Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

It's the Rokkenjima Incident's anniversary today, so I felt like making some sort of post about Umineko at least. So this is what I came up with. Time to enjoy being extremely vague! At least I believe I did well to avoid notable spoilers in this post.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a mystery story. A story with truths hidden beneath its surface which it wants its readers to figure out on their own. But how likely is it really that the attentive reader will actually figure out everything on their own?

Let's take this one episode at a time. After all, when Umineko was originally released, it was one episode at a time. So you can be sure that people sat down and tried to figure it out every time a new episode was released.

Episode 1, Legend of the Golden Witch. Truth be told, I don't think figuring out the "whodunnit" of this episode is even that difficult at all. If you look at it as its own thing and ignore the possibility that you 'may still be missing vital clues', you'll probably be able to identify the really suspicious parts quickly enough. Umineko's signature tricks might trip you up though, and since you have no red truth, no Virgilia, no Gretel to help you out, it may be a hurdle too difficult to overcome for most readers.

I consider finding out the deeper parts of the mystery, especially the motive, an almost absolute impossibility. Still, there are things you CAN figure out, and if you and end up with a good suspect, it may massively help going forward.

Episode 2, Turn of the Golden Witch. Now this is a different matter. This episode can either be incredibly enlightening, or absolutely impossible. Things happen in this episode that could make you give up on solving anything right away. In fact, a large portion of readers gave up completely when this episode first came out, which was what led to Episode 3 being as "easy" as it is. However, if you have a flash of inspiration and 'get' it, this episode is a goldmine of clues. As impossible as some of the riddles may seem at first, once you ACTUALLY get a theory going you may be able to make sense of a lot more than you'd have thought.

I definitely consider it possible to solve all of Umineko right here and now, but it takes a rather specific mindset and a lot of contemplating. Especially since there's one thing in particular that can completely throw you off the track. If there's one tip I can give it's this: if you honestly believe you've hit upon something, but there are facts that just don't fit with it, try to make those facts fit somehow before resorting to scrapping your theory.

Episode 3, Banquet of the Golden Witch. Following the reactions to Episode 2 this episode has a lot of things to help the reader out. Helpful assistants, theory confirmations and denials, and all sorts of backstory that ties directly into the main happenings. Thanks to a helpful lady you also get an approach to solving mysteries that may have appeared impossible before. The first twilight is one of the hardest closed room murders of the entire series to solve, but if you do manage to solve it, it's a massive clue.

The last two chapters are one of the most crucial parts of the story up until this point. Both the red web of truth murder and the final twist can be massive hints towards the identity and motives of the culprit. I've even seen someone figure out Umineko's "ultimate secret" thanks to the red web. Keep in mind, when things seem most desperate is also when finding a way out may just lead to the greatest epiphany.

Episode 4, Alliance of the Golden Witch. The final question arc. If you want to figure out Umineko by your own strength, this is one of the two best points in the story to do so (the other being past Episode 5). The majority of the story of this episode doesn't even concern the main mystery, but that hardly means it's not relevant. In fact if you find the relevance the future scenes have to the main happenings, that's a great step forward. As for the main mysteries, there's little to go off of, but the way they're constructed is in itself a huge hint as to how many other mysteries in earlier episodes are constructed.

By this point at least, you may be able to identify some patterns regarding character deaths that could also lead you to the culprit or motive. Although this particular point is easy to miss and could only confuse you anyways if you don't also understand what it really means, so don't fret about it too much.

The final chapters and Tea Party of this episode give you an unprecedentedly clear insight into Beatrice's character and could give you a good idea as to what she was trying to accomplish. If you grasp that, there's once again a good chance you'll be able to unravel the reason behind everything. But the main problem of all the things you can figure out in this episode is that it requires a certain mindset or approach that is very easy to assume would end up leading you in the wrong direction. Yet, if you can overcome this one hurdle, you're doing very well.

Finally, the Tea Party itself is also riddled with hints for the entire story. Some of them may be hard to identify, but there's one red confirmation in particular that unmistakably turns the whole mystery upside down. Using this knowledge and returning to earlier episodes, especially Episode 2, is a great idea. If you're really invested in solving Umineko, rereading earlier parts can bring you a long way.

