Umineko Episode 4 Personal Review

MASSIVE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!  DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETELY READ ALL OF THE FIRST 4 EPISODES OF UMINEKO!!!  YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!  IF YOU READ PAST THIS POINT AND YOU HAVE NOT READ THROUGH UMINEKO PROPERLY YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME!!!

 

What follows is what I experienced as I read through episode 4 of Umineko.  While I still plan to make a review about the entire Umineko series combined at a later date, I felt that episode 4 deserved some special attention as it is my favorite up to this point.  So with that said here we go once again on the crazy ride that is my thinking process.  For a little extra assistance in this here is a link to my points of interest article if you want to see how I came up with some of my conclusions: Umineko Points of Interest

Initial Impressions:  This episode is by far my favorite episode in the Umineko series up to this point and it has to do primarily with the fact that it has everything I could have wanted in a story.  When I was reading through this episode I felt angry, sad, happy, surprised, inspired, disgusted, and much more all the way through and questioned things about life that I never even thought about before.  The two main heroines in this episode of the visual novel were, in my opinion at least, Ange and Maria and both of their stories are absolutely heartbreaking and yet both had a sliver of light at the end as well.  In order to give you a better idea of what I am talking about lets break things down a little further.

Characters

Ange: First there is Ange, the girl who was left behind.  My first impression of her back when she made her awesome entrance at the end of episode 3 was of a very strong and intelligent woman that would finally help Battler end this game with the Golden Witch.  However, when episode 4 began I was immediately struck with the revelation that she was also a very damaged individual who led a very abused and lonely life.  Despite this however she also turned out to be an extremely brave person as well who did not hesitate in the slightest to seize that tiny sliver of hope that was given to her by Bernkastel.

This is noteworthy in my mind because of the very fact that she led such a troubled life.  Her entire life, at least from six on, she was beaten down by Eva and her peers and told she was not good enough and shouldn’t even be alive over and over.  Even when she tried to do what others wanted her to do she was still beaten down and made to feel inferior.  Most people would have broken and taken the easy way out but instead she lived on with her torture and even tried to create a happier world for herself despite the world she was forced to live in.  She fought and fought until she couldn’t fight anymore and finally when she was just about to give up for good she found a tiny shred of hope and took it.  I can only speak from the viewpoint of someone who has read the first 4 episodes but Ange making that deal with Bern could be taken in two ways as far as I am concerned.  It could be taken literally for what it seemed to be, which was her making a deal with a witch so that she could try and save her family, or it could be seen as something entirely in her mind and simply a near death experience before she hit the ground.  The only fact we have is at the end of episode 4 during the credits where it says she died in 1998.  Regardless of which one of these is true or not the fact is that Ange persevered and sought out her own answers.  In the end she began to understand how even someone like Eva could become so broken and malevolent.  She learned how to understand the fact that people are people no matter what and did something that only the strongest of us are able to do.  She showed everyone that magic is something that can exist in this world as long as we are willing to grasp it and believe that we can make a difference.  Whether that journey took place in the real world or her mind will never change the fact that she made that journey and by doing so discovered more about herself and others in that short span of time than most of us will discover in a lifetime.

Maria:  Then there was Maria who was in my mind the most tragic of figures to date in Umineko.  A young girl who had some problems interacting with her peers but was very sweet and kind none the less.  Here is a girl who is light years ahead of many in her ability to forgive and see the good side hidden in others.   It is unfortunate she had a mother that, at least up to this point, seemed to care more about herself than her own daughter because it ultimately led to her downfall.  The fact that an outsider seemed to show more concern for Maria’s well-being than Rosa did herself should have been a wakeup call in and of itself but that was not enough to make Rosa see just how much she was hurting her daughter.  The reason I mention Rosa at all is because she was the primary reason her daughter took a turn for the worse and ultimately turned to a darker frame of mind.  Even though Ange hurt Maria deeply by denying magic Rosa was the one who stole Maria’s purity by destroying Sakutorou and filling her with the same feelings of anger and hate that Rosa herself held deep inside her.  The real question is why did Rosa have to push all of her problems onto Maria in the first place?  Why did she care more about her own wants and needs than her own daughter’s?  Maria never asked for anything other than her mother’s love and yet her mother just couldn’t accept her for who she was and continued to blame her for all of her own personal shortcomings.

So in order to escape from this reality Maria tried to create her own, a better reality with fun friends and a mother who loved her.  Sakutarou became her best friend in this world not simply because he was a cute stuffed lion but because he was made by her mother and represented the kind and loving mother Maria always wanted Rosa to be.  By becoming her best friend Sakutarou also inherited a piece of Maria’s soul and became a living entity in his own right and represented the purity and innocence that remained in Maria’s own soul.  He always tried to keep Maria happy and stood up for Rosa whenever something happened because deep down Maria herself wanted to believe that her mother truly loved her.  So when Rosa destroyed the stuffed lion that was Sakutarou’s body she also horrifically ripped apart a piece of Maria’s soul that would be scarred forever after which is the real reason why I believe Sakutarou could not be revived by Beatrice.  This is also why Ange was the only one who could revive Sakutarou at the end because through her journey she had come to understand the side of Maria that was corrupted and broken and by reviving Sakutarou she was in effect, reviving the innocence and purity that made Maria who she was and healing the damage that had been done to her heart.  Whether it was real or symbolic Maria’s story was one of corruption and revival and of the importance of protecting a child’s innocence which is so fragile to begin with.  To me Maria’s journey reminded me of a wild flower exposed to the elements which still manages to bloom despite all of the wind and rain and snow nature throws at it and by doing so, forever makes the world a better place for that brief moment in time it exists.

