about it. And wouldn’t it be inexcusable towards those who actually put effort into arriving at that truth, to just give the answer to those who didn’t arrive because they did not think about it.
Because I hoped for the fun in Umineko to lie in “thinking and troubling yourself, but reaching the answer through that”, I did not create something like a solution section in a riddle book, where you can look for the answers just by opening them. And I think even if I told the people who did not come through the “Who, how, and why”, they still would not understand. Someone who climbs to the top of the Everest by foot and somebody who just rode a helicopter to the top without breaking a sweat, you wouldn’t say they had the same feeling of satisfaction, would you? Of course I could not avoid giving an answer equally to both those who arrived and those who didn’t. That’s why I chose this way of revealing it. To those of you who arrived at the truth, it should all be clear as daylight, I think. I’m sure there were some among you who arrived at it during the really early Episodes and thought “he’s just portraying the same thing in every new EP again and again”, weren’t there? Truth be told, I was unnecessarily elaborate in telling the same thing again and again.
K: But you gave approaches from a different angle every time. Like there are many truths.
R: Keiya, in your playmemos I found the phrase “so this keyword came up again” repeated several times. If you take it as a hint that is something very good, but considering that it’s a novel it’s rather weak to repeat things twice or three times even. Even if you say that the angle was a little different every time. That part was really, really difficult. But even those who did not arrive at the truth of Umineko, can now use the released deductions of those who solved it and turn to people like you, thus being able to reach the truth much more easily.
K: I think there is about the same amount of people saying “I want to know the truth of the gameboard”, as there are those asking “What is the truth of the real world”. After EP7 had already revealed so much of the truth, many might have expected EP8 to step even further into the real world, and they were quite surprised when it took this, might I even call it ambiguous direction of locking up the catbox.
R: Because I slightly started giving an objective view in EP7, there might have been many expecting more of it. But I thought I gave out enough pieces by then to start an interpretation. I really thought that I had given an excessive amount of pieces. Even now when saying “there has been an excess of pieces”, I don’t want to go out and blurt out some kind of answer and forcing it onto you. I might have said it during interviews again and again, I absolutely never wanted to do a story where you could just fill in a solution via copy and paste.
K: You said that many times after we had our discussion after the main arcs.
R: Because this is the internet-age, somebody could just upload a clear screenshot, or if not that just copy and paste the answer all over the place, is what I thought. People seeing that would just say “Is that so?!” and dismiss the whole story with that, and that wouldn’t be fun at all. That’s why I created a way to reveal everything in a way that could not be copied and pasted. To those who think about it clearly, it all becomes clear as daylight. I would like it to become a work for which you can say that again and again even after some years have passed. But for those who expected there to be a clear answer at the end, it might have been quite a surprise ending. But for me it had already been decided from the start that there would be an ending like this.
K: After I had finished it, I had a short talk with Mr. Ôta from Seikaisha (the editor who is responsible for the novel version of Higurashi) on the phone.
R: “At the end of my holiday I was just waiting for KEIYA to be finished”, was what I had heard from Ôta. *laugh*
K: Just after I had posted “EP8 finished!” on Twitter, I immediately got a phone call.
R: That’s quick *laugh*. “I have waited for somebody to talk to all that time!”, was what he said, right?
K: Mr. Ôta was also in a state of excitement. I was, too. “That he would really end it in such an eccentric way.” I would almost call it a kind of Anti-Mystery ending.
R: That might be true. Because it’s part of the etiquette while writing a mystery, to clearly spell out the Who, how and why, right?!
Looking at all the chapters of Umineko, it has a double-layer structure.
K: I brought along my deductions which I have made during those five years, which are printed in a corner called “Forgery Author Test”.
R: I could follow in realtime how your deduction increased day by day. I always read it with joyous thoughts like, “he really got there already”.
K: Thank you very much. I very much afraid, that most of my ideas I had on the evening when EP8 was released were pretty rushed and quite bold.
R: No, not at all. I think it is great that there are many different deductions around. I think it is fun to stagger around a little bit.
K: There are some passages where I went wild with my reasoning and just got experimental, just not to go against the red.
R: (looking at the sheets of the Forgery Author Test) You even made up a score? *laugh*
K: It’s a way of grading myself, yes.
R: It’s alright to mix those O (correct) ∆ (possible) and X (wrong) around. But I beg you to just see this as my personal interpretation based on my own worldview. Even if they were all O’s, that would only tell of a limited horizon. That is why it’s great if there are many X’s. But the more I go towards the later half, the more O’s one has to give, right *laugh*? It’s to be expected, if you come that far, you don’t really waver in your answer.
K: At least I believe so *laugh*. Those are still grades given during my deduction phase, so especially in the later half there are many places where I have been quite easy on myself *laugh*. There are many places which I’d maybe like to change into ∆’s in the end.
R: It’s not important whether there are O’s or X’s. I already said it in our final discussion of Final Deduction Higurashi no naku koro ni, isn’t it best if you see the number of words you put into your deduction as a kind of score for yourself? I’m really glad that I was able to bring you so much enjoyment. I feel like a cook who sees the customers licking the plate clean.
K:Between the line of everything you wrote, there are many hints, aren’t there? I recently noticed, while rereading information released until EP4, how much kernel information had been around already.
R: I was really hoping for you all to return back to the previous stories after you played through them once. I said this before, but I think there are many scenes you can enjoy, because you notice them as hints or as misleads or as just plain weird.
K: There were a ton of those. We touched on this during the deduction of EP5, but the talk of Battler’s promise surfaced as early as EP1. “There were vital parts from EP1 on” is something that has been mentioned many times, but these things have to be mentioned
R: If you read EP1 ~ 3 now, you will think “That’s the core” at so many points *laugh*.
K: Right after the previous book was published, I immediately sat down and thought it all over again. And during that, I became really focused on the story about the promise towards Shannon *laugh*. It would have been better if I had already stumbled upon it during the last book. While reading EP4 I actually suspected Genji or Kinzô to be the one behind the message bottles. It was because of the influence they had on Maria and because their worldview was so much alike, but I really regret that I wasn’t able to connect those parts to Shannon as well.
R: But thank you very much, that you thought so hard about it. I’m really glad, especially because it was such a painfully long story. It’s really hard to enter parts, where you will later think “Now I see it!”. But because those hard parts are something that you’ll only notice once you have finished everything and go back to them, it is something that went unnoticed at the time when EP1 was released. That is why I am so happy, now that after 4 years, EP1 can finally be fully understood.
K: In Umineko you prepared many instances you can see in a totally different light, once you know about Kinzô’s death or the connection between Shannon and Kanon, right?!
R: If I may speak frankly, this is something which Higurashi’s Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen are famous for. The main story and the background story became a double-layered structure, and then could be set back into one, right?! This is something I wanted to do with every arc when I started the concept of Umineko.
K: You are talking about the real world and the meta world?
R: Correct. I wanted to show the result of everything that happened in the real world, but make the interpretation and the processes leading towards it into fantasy. If you read all of it, learned the truth and then went back and reread it all, you would be able to see it in another light, as a mystery, but that was really hard to keep up *laugh*.
K: Because you basically had to write two stories, right?
R: That’s right. First I had to write the real story and then create a whole other story, only connected by the events, on top of it. That’s why these two stories were so troubling. Especially because in the end it will only be rated as one story *laugh*. If I should still be writing in ten years or more, I might go and rewrite Umineko all over again.
K: It really seemed to be hard work to join those two stories together. That’s what I thought the whole time while reading it.
R: It really was a piece of hard work. That’s why I wanted all you readers to think of it as two stories as well. “Because writing it was such a pain, I want it to be a pain to read as well.”, that’s what I thought *laugh*. That’s why the worldview behind Umineko became a belligerent phrase like “Try to think!”. The afterwords back then at the time of Higurashi were pretty low profile, but now with Umineko they have become pretty long and filled with Beato like phrases like “Don’t give up, think!!” or “Hyahaha!”. That’s why many people who started reading my works only after Higurashi might start thinking, “That Ryûkishi07 seems like a pretty arrogant guy!”. Well deserved *laugh*. During the next work I want to start writing modest again.
K: Because Umineko’s overall theme is to fight, it’s no wonder that one gets pulled into the spirit of it, right?!
R: Probably right. At the time of Higurashi there was no pushy theme like “Try and solve it!”. It was more a free spirit of “Please think about it like you yourself felt it”. But with Umineko, I said from the very start that it’s about “Try and think!”.
K: With words like, “This is going to be torture until you fold!”, this pushiness came through.
R: It sounded so nice, so I used it quite often.
K: It did a great job at expressing that fighting spirit within the worldview, as well as the feelings of both the Battler in the meta world and the one writing the stories of the gameboards.
R: They really do express Battler’s feelings, don’t they?
K: Among the locked rooms in Umineko there were many perfect locked rooms.
R: We already discussed that Umineko consists of two different narratives, but if you put it plainly, for the general consumer there is only one. Especially during EP 2 and 3 there seemed to be especially many people who read it like any other story while playing and only saw it as one narrative. If I said it vulgarly, back then there were many who just gave up. I had the impression that there were many people who just said “Stuff like that isn’t mystery!” or “I gave up after Kanon drew his blade!”. That’s why I felt the need to make the story more appealing from that point on.
K: That would be the part at the beginning of EP3, the lecture by Virgilia. It’s true that after the release of EP2 it seemed a little bit like you could bury the idea to regard it as detective fiction *laugh*. When I looked at some of the message boards back then, I was feeling like, “Eh, they are giving up already?!” about most of the fans.
R: Because of that situation I cancelled the production of what was planned to be EP3, Land of the Golden Witch. Right after we released EP I thought “So, after the proper greeting by the witch, let’s create a real evil, orthodox mystery incident.” but because so many people abandoned reasoning all together I hurriedly changed the whole script. Because it felt necessary to give the player a character who would lecture him about how to think, Virgilia was born. There were plans for a character similar to Virgilia to appear in the story before, but it was to be a more agressive character who later became the basis for Erika.
K: At that time there were already plans for something like Erika?
R: It was a character who would argue with the main characters about reasoning, and become an antagonist, approaching everything from a different point than Battler. It was actually planned to introduce that character at the stage of EP3. At that time it was a man called Vergilius.
K: The name is taken from the character Vergilius in Dante’s , right?!
R: That is correct. But because a lecture like this became severely necessary, I changed the character Vergilius into the woman Virgilia. And because he changed into Virgilia, the connection to Kumasawa was created. At that point I stopped thinking about the character Vergilius at all, but now when I think about it, with a little struggling, you could call him the male version of Erika. Though a little bit more impertinent in her knowledge.
K: At the time of EP2, Battler had a pretty hard time reasoning himself. If Vergilius had appeared then, the plot would have become an even fiercer battle?
R: It became a fierce battle either way, didn’t it? In my head EP1 was supposed to be nothing more than an opening, during which you get to remember the structure of the characters and the mansion. EP2 was to be the beginning of the fight. And EP3 was to mark the beginning of the truly orthodox incidents. I really thought about putting many difficult riddles into Umineko from start to finish, but… I don’t think I would be able to make you enjoy Land, now that all of you have learned about the truth. If the answer is already out, it’s laughable to try and hide it with difficult riddles. At best it would be funny. Maybe you’d think “Hey, that makes up for some of it”. Well that might happen, but almost all of the tricks planned for Land have been divided up and mixed into what became EP4~6. I really hear you asking for a release of Land, but I’m afraid I’m just not able to do that anymore.
K: Among some of the fans there is the idea that you could put it into Umineko Rei (an Umineko fandisc), which was mentioned on the blog on the official page, what about that?
R: I have thought about that as well, even though I have my hands full with my new work, but because it would only be ideas that fans of Umineko would know from somewhere else, I don’t think that my hard work or the enjoyment of the readers would make up for it…
K: So you are returning it to the shelf?
R: Not really returning it, it’s more like it’s an EP which departed on the way. By the way it was supposed to feature a really hard difficulty. Because Virgilia and Ronove had almost no following at all, I thought about making the riddles for EP4~6 an attack on one straight level.
K: So, using the part about the staged murders, planting plain to see corpses even though there couldn’t be a culprit and even then piling up on the corpses. I imagine you mean things like this.
R: There was also the Definition of a Locked Room. Many of my role models from the detective novels of the past argued about “what exactly is a locked room murder”. The most famous is Carr’s Locked Room Study. There were many other types of definitions floating around, and I can’t really say who coined this definition, but there is the explanation that “locked room murders can basically be divided into two kinds, those who fail to become a locked room situation and those who are destroyed afterwards.”. So, it would only really be a locked room, if it could not be destroyed by reason.
K: I also read many pieces featuring tricks and locked rooms. But you’re right, a perfect locked room would be a bold trick that could not be solved by anyone.
R: If you think about it from that angle, it’s quite fascinating isn’t it. If you would simply look at locked room murders on a time axis, you could only apply the definition of a locked room in the case of it being flawless. But if that were true, the definition of a locked room in itself would be wrong. In most of the cases, they are “the illusion of a locked room”. It’s a pattern where a locked room actually never existed. If you know about these definition, the locked rooms in Umineko are quite easy to understand.
K: “Illusion is the key to all of Umineko” is a part I have been troubling myself over from the beginning, it fits together with the chess metaphor we discussed around here last time. But you don’t have to stop at the locked room tricks, it’s something that encompasses the whole of the series.
R: I had the feeling that many people were used to the idea of an illusion locked room, but there are not many who are used to the idea of a perfect locked room. The most often used tricks for an illusion locked room are things like “it looks like a locked room, but there is this gap” or “if you use that, you can kill him within the room”. To say it shortly, it’s a pattern of remote killing.
K: Tricks like poison gas or certain gadgets, right?!
R: Or directions within the room, like “look up” or “look down”, which finally lead to you falling into a needle trap and dying. If there is a locked room in which you can still the person inside, then it’s just pseudo locked room. There are many others, mostly it’s something like “the door was locked from the inside, but through a kite string under the door…”. Because most of you people are used to this kind of mystery, you should be busy thinking about things like “is this really a locked room?” or “isn’t there a gap?”. That is why Battler is doing exactly this quite often and why he is doubting so often. By the way, the more Battler is doubting, the more he is attacked with red. And so more and more the perfection of the locked room is proven. If you came this far, a person well versed in locked room definitions might immediately understand this: “So if it can be proven that this locked room is actually perfect, then murder can only have happened before it’s construction or after it’s deconstruction.”. Because I spotted almost no people who arrived at this point, I assumed that there were not that many people who are well versed in locked room mystery. Because there are so many TV shows and movies in the mystery genre, which feature really well made illusion locked room tricks, I just had to accept that.
The Red as well as the Charas who turn against Battler all become Hints
K: That, with EP2, possibilities were severely cut down by the Red, was a huge help to those trying to deduce. They really were a hint, weren’t they?
R: Of course. That is why EP3 opens with Battler saying: “The more you put out your Red, the more my chances increase. So come on, give it to me.”. But even in EP2 it was supposed to be a hint. Even though Battler cried a lot *laugh*. By the way, because there were so many players saying “it’s magic, so where’s the point” I made Battler accept Virgilias explanations in red with so much joy. There was some avail to that, if I ever created a new piece also using the Red, people would be using it without giving up from the very beginning.
K: But the chance of you using it again are pretty slim, right? It’s like “this pattern has vanished”.
R: You’re right.The witch’s side won’t do you the service of a red truth if there is a next time *laugh*.
K: But it really became scarce around EP3.
R: That’s because the more you tell the harder it gets.
K: The hints became less as well, didn’t they?! Using the Red you could narrow it down to “it’s either this pattern or this pattern”, but during EP3 there was nothing much except the confirmation of times of death. EP3 was a game with a pretty straight forward possibility of reasoning from beginning to the end, even though it leaves pretty much of the actual pattern open for interpretation. It was pretty hard to find something encompassing the possibilities during the finale into that.
R: If you go all out with the Red, reasoning becomes easy. On the Wikipedia entry for Umineko it says “Because of the red truth system, reasoning becomes easy.”, when I read that I became actually relieved *laugh*. It really came across as a hint.
K: There were a lot of hints in the red words, right?! There were a lot of characters who were standing in Battler’s way, but the more they fought, the easier it got. They were really allies to the reader.
R: Battler really gave off the image of being down for, but actually he steadily came through. But would the player rather take that as a hint, or would they think “there’s no more chance!”. Now that I think about it, during EP2 or 3 it might have been better if I had just delivered the killing strike and said “This is a perfect locked room” in red truth. But even if I had, it wouldn’t have eliminated theories like “there was poison gas” or something. So I really despaired about my lack of power when I thought if it might reach my limits as an author, when I tried to explain the concept of a perfect locked room murder to the people who were thinking centered around a illusion locked room.
K: During the story there was also Beatrice’s Definition of a Locked Room.
R: Of course this was something taken from the classic definition of a locked room. I expected there to be people who wouldn’t bother to research the term locked room definition, but it seems it was almost not researched at all. Even though I let Beatrice give her locked room definition, “it was not made in red, so everything might be a lie” was the main thought that surfaced, so they did not think about perfect locked rooms, but doubted them as illusion locked rooms.
K: It was pretty important not just to stick to interpreting the Red, but also to search for alternate patterns.
R: I wonder if it would have been better if I had Battler say something like: “No matter how much I think about it this locked room is flawless. So I just have to search for a way how that crime could have been committed even though the locked room is perfect.”. But I did not want to give out such an important hint at the time of EP2 or 3 *laugh*. But I wonder if I might have been to hard with not telling that hint at all. But there were people who noticed this and as long as you can reason and squeeze out an answer it’s alright, right?! Many of those people who deduced by arming themselves with logic while reading, if they were to play Umineko again without any memory of it, they would find that way again, I think.
I would like you to read the deduction of those who arrived at the truth and try playing again.
K: EP1 was pretty tame overall. If you take out the locked rooms you immediatly notice the pattern.
R: Even those parts you don’t get right away, if you just take 3 possible patterns, at least one of them will be able to fit into the scheme.
K: The hypothesis for the first twilight, the “banquet of the witch”, surfaced pretty much right after the series started. Like “Eva and Hideyoshi are the culprits, Shannon faked her death and is actually alive, if or if not the bullets available and the number of victims match, that the victims might have been transported away from the dining room…”. Back then I pretty much formed my reasoning, that “They were carried away after they had been killed in the dining room”.
R: That was pretty common. But it’s really not that difficult to doubt that, isn’t it?!
K: Because carrying those corpses is a painfully heavy task, I quickly dropped it. Carrying 6 corpses through a storm is impossible, right?!
R: It’s difficult, yes. If we are talking about the storm, if there is one thing that does not fit into a mystery in Umineko and can clearly be identified as fantasy, there is one kernel part, there is not even a thought spent on getting wet in the rain. It is one part that I cut right out of that world.
K: Is that so?! I have actually had some thoughts about references towards the culprit getting wet, but I never really bothered about it.
R: If you do something in the storm and return afterwards, you will be pretty much drenched, in case of a woman your makeup might be smeared, or there might be wet spots left in the room, there should be plenty of things. But throughout all the story there is never an explicit mention of something being “wet”, which is slightly fantastic isn’t it?!
K: I think that is a really important element, especially during the part when it’s in question whether Eva snuck out of the guesthouse during EP3. Back then, because Eva was lying down with a high fever, it was questioned whether she was slightly wet because she had sweat a lot or if that was a deception.
R: It’s quite decisive to say that, no matter what, once you return to your private room there are endless ways to get dry again. Because Umineko adopts the world view of a logic puzzle more than that of a orthodox mystery puzzle, rain only becomes a topic once it is important, so it’s safe as long as it doesn’t come up. That’s because in the world of logic puzzles it’s okay to omit those parts that you don’t need as a hint.
K: You really felt the power of those puzzle elements. It is comparatively easy to solve each crime scene individually, but to connect them into a line of reasoning from twilight 1 to 9 is quite hard.
R: At the stage of EP1 there is the possibility of guessing, but there’s not enough to actually answer who did what and why. That is why it’s great to advance towards EP8 finding out along the way that “this is the culprit” and “that is the motive”. But I really want to apologize for the motive coming out so late. That was because in orthodox mysteries it is alright to ditch the motive at first.
K: In many cases you only learn the motive at the very last possible moment. Many times only when the culprit confesses to it.
R: Yes. Whoever the culprit is, whatever the outcome is, it is something that you should be able to draw a hypothesis on.
K: If you went through it all and thought about it, the scope of a deduction of motives does not only encompass the gameboards, but also becomes a deduction of the heart of Yasu in the real world. I think it is possible to solve that part when knowing about the “why”.
R: Yes. It might be easier to get to the end by giving out the culprit, but I prefered to start with the motive. By doing so one could better understand the heart of the culprit and see through his actions. If you understood that and know about Yasu, it can be quite fun to go back and reread EP1. Even I thought “Battler is mean!” while writing it *laugh*. When he read the scenario BT was laughing out hard as well.
K: The scene at the beach was especially harsh. And during EP7, during the scene with the letters I also thought, “Damn Battler, you’re bad!”.
R: There are many ways to think about this scene though, maybe there was no bad intent and they just forgot, maybe George decided not to hand the letter over. I won’t say what’s the truth, but I want you to think of different possibilities.
K: So it’s about whether we want Battler or George to be the bad guy, right?!
R: There’s more. Maybe Kyrie told him “Write to all of your cousins”, so he just wrote to his cousins, there are many ways to think about it. A riddle like that is a way of, if I had to say it with Bernkastel’s words, my way of trying to make you enjoy parallel worlds. At the core it is about whether the player wants to believe in Battler or George. Maybe it’s just about for whom of them you have love. This is what Ange was told about during EP7 and 8, no matter what truths exist, in the end there is only the one in the heart of the person approaching it. That’s because in this world there are so many truths that can only be guessed. It’s always about how the person approaching it thinks about it, whether he has a heart for it or not, that is what changes the truth. If I entertained you with that, I am happy. And in that sense, EP7 was the heart and soul of all the hints and answers. And EP8 is something like an afterword to round up the story. What I wanted to portray in EP8 were two things. One was a message towards those who has arrived at the truth. The other was a party feeling to those who did not find it, saying “You may not have understood everything, but it was a hell lot of fun.”. Though in your case KEIYA, EP8 might have not been much of a festival, but at least I seem to have moved you at many points.
K: Why do the two parties need to fight? The epilogue where Ikuko and Tôya reunite with Ange. When I saw those scenes it all came rushing back to me. Aah, so that’s what it was about.
R: In that part are so many interpretations, I think that is fantastic. You can easily divide the deductions of those who arrived at the truth and those who did not. That’s why it’s enough to just look at your thoughts and say, “Yes, he arrived at the truth!”. But because you are one of those people, I think you will sadly never understand how the opposite side feels.
K: I’m sorry. I don’t really follow other people’s reasoning, therefore I don’t really understand.
R: We have looked at so many deductions by now. How should one judge those parts which are not in red, that’s what I’m talking about. Or, even though I had the feeling that I made it quite clear, there are people who even ask “What is it?” about the Golden Truth. On the other hand, there were those who understood it. It’s not really about who is right or wrong, but because the story had the theme of “challenge the witch, reach the truth” from EP1 onwards, I think I made it more enjoyable for those who arrived at the truth. Like you said at the very beginning, it became an ending which many people weren’t able to forsee, because the answer was not put bluntly on the table, but I still wish for at least those who arrived at the truth to keep that dear. And for those who did not reach it, I would like you to read the deduction of those who arrived at the truth and try playing again. In the end Umineko still is put together from two stories, and those who were not able to see the other story, can now take one of the deductions like this one and become able to enjoy both.
The solution of the epitaph was dragged down into the ocean of the internet.
K: EP3 was written so that it appeared that Eva and Eva-Beatrice were the same existence, but I often had thoughts that maybe “The entirety of the murder is not restricted to Eva”. “From which point on did she murder?”, was an important topic for me from that point on. “Is it really okay to connect them equally?” or “Must I think of the actions on the gameboard and in the meta world as different things?” were things that really pained me.
R: That a really difficult point here. The meta world and the real world are linked at certain points, at other points there are differences. It’s really difficult to be certain of those. I don’t really want to give a model explanation for this. I would rather wish for the readers to look up famous deduction collections on the internet, read through different ideas and then form their own conclusion.
K: At first I thought that EP3 was pretty easy compared to EP1 and 2. It’s easy to get an idea of the plot structure. But when I read through Will’s deduction I thought again and found, that the difficulty is not that much lower. In the end it was maybe the first or second hardest battle among EP1~4.
R: In the case of EP3 I gave my best especially in the area of tricks. I think we talked about this during the discussion on EP3, but I think EP3 has the most beautiful locked room tricks among them all. But because I gave so many hints in the aftermath of EP2, maybe it seemed easier when looking at the surface. Still the riddle in itself experienced a level up compared to EP2.
K: That’s true. I despaired about the mystery of the linked locked rooms until the very end. Will said that “The end and the beginning overlap”, but…
R: It’s a metaphor, so even the people who understood the hint, seem to have done so only barely. But because I wrote it that way to distract the people who did not understand, I won’t explain it further now.
K: I made a guess that “The guestroom on the first floor is the key”. It’s the pattern that Shannon and Kanon are alive, I think.
R: The keyword is “Among the 6 locked rooms, there is only 1 on the first floor.”. If you give it some common sense, at that point there was no hypothesis made about the locked room of the chapel. No one came close of the chapel, it was just thought of as locked. If you exclude the chapel, there is 1 locked room on the first floor, then 2 rooms on the second floor, 1 on the third floor and the one in the downstairs boiler room. And if those were locked from the inside, and there was no key to open them, then…
K: Then it’s natural to enter through the first floor window.
