2010/11 Semester 2 Anime: Umineko no naku koro ni

Heya all, i thought it would be a good idea to have seperate discussions about the new anime we are watching so here goes,

Umineko no naku koro ni, what do people think?

My second favourite show this semester. It's utterly ridiculous at times but that generally makes it far more entertaining than it would be otherwise. I really need to get round to playing the Visual Novel as I've heard many times that the anime is a bad adaptation of the original story, not to mention the fact that the story doesn't conclude properly in the anime and a second season isn't looking likely. Surprisingly the animation quality hasn't been too bad so far even though it's made by the infamous Studio DEEN, known for commonly having animation errors.

Also, best opening and ending songs from this semester. The opening is utterly amazing and one of my favourite anime openings of all time, whilst the ending is so incredibly cheesy and ridiculous that you can't help but love it.

I have seen this show before. At the point where we are now, the first time around I was rather taken aback by the sudden arrival of Beato. It lacks the subtlety of its sister series Higurashi no naku koro ni and it is rather difficult to take seriously a man arguing against the existance of witches to an actual, honest to God witch. On this second runthrough though, I am seeing things in a far more favourable light, much like Battler as he gets to see the events from a different perspective the second time around. It may be clumsy at times, but it is bold, brash and looks pretty cool doing it. It doesn't just stand up to Higurashi, it beats it up and steals its lunch money! This is not to say that I think that it is at all better than its predecessor, but that it succeeds in completely different areas. Umineko is flashy and extravagant in its mystery that just begs a nod of 'I see what you did there', and though it sometimes trips up as a result (coloured text, murder weapons are sexy girls etc) it deserves to be waited out and soon I am sure everyone will come to accept these flaws and revel in the insanity that we are to receive.

I just LOVE Beatrice's character design and magnificent trolling. I wouldn't mind being her furniture!