Board 8 > Umineko readthrough part 4 by Arria (blind) and Kira (2nd reading) SPOILERS OKAY

(+) Yeah! (+)

Dlanor refers to herself as a human and we spend a good minute trying to figure out THAT context. She did say ningen in Japanese, so it wasnt a translation error. Weird.

The Chiesters ask for the characters invitation. Dlanor gives her hers.
A: Like theres ANYONE else who looks like her!

Gaap asks her to respond to the blue truth
Dlanor: Please fill out the application
A: I love my rules lawyer characters. This reminds me of something in the Dresden Files. Yes, Dresden, youre in MY court now. Please continue fucking with me.
Strike-through and white out is also prohibited!
Chiester 410: They say the same thing applies to Comiket!
A: Um, Ryukishi? Are you okay, honey?

K: I always think of this scene when you talk about Dlanor being a rules-lawyer
A: God she is my FAVORITE little murder hobo right now!

A: Guess what, numb nuts? She just GAVE you the answer. She said in red that she cant answer that!

Featherine and Ange
Ange: Doesnt this violate the rules!?
A: Also: YOURE THE AUTHOR
Ange: You cant give a quiz and then refuse to give the answer!
A: Lack of an answer IS an answer!

Ange: So what happens next?
A: Porn for Erika. Note I dont specify which Erika
K: *chuckles* BOTH of us.
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A: Oh, is it because its raining? Good luck putting tape on a wet window!

...****, I wish I thought of that...
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It makes sense, too. Sometimes I get so caught up in Umineko logic I forget to real-world logic.
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Eerieka posted...

It makes sense, too. Sometimes I get so caught up in Umineko logic I forget to real-world logic.

Right??

