is a Japanese dōjin soft

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

series produced by 07th Expansion. Its first episode debuted at Comiket 72 for

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

on August 17, 2007. 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 them. Readers are challenged to discern whether the murders were committed by a human or some other, supernatural source, as well as the method and motive behind them. The eight main ''Umineko'' games are split into two sets of four, which are considered the third and fourth titles in the ''When They Cry'' series, preceded by the two sets of '' Higurashi When They Cry'' games and followed by ''

Ciconia When They Cry ''Ciconia When They Cry'' is an episodic visual novel game series in development by 07th Expansion, collectively considered the fifth entry in the ''When They Cry'' series, following '' Higurashi'' and ''Umineko''. It follows people trying to pre ...

''.

Square Enix is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational holding company, production enterprise and entertainment conglomerate, best known for its ''Final Fantasy'', ''Dragon Quest'', ''Star Ocean'' and ''Kingdom Hearts'' role-playing video game ...

Ichijinsha is a Japanese publishing company focused on manga-related publication, including magazines and books. The company was first established in August 1992 as a limited company under the name Studio DNA whose main purpose was to edit shōnen manga. ...

, Kadokawa Shoten, and ASCII Media Works all published various

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

adaptations of the series. It was adapted into an

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series, which aired from July to December 2009. A series of novels written by

Ryukishi07 is the pen name for a Japanese writer who is the leading member for the group 07th Expansion. He is the creator of the ''When They Cry'' visual novel series, which includes ''Higurashi When They Cry'', ''Umineko When They Cry'' and '' Ciconia Whe ...

are published by

Kodansha Box is the name of a book label published since November 2006 and a division of the major Japanese publishing house, Kodansha. The label published not only novels but also manga and critical review books, advocating a "hybrid label." The label wa ...

. A

fighting game A fighting game, also known as a versus fighting game, is a video game genre, genre of video game that involves combat between two or more players. Fighting game combat often features mechanics such as Blocking (martial arts), blocking, grappli ...

based on the franchise, '' Umineko: Golden Fantasia'', was released by 07th Expansion on December 31, 2010.

Gameplay

''Umineko When They Cry'' is a murder mystery visual novel, and as such conveys its story primarily through text-based narration and dialogue supplemented by visual and audio elements such as character sprites, background music, and sound effects. It is described as a "sound novel" by 07th Expansion, due to the game's greater focus on creating atmosphere through audio elements rather than visual aspects. The original releases contain no voice acting for the characters. ''Umineko'' is almost entirely linear and contains no interactive gameplay elements, with the exception of small portions of its final entry, ''Twilight of the Golden Witch''. Besides advancing text, players may also access the Tips Mode, allowing them to read various supplementary information regarding the characters and story. Each episode also contains two epilogues which are successively unlocked, which are continuations of the main story that often contain important plot points. Despite the lack of interactive gameplay elements, ''Umineko'' is framed as a game between the author and the reader, with difficulty ratings given in the descriptions for each episode. This refers to the difficulty of the mysteries in each episode, which the reader is intended to actively try to solve. Several story elements are introduced through the course of the story to aid readers in solving the mystery along with the story's protagonist.

Synopsis

Plot

The story begins on October 4, 1986 at , a private island where the wealthy Ushiromiya family have gathered to discuss the division of assets belonging to the ailing family head, Kinzo. Returning after a six-year absence, Kinzo's grandson Battler becomes reacquainted with the legend of the "Golden Witch" Beatrice, who supposedly gave Kinzo ten tons of gold to restore his financially crippled family in the past. Beside her portrait is a riddle-like epitaph, which is believed to grant the rumored gold and the succession of the headship to the solver. A

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

traps the eighteen people on the island, and occult-like murders occur in accordance with the epitaph, often in ways that seem impossible for a human. At the end of the first game, the

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

Beatrice seemingly kills and revives everyone. Refusing to acknowledge the existence of