Episode 5, End of the Golden Witch. The first of the core arcs. As far as I'm concerned, this is the perfect time to give Umineko your best shot if you haven't already done so last episode. With the advent of a very helpful girl, things start looking up. The first half of the ???? portion in particular explicitly tells you how to approach the mystery, and if you follow it faithfully you actually have a really good chance at reaching the truth.

End also gives you a great negative example showing you how NOT to approach the mystery. Sure it may seem tempting and promising at first but ultimately it's an approach blind to incredibly important elements of the truth.

If you wish to reach Beato's heart here, I have a number of tips if you want some. They're basically just restating important parts of the ???? part in bold, but that's because this is REALLY smurfING IMPORTANT.
Tips

• Whenever magic does appear, don't assume the mystery element is breaking down and just ignore everything. Instead, question why it was shown and suspect the witnesses and observers.
• Beato wanted Battler to solve the tale and reach the truth. If there's any scenes you've ever assumed were just put in to throw you off or be confusing or put you on the wrong track, purge those silly thoughts from your mind. There's a reason why they are shown, perhaps there's a hidden truth just waiting to be discovered. Also, ask yourself what really went through Beato's mind at the climaxes of Episodes 3 and 4.
• Do you believe the Beatrice on the meta level and the Beatrice on the game board (as in the culprit) have the same or different motivations? Whichever of the two you pick, also think about what that implies.
• The gold is real, and it belongs to Beatrice. Think about what that means.
• Pay attention to when and how each of the game boards end, especially the first four.
• Beatrice explicitly gives the victims a way out of the ritualistic murders through solving the epitaph. Why would she do that?
• When you're in a tight spot, take another look at the Knox Decalogue and see if it helps you out. But on the other hand, do not go at it from the wrong side; if you START from the decalogue and stay firm within its boundaries, you may blind yourself to truths that at first glance could fall outside the commandments but don't actually violate them at all.
• And finally: never stop thinking. The truth is there, it's within your reach, you can grasp it. Clues pointing towards it are definitely there, put in by a game master who wanted the tale to be solved (I cannot stress this enough).

Episode 6, Dawn of the Golden Witch. True to its purpose, this game is very close to Beato's heart. While a lot of it gets hijacked due to meta plot reasons, that's no reason to stop looking for the truth. In fact, as per usual, the final parts of this episode are an absolute goldmine.

The final two mysteries and the duel are the biggest hints to Umineko's "ultimate secret" yet. And of course, the final line, the one that made me stare at the screen in disbelief, is the final kicker. There's no stupid trick to it, it means what it means. It's possible it makes everything click into place at last. It's also possible you have no clue what it means like I did. If that is the case, just keep it in mind. Don't forget about it. Rethink earlier mysteries with this new piece of information.

I believe this is where most people finally cracked the nut and understood Beato's true identity. Or at the very least made a theory regarding it. Which if you keep in mind is going to make you look at this next episode in a very different way...

Episode 7, Requiem of the Golden Witch. This is it, the breakdown, the "Chiru". If you still haven't figured out the culprit's identity by the end of this then hey, at least I'm not alone. There's a number of things I told you to keep in mind before, if you connect that information with everything conveyed to you here you should be able to reach the truth.

The breakdown duel will give you the last hints you need to pierce most of the Episode 1-4 mysteries. As for everything else that is still left seemingly unanswered, you can enjoy theorizing about that on rereads or with friends. As long as you keep your faith in the writer that the truth is definitely there and hinted at, you can find answers to basically everything.

But I have to at least say, if you cannot say with confidence that you do indeed understand the motive, please make an effort to understand it more. There's an "everything finally clicks into place" moment still waiting for you. Reread the second episode (or hell, why not the entire story) with everything you know.

Episode 8, Twilight of the Golden Witch. Nothing to add here, the main mysteries of Umineko are already cut to pieces by this point. If you still don't get it by the end of it, hey, I no longer have to feel that bad about how dense *I* was.

If you really need an answer sheet, go look up Confessions of the Golden Witch. Just know that all of the information in there is hinted at and just waiting to be found in the original Umineko visual novel, and once you look it up you will forever close off the possibility of you figuring out on your own. If you have already grasped everything though it's a good short read and I can wholeheartedly recommend it.