R: And if you look at it like this is all scatters. In this chain of 6 locked rooms where each locked room can be broken that way, there was a big hint which room was entered first, at least I think so. For me it’s actually quite embarrassing that I have to answer this right now *laugh*.
K: Among all the locked rooms, I think this one was the one everybody was most interested in.
R: Linked locked rooms has a nice ring to it, hasn’t it?!
K: Will did not really talk about any of the mysteries in the later half of EP3. Was there any special meaning that he did not talk about anything that happened from George vanishing, to the death of Nanjô?
R: It was probably a bit brutal towards the logic of the investigation quarter, but I judged that “from all the hints that had been given out so far, it should be possible to guess those”. But now that you start asking me about them, I start thinking “was I mistaken in my dose of hints?” *laugh*.
K: No, no. If you prepare the proper pattern for the deduction, it’s quite logic, I just thought that maybe those were hints that would be inserted later on.
R: At the end of EP6 there are two quite logical tricks, which is when Erika was talking about “the right solution to the trick with a method not introduced to the party of readers”. And “That you have to crush them all at the same time”.
K: That is something which can be countered with many different hypothesis’. If you think about it, there are several people insisting that “you don’t need to decide on one truth, there can be be several of them”. But when I do that, I think the story starts to crumble.
R: But that is something that I said since even before the release of EP1, right?! You can just keep observing from start to finish and you will understand, I wouldn’t create an incident where the truth changes along the way.
K: So that’s something we needn’t worry about. But, Ryûkishi, which gameboard was the most difficult, what do you think?
R: Hmm, good question. If I look at it from the perspective of the investigators I’d pick EP1 to be the most difficult. That’s because if you look only at EP1, there is no Red and therefore no hints. If you have already advanced to EP4 it’s probably pretty easy, but taking only EP1 I think it’s pretty hard. It would be like entering the fortress of the dragon emperor on Level 1. EP2 is, even though on first sight the scenario might appear quite harsh, there is a lot of red truth and therefore you can think a lot. And if you make it to EP3 you start understanding how you have to think, even though the level of the riddles itself rises, it becomes easier because there are so many hints. So even though the difficulty of the riddles increases with each Episode, EP1 might still be the most difficult to solve. Every time I took a look at the reactions of the players and created the difficulty and the pace of the story based on this. Because this is still supposed to be solid entertainment, there was no gain in leaving anybody behind. But always considering this was quite hard.
K: No matter how much you adjust, I think there will always be people who can’t keep up.
R: It’s quite difficult, because when there are no people who fail, the people who succeed won’t rejoice either. Because if everyone made it, there would be no sense of completion. But if there are too many people who don’t make it, it’s bad as well. But it’s the massive information age because of the internet, isn’t it?! If there are ten people and one of them arrives at the truth and says “I understood the truth!”, it will still vanish in the ocean of the opinion of the remaining 9. That’s the weakpoint I see. The voices of the people who don’t understand are so much louder than the one voice that understood.
K: And if it’s buried, nobody will notice it.
R: The mystery of the epitaph is such an example. Even though the correct solution in form of the Taiwan theory surfaced at quite an early stage, it didn’t gain many followers back then. There were some people who noticed it as “Awesome”, but there were at least as many voices claiming it to be “definitely wroooong!” it became just one of many quite soon. To be honest, I followed some of the message boards live back then. When I typed the F5 key to refresh the page, things like “Taiwan has trainstations” popped up… and I thought, “Nooo, I’ve been found out!”. So I talked with my circle members about it, but it soon became swallowed up by other famous theories. That’s why I think the internet is so fascinating. If 1 person among 10000 has arrived at the truth and he writes it down and the other 9999 agree with his idea, then they can work together. But while there is this strong point, there is the danger that ,because the voices of these 9999 people are so strong together, the voice which is just 1/10000 can be swallowed up. Because of that I often grieved about whether it has become to difficult to publish serialized detective novels in the internet age.
K: Even now there are countless deductions which have drowned in the ocean of the Kakera, aren’t there?!
R: While there is the danger of them drowning completely, I find it amusing that some of these theories resurfaced now.
K: I have heard and researched a little about that person who solved the epitaph, it seems it was someone who did a homestay in Taiwan, right?!
R: It seems like that. I have a faint memory of reading something like “I am overbroad in Taiwan right now”. But, even those this theory was basically the correct answer, it was still following another popular main theory. It’s really like in Umineko itself, isn’t it?! I thought to myself that this was actually close to the final answer of the riddle that I wanted to give in the main Episodes, but even though there are many followers, there were as many people who wouldn’t believe it and kept searching for alternatives saying, “I don’t buy it, let’s look at it differently!”. I think people’s perception can be quite brilliant at times. It’s like with parallel worlds. I think I really reached my goal of making it a game “where you enjoy thinking” with this. Though some like you started despairing, because they could not adapt to the style of “having multiple tricks ready to explain a mystery”. Battler talked about an “all out deduction”, that was just to instigate that very thought-process in you readers. Many people started out thinking “it has to be all O, if one is an X it’s a failure”. They weren’t able to think of their one answer as being correct on it’s own. That is why many people dislike it, if there is the possibility of two answers. Because in every existing logic puzzle, there has always been the limitation to one correct answer. But in Umineko there is the possibility of two answers coexisting. Even though one of the possibilities might be denied in the later Episodes, what I expected in Umineko from the very beginning was, that people would rip out my locked rooms and release many different thoughts and solutions on the internet, saying things like “Ryukishi, you’re not so great! Don’t you dare messing with us mystery maniacs!”. But against my expectations, nothing of that sort happened.
It’s the players turn to decide wether it’s a Mystery or an Anti-Mystery.
K: You said that at that time there were almost no people challenging your locked room murders.
R: There were many people who said, just like Battler during the Main Episodes, that “there is not enough information”.
K: They wanted more hints.
R: Yes. “We can’t trust Battler’s inspection of the crime scene. Everything that Battler does not inspect could be a gap.”. If Battler’s inspection is so full of holes, then why not use the holes and draw a deduction on that? That’s what I was thinking, but sadly I saw no really fascinating theories surface. In those over 100 years of published mystery fiction, there should be enough grotesque and unique tricks to draw inspiration from. Among those there should have been plenty to crush my meager locked rooms in Umineko easily.
K: It’s a theory we talked about in the last discussion, but do you mean something like “the chain of the chain locked room being unnaturally long”?
R: It’s a theory so absurd that it’s fascinating, isn’t it?!
K: At least it hasn’t been disproven by the red truth *laugh*.
R: The chain as a seal has been verified, but the extent of the opening was never proven.
K: It’s a blind spot, yes. If the chain was longer, then there would be no problem in constructing that scene.
R: It would be as amusingly absurd if it was, “there was no ceiling!”. If we are talking about orthodox detective fiction it’s something you need to consider. It may be something that would be inexcusable when writing a Shakai-ha (society-genre: a mix of thriller and hard boiled) story, but it’s no problem if you’re writing orthodox.
K: But essentialy, it’s not much different from saying “the chain was cut and then later it was welt together again.”.
R: That’s true. It’s basically the same.
K: If you take out that, that only leaves a simple answer like the locked room being replaced by another room.
R: A substitute locked room would fall into the category of a fake locked room or an illusion locked room we already discussed. You think they are talking about a locked room, but it’s actually about the room next door.
K: I actually thought about something like this. That maybe the trick is that the magic party made us mistake one room for another.
R: The locked room tricks featured in Umineko are really the oldest of the classics. There is not one new, original trick among them. They are all classics.
K: I thought that I could solve most of them with variations of the classics.
R: The only difference is that the stage has become Rokkenjima. If you would just read some of the great classics of detective fiction, you would start thinking, “so he just changed the name of that trick”, they are all that simple. I may have said it before, but Umineko features almost no fake locked rooms. Most of them are perfect locked rooms. Those people who thought “this can’t be a locked room. There has to be a gap.”, they never seemed bothered thinking about a hypothesis if it really were a locked room. I think I wasn’t able to communicate that skillfully. Even though Battler should have pressed that possibility into the hands of each of you.
K: Will described the chain locked room in EP1 as having a “chain of illusion”. I really think that in this case it was an illusion locked room and not a perfect locked room, how about that?!
R: What do I say now?! I think I have no choice but to answer *laugh*. That portion was all based on the descriptions by the witness’. But who was it who observed that “those two had died within a chain locked room”? If you start out like that, the people you should doubt come right to mind. And if you do that, the trick itself becomes rather unimportant, doesn’t it?! If you think about it, there are only two simple solutions to destroy this chain locked room. Whoever it was who they started on, it’s the same result. The important thing is that they were stabbed with a knife, beyond that there’s only the difference wether the culprit grabbed the weapon normally or backhand. But that has nothing to do with the core of that locked room. That is why this is really not a perfect locked room, but an illusion locked room. Because it was a locked room born out of the illusion created by what the observers told us.
K: If we are talking about locked rooms, I have the impression that there are almost no people using the term internal bleeding locked room. No matter now whether it is the truth or not, it’s one of the basic tricks, isn’t it?!
R: Hmmm, I think it would have been better to take an easier locked room at that point. But my pride wouldn’t allow that. I would have liked to discuss a thoroughly difficult locked room. On the internet there are countless of those, right?! Because I expected the really great ones to be solved quite easily, my pride dictated, “because you’re going to serialize this over 4 years, take one that won’t be solved during the first years already!”. Actually right after EP2 was released, there were already some great theories floating around. Even though they were all by people at Seikaisha.
K: What kind of deductions were those? Do you have any comments on those?
R: I can’t go into details now, but they were really great. I think some of them were also published on the board of our homepage, but it seems they are deleted by now.
K: At the time of EP2 I was still thinking that the culprit was somebody else each time around.
R: But that is not wrong, is it?! One of the ideas that Umineko was created from was the fact that “the accomplice was somebody else every EP”. And one of the traps was that “the person who you assumed to be the accomplice in the last EP is among the victims in the next.”.
K: Like Shannon dying at the first twilight in EP3, right?! You really had me confused there.
R: I thought of it as a way to surprise you with the order of the murders every time again by making “the ones that didn’t die at first the last time, die right at the beginning.”. And those who were claimed to be suspicious on the internet, I killed those right in the open, right from the start. Through that I think I was able to skillfully manipulate you.
K: If some people always survived together in every EP, it became quite easy to grasp I think.
R: But I didn’t do that. I killed them all without any mercy *laugh*. Beato said it as well during EP3. Something like, “Because you doubted the servants, I killed them all.”.
K: If I look back now, I wrote it down myself, “the culprit from the second twilight on is somebody else than the culprit of the first twilight”. But I didn’t come around to doubt Shannon, I was deceived there.
R: Most people only read things once and don’t go back to read it again. Because it’s so damn long. Even though they would notice the parade of hints if they read it again. With that in mind I read all your impressions you readers had while reading new Episodes, and prepared tricks to mislead you based on those impressions and expectations. That’s why my honest emotions right now, are not only a feeling of completion after a 4 year serialization, but even more a feeling of freedom and that “I can finally stop comparing the knowledge of my readers.” *laugh*. I have actually become tired of writing while always considering my readers. Next I want to write what I want to.
K: You already said earlier, “I can’t go on playing catchball with the players after 4 years”.
R: If I would just be able to throw the ball in any direction I want to, then it would be comparatively easy to keep it up. But having to return it properly, no matter what kinda ball they throw me, that’s really tiring.
K: If you don’t return it properly, the mystery might break down this time. It’s about that, right?!
R: Exactly, it’s really hard. That is why Umineko, rather than a simple story, is more about my thoughts while writing and how it became more enjoyable with deep and hard thinking.
K: Compared to Higurashi, it seems to be written with the spirit of making it unsolvable.
R: In the end Higurashi had a simple and clear answer written for it. Because the answer was the message that I wanted to convey. So in that sense, Higurashi might be acting more according to the rules of a mystery. Because the answer was spelled out plain and clear. On the opposite, while it appears to be a mystery at first sight, Umineko does not follow many of those rules. But that is because it is a detective fiction that does not spell out the answer, just like Higashino Keigo’s ‘‘Who of them killed her?’’ (‘‘Dochiraka ga kanojo o koroshita?’’).
K: I think the word Anti-Mystery is something that is often discussed, but it is also something used to describe works that use “a structure in which the solution to the mystery is not part of the plot”.
R: I think the word Anti-Mystery is quite difficult, because it changes according to the place where it is used.
K: It’s because of the people who defined it. My own is limited to connecting it to this one great novel "An Offering to Nothingness" ("Kyomu e no kumotsu") (Kôdansha, Nakai Hideo), though of course there are several different definitions for it.
R: Yes, it’s quite hard to find a proper definition for that word. Maybe, when you attack it with the attitude “all of it can be explained with tricks and logic”, then it’s a mystery, and maybe you can really say that an Anti-Mystery is nothing but the aggressive stance of “thinking is useless”. So when people say “While the players are reasoning, Ryukishi is changing the story around and betraying us, so it’s useless thinking about the truth.” it’s really a stance that’s fitting for an Anti-Mystery.
K: A stance that denies the Mystery.
R: What’s left is “Don’t give up on finding the truth!”. If it is a mystery, than it is absolutely just to arrive at the truth, but thinking of it as just a narrative, there is no absolute need to arrive at the truth. If you think about it, maybe not unnecessarily uncovering something through showing the truth, that is also part of an explanation for an Anti-Mystery. A way of thinking, like at the end of An Offering to Nothingness, is also quite fascinating when considering an Anti-Mystery. If you take it like that, then my work is an Anti-Mystery as well. The more your deductions advanced while reading EP1, 2 and 3, the more the difficulty increased and while not solving and not solving, the plot escaped further and further. And the tragedy you all kept asking for kept occurring, and when you said “that’s not the culprit, so he will probably die first next time!” it actually happened that way.
K: If you look at each of the EP in continuity, it’s actually following that structure.
R: But because you can of course read it like this, but you can also solve it like a proper mystery, it is not a pure Anti-Mystery. It’s more something that “can be enjoyed as an Anti-Mystery”.
K: In An Offering to Nothingness the culprit of the serial killings and the tricks are all revealed as well. But in the end it gets this double-layer structure through the lines: “What actually made the incident an incident was…”. That Umineko is similar in that fashion was already discussed in the last book.
R: It were the people who had read An Offering to Nothingness before, who made this theory right from the start and brought up the comparison between the two works. But it was never my intention to remodel ‘‘An Offering to Nothingness’’ into a soundnovel. Well, in the end it’s the players turn to decide whether Umineko is a Mystery or an Anti-Mystery.
Bern’s Trial.
K: I was glad that there were many people who eagerly faced “Bern’s Trial”.
R: When you uploaded your playmemo of EP8 I immediately read it. When I came to the part where you wrote, that the character who had been saved by Ikuko in her car was Ange, I thought “Yes, yes, I got him!” *laugh*. I actually thought while writing that passage “Will KEIYA fall for that trap?”.
K: Yes, I really fell for it *laugh*. The scene right before it made it easy to get the idea that it’s Ange.
R: Yes, I mixed the time order up to create that mislead. There are almost no people who noticed immediately.
K: If you read it casually, every player would think it was Ange.
R: I think so too. And that’s why your impression wasn’t wrong.
K: And on top of it, there’s the fact that later on you learn that “it’s actually Battler!”.
R: Rather than a mystery, this was a stylistic device used in novels. Or what would you say?
K: I think people who doubt this part are pretty rare *laugh*.
R: To doubt that plot point is rather useless, isn’t it? By the way, the first thing you concentrated on was Bern’s Trial and “Whodunnit” and “Whodidn’t”. Many people on the staff did the same thing during debugging *laugh*. I thought that about 30% of the people would go for the Whodunnit and No Check, so the first thing I did was adding the professional hints. Though most of the text didn’t make it in time.
K: Well if you can’t crush the possibilities, it’s okay to just advance. In some sense Bern’s Trial seemed to be something like a higher version of an Umineko lecture, something like a tutoring mode. When I compared it to the Halloween party, I really got that feeling.
R: I was really happy that so many people tried solving it for real and actually did solve it. Because I allowed several parallel realities to exist during the main arcs, there could be several explanations for one locked room. But for Bern’s Trial you really had to aim for one clear answer. I checked so that there was actually no other reasoning possible for that answer. And after I perfected this, I reread it with the thought in my head “if there was anything left at all except the Battler culprit theory”, and the only answer sticking out was “well, there is the chance that George had killed somebody before he came to Rokkenjima.”. I didn’t plan this at the beginning, but because of that I made Erika talk about the George culprit theory. While it is foul play to use elements in your deduction that happened before the actual incident in a logic puzzle, it was an answer I had to keep in mind, dealing with people who came in contact with something like the 4 years of battle of red against blue truth.
K: The more you thought about it the more the possibilities shrunk, so it was really fun. At first I wondered whether I should ditch the servants or not. But no matter how much I thought I couldn’t fit them into it and so I decided they had no connection to the case.
R: I created it to make you feel exactly that pleasure. It’s so difficult you have to stop and consider again and again.
K: I really glared at my text files back then *laugh*.
R: And I think even those people who couldn’t solve it, got a feeling of achievement when reading the hints.
K: From the perspective of someone who reasoned towards the truth, I think it’s quite important that this trial was held by Bernkastel…because she’s representing the party that wants to tear everything down in search for the truth. The scenario really matched the Tea Party during EP7.
R: Haha, maybe I wouldn’t go that far with it. There was a reason to Bern’s Trial that is correct. To have fun and enjoying so many grotesque things. Though it was a digression, the trial was fun, right? If it was to your liking, maybe I should create something different, based on the same rules. Something like “Furudo Erika’s Case Files”.
K: That would be great. The game really was fun.
Considering that you thought that the players abilities to reason and to think increased during Umineko, Bern’s Trial was a great way to test that, wasn’t it?!
R: I wonder if they really increased. I think most of the readers had had enough of Ryukishi07′s mysteries by then *laugh*. I was really bashed on the internet.
K: I think because Umineko uses so many tricks from the classics of mystery, the people reading it as a mystery expect many riddles which they can solve. The trick with the murder weapon which vanished automatically into the well after a suicide, in EP4 was a good example for this.
R: There are many mysteries which use a trick like this, aren’t there?! That you could use the fact that a body still moves at the moment of death to transport a weapon outside of the locked room, is something that everybody should be able to imagine.
K: That it was Shannon and Nanjô who lay there was suspicious yet again *laugh*. Though I had Nanjô as my suspect back then during my deduction.
If you don’t believe that you can solve it, then you can’t.
R: I went into this during the story itself as well, but as long as you don’t read it thinking you can solve it, I think you won’t. “If you don’t believe that a jam-jar will open, then it won’t no matter how hard you turn”. And just like if you confront it with the idea “with those hints I can solve it” you will solve it, you will never be able to get a clear thought if all you think is “the hints up until now aren’t enough, it’s impossible to solve.”. I might be wrong but I think I never said anytime before EP4, that “with these hints you can solve the mystery”. And even though I did say it after EP5, I’m really regretting not saying it at the time around EP4. No matter how many hints you give, as long as I don’t make the players believe that they can solve it, even the most trivial mystery will never be solved.
K: At the time of EP2 there were heavy discussions whether we should trust Beato or not.
R: That’s true. Your deduction process changes depending whether you believe the red truth or not. If you doubt the red truth reasoning becomes almost impossible, it’s like claiming “I won’t reason at all”.
K: It’s the same as not agreeing to the rules of a gameboard. Because during the story there were those comparisons to chess and sentences like “a game has to have rules” or “I will hold my promise”, it becomes impossible to reason if you don’t believe them.
R: I have begun saying this at the time of EP2 and repeated it several times during Chiru. Especially Will is insisting on this. “If you don’t believe it to be solvable, you won’t solve it”. All those passages clogged with “Without love it cannot be seen” were actually meaning, “you cannot solve something that is made to be solved if you don’t believe”. Will is the one who did some very cynical comments on this during EP8, too.
K: He said those things during the fight against the goats, right?
R: Exactly. Those goats who appeared at that point really had guts, hadn’t they? It was Will and Dlanor who said that, but I too actually have some respect for those goats who kept on making theories, even though they were attacked by the red again and again. I accept them as adversaries. Who I am really mad about are those goats who actually gave up thinking.
K: Many people who criticize that scene seem to be missing that Will and Dlanor are accepting the goats as well.
R: I really didn’t do a good job with that part, I seem to have screwed up majorly…
K: I guarantee you that if you don’t stop thinking, then you will arrive at the truth.
R: By now I have fallen into the dilemma of thinking, “for what reason am I writing my works?”. Am I writing because I want to pamper my readers? Or am I writing for the joy of writing itself? Of course I want to see wonderful deductions like yours KEIYA. To have their works read and find reactions towards it, that’s one of the greatest joys of every writer. But if I go online now and search for reactions, it’s much easier to find really harsh impressions. If they do have a point, then I’m glad, but there are actually many people who seem to have never read the work at all and just looked up some of the answers, who are now saying “it might have been in the story, but…”. If I read something like “Can’t he write on his own?”, then I lose my confidence. Though, when I read thoughts like yours, then I actually get better again. After the release of EP8 it became especially harsh. I thought about retiring after Umineko. That is why Umineko has a culprit who can only be understood by people who think. I wanted to give it a culprit that cannot be copypasted. In that sense, I think YASU is a groundbreaking invention.
K: Now you’re talking about "The Portopia Serial Murder Case" (Pôtopia renzoku satsujin jiken), right?!
R: Of course. You can definitely deceive some people, because “The culprit is Yasu” has become such a stereotype. It’s a bold move that can only be done once.
K: The day Yasu became a witch, the 29th of November, was also the release date of the Famicom version of Portopia. Did you really match it up with Battler’s birthday, the 15th of July, which is the original release date of the Famicom console?
R: That was actually a coincidence *laugh*. What I read quite often is that ,at the time of Higurashi I was neglecting any processes and just copypasted “who is the culprit” and “what is the truth”. And I found that really saddening, if this was all the critique that people could come up they surely hadn’t read it. To read even a negative review of your piece is part of the fun too, but the right to do that only lies with those who actually read it. That is when I had the idea of Yasu. So I created something where not even the truth could be copypasted. After that Mr. Ôta from Seikaisha said to me: “You’re really heading down an exceptionally thorny path with this.”. Of course, normally you’d think of displaying the solution of your work in the end. But I am not an author who writes on paper, but one who publishes over the internet, so doesn’t this way of doing it kinda fit that?
K: Somebody who writes everything including the solution, is sure to gain the praise of the readers.
R: I am not so sure about that. “I liked it better when I didn’t know everything. Knowing everything kinda ruined it.” there are many novels like that. That is why, when I’m asked whether or not I would reveal the truth on the Fandisc, I answer “I don’t really want to do that.”.
K: Well, maybe I didn’t think of an all out spoiler.
R: Doing that is also rude towards the people who arrived at the truth. I also wanted to write a story where you can only get to the truth by reading it, for all those people who kept on thinking. But the only guarantee I can give you in return is that, if you read the thoughts of those who arrived at the truth now, even the people who did not arrive there can come closer to it. And I guarantee you that if you don’t stop thinking, then you will arrive at the truth. And by guaranteeing that, maybe some people will arrive there only through that.
K: That there have already been people who arrived there is prove of just one truth in itself, isn’t it?
R: Yes. And I didn’t want to spill it out even now. I want the players to find it themselves. But the one message I can convey in this book now is probably the one, that Umineko can be solved. If you did it, please let me know over KEIYA’s site so I can read several other theories.
K: Last time you also said that, when we wrote about the thoughts on gameboards, that it would probably help instigate some deductions to be published on the internet. But nothing much happened. Even though we made sense of almost everything from first twilight to the end. I even heard stuff like, “You haven’t reasoned about the gameboard at all” *laugh*.
R: Didn’t they read at all?
K: I think it’s quite a steep hurdle to make good sense of everything from start to finish in a deduction, but I had the feeling that I came pretty close with EP8. If you just stop at, “that trick could have probably been done like that”, you will never get to a solution. If you just think of each crime scene separately you will never reach the truth. You have to make sense of it from start to finish, then you can solve it.
R: If you put it like that, it really is a fair mystery, isn’t it?! “Those of you who have read up to EP8 have grown used to face a mystery on your own, so stand up and fight one last time.” That’s the thought I had when creating the quiz and Bern’s Trial.
K: That was also huge criticism like that back then when the Answer Arcs of Higurashi came out, yes?!
R: Yes, there was.
K: So based on that, because you built up on those points was the reason why the critical voices increased with such readiness.
R: I’m glad there was criticism. But there are also things that I need to protect. Those were the people who actually gave their best and arrived at the truth in the end. I think I need to protect the honour and hard work of those people at all costs. After all, it’s impossible to create something that gains no criticism at all. I would dare to say that even godlike people like Nasu Kinoko or Maeda Jun experience the pressure of criticism here and there. The more critical the work is, the less one has to wonder that the people disliking it will increase. Therefore a work that pleases every reader there is, would be a genre of it’s own. And I think it’s something that a mystery cannot achieve. There is no mystery that satisfies all of it’s readers. Well maybe the Shakai-ha mysteries are doing a pretty good job at that. And to be a bit cheeky, I would say that my work has turned quite casual in a bad way. I always wanted to write something for people who were searching for a certain edginess, even with Higurashi. And even though I’m still grateful for it, I think the manga and anime adaptions have turned me quite casual, and I extended my aim beyond those people whom I wanted to read my works. It’s like with a shop that sells incredibly hot curry, which is suddenly broadcasted on television and has people flocking to the shop, even though their not into spicy food, crying out “Too hot!! You can’t eat that!!”. Even though it was originally a hidden little in-spot for people who loved extra spicy food, they now get the feeling that “because it’s all so spicy, we should start selling sweet stuff, too.”.
