Common Name: Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Alternate Names: When the Seagulls Cry
Score: 8/10, 3/5
Length: 26 episodes
Genre: Mystery, Horror, Magic
WARNINGS: Scenes of Graphic Violence, Violence against children
Summary: Each year, Battler Ushiromiya and the rest of his family gathers on the island their shared founder, Kinzo Ushiromiya, calls home to discuss each branch family's financial goings on and also catch up with each other. Due to the founder's ailing health however, the matter of inheritance has become the key issue of this year's meeting. In desperation to see his long lost love one last time though, Kinzo offers up everything his wealth has given him to the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Now Kinzo's descendants must play a deadly game to decide who will inherit all that Kinzo has forsaken, one of them or the witch who controls the game.
Review: Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a strange magical mystery that features a number of plot twists and heel turns that serve as the show's primary point of intrigue, as well as it's greatest fault. Without going into great detail on how it does so, Umineko is a show that eventually grows repetitive and dull after a while. The characters' desperation and the brutal deaths that occur throughout the series quickly become the order of the day, following a series of events with a few alterations to keep things mildly interesting. The show's underlying mystery, however, is rather engaging and makes the audience question nearly every event that takes place. Even this grows irredeemably convoluted after a while though, particularly when new players are gradually enter into the game without much explanation of how they do so when the existence of magic and its role in the game is constantly put into question.
While it is difficult to sift through and even tolerate at times, especially for people like me who naturally dislike extreme violence, the show is ultimately well worth the inability to tell up from down and white from black. With an interesting and fairly well analyzed cast, gorgeous art and animation, and a soundtrack that keeps the whole experience tense and unnerving, I'd go so far as to say that it is practically flawless in it's execution. As stated before, the only real problem comes from the show's plot and issues with pacing. If that's it's only problem though, all that is required to remedy it is a longer period of time to watch it, breaking it up into a series of 4 acts which is more accurate to the show's source material.