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

, Battler is seemingly sent to a parallel dimension, from which events on Rokkenjima can be seen. In subsequent episodes he faces Beatrice in games of logic, with the murders repeating themselves in different ways each time, and is tasked to explain them all with human tricks. Over the course of the story, Battler gradually comes to understand magic as an adornment of reality with fantasy, used by several individuals as a coping mechanism for their harsh life situations, and how this is related to Beatrice. In the original visual novel, the solution is never made completely clear, with the need for the reader to solve it personally and the importance of the truth being contained within the

cat box The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members o ...

maintained by the narrative. However, in the manga adaption of the final two episodes, the true identity of Beatrice is revealed as Kinzo's illegitimate child Sayo Yasuda, who plays the role of two of the family's servants, Shannon and Kanon. Having begun work for the Ushiromiya family at age nine, Sayo was ostracized by the older servants and found comfort in the creation of imaginary friends through "magic". They also experienced severe gender dysphoria due to their failure to develop standard female sexual characteristics during puberty. Sayo developed a close friendship and childhood crush on Battler, but suppressed their feelings for him during his absence and eventually entered a relationship with his cousin George as Shannon. Another cousin, Jessica, also developed a crush on Kanon, which Sayo partially wanted to reciprocate. With the aid of Genji, the head servant, Sayo solves the epitaph and gains possession of the legendary gold and a massive number of explosives under the island, both remnants of an old

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

military base that made contact with the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

. They also discover their relation to Kinzo, Compounded by the realization that a relationship with any of the cousins would be

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...

, and disgusted by the Ushiromiya family's sins, Sayo is driven to despair and begins planning a mass murder-suicide using the resources at their disposal. Several possible scenarios are thrown into the sea as message bottles with the hope that someone in the future would come to understand the truth, which forms the basis of the first two games. Sayo's plan ends with the detonation of the explosives, which would destroy all evidence and leave only their fictitious tales standing. At the same time, Sayo is unable to fully accept this course of action and makes it possible for another person, ideally Battler, to solve the epitaph and stop them. However, on the actual family conference of 1986, the epitaph is solved by the adults of the family, and as such, Sayo's plan does not take place. An argument breaks out over the possession of the gold, and Battler's parents, Rudolf and Kyrie, carry out a massacre of the family. Battler's aunt Eva survives the massacre after killing Rudolf and Kyrie in self-defense; Sayo and Battler also survive, but Sayo commits suicide by drowning at sea. Battler, who attempted to rescue Sayo, suffers brain damage and loses his identity as Battler, but retains his fragmented memories. He takes on a new identity under the name Toya Hachijo, and his attempts to piece together the truth of the incident lead him to pen the tales of subsequent games. In the meantime, Battler's identity which 'died' in 1986 finds himself awake in Purgatory, where he meets Sayo as Beatrice, beginning his experiences in the parallel dimension.

Story arcs

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

consists of the first four arcs of the series. They are referred to as the Question Arcs and introduce the world of the story and its mysteries. Each arc contains all the previous ones. ;''Episode 1: Legend of the Golden Witch'' (2007) :The chapter introduces the player to the main setting for the series as the Ushiromiya family gather on the island of Rokkenjima for their annual family conference. The player is familiarized with the island's 18 residents (consisting of the Ushiromiya family and servants) as well as the legend of the Golden Witch, Beatrice. As the story progresses, people on the island are murdered, and the family is taunted by letters that claim to be from the witch Beatrice, who takes responsibility for the murders and intends to take back everything of the Ushiromiya family. ;''Episode 2: Turn of the Golden Witch'' (2007) :The chapter introduces the "meta-world", where Battler is locked into a battle of twisted logic with the witch Beatrice as the murders on the island repeat in a different way. Beatrice also arrives on the island as its 19th resident, and fantastical elements are introduced into the story. The chapter also focuses on George and Jessica's relationships with the Ushiromiya family servants, Shannon and Kanon. ;''Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch'' (2008) :The third chapter continues the repeating murders, with a special focus on Eva Ushiromiya, Kinzo's first daughter. Unlike the first two chapters, the adults of the Ushiromiya family make a serious attempt to solve the riddle of the epitaph. Eva succeeds in this task and finds the gold, but a witch persona of Eva continues to carry out the murders in Beatrice's name. ;''Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch'' (2008) :The chapter introduces Battler's sister Ange as a secondary protagonist, who survived the Rokkenjima massacre due to being absent and was taken in by the only survivor of the incident, Eva. It has a shifting focus of events, showing readers Ange's life in the aftermath of the incident and exploring her relationship with Maria and magic through Maria's diary. The Ange of 1998 sets out on a journey to uncover the truth of Rokkenjima, while the events on the Beatrice's gameboard repeat for the fourth time.