K: During an earlier interview you said that you wanted to enable those people who did not want to reason their way through, to enjoy the series for it’s fantasy and battle scenes.
R: Of course. There are a lot of people like that and it shows that this idea worked. Who I think are a bit in the wrong are the people who claim that I never wrote an answer, without ever trying to reason or deduce. I always thought that it’s logical, if you don’t think you won’t understand…though that might sound overbearing now, I still take pride in knowing that I was able to make both the people who enjoyed the fantasy parts with the battles and the ones who fought honestly to understand the mystery.
If you put love into it, a Winchester rifle can become even a bunny.
Numbers and Names.
K: The numbers associated with the characters names, like Ikuko (many children) or Tôya (10-8), are put there deliberately, right?
R: I loved playing with numbers since Takano Miyo (Miyo is read 3-4).
K: Because she followed in the footsteps of Takano Hifumi (read 1-2-3), if you continue from there you get 3-4, right?!
R: That kinda playing, right.
K: Because from the very beginning numbers played an important part in Umineko, I never stopped thinking “where and how are they connected?”.
R: But it seems that not many people except you came up with that idea.
K: The first thing that I noticed was the 6.
R: Yes. The place where the incident took place is Rokkenjima (Island of 6 Houses) or at the first twilight, 6 people die. I would have liked to play around with the 6 a little more, at the beginning when I was designing the plot I wanted to include the 6 on the island-level as well. But because there were already over 18 characters, the mansion, the guesthouse and the chapel, that would have been way too many landmarks to remember, that’s why I ditched the idea to build up on the 6.
K: Was that some intention of Kinzô that had to do with the number 6? Or was it supposed to be an implication regarding the plot?
R: When I planned the mystery of the epitaph and at the first twilight 6 people were dying I was like, “6, 6, 6, 6…Rokkenjima! The Island of 6 Houses!! Now that I think about it, you can read key as Ken as well. The Island of the 6 Keys!” were the images that gushed forward. In a certain well known mystery, there are two almost similar mansions build on each side of the island…from that I got the idea that maybe I could have hidden mansions who nobody knew about in 6 different directions on the island, and that’s how Kuwadorian was born. In the very beginning I was planning to have 6 buildings all ending with the sound “AN” and alluding to the numbers 1 to 6, like Kuwadorian or the guesthouse Toraian. And then I even thought of having a mansion which is not in line with those numbers inserted into the plot, but there were already so many elements to remember and the chance of the player not being able to remember was too high, so I dropped it.
K: I also thought about whether there is a building anywhere donned to the number six, having a name like Sextillion or something like that.
R: I am very sorry. There are many ideas in Umineko that I prepared but never cam around to use though. I named the guesthouse Toraian, because I wanted to bring it into the mix as well, but that’s also an idea that I dropped.
K: Within the plot it was build by Krauss, right? But it was Kinzô who chose the name?
R: Exactly. Kinzô became aware of the fact that a new building was being constructed…and I thought a lot about it. Before EP1 was even done there were already many twists and turns in the plot.
K: The pilot and the captain have the same name Kawabata, was that a dropped idea as well?
R: Ah, the Kawabata line is it?! In the PC gamemaker software Leaf there is a long-existing family line, you know?! And as an homage to that I decided in my head to make the Kawabata family appear as a captain or a pilot again and again. I wish I could have inserted them more often. Maybe in my next work the Kawabata’s will appear as bus drivers or conductors *laugh*.
K: I also thought about wether the name of the Siesta sisters had it’s origin in the number 6. Is it?
R: That thought is quite intersting, but if I would have to answer that honestly, it comes from the Chester in Winchester. That’s why the name Siesta really doesn’t begin with an S but a C. If you enter an I into the word Chester you get Chiester. And isn’t it fascinating how even a gun can become a bunny if you put love into it (= 愛 (love) is read Ai in Japanese).
K: So that’s how it is.
R: Well, it really is a pun. That’s why we had the spelling of Siesta 4100 in Ôgon Musôkyoku corrected so that it starts with a C. That’s how we revealed the final answer, that the Chiester are actually a personification of the Winchester rifles.
K: Was it a coincidence that it sounded the same as the Spanish Siesta? ("Siesta" means free time)
R: Yes it was. Though I leave it to the broad imagination to count it as a mislead as well, because it would imply that through imagining that I get another point.
K: It seems I went a bit far with my imagination and read a little too deep here.
R: No, not at all. Sometimes the ideas during those deductions are so great I start thinking, “It would have been great if I had done that”, I get really moved by that. We already talked once about the theory of the Siesta sisters being a symbol for sleeping pills.
K: Imagined probably because it was associated with an afternoon nap.
R: Yes. I really thought it was fascinating when the connection to sleeping pills was made over an Italian custom like that. There were many scenes that appeared like Eva was mixing sleeping pills into something.
K: That’s the scene when Eva was handing out the coffee, right?! But I never saw any people doubting the coffee in EP3. I was quite surprised when I heard that “This is the one scene you have to doubt!”
R: Was that because there were so many scenes where they were depicted as drinking coffee?
K: It was probably mostly because I thought there was virtually no chance of drugs being on the island. Even though I often thought about the connection between drugs and Nanjo.
R: That meant victory for those who had fun. There is the one big goal of reaching the truth, but there are also points you get in between, you get a lot of them by just imagining. And those who just enjoy imagining a lot are those who have the most fun. There are even people who arrived at the truth, just by thinking about the things that they actually enjoyed thinking about.
Because the heart lies at the center of this work, even Van Dine’s 20 Rules cannot destroy love.
K: Do you have any opinion on the thoughts concerning the mysteries I have had so far? Will made a lot of deductions concerning the truth of the mysteries but…
R: Concerning my own viewpoint, I made Will verbalize most of those answers.
K: While I read the part concerning EP3 where it said “Concerning the moment of death, there was no adjustment”, does it count for all who died?
R: Yes. This line means something like, that there is no problem with accepting the way it was presented to you almost literally.
K: So it seems that my deduction of solving EP4 with a single culprit is wrong. However you think about the crime being accomplished, an accomplice is always necessary. So I thought a lot about who would conspire with whom. It is central that Kanon was the 9th victim, so I thought up several patterns that would include that point.
R: The point of “very many accomplicees” was one of the original gimmicks in Land. And I wanted the deception to be that “very many” *laugh*.
K: Concerning the accomplices I was very surprised when I read EP5 and thought “does he really want to reveal it like that?”. It was as if you were just writing down the answers. I really thought “so now suddenly the Answer Arcs start”.
R: *looking at the Forgery Author Test* Certainly, most of the things about EP5 in your self-evaluation are O’s.
K: I really had self confidence about EP5. The subjectivity of the detective was proven. I was actually pretty suspicious about Battler’s subjectivity until then.
R: That seems to be so. You can’t really have faith in him, can you?!
K: Can I really trust that guy…
R: The Battler Culprit Theory was something that was dazzling until the very end, was it?!
K: Though I think he never murdered.
R: Isn’t that because of the sentence “Concerning every game there is, Battler has never killed anybody.” being said in red?!
K: I was actually wondering and bargaining with myself whether I should accept this just like that… Finally I decided to grasp it like this: “Battler never killed anybody, he just witnessed a terrible reality.” By the way, at a point before EP7 came out, I was thinking that Witch-hunting Wright would have a much more intense entrance. I actually thought he would ruthlessly use Van Dine’s 20 Rules of Detective Fiction to cut the element of love out of the story, so I was pretty surprised when it was the other way around.
R: Because the heart lies at the center of this story, you can’t cut out the element of love.
K: I expected the dragging out of the guts to happen along with the denial of love.
R: Will became a character who was actually sick of that method. Because of something that seems to have happened to him in the past.
K: When I saw “Quit the SSVD” written in the character bio, I was like “What?!”. If it’s like that, then the plot is actually satisfactory. I really grew to like Will.
R: If everything happens in complete accordance to Van Dine’s 20 Rules of Detective Fiction, then the motive becomes basically obsolete and is removed from the cornerstones of the story. So that’s how it became my goal to eliminate the 20 rules and how they vanished from Umineko.
K: Most of Will’s 20 Van Dine Rules were never claimed to have effect during the story. Many of them were also interrupted. And many of those claimed to have effect were written in plain white letters.
R: Yes. I thought about using them a lot actually, but in the end I didn’t. Even if you count in the war against the goats, there are just about 3 or 4. If you express it in the sense of an Anti-Mystery, who brought up Knox and Van Dine within the story were the players themselves. Since they were always pulled out even at the time of Higurashi.
K: Now you mention Knox, were there any intentions about the true form of Dlanor?
R: True form? You don’t mean the fact that Dlanor is Ronald spelled backwards, do you? No, you know that.
K: I was implying, if there was any true form, like with the demon stakes and the seven sisters.
R: No. She just personifies the idea of Knox’s 10 Commandments being tied to the story. It’s similar to Gaap. She is just a personification who became a witch, symbolizing the notion of “things often vanish”.
K: The one Van Dine Rule I pained myself about which actually appeared in Red was “It is forbidden for servants to be the culprit!”. Is there a gameboard to which it can actually be applied?
R: I actually inserted that Red to test whether a player had understood the true culprit in the fullest sense. People who did not understand would clearly be mislead.
K: I thought really hard about what to do with Genji because of that Red. That’s because most of the mysteries can be solved without any problem if he was the culprit. If you take him out on the other hand, some of the locked rooms become far too difficult.
R: That’s probably true. If you go as far as saying that Genji commited no crimes at all, what happens to helping somebody to commit them. Maybe he just pretended to see or not see certain things, or maybe he did not commit murder but helped by carrying the corpses.
K: Still, the locked room in Natsuhi’s chamber is a special case. If Shannon actually committed suicide, there is nobody who can get rid of the weapon. If you think of Genji finalizing that, then it just happens smoothly, but…hmm *laugh*.
R: Because we have come so far, I think I can give you an answer, though it is basically the same trick as with the well. Shannon died face down, slumped over the makeup cabinet. It’s a really simple trick. You tie the weapon to a heavy object with a string, then you throw the heavy object behind the cabinet. And then it’s the classic trick, when you commit suicide, the gun is pulled behind the cabinet towards the heavy object.
K: So that’s how it went?!
R: I thought, because you solved the riddle of the well as well, that you would get this trick without any problem. I especially wrote that she was “slumped over, face down, over the makeup cabinet”. And while the other two in the room were actually pierced by the stakes, Shannon was not. That is why you can imagine her being the last to die in that room, because there was nobody left to insert the stake into the gunwound. There was never a full inspection of that special room, so that means that the weapon was left within it.
K: Ah, now I see. I never thought of that.
R: And during EP4 the same trick was used to drop the weapon into the well in the end. Because of the image of well = trashcan, I imagined that everybody would find it easy to get that trick. And because in EP2, even before the incident in Natsuhi’s room happened, there was the atmosphere of “Let’s preserve the crime scene until the police arrives.”, it could have been behind the cabinet or even in the space under the bed. Even if you cast only a little shadow over it, it will already be out of view.
K: That was probably the most difficult part of EP2.
R: Yes it would probably classified as being barely hinted.
K: If you have Will’s deduction and knowledge about Kanon’s disappearance you can solve most of EP2, but Natsuhi’s room was still a handful.
R: That really is a model of a perfect locked room. If you don’t think of Shannon’s suicide, it seems pretty skillful. There is just no gun in that room. So what became of the gun? From then on it depends on imagination. I am actually thinking about revealing the part about the gun in one panel in the comic-version of EP7 which is in production right now. The fight between Will and Clair in the comic is still at least one year away, but I think by that point it will be okay to make this public.
K: So you plan on revealing the truth for those who keep demanding for it, slowly, bit by bit?!
R: Basically yes. But more than just being told that they can believe, I think people will come closer to it just by reading your book KEIYA.
George’s idea of their future after marriage might have put severe pressure on Shannon
K: I thought about this just now when we were discussing the events in Natsuhi’s room, but would the piece Shannon really be able to kill George? That is something that really bugs me.
R: While the body is Shannon, it’s worth thinking about whose body this was originally. Because in the end it is just a question of software. Even though the clothes belong to Shannon, if what’s within is another being then that person would surely be able to kill George. Clothes are not a personality. And so, even though the cloths and the hairdo might be Shannon’s, but there is the possibility that it was another person, when she started asking questions about George.
K: I see. I thought I had to accept the restriction that the rule is decided that pieces always act in accordance to how they were depicted on the gameboard. So it’s probably wrong that I did not think deeper about Shannon’s actions.
R: Shannon is probably the character with the most spirit in that world. I am now talking about the background story of the scenario, but Shannon probably started asking George some questions at that stage. I think George might have given her some answers that she would have not expected to hear. And as a result I think she embraced the idea of lover’s suicide, even though that might not be among the most simple answers. If you think like that, you arrive at the fantasy depiction in that scene. Beato and Shannon are endlessly discussing and fighting over their view of love. I imagined that you would read it as a depiction of a conflict of the heart.
K: And it’s definitely a fact that Shannon has some conflicts within herself.
R: And I think it is plenty possible to arrive at the solution, that George’s idea of their life after marriage pained her quite much.
K: To have many children in a happy home…
R: “I want to spend my future surrounded by many grandchildren!”, said George recklessly, already cementing a future with children. But it’s his desire to have children, right?! And I think you can guess that this put a lot of pressure on her.
K: Yasu said in EP7 that she has “a body that is unable to love”.
R: If you take this expression as a basis, you can imagine her sad fate of a having some kind of imperfection on a sexual level. I think it’s possible to get to that point.
K: At first I was thinking that it was maybe a terrible wound that chained Yasu to the bed. But that does not seem to be the case at all.
R: It is a pretty adult topic, so I had to obscure its depiction.
K: Because there were expressions like “I hate it to even look at a mirror”, I was doubting the part that she was honestly in love with George.
R: Those solutions were around a lot. I think that is something which she herself wondered about. “Do I really love George, or is he just a replacement for Battler?” was one of her conflicts. She did not really understand those feelings, I think. But it was alright as long as only George was around. But when Battler returned suddenly, the conflict between “I still love Battler!” and “No, George isn’t just a replacement!” was born. Isn’t that something that you can understand when you look at the conflict between the three people in the trial of love during EP6? It was done so that it can be understood at that point if you just think. But I left many blanks within that scene so that interpretations could be enjoyed freely at first.
K: Somehow I feel that I wasn’t able to squeeze the answer into one. Every answer is logical here and there.
R: At the point of EP1 or EP2 that might have been so, but it’s constructed in a fashion that if you add everything together then you should end up with just one logical solution. Though there don’t seem to be many people who go through the trouble of rereading past Episodes after a new one.
K: Understandable, but regretable. I am now rereading EP2 and it’s extremely entertaining. In my playmemo back then I wrote about the meta world which appears from EP2 on, if it was maybe “A battle within Battler’s mind”, amused over the fact that “without Battler this would never even appear”. I often thought about this and doubted it.
Originally I wanted far more and difficult mysteries to appear.
R: I have put all my mental capacity into this project. That’s why I want it to be received with force and to be thought about without inhibitions. I still want to create stories that enjoy a great many people, but something like Umineko which cannot be solved unless you think is probably something that cannot be released to many people.
K: Until now it was mostly epic works, but do you maybe plan on publishing short stories?
R: For a while I don’t plan to write something long. Until now, because I was writing only full blown stories, I always had to avoid short-story-like elements because I was thinking “This is far too spoilerish, I can’t feature that in the next 4 years”. So right now I’m planning to write a shortstory incorporating the ideas I ditched in the planning stage of my long serializations. I also want to practice writing in a short story tempo.
K: I really want to read a short story written by you. Will there be mystery-solving elements in your next work as well?
R: It will be something like a collection of short stories. It won’t be a detective story, but because it has some social topics, it will be enjoyable in a sense of “it’s no detective story, but it still invites you to think” similar to Higurashi. The title won’t be “no naku koro ni”.It will be announced pretty soon and the design of the homepage will change quite a bit. It has been the Umineko inspired brick wall and Roman letters, but because I know that there are many people supporting Umineko it won’t change completely during the summer, but by winter it will probably be all gone except Tsubasa. But now that I talked with you, I’m in the mood to write even more. I am so glad that you took up all those plots and mysteries that I had put up.
K: When thinking about something it is as important to often return to the original work, but many people don’t do that, right? If you forget how something was expressed in the original, then all your thinking will never lead you to the truth. Even though it’s sad.
R: I really wanted to write even more difficult parts to be honest. If almost nobody hat succumbed at the time of EP2, I was prepared to show you a really mean scenario with an even worse difficulty.
K: And Land was among those?
R: One of them, yes. It was supposed to be just the vanguard.
K: You told me about this in an earlier discussion, but there was something like “Battler arrives at the island and decides to imprison them all into one room…” if I remember correctly.
R: Did I really say that? Yes, that was one of my ideas. Even though it was a different one than Land.
K: I think it was, “imprisoning all of them in the same place and still having the witch appear and bodies piling up”.
R: I really did think about that. “If you keep all of them in one place, then nobody should become the culprit.” that would have been the execution from the meta-world, but still the incident would have taken place. Still there would have plenty of logic to connect.
K: It seems you had many different patterns in store there.
R: I thought about being much more aggressive with a much more active and mean scenario if more players with a sense for active reading like you would have appeared. Because once EP8 is over, it’s really quite easy.
K: Once you understood it, poison cannot harm you anymore.
R: I think those people who did not understand did so more than they needed to, but the people who did did a pretty good job. It’s the same with the red truth becoming a hint.
K: Earlier you said that the next piece won’t be a “no naku koro ni”. Is it because you want to have that thinking as an element in the “naku koro ni” series?
R: To tell the truth, that was not really my goal, though it seems many of you think that. If I did make a new “naku koro ni” and it was a casual love story without the slightest hint of any puzzle solving, I think all of you would rage. That is why I heavyheartedly decided to lay my “naku koro ni” series, which I have grown so fond of, to sleep. Until I create another such title. If some decades have passed, wouldn’t it be nice to be able to say “After so many decades, “naku koro ni” revives once again!” *laugh*?
K: Bernkastel and Lambdadelta announced that in the end, didn’t they?
R: The two of them might reappear somewhere, but if there will be a meta-world ever again, I don’t know yet. Maybe it was just some wild babbling that comes up while doing an afterword. But it’s quite possible that in the new piece I will shamelessly feature another character with a name like Rika Furude. In what way is something the future will show. In the beginning of Umineko there were some complaints “When Bernkastel appeared, I knew that people who don’t know Higurashi can’t solve it!” or “I hate it that characters from Higurashi appear!”. That’s why it’s probably best to only do that some years in the future, when the number of people knowing neither Higurashi nor Umineko has grown.
K: I had the feeling that at first there were many Higurashi fans who believed in everything Bernkastel told without doubt. I had the feeling that they thought of her as basically Rika who was playing gloomy and it was just a slip of expression.
R: Well it’s possible that she just liked playing the bad guy *laugh*. It’s the same for Bernkastel, isn’t it? Your view of her changes depending on whether you have love for her or not. But originally there was no plan to involve Bernkastel or Lambdadelta into the story that far. At the end of EP1 Bernkastel was no more than a secret character who served to give out hints. But above being there to explain something and guide the readers; and instead, Virgilia, who kept appearing even though there was no more explanation to validate her existence, her appearances improved during the series. That both of them appeared so much more often was something that I controlled based on the reaction towards my work. Back then, what I was planning at the time of EP1, was a much more difficult mystery inspired story. But when I came to know all your impressions and reactions…
K: That sounds kinda grave?!
R: I wonder if there really were so many people who were not used to mysteries. From that point on the battle scenes increased as well.
K: Is that why Lambdadelta was so active during EP8?!
R: Well, that was because I love Lambdadelta *laugh*.
If you have no experience with love, you cannot solve Umineko
K: The stance of Lambdadelta and Bernkastel felt a little like the inner conflict of Tôya (Battler) wether to protect the catbox or to reveal everything. And they’re there to protect the catbox from the readers and the public in form of the goats.
R: It’s the thought whether to reveal everything or not to reveal and keep on playing forever. Or to say it with the words of Featherine during the core arcs: “If you get to know the truth flat out, the story will end and it’s boring again.” that would be a part of the final answer.
K: I was quite surprised when I learned that many people thought, that the Trick-Ending is the true Happy End.
R: Because the Trick Ending is for those who really know their stuff. I wanted to write this trick ending from the very beginning, but if I had made this the true ending to a 4 years series, nobody would have followed me on that. So I want the people to watch the True End first and then go back knowing about that and approach it with a stance, that it is a Bonus Ending. And then I can expect them to approach the Trick Ending with a thought like “Ah, so that’s another way to solve things”. “That is really something like a reverberation that you watch after the ending. Something like a Gaiden” that’s what I expect most people to think. That’s why I expected most people wouldn’t watch the Trick Ending first.
K: But if you’re used to Adventure Games, you would want to see the Bad End first.
R: Ah, I see, I see. Yeah, such people might be there too, right. And if there are any people who say, “Hell, I will never accept the witch, I choose the trick!”, that’s alright as well. I think it came out pretty good, I don’t dislike it at all. But I will never see it as the True End, because it reeks of a Bad End.
K: I have seen the thought that, proven by the fact that Lambdadelta said “Let’s meet again in the Ending”, the Trick Ending is the True End, because that’s where her name pops up in the Staffroll.
R: That is a really fascinating theory. So they really think it’s the True End, eh?!
K: Maybe because no matter how much Ange pursued the truth, she couldn’t get a hold of it.
R: I see. But as long as Ange does not accept it, it will never be enough to become the truth. I had this feeling even back then when I did Higurashi, but most people are just pretending to search after the truth, when in reality they are just expecting the truth they pictured themselves and won’t waver from that. They just want to be told the truth that they are expecting. If this were a zombie flick, most people would expect a result like, “because a combat bacteria made by the military leaked out, people are turning into zombies.”. That is why they are watching that piece while thinking “I wonder when the military will appear” or “the special unit will go and steal the secret material”. And so these people would not be satisfied with a result that “corpses revived due to irregular electric waves out of space”.
K: That is another technique, to create a work meeting those expectations, but Umineko wasn’t done like this, right?!
R: Exactly.
K: This feels really similar to the reactions that appeared concerning Yasu’s motive. Many were understanding the motive, but because they weren’t satisfied with it they denied it.
R: I have this feeling that most of the people who arrived at the truth were women, because the key is being able to imagine Yasu’s feelings. Umineko is something that cannot be read by people who never fell in love with somebody. It is something that people who have no experience in love and relationships have trouble understanding. “Love can become a motive that has more power over you than life or death”, that is something which is pretty hard to explain to people without this experience. Most of them will think that it’s just “an overdone motive”. But for people who have known love and experienced how much it can make you suffer, they understand that love can turn your world upside down. If you are told “I will come for you again!” and for 6 years there is nothing, it can make you go crazy, but people who have even slightly suffered due to love will say “those 6 years must have been hell”. But people who no nothing of that pain will probably wait for nothing less than a dramatic gadget to appear, like the heroic story of “at age X her mother and father were brutally murdered”.
K: When I compared my own experiences with love to it, I had no problem with accepting Yasu’s motive.
R: It is an important experience for your social development to love honestly, no matter if it goes well or not. Many of today’s children, because they only know the information that “I am scared of being used. It hurts.”, decide based on that “as long as I don’t fall in love it won’t hurt and it won’t be difficult!”, which is a really strange logic I think.
K: Love is really a sufficient motive even for murder, isn’t it?!
R: And I think people who do not know that, will sadly never understand Umineko. Because Umineko is “the story of a single girl who arrived at that point because she imagined an incident because of the love and madness in herself”, no matter how much I express that, people who don’t share that feeling will never do so. If I had to compare it, it’s similar to a kick in the crotch or menstrual pain. No matter how much more I pile up on my writing by explaining it, it won’t reach the people who don’t know the feeling. How scary must it be, to be told that your partner “wants children”, when you have a body that cannot make love. That’s why Shannon couldn’t speak honestly. Because she thought she would be hated if she were honest. But to be honest, I think if she really told him that, George would be more than happy to modify his plans for the future. But Shannon was far to scared to hear that. And if you turn this around, it means that George really wasn’t just a replacement for Battler. Maybe he was a replacement at the beginning, but at some point she began completely seeing George for the man he was. If you think about that, his comment about children, must have kept haunting her in silence.
K: Then I think it is also a clue that nothing happened between them, while they were staying at the same place in Okinawa.
R: It is a clue. To just blurt it out spontaneously was more than Shannon was ready for. “I will reveal it sometime”. Because she was so scared of herself, she couldn’t confess. If it had been because of one action that George took, she wouldn’t have had any choice, that was the balance of passivity she upheld. While she did not hide it actively, she also wouldn’t talk about it openly. Because of that thinking, going on that trip to Okinawa was an experience to her like being a carp on a high slope, “He prepared separate rooms for us *twitch*?” *laugh*. That knightly George came all the way to Okinawa only to dare and prepare separate rooms? Shannon must have been like “What?!”. But there are many scenes like that which show how Shannon left the decision to fate. For example at the first twilight in EP1, when George was told by Hideyoshi “You should not look at this corpse!”. If he had gone in, not minding that there would be no face, he would have seen that there was no corpse. It would have meant the end of the incident. Or even if Battler had actually squeezed Shannon’s breasts, he might have noticed that they are fake. Shannon was in a state of mind that said “if it comes to light, let it”.