There's is one thing in the locked room later I still feel is a justifiable theory and want to posit around thst time
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Would love to hear it, Mega Mana. Don't forget to mention it when the time comes. :)

~~~

The wedding begins.
K: This might be my favorite wedding in all fiction
A: I mean, we started with Chiesters and Dlanor on screen!

Furfur and Zepar announce: Let us welcome the bride and groom as they walk down the hall in the shackles called marriage!
Arria nearly CHOKES on the coconut snack shes eating.
A: Im glad I didnt read this prior to my own wedding.

The stakes come in behind Erika and Battler. They are all complaining about Battler being dumb
A: I adore the stakes
Then Beelzebub and Asmodeus only care about food and love
A: *snort* These two

Lambda and Bern make a bet on whether Beato will come
Lambda: I bet she comes with certainty
Bern: I bet she comes miraculously
A: *laughs* You two are assholes

Zepar and Furfur: On behalf of the groom who cannot speak, let Erika say the oath for both of them!
K: Because THATS how weddings work!
A: Uh-huh!
---

bump. Haven't read with Arria in a while. Gonna have to drag it out even more.
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We get the picture of Battler on his knees and his hand in Erikas.
A; I love this picture.
K: Me too Also, the game starts now.
A; *perks up*

The ring has eight thorns. Eight is kinda like. my number, which Arria picked up on right away
A: I like that is has eight you bitch.

This scene is basically a rape scene, but my god do I love it.
A: I love how Ryukishi turned the usual trope around. Usually its the bride whos all like oh my god, its. its too big! Itll never fit! And here its the bride doing it to the groom.
K: Yep!
A: Wow, these are lines from just about every bodice-ripper ever written but in reverse! Impressive work.

Erika: Say Forgive me, Erika-sama. Ill pretend to be a dog and wear a collar if youll make me not have to wear that ring!
A: Is this the line?
K: Thats the line! You win!
A: Oh good! Because there have been times thats like oh, thats a good line but no, not perfect. This one is perfect! It SCREAMS Erika. Both of you!
K: Yes!
K: Also, my headcanon for this scene is that the ring is actually a cock-ring
A: Oh yeah, same here! I dont know what that says about both of us.

After the ring has been jammed in
A: Didnt I say earlier on that there are easier ways to get a ring off? Butter or something? I rescind that statement.
---

A: Oh, theres a dark thought. They keep saying the bullet will kill anything it touches. What if Shannon aims at Jessica? That would essentially kill Kanon.
K: Hmm. Yeah, it would. I dont know if the demons set out a rule that the bullets can only kill the combatants.

Back to the duel, and Beatrice is freaking out over why Shannon and Kanon have to fight because why cant they just be in love and live their own lives?
A: Honestly, the trope of the love triangle is pissing me off in fiction in general.

Beatrice: But there are four people here!
Furfur and Zepar: Actually furniture is sub-human!
A: Oh man, there are so many racist jokes that could go here. Ill refrain.

A: Also, I imagine Shannon and Kanon are just waiting around like.. *Arria gets up to get something in the kitchen. Which standing, she poses the way she imagines them standing, waiting* Shannons gonna be like Were trying to have a duel here! Give your history lesson some other time!
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So I brought up this briefly on discord but I figured I'd ask here:

Knox's 5th Commandent was omitted from the Decalogue. "No Chinaman (foreigner)" can appear in the story.

I was thinking while at work...maybe it was omitted because Erika actually is the foreigner in the story? I mean she does randomly kinda appear out of nowhere, being written to survive a boat crash or whatever. I originally thought it was because it was racist/they're all Japanese but yeah


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Like the other instances of the Decalogue, I think the 5th technically IS in Umineko, even if the game itself says it's "unused." Consider the spirit of the advice, rather than what it literally means.

I think Knox's inclusion of the rule was twofold. First, there were a lot of racist portrayals of Chinese people in novels back in his day and he felt it was damaging the integrity of a mystery novel for the culprit to be a racist stereotype.

But secondly, I think there's an essence of "your characters need to have comprehensible motives to your audience." Knox wants readers to have a chance at solving the mystery, but if the final "whydunnit" is something like "this foreign person believed that killing a virgin girl during a full moon and eating her pancreas will make him immortal", then no Westerner is going to figure that out on their own.

I think the reason the rule was excluded in Umineko was because no one was a foreigner to the intended Japanese audience (I would say Erika is Japanese, even in a witchy/fictional sense), but moreover because Sayo's reason for committing murder isn't culture-specific (to a culture unknown to most Japanese).

It's also possibly Ryukishi wasn't sure how to rewrite the rule to fit his story while also inserting it in any meaningful way. Trying to imagine any scene where Battler would come up with an idea, only for Dlanor to shoot it down with this rule, and I can't think of anything.

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"The culprit was a Martian, using space technology! They were murdering to get blood to fuel the mothership! Aliens don't count as people, so the Martain isn't one of the people on the island!"

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JeffreyRaze posted...

"The culprit was a Martian, using space technology! They were murdering to get blood to fuel the mothership! Aliens don't count as people, so the Martain isn't one of the people on the island!"

I would have loved to see Battler use this at some point, actually, even if just as a joke. And yeah, that would have been a good way to include the 5th rule.

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They go on about how people are only allowed to love one other person.
A: this is the 21st century! Its okay!
K: I mean, this is literally not the 21st century
A: You can still love your kids!
Zepar then brings exactly that situation up.
A: I get that theyre talking about eros, but
K: And in Japanese, theyre saying ai with all the implications that brings.

Beato: I dont understand!
A: Beato, darling. You speak for all of us
K: (internally thinking that it makes perfect sense)
A: except for that bitch *points to me*
We laugh.

A: So in each game, Shannon and Kanon sometimes stop being furniture. Do they become furniture again at the start of each game?
K: Yes?
A: Because they remembered previous games. So is it like Congrats! Youre human! Oh, the game ends, youre back to being furniture!

We get the art of Kanon shooting Shannon, then Shannon stands up
A: Oh, she fell down! Clever girl Also, I love her socks
*laugh*
A: I know, I know! Serious scene. But really! Look at those nice socks!

---

They talk about how the duel was a farce and theyll see each other in the Golden Land.
A: So if I hadnt asked you about it, they would have said it right here anyway!
Shannon and Kanon basically say see ya later yeah, you too
A: Also, you are about to kill a man/woman, NOT end a phone call!

Shannon kills Kanon. Jessica has a screaming fit.
Shannon: George, I have no won the right to love you
A: Gonna be honest. If I were George right now, Id be like well, Im gonna see myself out

Zepar and Furfur blessed Shannon into becoming a whole Human
A: And now shes reached her final evolution?

Elder Beato screams for Chick-Beato.
A: its really weird hearing Beatrice scream her own name.

Flashback of Battler talking to Sayo
A: I really hope this doesnt play out the way I think it does.
Battler: Id really love to rub those boobs!
A: After all the bullshit this episode, I bet the voice actor was really glad to have this break in tension
K: To be fair, I bet all Daisuke Ono has said this session was uhh and I wont. forgive you

---

A: Gonna be honest. If I had not read the previous five episodes, I would STILL be as confused as I am now!

At the end of the scene, I took a break to go to the bathroom and I told Arria to think about the scene.
When I came back she said that shed come to the belief that Shannon created the persona of Beatrice and has been committing the murders. She even came to the conclusion that because Shannon was the name given to her by her employer, its not a name she cares for or is attached to. But Beatrice is a name she CHOSE to take. Sure, Beatrice already exists as a legend and a person: Kinzos mistress, their child, etc. Itd be like me saying Im now Betsy Ross. That legend exists. No ones stopping me from pretending I have the soul of Betsy Ross inside me! So Shannon and Beatrice are two halves of the same person. I then asked her what Kanons role was, and she still hasnt discovered Shannon=Kanon. She suggested that Kanon was another servant who was initially roped into the murders, but then got in her way and wanted to stop them because he wanted to protect Jessica. The duel represents something that really did happen, and Shannon had to kill Kanon.

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Eerieka posted...

A: Gonna be honest. If I had not read the previous five episodes, I would STILL be as confused as I am now!

At the end of the scene, I took a break to go to the bathroom and I told Arria to think about the scene.
When I came back she said that shed come to the belief that Shannon created the persona of Beatrice and has been committing the murders. She even came to the conclusion that because Shannon was the name given to her by her employer, its not a name she cares for or is attached to. But Beatrice is a name she CHOSE to take. Sure, Beatrice already exists as a legend and a person: Kinzos mistress, their child, etc. Itd be like me saying Im now Betsy Ross. That legend exists. No ones stopping me from pretending I have the soul of Betsy Ross inside me! So Shannon and Beatrice are two halves of the same person. I then asked her what Kanons role was, and she still hasnt discovered Shannon=Kanon. She suggested that Kanon was another servant who was initially roped into the murders, but then got in her way and wanted to stop them because he wanted to protect Jessica. The duel represents something that really did happen, and Shannon had to kill Kanon.

Oooooh, getting so very, very close to the truth!

That, at this point, I was so very, very far away from.

---

Lol yeah, I was absolutely confounded when I read this myself. I'd read the rumors about Shkanon=Kanon, but at that time I couldn't quite wrap my head around it

~~~

Kanon says This is my sin.
A: Is Kanon the opposite of Battler?
K: I think at this point, you might be able to figure out what Battlers sin was.
A: Six years ago, he
K: He had that conversation with Shannon
A: Then cast her off. No, thats not the right word. He gave her those ideas and she ran with them.
K: But what did he do?
A: He betrayed her?
K: He never came back.
A: Of course. Because life happened. But Shannon was young and confused and didnt know what happened. She thought Battler betrayed her. Then George came and got her out of that dark place, and she fell in love with him, too.