Chiru

tells the second half of the story, delving deeper into the core of the mystery while providing more clues towards the truth of Rokkenjima. Each arc in this series contains all of the previous ''Chiru'' arcs. ;'' Episode 5: End of the Golden Witch'' (2009) : This chapter introduces a new game master in the form of the witch Lambdadelta. Another witch, Bernkastel, takes primary control of the human side in the game. She introduces a new visitor to the island in the form of the detective Erika Furudo, who approaches the murders from a "mystery" perspective, unlike Battler who had taken an "anti-fantasy" stance. The chapter also has a focus on Natsuhi, who receives threatening phone calls from a "Man from 19 Years Ago". ;'' Episode 6: Dawn of the Golden Witch'' (2009) : Having become the new game master, Battler Ushiromiya is tasked in this chapter with creating his gameboard as a way of demonstrating his understanding of Beatrice's game. Like Turn of the Golden Witch, Battler's game has a focus on the lovers, and also introduces a reborn Beatrice who struggles to discover the person she once was. ;'' Episode 7: Requiem of the Golden Witch'' (2010) : This chapter presents an alternate reality where Battler does not come to Rokkenjima, the Golden Witch does not exist, and a mysterious child is now the designated successor to the Ushiromiya family. The protagonist is Willard H. Wright, who is tasked by Bernkastel to uncover the truth behind Beatrice. The chapter delves into the past experiences of several characters, including Kinzo and the person who would become Beatrice. ;'' Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch'' (2010) : The final chapter focuses on Ange Ushiromiya, who in her quest to discover the truth behind the events of the Rokkenjima incident is given the chance to go to Rokkenjima as a six-year-old by Battler. Unlike the previous chapters, this chapter has features that require direct interaction from the player, allowing the player to unlock extra scenes as well as make the choice between two endings.

Tsubasa

(2010) is a compilation of short stories written by Ryukishi07 outside of the games, released on December 31, 2010 alongside ''Twilight of the Golden Witch''. Several of the stories are humorous in tone, but the more serious ones are considered canon.

Hane

(2011) consists of two additional short stories written by Ryukishi07: ''Jessica and the Killer Electric Fan'' and ''Forgery no.XXX''. It was released on December 31, 2011 alongside ''Golden Fantasia Cross''.

Saku

(2019) is a collection of all previous official visual novel content for the series along with two additional scenarios. It was released on October 4, 2019. ; :An additional scenario that goes over the creation of the Beatrice's games, from the execution of the human solution to the adornment with fantasy. It was previously released in text form in the interview book ''Answer to the Golden Witch 2'' (2011), and is recreated here in the visual novel format. ;''Episode 9: Last Note of the Golden Witch'' :A new episode featuring a new character whose title is .

Development

''Umineko When They Cry'' is the second

series produced by 07th Expansion, the first being ''

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the ''When They Cry'' franchise. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in the ficti ...

