It quickly becomes apparent that the “curse” of the Ushiromiya name stems from Kinzo’s obsession of reuniting with the Golden Witch, Beatrice, which has driven a spiritual and physical wedge between himself and the rest of the family. The Ushiromiya siblings and their partners are given the most unceremonious introduction as a group of disillusioned, irascible backstabbers who co-opt the family conference to bicker incessantly over the near-death household patriarch Kinzo’s inheritance. Umineko as a brilliant, inspiring tragedy However, if you’re even remotely interested in reading Umineko, the safest bet is to not proceed. MASSIVE spoilers ahead, though without context, most of this won’t make sense to the uninitiated. Having wrapped up Umineko a month ago, twice over, here are a smattering of thoughts with questionable coherence and organization. Back in the day, circa 2009, I watched the anime adaptation of Higurashi and still regard it as one the few truly great and effective horror anime: the introductory Onikakushi-hen arc, in particular, still haunts me as maybe the only truly unnerving, skin-crawling, self-contained storyline in anime.
I finally decided to take the plunge a full decade after its initial release, hoping to find an intricate and enthralling mystery thriller. For me, the 2020 quarantine (or, more accurately, the first part of it) will forever be defined by Ryukishi07’s 100-hr opus Umineko no Naku koro Ni.