Final analysis for Umineko (for the streams at least)! I’ll be discussing the Trick Ending, Our Confession, Forgery No. XXX and Last Note. So, uh, the Trick Ending…is a bad ending (as in like the game bad ending because it's good writing wise). I know this assessment is somewhat controversial in the fandom (from what I’ve seen) as there is the expectation that both choices are equally right depending on perspective. But are they really? The Ange who is on this path has no love. Her way of exploring the cat boxes, that being the betrayals by Amakusa and Kawabata, is to kill the cats, rather than actually trusting anyone and seeing things from the perspective of love. Like Erika doesn’t care about the heart for Beatrice’s game, Ange loses the heart for….well, everything. Ange admits to herself, she doesn’t care about the truth anymore, she sees it as a tool, a justification to tear down others, deriving pleasure from how beautiful the expressions of the cats whose guts she tears out are. Sound familiar? If Ange becomes a monster like Erika, the player will never see the truth behind Battler and Beatrice’s last day together. They will never learn the truth about Tohya. It’s ironic, but the story forbids the truth if you choose ‘trick’, that being choosing the most rational explanation of things. The manga presents this as a bad ending as well, and I think that is what Ryukishi was going for all along rather than it being a manga retcon. Strangely, Ange and Erika are kindred spirits, more so in the manga. Erika cares nothing for Beatrice and calls her game after figuring it out a “simple, shallow trick”, not caring for her motive and yet, Erika is weirdly sympathetic towards Ange. The way her expression softens when discussing Ange’s heart, the way she confronts Battler for not returning, her helping Ange in her quest to find the truth, even if it results in Ange’s death, very much feels sincere. They are both comrades and Witches of Truth, for it isn’t Battler or Beatrice’s actions that change Erika, but Ange’s that ultimately turn her into a true ‘detective’, rather than a Witch of Truth, staying friends with Dlanor and the rest (the former who once attempted to kill her out of mercy due to Erika being too far gone). In a sense, the trick ending is character regression for both of them, which is why it's considered a ‘bad ending’ (disregarding Golden Fantasia which has a more optimistic outlook of how Ange’s trick journey will end in Erika and Ange’s route). Our Confession…is something. I definitely do think it has its place but… I definitely prefer how Confession of the Golden Witch handles things, even if it is more revelatory in nature. Most of my problems with it are with Flauros, I think Ryukishi burnt the kitchen with that character. The structure of it explaining how the game functions very much feels like something one can piece together on their own (maybe apart from the accomplice roulette) but the new scenario is interesting enough to justify it. The scene with Kumasawa is definitely one of the highlights as it is unbelievably tragic as we see how the two interact in a more playful manner, reflecting the relationship between Virgilia and Beatrice. Shannon’s despair at the very end of the game is also incredibly chilling for a normally optimistic character but…we know how Episode 2’s final closed room ended. And the ending. Dlanor’s involvement with the manuscript adds a lot to her character in Episode 5 and her ending monologue is very much the best part of the short story. I think some people think Our Confession’s canonicity is somewhat…debated, especially with Confession of the Golden Witch. But I definitely do think they are both relevant to Umineko. If Our Confession reveals the Mystery and Fantasy side at once, then Confession is the heart. It is the third story that the Dlanor asks us to find. I still think it is worth reading as it is one of my favourite parts of Umineko, but I think one should consider the nature of Sayo’s heart before reading the Episode 8 manga. …But who the fuck is An Zuu??? Seriously, I think it’s one of the mysteries of Umineko that has gone completely unsolved, like the wiki speculates it might be an 07th member but that’s not confirmed in any way. Forgery no. XXX is what if Battler was evil, the sonic.exe of Umineko. Joking aside, I do think the way he mentions that they are separate people could also be that Black Battler is the embodiment of the theory that Battler is an impostor set up by Rudolf, which is stated by Beatrice in Episode 4. He also appears in Golden Fantasia and the manga, where Erika summons him to beat up George and Jessica but gets cut in half by Beatrice just saying “Ushiromiya Battler is not the culprit” in red. As Beatrice says, he is “the idle imagination of scum, not even a proper theory”, and yeah, I don’t disagree with that notion. He’s edgy in a fun way but I never really got into him, especially as an alternate culprit. However, there are two very interesting things about this story. First is the mention of Tohya. Tohya is, albeit unintentionally, a leading part of the Witch Hunters and as a result, helped start the trend of forgeries