''. The scenario writer for the series is

, who also drew all of the character illustrations. Game direction was handled by Ryukishi07's younger brother Yatazakura, and the overall management of the series was handled by BT until his death in July 2009. Image and text processing was headed by Jika, who took over BT's position of overall management. Background images and photography were provided by Yatazakura, Zekozakura, Mali., and All Season Kisetsu no Irodori. The games were designed using the

game engine A game engine is a software framework primarily designed for the development of video games and generally includes relevant libraries and support programs. The "engine" terminology is similar to the term "software engine" used in the software i ...

NScripter This is a list of visual novel engines. Digital Novel Markup Language ''Digital Novel Markup Language (DNML)'' is one of the first scripting language game engines for creating visual novels, also known as interactive fiction games. ''DNML'' was d ...

. The music of ''Umineko'' was provided by various music artists including both professionals and '' dōjin'' artists, and Dai, the composer of most of the music found in the answer arcs of ''Higurashi'', also had a hand in the project as the music director. The word ''umineko'' is the name of a kind of seagull known as a Black-tailed gull. ''Naku'' means , specifically referring to those sounds made by non-human organisms. According to the original creator,

, the red character Na (な) in the logo is an official part of the title.

Release history

The first game of the ''Umineko When They Cry''

series, titled ''Legend of the Golden Witch'', was first released on August 17, 2007 at Comiket 72. The second game ''Turn of the Golden Witch'' was released on December 31, 2007 at Comiket 73, and the third game ''Banquet of the Golden Witch'' was released on August 16, 2008 at Comiket 74. The fourth game ''Alliance of the Golden Witch'' was released on December 29, 2008 at Comiket 75. The first game in the ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru'' series, entitled ''End of the Golden Witch'', was first released on August 15, 2009 at Comiket 76. The sixth game ''Dawn of the Golden Witch'' was released on December 30, 2009 at Comiket 77. The seventh game ''Requiem of the Golden Witch'' was released at Comiket 78 on August 14, 2010. The eighth game ''Twilight of the Golden Witch'' was released at Comiket 79 on December 31, 2010. A

fan disc A fan disc (sometimes called fandisk or simply abbreviated as FD) is a package of additional content, usually released by a game company after the successful launch of one of its titles. The contents of fan discs varies, but often includes new i ...

titled ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Tsubasa'' was released the same day as ''Twilight''. A second fan disc titled ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Hane'' was released at Comiket 81 on December 31, 2011. MangaGamer released the Windows games on

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

and

GOG.com GOG.com (formerly Good Old Games) is a digital distribution platform for video games and films. It is operated by GOG sp. z o.o., a wholly owned subsidiary of CD Projekt based in Warsaw, Poland. GOG.com delivers DRM-free video games through it ...

in two parts, Question and Answer arcs, respectively. The release features original Ryūkishi07 sprites as well as new sprites by Kei Natsumi.

Taito is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...

released a version of ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' playable on certain

mobile phone A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whil ...

s on March 31, 2009. The game is playable on

FOMA Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) is the brand name of the W-CDMA-based 3G telecommunications services being offered by the Japanese telecommunications service provider NTT DoCoMo. It is an implementation of the Universal Mobile Tel ...

900 and i703 phones, using BREW as a runtime environment. A remake for the

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

, subtitled , was released by Alchemist on December 16, 2010. The release covers the original four games, and its features include a full HD rendition, all of the original soundtracks from the PC games, and full voice acting. ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru'' was similarly remade for the PlayStation 3, subtitled and released by Alchemist on December 15, 2011. Both remakes were to be ported to the

PlayStation Portable The PlayStation Portable (PSP) is a handheld game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on December 12, 2004, in North America on March 24, 2005, and in PAL regions on September 1, 2005, ...

