When the Sea Catcadas Cry

Spoiler: child abuse wonders yay! spoilers up to EP2

tfw you're like wow i wonder why it is taking me so long to reread this and you reread it and then something your mother has literally done to you multiple times fucking happens to maria and you're like. well. fuck. and then rosa's ass goes over and laments being a shitty mom to kyrie and you start crying because you wish your own mother could be half as good as rosa is.

Like that's fucked up.

I legit would want Rosa as a mom. Because Rosa is a better fucking person than my actual mother.

I mean I'd still come out of this fucked up and hating her. But at least she'd be remorseful and realize she's hurting me.

 

Spoiler: im at ep 6

wow erika is a fucking cheater

 

To borrow someone's meme:

Spoiler: EP5 spoilers

(x)

 

Spoiler: Shitposting as I continue my reread. Still in EP2.

you swore you'd plow her face now did you battler-kun? OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO.

 

Spoiler: i'll get out of ep2 some day i swear

And finally got to red truth being introduced. Gods has it taken me fucking forever to get even that far. IT CAME WITH BABY'S FIRST PUZZLE SOLVE.

also

that pitch flirting

is out of this world

Kanon's finally been absolved of blame and the clock looms ever closer. I meanwhile get to enjoy the wonders of seeing my favorite character take charge. And after 18 bajillion more hours of reading I will get the fabled Musou Rosa. YOU PEAKED. SO EARLY ROSA. But at least you get your moments.

 

aunt of the year

 

Umineko Gold update: the Kickstarter has been delayed again because someone on the dev team had a medical emergency. Meanwhile, Beato's lipstick has now been removed from the gameboard due to mass outcry, which has naturally only fueled the fires of memeage.

Including from the dev team.

And Battler's voice actor.

 

Some cool localization stuff for Umi Gold (spoilers, but only after a gap).

 

A friend of mine has started writing YOU'RE BACK ON YOUR ASSHOLE GRANDPA'S PRIVATE ISLAND (inspired by this Castlevania classic, for those who don't get the reference) and I'm already delighted and needed to tell everyone. (Not spoiler-free, though, if you haven't finished Umineko.)

Highlights so far include Original Demons Do Not Steal (which is to say, demons Umineko canon didn't get around to stealing from the Ars Goetia):

and... and trans girl Battler's internal monologue, just in general:

 

fucking relatable as shit, trans girl battler

 

#relatable content

 

'Uncle Krauss had wisely fled to his moon hotel just before the party started, so that was two more accounted for. Looking outside the window, Battler glared at the moon. Damn you, Uncle Krauss.'

 

AAAAAAAAAA

WTC5 IS HERE

SAKU IS HERE (full-game umineko spoilers in link)

WHO'S HYPED. 'CUZ I'M HYPED.

Spoiler: thoughts on the wtc5 vid. will collect thoughts on saku vid later

CICONIA

WHEN THE STORKS CRY

First of all: here's a Twitter thread speculating on what country each of these troops (Kettes? is that the lingo here?) come from. It's in Spanish, but Google Translate gets the point across just fine.

I can't get over having so many characters introduced to me at once, by the way. This is twenty-four characters. I'm really into all of them already. What am I supposed to do with these feelings now???

...Is this cast going to end up even larger than Umineko's??? Like, with us getting twenty-four characters right off the bat and everything??? Geez.

These acronyms are killing me, also. Who the heck is the ABN?? The ACR??? The COU, the AOU??? Okay, I mean, it looks like the COU is some alt-history/future-history version of China, since the Baibao team is associated with it. But Suparna also seems to be associated with the COU somehow, and that's the one that looks more like India than anything, so...some country that spans both China and India.............

...I wonder if I should read Rose Gun Days in preparation for Ciconia. I know that Ryukishi did some alt-history in that story, too...maybe there are some common historical events between the two series...like, Ciconia is set in RGD's future or something...

Also, things I'm seeing people on Twitter say about the apparent plot/theme of Ciconia:

• It's Ryukishi's take on the "battle royale" genre
• It's Ryukishi's take on the "child soldiers" genre
• It's steampunk
• It's cyberpunk
• The nun team has to win

By the way, I don't get why I see people assuming this is the first WTC with a female protag...because like.............I'm not the only one who's been rooting since day one for Miyao to be the nonbinary protag of WTC5, right? Like, ever since we saw the first sketch of their character design? Now that I think about it, before this promo vid came out, I saw people assuming then-unnamed-WTC5-protag was male just because they look kind of like Virgilius from Beta Umineko. Let them be nonbinary..............Ryukishi, I'm putting my faith in you..............

...I mean like, Higurashi and Umineko were both set in the past, y'know?? So the whole Way The Characters In Those Stories Related To Gender was inextricably tied to the time period and place where they were born. But if this is some alt-history/future-history-type thing, then maybe this is a universe were Miyao can just like, be nonbinary and not have it be a whole big deal. I mean, ultimately I'll be fine if Miyao isn't nonbinary, but I think it'd be cool if they were.

Anyway, I'm really drawn to that character in the Cairo Memorial Squad with the blank, glum-looking expression. Actually, the entire Cairo Memorial Squad looks cool as hell...I think it's them and Grave Mole who I'm most interested in at first glance. (I want to know what's up with Bandage Kid in Grave Mole. Plus that >:3 kid on the right with the metal disc horns.)

Also. Warcats. Mitake Miyao. God damn it.

 

Spoiler: about ciconia, higurashi kai spoilers

'First female protagonist.'

-looks at higurashi kai-

'Hmmm.

I get that they probably mean 'First primary viewpoint character we meet up front' but dammit let Rika maintain her secret protagonist status.'

Anyway that aside, I am happy to see the futuristic seemingly cyberpunk setting. In terms of things it looks like...It does kind of have battle royale vibes to it given the team set up. Which would be interesting to see him tackle. Very interesting. I will admit I'm really hoping it ends up being military fiction in terms of tone and what's being explored.

 

I just finished chapter one of umineko and am going through the teaparty. I have Questions and also am very tickled very time people say that Beatrice 'exists' and not that she just.... exists. Is this specific to the steam version or are mentions of her existance or lack thereof always written like that


Also glad the sound design is living up to the hype. I really like the track with the ominous bells bonging

 

Magic 'exists'! Beatrice 'exists'! Uu.

That's been a consistent feature of every translation up until now, as far as I know. I think in the original the word was enclosed by a pair of 「these」, which are like quotation marks, but can also be used just for emphasis...but I don't know for sure. Maybe it was a pair of 〈these〉? Japanese has a lot of "like quotation marks but can also be used just for emphasis" types of punctuation...in exchange for not having italics.

I love it too, though. That sentence construction of "[X] 'exists'! Magic 'exists'!" has become a permanent fixture in my mental echolalia pool since I first read Umineko.

 

Yeah, the pre-Steam Witch Hunt translations used it too. I know the Steam version lets you switch to displaying Japanese, but I don't have a save file anywhere I could check.

 

I read somewhere that the use of 'exists' in single quotes corresponded to some not-directly-translatable distinction in the Japanese—instances where いる was written with an unusual or archaic kanji, I want to say, or something like that...? I can't find a source and don't have the Steam version yet, though, so take that with a grain of salt. (I know the translation's use of Human with a capital H, which is new to the Steam release, represents places where the word was written in katakana instead of kanji originally.)

 

Please, open the Kickstarter, I wish to give you money just for the image attached to this tweet.