K: Will called that walking on a tightrope.
R: And it really was just that. She had no intention to create the perfect crime from the very beginning. And that is how, even without turning the chessboard over, we return to the question “Why did the culprit send a letter announcing the incident?”. If somebody wanted to commit the perfect crime, it would have been better not to send an announcement and to murder everyone in their sleep. In the end it shows that the culprit had the internal longing to be discovered.
K: No matter how you look at it, it seems like she was already accepting death. Both the letters before the incident and the message bottles seemed very much like a will.
R: While there was enough desperation to actually carry out the incident, there was also the wish for somebody to stop her. Many criminals sending out announcements of their crimes might actually be screaming “Somebody, please stop me!”. Even though of course they can not be forgiven.
K: That is why she painted herself as the sole culprit and wanted for Battler to solve it, right?!
R: Yes. In the end, concerning those two who had a bond through mystery fiction, wether it was “I will construct those mysteries with all my might” or “I will fight those mysteries with all my might!”, as long as they didn’t trust each other, they wouldn’t be able to do it. Umineko itself is a good example for this. People who think “Ryukishi can’t write a proper mystery” probably won’t be able to solve it. If there is not bond of trust, then the mystery crumbles.
K: But people who cannot understand the motive of the culprit or feel with her as you say, only have to look at real-life crimes, don’t they? Even the police says, that the most bizarre murders can happen if love is in the mix.
R: You can create the most bizarre cases from the one phrase “the entanglement of men and women”. You cannot deny that.
K: But even people who went to the crime scene seem to be ready to doubt that possibility.
R: New gamemasters will have fun on new gameboards
K: Many interpretations can be done concerning the suicide by drowning in the finale.
R: But isn’t it fascinating that there can be so many interpretations concerning a riddle posed at the end of a story. In a good story there should be mysterious things left at the end, at least that is my concept of it and I hope that you can accept and enjoy those lingerings. There were so many interesting thoughts on those last scenes.
K: Another thing you can have different ideas of is the question, what the meaning of the final scene with the Golden Land in the Fukuin House could be.
R: You may as well think of this scene as just showing something nice, as well as showing something sinister. A true solution is not really necessary, all your active thinking is wonderful. I want to give you 100 points just by hearing all those beautiful final ideas. To people who were able until that point, this is like a bonus stage. More than only arriving at the truth, they can now explain how the story ends however they want. People who came this far have reached the stage of Game Master. They can now create a gameboard for Umineko themselves and enjoy it.
K: Because, when Battler leaves the island, it is the only scene where he does not scream “I’m falling, I’m falling!”, this can also be treated as somebody’s fantasy. For example because Ange heard from captain Kawabata during the scenes in the real world in EP4, that “Battler was always making a fuss about falling when on a boat”…
R: That is a truly wonderful deduction, therefore it’s probably better if I say nothing at all *laugh*. Because with everything redundant, I’d say I’ll only narrow down all your ideas. Because this has become the gameboard of a new gamemaster, I will keep my mouth shut.
K: The ideas about what actually happened in the real world are really diverse.
R: One of the things that you can really know from within the story is that “Eva knew something but decided to never to tell Ange about it.”. Based on that many different things have been said in the meta world, and there were also several depictions that hinted at the truth, and it might be a common factor that interpretations on that will diverge. If you start thinking from that point though, even if some small parts are different, you can guess that on this island “a regretable incident happened because of certain actions that those people took”. It’s sufficient if you start thinking further from there. Why was it that Beatrice said so often “It all becomes easier once you accept the witch!”?!
K: There is the chance that the culprit is human. But, if Eva was the culprit, then it’s strange that George isn’t alive.
R: Exactly. From that point on it is pretty clear that this is not a plot about Eva, right?!
K: No matter how you look at it, Eva just can’t be the one pulling the strings.
R: Simply put, the incident would be quite lame if Eva was the culprit. Though if you force it a little bit it might be possible to keep the Eva Culprit theory up. Eva is not talking after all. But if you approach the theme of the story like a book critic, then you are supposed to build the theory, that Eva is not the culprit but knows the real culprit and is shouldering the blame and accepting the hatred for that person, and that might be because she is hiding something to protect Ange. Ah, I shouldn’t say so many unnecessary things. It’s improper to blabber so much *laugh*.
K: That Eva was a culprit within the forgeries, was one of the biggest misleads. Why did Battler write EP3? That is just one of the possibilities, but maybe he wanted to push the charge on somebody.
R: If you think about it including Hachjô Tôya, it’s fascinating on many levels. “In what condition is his memory of that time?” or “What intention was there?”.
K: I thought about whether it was actually Ikuko who had read Eva’s Tome of the One and Only Truth. Even though she said that she herself “did not have the qualification to read it”.
R: The Tome of the One and Only Truth is something, if you take the depiction of the higher plane, something that Ange unlocks herself with a key and then reads. You might also see this as a symbol for Ange “maybe reading it on accident on her own”. Maybe by reading it, she was able to create her believe in the Golden Truth. Or maybe it was by reading it, that she decided to head for the Trick Ending.
K: There is also the chance that this book holds something that will very likely make her commit suicide, right?!
R: This is something that the player can understand as he likes, so I won’t say anything further. Though, if you turn this scene around a bit, you can actually arrive at it’s truth. This work is studded with such hints. If he can arrive there is something that is up to the player. In that sense, Umineko is probably a pretty adult game. I have the impression that Higurashi was a pretty casual story, aimed at a young audience, but Umineko is a pretty bitter story.
K: When I though about Battler’s and the other’s intention, I wondered whether it was a bad thing to pursue the truth of the catbox. But this cannot be true on the reader level. Even though the main direction of the solution process is the same for everyone, there seem to be small parts that everyone interprets differently.
R: I think it’s really fascinating that you can see the differences in how those people lead their lifes in those small things.
K: Do you think that having this many different theories in that certain range is better than denoting one truth?
R: Of course. Because I wanted to leave this margin. I never had the intention to give just one answer, like in Bern’s Trial. But I made it in a way that, if you investigate deep enough, you will get an answer that is beyond doubt.
K: So is it that there is only one truth, like you just said?
R: Of course there is only one, but because by telling it I would have limited the scope of ideas, I made it a bit looser. I was designing a concept that expected a little bit more effort from the reader side. Depending on whether the pivot leg is Beatrice or Ange, many parts of how you look at the story change.
Kinzo’s Beatrice is not a witch, but a human
K: At the stage of EP4 I thought that “Beatrice’s true form was Battler’s heart”.
R: As the answer to the question “Who aaam I?”, right?!
K: Yes. While I was already having the idea of a bomb, I thought of a more encompassing true form of Beatrice which also incorporated the psychological. What do you think?
R: I think it’s fascinating. In that scene there is practically nobody alive except Battler. That of course raises the question “What is Battler?”. The Battler Culprit theory used this line as it’s basis most often. Even though it is interesting how a totally different, material term like “bomb” can also come up there.
K: When I return to past Episodes now, there are many scenes that raise my interest. For example the scorpion charm in EP1.
R: Ah, the good old times.
K: It really seems like there was an enactment on the gameboard that Natsuhi’s room could not be entered because of the scorpion charm.
R: Of course, if we assume that the culprit entered the room once. The culprit entered the room with the intent to kill Natsuhi, but looking at the door found the scorpion charm dangling from the knob. And when remembering that the rule was created that “rooms guarded by the symbol of the scorpion cannot be entered by witches”, left the room unable to murder her. And then, as a sign that somebody tried but was unable to enter, left the marks with paint on the door as if someone scratched at it.
K: Is that the truth behind that scene?
R: And when I asked you about the person who knew about that rule concerning the charm and could commit the crime…
K: There is only one, isn’t there?! I was doubting that there was a chance she overheard how Natsuhi accepted the charm on the corridor, but I never thought about the fact that she could just go into the room.
R: But she has a master key, didn’t she? And with that another person, outside those who were planned, had to be killed.
K: You can also think of it as being connected to the camouflage murders. To have even just one person less killed is impossible.
R: The real culprit created so many rules, also in connection to the murders. And there were many rules which were selfmade and also restricting.
Shannon.
K: Let’s go on to the real names of Kanon and Shannon, was there any meaning in their names, Yoshiya and Sayo? Apart from being able to see numbers in them.
R: It’s quite close to the number theory, but I would rather not reveal it.
K: And what was your intention behind the chess motive? Chess terms are something like an omnipresent philosophy, so that’s why it’s popping up in different places in Umineko.
R: Many of the great chessplayers are poets, that’s why they left many famous sayings behind. While Higurashi was a very Eastern work, Umineko is very Western, that is why I chose to use a Western motive like chess. And because in chess there is the old method of “reading your oponents moves”. Because the bishop can move as far as he wants on the diagonal lines, he might appear quite free in his movement at first. But the black bishop can only move on the black tiles and the white bishop only on the white ones. And when the white tiles have other pieces piling up on them, the black bishop can easily be defeated. I thought this aspect was extremely fascinating, so I decided to go for the chess motive.
K: The white bishop and the black bishop will never gather in the same spot and so even when they are attacking the king, they can never achieve checkmate. If you look at the gameboard and the meta-world in such a way, it really feels similar and it’s a really fascinating motive. So let’s continue to the series No.1 chesslover, Kinzô. Now when I think about it, I find it fascinating that he donned his study with so many magical guard items. When he always wailed about wanting to meet Beatrice, why did he build such a tight protection around himself.
R: For Kinzô, Beatrice is a human being which might truly still exist in his world, not a witch. What turned Beatrice into a witch was not him, but rather the ghost stories told about her. It were Kumasawa and Shannon who turned her into a witch. If you exclude the fantastic depiction of her, then Kinzô’s Beatrice is just pointing to a human who might be his daughter. And when he talks about “his most beloved Beatrice” he means his lover and not any kind of witch. That is why the magical charms are just magical charms to Kinzô, but within Shannon it was already incorporated into the setting that “the witch is weak towards magical charms”. That is why for Shannon it becomes “Though you are ‘my most beloved Beatrice’ you cannot enter my study”.
K: So that’s how it was. Fascinating.
R: Because it becomes more and more boring for you readers the more answers I give, I really want to reply “Well, what might it be?!” to each question *laugh*.
K: So to Kinzô the magical charms held no special meaning?
R: For Kinzô himself they had no special value, but they were extremely important for Shannon. That is why it was always such a trouble, but important, to lure the people out who were shutting themselves up in Kinzô’s study. Because in Shannon’s way of thinking it was clear that “if murder was to occur in this mansion, the safest place to lock oneself in would be the study”. That is why she thought up so many different tricks to lure people out of the study. If you just try it once you will understand it, but a story about a serial murder becomes difficult to write once all the surviving characters lock themselves up in a safe place.
K: Because you cannot destroy that safe haven.
R: To destroy that, the golden phrase, “You are in such a place? I will make you return to your room” is really important *laugh*.
K: That was really interesting right now. From the beginning of the depiction of magical events within the story, there were many scenes were golden butterflies appeared in front of the people. Latching on to Rosa’s back, Genji throwing a knife at one, I always thought that this was to show when something illusionary is depicted, but what would you say?
R: It’s almost that meaning. To just come out and say it, there are no golden butterflies. When somebody starts seeing them, he is starting to go insane. But for example the scene where it latches on to Rosa’s back is pretty meaningful, because she can’t see it. That is why I think that the golden butterflies were a pretty simple to understand identifier. Maybe it was the influence from Higurashi back the, but there was also the theory that “on Rokkenjima there might be a special species of golden butterflies who give of a dust that causes illusions” *laugh*.
K: I remember seeing many ideas which incorporated the special features of that island *laugh*. But to go on, Bernkastel said at the end of EP1, that Beatrice “does not limit herself to being one woman”.
R: That is one of the hints that Bernkastel gave. Yes. Because in the end it’s not like you can’t call her an assembly of multiple personalities. And she is also a construction, recreated several times in the form of the ghost stories or the Beatrice legend.
K: But there were also several scenes hinting towards Shannon. So it’s not wrong to see her as just one girl in one body as well. Especially in the scenes depicting events before the incident.
R: That's right… Well the discussion is getting a little out of hand, but in the case of the Umineko anime and PS3 version I did not tell Battler’s voice actor Ono Daisuke or even Shannon’s voice actress Miss Kugimiya the truth. When we did the scene where he said the line “I will come for you on a white horse!” I said “If he’s killed now, it’s his fault!” and Mr. Ono replied with a simple “Why that?” *laugh*.
K: Just like Battler. He doesn’t notice his own sin *laugh*.
R: That’s why I didn’t tell them anything. But to Miss Ohara who played the role of Beatrice I told the whole truth, so she would know what lies behind her words and so she could base her acting on that knowledge. That is why both Battler and Beatrice deliver such a solid performance. And the reason for not letting Miss Kugimiya know anything, was because the Shannon personality herself was not the culprit.
K: Let’s return to the discussion about Kinzô. Genji once said about him that “The master is not very fond of Miss Maria.”. Can we see that as being the truth?
R: It’s a good question how we should react towards Genji’s line. But if we look at EP8 it’s hard to believe that. It looks like Kinzô really loved his grandchildren. But it is true that there was a struggle with Kinzô when it came to naming her. Even though he had prepared such a wonderful name for his sweet, sweet granddaughter, she got such a dumb-ass name *laugh*. So it is true that at this point Rosa was told by Kinzô persistently that she “had better named her XX”.
K: Not only in the last volume, but also right before I started reading EP8 I often thought that there is a possibility to interpret that Kinzô might have been a pretty loving person. The event about Maria’s name is one of those hints.
R: That is one of the things that can’t be seen without love.
K: Because it was said that he changed at some point and became weird, following his occult hobbies, it implies that, though he might have been strict, he was once a normal grandfather.
R: Because Kinzô is someone who died before the construction of the gameboard, his depiction is without any doubt controlled by the stance of the people who had power over how he is depicted.
K: His image changes wether you base your idea of him on the Kinzô in EP7 or EP8.
R: The Kinzô that Ange expected and the Kinzô that Battler wanted her to see are quite different as well.
K: Because of what happened to the Kuwadorian Beatrice, many people see Kinzô as a bad guy.
R: Even though they do not know what life in Kuwadorian was like in reality.
K: And concerning the Kuwadorian Beato, there are also many scenes that make you suspect she has a blood relation to Battler. For example the scene where Rosa attacks him in EP2. But we can believe what Rudolph confessed in EP8 to be the truth, right?! Still I often thought that he might be the child of Kinzô and the Kuwadorian Beato.
R: I have to admit that those scenes that hinted towards a direct blood relation to Battler were a mislead, I inserted them as one of the first misleads to widen the scope of the imagination. It was something so that I could enjoy the spawning of theories, that the blood of the true head might flow in Battler and that he might be the true head of the house.
K: That’s why he also got the first place in the competition for most suspicious character on the homepage, right?!
R: To doubt the main character was an influence left over from Higurashi and so it was easy to make you doubt. That is why it was a simple mislead in itself and this is no special secret information. This also intertwines with the red truth which first appeared in EP2. While Battler doubts wether the red truth is “actually the absolute truth” , he cannot respond to with clear prove to Rosa’s question “Are you really Battler?”. Those are self-contradictions I wanted to portray as well. I cannot prove if the me who is talking right now is actually the one who wrote Umineko *laugh*. That is why I often skipped the parts where it says “This is the truth! That is really that person!” and went right for the believing part.
K: That is because in reality it is difficult to prove something with "certainty".
R: There is no certainty at all. If we follow that Rosa’s logic is true, “The only thing that can be proof is your own corpse”. And Erika even expands on that “The only corpse you can trust is the one you killed yourself”. If you just went around and killed all the people you met, you would actually be completely safe.
K: But it would be a world where you are alone on a mountain of corpses.
R: That is the very reason why a mystery begins with the question whether you can believe the result of an autopsy.
“Furniture”.
K: The last question. In your story the word furniture came up quite often. The scene where Yasu started the self-application of that definition was also shown within the story, but it’s not only Kanon and Shannon, even Genji calls himself furniture. Does it imply knowing the truth? Or is it some kind of concept administered by Kinzo himself, where everyone has to pretend to be furniture? How is that?
R: I a book I can’t seem to recall there was this line that “Servants have to be like furniture”. And I thought, “wouldn’t it be fascinating if servants would not just call themselves furniture but become them and thus completely devoid of humanity?”. Beyond that there is the attitude pointed at by the word furniture, as it can be understand as Shannon being seen as something less than human. This is because she likened herself to something inhuman because of her body, unable to love, and that is why she sarcastically called herself furniture. I assume the term furniture must have created several images.
K: There were also many magical scenes depicting Kanon and Genji as doing spy work. It really relates to the stealth work as a servant.
R: Maybe that is Shannon’s view of their image as “being always present but cloaking their presence” *laugh*. But it doesn’t lead anywhere when I say too much.
K: Shannon often imagined things excessively, didn’t she?!
R: The first and most powerful spectator of this world is Shannon. This also counts for the worldview as well. So whatever Shannon sees or hears, what she thinks of it starts deforming her view of the world. For example the fact that Beatrice cannot enter Kinzô’s study is something that Shannon added to the setting. What Shannon had heard from Kumasawa about evil spirits and witches, as well as the ghost stories whispered among the servants, mixed together and became the basis of her beliefs.
K: Many of the things appearing in the story are a reflection of the heart, aren’t they?! Someones filter has been set over everything.
R: But that is because in classical mysteries it is also one of many tricks to have an unreliable narrator. But that was only a plot point that I thought would be discovered from the very beginning because it was something that I already used in Higurashi.
K: Onikakushi was made like this, right?!
R: I put special care into that one. If you cut out the pictures and the text, nobody is saying anything suspicious at all. But I think everyone fell for that back then, because nobody knew anything about me back then. If I ever made a similar story again, I think the cover would be blown in the first 48 hours.
K: And now at the end, from the both of you, after a 4 year journey that you have spend on Umineko, one last comment each.
R:I am really glad that I got to connect with people like KEIYA. He is a representative for all the tough readers with guts, for whom I am so glad to have created this story. I am so happy that I got to deliver this story to such wonderful people. I am planning to write many more stories after that, but when I am thinking that there are readers out there like KEIYA, I want to try even harder, so please stay with me. And because KEIYA’s thoughts have brought forth such a wonderful piece of work in comparison to my own writing, please support him as well.
K: Thank you very much. I have now spent four years thinking about Umineko, and compared to Higurashi it was much more information, I have changed my mind and ditched ideas so often, it was a really tough piece of work. I am so glad that all of you readers have kept on enjoying those thoughts with me and made it possible for us to advance to higher levels. That is because I believe is what made Umineko into the work it is. There might still be mysteries and elements you can analyze left, but I think we should be happy over the fact that they exist. And I am really looking forward to Ryûkishi’s new work.
R: I will give it my best. I think when this book comes out around summer, there will definitely be some kind of announcement.
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Answer to the Golden Witch
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Anti-Mystery vs. Anti-Fantasy
is an extra arc of
that was included in the booklet released along with "Banquet of the Golden Witch" at Comiket 74. The author Ryukishi07 goes into detail on how the mysteries in "Umineko" are presented, with additional commentary by Beatrice and Ronove.
Original translation by Belladonna Lee.
Transcript.
This time around, the tagline for EP3 has changed from "Deducible? Not deducible?" to "Anti-Fantasy vs. Anti-Mystery". Those who have finished reading EP3 might already understand that the world of "Umineko "is precisely as the tagline says. Although everyone has heard of "mystery" and "fantasy", you might not have heard of "anti-mystery" or "anti-fantasy". What does it mean by "anti"? Please allow me to explain.
The meaning of "Anti-Fantasy" is as the words say. "Fantastic" phenomena cannot exist in the world we live in. Those dream-like fairy-tales are nothing more than fiction. Even if someone believes in their existence, it's really nothing more than an exaggerating, politically-inclined delusion.
Do you truly believe that Earth was created by the Creator in seven days? Do you believe that Izanagi used a spear to "dig" up the first island of Japanese archipelago? Impossible. The Big Bang, collision between asteroids, movement of land mass -- using these theories to explain how lands are formed is the plausible way to go.
To those people who love to talk about scientific theories in Japanese History or World History classes, I would like to welcome you to the world of "Anti-Fantasy". To those people who do not believe in "fantasy" at heart but who are good at conforming, I would also like to welcome you to the world of "Anti-Fantasy".
Witches and magic cannot possibly exist. Everything can only be revealed through the method of deduction. There must be a lot of people out there who believe earnestly in such view point. This thing that I call "Anti-Fantasy" is really our basic thought process, our common sense. As long as you adopt this way of thinking, there is no way you will surrender to "Umineko". Because witches and magic do not exist.
Now then, the direct explanation of "Anti-Fantasy" is complete. And now we will move on to the topic of "Anti-Mystery".
First off, before we talk about "Anti-Mystery", we need to first dive into the topic of "mystery novels". To fully explain what is a "mystery novel", this little booklet is not enough. Therefore, we shall only dabble in it briefly.
When one talks about "mystery novels", one usually means "traditional mystery novels". To put in simply, traditional mystery novel is a mystery novel where the reader is able to use the information given in the story to solve the case before the solution is given out.
This is the main trend in mystery stories; it's perhaps appropriate to grant it the title "traditional". Traditional mystery is a battle of wit between the author and the reader during the reading process. From this perspective, traditional mystery novels are the most entertaining one amongst genre fictions. That means high quality traditional mysteries are exactly like precise riddle games such as mathematical problems; they are the purified, enlightened condensation of many great works by famous mystery authors.
Nonetheless, purified traditional mystery will eventually run into certain obstacles, namely, a famous problem called "later Queen problem". To put it simply, the "later Queen problem" concerns with the inability to determine whether the information the detective (the reader) can obtain in the story is complete or not. Good detectives normally use evidence and clues they've found to come up with a good deduction and a plausible conclusion. But an important criteria must be satisfied before the solution can be regarded as completely accurate.
That is, the evidence and clues that the detective are processing must be "complete". In most cases, the detective will thoroughly search the crime scene, and list the evidence and clues he or she has discovered. However, the possibility that "there exists a decisive evidence X which the detective is unable to unearth" cannot be denied. It means that, no matter how much the famous detective shows off his great detection skill, the solution is only "constructed together from the clues and evidence that was present at the time". To put it another way, if the "undiscovered decisive evidence X" is later added into the story, the solution the detective came up with might be struck down entirely.
Therefore, a detective not only has to come up with a solution according to the evidence, but he also has to prove that "there does not exist any undiscovered evidence". There is no further need to explain this, for this is the true "Devil's Proof". It's impossible to prove the accuracy of the solution that the detective must have come up with in the end. Even though traditional mystery ought to play out as a completely plausible puzzle game, at this point they are trapped by the fact that they cannot plausibly reveal the truth.
In "Umineko no Naku Koro ni", it was repeatedly stated that there is "only one master key," but one cannot deny the possibility that the master key has been duplicated. Even if a character were to claim it is impossible to make a duplicate, one cannot disprove the possibility that "the key has been duplicated without the speaker's knowledge." Even if the key is molded into a shape that makes it impossible to duplicate, one cannot disprove the possibility that "there is unknown technology out there that makes duplicating the key possible".
The witness might have been lying; the police might have made some blunder during the processing stage. Or a key character is bribed by the culprit, or the culprit has placed certain evidence that would lead the detective to the wrong direction (i.e. red herring). If we cannot completely exclude these "unexpected possibility," we might not even be able to discover the hints. Regrettably, this "disproving" cannot be accomplished.
Stepping back, assume that the detective (the reader) has come up with a very plausible solution, and the murderer has confessed to the crime. As long as the undiscovered evidence X still exists, one cannot disprove the possibility that "the accomplice admits to the crime in order to protect the true murderer".
In fact, a similar situation as described above has appeared in "Watanagashi-hen" of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni". Before "Meakashi-hen" was released, almost all the readers had come up with the wrong culprit for the events that had occurred in "Watanagashi-hen".
Examining "Watanagashi-hen" alone, when the culprit admits to the conclusion Rena comes up with in her deduction, that particular deduction is "complete". That means the deduction that marks "XX as the culprit" was "accurate at that moment in time". And then in "Meakashi-hen", we are suddenly given a lot of new information that weren't present in "Watanagashi-hen". So appropriately, the fact that "the true culprit is someone else" can be easily understood.
After reading through "Meakashi-hen", the reader would likely think this revised solution is correct. However, at the time of "Watanagashi-hen", he or she would not have been able to come up with this solution. Nonetheless, the solution that is constructed in "Watanagashi-hen" is not wrong in itself, even though the identity of the true culprit is wrong. The solution for "Watanagashi-hen" is entirely correct "at the time", because this is the "truth" that is constructed using the pre-existing clues "at the time". But clearly, the real oversight lies in "easily deducing the identity of the murderer at the time of "Watanagashi-hen"".
This is the "later Queen problem".
After the reader finishes reading Meakashi-hen and receives a concrete answer, he or she has more or less accepted this truth. Even so, if the "later Queen problem" exists, then there's no guarantee that what is being revealed in Meakashi-hen is the real truth.
As an outrageous example, let say in the future, Ryukishi07 decides to release a truth exposing arc called "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Shin", claiming that "the truth in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen are both disguises, and the real culprit is the unexpected character XX!", in addition to adding new information to the story. The new truth would obviously take over the old ones, and the truth in Meakashi-hen becomes false.