We talked some more and, piece by piece, I think shes starting to solve the mystery. Shes started to entertain the idea that Kanon doesnt exist. I had drawn a diagram of the rooms to show which doors and windows were sealed, and I had written names, plus everyone else in blue ink (I would have used red, but I dont have a red pen lol). I think this picture helped.

As we read the scene just before Beatrice crashes the party, Arria said I want to find out if my theories are right!

Erika started to scream Beatrices name.
A: Honestly, just from the B part I thought she was about to scream bitch although in this game, theres not a big difference

Theres a fight scene involving pretty much everyone.
A: I know this is all just show-dressing, but I love the aesthetic.

Dlanor convinces the Seven Sisters to attack Gertrude because theyd be serving Battler that way.
K: Again, shes just casually being like I cant order you to do this thing, but you COULD attack my own subordinate and it would be within the rules
A: Shes so great.

---

Beatrice throws the white glove.
Zepar and Furfur explain why Erika has to accept the duel. We would probably mock her far and wide if she didnt!
A: *snort* I like how its we would probably Like, no, you two bitches would absolutely do it.

Beatrice taunts Erika with a closed room which cannot be solved.
A: And youve taken the bait.

Erika tears off her wedding dress and has her usual costume under it. We both laugh at how ridiculous it looks that to think she was hiding that under her wedding dress.

Back at Kanon running in the rain, and hes thinking back about all the people he knew. He says something about Natsuhi was strict with the female servants, but kind to the boys.
A: Thats awfully telling, isnt it? That Kanon doesnt exist.

Then to Kanons thoughts about Jessica
A; What is Shannon poisoned that well, so to speak. Youre just a servant. You cant fall in love with the heir to the Ushiromiya house. Youre not worthy. Because its been what shes been telling herself this whole time.

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Finally at Higurashi again, mid-episode two, past the portion of anxious Maebara-like frozen terror when Maebara sees Shion and Mion at the same time.

Think I started in part VII? After the Watanagashi festival.

I have a distinct feeling that Shion is impersonating Mion at the moment. She's not sick, she's tired from running from her house in Okinomiya to meet with Rena and Keiichi, and she's leaving early to get back to Okinomiya where she'll be tired again when Keiichi comes over about the library. I'm not sure why yet. Did Mion disappear? Is Mion the one burned half naked with a dental match for someone else? Is Mion the almost unidentifiable burned one??? IS THAT WHY EVERY EPISODE OF UMINEKO HAS GREAT EXTENSIVE DETAIL ABOUT HOW KINZO IS DEFINITELY THE CORPSE IN THE FURNACE AND THAT HE HAS SIX TOES? BECAUSE HIGURASHI PULLED THIS SHIT FIRST? Makes sense to me.

Sonozaki-clan is Yakuza-like creeps me out, but the way the village surrounded Keiichi's bully was terrifying in a silent mafia way.

Going by the Shion-as-Mion, testing Keiichi out with questions about the night before, was that Shion calling Kimiyoshi in the tip about the search for the mayor? She used Mion's/Oryou's authority to conduct that search and said she would be there in her Nana's stead. So her Nana wouldn't really be doing anything about the search for the mayor? Why? Is this a power play?

There hasn't been much of Rena, Satoko, or Rika this chapter.

As for Umineko commentary, I forgot how the change from the wedding to the mystery went and I'm glad for it! You've got Arria steered on the right track. I was still completely lost on the Shkanon at this point and thought Kanon was just a badass again. I still think I can solve this closed room WITHOUT Kanon's appearance though.


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NOPE

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More Higurashi Chapter 2

Takano was dead for 24 hours?! So, wait, that really was Takano? And someone replaced her? Or... did Shion kill someone else and make it seem like it was Takano? Why would she do that? Is Takano actually alive? Wait. Okay. So, I'm pretty certain Shion let Mion go, and Mion died escaping, and Shion went in the cell pretending to be Mion, and ended up stabbing Keiichi later wearing Mion's clothes? And then dying? What does this have to do with Takano? Who is Takano anyway, and why did she insist on going in the shrine, and why is there a false corpse of her with six toes in the furnace - I mean, dental record. Did Matthew Perry operate on her for Bruce Willis?

And why did Rika have a syringe? Did she suspect Mion/Shion? Was she taking care of things? But what happened? What is even happening?!?! IT'S USELESS, IT'S ALL USELESS!

Extra:

No, Rena, I did not enjoy it, enjoy it! It took me THREE- *double checks my save from the first chapter* -AND A HALF YEARS to make it through this game! Arria probably hadn't even been introduced to Umineko yet it was that long ago! Hell, Umineko wasn't even on Steam yet, I don't think! Shion being a cruel bitch to her sister when Keiichi walked with her after work froze me for YEARS. At least, now I understand. Now I think I understand why that happened. Because of the apology. Because Keiichi came in like a white knight and INSTANTLY gouged the heart and killed. So, NO... .... ... it was actually pretty good this back half, okay? I enjoyed the mystery, but I still won't forgive Shion's cruelty, uwaaaaa~


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Keep posting, Mega Mana. Arria and I haven't had a chance to read in a while so my bumps for this are gonna slow down.

Well, Arria started reading Umineko in 2017, so we're getting close to 3 years. :) She *knew* Umineko existed prior to that. I remember probably circa 2013-2014 telling her I wanted her to read it one day.

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Oh hey, speaking of Higurashi, are they remaking the animu?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9vYu4tMcnU

This pleases me! Although recent anime remakes have been disastrous compared to their originals, they can only improve upon the original anime of Higurashi, right? Right?!

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The 2019 Fruits Basket remake seems to have gone over well!

And perhaps more relevantly, fellow VN-adapted-by-Deen-in-the-00s Fate continues to make lots of money, thanks in part to recent anime adaptations.

