Umineko Drawing Contest

Frontier Works and pixiv are holding an illustration contest for Umineko no Naku Koro ni. The event has been running since September 15th and ends on October 14th. So far there have been almost 500 entries. While the event was conceived as a commemorative contest for the anime adaptation, most of the pictures will be referring to events in the game that have not been shown in the anime. For this reason, please proceed knowing that there will be character and event spoilers depicted in the illustrations.

I have selected those that either had amazing art, great ideas or features charas that I liked (Siesta45 and Ange ). Please visit these artists’ pages on pixiv and support their works. To see a full list, check the pixiv event page.

The grand winner will have their illustration featured as the cover art for the Umineko anime image album CD “Rokkenjima In Love”, as well as 50,000 yen. There are many other prizes such as signed posters and DVDs. If you wish to enter, just tag your submission with うみねこイラコン.

「うみねこのなく頃に」 by flyking

Umineko Motion Graphic vol.5

The 5th installment of the Umineko Motion Graphic “Nakanai Kimi to Nageki no Gensou” came out at C76. It basically recaps the first four games in the series, so don’t watch it if you don’t want to utterly and totally spoiled. I liked the song choice and extremely happy that they finally introduced the stakes, Siestas and all the witches.

Umineko Motion Graphic site

Umineko Anime Episode 1- First Impressions

Nemuiwanko here! (Will be using this color to identify myself with) After a long hiatus from posting, I’m back to post about the newly released Umineko no Naku Koro Ni anime. I was pretty overjoyed to hear that it was getting its own anime adaptation but was pretty worried since a game of that caliber would not translate well into anime form. The game itself just has too much information, backgrounds, and even tea parties* (yes, tea parties) to consider and viewers would probably never fully understand the plot. The anime version of Ryukishi07’s (creator of Higurashi and Umineko) former work Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni managed to cover the major plot points but left out crucial details that would have explained and further contributed to the understanding of the story.

Umineko Anime Coming in July

The anime adaptation of Umineko no Naku Koro ni has been pushed up to July from its initial fall air date. I can’t wait to start watching it! Too bad no Siestas yet….

Umineko anime site
07th Expansion

Umineko Motion Graphic 3

The above video contains spoilers for Umineko no Naku Koro ni episode 3.

The latest Umineko Motion Graphic came out yesterday at Comiket 75.  This details the events the occured during Episode 3: Banquet of the Golden Witch. The song is 虜 (“Toriko”) by Shinra Etsuko. I don’t really like the song that much and it didn’t captivate me as much as the previous ones. Needs more bunny girls. Here’s to hoping the 4th one is much much better.

Comiket 75

It’s that time of year again: when anime enthusiasts descend upon the Tokyo Big Sight for 3 days to search and destroy take home some spoils. As usual, there’s going to be thousands of doujins, games, music and other goodies available. Lots of illustrators and circles showcasing their art. All the eroge companies with lots of random goodies that I want. Again, I want to go. And once again, I can’t. Sigh.

Umineko Anime Information

As some of you already know, Umineko no Naku Koro ni is getting an anime adaptation in 2009 and the cast have been announced gradually.  Umineko is the next installment in the “When they cry” series after Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.  It details the mysterious murders that happen in the span of two days on Rokkenjima. The character designs have now been released.  There are currently 6 cast members revealed. They are as follows:

• Ushiromiya Battler – Ono Daisuke
• Ushiromiya Jessica – Inoue Marina
• Ushiromiya Maria – Horie Yui
• Ushiromiya George – Suzumura Kenichi
• Shannon – Kugimiya Rie
• Kanon – Kobayashi Yuu

The production staff has also been announced.

• Original work – Ryukishi07 / 07th Expansion (Higurashi)
• Director – Kon Chiaki (Higurashi)
• Series adaptation – Kawase Toshifumi (Higurashi)
• Character design – Kikuchi Youko (Noir, Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, El Cazard)
• Animation production – Studio Deen (Higurashi, Fate/Stay Night, Jigoku Shoujo)

Character designs and my thoughts after the jump.

Umineko Episode 2 – Domestic Violence and Crying Men o_O

Beatrice is scary isn't she?