under the title , each to be released as two separate games. ''Rondo'' was split into ''Portable 1'' (which covers ''Legend'' and ''Turn'') and ''Portable 2'' (which covers ''Banquet'' and ''Alliance''), released on October 20 and November 17, 2011, respectively. ''Nocturne'' was to be split into ''Portable 3'' (which was to cover ''End'' and ''Dawn''), and ''Portable 4'' (which was to cover ''Requiem'' and ''Twilight''), but both games never came out. A dōjin 2D fighting game produced by 07th Expansion titled '' Golden Fantasia'' was released on December 31, 2010 at Comiket 79. An append disc, titled ''Golden Fantasia Cross'', was released at Comiket 81 in December 2011. In addition, an

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

port of the original game developed by Alchemist was released on October 6, 2011 under the title ''Golden Fantasia X''. On November 3, 2018, developer Catbox Creative announced they would be launching a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign for an updated version called ''Umineko When They Cry: Gold Edition'', with an English dub. In the following weeks, they announced delays to launching the campaign. A compilation of all previous official visual novel content for the series along with two additional scenarios titled ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku'' (lit. ''When the Seagulls Cry Bloom'') was released on October 4, 2019 for Windows. A port of ''Saku'' for the

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

and

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

, subtitled was released on January 28, 2021.

Adaptations

Manga

version of ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' drawn by Kei Natsumi began serialization in the January 2008 issue of

's ''

Gangan Powered is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

'', which was later transferred to the debut May 2009 issue of ''

Gangan Joker is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...

'' after ''Gangan Powered'' was discontinued, and continued until the September 2009 issue. An adaptation of ''Turn of the Golden Witch'' drawn by

Jirō Suzuki is a Japanese manga artist. She is the writer and illustrator of the manga ''MAGiMAGi'', and has provided illustrations for the manga adaptations of the ''Tatarigoroshi-hen'' chapter in ''Higurashi When They Cry'' and the ''Turn of the Golden Witch ...

began serialization in the August 2008 issue of Square Enix's ''

GFantasy is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mark ...

''. The manga adaptation of ''Banquet of the Golden Witch'' began serialization in the October 2009 issue of ''

'' and is illustrated by Kei Natsumi. Sōichirō draws the adaptation of ''Alliance of the Golden Witch'', which began serialization in Square Enix's Internet-based magazine ''

Gangan Online is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese m ...

'' on October 1, 2009. The first bound volume for ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' was released in Japan on June 21, 2008 under Square Enix's

Gangan Comics is a manga imprint owned by Square Enix Holdings. It originated as a manga imprint for Enix before the company re-branded as Square Enix. It publishes manga in several anthologies aimed at different reader demographic groups in the Japanese mar ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

Yen Press Yen Press, LLC is an American manga and graphic novel publisher co-owned by Kadokawa Corporation and Hachette Book Group. It published ''Yen Plus'', a monthly comic anthology, between 2008 and 2013. In addition to translated material, Yen Press ...

licensed the various ''Umineko'' manga published by Square Enix for release in North America. A four-panel

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

entitled and illustrated by Makoto Fugetsu was serialized in

's ''Manga Palette Lite'' magazine between March 1, 2008 and March 2, 2009. A single bound volume for ''Umineko Biyori'' was released on June 22, 2009. Another manga, , is illustrated by Satoshi Shinkyo and was serialized between the November 2008 and May 2009 issues of Kadokawa Shoten's ''

Comp Ace is a Japanese PC game, computer game and manga magazine published by Kadokawa Shoten. ''Comp Ace'' began as a special edition version of another one of Kadokawa Shoten's magazines, ''Comptiq''. The first issue was released on March 26, 2005, and ...

'' magazine. A

cross-over Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

manga drawn by Yuki Hiiro and featuring characters from ''

'' titled ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni EpisodeX Rokkenjima of Higurashi crying'' was serialized in ASCII Media Works's ''

Dengeki G's Festival! Comic is a Japanese magazine published by ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and sold monthly on the thirtieth that primarily contains information on bishōjo games, but also includes an entire section on anime based on bishōjo games, and seria ...