Although this is a bit argumentative on my part, I still want to say that the seemingly complete opposite plotlines in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen are actually the same. At the time of writing, there didn't exist any "information added after the fact". Or so I say, but it's impossible to prove whether it's true or not.
Putting it all together, what the story is trying to say, what kind of answer will one get from the story, or even the truth that the author (god) says isn't absolute. Even the truth dictated by the "author", this all powerful god, can be revised by the future self of the author, an even higher entity. That means whenever one runs into the "later Queen problem", the mystery novel would fall into an extreme predicament. The "mystery", this noble ideal in mystery novels, would in fact cause itself to be denied, which is rather ironic.
With a bit of sarcasm on my part, I call this phenomenon "Anti-Mystery".
As long as the "Devil's Proof" exists, neither we nor the detectives can disprove the existence of an "unknown evidence X". As long as the "Devil's Proof" hasn't been broken, we aren't even qualified to try inferring. Even when someone falls down dead right before our eyes, and a locked room is established, and there are suspicious evidence everywhere, we still can't begin our deduction. Be it crime scene investigation, or processing evidence, or witness testimony, what we need to clarify first and foremost is "that thing", i.e. "are we able to conduct our deduction with all the evidence we have so far".
Historically when famous detectives arrive at the crime scene, they would look up to the sky and ask the omnipotent god (author) one question, "Is this world (book) really a traditional mystery world (able to perform deduction)?" And then, god would reply, "Of course this book is a traditional mystery. You will definitely be able to solve all the riddles. Get ahead and perform your deduction." The detectives would then mumble in their minds, "Ah, that's good. Now I can rest easy and perform my deduction," and begin their investigation.
The scene must surely appear in real life murder cases too. The police seals off the area, and then the inspectors clap their hands together while looking up at the sky. "God, can this case be solved? If we don't get a clear answer, we can't even begin our investigation and deduction. Because if this is an "irregular mystery" or a "realist school mystery", or even the increasingly popular "supernatural fantasy", then it's useless to perform a deduction." But this is real life, therefore god isn't going to answer.
So, should we clap our hands together until god appears? Or should we forget about the investigation since we don't have god's guidance?
When the aforementioned situation crossed my mind, I thought it was funny, but also I've discovered for the first time that the concept of "Anti-Mystery" might actually exist. Those people who treat mysteries as mathematical problems and look for logical answers might seem to be going on the right track, but they are committing a terrible error.
Without the assumption that "this mystery can be logically solved", these people can't solve the mystery. Besides, this assumption cannot possibly be established. That means without the guidance of god, these people who wildly conduct their deduction are nothing more than uncultured idiots who can't even exercise a little of their "grey cells". Their IQs are comparable to insects.
In "Umineko no Naku Koro ni", Beatrice is mocking this kind of people. Even though they are single-mindedly trying to come up with a equation-like answer, if there isn't even an assurance to the most basic possibility, they have no chance of winning. To use boxing as an analogy, it's as if a boxer is saying "I only want to fight with an opponent whom I can win". To the Witch Beatrice, those people who stubbornly claim to deny witches and expose the truth are as laughable as that boxer.
Below are comments from Beatrice
After you have read "Umineko" EP1, are you really attempting to challenge this mystery? Because there's no declaration, then it is not considered a challenge? Because this story doesn't specify that "all the evidence are gathered", then it is not considered a challenge? Kukukuku!
How foolish. When and where have you seen this kind of proof before? During your entrance exam, do you ask the deity "will I be able to enter this school"? If the deity doesn't offer you guidance, then you are not even going to write the exam? Kufufuahahahahaha!
If your mother doesn't tell you, "good boy, you'll definitely make it," then you can't even go to the examination room? Hahahahahaha!
You seem to finally understand how cheap this human creation called "mystery" is. Then you should also be able to sympathize with my desire to laugh. Well then, welcome to the "Anti-Mystery" world.
Isn't there such a saying? "There are too many things in this world that science cannot explain." And so it is. Everything in this world cannot be completely proven! The "unknown element X" which we have not anticipated can exist; no one can disprove that.
Deduction? Mystery novels? And traditional ones? Ahahahahaha! How laughable!! Good kids, if you have bought mystery books then let Mummy read it first, and then ask her, "Are the riddles in this book something I can solve?" If Mummy nods her head, then you can go on and read. You can just eat the baby food Mummy has already chewed up for you. HAHAHAHAHAHA!
Below is Ronove's commentary
Miss, truly, this type of talk is too tasteless.
The "Red Truth", which Lady Beatrice utilizes, is an anti-thesis of mystery. The content that the "Red Truth" conveys is the word of god; it becomes truth without the need for evidence or proof. As long as the "Red Truth" declares that "the door can only be unlocked with a master key", any other theories will be rendered useless. Theories about wires and fishing line will also be discarded. With this as the basis, one can use red to declare "there are only five sets of master keys; there are no other way to unlock the door; the keys cannot be duplicated". And then it will be perfect.
But looking back, is what one calls the absolute "Red Truth" really the "truth"? I'm afraid not even Miss can confirm it. I presume some of you might have suspected whether you ought to believe in Miss's "Red Truth" or not? Yes, in this world, there is no such thing as truth that "can be proven". Therefore, if one wants to ask if one can believe this truth or not, please rephrase it in this manner.
"Do you really trust her?"
Someday, you would surely marry the person you love. And then on that destined day, the priest will surely ask you the question. You wouldn't say "it's impossible to prove what she says is true or not" in that kind of situation now, would you? Pukukukukuku.
In order to deny witches, one must enter the game between witches and human. But in your situation, you have no choice but to accept that the witch's "Red Truth" is the truth. This is a game one plays to deny witches, and yet one must believe in the witch's words. What a hilarious contradiction.
When you first heard of the rule of the "Red Truth", you asked Miss if the "Red Truth" can be trusted. Miss replied as such, "This is a game between me and you. The rule of the game is sacred. Those who scorn the rule are not qualified to participate!"
Pukukuku...!
Which means that you and Miss have already established a sacred relationship of trust. This is indeed a connection even the demons would envy. Pukuku...!
Truth doesn't exist in this world. Even "love", the so-called single element in this world, is no more than illusion and "fantasy". Perhaps those people who use mystery to explain everything and deny "fantasy" don't even have the right to love and be loved.
Dear reader, are you inclining towards "Anti-Fantasy" or "Anti-Mystery"? Or adapting one or the other depending on circumstances? Perhaps this is the wisest choice.
The exaggerated hero adventure told by friends -- Anti-Fantasy.
The time when one is drunk in unsuitable dreams -- Anti-Mystery.
The gentle melody on an insomniac night -- Antimony orgel.
Goodnight, dear reader.
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Anti-Mystery vs. Anti-Fantasy
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Anzu
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Anzu
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ao Oni Online
is a Japanese online mobile battle royale game in the series. The main game mode has 100 players stuck on a map and trying to avoid being killed by the Oni. The game had collaborations with "Higurashi Gou" and "Sotsu".
Higurashi Content.
Character skins for various "Higurashi" characters were available as rewards from different sources. The "Gou" collab was held from February 26, 2021 to March 26, 2021 and had a new story made with Ryukishi07's cooperation. There were new maps inspired by Hinamizawa and the Furude Shrine where Onis would appear as both a Mountain Dog and Takano.
The "Sotsu" collab was held from July 21, 2021 to August 4, 2021.
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Ao Oni Online
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Apology
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Apology
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Arctic Ocean Union
The (AOU) is a faction consisting of several nations from North America, Europe, and Asia. These countries border the Arctic Ocean or are in Central Asia or Caucasus Regions.
Profile.
"A faction that formed around an alliance between AOU America and AOU Russia, two B3W superpowers."
"Their highest goal is to restore the world order from the B3W era, regaining worldwide hegemony with their two core countries once again."
"After the nuclear war, they chose to manage childbirth through factories. By rapidly recovering the size of their populations and selecting for genes, they also managed to eliminate various hereditary diseases."
"They're known for being extremely conscious of human rights, and they tend to intervene when they see human rights issues in other countries, claiming to be vanguards for worldwide justice."
"Because it's a faction of humans born from factories, other factions view them as a land of cold-blooded values."
Geography.
The AOU has a presence on multiple continents and regions. The core nations may be America and Russia, but several other nations situated close to the Arctic Ocean such as the Scandinavian countries, unknown Western Eurasian countries, Canada, and half of Japan are also members of the faction.
Politics.
The AOU Joint Parliament governs the faction as a whole.
Society.
AOU cities have people living in places suitable to their unique needs. Talking about socioeconomic privilege is strictly forbidden and penalized, as it is considered harassment. This was done to protect the happiness score in each area, especially since the happiness score worldwide plummeted before WWIII.
In an effort to maintain the happiness score, every TV channel in AOU nations air scheduled government broadcasts showcasing the positives of living in the AOU.
Childbirth.
Because of a decline in child births after WWIII, almost all humans are born in factories (called "factory-born") in order to repopulate and grow the population of the nations. More specifically, they are born in Incubators located in government-run childcare facilities. Most people have "siblings," or people who were born around the same year. The AOU had labeled the last Sunday of every month to be Siblings' Day, where siblings could get together and strengthen their bonds.
Traditional births (nicknamed "ciconia-born") are rare, with strict morals and regulations concerning raising the child; namely, the parents have to take care of them to the very end. A violation of said regulations would lead to imprisonment for violating childcare laws, and the child would lose all ties with their parents and be placed in a childcare institution. The failure of a ciconia-born child to blend in with factory-born children has led to a debate among the COU Child Protective Service on what is the proper way of dealing with ciconia-born children who were neglected.
As soon as a child is conceived, their genes are studied to determine what they will be good or bad at in life. Their entire lifestyle and future jobs are thus arranged for them, however people are given the opportunity to change professions.
Gender and Sexuality.
"The AOU, out of consideration to various genders, was one of those Anti-Sexual Discrimination nations. As a result, resident cards in countries allied with the AOU indicated their citizen numbers and names, but not their sexes. Information about one's sex was shared only when it became necessary at medical institutes, and even then it was shared only between the person and their hospital, and the information would be instantly removed after a certain time had passed."
To further such measures, the AOU has also implemented gender-neutral bathrooms in addition to men's and women's bathrooms. In addition, the AOU allows and acknowledges same-sex marriage and abolished discrimination against sexual minorities. This is in contrast to their prohibition of marriage between close relatives.
Education.
Students were put into classes at random and, depending on their grades, were sent to different institutions that matched their level of talent.
Military.
All AOU nations have their own respective militaries, with their own units and procedures. The AOU Combined Military HQ manages all of this.
Aerial Augmented Infantry.
Aerial Augmented Infantry, similar to other nations, were composed of the top aces from their respective militaries. The AOU has fielded two squads for the International Battle Standard Festival: Warcat and Grave Mole.
In an effort to bolster numbers following the drone attacks, many trainee Gauntlet users are rushed into service.
Known Units
Other Military Units.
In the AOU, Judo is focused by the Russian Army with Japan dropping it from its routine a year before the International Battle Standard Festival.
The AOU American Atlantic Fleet is the pride of the AOU navies, with the flagship being the aircraft carrier "Roger Jamison".
After the massive upset with regular forces and power displayed by the Gauntlet Knights, all militaries switched to using drones exclusively, namely due to how frontline soldiers felt powerless.
Foreign Relations.
COU.
AOU Japan and COU Japan have had a shared responsibility in maintaining the Glass Sea as a World War Relic. After discovering that Rare Spiritium was contained there, COU Japan started building military bases to occupy the area while AOU Japan opposed them.
A buffer zone between AOU Russia and COU China becomes the location of combat due to an unresolved border dispute.
ACR.
The Atlantis Spirit Field, the greatest supply of Spiritium for the ACR, has been a contested region between the ACR and AOU over ownership of the area. The ACR launches their warship "Atlantis "to occupy the area, which AOU America has accused them of illegally doing. The Atlantic Fleet is sent in response.
The ACR dispatches the Aerial Augmented Infantry kette Squad 601 to counter the Atlantic fleet, however the leader of the kette Rethabile orders the Atlantis Fleet into a defensive position, leaving only her kette to attack. After a brief discussion between Rethabile and the captain of the Atlantic Fleet, both sides engage each other. No casualties are sustained, and the Atlantic Fleet soon retreats after disarmed heavy torpedoes are given as a "gift" and placed inside the main bridge of the "Roger Jamison".
ABN.
Due to a treaty, the AOU is supposed to assist the ABN if they're attacked.
The Seven-State Alliance in Western ABN Ukraine seeks admission into AOU Russia, which are considering military intervention on behalf of protecting Russian citizens. The ABN Peace Department has opposed this move.
After the outbreak of Erbil L5, several affected AOU countries push for investigation into the ABN for their suspected involvement.
LATO.
The IPMA appoints several AOU Joint Parliament members, including Simon Wicksell, to become provisional directors.
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Arctic Ocean Union
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Arietta Company
is a novel written by Ryukishi07 that was serialized as a column in Dengeki G's Magazine from September 30, 2005 to March 2006. Illustrations were by Asuna.
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Arietta Company
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Arigato For 556
Arigato for 556 is an extra arc from . It was first released as a text booklet at Comiket 76 on August 15, 2009.
The translation here comes from lparchive.
Plot Summary.
During the Chiester Sisters’ fierce days of training, a new recruit Chiester 556 arrives who loves thanking everybody.
Release History.
Original Release.
"Arigato For 556" was first released as a booklet at Comiket 76 on August 15, 2009.
Tsubasa.
"Arigato For 556" was adapted into visual novel format for the first time with "Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa", released physically at Comiket 79 on December 31, 2010.
The First and the Last Gift.
"" rereleased this arc in a compilation with other booklets on December 16, 2015.
Saku.
This arc was rereleased with "Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku" on October 4, 2019.
Symphony of Catbox and Dreams.
Symphony of Catbox and Dreams is a PS4 and Nintendo Switch port of "Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku", which released on January 28, 2021. New CGs were added to this arc.
Transcript.
The Chiester Sisters Imperial Guards are supposedly a Memorial Troops Corps formed in commemoration of the Flight of the Red Dragon.
However, that is simply a superstition, as the Corps's formation and operation had in fact been carefully planned by the Ministry of Defense.
In '68, the Minister of Defense urged domestic military magic manufacturers to submit design documents for a new type of magical soldiers for the Imperial Guard that could operate under the following specifications.
These specifications were referred to as the 3F Project, and the three F's to be achieved were namely First Detection, First Shot and First Kill. Moreover, emphasis was placed on qualities such as streamlined maintenance, operation and deployment in order to provide convenience for the one giving the orders.
Eventually, two well-established companies, RAC and Chiester, offered to design this new model of a magical life form and submitted their respective design documents.
RAC made impressive changes to the traditional M-Series model based on the Imperial Guard specifications, putting emphasis on the fighting strength so as to not tarnish the name of the Dragon King Pendragon's Imperial Guards.
In order to implement the three F's, the model was made to specialize in overwhelming and independent offensive capabilities, being fitted with a tremendous capacity for onboard weaponry.
As such, the model was to be capable of heavy firefighting even as a single unit and, at least based on the manual specs, a magical life form of such heavy firepower that it had the potential to rewrite the entire history of weapons.
The Ministers were so taken with the terms 'single unit' and 'heavy firepower' that they very nearly gave a tentative offer to adopt the M-Series model just before the end of the selection process.
On the other hand, Chiester had instead decided to emphasize quick maintenance, operation and deployment. Contrary to RAC's M-Series, the company proposed a Chiester Series model that was inexpensive, robust, mass-producible and fast to deploy.
To satisfy the 3 F's, single-unit implementation plans were abandoned at early stages. The Chiester Series models were implemented with individual specialized abilities and were used coordination in order to cover matters of tactics.
Although the argument for the implementation was sound, government officials were under the impression that the Minister's intention was to have guardsmen worthy of the Dragon King Pendragon's personal Imperial Guard, and so the Chister Series was not initially considered at all.
That decision was about to be gradually overturned, however, as the state of military equipment in the Heaven, the spirit world and so on was facing changes.
The spirit world, feared as the greatest military power at the time, had claimed overwhelming saturation attacks as their forte.
However, another major player seeking to even out the military balance, the Heaven, rewrote military history in '71 by successfully constructing the Spirit Particle Combat System.
The system would utterly suppress any kind of brute-force type attacks reliant solely on military strength, budgets and resources.
With this, the figure of a lone heavily armed hero soldier, as the epics of old used to depict and children used to aspire towards, had become nothing but the stuff of ancient fairy tales.
Chiester had been quick to react to this turn of events and decided to add anti-Spirit Particle Combat capabilities to the Chiester Series.
Thus did the most prominent feature of the Chiester Series, nicknamed "Rabbit Ears", come to life.
Unlike the more traditional type of hardpoint equipment model utilized by RAC's M-Series, their armament was developed as a rapid-deployment extradimensional weapon rack in specific response to Spirit Particle Combat.
Also in direct contrast with the M-Series, it sacrificed onboard equipment capacity in favor of specializing in stealth.
Thanks to the efforts of Chiester lobbyists, the Minister of Defense made a substantial policy change in the same year and declared anti-Spirit Particle Combat measures to be of the utmost importance for the 3F Project.
And so, the Chiester Series which had been previously completely overlooked stepped into the limelight in a single stroke...
This was how the Chiester Series by Chiester Corporation won the honor of being named the Memorial Order, formed in commemoration of the Flight of the Red Dragon.
So were born the Chiester Sisters who were the first Imperial Guards to go against the conventional idea of the Guard consisting of independent heavily armed soldiers. As such, there were still conservative government officials and other stragglers who failed to grasp the concept of Spirit Particle Combat and saw the Sisters as nothing but cheap, inefficient and unfitting for His Majesty the Dragon King, and lambasted them as mere ceremonial soldiers, going so far as to call them dolls.
However, the design of individual units being dedicated exclusively to specialization allows for both a low cost manufacturing as well as a rapid operation and deployment of specialist units.
It eventually became clear that by organizing the specialized soldiers on a mission basis according to their respective abilities, they could be used to deal with a wide variety of tasks.
These individual abilities were a far cry from those that had belonged to the other heroic and heavily armed Imperial Guard soldiers.
However, this squad of Sisters, formed of specialized soldiers with their own areas of expertise, excelled in their results in this new era of warfare with every battle they fought.
The word "Sisters" in Chiester Sisters Imperial Guards eloquently speaks to the solidarity among the girls of this combat group...
Chiester 410 was created to specialize in sniping.
She was fitted with an excellent firing radar but due to her unique settings she read the measurement results in an analog manner.
All modern Spirit Particle Combat is performed based on precise measurements. By all rights, there ought to have been no room for analog ideas to exist.
However, the battlefield is analog, not digital. The possibility for unexpected circumstances outside of pure 0's and 1's is always there.
Chiester 410 was a prototype specifically designed to excel in grasping that gray area.
Early on in her enlistment she was ranked quite low. During practice her skills as a sniper were mediocre at best and her peculiar personality didn't do her any favors either.
However, after having been paired with Chiester 45, who specialized in firing calculations, 410 began to distinguish herself in short order.
The following year she dramatically blossomed into an excellent field sniper during a proxy war against a certain puppet nation.
In just a single week after taking up her post, she had achieved a grand victory against the 34th Automated Giant Squadron, using an armor-piercing sniping bow from a range of 1800 merute to cause decisive damage to two units and to disable one unit's autonomous walking capacity.
Her impressive military achievements kept only increasing in count from there on, and a year later she was promoted to senior designated marksman. Her former instructor later reminisced that nothing had ever compared to the surprise of seeing her face at the promotion ceremony.
Receiving the Golden Bow, said to be a symbol of honor to snipers, only further nurtured her talents. She was the fastest one ever to climb to the ranks of the elite ten snipers of the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guards...
...is what I've written here.
It's nice to think that thanks to 45's excellent support, 410's rare talents were allowed to bloom.
As I told them this, giving the credit to both of them, 410 burst into a cackling laughter and told me this...
"You know, 45 is such a stick in the mud that it's really funny to just ignore the data she so desperately calculated when she immediately starts huffing and puffing about it nyeh♪"
"410 is always so meean, I'm really trying hard to get exact calculations, don't just ignore them, that's so mean...!!"
"45, your calculations are pretty ridiculous, close enough is good enough nyeh."
"It's not good enough, lately you've been all over the place...!! And I've been extra careful because you made me so maad!!"
Let me write about Chiester 45 as well.
45 was created specifically for the purpose of calculations in Spirit Particle Combat.
Calculations are meant to be ruthlessly exact, accurately determining 0's and 1's with no room for error, and then to report the results.
However, with her digital-esque measurements, 45 cannot fully interface with units designed in the prewar format.
Coupled with her weak and easily intimidated character, she had no confidence in her measurement results. In a manner of speaking, as a measurer she became the lowest of the low.
Needless to say, her training record was poor as well, causing her peers in the Imperial Guard to entrust her with nothing but rear surveillance, treating her like baggage.
As such, she was paired with 410, another nuisance as a sniper. The idea was clearly to put the troublemakers together.
Although, seeing as this pair eventually went on to win significant military victories, you can never know what this world has got in store for you.
I struggled for a long time trying to understand how this bizarre duo could be the amazing sniper combination that they are, but I believe I recently came up with a possibility.
It's because this pair is driven by 410.
Because of her frequent troublemaking and insubordination, she was often paired with people who would keep her in line, high-strung people to monitor her or even senior soldiers.
When she received an order from her superiors, 410 wouldn't act entirely on her on own whims but obey the order, however half-heartedly. That way, she was not acting independently.
However, 45 wasn't strong-minded enough to keep 410 in check. For the first time, 410 was allowed to act independently and to demonstrate her abilities.
...Can that really be called "acting independently", though?
If you ask me, 45's timidness simply lets 410 act as recklessly as she wants...
That's why, for a long time, I thought that the secret to unlocking 410's talents had been the fact that she was allowed to do whatever she wanted.
That didn't seem to be the case, though.
410 finds teasing 45 to be hilarious and so she likes to intentionally ignore her measurement data and perform difficult, eccentric shots.
...Her marksmanship is truly astounding, much to the astonishment and dismay of 45. It seems that her reactions only serve to add to 410's self-satisfaction, further escalating her behaviour and contributing to her military success.
45 really dislikes being treated like a plaything.
She is so meek and uptight that there is no end in sight to her one-sided harassment. This won't be a fair relationship for her.
I have petitioned several times, in secret from 410, an alteration to their inappropriate pairing.
Nevertheless, since the headquarters are well aware of the military gains this pair brings about, that petition will likely never be accepted...
Typically military gains are something for both members of the pair to boast about.
However, although 410's eccentric shooting is obviously just showboating of her abilities, there are people who would even call it art.
As such, the successes attributed to the two of them are actually often credited to 410 alone.
Even 410 herself has spoken of them as her personal achievements...
Even as meek as 45 was, she wasn't too happy about that.
Shadowed by 410's genius talent, however, she would never say that aloud.
...As their superior officer, I could sense that to be the case, so I adviced 410 to be a little more appreciative and grateful to her partner.
"Without the link from 45 you surely would've failed most of your shots. Shouldn't you show a little more appreciation towards her?"
"Nyeh nyeh, 00's started another lecture nyeh."
410 stared at me blankly like I was an idiot.
I told her that 45 had her fair share of troubles, and a word of thanks from 410 would ease her mind.
Looking a little indignant from hearing that, 410 spoke to me.
"00 doesn't get it nyeh... Sure, I act big and boast about the victories, but I've never thought of them as mine alone, the credit always belongs to the two of us nyeh."
"...Is that so? Based on your usual talk and behaviour, I wouldn't have imagined you thought of your victories as belong to both of you, though..."
"How rude nyeh. 45 is my best partner, I've always thought that and I always will nyeh. Together with 45 we can do anything nyeh! We're the best partners! I'll always want to be paired with her nyeh...!"
With the way she was smiling, I couldn't possibly bring myself to reveal to her that I had petitioned a pair change for 45...
"...So you're telling me that you actually really are grateful to 45?"
"Of course I am nyeh. She's my partner after all nyeh. It's kinda pissing me off that you keep going on about it nyeh."
Rather than being disappointed with her... now I was disappointed in myself.
I finally undertood the difference between the two of them.
410 isn't an obedient personality; she likes to exaggerate and twist the things she says.
So from an outside perspective, her boasting of her victories seemed like she was talking about her own abilities alone.
In actuality though, she understood and appreciated the fact that without 45 none of that would have been possible.
She had the highest respect for 45 as a partner and wanted her by her side forever.
...The problem was that her feelings didn't reach 45.
45 thought of herself as incompetent, someone to be derided by 410 and not much more.
To her, all of their victories were thanks to 410's talents and if 410 only were paired with a better sister, her military gains would be that much greater...
So I told 410 that unless she shows her appreciation with words, it will not be communicated.
"I don't wannyeh."
"...Why not?"
"I appreciate it, thank you, whatever. It's kinda embarrassing, isn't it, to have to say it deliberately, it feels pathetic nyeh. 45 and I are the greatest of partners, so at this point we understand it even without saying...!"
The feelings are already shared in form that's too complicated to put into words.
Translating the feelings in your heart into words means diluting them.
...Having told me this, she ignored my advice to articulate her gratitude to 45.
...Because I'm blinded in my right eye and therefore inefficient in my specialty, reconnaissance, the final task assigned to me... seems to be keeping this troublesome pair of snipers in line.
410, also aware of the blind spot on my right side, nimbly dodged my emotionally charged slap...
Chiester 556 was created as a prototype model of state-of-the-art weaponry and as such, with great fanfare, she was installed in the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guards for field study purposes.