Battler: While Maria and Ange stole the spotlight we cannot forget about our main hero Battler.  He continues even now to play the witches game and seeks to get home but is now faced with the prospect of not knowing who he really is and trying to figure out what sin he committed six years ago.  In his confusion he lost himself and his sister, who he just reunited with, in an extremely gruesome way while the witches looked on with indifference.  Battler has finally realized what he is really fighting for and appears to not be backing down anymore.  His strength of character is as strong as ever but what could he have done in the past that was so terrible that he left the family?  If he is not Asumu’s son could he actually by Kyrie’s son? What if Kyrie did not have a miscarriage but was only made to believe she had one and the child was hidden from her by Rudolph to avoid a potential inheritance squabble?  Better yet, what if both Kyrie and Asumu gave birth to healthy baby boys but Kyrie’s son was hidden away by Rudolph to avoid potential infighting within the family and that disinherited child is the Battler we have come to know and admire?  The questions just keep going on and on but one thing is certain this time; Battler is not messing around anymore and Lambda and Bern will have a lot more in store for them than they realize and this is the awesome proof right here: Kick ass track

Everyone else: Even though this review became primarily an Ange and Maria shout out the rest of the cast cannot be forgotten either.  George really pulled a fast one by agreeing to kill everyone and then all the sudden going after Gaap.  I have to say that was the coolest moment for him so far and was absolutely awesome.  He showed his resolve and love in true anime hero fashion and showed Gaap that she wasn’t the only one with fancy footwork.  It was just a shame that he got sucker punched in the end because I would have loved nothing more than to see him finish off that super-hot kitchen apron wearing…….cough…….I mean well dressed woman with his finishing blow. 

         I also have to admit that Jessica really gave Ronove a run for his money too.  He was so calm and collected and even though he probably planned that trap from the beginning I could just sense that he was sweating a little inside under Jessica’s brutal assault.  Jessica’s fists of fury are certainly a dangerous weapon to behold but unfortunately that was turned against her in the end and in a really cheap way to boot.  Even after that Ronove showed what appeared to be a slight act of kindness by giving Jessica a 3 minute reprieve.  Although with that said I must say that it seemed rather fishy that she chose to spend her last moments talking to Battler instead of Kanon who she spent her last moments with just one episode before.  It does make me wonder if Ronove purposefully did that just so Jessica would confirm the existence of magic to Battler to throw him off…….hmmm very strange.  Jessica also ended up in the same situation she was in back in episode 2 as well with Kanon missing at the end yet again so that just makes her demise all the more mysterious in this episode and all the more intriguing as well.

        The rest of the cast, the ones who survived the first sacrifice anyways, also had there moment to shine in what had to be the craziest yet funniest scene I have come across yet in reading Umineko.  I mean who knew when they started reading this episode that Krauss was going to go fist to fist with a goat man and actually win!?  Who knew that alpha goat man would trigger so many flags and then squash beauty pageant contestant Virgilia right after!?  No matter how you look at it that scene just made absolutely no sense at all and yet that just made it all the more humorous to watch.  I remember getting about a third of the way through that scene and saying to myself what the heck am I even seeing here this is just absolute craziness. Lol

It is unfortunate however that all good times have to come to an end at some point as was shown quite abruptly as everyone was climbing up the well, subtle reference there perhaps, and the bunny girl trio wiped them all out one by one.  Those three girls have to be by far the most overpowered servants Beatrice and Kinzo have in their arsenal so far and I must say they are starting to get on my nerves with their killing off of almost every single person that decides to have their own badass moment in Umineko.  Kinzo himself seemed to favor their use throughout the entire episode actually and only 2 of the 13 sacrifices died by some other means which just shows even more how overpowered they are.  It actually makes me wonder if they are not somehow linked to Kinzo’s involvement in a more subtle way and if in fact previous episodes with apparent gunshot slayings were not also somehow his doing as well.  So many answers still lie in wait about what happened here so for now I will simply satisfy myself with the fact that I have finished half of the Umineko series and had an amazing time the entire way through

Final Impressions:  Even with all of the drama and action that made this episode so great one thing that is prominent in this episode is the idea that the untapped potential of the mind can create a world all its own.  Now I ask the question, what is wrong with that?  There are many instances in life where people have dreamed of things and sought to make them a reality.  At one time the idea that people would be able to create light without fire was a dream.  Before that the idea that someone could put seeds in the ground and have them grow into edible food was a dream.  Even before that the idea that someone could look up at the night sky and ask are we alone, what is our purpose for existing, is there anyone else like us, instead of seeing just dots of light was just a dream.  These are just a few examples but history is filled with individuals who have dreamed of things in there head that seemed impossible and made them a reality because they refused to except that it was impossible.  The same can be said for magic as well.  Why is it impossible for magic to exist in this world?  Is it because the laws of physics say it is or is it because we can’t see it for what it truly is.  Is it not magical when a child grows up poor and in squalor but pushes herself to become better and rises above her circumstances despite all of the obstacles thrown in her way?  Is it not magical when a mother works 2 jobs and yet still finds the time to attend her kids’ soccer game and celebrate with them after the big win?  Is it not also magical when a girl has lived her entire life in a negative environment and still finds a way to see the goodness in others even when they cannot see it themselves?  I’ll let everyone else be the judge on that one though as I have already made up my mind.