The new studio admittedly doesn't seem especially promising but maybe they just haven't been handed good source material:
https://myanimelist.net/anime/producer/911/Passione

A lot of their stuff seems to have been directed by this guy:
https://myanimelist.net/people/6738/Takeo_Takahashi

...Well, he did good on Spice & Wolf back in the day! >_>

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To be honest, I haven't watched much anime in the last few years compared to what I used to watch. I was never a fan of the original Furuba or Fate series, so I didn't get into the remakes, but I have heard they were good.

I was disappointed by the (I don't want to call them all 'remakes' but like... the 'newer' stuff they've done of): CCS, Boogiepop, Kino's Journey, LoGH.

Oh! I like Rokka no Yuusha. Moreover, I liked that they did the ballsy move of adapting a slow and mysterious novel series rather than skip to what most people might consider "the good stuff." I also liked all the Mesoamerican aesthetic the anime added lol. That gives me a bit more hope for this studio.

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Then back to the duel between Beato and Erika. They brought flintlock pistols
A: Not what I was expecting! It should have been, but I thought we were going to play detective first.
K: Keep in mind this is a story where slashing someone with a sword is the same as giving your piece of the debate. This is both a gun duel AND a debate.

During the debate, Erika makes Beatrice repeat that Battler and Kanon are not the same person, which Beatrice does.
A: Okay! Her brain went to the same place mine did!

Erika goes over who is in which room, and me and Arria are going over my diagram. She laughs when Erika talks about how Kanon, Yoshiya, or Purupiko-man can all be in that room.

When they talk about names, and they use George as the example, it finally clicks. She realizes Kanons name isnt also George but Shannons name is also Kanon.

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HIGURASHI EPISODE 3 BEGINS

Also, before I begin, I just want to really commend Arria on resisting the urge to look up spoilers or jump ahead without you all this time. Her patience and friendship are truly admirable.

"And you were happy too for you did not know what was outside the well."

Chapter 3 is going to be terrible, won't it?

• "Hey landlord, there's a terrible stink! The sewer's backed up!" "Eh, just poke it with a stick, it should clear up." "Hey what's that? EEEEEK!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xz4-aEGvqQM
• She was cut open and her insides were drug out? Was she also stuffed with Halloween candy?? MADE OF SMALL BOMBS???
• Katoko seems waaayyy too polite about Mion's bento box. Wonder what hot sauce she plans to add.
• A curry fiend has appeared!!!
• BENTO SHOWDOWN!!!
• Not much commentary on the Satoko harassing or the cooking... except for filling the wok to the brim with salad oil. Oh, Keiichi, noooo....
• Where's Gohda when you need him?
• IRON CHEF ARSON, KEIICHI MAEBARA! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n76fJq_Kj6g&t=2m41s
• Definitely getting the Satoko episode we were promised in the tea party. And the mystery of Satoshi is brought up in Chapter 1!

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You're very right about her being good at not looking up spoilers. I'm not sure how she did it, personally. I always get spoiled on stuff lol

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bump

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Okay, got plans to hang out with Arria on Sunday. Maybe we'll read some Seacats?

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so how close are you to being caught up?

are you two gonna nominate question arcs for the Game of the Decade contest? Assuming she has a gamefaqs account?

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I don't understand the first question. We're at the end of Ep 6, and I'm not sure how long it'll take her to finish. I wasn't planning on nominating anything for the contest, but I will vote when it starts. She technically has a GameFAQs account, but she hasn't used it in over a decade lol.

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HIGURASHI 3 - CHAPTER 2

• I am so hungry for bento.
• Please, Keiichi. For the love all that is good... give yourself up and take the punishment. He's gonna get so many pity votes...
• Poor Satoko... everyone making fun of what she made in Keiichi's dish...
• Mion totally knows Satoko cheated and is just being cruel, right? It's Mion.
• Yeah, if Rena figured it out when Keiichi showed the burns, Mion figured it out from the outset and has been putting on a show, with all of us the poor peons who cheated and get thrown around.
• Awww, they both sacrificed themselves to the curry gods!
• Whoa! New sprite?! That was completely unexpected. So Chie isn't just a prop character??!
• And then they all died together! Yaaay~~

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Eerieka posted...

I don't understand the first question. We're at the end of Ep 6, and I'm not sure how long it'll take her to finish.

Some of the earlier updates in this topic seemed to be for sessions from a couple months before the posts. I guess you caught up at some point!

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HIGURASHI 3 - CHAPTER 3

• I didn't start out ready to make a post, but after seeing "Super High School Level Pitcher" not-Leon on the mound, and another sprite, and fear that Keiichi will either berate his friends for pulling him away from his family for this or cost his dad something.... I worry too much. This is Higurashi! Everything will be fiiiiiiiine~
• Meep. Nipah~ Rika the best troll.
• Oh my, what does Satoko have in mind?
• Teasing the opposing pitcher with knowledge of his food habits! Something only Keiichi could do because he's the only club member able to use the men's restroom! ...Perverted food habits, apparently?
• Did you or Arria write this about strawberry shortcake? While thinking about Gohda making them and Ronove serving? Together?
• All these exclamation points. All this pointing. All these over-the-top persuasive arguments. Keiichi can only have turned into one man... MINORU MINORIKAWA!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DlzVTiNVsAAg4CM.jpg

• A really businessperson-looking guy took off his glasses and gazed upon Keiichi. "...Huh... Uh... I-Is this... Could it be...?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuBVcsPVPyQ&t=0m08s
• Wowww, Satoko had that entire game wrapped around her finger.
• The umpire has a portrait now? Or is that Chie? Coach/Umpire Irie.
• And he's swooning over Keiichi's soft, velvety hands and those of fair maids. I'm certain one of you two wrote this!!!

