So, I feel dumb for not knowing that the Higurashi people have an entire series of When they Cry stories I just finished the first arc of Umineko (When the Seagulls Cry) manga, and it reminds me a heck of a lot of Higurashi. The first arc was suitably crazy, and mysterious, without quite the horror that the last series had (although Maria sure loves her crazy eyes). Long story short, 18 people are stuck on an island for 2 days, over the course of which they all seem to die (well, in the first arc at least). There's a witch seemingly involved as well. In the first arc:
Everyone dies but George, Battler, Maria, and Jessica. Beatrice appears at the end, and seven years later this story is found in a bottle in the ocean, signed by Maria, part of whose jawbone was discovered among the corpses.
Obviously this is the bad ending: no one tries to solve the riddle to find the hidden gold, so the characters are kinda screwed from the start. But several of the scenes are... iffy. Potential spoilers ahoy!
1. I don't think Kanon got stabbed by Beatrice. He has a nice long speech about confronting the witch, then takes a stake to the chest and dies off-screen. All that is clearly seen is him falling back with the stake in his chest.
2. Grandfather was totally not the corpse in the furnace. The proof given is the toes on his feet. But the condition is hereditary, and by that point we have several other dead candidates.
3. Shannon I think is dead, as are a couple of the other folks among the first sacrifices, because you can see their faces. You cannot see the face of Kyrie or Battler's dad (although his sideburns are there). I think the only other clear face is Krauss, but it might be Gouda. That makes potentially 4 people still alive.
4. Maria is creepy, but I don't think she's involved.
5. The true killer is likely more than one person, and knowing how Higurashi went, it's possible that all the characters aren't even introduced yet.
6. I feel like the characters get drugged in the study, because of the mention of the strange smell.
So who do I think the actual killers are?
1. Kyrie
2.
3.
4. Gouda. I don't know why, but he irks me.
Anyway it's really good so far. Anyone seen the anime? Higurashi was totally better with sound, and as the original game was sound novel motivated primarily by sounds, music, etc., I'm guessing that carries on with the new series!
Edited, Mar 9th 2011 3:12pm by LockeColeMA
Edited, Mar 9th 2011 4:39pm by LockeColeMA