The Day I Became a Witch - Let's Play Umineko Chiru

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > The Day I Became a Witch - Let's Play Umineko Chiru

«‹›3 »

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

I hope you guys are ready, because she is literally the best character in this whole series.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2017 21:56

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 11:20

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Qrr posted:

It turns out that the real events of this game are an exact reenactment of Citizen Kane. Every scene we are presented is false, none of the characters are real, and all of the red text is lies.

Woah spoilers!

(For Citizen Kane that is.)

# ¿ Mar 19, 2017 23:00

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

It's especially funny how Krauss slyly mocked Rosa for her failing business in Ep 3, when he literally lost all the loving money the family has.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2017 17:52

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Rune Full Moon posted:

Bern's "North Wind and the Sun" strategy is even more refined than Beato's.

I wouldn't call it NWatS strategy. Unlike Beato, who acted super helpful in EP 3, Bern has never really indicated that she was a good witch. She's not as in-your-face about her nastiness as Lambda, but even as early as EP 4 you could tell something was sinister about her. Most people made that assumption because of the EP1 and EP2 tea parties, as well as bringing Ange into the game, but she herself never really proclaimed to be a good person.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2017 16:57

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Since some of you don't know Higurashi, here are some black bar spoilers to give you context on Bern and Lambda both. Warning that this spoils basically all of Higurashi, and if you haven't checked it out I highly recommend it. The anime they made for it is actually pretty good in giving you all the info you need to know.

Basically Higurashi is about a small rural village called Hinamizawa, and a group of young friends who live there, in June of 1983. There's a new guy in town called Keiichi, and he makes friends with a group of girls. One of these girls is Rika Furude. The village worships a God called Oyashiro-sama, and every year have a festival in honor of their local deity. However there are rumors of a curse, as for the last four years one person has died and another has vanished after the festival takes place. Once more in 1983 this occurs, and Keiichi begins to suspect that his new friends may somehow be involved or are hiding something from him regarding the murders. Later on the village is destroyed through unknown means.

Now here is the twist: like Umineko, all the major characters murder one another and resets to the beginning of the scenario each story arc. Certain events repeat, but others are different. However throughout all these resets, Rika always remembers every single scenario that occurred. The village considers her to be the reincarnation of Oyashiro, but that's not quite the truth: she has a connection to Oyashiro, and the deity essentially imports her to another timeline every instance of failure to create an ideal ending. The ideal ending would of course be that no one dies and the culprit of the murders is caught.

So what does this mean? It means Rika Furude has relived watching all her friends die and her village destroyed over and over. In almost all these instances, she dies as well or commits suicide before it happens. It's never stated how many times she relives June 1983, but it's enough that her real personality is absolutely cold and nihilistic. By the time the game begins, Rika has already relived the same horrible tragedy for what may be thousands of years. She puts on a cute kid front to others, but that's because she has also lost any real hope in being able to stop what's happening. At this point she's reliving the same things not so much because she thinks things will be different, but because she's promised that a miracle will occur one day if she goes through hell enough.

The miracle occurs when Keiichi and some of the others actually start remembering the previous timelines. And together they find out the culprit is the local nurse, Miyo Takano. Takano herself resembles an older looking Lambda. In the TIPs that were translated, Lambda talked about a girl who wished with certainty to become a God - the implication is that girl was Takano.

Ok this has been a long winded post but short of it is this: Bernkastel is essentially the "remnants" of Rika Furude. Rika went on to live past all the misery and finally live her life, at long last free of June 1983. Yet after breaking through that endless summer, the pain and misery she left behind gained a form of its own: the Witch of Miracles, who defeated certainty with a single blessed fragment. Rika at times referred to herself, her true and real self, as "Bernkastel" and that's where the name comes from. My suggestion is to re-read the EP1-3 tea parties with this in mind and you'll kind of get a better sense of who these two are. Bernkastel is not Rika Furude, but the product of Rika's experiences.