So, takeaways from this episode. We learn just how devious and elaborate Satoko truly is with her set-ups, and what a great actress she is at obfuscating her skills to lower others' guards. Were the bento challenge and brother things part of a greater plan? Did she know Keiichi would be unable to attend the game due to his parents meeting? Like Mion setting up the All-You-Can-Eat later, was the business meeting part of Satoko's plan to have Keiichi come in at the last second??? Did she send Keiichi's parents away in the first place??????????

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Erika shoots the closet to kill whoever is inside, but Kanon does not exist in the closet
K: How did Kanon disappear?
A: I thought the closet would open and Shannon would come out instead. Im now operating under the impression that Shannon and Kanon are the same person, which the raincoat would hide.

We rode out the rest of the episode, and its so fascinating that I dont want to stop and type stuff. God I love this segment. From the start of the duel to the end of Ep 6 is my favorite stretch of Umineko. I may miss some of Arrias comments, but the gist of it is that shes solving it on her own. She did piece together Shkanontrice, and then cheered as the credits rolled that she solved it.

Afterwards, we discussed some of the scenes in previous episodes that make SO much more sense when you understand Shkanontrice. We had a lot of laughs. She remembered Battler almost grabbing Shannons breasts in Ep 1. She remembered how only Hideyoshi and Kanon saw Shannons body in the Ep 1 murder-shed. She remembered the various times Kanons body disappeared. I also discussed smaller details, like how there was a line in Ep 5 about how both of them were pushing a tea cart (a job which really doesnt require two people lol). Then we talked about the various times she joked about either of them having sex with anyone. I also reminded her of the time Battler joked about how he was weak around the opposite sex, and said something about the power of that extra X chromosome, and then Arria had said jokes on him, we were men before we were witches and how it was actually scarily accurate.

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Day 47 (01/27/2020)

Its been a WHILE so we spend a moment recapping. Were on the Ep 6 tea party, with Beatrice saying Battlers ring is his because hes the territory lord
A: If you showed me this a long time ago without context, Id be a mess right now. Id blue screen myself. Id just have code coming out my mouth.
They get married
A: Fuck, this scene is actually super sweet. God damn you, Erika.
K: *I give her an innocent look*
A: You did this! You made me read this!

Game: Beatrices hand relinquished the ring of the territory lord
A: Are we still headcanoning this is a cock ring?
K: Hell yeah

We get a pic of Battler putting a ring on Beatrice
A: Yeah, see, this pic here? It breaks me a little. I think its fucking cute now. Back in Ep 1, I would have been what?

Game: The pair raised their rings high
K: If one of them is a cock ring
A: *guffaws*

The demons announce they will acknowledge certain important people, starting with Kanon
A: So what pronouns do we use for Sayo?
K: Depends on who they are at the time, but I generally use she/her

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Alright, so, now that the end of Chapter 6 happened, I just want to push forth my still extremely plausible theory that I had before I even realized Shkanon was a thing.

So. During all of Erika's checks at the very end, there is one place I remember she DIDN'T check / an omission of blue/red truth. While Erika was in the bathroom looking for Battler, there is that window of time where Kanon comes in, frees Battler, and they switch places.

HOWEVER!!!

I posit that Kanon does not exist inside the closet. Hell, Kanon does not exist in that room! Nor does Shannon, Beatrice, Lion, Kinzo, Gaap, or any other form Yasu wants to take! THE TRUTH IS...

It was no longer a closed room.

...Okay, so I don't really remember how much of the truths there are at the end after so long, but the chain on the door. It was either cut, cut and resealed from the outside (you can get your fingers through that gap), or something, but that was my theory for months. It's just been ten years and now I feel old and tired trying to remember the exact thoughts I had.