with alternative culprits. I don’t necessarily think Tohya’s fears are possibly being the culprit but rather after writing Dawn, realises that the forgeries are impacting the life of his sister, Ange as her family, especially her brother, are directly pointed to as the culprit. This is likely the non-meta reason for Twilight, a story he writes where everyone gets along which is mocked by goats and infuriates Ange enough to go meet Ikuko. Black Battler taunts him for this I think, saying that it is impossible to stop the theory with Twilight and his retirement as Tohya helped popularise forgeries in the first place. Number 2. LAND. Black Battler is in Land of the Golden Witch, the alternate Episode 3? I definitely have a lot of thoughts about this that go into crackpot theory territory, so I won’t explore it here but it’s definitely interesting.. I think Last Note is somewhat…unpopular with fans? Also, I think this is the first piece of Umineko content that is not Our Confession (which carries a disclaimer) or the manga that cements Shkanontrice as the official explanation. I’ve seen some dislike for it but even then it’s not really discussed very much at all. Being teased as an ‘Episode 9’ of sorts, I can see why people are disappointed, but I do think it is one of the stronger side-stories of Umineko. It’s an opportunity to explore a character that is barely present, that being Asumu as despite Umineko’s many multifaceted characters, she and Kinzo’s wife are rarely present and acknowledged within the narrative. Rosa’s husband being absent feels more intentional than the first two as the only character who knows him is Rosa herself but for the women, they are known by everyone in the family, maybe apart from Ange. ‘The difficulty is high’ very much feels inaccurate as most people I’ve seen play through it guess Piece’s identity fairly easily, although I believe that to be the point. The way her mask just falls completely off, handing out red truths and complete honesty after Battler defends her motive, just feels incredibly heart-rending. She does not care for the game itself, but the opportunity to apologise. Not to her son, but her daughter in law who she takes complete responsibility for. I’ve heard the riddle obsession thing is pretty cheap as a way of identifying the culprit, but I think it’s fine as Battler and Sayo know Asumu personally and her interests, even if they are not revealed to the player. It’s not really an epilogue but a reunion of characters, not only for the three central characters of Umineko’s narrative but also for a character that they have not seen or met in so long. I’ve also seen that people consider it to be an awful story, saying that if it ruins the existence of Ange. If Kyrie and especially Ange weren’t there, everyone would be happy and holding hands, nothing would go wrong. If Asumu was there, it would fix everything, right? But that’s the point. It’s a fantasy, something Battler and Beatrice say multiple times to Ange. It is a spite fic, a means of hurting Ange by a fantasy where everyone is better off without her. It’s not a real trolley problem because the trolley is not real, the story itself is not real. “But you can make up any future you want if you embellish it.” Asumu likely could not have fixed everything, especially Sayo’s issues. It is a what if in the same vein of what if Gohda stopped the tragedy from happening. It could’ve happened but ultimately, we don’t know. We can guess but ultimately, it is important to remain in the future rather than dwelling in the past. That is why Piece erases herself, removing her fantasy along with it. Her fantasy was not only about impossibly taking accountability for something that happened after her death, but to hurt Ange as Kyrie’s daughter. Her being alive brings fortune to everyone else while bringing misfortune to those she is spiteful towards. It’s selfish. Yet the world that they live in now, everyone has forgiven each other, including Kyrie, in the Golden Land. Ange is allowed to live her life, becoming a woman that brings happiness and magic to not only children, but adults as well through her books. And thus, to bring to humankind, Asumu takes the selfless route, making sure her own selfish fantasy never comes to fruition.
4:47 Saku opening plays 6:46 Marcie begins speaking 8:43 the trick ending 27:24 "Our Confession" 1:50:39 full Barbatos lore 1:55:13 "Whose tea party?" 2:03:00 "To Mount Purgatory, Sakutaro!" 2:15:52 "Jessica and the Killer Electric Fan" 2:48:21 "Forgery no. xxx" 3:13:04 "Last Note of the Golden Witch"
Ok, the trick ending is really good well written and brilliant from a thematic point of view… But it’s also just really really funny and I’m not quite sure why.
spoiler --- when piece said she was gonna unveil rejected characters I started chanting things like "virgilius!" and "give us the boy" very much channeling jenny nicholson in the buzzy video. super excited to see his concept art for the first time!! thank you so much for doing the side stories like this, I was hoping I would get to see chats reaction to piece's identity reveal and they did not disappoint
Let this world be at peace.