Her specialization was squad fire support. Simply put, she was in charge of the heavy firepower.
At the time 410 was well known both domestically and abroad as a charismatic sniper, so putting 556 and her brand new weaponry together with her was thought to be a sure-fire way towards even greater military victories.
"Squad fire support? Pretty excessive nyeh."
"A-although our pair specializes in long-range firing, we're lacking in the ability to suppress a large enemy force simultaneously closing in at short range... I guess she's supposed to compensate for that..."
"Picking off delicious prey from long distance and then vanishing into thin air is our specialty nyeh. Fire support is unnecessary, you dunce nyeh♪"
410 was saying that they had no need for a newbie who would only get in the way of their shooting.
For 45, who surely thought of herself as a hindrance as well, those words only added to her emotional scars.
...But 410 simply and honestly thought they didn't need an outsider to butt in on the perfect pair that was herself and 410.
I understood what was on both of their minds, and the uncomfortable situation made the old scar on my ear act up, making me scratch it.
"Do you read me, 556? Are the preparations ready?"
"Yes, this is 556, I'm ready. Thank you very much."
556 was standing in the outdoors shooting range.
It was time for the first demonstration of state-of-the-art weaponry.
At a glance, 556 seemed to be on pretty much the same wavelength as 45.
She was meek and polite... So just like with 45, her compatibility with 410 would probably not be all that great.
"Target, blue target group. 45, commence analysis."
"U-understood. Commencing Terrain Analysis and Error Correction. Data Link to 556."
"...Nyeh. Come on then, show us what you've got."
"Data Link from 45. Target Identified. My thanks. Commencing Attack."
556 drew a crude, large lead bow.
...It didn't have even a fraction of the elegance of the golden bow that 410 and 45 used.
Firepower is not proportional to elegance, though.
In direct contrast to 556's gentle atmosphere, the lead bow spat out a swelling lead serpent towards the ten-odd targets standing in a row and, like a lead serpent would, slithered under the targets as if licking and tasting them and then cut them down sideways, crushing them to tiny pieces.
It was nothing like beautifully sniping and piercing the opponent's weak point with a single golden arrow.
It was something completely different, a terrifying strike that overwhelms the opponent by engulfing them with dozens if not hundreds of swelling lead arrows.
We couldn't help but stand in awe of the merciless offensive power of this new type of weaponry.
...Then I suddenly realized something.
This overwhelming firepower would, for certain... set 410's rivalrous heart alight.
No doubt about it. And with the same certainty it would end up causing me more headaches, I suppose.
...Never mind about the supposing part... Yep, 410 is picking a fight already. Oh, my poor head...
"...Not bad nyeh."
"Thank you. It was all thanks to 45's Data Link."
"N-not at all... At this distance... 556's firing radar alone would have been plenty to target it..."
"But with your data, the firing was successful. Thank you."
"...Y-you're... welcome."
556 had a calm demeanour and a gentle way of talking.
She had another peculiarity to her as well: her tendency to fill her conversations with 'thank yous', indiscriminately expressing her gratitude.
Every time she responded to something, she would end her sentence with thanks.
"But... it lacks beauty nyeh. There were just 15 targets to pierce and your lead arrows went and tore into them like that. Punching a hole in the middle would've been enough, now each one of them is shredded to pieces."
"...Shut it, 410...! Beauty or lack thereof makes no difference in the middle of war. Stop nitpicking 556's shooting."
"556, pay her no mind. 410 has a bit of a duplicitous side..."
"Not at all, 00. Thank you."
"And thanks to you as well, 410. You're right, even in wars such an uncouth way of fighting is unacceptable. Thank you for telling me that."
Even when 410 was clearly just looking for something to fault, 556 simply smiled gently and thanked her.
"Were my skills as great as 410 and 45's, I believe I could carry out my missions causing only minimal pain, by piercing exactly what I aim at and avoiding any unnecessary injuries or incidental victims... But all that I can do with my violent shooting is just ruthlessly crush my opponent..."
"I believe that mercilessness is inexcusable, even on the battlefield. Thank you for telling me that."
"...nyeh..."
Despite how hard she was trying to pick a fight, not even 410 could have imagined being thanked like this.
Afterwards, when she'd had time to collect herself, she went back to picking fights about various things, with 45 desperately trying to patch things up as she went on. Every single time they would be met with a delightful smile and a response that ended in thanks.
These exchanges kept repeating themselves until 410 finally declared "this kid's nickname is now 'thanksie bunny' nyeh" and stormed off.
This seemed to completely sour 45's mood.
45 then went after 410 who had walked away sulking.
"..'Thanksie bunny' is a terrible nickname."
"Not at all. I never would have dreamed of being given a nickname by a teammate on my first day, it's an honor. Thank you very much."`
"...Why do you say thanks so often? Is there a meaning behind it?"
A troublemaker like 410, in order to show just how much of a troublemaker she was, unconsciously raised that question.
...For example, like with her tendency to end sentences with 'nyeh'.
But the way 556 did not see her as a troublemaker, and like with her insistence on thanking everyone, saw past her words to their literal meaning, was interesting to me.
...That's when 556, for the first time without thanking me, told me something.
"I am strong. I even received excellent marks from the Chiester headquarters test team... But none of that is reason to be conceited. I had teammates supporting me from the sidelines so I could get those high marks."
"And for that reason I'll be always be thankful for those close friends who supported me."
"...I feel like boiling the dirt under my fingernails and making 410 drink it."
"But I had some doubts over whether that gratitude was really reaching them."
"...Doubts?"
"Yes. I am grateful to everyone... But unless I tell it to them, they'll never get to know it if it happens that I don't get to meet them again. They would probably think for the rest of their lives that I wasn't grateful to them, even though I really was."
"We are soldiers of the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard... no, regardless of who we are, there will inevitably and suddenly come a day when two people will be able to talk to each other for the last time."
"When that unexpected day comes, even if you thought you'd try to hastily convey all of your piled up gratitude, you can't do it anymore... At that time, how would they feel about me...? I think that... would be sad."
There are many countless people that I've felt thankful to.
But I haven't told that to anyone.
So even if they think that I'm not thankful to them, that is no fault of theirs.
"And if the opportunity to clear up that misunderstanding were suddenly lost forever one day... they would forever keep thinking of me as an ungrateful, coldhearted girl, wouldn't they?"
"And I would forever keep regretting it, wondering why I never once managed to convey my gratitude. Surely my feelings will eventually be communicated? Using words is boorish? We understand each other so well we don't need words anymore...? I've come to hate things like that."
"That's why... I'm always frightened that, whoever I'm with, that meeting might turn out to be our last. Even as I'm talking to you like this, 00, I wonder if today is our last day together... So I'll never again... want to miss an opportunity convey my gratitude... by always adding thank you to whatever I was talking about. So, for listening to this story..."
"Thank you."
That was indeed... a sad story.
If 45 were to suddenly disappear one day... 410 may forever regret that she couldn't communicate her feelings of appreciation to 45.
...45, as well, may be forever wrapped in sadness that 410 never said a single word of thanks to her, despite the fact that 410 really was honestly grateful for 45.
"So, that is why I want to thank you too."
"...There's no need to thank me."
"...Huh?"
"As the leader of this squad, I will not leave anyone behind. I won't hear nonsense like that from anyone."
"That includes you too, soldier. Throwing around all these thanks, like you're prepared to leave our squad at any time, is incredible disrespectful!"
"Anyone who dares to display such cowardice will be severely disciplined, you mark my words. Welcome to the squad...!! You're part of the team now!"
"Thank you very much, 00. Chiester 556, reporting for duty."
From that day on, the personal guard of Lady Maria had four members...
When you get the chance
to say thanks...
will you do it...?
Thank you, 556
<The end>
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# Arigato For 556/CG
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Arigato For 556/CG
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# Arigato For 556/Summary
The story opens with a history of the Chiester Sisters’ creation, having been created in response to the Ministry of Defense’s requests for a new type of magical soldier. RAC and Chiester were two companies that took this offer, and Chiester’s models prioritized inexpensiveness, mass production, and fast deployment of soldiers. The Chiester Series models were designed with specific abilities and would work cooperatively. With the development of the Spirit Particle Combat System by other forces that could shut down any soldier relying on brute force, the Chiester Series had Rabbit Ears added to them which made them the perfect anti-Spirit Particle weapons; with the help of lobbyists, the Minister of Defense declared anti-Spirit Particle Combat measures to be important and thus Chiester won the bid in the end.
The Chiester Sisters were designed with specific skillsets and based around coordination, with the “Sisters” part speaking to the solidarity between them. Chiester 410 specialized in sniping and had a great radar, but it was read in an analog manner; modern Spirit Particle Combat is digital, yet having analog data can allow for unexpected circumstances to be dealt with easily. In her early days, 410 never fully linked information from troops and would add her own ideas to it, coming off as a rogue. After being paired with Chiester 45, who specialized in firing calculations, 410’s skills improved dramatically and became one of the elite ten snipers of the Imperial Corps.
Chiester 00 had been writing all of this information down and retelling it to 410 and 45, who banter about how much 410 tends to ignore 45’s data. 00 writes about 45 as well, who was designed around calculations with Spirit Particle Combat but couldn’t fully integrate with prewar units; she was treated poorly by her peers and was often stuck on rear surveillance. Pairing up 45 the troublemaker with another troublemaker like 410 proved to be very effective. Chiester 00 thinks this works because of 410; she was always paired with senior soldiers and high-strung people who would try to keep her in line, but the blue-haired bunny would obey their orders half-heartedly. 45 wasn’t strong-minded enough to keep her in check, so 410 got to display the full extent of her abilities. Another possibility is that 410 really likes teasing 45 and will often try very complicated shots, ignoring her data entirely; 45’s reactions boost 410’s ego and improve her military success. Chiester 00 thinks this relationship is very one-sided for 45, so she asks 410 to be a little more considerate of her; even a word of thanks would be good. 410 doesn’t understand, saying their victories are credited to the two of them. 00 seems to get that 410 appreciates being paired with 45, but she still wants her to show her appreciation with words. 410 doesn’t think so, saying words of appreciation are embarrassing for her and that their feelings can be conveyed without them. Chiester 556 is then introduced, being a prototype model specializing in heavy-duty firepower. Putting her together with a skilled sniper such as 410 would ensure greater military victories. 45 believes the fire support is useful while 410 thought 556 would be useless since their specialty is sniping long-distance targets before they can get close.
During a training session, 556 is ordered to demonstrate her capabilities. 45 links data to 556, who pulls out a large lead bow and summarily destroys all the targets. 00 was impressed at how destructive this new soldier could be, but then realized 410 would see this as a challenge. 556 thanks 45 for sending the data, and 00 notes that 556 has a very calm demeanor and always says “thank you” whenever she talks to people. 410 nitpicks 556’s shooting, saying it lacks beauty and that a single hole through the targets instead of destroying them completely would’ve sufficed; 00 shuts her up and tells 556 to ignore that, but the new recruit thanks both of them anyway for their advice. After some more bickering, 410 finally gives 556 the nickname of “thanksie bunny” and goes off.
Later, 00 speaks to 556 in private about why she says thanks all the time. 556 tells her that she received high marks from the Chiester HQ test team, and she was very grateful to her teammates for supporting her, therefore she thanks everyone. 00 says her gratitude doesn’t seem to be reaching them, and 556 replies that she does it anyway to ensure that they know it just in case something happens to her; 556 doesn’t want them to think she wasn’t grateful to them even though she really was. No matter who anyone is, there may come a time when two people may not be able to meet anymore, and 556 treats every conversation as if it were her last, adding “thank you” to all of her sentences. She thanks 00 as well for listening to her story, but the commander says it’s not necessary; as the leader of the group, she isn’t going to leave anyone behind, and 556 talking the way she is like she could leave at anytime is very disrespectful. She tells 556 that any cowardice will be disciplined, welcoming her as a part of the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard and getting thanked again.
Background Music
Characters appearing
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# Arimori Shuuichi
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Arimori Shuuichi
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# Artists
This is a page for listing the notable artists who have worked with Ryukishi07 and their contributions to adaptations, illustrations, and character designs.
An artist is considered notable if they meet at least one of the following criterion:
1) involved in the making of visual novel games in any way;
2) involved in more than one series by Ryukishi07 in any way;
3) involved in the adaptation or illustrations of at least two non-anthological works of the same series; "Kataribanashi" is treated the same as non-anthological works due to its prominence.
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# Asahi
is an artist responsible for the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Oni manga.
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Asahi
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# Asaka
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Asaka
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# Ascension
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Ascension
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# Asmodeus
is the youngest of The Seven Stakes of Purgatory, representing the patron demon of , . She first appears in "Turn of the Golden Witch".
Appearance.
She has long, brassy hair in two straight ponytails, a fair skin and big red eyes. Her clothes are the same as those of the other Stakes. She wears the one-winged eagle on her "skirt".
Personality.
Asmodeus tends to get very excited when it comes to matters of love.
Skills and Abilities.
Like the other Stakes of Purgatory, Asmodeus can manifest a purple sword and transform into a stake and fly at incredibly high speeds to gouge anybody.
Background.
Asmodeus was summoned by Beatrice long ago to act as her furniture. Her vessel is that of an occultic stake set that Kinzo once bought.
From an anti-fantasy perspective, Asmodeus was created as an imaginary friend by Yasuda and was based off of the servant Asne.
Role in the Story.
"Turn of the Golden Witch".
Asmodeus first appears when summoned by Beatrice to kill Kanon. She fights Kanon one-on-one before transforming into her stake form and attempts to finish him off. Jessica however throws herself in the way and gets impaled in the back, dying afterwards.
"Banquet of the Golden Witch".
Asmodeus, along with her sisters, are sent to kill both Toshiro Gohda and Chiyo Kumasawa. When they attack Kumasawa the sisters are horrified to see that none of their attacks are working before being dismissed by both Virgilia and Beatrice.
"Alliance of the Golden Witch".
In 1998, the Stakes are introduced to their new master ANGE-Beatrice. But due to the amount of energy of summoning all seven sisters, Maria tells them that only one of them will be able to stay with Ange until she is strong enough to summon all of them. The sisters then 'compete' to see who gets to stay, resulting in Mammon winning. Later on Ange is strong enough to summon all 7 at once and became her first ever friends.
After Ange is yet again bullied, she demands for the Stakes to kill all of her classmates and the Stakes refuse. Ange becomes angered by this and kills the Stakes one by one. Ange later regretted this and as she was journeying to Rokkenjima, she summons them and apologizes for her actions, at which she was forgiven by them.
When Ange is attacked by Kasumi and her men and rips apart Maria's book, she yet again summons the Stakes, warning Kasumi and her men that if they attack, they will die. They pay no attention to this and are soon wiped out.
Other Appearances.
"Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa".
In The Seven Sisters' Valentine, Asmodeus gives chocolate to Amakusa.
"Golden Fantasia".
Asmodeus is not playable, however she appears in Ange and Lucifer's attacks and can be unlocked as a system voice.
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Asmodeus
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# Asmodeus/Gallery
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Asmodeus/Gallery
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# Asmodeus/Sprites
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# Asne
, also known as Asune in the manga, is a servant who used to work for the Ushiromiya family. She only appears in "Requiem of the Golden Witch""."
Appearance.
Asne has long, brassy hair in two straight ponytails, fair skin and big gray eyes. Her clothes are the same as those of the female Ushiromiya servants.
Personality.
Like Belne, she is shown to be gentler to Yasuda compared to the previous servants who arrived earlier. She, along with the other servants (excluding Manon) are jealous of Yasuda's special treatment.
Background.
Asne was an orphan who lived in the Fukuin House and worked as a servant for the Ushiromiya family for a few years.
Role in the Story.
"Requiem of the Golden Witch".
She, along with various characters, were questioned by Zepar and Furfur as witnesses to describe what Yasuda was like before becoming a witch. Though Shannon is said to be working alongside them and is also a witness, most of the servants don't seem to notice her at all.
Yasuda would later use Asne as a basis for creating Asmodeus.
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Asne
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# Asne/Sprites
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# Asuka
is a character appearing in in the "" collaboration event Wetting Season.
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Asuka
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# Asuka/Sprites
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Asuka/Sprites
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# Asumu
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Asumu
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# Asumu Ushiromiya
is the first wife of Rudolf Ushiromiya and the biological mother of Battler Ushiromiya, who had died six years prior to the start of the story.
Appearance.
Although Asumu didn't have a sprite in the original sound novels and its remakes, she was given an appearance in the manga through flashbacks from other characters. She seemed to have light-colored curly hair and big eyes. She appears to be fairly tall as she and Kyrie have approximately the same height. Asumu also wore a necklace and a dress.
Personality.
To Battler and Rudolf, Asumu was overall a kind individual; Rudolf especially wanted to protect her because she accepted him for who he was despite his flaws and would forgive his mistakes. However, Kyrie's perception towards Asumu is almost the complete opposite. According to Kyrie, Asumu was just one of the girls who went after Rudolf during his days as a playboy. However, unlike most girls, she was a very sly individual that was able to stir up an instinct within Rudolf to protect her. She was also noted to be quite smart by both Rudolf and Kyrie as well, having an interest in riddles.
Background.
Asumu is said by Kyrie to have butted in on her relationship with Rudolf and forced him to marry her. Both women became pregnant around the same time and Kyrie had hoped to shock Asumu with the news, but Kyrie wound up having a stillbirth while Asumu gave birth to Battler. "Twilight of the Golden Witch" reveals that Rudolf had bribed a doctor to switch the results; Kyrie was actually the one to give birth to Battler while Asumu had a stillbirth.
Upon her death, Rudolf immediately remarried with Kyrie, leading Battler to believe that Rudolf had betrayed Asumu and cut his ties to the Ushiromiya family for the next six years. While she is frequently vilified by Kyrie, it is hinted that Asumu was vastly different from how she is described, being a far more gentle woman who was capable of soothing Rudolf's pain, and that he married her not just out of obligation but out of love.
Story.
Although Asumu never appears directly in the story, she is mentioned frequently in the game's dialogue and TIPS.
Alliance of the Golden Witch.
Beatrice gives Battler a test and asks him to remember his sin, which he is unable to do. Beatrice then asks Battler to repeat several things in red, soon revealing that Asumu is not actually his biological mother.
Twilight of the Golden Witch.
Rudolf reveals to Kyrie that on the day Asumu and Kyrie were supposed to give birth, Kyrie had actually given birth to Battler while Asumu had a stillbirth. Rudolf had bribed the doctors to switch the results because he didn't want it to be known that he had an illegitimate child.
Last note of the Golden Witch.
Piece is revealed to be Asumu, representing an alternate version of her who didn't die and became a recognized member of the Ushiromiya family.
If Asumu lived, she would realize the true purpose of the epitaph and help Battler and Shannon solve it. After discovering the gold, it would be given to all of the siblings and solve their money problems. Battler wouldn't forget his promise to Shannon, and they would live happily as classmates. However, Rudolf's affair with Kyrie still happens, and Ange becomes the resulting illegitimate child; Kyrie would remain as Kyrie Sumadera and Ange would take on the Sumadera surname.
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Asumu Ushiromiya
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# Asune
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Asune
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# Asune/Sprites
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Asune/Sprites
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# Atlantis Spirit Field
The Atlantis Spirit Field was named such because it was where the legendary continent Atlantis supposedly existed. Being a source of Spiritium, the ACR has taken control of it and is facing conflicts with the AOU, who claim they are illegally occupying it.
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Atlantis Spirit Field
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# Atonement Arc
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Atonement Arc
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# Atonement Arc Manga Volume 1
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Atonement Arc Manga Volume 1
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# Atonement Arc Manga Volume 2
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Atonement Arc Manga Volume 2
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# Atonement Arc Manga Volume 3
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Atonement Arc Manga Volume 3
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# Atonement Arc Manga Volume 4
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Atonement Arc Manga Volume 4
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# Atsuko Tanaka
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Atsuko Tanaka
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# Attending Physician Nanjo
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Attending Physician Nanjo
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# Autumn Diary
is the fifty-first event in . It is a pool-themed event celebrating the game's 2nd-year anniversary that ran from September 16, 2022 to September 25, 2022.
Boosted Units.
The following units increased event-related drops when brought into battle. They are units associated with this event.
All following units have a rarity of SSR.
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Autumn Diary
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# Aya Souma
is the protagonist of Reaper of the Thirteenth Step. A girl with no will to live, all of that changes when she becomes trapped in Izanami's game.
Appearance.
Aya has long brown hair tied into a braid and brown eyes. She wears a yellow school uniform with green sleeves, a white collar, red plaid skirt, long white socks and brown shoes. Her PE uniform is a white shirt with purple accents and panties.
Personality.
At the beginning of the story, Aya has a nihilistic outlook on life, questioning many of her problems and asking herself what her purpose in life is. She constantly hopes for a painless death, always finding that easier than living with no purpose; she believes that her life is boring as it repeats every day with no change. After her experience with Izanami, she becomes much more positive and discovers a reason to live.
Background.
Aya becomes trapped in Izanami's game after investigating the legend of the 13th step out of curiosity.
Story.
Reaper of the Thirteenth Step.
Aya hears about the legend of the 13th step and finds a 13th step at school, but gets disappointed when nothing happens. That night, Aya has a dream where she sees Izanami catch and kill a victim, the youkai seemingly aware she's watching her. The next day, Aya is suddenly transported to Izanami's world when class ends. The reaper appears and yells at her to run if she doesn't want to be killed. Aya runs for her life, and after 5 minutes she suddenly leaves Izanami's world and ends up back home. That night, Izanami speaks to Aya in her dreams again and explains the rules, as the game's not over yet.
Aya spends the next week being transported to Izanami's world every day after school, the time she spends running increasing but fluctuating each time. Aya realizes she'll get tired and die one of these days, then hears about Michiru Sakurada' s sixth sense and ability to talk to youkai. Aya tells Michiru about her situation with Izanami, but Michiru says there is no youkai strong enough to defeat him. She also says his curse lasts for 49 days, but there is another boy trapped by Izanami that could help.
Aya meets the boy, Osato, who despairs that he'll be caught sooner or later but might have a chance today since it's Wednesday. Aya wonders what the significance of Wednesday is and why the time she has to run from Izanami keeps fluctuating. One day she goes to talk to Osato again only to find he doesn't exist, having been eaten by Izanami already. Later, Higanbana appears and loudly complains about the gym schedule. Aya notices that the PE dates for Osato's class matched the running days he said were shorter and wonders what her own schedule is like. Aya realizes that PE days decrease the time she spends in Izanami's realm since she's already running then. Aya confirms the trick works when she runs a lot in her off time.
Aya continues to run as much as she can at school to shave off the time she spends running from Izanami. Aya develops a healthier lifestyle as a result, always finishing her lunches and dinners and going to sleep without insomnia. Despite Izanami's constant increases to the running time, Aya still manages to escape him. One day during another chase, Izanami says he's grown fond of Aya and asks her reason for living, giving her the option of dying whatever peaceful death she wants. Aya rejects him, but she still doesn't understand why.
The 49th day approaches, the day of the annual school marathon. Aya is excited to run it since her time with Izanami will end, but the youkai suddenly appears in front of her. Izanami says he wants to make today special and will chase Aya during the marathon, but he still promises to kill her gently if he catches her. The marathon begins, and as they run, Izanami says Aya's got a lot more strength than the other track members who practice every day.
Aya realizes that the meaning of life for her is living not to die. She successfully passes the finish line, earning much praise from the students and teachers. Even Izanami is proud of her.
After School.
In this dream world, Izanami tries to pit Aya against Midori while bickering with Black Tea Gentleman.
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Aya Souma
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# Aya Souma/Sprites
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# Ayaka Furude
is a character who appears exclusively in "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei". She is the head of the Furude family in an alternate world.
Appearance.
Ayaka is a teenage girl with short purple hair that has two things going off to the sides. A mole is located under her mouth. Her casual outfit is pink and her school uniform consists of a white shirt, black skirt and red bow. At other times Ayaka wears a shrine maiden outfit.
Personality.
Ayaka is helpful and thoughtful.
Background.
Ayaka is the head of the Furude family, living in an alternate world where Rika Furude and her parents died in 1978. She seems to have knowledge of time travel, given her interactions with Kazuho.
It is revealed that Ayaka is actually Aya Saionji, a distant relative of the Furude family who was adopted by researchers and transformed into an artificial queen carrier for Hinamizawa Syndrome to replace Rika after her death.
Role in the Story.
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Mei.
Ayaka is first introduced in the Showa section of Part 2. Kazuho, Nao, and Miyuki enter the ritual warehouse of the Furude Shrine at the end of Part 1 and instead of returning to 1993, Kazuho is separated from the other two and ends up in a different 1983 Hinamizawa. Kazuho prepares to destroy the lock to the ritual warehouse to go back inside when Ayaka appears and stops her.
Ayaka explains that only the Furude family head is allowed to enter the ritual warehouse. Kazuho brings up Rika and Ayaka shows confusion as to who that is, explaining that Ayaka herself is the family head. Asked for the date, Ayaka reveals that it is currently June 4th, 1983. Kazuho runs away in shock.
When Kazuho falls unconscious shortly after meeting Satoshi, she is brought to the Takano Clinic where Ayaka, Satoshi, Satoko, Irie, and Dr. Miyoko meet her. Ayaka tells everyone that Kazuho is the mayor's granddaughter and just transferred from Tokyo. Everyone except Satoko seems to freeze before accepting that information, similar to what Kazuho saw Miyuki do in the previous world.