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I think I'd have to reread a few things to counter that. I'm not sure what the rules for breaking a closed room are.

~~~

Battler: You are a human now, Kanon. Do you know what that means?
Kanon: Yes!
A: That you just asked for a threesome?

Eva: A wifes duties involve washing his back and ears!
Natsuhi: R-really!?
A: Oh god, theres a lot to unpack here!
Krauss: Erm, a wifes duty is different per family
A: I am now picturing a fanfic where Eva teaches Natsuhi how to be a proper wife and it ends with Krauss holding his hands up being like niiiice kitty, be nice!
A: I also feel like Hideyoshi is in the background just smirking

Ange asks what happened to everyone after the party
Featherine: No one knows. The books ends there.
Ange wonders what really happened to everyone after the accident
A: I feel like accident should be in quotation marks there.

Ange talks about how Amakusa left to make a phone call on a public phone for fear of being bugged and hes been gone a long time
A: I suspect Ange may be oblivious

The scene with Amakusa talking to Okonogi on the phone is ominous. He hints about bring a sniper rifle with him as he protects Ange. Well see if Arria remembers that later.

---

Now were in the ??? Party with Bern. As a cat stalks in the darkness, the clock ticks
A: This fucking clock is going to give me a complex.

Bern kicks a cat, then Featherine appears
A: Oh god, I thought it might be her! As soon as she went ah, Im bored I thought this would be her causing this shit.

The witches talk about what is expected in the next game, the Featherine says she needed another player and commentator
A: So this is Bernkastel and Featherines game?
K: More Berns, since Featherine is only interested in the answers, but yes.

Black tea is best enjoyed. with your fellow monsters.
*Fishy Aroma vocal intensifies*
Oh yeah, that feels great

We talk about the interpretation of Berns true identity. Arria is almost too abstract here, thinking Bern represents everyone from Kasumi to Ange to Maria. When I ask where did Featherine find her? she then thought she was just a bug in the room?
Eventually she comes around to realizing Bern is a cat.
A: Wait, so what is Lambda? Her dog?
K: The interpretation I like is that shes just a cake.
A: A cake that the damn cat cant stay out of. Sounds familiar!
A: Wait, is this like the time I played the Firefly game against Brutus?
K: Precisely.

---

Umineko Episode 7

We started with some stuff from Virgilia. Arria chuckled at illusions to illusions following ashes to ashes and dust to dust. More of that to come in this episode.

Then we jump to the Inquisitors of Heresy conducting an investigation.

Know that motives are unnecessary in mysteries.
A: Um, no. Thats kinda the point of a murder mystery. People dont just stab people for fun! Just because you find a person standing in front of a dead body while holding a knife does not mean they killed that person!
The Inquisitor spoke coldly
A: Youre a bitch

Battler is burying something.
A: Oh god are they burying Erika?
Battler and Virgilia bury the Book of the Single Truth

We get some monologing from Will about the importance of the whydunnit
A: All this time, havent I been going on about this myself? About the importance of motive?
K: Yep! Which is why I think youll like this character.

Game: The motive didnt matter. It could be *squeezed out* later
A: This emphasis disturbs me. Did we squeeze someone in a wine press earlier?
K: Krauss, yes. Also remember the Inquisitors of Heresy are known as the Iron Maidens.
A: *shakes finger* I had forgotten that! Yeah!

---

The Inquisitor goes on about how she will torture the maid
A; At first I was like well at least they arent going to execute her. Then I remembered: oh yeah, Im reading Umineko. Every character in here makes the White Council in Turncoat look merciful.

Will bursts in and basically says exactly what Arria said earlier lol
A: Oh thank god. A voice of reason. This will surely not last.

A: This is what I imagine a Twitter or Reddit forum for mystery writers looks like.

Inquisitor: The Great Court has already found her guilty!
A: Is the Great Court supposed to be general opinion?
K: I think so, yes.

Inquisitor: I have already taken over responsibility for this case!
A: Poor little bitch, you dont even get a sprite!
We laugh

---

Third attempt over the past month to play.

HIGURASHI EP. 3 - CH. 4

• Yayy... Rena wants a prince... on a white horse.... If only she could get a 'nice, sproingy body' to be all over dirty magazines to win such a man... Maybe it'll take six years and some fake breasts and almost wedding the much older cousin, but I'm sure that's a good dream for Rena to have. To have.
• Mmm, squash is very delicious.
• Higurashi Episode 3 a.k.a. The One Where Rika Meeps
• Switched to updated sprites with the coach only to see Mion shrink like three feet in height comparatively. Also, Coach is a creep.
• Oh no... Satoko's parents... ;_;
• Ugh, like... the fact that this guy has a sprite is making me wary, and I'm also getting serious Life is Strange vibes from him. I don't expect to like him much, if at all, by the end of the episode.
• SeE?! Upon adopting Satoko, he could make her call him Master and be re-educated in the ways of being a maidservant!!! Uu~! Bad Kinzo Irie! Bad bad Kinzo pervert Irie!
• WhAaAaAT?! Not you too Mion!
• Wait, Shion? Oh, whoa! Hey! I didn't even realize they were both here! Right! That's Shion because Mion's in yellow!! Also, you have kickass theme music.
• So much flirting!
• An Angel Mort uniform? Oh... oh Keiichi, you got yourself in trouble again, didn't you? XD Yessss Maid Keiichi!!
• Hmm, did Shion have a crush on Satoshi? Is that why she's no longer going to games?
• Mion and Rena both got really tense when mentioning Satoshi. We just want to know the truth!
• Rena being a creep again. The curse is mentioned for the first time this episode, AND THEN RENA GOES BLANK-EYED. I can't tell which one's creepier: the original or updated sprite. The original definitely is clearer with the better sociopathic smile, but the eyes in the updated get much deeper under my skin.
• It was dead-eyed Rena stalking him. He ran away from you and your giant axe.
• Hmm?
• 'Oyashiro-sama is the guardian deity of Hinamizawa. He would never allow anyone to abandon Hinamizawa and run away. I apologized for it! But Satoshi-kun probably didn't.' Rena tried to run away before? But why? What happened? Is that why she goes serial killer sometimes? Oh, yup, there's angry blank eyes. Fun.
• Thank you, Mion. Both for punching out Rena in her MARIA mode, and for talking with Kei on the way home.
• Rena transferred here, too? Dammit, Mion, don't tell Keiichi secrets. He's terrible and keeping things secret.
• Wait, Mion! Don't go! WHAT ABOUT THE MANGA?!?!
• D'aww, Shion is pining for Satoshi's return...
• *blurgh* This autopsy report....
• Houjou? Hmm.

---

Mega Mana posted...

Yayy... Rena wants a prince... on a white horse....

If she's willing to have a chubby white girl who makes decent money working as a vampire, then I'd take her home with me. :3

~~~

Will: If you want to call yourself the Head Inquisitor, at least figure that much out for yourself
A: I love him already. Just how cocky he is. I love it.
A: I also love his psychotic eye thing.
(Were using PS3 sprites, but even some of them get Ryukishi-esque eyes)

Will: Dont ignore the heart, otherwise were just intellectual rapists
Arria gives me a glare of evil and laughter

He mentions Van Dines rules.
A: Oh God, there are more rules!
K: These arent rules used in Umineko. I mean, its used in this story-within-a-story-in-Umineko, but its not part of Beatrices tale.
A: Ah, I got excited at the idea of more rules!
K: *laugh* I think Ryukishi felt Van Dines rules were too restrictive and less up-to-interpretation

Then the game introduces Will and she asks if his name matters for some reason, so we talk about Mr. Van Dine a bit.

Opening plays. Kiri no Pithos.
A: I love all of this games openings! The music is beyond compare.
K: I love it too!

Theres a funeral and Will is at the door
A: I hope this isnt Dlanors funeral. My favorites have a track record.
K: *laughs* Shes fine, I promise!