'' magazine between January 26, 2009 and February 23, 2011. Two volumes of ''EpisodeX'' were released, the first on February 26, 2010 and the second on April 27, 2011 under ASCII Media Works'

Dengeki Comics is a manga publishing label affiliated with the Japanese publishing company ASCII Media Works (formerly MediaWorks) and is aimed at a male audience. Aside from the main Dengeki Comics label, there is the related Dengeki Comics EX label, which ...

imprint. The manga's story takes place roughly during the start of Episode 4's game.

Drama CDs

Frontier Works is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products. The company was established in August 1990. Projects i ...

began to produce a set of

drama CDs Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

for ''Umineko'' starting with the first volume released on June 24, 2009. The second volume, followed on July 23, 2009. The voice cast is the same as the anime.

Novels

released novelizations of the visual novel arcs, written by

himself and illustrated by Tomohi, in two volume sets, beginning with ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' released on July 1, 2009 for volume one and August 4, 2009 for volume two. Fifteen volumes were released in total, with the last released on September 30, 2018, novelizing the last arc in one volume.

Anime

A 26-episode

adaptation based on the visual novel series aired in Japan between July 2 and December 24, 2009 on

Chiba TV , doing business as , is a Japanese commercial terrestrial television broadcasting company headquartered at 11-25 Miyako-chō 1-chōme, Chūō-ku, Chiba serving Chiba Prefecture but spill-over is received in the neighbouring prefectures. It is a mem ...

, and aired on additional stations at later times. The anime is produced by the animation studio

Studio Deen is a Japanese animation studio founded in 1975 by Sunrise producer Hiroshi Hasegawa and ex-Sunrise animators. The studio owns three subsidiaries: Danny Donghua (丹尼動画), a Chinese sub-contracting studio; Megumi (め組), a digital work sub-c ...

and directed by

Chiaki Kon is a Japanese anime director. She started her career in 1998 after joining Pierrot. Biography Chiaki Kon was born in September 29, at Chiba Prefecture, Japan. As a child, she used to watch and fan of Toei Animation's anime adaptation works, su ...

, with Toshifumi Kawase handling series scripts and

Yoko Kikuchi is a Japanese animator and character designer. She has participated in numerous anime TV series produced by Bee Train and Studio Fantasia. She is married to fellow animator Eiji Suganuma is a Japanese animator, director and character designe ...

designing the characters based on Ryūkishi07's original concepts. The opening theme of the anime is by

Akiko Shikata is a Japanese singer-songwriter and composer, who is known for writing music for games and anime. She is best known for her contributions to the ''Ar tonelico'', ''Shadow Hearts'' and ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni'' games, as well as anime adaptatio ...

, and the ending theme is by Jimang from

Sound Horizon Sound Horizon is a Japanese symphonic rock musical group with composer () as the leader and only permanent member. They describe themselves as a "fantasy band" and have released works that closely resemble classical suites. Their songs often r ...

. The singles for both songs were released on August 19 and September 16, 2009, respectively. The anime is licensed by

NIS America is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. The company was founded in 1991 and has developed several role-playing video games, most notably the ''Disgaea'' and ''Marl Kingdom'' series. Its mascot is the penguin-like ''Disgaea'' character ...

for release in North America and was released in two

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and c ...

compilation volumes in December 2012.

Internet radio show

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

show titled ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode R: Radio of the Golden Witch'' aired ten episodes between August 26, 2009 and January 13, 2010. Produced by

Animate TV Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

, the show was hosted by

Sayaka Ohara is a Japanese voice actress affiliated with Haikyō. Her major roles include Alicia Florence in ''Aria'', Milly Ashford in ''Code Geass'', Erza Scarlet in ''Fairy Tail'', Irisviel in the '' Fate/Zero'' and ''Fate/kaleid liner Prisma Illya'' s ...