Ayaka brings Kazuho to the Furude main house and allows her to stay there for now. She says that Kazuho will be going to the Hinamizawa school the next day, and her uniform and books should materialize before then. Kazuho is confused as to how she knows about that phenomenon and then asks what happened to Rika, Ayaka replies that she died 5 years ago.
Kazuho and Ayaka head to school together the next day, where Ayaka goes off to talk with Chie. Later she gives Kazuho lunch and tells her to head home alone since Ayaka had after-school business to attend to. Kazuho walks home with Reina and learns that a man named Minoru Kimiyoshi serves as Ayaka's guardian, who has the same name as Kazuho's father.
During dinner, Kazuho asks Ayaka about Hinamizawa Syndrome however Ayaka gets upset and asks where she heard that phrase from. Kazuho says she heard it from Takano, and Ayaka promises to explain everything later but demands that Kazuho not look into it herself or ask anyone else about it. Ayaka alss needs to discuss Kazuho's treatment with someone else and stresses that Kazuho not break their promise. Ayaka cleans up after dinner and Kazuho discovers a magatama hidden near the TV. Ayaka seems to avoid Kazuho over the next few days, always staying out late and leaving early.
Kazuho reunites with Keiichi and learns that Ayaka is an outsider, an adopted child from a distant branch of the Furude family who became the head three years ago.
Nao suddenly travels to this world and Kazuho reunites with her. Ayaka meets them at the Furude house and explains the truth about herself: her real name is Aya Saionji, a member of the Saionji family which is related by blood to the Furudes. Because of Rika's death, a new queen carrier for Hinamizawa Syndrome was needed for fear of the disease resurfacing, and so researchers adopted Aya under the name Ayaka Furude and transformed her into an artificial queen carrier; this information is only known by Takano and Irie, and the Three Families are completely unaware.
Ayaka asks Kazuho and Nao not to let anyone else know, or else people will die. The girls ask why she revealed this to them, and Ayaka says a certain someone told her to reveal it to the right person at the right time.
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Ayaka Furude
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayaka Furude/Sprites
<tabber>
</tabber>
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Ayaka Furude/Sprites
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayakashisenshi
is the second episode of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira".
Synopsis.
<tabber>
</br><poem style="font-style: italic;">
—A new threat draws near Hinamizawa, the evil magic organization "Tokyo Magica".
Rika transforms into the magical girl "Oyashiro Rika" to fight them.
A shocking magical war with the fate of the world at stake is about to begin!
</poem>
</br><poem style="font-style: italic;">
――雛見沢にせまる新たな脅威、闇の魔法組織“東京マギカ”。
彼らと戦うため、梨花は魔法少女“オヤシロリカ”に変身する。
世界の命運をかけた衝撃の魔法大戦（マジックウォーズ）が幕を開ける！
</poem>
</tabber>
Plot Summary.
Prologue.
An adult Rika undergoes a transformation into a magical girl, Oyashiro Rika. She addresses her enemies, Okonogi, Nomura, Takano, and Teppei, and demands they release the tied-up Satoko. The self-proclaimed Four Heavenly Kings claim that Oyashiro Rika cannot defeat them all and soon tie her up as well. Just then, Rika wakes up, having realized it was a dream. She starts feeling her chest and wonders if she'll ever grow up just like the older version she saw in her dream. Rika notices Satoko muttering in her sleep, apparently having the same dream. Rika wakes her up and Satoko hugs her, relieved that she's okay. Rika asks if she was also having a dream about her being a magical girl, and she affirms it. They look at a magic wand that Rika found in the saiguden yesterday, which Rika had never seen before. They figure it must be the source of their dreams, but Rika is confused at her and Satoko having the exact same dream.
Satoko and Rika walk to school in the morning and question the thick fog surrounding them. Rika says to be careful, having a bad feeling about it. Just then, a mysterious man in a gas mask appears to block their path and summons a "Saigu Majin", Nail Ripper. Rika and Satoko run away in fright.
First Half.
Rika and Satoko wonder if this all part of the dream and successfully escape. The masked man comments on their speed and then kneels before Takano, who appears wearing a strange uniform. Takano says the Tokyo Magica won't allow Rika to challenge them anymore.
Satoko and Rika make it to school and catch their breath, wondering what they just saw. Satoko says it was just like a monster movie. Shion arrives and greets Satoko while hugging her. Rika is confused at Shion coming to their school in this world, but Shion has no idea what she means by "this world". Rena then appears and starts hugging Satoko as well. Keiichi and Satoshi arrive to greet everyone, with Satoko elated at her Nii-nii appearing. Satoko begins to go up to him when Rika grabs her arm. Rika tells Satoko to calm down and says this may not be the Satoshi she knows.
School starts, but the class note that Chie hasn't arrived yet. Satoshi and Keiichi go off to look for her, thinking she might've gotten lost in the fog. Rika is refreshed at seeing Keiichi and Satoshi getting along. Satoko explains that in this world, due to family issues, Satoko is living with Rika while Satoshi is living with Keiichi. Nobody remembers Hinamizawa Syndrome or the battle with Tokyo; Rika notes that they haven't gone back in time either, looking at a calendar that says it's September. Rika determines they've stumbled into a parallel world. Satoko asks how she's so calm, but Rika says she's used to it. However, Rika is still worried about the monster from earlier and wonders what's going on since Hanyuu hasn't shown up yet.
Just then, a wounded Keiichi returns to the classroom, warning that the Tokyo Magica's Saigu Majin have gotten to Satoshi. Irie tends to the wounded Satoshi in the infirmary. Keiichi says the monsters emerged from the fog and attacked Satoshi. Rika asks them to explain what the Tokyo Magica are; Mion and Shion think she's half-asleep, but they explain they're an evil magic-wielding society. Hanyuu then appears in the form of a tiny fairy and explains that Rika is the magical girl who fights them as Oyashiro Rika, and Hanyuu is her advisor.
The club learns that Rika and Satoko came from a different world; Hanyuu could tell immediately since she's the god of Furude Shrine. Irie determines the Rika and Satoko from this world replaced them in the other world, and Satoko asks if the Tokyo Magica did it. Hanyuu says they shouldn't have this kind of power. Rika asks to know everything about the Tokyo Magica.
Rika used to be the priestess of Furude Shrine. Inside the saiguden were instruments of torture, with the grudges inside of them growing stronger with every year until they turned into an enormous source of power. When the Tokyo Magica came to steal this power, Hanyuu gave Rika a magic wand to allow her to transform into Oyashiro Rika, but it wasn't enough to stop them. The Tokyo Magica destroyed the saiguden, causing the torture implements to transform into monsters called Saigu Majin. The Tokyo Magica want to use the Saigu Majin to make magic weapons and take over the world, and have been using Hinamizawa as their training grounds and want to drain the Furude Shrine of its magic.
The Tokyo Magica have already infiltrated the government and the police, and so Rika's the only one who can stop them. Mion assures her that the only ones who know Rika's a magical girl are those in the room right now. Their games club is just a facade, with their true identity being the Rika-chan Rooters; Keiichi and the rest of the club put on special uniforms as he says this. Irie acts as Coach, and designed the uniforms himself. Rika is disturbed, but it's similar enough to her situation in the original Hinamizawa. Satoko doesn't want to forgive the Tokyo Magica since they hurt Satoshi.
The club goes out to retrieve Rika's wand, which is still at home, and leave Irie behind to take care of Satoshi. While walking through the fog, they encounter Chie lugging a curry pot and shambling forward while muttering "curry" over and over again. Chie is shown to be deranged as she scoops up some curry and spreads it everywhere, leaving burn marks in the ground.
Second Half.
The club runs from Chie as she continues attacking them with curry. Rika and Hanyuu get separated from the others and soon run into a deranged Tomitake and Oryou. Chie catches up to Rika, lifting her by the arm and cackling as Oryou prays with prayer beads and Tomitake takes pictures of Rika.
Rika breaks free and fixes her clothes after getting away, and Hanyuu catches up to her. Rika coldly addresses her and says to just find Satoko and the others already, but Hanyuu says it's impossible and whimpers at Rika acting different. Rika says she's always like this and wonders what the Rika of this world is like: Hanyuu says her Rika is honest and sincere, and does her best at being a magical girl. Rika scoffs, thinking she's subbing for the other Rika since she's weak.
Satoko, Keiichi, and Rena finally catch up to them, having gotten separated from Mion and Shion while running from the townspeople. Rika determines the fog is designed to make people go crazy, much like Hinamizawa Syndrome. As the group continues walking, Hanyuu figures the fog won't affect Rika and Satoko since they're from another world. As they reach Rika's shack, several needle-filled ohagi flies out of nowhere and splatters against a tree, and a deranged Mion and Shion emerge to block the group's path. Rena also starts laughing, revealing she's also gone crazy; she draws her cleaver as she says she's taking home Rika and Satoko. As Mion and Shion close in, Rena pulls out a gasoline can. The deranged club members attack, but just then Satoko pulls a nearby rope and sends the three flying with a log trap. Satoko is pleased that even in this world, she had traps ready.
They get inside the shack and find the magic wand, but Keiichi grabs it before Rika can pick it up. Rika voices her suspicions that Keiichi hadn't gone crazy from the fog yet, and Keiichi reveals that he was crazy from the start, pulling off his school uniform to reveal a Tokyo Magica uniform. Satoko sees he must've attacked Satoshi earlier, and Keiichi affirms it. Keiichi gloats as Rika says the Keiichi of this world is still careless, and Satoshi sneaks up from behind and knocks out Keiichi with his bat.
Satoko runs to hug Satoshi as Rika picks up the wand and comments that brothers and sisters really are the same, even if they're from different worlds. Keiichi gets back up and summons Nail Ripper again, destroying the shack. Rika, Satoko, Hanyuu and Satoshi escape into the forest and soon become surrounded by everyone: Rena, Mion, Shion, Chie, Irie, Kasai, Ooishi, and Tomitake, all driven mad from the fog. Satoshi starts laughing, having succumbed to the fog as well since he removed his mask.
Hanyuu tells Rika that she needs to transform now. Satoko says she can definitely do it, and even though it's in a different form, she's fighting evil with a mystical force, so she's basically been a magical girl since the start. Rika gives in and successfully transforms into Oyashiro Rika. Satoko sees she actually enjoyed it, and Rika starts complaining when she sees her chest didn't grow bigger. Rika shines a bright light from her wand, purifying her friends and turning them back to normal.
Rika then turns to Keiichi to purify him, and he sends Nail Ripper to attack. Rika takes care of the monster and then zaps Keiichi, his mask breaking to show he's also turned back to normal. Takano then appears, commending Rika's powers as the Queen of Hinamizawa. Nail Ripper suddenly grows to a giant size, with an iron maiden emerging from his chest with Takano inside it. Rika tells Satoko to stay as she runs away, wanting to lure Nail Ripper away from her friends. She brings the monster to the Furude Shrine and attacks, wanting to also purify Takano, but it has no effect. Takano declares she'll prove the magical theory her grandfather left for her.
Satoko and Hanyuu catch up and find that Rika is powerless to fight Nail Ripper. Rika shields Satoko from one of his attacks and becomes weakened. Nail Ripper prepares to attack again as Satoko prepares to shield Rika. Rika asks her to run away, but Satoko wants to protect her this time since Rika's protected her a lot already. Satoko wishes to have power and begs Oyashiro-sama to lend her strength, and Hanyuu grants her wish. The Furude Shrine shines with energy, and a another magic wand appears before Satoko. At Hanyuu's urging, Satoko takes the wand and transforms into a magical girl herself, Trap Satoko.
The rest of the purified club arrive, with Satoshi shocked as to Satoko becoming a magical girl. Rika and Satoko attack Nail Ripper together, with Satoko creating a pitfall trap underneath his leg. The girls finally destroy Nail Ripper with a combined attack, Seventh Explosion. Takano is sent flying as she apologizes to her grandfather.
Elsewhere, the remaining Tokyo Magica lambast Takano for her failure, calling her a stain on the Four Heavenly Kings' name. Okonogi says she was the weakest of them all however, and offers to send the Mountain Dogs next. Teppei wants to have a turn next however, as Satoko doesn't know he's part of the Tokyo Magica yet. Teppei threatens to strip them naked and make them take a boiling hot bath. The Tokyo Magica leaders salute and unite in their goal to overthrow Rika.
The club looks over Hinamizawa from the Furude Shrine overlook. Rika and Satoko accept their newfound responsibility of protecting Hinamizawa, even if it is a different world. The rest of the club offer their support, but Satoshi is still worried about Satoko becoming a magical girl. Mion and Shion are confident she'll do her best. Rika and Satoko agree to also do their best. The adult Rika appears and questions if this will really work out, however.
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Ayakashisenshi
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayakashisenshi-hen
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Ayakashisenshi-hen
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayami Chiha
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Ayami Chiha
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayane
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Ayane
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Aysha
is from COU Indonesia and a member of the Gauntlet Knight squad Baibao.
Profile.
"From COU Indonesia"
"A member of the Imperial Guard Aerial Augmented Infantry Squad "Baibao" of the COU Combined Military HQ"
"As a trainee, she was praised for being a hard worker and a model student, but her innate talent was judged to be below average. Later, she volunteered to be sent to the Kunlun Military Research City as a test subject."
"As a result of their research, they discovered that she was immensely talented at observing airspaces using 8MS, and she made a comeback as an Aerial Augmented Infantry soldier focusing on specialized techniques for observation and detection."
"Furthermore, she later achieved good marks on compatibility tests with Lingji, and was promoted quickly through the ranks to land in Baibao Squad. She would then become the ideal supporter to bolster that squad's efforts."
Appearance.
Aysha wears a white cloth covering her head resembling a with a white uniform shirt and dress with black boots. Her Gauntlet has a golden semicircle-shaped shield attached to it and a shoulder guard resembling a crown.
Personality.
Aysha is mischievous, poking fun at others and making innuendos while chuckling a lot. Despite her playful personality, Aysha is shown to have disdain toward her former classmates for their treatment of her and cares for her family deeply, wanting to ensure their continued happiness.
Relationships.
Momotake.
Aysha refers to Momotake as "Momotake-kun" in the Japanese text sometimes.
Special Abilities.
8MS War Zone Observation (SS)
While she's in a war zone, the passage of time is always her ally. One by one, every element of the war zone is stripped naked in her eyes. The pressure this causes can be quite terrifying, even if she never fires a shot.
Analysis of Combat Situations and Tactics (SS)
Using the vast amount of data she observes, she can make split-second decisions about the current combat situation and propose optimal tactics to deal with it. She truly is the eyes and brains of Baibao.
Poor Aerial Augmented Infantry Aptitude (-S)
Her natural talent for being part of the Aerial Augmented Infantry barely gets a passing grade. She isn't good with sudden midair movements either. And, her ability to handle weapons only barely makes the cut. However, the results of her battlefield analysis as part of Baibao Squad more than make up for this.
Story.
Aysha is first introduced in Chapter 2 with the rest of her squad at the International Battle Standard Festival and accepts the Public Bath Oath soon after. Later, Meow's existence is revealed to Jayden, and when they go on a date Aysha offers some suggestive advice.
In Chapter 11, Aysha and her squad are sent into combat to destroy ABN mining machines.
Chapter 25 has Baibao and other Gauntlet Knight squads being encouraged to actually partake in combat or face consequences, with analysts appointed to watch them. Aysha decides to forgo the Public Bath Oath and follow along since her job as a Gauntlet Knight is what gave her family happiness and prosperity.
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Aysha
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Aysha/Gallery
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Aysha/Gallery
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Aysha/Sprites
<tabber>
</tabber>
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Aysha/Sprites
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayu Tsukimiya
is a character appearing in in the "" collaboration event Bright Schoolhouse.
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Ayu Tsukimiya
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayu Tsukimiya/Sprites
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Ayu Tsukimiya/Sprites
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Ayumu
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Ayumu
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Azami
is the fourth ranked of the school youkai. She creates magical thistles that can give students the power of bullying.
Appearance.
Azami has long blonde hair and blue eyes. She wears an elegant furisode kimono.
Personality.
Azami presents herself as polite and compassionate, appearing like a goddess of fortune to kids and enticing them to consume her magic thistles.
Azami likes to play with Sumire and pinch her cheeks, but she despises being called a hypocrite.
Background.
Azami represents one of the mysteries of the school, a magical thistle hiding among a garden of thistles that bullied kids can eat and become bullies themselves. Azami and Sumire hunt in tandem where Azami creates bullies, Sumire turns their classmates against them, and Azami gives the bully more thistles to keep the cycle going.
Story.
The Lunar Festival.
Azami is introduced attending the moon viewing festival with other school youkai.
A Thistle of Vengeance.
The bullied kid Masaaki Yoshikawa meets Azami, who entices him to get revenge on all of his bullies and watches him eat one of her magical thistles. Yukari tries to stop Masaaki after his transformation into a bully and confronts Azami, who believes Masaaki is right in getting revenge and offers to give Yukari a thistle of her own to bully him back.
When Yukari learns of Sumire and Azami's plan to turn Masaaki into a bullied kid again, Yukari decides to eat one of Azami's thistles. Azami gives one to her, believing she will become a magnificent bully, however Yukari uses her new power to terrify her classmates into behaving and never bullying others. Even Azami and Sumire are shocked by her demeanor. Azami says this is how she wanted Yukari to turn out anyway.
Before the Spider Lilies Bloomed.
Azami and other youkai reminisce on the past.
After School.
In this dream world, Azami and Sumire discuss Yukari's control of the class being like a dictatorship.
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Azami
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Azami/Sprites
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Azami/Sprites
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# B. Battler
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B. Battler
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# B3W
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B3W
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# BATTLER
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BATTLER
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# BT
BT (birth name unknown) was a founding member of 07th Expansion and Ryukishi07's friend. He passed away on July 10, 2009 due to illness.
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BT
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Back Rank Mate
Back Rank Mate is the eleventh episode of the and the sixth and final episode of Turn of the Golden Witch.
Synopsis.
George and Shannon face off against Beatrice, having acquired Natsuhi's spirit mirror. Meanwhile, Battler has given up completely in his goal to deny the witch. The tenth twilight rapidly approaches, but Rosa and Maria try a daring escape.
Plot Summary.
First Half.
Beatrice has cornered Shannon and George in Natsuhi's room, her goat butlers flanking her. George is still desperately trying to open the jewelry box with Natsuhi's mirror inside as Beatrice mocks Shannon, saying that she's going to die before she can truly spend a night with George. He finally pulls out the mirror, and the goats begin charging at them, swords raised.
Shannon then reveals her own magic abilities, creating a shield that vaporizes the goats when they touch it. Beatrice comments how Shannon is excellent furniture of Kinzo's, just like Kanon. She then summons a fake Kanon, finding it fun to "reunite" him with Shannon after his death. Kanon tries to attack Shannon's shield, but isn't getting anywhere. George then holds up the mirror, and Kanon disintegrates; Beatrice sees that Natsuhi's mirror is making them stronger. She comments on how frightening furniture can be, and Shannon rebukes her; she no longer sees herself as furniture, thinking Beatrice to be very pitiful. Shannon understands that she and George may have regrets, but she promises to love George no matter what, having accepted his ring as proof. Beatrice is driven mad by Shannon's declarations, citing her disappointment and insulting her by repeatedly calling her furniture. She then sends a swarm of butterflies to attack Shannon's shield, and she expends more power to repel them. As the butterflies begin to overwhelm them, Shannon and George share a heartfelt moment as she asks George to say he loves her one last time; Beatrice interrupts him before he can, and repeatedly attacks them with stakes before killing them.
At 21:00, Genji returns to the parlor to tell Rosa's group that Nanjo and Kumasawa's corpses have been found. They follow him outside, where they can clearly see that their throats have been slit; they also have stakes embedded into their knee and leg, with Maria reciting the seventh and eighth twilights of the epitaph. Battler realizes that the fourth through sixth twilights were skipped, and asks Genji where George, Shannon, and Gohda are; they went to Natsuhi's room about three hours ago.
They all go to Natsuhi's room and find bloody handprints and marks all over the door. Rosa hands Battler a master key to unlock the door; the first thing they see is Gohda lying dead, a stake in his chest. George is also dead with a stake in his stomach, and Shannon is lying facedown on the dresser. Battler goes to inspect Shannon's corpse, lifting her body and seeing a stake fall out of her forehead. Rosa pulls him back, reminding him not to touch the crime scene until the police come. Battler wearily sits down, having accepted that the ceremony is complete with Gohda, George, and Shannon's deaths, and they're all probably going to die soon.
Everyone returns to the parlor, and Rosa sends off Genji, thanking him for his work. Battler objects, wondering why she'd send him off alone like this; Rosa ignores him. Soon after, Rosa is looking out the window at the rain and Battler suddenly finds another letter from Beatrice at the table. He opens it, which contains a magic circle drawn on paper and a message. The message from Beatrice asks if they've solved the epitaph, and reminds them that time is almost up; the ninth twilight will arrive soon. Maria asks what Battler is holding, and Rosa asks her to get back as she aims her gun at Battler; she now suspects him of being a wolf, saying he placed the letter on the table when she wasn't looking. Battler objects and accuses Rosa of the same, saying she put the letter on the table when "he "wasn't looking. Rosa claims that if she really were a wolf, she would've shot him earlier; Battler says it's irrelevant and realizes that Rosa was suspicious the entire time. He accuses Rosa of having killed the six adults in the first twilight when Maria stands between them, crying and saying that Beatrice is the culprit. Battler sits down and also cries, frustrated that they keep suspecting each other; he cries out for Beatrice to show herself as the scene transitions to the study, where Kinzo is also crying out to see Beatrice. He professes his love for her and wants to apologize to her, hearing a knock at his door.
At 23:30, Battler is inside the dining hall drinking by himself when Genji arrives. He's going to bring Battler to learn everything directly from Kinzo and Beatrice. They arrive at the study, where Battler sees golden butterflies everywhere. Beatrice, who was playing chess with Kinzo, welcomes him. The door to the Golden Land is going to open soon; until then, Beatrice will answer all of Battler's questions. Battler bombards her with questions as she offers one condition: if he accepts the witch's existence, Battler must submit himself to Beatrice completely. He takes the offer.
Second Half.
Rosa and Maria break into the chapel, grabbing a gold bar from the table and placing it in Maria's bag. Maria giggles, aware that the Golden Land is opening soon. Rosa realizes that Maria knows who Beatrice is, and yells for her to show herself.
Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Genji addresses a crowd of goat demons as he introduces the Golden Witch. Beatrice is led down the stairs by Battler, who's naked and chained with a collar. Bernkastel is revealed to be among the goat guests, removing her mask. Beatrice welcomes her and asks what she thinks of Battler, having become her furniture. Bern just comments on her "nice hobby" and leaves. Beatrice then gestures towards the clock, which is about to strike 24:00, heralding the opening of the Golden Land. Upon her command, swarms of butterflies gather in front of the clock and manifest into Kinzo, who's prepared to enter the Golden Land. Several goats surround Kinzo and tear him apart; Battler looks bored as he watches the slaughter. Beatrice then pulls the chain and makes Battler drop down like a dog, mocking him and leaving him screaming as the goats also tear him apart.
Rosa and Maria are now running through the rain, trying to get away from the butterflies and goats following them. Maria gets pinned down by one and Rosa shoots it, announcing her fierce will to protect Maria. She shoots a few more goats before running out of bullets, giving the gun to Maria to reload. Rosa then takes Maria's bag, which still has the gold bar inside, and kills a few more goats by whacking them with it. Maria finishes reloading, and the two of them stand together against the goats. Rosa asks if Maria will still stay with her despite being a bad mother, and Maria tearfully says yes, because Rosa is her only mom. Rosa pulls her closer as she fires another shot at the goats, and the clock finally strikes 24:00.
Tea Party.
Rosa wakes up strapped to a chair, with Beatrice sitting opposite her at a table. Beatrice notes how a lot of Rosa's pain was caused by her siblings, and prepares to give her pleasure to match it. She summons several plates of food covered by cloches, and some goat butlers to unveil them. The first meal is what Beatrice calls a Bloody Krauss, an aperitif made from Krauss' blood after putting him through a compressor. Rosa becomes visibly disturbed as the goat butlers force her to drink it. The next meal is a salad made from Eva's tongue; Beatrice says Rosa wanted to chew it to bits on her 9th birthday as the goats feed one to her. The third meal is a fish-shaped pie wrapped in Rudolf's face, who had betrayed Rosa so many times.
Beatrice finally reveals the dessert, which is Maria's severed head on a plate. Maria asks Rosa if she was ever in the way, lamenting how every time she was with a man, Rosa saw her as a pain and wished that Maria was never born. Rosa continues to be terrified, and Maria suddenly gets a crazed expression on her face, wanting Rosa to eat her and bake her. Beatrice asks Rosa to acknowledge her as a witch; she tearfully does so, and Beatrice becomes ecstatic as the goats try to shove Maria's head into Rosa's mouth.
Suddenly, Battler appears, back to his energetic self. He's regained his will to fight after seeing Rosa's perseverance, insulting Beatrice and joking with Maria. Rosa is relieved to see him as Beatrice excitedly accepts this development. Battler proclaims that he will deny Beatrice, and the two of them take a stance.
Beatrice and Bernkastel are inside the smoking room where Beatrice asks how the game was; Bern thought it was boring since it was one-sided. Beatrice asks if Bern thinks she has no chance of winning, being aware that Bern isn't planning to just observe the game. Lambdadelta then appears, saying she finally found Bern. Beatrice mentions how Lambda started allying with her once Bern started betting against her. Bernkastel announces her desire to start going all out now that Lambda is involved, and Beatrice hopes to see them in the next game.