Final analysis for Umineko (for the streams at least)! I’ll be discussing the Trick Ending, Our Confession, Forgery No. XXX and Last Note.
So, uh, the Trick Ending…is a bad ending (as in like the game bad ending because it's good writing wise). I know this assessment is somewhat controversial in the fandom (from what I’ve seen) as there is the expectation that both choices are equally right depending on perspective. But are they really? The Ange who is on this path has no love. Her way of exploring the cat boxes, that being the betrayals by Amakusa and Kawabata, is to kill the cats, rather than actually trusting anyone and seeing things from the perspective of love. Like Erika doesn’t care about the heart for Beatrice’s game, Ange loses the heart for….well, everything. Ange admits to herself, she doesn’t care about the truth anymore, she sees it as a tool, a justification to tear down others, deriving pleasure from how beautiful the expressions of the cats whose guts she tears out are. Sound familiar?
If Ange becomes a monster like Erika, the player will never see the truth behind Battler and Beatrice’s last day together. They will never learn the truth about Tohya. It’s ironic, but the story forbids the truth if you choose ‘trick’, that being choosing the most rational explanation of things. The manga presents this as a bad ending as well, and I think that is what Ryukishi was going for all along rather than it being a manga retcon. Strangely, Ange and Erika are kindred spirits, more so in the manga. Erika cares nothing for Beatrice and calls her game after figuring it out a “simple, shallow trick”, not caring for her motive and yet, Erika is weirdly sympathetic towards Ange. The way her expression softens when discussing Ange’s heart, the way she confronts Battler for not returning, her helping Ange in her quest to find the truth, even if it results in Ange’s death, very much feels sincere. They are both comrades and Witches of Truth, for it isn’t Battler or Beatrice’s actions that change Erika, but Ange’s that ultimately turn her into a true ‘detective’, rather than a Witch of Truth, staying friends with Dlanor and the rest (the former who once attempted to kill her out of mercy due to Erika being too far gone). In a sense, the trick ending is character regression for both of them, which is why it's considered a ‘bad ending’ (disregarding Golden Fantasia which has a more optimistic outlook of how Ange’s trick journey will end in Erika and Ange’s route).
Our Confession…is something. I definitely do think it has its place but… I definitely prefer how Confession of the Golden Witch handles things, even if it is more revelatory in nature. Most of my problems with it are with Flauros, I think Ryukishi burnt the kitchen with that character. The structure of it explaining how the game functions very much feels like something one can piece together on their own (maybe apart from the accomplice roulette) but the new scenario is interesting enough to justify it. The scene with Kumasawa is definitely one of the highlights as it is unbelievably tragic as we see how the two interact in a more playful manner, reflecting the relationship between Virgilia and Beatrice. Shannon’s despair at the very end of the game is also incredibly chilling for a normally optimistic character but…we know how Episode 2’s final closed room ended. And the ending. Dlanor’s involvement with the manuscript adds a lot to her character in Episode 5 and her ending monologue is very much the best part of the short story. I think some people think Our Confession’s canonicity is somewhat…debated, especially with Confession of the Golden Witch. But I definitely do think they are both relevant to Umineko. If Our Confession reveals the Mystery and Fantasy side at once, then Confession is the heart. It is the third story that the Dlanor asks us to find. I still think it is worth reading as it is one of my favourite parts of Umineko, but I think one should consider the nature of Sayo’s heart before reading the Episode 8 manga. …But who the fuck is An Zuu??? Seriously, I think it’s one of the mysteries of Umineko that has gone completely unsolved, like the wiki speculates it might be an 07th member but that’s not confirmed in any way.
Forgery no. XXX is what if Battler was evil, the sonic.exe of Umineko. Joking aside, I do think the way he mentions that they are separate people could also be that Black Battler is the embodiment of the theory that Battler is an impostor set up by Rudolf, which is stated by Beatrice in Episode 4. He also appears in Golden Fantasia and the manga, where Erika summons him to beat up George and Jessica but gets cut in half by Beatrice just saying “Ushiromiya Battler is not the culprit” in red. As Beatrice says, he is “the idle imagination of scum, not even a proper theory”, and yeah, I don’t disagree with that notion. He’s edgy in a fun way but I never really got into him, especially as an alternate culprit. However, there are two very interesting things about this story. First is the mention of Tohya. Tohya is, albeit unintentionally, a leading part of the Witch Hunters and as a result, helped start the trend of forgeries with alternative culprits. I don’t necessarily think Tohya’s fears are possibly being the culprit but rather after writing Dawn, realises that the forgeries are impacting the life of his sister, Ange as her family, especially her brother, are directly pointed to as the culprit. This is likely the non-meta reason for Twilight, a story he writes where everyone gets along which is mocked by goats and infuriates Ange enough to go meet Ikuko. Black Battler taunts him for this I think, saying that it is impossible to stop the theory with Twilight and his retirement as Tohya helped popularise forgeries in the first place. Number 2. LAND. Black Battler is in Land of the Golden Witch, the alternate Episode 3? I definitely have a lot of thoughts about this that go into crackpot theory territory, so I won’t explore it here but it’s definitely interesting..
