Contents
Overview
Umineko: When They Cry (When the Seagulls Cry) is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The first game in the series, Legend of the Golden Witch, was first released at Comiket 72 on August 17, 2007 playable on the PC; the game sold out in thirty minutes. It's somewhat of a spiritual successor to Higurashi: When They Cry, and even has a few characters cross over in new forms.
Square Enix, Ichijinsha, Kadokawa Shoten, and ASCII Media Works all published various manga adaptations of the series. It was also turned into a 26-episode anime by Studio Deen, which aired in Japan between July and December 2009. A series of novels written by Ryukishi07 are published by Kodansha Box. A fighting game based on the franchise named Ōgon Musōkyoku was released by 07th Expansion on December 31, 2010.
Plot
The story focuses on a group of eighteen people on a secluded island for a period of two days, and the mysterious murders that befall most of the people. The goal of the game is to discern whether the murderer is human or of some other supernatural source. Umineko is the third title in the When They Cry series, preceded by Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, and followed by Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru.
Power of the Verse
Umineko is one of the most powerful franchises out there. Especially Featherine Augustus Aurora, the creator of the whole Umineko story. Umineko's characters also have many abilities like reality warping, time manipulation, regeneration, resurrection, etc.
Explanation
The cosmic hierarchy of the When They Cry series (including Umineko and Higurashi) is based on perspective. The strength of an individual depends on the height of the realm/world/layer that it exists on. Anything (even infinity and violation of logic) within a lower layer is limited when comparing it with a higher layer.
Characters can have multiversal abilities (like Battler's Endless Nine) within their own layer of existence, but in the higher layer they are just characters or chess pieces from stories/books or chessboards. Stories of lower worlds (including all characters, universes, physical and spiritual realities, afterlives, mirror realms, pocket worlds, higher dimensions and all fates in linear time and even timeless events) are visualized as tiny crystals (called Kakeras/Fragments/Pieces). And even ordinary people (such as Rika) within a higher layer can literally move, merge and change these small kakeras with just their hands.
To higher layer beings these lower worlds are simply records of information. Some kakera may contain countless worlds, or endless worlds/kakeras can exists as a limited amount of regular matter of a higher layer (it is not actually physical matter, just visualized concepts, much like everything else in the higher worlds).
However, even higher beings and realms where they exist are just characters and stories to creatures from even higher layers. But these creatures are also limited compared to beings that are even higher. The upper world is an infinite hierarchical ladder. Outside of that ladder is the boundlessness that is the lack of even perspective, the status of the Creator (the identity of a being that reaches this status disappears completely, because it is not limited to even its own life, death, or anything else).
Here are a few relevant scans that explain some of the Umineko concepts for you.
We also have a more in-depth explanation blog.
Supporters and Opponents
Supporters:
- Promestein
- Azathoth the Abyssal Idiot
- Hyper Anon
- Drellix
- The real cal howard
- Ovy7
- Udlmaster
- CrimsonStarFallen
- YuriAkuto
- First Witch
- Zencha9
- Critikoji2
- ZERO7772
- Infinity Shun
Neutral:
Opponents:
Character Profiles
Almighty Beings
Almighty Beings | ||||
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God | The Witch of Theatergoing,
Drama, and Spectating | |||
The Creator | Featherine Augustus Aurora |
Voyagers
Voyagers | ||||
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The Witch of Miracles | The Witch of Certainty | The Witch of Pieces | Lord Christmas | |
Bernkastel | Lambdadelta | Piece | Santa Claus |
Witches
Witches | ||||
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The Golden Witch | The Golden Sorcerer | The Witch of Truth | The Witch of the Future | |
Beatrice | Battler Ushiromiya | Erika Furudo | Eva-Beatrice | |
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The Witch of Resurrection | The Finite Witch | The Witch of Origins | ||
Ange Ushiromiya | Virgilia | Maria Ushiromiya |
Angels
Eiserne Jungfrau | ||||
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Chief Inquisitor
of Eiserne Jungfrau |
Third-Class Priest | First-Class Priest | ||
Dlanor A. Knox | Cornelia | Gertrude |
SSVD | ||||
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Chief Inquisitor
of the SSVD |
Heavenly Cat | |||
Willard H. Wright | Diana |
Furniture
Furniture | ||||
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Bernkastel's Familiars | Low-Level Furniture | 27th Ranked Great Demon | 33rd Ranked Great Demon | |
Wild Cats | Theory Goats | Ronove | Gaap | |
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Purgatory Sisters | Kinzo's Furniture | Kinzo's Furniture | 64th Ranked Great Demon | |
The Seven Stakes of Purgatory | Shannon | Kanon | Flauros | |
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16th Ranked Great Demon | 34th Ranked Great Demon | |||
Zepar | Furfur |
Humans
Ushiromiya Family | ||||
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Head of the Ushiromiya Family | 2nd Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 3rd Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 4th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | |
Kinzo Ushiromiya | Krauss Ushiromiya | Eva Ushiromiya | Rudolf Ushiromiya | |
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5th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 6th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 7th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | Forgery | |
Rosa Ushiromiya | Jessica Ushiromiya | George Ushiromiya | Black Battler | |
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10th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 11th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | 12th Ranked of Ushiromiya Family | The Successor of the
Ushiromiya Family | |
Natsuhi Ushiromiya | Hideyoshi Ushiromiya | Kyrie Ushiromiya | Lion Ushiromiya |
Servants | ||||
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Doctor | Head Buttler | Elderly Servant | Ushiromiya Family's Chef | |
Terumasa Nanjo | Genji Ronoue | Chiyo Kumasawa | Toshiro Gohda |
Discussions
Discussion threads involving Umineko no Naku Koro ni |