Umineko: When They Cry (No Spoilers)

By: 14thLord

Release: 2009
Genre: Mystery, Psychological, Supernatural
Also known as: Umineko No Koro Ni, When the Seagulls Cry, Seagualls: When they Cry

Ah Umineko a obscure gem, and the next installment by 07th Expansion. You may recognize the developer from its predecessor, Higurashi: When They Cry. While holding Many similarities in style, the two anime's are completely unrelated, so feel free to pick up one or the other, in either order. I personally recommend starting with Higurashi if you were to indeed watch the two.

Like Higurashi, there's little that can be said about Umineko without giving away spoilers. What I can tell you is that the plot revolves around a mystery, which may or may not be supernatural based. The story plays out like a murder mystery, while at times showing impossible things, relying heavily on unreliable testimonies.

If you enjoy unsolvable murder/mansion mysteries, psychological intense anime's, and the notion of witches, this anime may peek your interest. Immediately from the start, the show sets itself up on Rokkenjima Island, a isle. That's allegedly haunted by the Golden Witch Beatrice. Long ago, the head of the Ushiromiya family made a deal with this mysterious figure. Now the Witch has come to collect on its end of the bargain, the families fortune, and their lives.

The Anime ends with a massive cliffhanger, intentionally to allow the viewer to form their own opinions and attempt to “solve” the mystery. There also includes the visual novel series with EXTENSIVELY more detail, which has never been released stateside. Fortunately, you can enjoy the anime to the fullest, without ever having even heard of the game.

Unfortunately Umineko was never dubbed, after Funimations dub of Higurash was considered to be a flop, and their license was since allowed to expire. It's particularly upsetting as this was the event that caused Funimation to seek more conservative titles, rather than branching out to obscure gems.

Characters: 9/10
Umineko sports a large cast of memorable characters, whether it's the primary circle involving the families adult children, or the simple servants of the family. Each member of the Ushiromiya is a well fleshed out suspect, with their own reasons and motives. While some can quickly be discarded as a suspect for not being suiting to their personality, you may later find yourself second guessing that decision.

Plot: 10/10
Let no episode remain a filler. A motto this anime takes, and I love it greatly for. If you love a good murder mystery, and a anime that deliberately makes attempts with messing with the viewers head, this is the show for you. Often I found myself at edge, constantly trying to solve the mystery of Rokkenjima Island.

Fun Factor: 10/10
Again, Umineko is very dependent upon the viewer enjoying a good murder mystery. Not only is it amazing fun to watch, it continues to extend its fun in discussions with friends, as you debate on opposite sides.

Music & Animation: 9/10
The art style of the anime isn't something of particular notice, it is one of the lovelier looking anime's currently out. If you seen the initial games, the artstyle is a MASSIVE improvement upon it, but otherwise very standard.

While featuring an extensive of enjoyable songs in its soundtrack, it's the Opening and Ending themes that really catches the viewer. Immediately the anime opens with a theme that excites its viewer, but in a very suiting manner. At the same, the end song for each episode isn't typical j-pop that's randomly added, like in most anime's. Instead, the ending song does an amazing job at keeping you shocked at the end of the episode, and psyched to watch the next.

Overall: 10/10
Umineko is one of the few anime's that I'll give a perfect 10 to, and for good reason. The story is so well executed, riddled with depth. The characters all feel alive, even if they try portraying themselves as wooden in public. The only deterring factor that I can see is if you simply do not enjoy this unusual type of anime. It's an odd and difficult mix, that can easily leave the viewer confused as it attempts to combine two polar opposite genre's, one of realism, the other of supernatural.

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Amnesia (Anime) No Spoilers

By: Lostsakana

Release: 2013
Category: Harem, Romance

Now the question is: Can you dock a rating for an anime based only on its genre…? I would say no. No, that would be unfair. It’d be like rating a show for kids poorly because you’re holding it to the standards of adults. It’d be like rating a horror flick poorly because you don’t like scary movies. Like rating the Naked Gun as a 2/10 because your dog died moments before and the thought of laughing makes you sick.

Amnesia is based on a reverse-harem dating sim. For those of you unaware, Japan has an abundance of not just anime, manga and video games in its popular media, but also dating games where you play as the protagonist and have the chance to date a number of characters with different looks and personalities. These games are designed to incorporate many different endings and often these can have huge variance depending on the decisions you make. There are hundreds of these games in almost every genre: romance, hentai, adventure, and even horror (try googling Song of Saya)… as long as you’re a guy. (Or don’t mind playing as a boy…)There are OVERWHELMING numbers of these games but the options for girls are very limited. (But I would encourage almost anyone to look into the bird dating sim “Hatoful Boyfriend” because holy shit—just do it.)

Amnesia is, as you have probably figured out at this point, based on one of these dating sims for girls. With that in mind, what rating does it deserve? Certainly not a 2, or a 3, not anywhere near the ratings I keep seeing over and over. It seems to me that the main beef most people have with this series is that it is “a shameless harem”. Oh please!!! And the same people who rated this series probably gave anime like Shuffle a 9 or 10. Alright men in their 20’s: this is not the anime for you.

Girls? Gay men? Give it a shot. But understand what it is:

This game is based on a dating sim. In dating sims the main character is left a completely blank slate for a reason. You are supposed to project yourself onto this character. If the lead was designed to have too much of a defined personality players would feel pressured to make decisions based on what they feel the protagonist would want, not their own interests. That being said…

An adaption should be able to break through that play-through motif. Unfortunately without changing too much about the story this is a difficult work around, to invent a new character as the lead out of thin air.

The Amnesia anime has a HORRIBLE protagonist. But with an understanding of where she came from (a completely blank slate designed to compliment every potential suitor) who could blame the writers? Had they changed too much about the lead I think this would have upset some players (and the main target audience) who saw her as having a different personality.

The Amnesia anime is eye candy. Watch the opening and ending themes: This will give you an idea of what you’re in for.



Animation: 10/10
Beautiful animation. No complaints here.

Directing: 5/10
My main complaint here is that there are some problems real problems that can pull you away from enjoying the story.

Why were the directors so set on keeping this series Y-7? They have references to “spending the night together” but the director must have explicitly told the animators to draw stab wounds without blood, because wow, what the heck.

My other complaint is that they never had the main character make any expression beyond a blank stare. Even in situations where she is about to be horribly murdered, or even when she’s being strangled she still has a more calm expression than the average person discovering a parking ticket. It’s outrageous how expressionless she is. Even if her personality was designed to be a blank slate, she should still feel emotions for heaven’s sake! Her facial pallet is embarrassingly blank even in desperate situations.

Story: Eh…. 6/10
It’s an adaption… they did the best they could… Not dreadful anyway.

Music: 8/10
Not bad.

Characters: 8/10
If you ignore the main character’s blank personality the rest of the cast is interesting and fun.

Overall: 7/10
Amnesia is a dazzling 7/10. Amnesia knows exactly what it is and exactly what it’s trying to be. It’s refreshing to watch an anime that doesn’t take place in high school for once. I cannot emphasize this enough.

Remember where this series originated and enjoy the eye candy!

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