Umineko When They Cry Blu-ray Review
Murder was just the beginning. . .
Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, December 15, 2012
Don't panic—there isn't a second disc. Those of you who have been collecting the deluxe Premium Edition sets
that NIS America has
been churning out with a fair degree of regularity over the past couple of years might initially have the concerned
reaction I did when I opened
this second volume of
Amineko When They Cry. To my recollection, all previous NIS America Premium Editions
have come with at least
two Blu-ray discs (sometimes two Blu-ray discs and two DVDs, in fact), but when I pulled everything out of the slipcase,
I was surprised to find
only one slimline case with a single BD inside it. But then I remembered that when I had been researching this anime
while writing my
Umineko When They Cry Blu-
ray review of the
first volume, I had noticed that there really weren't
that many episodes in total and I had in fact wondered how
NIS America was going
to spread whatever remaining content there had been over two discs, which I simply assumed was the unalterable
norm for the label. And so
in one way, this single disc release really shouldn't come as a major surprise. But in another very real way, consumers
who might have balked
all along at paying the sometimes hefty prices for these Premium Editions now probably have something
really
major to tick them off, as
they're only getting one disc (plus the hardback book) for what amounts to more or less the same price. So before we
go any further with an
actual review of the content of that single disc, savvy prospective customers might want to remember that age old
adage
caveat
emptor.
As was discussed in
Umineko
When They Cry Part 1 Blu-ray review, the series is split up into what might be thought of as different "chapters",
as
evidenced by different numbering schemes differentiating interrelated but kind of self-contained story arc, which also
correspond to the various "games" that Battler and Beatrice are involved in (chess imagery floods this series just in
case the viewer misses the intellectual battle angle). The single
disc
in this second set contains the fourth chapter, which starts with the nineteenth episode of the series. As was also
discussed in the review of the first section of the series,
Umineko When They Cry is fairly bursting at the seams
with various characters, and even while watching the show it can be hard keeping track of who's whom and how
various
stories relate to each other.
While the first couple of episodes of
Umineko When They Cry might lead some to believe they're going to be
watching a murder mystery taking place on an isolated island with lots of "locked room" subplots unfolding, the series
takes a rather dramatic left turn part way through, and by the time this fourth chapter has come along, the actual
murders
have almost taken a back seat to both a sort of philosophical debate between Battler and Beatrice, as well as several
unfolding stories that start to reveal further interrelationships between various characters, probably most notably the
little
girl named Maria.
The other major conceit of this final arc of episodes is a sort of quasi-time traveling gambit where we get things
unfolding side by side in both 1986, when the first set of episodes took place, and 1998, where the ramifications of
what
did happen in 1986 have had some unexpected repercussions. Battler's (secret) sister Ange plays into
several
unfolding developments in 1998, and there's also some almost brutal information given on Ange's life after the series of
murders took place. Ange also has the ability to help her brother in his metaphysical "debate" with the witch Beatrice.
As becomes clear part way through the first volume of episodes, what
Umineko When They Cry actually turns
out to be about is the age old battle between the "scientific" and the "religious", for want of better terms. The
occurrences on the family island in 1986 can be explained rationally by Battler, or one can accept the supernatural
insistences of Beatrice. Had the series concentrated solely on that aspect without the huge amount of tangential
subplots and sidebars that crop up (even throughout the fourth "game" or chapter), it would have been a much more
focused and perhaps visceral entertainment.
Like many an anime that has sought to become a broadcasting phenomenon,
Umineko When They Cry was
culled from the sort of videogame called a visual novel, and some of those who have played the game version
(something I frankly haven't) have decried the anime for not following the original intent of the franchise's creators nor
even following some of the major plotlines that occurred in the game. Even those without any experience with the
game version may find this a too sprawling and kind of confusing enterprise that seems to be one thing and then turns
out to be something entirely different. One of the things that becomes clear in this final chapter is that the mystery that
Uminkeo When They Cry seems to be about is not actually the ultimate mystery that the anime wants to solve.
The final episode attempts to provide some answers, but the fact is by that point many viewers may have ceased to
care anymore.
Umineko When They Cry Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation
Umineko When They Cry when what I had assumed would be a murder mystery turned out to be a sort of alternate
universe battle of the wits between Battler and Beatrice. But the show maintained enough interest through that first
volume to make me wonder what was going to happen next, though I had a bit of a niggling concern when what seemed to
be the hint of a time travel escapade showed up at the end of that volume. With this last "chapter" or "game" playing out
in two distinct timeframes, even as Battler and Beatrice continue to discuss how the various nefarious events of long ago
could have occurred (were the forces rational or irrational?), there were simply too many other stories going on to
ultimately care about. This is a series that really needed to do one of two things: either drastically cut down the content to
allow for proper development over this relatively paltry number of episodes, or kept the vast array of characters and taken
a
lot more time in getting the viewer hooked on various elements. The whole show, and especially these closing
episodes, seem rather rushed and ill conceived at times, almost as if the adapters had some sort of quota they needed to
fill, bringing in as many of the characters from the original game version as possible without really caring what happened to
them. The series does get into some really interesting debates and some of the mini-mysteries that make up individual
episodes or arcs are in and of themselves very well done, but taken as a whole
Umineko When They Cry ends up
being too much of a mishmash to ever really gel.