There's a lot more I can say about Bernkastel, because she's easily one of my favorite characters in this franchise. But I think anything more would breach into legitimate Umineko spoilers, so I'll keep my mouth shut. Prof if there's something about this that you want me to omit, just let me know.

lotus circle fucked around with this message at 00:30 on Mar 24, 2017

# ¿ Mar 24, 2017 00:28

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Yeah the use of the word in that context isn't to cheapen the meaning, but to show how loving awful Erika is.

# ¿ Mar 28, 2017 17:42

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

idonotlikepeas posted:

I guess I'll have to think about whether this <good> avatar is a compliment or an insult.

Compliment. :911:

# ¿ Mar 30, 2017 15:46

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

resurgam40 posted:

...Who? What kind of name is "Dlanor"? That's not the King's English, there... Oh god, not more characters...

# ¿ Apr 5, 2017 14:59

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Also, for the record, Dlanor's last word in every sentence is capital because it's written in katakana. It's not meant to be her shouting the word, but to show that she's speaking it with an inflection that the other words don't have.

# ¿ Apr 6, 2017 15:42

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Cyouni posted:

This would be totally amazing to see the fighting game section that I assume she's in.

If she's not in it, this is a crime against HUMANITY.

She is indeed in the fighting game, but anything from that still goes into spoiler territory.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2017 01:14

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

savixeon posted:

I retract my statement about wanting to punch Dlanor in the face.

Erika is the best because she's awful, but Dlanor is the best because she is simply the best.

# ¿ Apr 7, 2017 14:56

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Nah Bern is the nicest witch in this story.

# ¿ Apr 8, 2017 18:51

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Time travel is easy because, like magic, it exists.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2017 03:02

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

CottonWolf posted:

Yeah. The game has been so intent on deceiving us that it's impossible to tell with any red truth whether we can actually trust it.

You can trust anything said in red text is the truth. But what that truth exactly is, well...

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 00:22

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

idonotlikepeas posted:

What does "yami wo kirisaku" mean, anyway?

It's a lyric from the Umineko Anime Ending song, which became associated with Kinzo. "Yami wo Kirisaku OH DESIRE" more or less translates to "Oh desire that cuts through the darkness"

Of course that is not nearly as cool to listen to being screeched out by a metal singer. Here is said song under a polsy with no spoilers in the video.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 01:26

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Fabulousvillain posted:

That and the opening to me, both are way too good for a show that bad. The gap in quality between the show and it's opening/closing is impressive really.

The anime was good when it came to anything that wasn't the actual show. The musical remixes were fairly decent, all the VAs that were on the show were top-notch and got transferred to the Alchemist port, and the OP+ED were drat good.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 02:00

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

oath2order posted:

The Remixes on the OST were good, which makes it all the more inexplicable when they seemingly put the wrong musical track on for the final scene. They made a version of Dreamenddischarger that perfectly matches the climax of the anime and just...didn't use it. Utterly incomprehensible.

They didn't even use Dread of the Grave except for a preview at the end of an episode. Just blaring goddamn Suspicion on stereo every other scene. I remember this detail because my friends and I loving wailed in despair at how awful the music direction of the anime was, for a series with nearly perfect music.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 03:09

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

idonotlikepeas posted:

Yeah, someone posted that song in the first thread (although I am in no way objecting to listening to it again, because it is bangin'), was just curious what that phrase actually meant.

Is there actually any reason for us not to watch the anime at this point if we have the opportunity, apart from it being bad?

The anime only goes up to EP4, so you could pretty much watch it without spoiling yourself for anything in Ep 5. Some scenes are fun to see animated, but most of them are also drastically cut short too.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2017 04:10

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Qrr posted:

Oh, and Erika has totally broken Knox's rule: "The detective must not light on any clues which are not instantly produced for the inspection of the reader.". We haven't seen any of these clues that she's producing in this trial. Dlanor should be pissed.

We saw the duct tape during the First Twilight discovery.

ProfessorProf posted:

When he tried to open the door, Kanon noticed something strange on the upper part of the door.