---

Will tells Kanon he came to the funeral to meet someone
A: *snort* Kanons default sprite here looks like hes thinking you came to a funeral to meet someone, you fucking psychopath?

Kinzo: Beatroriiiiche uoooo
A: Wow, you broke Kinzo so much he went FULL Maria.

Genji has an emotionless expression
A: I love how hes like what a drama queen

Kyrie and Rudolf mock Kinzo.
A; WOW, I expect better from you Kyrie. Not you, Rudolf.

Eva: Father didnt even cry this much when Mother died.
Hideyoshi: Hey, dont say things like that
A: Thank you for being the one reasonable person in this room. Can always count on you, Hideyoshi

She then makes fun of the game saying that some sobbed (i.e. Kinzo WAAAA) and some spoke softly of old memories (i.e. Eva: man she was a **** wasnt she?)

Arria seems to be in some kind of mood I cant explain so I ask her to explain it
A: I love how Umineko, no matter whats going on, always has a baseline level of characters being assholes.

Krauss: Im the chief mourner
A: Of course you are
Krauss: And this is my child, Lion
Lion appears
A: *moment of silence* Is this what would have happened if Natsuhi hadnt yeeted a baby off a cliff?
A: If I had any artistic talent, I would do this. Image of Natsuhi throwing Lion off the cliff. Natsuhi yeets a baby.
I showed her the pic of The Lion King with Lion and Natsuhi and Kinzo as Simba, Rafiki, and Mufasa. She laughed her ass off for a solid minute.
A: Well done, internet. Well done.

---

Lion introduces himself to Will and shows the kanji used in his name. Its the same ri that I use in my name (Erika) when Im weeaboo enough to use kanji to write my name. I told her how I use the e in Eva, the ri in Lion, and the ka in Jessicas names. I hadnt specifically gone to Umineko to decide those kanji, it just sorta happened coincidentally.

Then Bern shows up
A: Morning, Kitty.

Bern talks about the cat box some more
A: Dont think I miss the references to things like cat boxes and lions, because this game is being run by a cat.

A: So who was Erika then? A mouse or something the cat caught?
I was hoping Erikas profile would still be up so Arria could read it, but I think we missed it from Ep 6, so I gave her the rundown about how Erika (on that level) was a real person onboard a pleasure cruise who died and her corpse washed up on the island. Then people like Featherine took the story and applied it to their own fanfiction.

Lion has a sprite where his hands are on his hip and hes slightly turned. Id never seen it before
A: I like him! Hes an attractive man! I love my men in ponytails
(I like how Arria decided Lion was a man without my input lol)

---

Bern messes up on Featherines name
A: Honey, thats not how you spell Aurora
K: I think its playing up how Bern cant pronounce her name
A: Im going to pretend Featherine is sitting at home and her cat is going au au (sorta a meowing sound) and shes like aww, are you trying to say Aurora? How precious.
K: I like that idea!

Lion then speaks to Kanon and says he may go on break now
A: I imagine this as Lion talking to a hand puppet. I imagine Will walks in and is like what the actual fuck is going on here?
Lion: What is your name again?
A: Come on, you know the names of the voices in your head
Then Will enters and is like Dont your remember your servants names?
A: I like you, Will.

Lion tells Will he can just go hom if he wants
A: Oh poor pup, you want nothing to do with this, do you?

Will displays that theyre trapped in a small bubble Fragment.
A: Lifes a witch, then you die.

We see Beatrices portrait in the background, which prompts Arria to ask about Ep 7s portrait. I couldnt remember when/if it showed up in-game, but since its just Will and Lion with no spoilers, I showed it to her.

---

Lion introduces Will to Natsuhi and hes like No introductions necessary. Just give me the info.
A: Wow, hes special alright.

Lion: Please speak properly to us, and let me be your medium when talking to the family
A: In other words Dont do that again.

There was a mention of Will having a Diana who scratched the sofa and I couldnt remember this at all, so when Arria asked I just said something like must be his cat.
A: Or his Rottweiler (pointing at her own Rottweiler making a mess of her couch)
Diana was brought up again and Lion knew it was a cat, with the same logic we used.
A: *laughs* Well, were detectives now. We figured out Dianas identity.

Will asks Eva a question and then Lion rephrases it
A: This reminds me of those old text-based games where you can type something in and itll be like we dont know what that is. Please type a complete sentence.

Lion pinched Wills butt lol
A: Oh god. The buddy cop show none of us asked for, but we all wanted.

Rosa says she killed Beatrice
Will: Perfect, our work here is done.
A: *laughs*

---

Will tells Rosa that he thinks Beatrice would be grateful to her for showing her that the sea is blue, etc. etc.
A: Wow, usually it takes longer to break Rosa.

Lion continues to pinch Wills butt
A: God I love this. I love that he shuts him up by grabbing his ass. You know if Natsuhi and Krauss see this though, theyll be like Lion, honey, you know you have to marry a woman, right? Sure, you can keep him as a mistress, just like your grandfather did to Beatice, but you have to keep him in the garden."

They discuss the Beatrices, and ask how old the one Rosa met was
A; Wait so how old WAS she really? Like, she must have been pretty young
K: Yeah, I think the implication is that Kinzo was raping his daughter from a pretty young age
A: *disgust intensifies* Wow, of all the crack theories I threw out there, that was the one I least wanted to be true. Things that make you want to sew your vagina shut

Kyrie points out what we all know
A: Oooh, this is squicky. Lion is all the incest.

Arria is really having a moment about incest and pedophilia.
A: God damn, I know I always talk about this game being dark, but this is ugh.
K: Its funny to me, too, because you would always say oh heres a dark thought then go on about something considerably less dark than the truth.
A: *laughs* Yeah, like I might say What if Kinzo is fucking his daughter? and youre thinking Yeah, thatd sure be dark, Uh-huh.
K: Id be thinking and that daughter is 10.
Arria shivers

A: Can you imagine what would have happened if Rosa had made it back to the mansion with Beatrice? There would have literally been a murder on Rokkenjima all those years ago, and maybe Kinzos real wife would have played a role in that story!