(the voice of Beatrice in the anime adaptation) and featured numerous guests who were also

voice actors Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

from the anime such as

Daisuke Ono is a Japanese voice actor and singer who won the 4th and 9th Seiyu Awards for best lead actor for his role as Sebastian Michaelis in ''Black Butler'', Jotaro Kujo in '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' and Shukuro Tsukishima in ''Bleach'', as well ...

(Battler) and

Marina Inoue is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. She was signed into Aniplex until 2007. She was chosen out of 2,000 people from the "Gonna be a star" auditions (hosted by Sony Music Entertainment ...

(Jessica). A special episode was later aired on April 28, 2010 featuring

Rina Satō is a Japanese voice actress with hundreds of television and video game productions, many multi-year, and is active in film and as a singer as well. She won the Best Lead Actress Award at the 8th Seiyu Awards. Satō has been appearing since 2003, ...

(Ange) and

as guests. Two CD compilation volumes containing two CDs each were released on December 23, 2009 and January 27, 2010 compiling the ten main episodes.

Music

The visual novels have three opening theme songs. The four games of ''Umineko When They Cry'' use the opening theme , composed and performed by

, which was released at Comiket 74 on August 15, 2008, and for public release on August 29, 2008 by

. The first two games of ''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru'' (''End'' and ''Dawn'') use the opening theme sung by Ayumu from

Zwei Zwei (German: "two") may refer to: * Zwei (band), a Japanese duo band * ZWEI, a text editor * '' Zwei: The Arges Adventure'', 2001 video game * '' Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection'', 2008 video game * Zwei, a team in ''Infinite Ryvius'' anime serie ...

. The single for "Occultics no Majo" was released on November 26, 2009 by

Geneon (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Minato, Tokyo. It is primarily involved in the production and distributi ...

. The last two ''Chiru'' games (''Requiem'' and ''Twilight'') use the opening theme sung by Nei Kino. The PlayStation 3 versions use different opening themes. ''Majo to Suiri no Rondo'' uses , sung by Kokomi. ''Shinjitsu to Gensō no Nocturne'' uses , sung by Ayumu from Zwei. At the end of each game, there are two ending themes: one played after the completion of the main game (or, in some episodes, after the Tea Party) when the cast of characters is shown and another played after finishing the "????" epilogue when the staff credits are shown. In ''Legend of the Golden Witch'', "Bring the Fate" composed by Hironori Doi is the first ending theme and composed by -45 is used for the staff credits. ''Turn'' uses composed by U2 Akiyama for the first ending theme and sung by Kazumi Kimura for the staff credits. The first ending theme of ''Banquet'' is "Dread of the Grave (Rhythm ver.)" composed by SB Yune and the staff credits theme is "Active Pain" performed by Zakuro Motoki. The first ending theme for ''Alliance'' is "Discode" sung by Kanae Sakura and "Rōgoku Strip" is again used for the staff credits. ''Ends first ending theme is composed by -45 and the staff credits theme is performed by

Rekka Katakiri is a female Japanese singer under the self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, ...

. ''Dawn'' uses "Birth of New Witch" sung by Zakuro Motoki as the first ending theme and sung by Nei Kino for the staff credits. The first ending theme for ''Requiem'' is "The Executioner" composed by Zts and the staff credits theme is sung by Kanae Sakura. ''Twilight'' has three ending themes, and differs depending on the ending chosen. For the trick ending, the theme used is "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" by Akiko Shikata. For the magic ending, the first ending theme is , also composed and performed by Akiko Shikata. The staff credits theme is "Engage of Marionette" composed by Dai. An original soundtrack for ''Legend of the Golden Witch'' titled ''Essence'' was released on August 26, 2009.

Notes

References

External links

*
''Umineko no Naku Koro ni Saku: Nekobako to Musō no Kōkyōkyoku'' official website (Entergram)

''Umineko no Naku Koro ni'' game portal site

Witch Hunt Translation Project
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