A small strip of duct tape was stuck along the frame of the door, almost as though it was sealing the door shut. Furthermore, there were notches made with scissors along the center of the duct tape, so that if you opened the door only a slight amount, it would be torn apart. Also, written sloppily across the duct tape with a thin pen was what appeared to be someone's signature. It was written in a very intricate and decorative manner, so even if it was a signature, there was no way of telling whose it was.

# ¿ Apr 14, 2017 21:41

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Qrr posted:

We saw one piece of tape. There were apparently 3 more and they were brown paper instead of tape. We also saw nothing about her listening at the wall.

The duct tape sealing trick is still foreshadowing regardless of how many were presented. The listening to the wall thing is another matter entirely.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2017 01:11

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

RedMagus posted:

I'm getting Phoenix Wright vibes from this scene. Sadly, Erika is no where near as awesome as Edgeworth.

Erika is more like Franziska von Karma on steroids.

# ¿ Apr 15, 2017 16:19

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

You forget the possibility that it was just a witch.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2017 06:53

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

ProfessorProf posted:

# ¿ Apr 16, 2017 15:42

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Tired Moritz posted:

also being a girl in umineko sounds like a poo poo deal.

Pros: You get some really cute anime dresses
Cons: Patriarchy

# ¿ Apr 16, 2017 16:12

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Qrr posted:

Oh, and Kinzo not thinking Natsuhi deserves the one winged eagle is not a surprise. I'm amazed that people are treating this like a revelation. Guy was a pretty thorough misogynist.

That's not really the point. The red truth itself isn't a revelation at all. Kinzo is dead before the start of the game, so of course he didn't actually say that to her in EP1 or any other time.

That moment is more to highlight how loving nasty Bern is. She's already won and dishonored Natsuhi's pride by framing her for a crime, but now she's also digging into Natsuhi's heart and crushing it. It's no different than how she denied the scene of Beatrice drinking tea beside her. Of course we know Natsuhi isn't really drinking tea with Beatrice, but was it necessary to destroy that bit of happiness Natsuhi had in her heart? Bernkastel says "yes" and proceeds to do so.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2017 00:08

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Skylight posted:

Sentence to desu! GREAT EQUALIZER IS THE DESU!!!

...ahem. Dang it, Dlanor really does look like a little kid in that picture. I'd like to think she's just putting on the "MWAHAHA, I am evil!" act because 1) it's her job and 2) she likes play-acting. Because she's a KID.

It's easier to deal with after that tea SCENE.

She has an ideal work-life balance that is highly respected.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2017 15:30

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

CottonWolf posted:

Also, this...

...is the face of someone who loves their job.

Dlanor came to kill witches and drink tea, and tea time is over.

# ¿ Apr 17, 2017 16:02

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Resurgam, buddy, are you gonna be ok?

# ¿ Apr 17, 2017 18:04

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

oath2order posted:

I'll defend Krauss, slightly, by pointing out that this very update shows what a sincerely considerate person he can be to women. But we shouldnt forget just how loving patriarchal the family he grew up in is. It's not surprising that, wheb he'a pushed to thr brink of dispair, he falls back on that old training and lashes out.

It's not at all acceptable. But its not coming out of nowhere. As in all things in this lovely, lovely family, it comes back to Kinzo.

I said it before and I'll say it again: of the four main Ushiromiya siblings, Krauss is arguably the least hosed up. Remember:

Eva: Outright kills her family in EP 3, and thinks the suffering she endured in childhood is grounds to be a massive rear end in a top hat to everyone around her.
Rosa: A child abuser who takes out all her anger on her daughter.
Rudolf: Got two women pregnant at the same time, married one of them, and then married the other after the first one dies.

Krauss' biggest sin is that he's a lovely business man and has adapted Kinzo's misogyny. But when things started looking bad, he offered to give Natsuhi and Jessica a way out so only he would be punished for his crimes. He isn't a perfect person, no one in this story is, but he's arguably the least hosed up.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2017 18:50

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

ZiegeDame posted:

I feel I must step in to defend Rudolf's honor here. He got two women pregnant when he was barely old enough to drink.