---

HIGURASHI 3 - PART V

Grah, it's b een almost a month. This game gives me so much anxiety, and it's not even bad times yet. BUT THEY'RE COMING!

• Keiichi just woke up from a night of horrible nightmares. That's what I feel when I open up this game. And play for a chapter at a time.
• "Anxiety was the only emotion growing within me." GAME KNOWS!
• Teacher, coach, and curry-lady all with sprites?! THIS IS SO DISCONCERTING! Are they stakes? Sniper bunnies? The certainty of a clock? Ohhh.... I just realized.... One of them is short, one of them is tall. They're the hour hand and minute hand! (referring to Gertrude and Cornelia)
• Rena spoiling Umineko: "Like if suddenly there was a volcanic eruption tomorrow and everyone died." ... "If you were the only one who survived the catastrophe, Keiichi-kun... how would you feel?" Useless, he'd feel all useless.
• "It'd probably break my heart. ...First... I think I would cry." Umineko: When Battler Cries
• What's going on with Rika? Where's Satoko? Why is everything so somber?! WHY DO YOU HURT, GAME?
• ...And now Rena, Mion, and Rika are recreating the famous laughing scene from FFX (which was totally charming and well done in context, especially the really laughs trailing in at the end).
• And end of chapter! It's end of chap-... oh, right, there's always more.
• Tomita and Okamura have the most screentime of all secondary characters, yet they still don't have sprites. Thank you for just being here, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!
• Just gonna be picturing Keiichi as Yusuke Urameshi for the rest of today. He can sleep in class whenever he wants! He's a rebel!
• The ball falls behind the building, someone calls out to Keiichi. I'm fully expecting R&O calling out about Satoko's dead and mangled body because why not. But it's just Ooishi. Yay... things are about to get super awkward.
• Ooh, this is what happens when you don't play too often. This is the first Ooishi/Keiichi meeting. Weird since he's been in most of the TIPS.
• I, too, shuddered in fear, Keiichi. "Hey, what are you disgusted by? This is the first time you've met him." IN ANOTHA LIFE BROTHA. NO MATTER WHAT I DO, YER GONNA DIE KEIICHI
• SHUT UP OOISHI! STOP TELLING KEIICHI EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT HIM, HIS PARENTS, HIS LIFE, HIS FAVORITE CANDY, HIS (not-so-)SECRET FETISH FOR PUNISHMENTS, AND THE SUN AND THE WIND
• YES OOISHI! IT WOULD BE GREAT TO NOT MAKE ENEMIES! NOW GO AWAY! YOU'RE MAKING KEIICHI PARANOID, AND WHEN HE'S PARANOID, HE MAKES ENEMIES!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Coach is a doctor? Cool!
• Wow, definitely a different Ooishi feel than the first two episodes. He felt meddling and obtuse before, but there was at least a working relationship between he and Keiichi that made him seem sensible. Now we get to see what he's like when he isn't dealing with someone as receptive. Geezus, no wonder everyone in town hates him and gets super stiff and laser-focused when he's around.
• 'He's the coach for the baseball team. He must be used to treating wounds with first aid.' ...Keiichi, you dense ****er. You literally heard two or three people call him DOCTOR in the past ten minutes. *heavily sighs* No wonder everything ends up going to ****.
• Satoko's aunt died last year? By a drug addict with a baseball bat?..... Whyyyy do I get the feeling.... I'm gonna learn it was Satoshi?
• I'm so confused by the blue haired lady (doesn't help my last play was 2/29). Is she their teacher, the other class' teacher, or the principal? She keeps showing up. It wouldn't matter if she didn't have a sprite!
• Hmmm, who does have sprites? Rena, Mion, Shion, Rika, Satoko, Ooishi, camera guy, blonde lady, blue haired teacher, and coach Irie.
• Hmm, from the tips, Teppei Houjou (who may or may not be yakuza) just came back to town from Okinomiya. And Satoko is missing today and Rika didn't know if she would be coming in.

Alright.

Eerieka posted...

Lion continues to pinch Wills butt
A: God I love this. I love that he shuts him up by grabbing his ass. You know if Natsuhi and Krauss see this though, theyll be like Lion, honey, you know you have to marry a woman, right? Sure, you can keep him as a mistress, just like your grandfather did to Beatice, but you have to keep him in the garden."

Please remind Arria that Will seems to like it, so Ronove is a much better analogy =P

Eerieka posted...

A: *disgust intensifies* Wow, of all the crack theories I threw out there, that was the one I least wanted to be true. Things that make you want to sew your vagina shut

Eerieka posted...

A: *laughs* Yeah, like I might say What if Kinzo is f***ing his daughter? and youre thinking Yeah, thatd sure be dark, Uh-huh.
K: Id be thinking and that daughter is 10.
Arria shivers

Yeah. Yeeeesh. Disregard my earlier jest about Kinzo and Ronove. Kinzo doesn't deserve fun butler times.

...

Here's a dark thought. What if 'fun butler times' was Ronove's best way of keeping Kinzo from wandering off to the second mansion? Like, Kinzo is a voracious old man who takes what he wants. What if Ronove is so dedicated to Kinzo and attending his needs... in theory, of course... in order to keep him satisfied... and not hunting for his goddamn daughter. Ronove knows about Beato, Ronove also knows about Yasu and saved them and kept them hidden (but still employed under the family? Hrmm... I'm now just spiralling. DAMMIT OOISHI! EVERY TIME YOU COME AROUND THINGS GET WORSE!!!))

---