I think Last Note is somewhat…unpopular with fans? Also, I think this is the first piece of Umineko content that is not Our Confession (which carries a disclaimer) or the manga that cements Shkanontrice as the official explanation. I’ve seen some dislike for it but even then it’s not really discussed very much at all. Being teased as an ‘Episode 9’ of sorts, I can see why people are disappointed, but I do think it is one of the stronger side-stories of Umineko. It’s an opportunity to explore a character that is barely present, that being Asumu as despite Umineko’s many multifaceted characters, she and Kinzo’s wife are rarely present and acknowledged within the narrative. Rosa’s husband being absent feels more intentional than the first two as the only character who knows him is Rosa herself but for the women, they are known by everyone in the family, maybe apart from Ange. ‘The difficulty is high’ very much feels inaccurate as most people I’ve seen play through it guess Piece’s identity fairly easily, although I believe that to be the point. The way her mask just falls completely off, handing out red truths and complete honesty after Battler defends her motive, just feels incredibly heart-rending. She does not care for the game itself, but the opportunity to apologise. Not to her son, but her daughter in law who she takes complete responsibility for. I’ve heard the riddle obsession thing is pretty cheap as a way of identifying the culprit, but I think it’s fine as Battler and Sayo know Asumu personally and her interests, even if they are not revealed to the player.
It’s not really an epilogue but a reunion of characters, not only for the three central characters of Umineko’s narrative but also for a character that they have not seen or met in so long. I’ve also seen that people consider it to be an awful story, saying that if it ruins the existence of Ange. If Kyrie and especially Ange weren’t there, everyone would be happy and holding hands, nothing would go wrong. If Asumu was there, it would fix everything, right? But that’s the point. It’s a fantasy, something Battler and Beatrice say multiple times to Ange. It is a spite fic, a means of hurting Ange by a fantasy where everyone is better off without her. It’s not a real trolley problem because the trolley is not real, the story itself is not real. “But you can make up any future you want if you embellish it.” Asumu likely could not have fixed everything, especially Sayo’s issues. It is a what if in the same vein of what if Gohda stopped the tragedy from happening. It could’ve happened but ultimately, we don’t know. We can guess but ultimately, it is important to remain in the future rather than dwelling in the past. That is why Piece erases herself, removing her fantasy along with it. Her fantasy was not only about impossibly taking accountability for something that happened after her death, but to hurt Ange as Kyrie’s daughter. Her being alive brings fortune to everyone else while bringing misfortune to those she is spiteful towards. It’s selfish. Yet the world that they live in now, everyone has forgiven each other, including Kyrie, in the Golden Land. Ange is allowed to live her life, becoming a woman that brings happiness and magic to not only children, but adults as well through her books. And thus, to bring to humankind, Asumu takes the selfless route, making sure her own selfish fantasy never comes to fruition.
4:47 Saku opening plays
6:46 Marcie begins speaking
8:43 the trick ending
27:24 "Our Confession"
1:50:39 full Barbatos lore
1:55:13 "Whose tea party?"
2:03:00 "To Mount Purgatory, Sakutaro!"
2:15:52 "Jessica and the Killer Electric Fan"
2:48:21 "Forgery no. xxx"
3:13:04 "Last Note of the Golden Witch"
Ok, the trick ending is really good well written and brilliant from a thematic point of view…
But it’s also just really really funny and I’m not quite sure why.
spoiler
---
when piece said she was gonna unveil rejected characters I started chanting things like "virgilius!" and "give us the boy" very much channeling jenny nicholson in the buzzy video. super excited to see his concept art for the first time!!
thank you so much for doing the side stories like this, I was hoping I would get to see chats reaction to piece's identity reveal and they did not disappoint
I wasn’t able to be here for the stream, there was too much going on at once, but I’m catching up :,)
🥳