Sorry but that's wrong. Rudolf has to be, at youngest, in his mid-40s. Battler is 18, so Rudolf was in his late 20s when he was born. So he was definitely not some dumb kid who didn't know what he was doing.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2017 20:52

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

ZiegeDame posted:

Source? The only (unofficial) age I have seen for Rudolf is just 40.

There's no source on official ages aside from the younger characters, but typical it's accepted that the ages for the adult characters go like this:

Krauss, Natsuhi, Eva and Hideyoshi are hovering around their early to mid 50s. Hideyoshi may be even closer to 60.
Rudolf and Kyrie are somewhere around their mid-40s. Krauss and Eva are about the same age, while Rudolf shouldn't be more than five or six years apart from them.
Rosa is in her early 30s. She was about 12-13 when Beatrice of the Kuwadorian fell to her death, so the math would add up to her being about 30ish.

So yeah no official age is really stated for any adult, but Rudolf was definitely not some dumb kid back then. He knew what he was doing when he dated both women at the same time, and really most people know even before 18 that two-timing is not a cool thing to do to either one of your partner's.

# ¿ Apr 18, 2017 21:09

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

For those who haven't gotten the hammer on the head yet, Ryukishi pretty much designed Erika in response to segments of the fanbase that would throw out theories about who the culprit could be solely based on the scenario presented. Trust me, when the games were coming out there were some ridiculous theories out there about who could have done it. Guess what many of these theories lacked?

quote:

Because red truths have been accepted that had just as little justification. If red truths are only accepted arbitrarily, why should we care about any of them?

That was in Beatrice's game. This is Lambdadelta's court, and Bernkastel brought in Dlanor to say "this game is now anti-fantasy." For her, it's not about figuring out the culprit, it's about crushing the illusion of the witch. The human culprit is a means to that end and she doesn't care how she does it (so long as she can be a bitch about it.)

Whatever is stated in red is still the truth. Dlanor's presence adds the extra step of "ok, now explain how this is the truth." Welcome to the Answer Arcs. Start providing proof to back up your answers, or they won't mean poo poo. You can't put Beatrice to sleep half-heartedly. If you're going to kill the witch, be precise and complete.

# ¿ Apr 19, 2017 01:17

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

EagerSleeper posted:

Knowing that this game has a variety of villains who happen to be female, this thread was bound to be a goddamn honeypot for the occasional goon throwing misogynistic insults around, but can we not?

I just want you to know witchchat is now having a hot take conversation about slurs in the English language. :v:

# ¿ Apr 19, 2017 04:05

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

resurgam40 posted:

What? ... What!? Not only is he alive again, but he's a goddamn- WHAT?!?

Well, at least this loving Witch bullshit won't effect him anymore, since he now apparently has all the cheat codes to La-La Land, but... he did start out this journey on a quest to disprove magic, right? I didn't just imagine that or wake up in some alternate dimension, yes? He must stop magic, and now he is magic, and

"No! I must deny the witches!" Battler Ushiromiya shouted
Lambadelta said "No, Battler. You are the witches"
And then Battler Ushiromiya was the Endless Sorcerer.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 16:31

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

bman in 2288 posted:

So we've gone from trying to disprove witches to becoming a witch to disprove a fantasy in a mystery story. What's next, going full meta and acknowledging the fantasy of the story we're reading in this LP to make a point about love or something?

Shhhhh SPOILERS!!

# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 17:02

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

ZiegeDame posted:

Is the family conference always held on the first weekend in October?

The conference takes place every year at the same time. Evidence: The very first update of Episode 1 has Rudolf and Eva talking about it always being in October.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 21:31

lotus circle: Dec 25, 2012; Jushure Iburu
So don't worry

Artificer posted:

Wait. Huh. What was the truth Battler reached? How did thinking about without love it cannot be seen reveal everything to him suddenly? I don't understand how he applied that sentence to everything.

WHAT?!

It wasn't a sudden reveal, it was more like Battler kept thinking about all the games until he got the truth. It doesn't need to necessarily be interpreted as being instantaneous.

As for the truth, obviously he realized witches are the culprit and became a witch at this discovery.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2017 22:15