Teaser.
Rosa narrates the preview, apologizing to Maria for the bad things she's done to her. She promises not to hit her anymore and finds a strange letter. She learns Maria got it from a strange man at Akihabara Station and reads it.
"Dear Ms. Rosa Ushiromiya...You have captured our hearts with your performance in the anime. The way you totally overreact to every little thing gets us super hot, you dirty girl. We'd all love for your feet to trample up and down our bodies. Haa, haa."
Rosa is surprised to see that it came from "all the viewers at home" and says the next episode title. Worldend Dominator begins playing as Rosa calls for anyone who wants to be crushed into oblivion like the Halloween candy to step forward.
Comparisons to Source Material.
This episode adapts the visual novel chapters "Fleeting Resistance", "Surrender", "Resurrection", "Banquet of the Witch", and the Tea Party and Hidden Tea Party/???.
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Back Rank Mate
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Back Staff Rooms
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Back Staff Rooms
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Backgrounds (Ciconia)
This page lists the background images used in . Backgrounds are grouped together by location and categorized whenever possible.
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Backgrounds (Ciconia)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Backgrounds (Higanbana)
This page lists the background images used in . Backgrounds are grouped together by location and categorized whenever possible.
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Backgrounds (Higanbana)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Backgrounds (Higurashi)
This page compiles other sets of backgrounds used in .
Junkyard.
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Misc.
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Hinamizawa Branch School.
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Sonozaki Main House.
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Hifumi's House.
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Rena's House.
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Forest.
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Dam Site.
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Keiichi's House.
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Hospital.
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Swamp.
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Okinomiya PD.
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</tabber>
Car.
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</tabber>
Houjou Residence.
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</tabber>
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Backgrounds (Higurashi)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Backgrounds (Iwaihime)
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Backgrounds (Iwaihime)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Backgrounds (RGD)
Collection of background images used in "Rose Guns Days""."
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Backgrounds (RGD)
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Baibao
Baibao (白豹), officially designated the Imperial Guard Aerial Augmented Infantry Squad, is a squad that belongs to the Central Ocean Union.
Baibao is deified in the COU for propaganda purposes, and are a one-man ace style team.
Profile.
"Attached to the COU Combined Military HQ Imperial Guard Aerial Augmented Infantry Squad Baibao"
"Currently the best of the Aerial Augmented Infantry squads across the COU, this kette is fated to reign supreme at all times. Their kette is composed of one Attacker, one Responder, and one Supporter. Baibao Squad is like a single swordsman built out of three people in well-defined roles, with Lingji as the attack sword, Momotake as the short sword in the other hand, used to attack and defend as needed, and Aysha as the eyes and ears. For that reason, some might fear that they would stop functioning if even a single cog was missing. However, in practice, this kette has performed excellently and stands at the peak of the COU Aerial Augmented Infantry."
"Their specialty is achieving air superiority, and they're particularly focused on anti-Aerial Augmented Infantry tactics. As a side note, large numbers of kette in the Chinese military use the characters for white (bai) and leopard (bao) in their names in imitation of Baibao Squad, which can get a bit confusing at times."
Story.
Baibao is formally introduced in Chapter 2 at the International Battle Standard Festival. They later take the Public Bath Oath.
In Chapter 11, Baibao is sent on their first combat mission to destroy ABN mining machines.
In Chapter 17, Baibao leads COU forces against the AOU above the Amur River.
In Chapter 24, Baibao starts commanding many trainee Gauntlet Knights sent into combat before the second global truce.
In Chapter 25, Lingji is killed by Miyao after the latter's Gauntlet is hacked by Toujirou.
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Baibao
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Bakemonotachi ga Usobuku Koro ni
, officially abbreviated as , is a novel written by Ryukishi07, illustrated by Remotaro and released on the LINE Novel service on December 16th, 2019. The service was shut down on August 31, 2020, but the work was published as a book with illustrations by Shigeo Hamashima on October 10 of the same year.
Synopsis.
LINE Novel.
<tabber>
"Ryukishi07's latest work! A story about monsters full of mystery and eccentricity."
""Raichi, this is my hospitality towards you, as well as a token of deep affection amongst fellow monsters. Eat it." With those words, she held it out to me, shining with the luster of raw freshness and the color of flesh——was a piece of human entrails."
Year 25 of Shouwa era (1950).
In the late summer, a young man, Raichi Shiozawa, visits the village of Mishirushi, where old superstitions and folklore still remained. The purpose of his visit is to tutor Matsurika Mishirushi, the young mistress of a prominent village family.
However, Matsurika is not an ordinary human; she is a monster that feeds on human innards. What drove this lovely well-mannered young girl to transform into a monstrous princess? Is it an illness? A curse?
At the same time, the disappearance case of eight young girls transpires. What truth lurks behind this?
Straddling the boundary between humans and monsters, the "Monster Princess's Private Tutor", Raichi Shiozawa shall expose every mystery————!
Ryukishi07, the author of the "When They Cry" series presents to you a new story filled with enigma and aberrance.
"竜騎士07最新作！ 謎と猟奇に満ちた、“バケモノ”たちの物語、開演。""
「磊一よ、私からの持て成しと、同じバケモノ同士への親愛の証じゃ。食え」そう言って彼女が突き出した“それ”は、生々しい艶をもつ肌色の――人間のはらわただった。
昭和25年。
晩夏。青年・塩沢磊一は、いまだ古い迷信と因習が残る、御首村を訪れる。その目的は村の名家の令嬢・御首茉莉花の家庭教師をすること。
だが彼女は普通の“ニンゲン”にあらず、人の臓物を食らう“バケモノ”であった。美しくしとやかな少女がバケモノ姫へと変貌を遂げた理由は、病か、それとも祟りか――。
そして、時を同じくして発生する、８人もの少女の失踪事件。その真相とは。
ニンゲンとバケモノの境界線上で、“バケモノ姫の家庭教師”、塩沢磊一がすべての謎を明らかにする――！
『なく頃に』シリーズの竜騎士07が贈る、謎と猟奇に満ちた、新たなる物語をここに。""
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Book volume.
Japanese.
"『ひぐらしのなく頃に』の竜騎士０７最新作、新たな鮮血の物語の幕が上がる"
"「磊一よ、私からの持て成しと、同じバケモノ同士への親愛の証じゃ。食え」"
"そう言って彼女が突き出したそれは、人間の“はらわた”だった――。"
"昭和２５年晩夏。名家の令嬢の家庭教師として、村を訪れた青年・塩沢磊一。そこで彼が目にしたものは、死体のはらわたを貪る美しき“バケモノ”、御首茉莉花の姿であった。淑やかな令嬢の変貌は病か、それとも祟りによるものか……？"
"時を同じくして起こる少女の連続失踪事件。失踪者の特徴は、茉莉花の部屋で見た“それ”と一致していて……。"
"バケモノ姫の家庭教師・塩沢磊一がすべての謎を解き明かす――!!"
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Bakemonotachi ga Usobuku Koro ni
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Bakemonotachi ga Usobuku Koro ni ~ Bakemonohime no Kateikyoushi ~
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Bakemonotachi ga Usobuku Koro ni ~ Bakemonohime no Kateikyoushi ~
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banken
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Banken
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet
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Banquet
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch
Banquet of the Golden Witch is the third episode and Question Arc of the series. It was released at Comiket 74 on August 16, 2008 and is followed by "Alliance of the Golden Witch".
The original release of "Banquet of the Golden Witch" includes the previous two chapters.
Introduction.
"Good morning. I'm quite surprised to see that you still haven't surrendered.The Golden Witch has extremely high hopes for you."
"Have you figured out the structure of this world by now?""You have no chance of victory unless you know the rules.""Please, enjoy your game with the Witch to your heart's content."
"The difficulty level is equal.""Equal for both you and the Witch."
Plot Summary.
The episode continues the battle between Battler and Beatrice, with the events on the island having a special focus on Eva Ushiromiya. Battler's debate against magic is further complicated by the introduction of new witches and demons, and as the Ushiromiya adults make a serious attempt to solve the epitaph, Battler starts to learn more about Beatrice's past and the state of the island.
Characters.
New Characters.
Ushiromiya Family
Furniture
Witches
Release History.
Original Release (Comiket 74).
"Banquet of the Golden Witch" first released on PC at C74 on August 16, 2008.
Comiket 75.
This arc was rereleased with "Alliance of the Golden Witch" at C75 on December 29, 2008.
English Release.
The Question Arcs were officially translated to English and released by MangaGamer on July 8, 2016. It featured new character artwork by Natsumi Kei based on the pachinko game. There are also a number of new CGs, however these are not enabled by default as they were added before release and could not be tested or approved.
Saku.
"Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku" released as a compilation of every arc on PC on October 4, 2019.
Ports.
This arc has been featured in the following console ports:
Adaptations.
The 2009 Umineko: When They Cry anime by Studio DEEN adapted "Banquet of the Golden Witch" in Episodes 12 to 18.
Manga.
The manga adaptation of "Banquet of the Golden Witch" was illustrated by Kei Natsumi and serialized in Square Enix's Gangan Joker magazine from October 2009 to July 2011. It was later collected into five volumes. Yen Press published them in English in two omnibus volumes.
Novels.
Kodansha released two volumes adapting "Banquet of the Golden Witch":
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/CG
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/CG
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/Characters
This page contains the in-game character bios for the arc, including death bios.
Human Side.
Kinzo Ushiromiya .
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Krauss Ushiromiya .
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Natsuhi Ushiromiya .
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Jessica Ushiromiya .
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Eva Ushiromiya .
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Hideyoshi Ushiromiya .
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George Ushiromiya .
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Rudolf Ushiromiya .
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Kyrie Ushiromiya .
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Battler Ushiromiya .
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Rosa Ushiromiya .
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Maria Ushiromiya .
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Attending Physician Nanjo .
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Servant Genji .
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Servant Shannon .
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Servant Kanon .
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Toshiro Gohda .
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Chiyo Kumasawa .
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Beatrice .
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Ange Ushiromiya .
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</tabber>
Fantasy Side.
Beatrice .
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Bernkastel .
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Lambdadelta .
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Virgilia .
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EVA-Beatrice .
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ANGE-Beatrice .
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Ronove .
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The Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard Corps.
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Stakes of Purgatory .
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All of the Goats .
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/Colored Text
This page contains all the red truths for the episode, contextualized and arranged by chapter.
Prologue.
Second Game, Second Twilight.
Jessica and Kanon were shown to be killed by Beatrice's furniture beforehand. The survivors found Jessica's body face down in her room with a stake stabbed into her back. Kanon's corpse was not found. Jessica's room had been locked and was opened by Rosa with Gohda's master key. A key was found on the side table with a cute mascot next to it, likely Jessica's key to her room.
Regarding the closed room
Chapter 5: Rosa and the Witch of the Forest.
Rosa's Story.
Rosa recounted an episode from her childhood where she had stumbled upon a hidden mansion and met a person called Beatrice. The woman was the splitting image of the portrait, but seemed far more sheltered and docile than the Beatrice Battler knew of. Beatrice described it as the story of her past, where Kinzo had bound her soul in the form of a human, causing her to lose her memories and identity. She had lived in this mansion for her whole life, periodically visited by Kinzo, though the man had evaded all questions regarding her identity and situation. Rosa had taken Beatrice to see the outside world, but Beatrice slipped off a cliff and died upon hitting the rocks below.
Regarding Beatrice's past
Regarding Beatrice's fall
Chapter 9: Skirmish.
First Twilight.
The five servants and Kinzo were found dead by the adults in six separate rooms, all of which had their doors and windows locked. According to Nanjo, the chest wounds on the servants were likely due to a spear or a gun. Kinzo's corpse was burnt entirely, and had been identified due to him having polydactyly.
The six rooms formed a closed "loop" of locked rooms. An envelope was found alongside each corpse, and contained both a master key (with the exception of Kinzo) and the room key to the next room in the sequence. Shannon's corpse had been discovered first via the breaking of a window, and the remaining corpses were found in the following order as per the room keys discovered:
Beatrice's closed room definition
Regarding the locks and keys
Regarding classic closed room tricks
Regarding the manner of death
Chapter 10: The Key to the Golden Land.
Number of Humans.
The only red truth in this chapter is used by Virgilia during a private conversation with Beatrice, where she is referencing to her red statement in Chapter 5: Rosa and the Witch of the Forest.
Chapter 13: Warning of Sacrifices.
Second Twilight.
Rosa and Maria's corpses were found by Rudolf in the rose garden. According to Nanjo, the causes of death were a stab to the medulla oblongata by the fence for Rosa and bare-handed strangling for Maria. The two had earlier been killed by EVA Beatrice in multiple cruel ways using the Endless Magic, and had been given this less brutal death by Beatrice.
Rosa's gun had also been found at the scene with none of its ammunition expended. Hideyoshi had tested the gun and found it to be in working condition and not tampered with.
Regarding the causes of death
Chapter 17: The Witch's Courtroom.
Second Twilight.
See the description in Chapter 13: Warning of Sacrifices.
Eva was observed to be pale earlier, and Hideyoshi felt her body temperature to be high. The two retired to a guest room on the second floor, where Hideyoshi watched over Eva as she tried to rest. They later went downstairs upon the discovery of Rosa and Maria's bodies.
Regarding Eva's alibi
Fourth to Sixth Twilights.
The bodies of Rudolf, Kyrie, and Hideyoshi were found in the entrance hall by Battler, Eva, George, and Nanjo. They had wounds to their head, abdomen, and chest respectively, and stakes had been driven into these wounds. The corpses were not found next to each other, and their clothing was disordered, suggesting that they may have tried to resist or escape from the culprit.
The three of them had gone to the mansion earlier to get food, with Rudolf and Hideyoshi carrying guns. Hideyoshi later gave his gun to Kyrie so that he could push the cart. Rudolf and Kyrie were then killed by the Chiesters under orders from EVA Beatrice. Hideyoshi had confronted EVA afterwards, causing her to use magic to remotely fire Rudolf's gun at him.
Regarding the Eva culprit theory
Seventh and Eight Twilights.
The bodies of Krauss and Natsuhi were found in the rose garden arbor by Battler, Jessica, Eva, and Nanjo. According to Nanjo, the markings on their necks indicated the cause of death to be strangulation. In addition, stakes had been found stabbed into Krauss's thigh and Natsuhi's calf. The two had been killed by the Chiesters under orders from EVA Beatrice while they were in the parlor, and then dragged out to the rose garden.
Regarding the Eva culprit theory
Kyrie's Motive.
After Rosa and Maria's deaths, Kyrie and the other adults had decided that it would be best to focus on staying alive by remaining in the guesthouse and defending it. However, Kyrie later decided that she wanted to go outside to get food. She suggested that Hideyoshi join her and Rudolf.
Regarding the contradiction in Kyrie's thinking and actions
Ninth Twilight.
Nanjo was killed by EVA Beatrice in the corridor outside the servant room. Jessica, who was inside the room, heard the commotion, but had been blinded by the discharge from Eva's rifle during their struggle earlier. Eva had run off after that, and Battler had followed her.
Regarding Eva's alibi
Life and death statuses
Regarding the possibility that Battler, Eva, or Jessica killed Nanjo
Regarding the manner of Nanjo's death
Manga Extras.
The manga for this arc contains additional reasoning by Battler and one extra red truth. The additional information is documented here.
Fourth to Sixth Twilights.
See the description in Chapter 17: The Witch's Courtroom.
Regarding the events at the mansion
Seventh and Eight Twilights.
See the description in Chapter 17: The Witch's Courtroom.
Regarding the manner of death
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/Colored Text
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/Solution
This article attempts to describe solutions to the gameboard's mysteries in "Banquet of the Golden Witch""." It is primarily based on content from the manga versions of the final two arcs, which Ryukishi07 has stated to be an official answer from him.
Willard's solutions and the elaborations in the "Requiem of the Golden Witch" manga are the most direct solutions and are taken verbatim from the story. In addition, the page will contain additional information as well as solutions to other mysteries based interviews, side materials, and story content from analogous scenes in the "Twilight of the Golden Witch" manga. Clair's descriptions of the mysteries are also listed whenever they exist.
This page only aims to describe the whodunnit and howdunnit of the mysteries. There is a wealth of additional emotional subtext behind many of these scenes that will not be described here due to its greater reliance on reader interpretation of the scenes themselves. We strongly encourage rereading the story in order to discover this for yourself.
Before the Murders.
Sayo enlists the help of Kumasawa and Nanjo in setting up a fake murder mystery for Battler. Genji is told the true nature of Sayo's murder-suicide plan, but still pledges his cooperation due to his loyalty and a sense of guilt for having contributed to Sayo's suffering.
Sayo likely played the part of Beatrice and gave Maria a letter. No disguise is necessary as Maria recognizes people by their appearance, and believes Beatrice to be possessing Sayo.
Sayo also removes the switchboard at some point before the first twilight, disabling the phones. It is unknown if this disabled only the external lines or if she re-enabled them before making the call to the guesthouse to lure George out.
After the first twilight, Eva solves the epitaph and starts murdering people.
First Twilight.
"Third game, first twilight. Six corpses connected by the linked closed rooms."
Red Truths
Red Truths (Manga)
Second Twilight.
"Third game, second twilight. The corpses of mother and child lay together in the rose garden."
Red Truths
Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Twilights.
"Third game, fourth, fifth, and sixth twilights. Three corpses lying in the mansion."
Red Truths
Red Truths (Manga)
Seventh and Eighth Twilights.
"Third game, seventh and eighth twilights. The corpses of husband and wife lay exposed under the arbor."
Ninth Twilight - George's Death.
Red Truths
Solution
Sayo called Nanjo, who helped George escape the guesthouse by locking the window behind George after George used it to escape. Nanjo locks the window from the inside, fulfilling both of the red truths. It is unknown as to whether she disabled only the external lines or disabled all phone communications and re-enabled them for this call. George went to the mansion where he was shot and killed.
Afterwards, Sayo likely painted the number "07151129" on the parlor door. 0715 is Battler's birthday, July 15th, while 1129 is Beatrice's birthday, November 29th.
Ninth Twilight - Nanjo's Death.
The light novel adds additional sections for the duel between Clair and Willard in "Requiem" regarding Nanjo's death. (Translated by Pteryon)
"Third game, ninth twilight. The Golden Witch who attacked the pleading old doctor."
Red Truths
Red Truths (Manga)
Tenth Twilight.
The bomb was activated sometime on the second day. Once the clock struck 24:00, it triggered the activation of 900 tons of explosives. After killing Battler, Eva escaped to Kuwadorian before the end of Oct 5 and survived while everyone else was "brought to the Golden Land". How Eva acquired the Head's Ring and learned about the planned explosion and the path to Kuwadorian is left unexplained.
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/Solution
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/Summary
The episode continues the battle between Battler and Beatrice, with the events on the island having a special focus on Eva Ushiromiya. Beatrice's past is also introduced, and several more fantasy characters are added to the cast. Unlike in the first two episodes, the adults make a serious attempt to solve the epitaph.
New character pages are linked as the characters' profiles are first given in the story, not when they are first mentioned by others or appear unnamed. Short meta-layer sections are indicated with curly brackets and italicized, while longer ones will be in their own rows and unmarked. Song titles are in bold only when they are played for the first time.
Prologue.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Days as a Girl.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
My Preparations are Complete.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Witch's Written Challenge.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Possibility of a 19th Person.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Rosa and the Witch of the Forest.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Beginning of the Ceremony.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Madam Beatrice.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Virgilia.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Skirmish.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Key to the Golden Land.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Coronation.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The New Witch.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Warning of Sacrifices.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Battle to the Death in the Hall.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Definition of a Witch.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Real Magic.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Witch's Courtroom.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
The Witch's Illusion.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Tea Party.
Background Music
Characters Appearing
Background Music
Characters Appearing
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/Summary
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/TIPS
The Portrait Epitaph.
Behold the sweetfish river running through my beloved hometown.You who seek the Golden Land, follow its path downstream in search of the key.
As you travel down it, you will see a village.In that village, look for the shore the two will tell you of.There sleeps the key to the Golden Land.
The one who obtains the key must then travel to the Golden Land in accordance with these rules.
On the first twilight, offer the six chosen by the key as sacrifices.On the second twilight, those who remain shall tear apart the two who are close.On the third twilight, those who remain shall praise my noble name.On the fourth twilight, gouge the head and kill.On the fifth twilight, gouge the chest and kill.On the sixth twilight, gouge the stomach and kill.On the seventh twilight, gouge the knee and kill.On the eighth twilight, gouge the leg and kill.On the ninth twilight, the witch shall revive, and none shall be left alive.On the tenth twilight, at journey's end, you shall attain to the power of the Golden Land's treasures, once and for the last time.
The witch shall praise the wise and bestow four treasures.One shall be all the gold from the Golden Land.One shall be the resurrection of all the dead souls.One shall be the resurrection of the love that was lost.One shall be to put the witch to sleep for all time.
Sleep peacefully, my beloved witch, Beatrice.
The Witch's Letter.
So that there will be no misunderstandings... The game I seek is for everyone to try and solve the riddle of the epitaph, not for you to try and catch me.
If you don't solve the riddle, the pitiful sacrifices will further increase in number. It would be wiser to spend your time solving the epitaph, instead of searching for me. If no one can solve the riddle, no one will survive.
If a person appears who can miraculously solve it, I will give them all the gold of the Golden Land, the Ushiromiya Family inheritance, and all of my power. I was the one who succeeded the Ushiromiya Family Headship after Kinzo-sama. I look forward to seeing who will succeed to that headship after me.
――Beatrice the Golden
The Witch's Game Record.
Ushiromiya Kinzo
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Servant Genji
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Servant Shannon
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Servant Kanon
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Servant Gohda
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Servant Kumasawa
Died on the first twilight.
Chosen by the key of the Golden Land and offered up as a sacrifice.
Ushiromiya Rosa
Died on the second twilight.
Offered up as a sacrifice for the new witch.
Ushiromiya Maria
Died on the second twilight.
Offered up as a sacrifice for the new witch.
Ushiromiya Rudolf
Died on the fourth twilight.
Forehead gouged by the "Stake of Asmmodeus".
Ushiromiya Hideyoshi
Died on the fifth twilight.
Chest gouged by the "Stake of Beelzebub".
Ushiromiya Kyrie
Died on the sixth twilight.
Stomach gouged by the "Stake of Mammon".
Ushiromiya Krauss
Died on the seventh twilight.
Thigh gouged by the "Stake of Lucifer".
Ushiromiya Natsuhi
Died on the eighth twilight.
Foot gouged by the "Stake of Satan".
The Witch Beatrice
Revived on the ninth twilight.
This time, she awakened as a true Golden Witch.
Ushiromiya George
Died on the ninth twilight.
The new witch will not let anyone survive.
Attending Physician Nanjo
Died on the ninth twilight.
The new witch will not let anyone survive.
Ushiromiya Battler
Died on the ninth twilight.
The new witch will not let anyone survive.
Ushiromiya Jessica
Missing on the tenth twilight
After she acknowledged the existence of the witch and prostrated herself, the witch invited her to the Golden Land.
Ushiromiya Eva
Solved the riddle of the epitaph. Returned from Rokkenjima alive.
The witch praised her victory and gave her all of the gold and magic.
The Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard Corps.
An Imperial Guard Corps formed by the Dragon King Pendragon in memory of the flight of the red dragon and composed only of sisters. They are technically subordinates of the Dragon King, but because of a long relationship with successive generations of Beatrices, it was permitted that two Imperial Guard soldiers be lent out.
The sisters are simulated lifeforms created by magic. For that reason, further sisters with a great variety of personalities are continually being created even now.
A great cost must be paid to manifest them in the human world, so summoning them can be quite a tricky prospect, even considering the tremendous fighting power they offer. For that reason, they are often summoned as honor guards to serve during special ceremonies and the like.
The Chiester Golden Bows.
One of the articles of sniping equipment used by the Chiester Sisters Imperial Guard Corps. The arrow's trajectory can be controlled at will, but it takes special talent and special training to wield its true potential. For that reason, merely being able to equip it is an honor reserved for high-class snipers. It's a masterpiece anti-armor sniping bow, capable of penetrating a wide variety of armors and barriers, and with a rich array of ammo that may be used as the arrow's warhead.
As a side note, the ammo primarily used during the story were Wire-Guided Winged Pierce Rounds. The fact that they are wire guided makes them heavily resistant to deception and capable of long-distance precision sniping amidst complicated indoor terrain.
Regarding the Succession of Witches.
In the noble families of witches, family secrets are often inherited by a single child to prevent a propagation of hidden arts and a subsequent decline in their quality. This rule applies for the Endless Witches, so their most secret arts are passed down to a single pupil, and once one has passed down these arts to another, they retire to further stem their propagation.
Custom dictates that a witch from another sect make a recommendation before a succession may occur. Lambdadelta recommended EVA. Bernkastel recommended ANGE. It is unknown who recommended Beato.
Furthermore, during the story, Beatrice inherited that name along with the position, but that is a very recent innovation. The Predecessor was the original Beatrice, and all Endless Witches before her had different names. After that, it became customary for the name to be inherited as well, and EVA followed that tradition when giving ANGE the name of Beatrice.
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/TIPS
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch/Truth
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Banquet of the Golden Witch/Truth
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch C74 Booklet
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Banquet of the Golden Witch C74 Booklet
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 01
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Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 01
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 02
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Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 02
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 03
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Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 03
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 04
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Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 04
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fandom.07th-expansion
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# Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 05
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Banquet of the Golden Witch Manga Volume 05
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