Nemuiwanko here! Merry Christmas! I hope everyone got something nice and are enjoying their time with family and friends. I’m back for more writing as finals had recently ended. I’m not quite done with Umineko Episode 2, but I’m very happy to learn that most of Episode 3 had been released as well! The translation project is going quite well and fast and it’s just amazing at how much they’re pumping out before the next episode at Comiket. Although off-topic but related to visual novels, the Fate Stay Night translation was also completed while I wasn’t paying attention x_x;; They’re releasing games faster than I can play. But now onto Umineko!

Battler can sign up for the next Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) game!

Gotta love Battler’s enthusiasm in the beginning! Click more for more of my random babble on this! Beware of  SPOILERS.

Possible Umineko Ep4 Cover

So it seems that this may be the cover of the next episode of Umineko, which will be released at Comiket 75 (December 28th-30th, 2008). I love the action element for this cover instead of it being just a portrait of Beatrice. I’m starting to like the Stakes more, but… give me more of Siesta 45!!!! <3 <3 <3

I wonder what curveballs Ryukishi will throw at us this time since this should be the last question arc. There are so many questions at the moment. It’d be nice to get some answers soon.

【手書き】うみねこのなく頃に – (Spoilers!)

A hand drawn Umineko video that is animated to show portions of the first and second games. It’s full of spoilers, so unless you’re up to date with what’s going on with the first two games or just curious enough to spoil yourself, feel free to watch o_o This pumps me up even more for the anime xD

Game Log: Umineko no naku koro ni session end Episode 1

Maria from Umineko

Nemuiwanko here! Not much of a game log if I finished the game and don’t publish any of the journey. However, I’ll save that for the next episode. I got too caught up in trying to find out what happened in the story xD; So the following will just be my concluding thoughts and mini-review. The game is full of questions that I’m more confused than I ever was in Higurashi >___<

Umineko however exceeded my expectations as it weaved a nice tale of mystery that has been lacking recently in my anime and shows. It’s not a complete game as there will be more story arcs and episodes to show different scenarios in order to reveal the truth behind the events. Therefore this is more of an introductory episode, which will more or less acquaint you well enough for the next game. However, what interested me most was the following questions that developed in the story. Was everything that occurred in this story supernatural? Or did it have a basis in reality? Does the golden witch exist? Will Micchi-sempai take Maria home?

Hit the jump for more! Which is full of spoilers and thoughts about the game o_o;;

Umineko Motion Graphic Vol 1 – 「幻耀の蝶」

(Video may contain spoilers to the game’s plot, especially if you can read Japanese fast enough. Although I can’t read Japanese that fast so I can’t verify that. However, other than that it’ll spoil as much as the opening video of the game.)

“Genyou no Chou” by Shinra Etsuko.

This is another MAD done by the same people who did the Higurashi Motion Graphic series. Sung beautifully again by Shinra Etsuko, this covers the plot of the first Umineko episode in the Umineko game series. I like the visual presentation and the music style done for this first video, and hope that the rest of them turn out as well. Anyway, enjoy!

Game Log: Umineko no naku koro ni session 1

Umineko Weather Break? Related to Higurashi Daybreak game possibly?

Nemuiwanko here. Currently I’ve started to play the Umineko game now that translation patches have been picking up on it. Originally I had been playing it in its raw japanese form, but that took way too long for me to personally go through given the amount of content in it. But with Baka-Tsuki’s quick progress we may see the rest of the game episodes released very quickly. Although the editing of the translated texts could use some work, I think their translation works well enough.

So far I’ve progressed into the second day of the game. The Ushiromiya family is introduced to us readers, and we learn a bit about the background of the main character and their families. Unlike the cast of Higurashi, our main characters are a bit older with George being at 23. Despite that, with little 9 year old Maria playfully teasing the characters, and Battler’s well… perverted antics, you’ll feel right at home if you had any Higurashi background. Overall now that the characters are slowly settling into their visit at Rokkenjima, I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Ange is SO cute

Chibi Ange is sooooooooo cute! I can’t wait for the Umineko anime and 4th game ;x

For those that don’t know about Umineko no Naku Koro ni, it is basically the next installment of the When They Cry series, after Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Higurashi was one of my favourite series, so it was obvious that I would pick up Umineko, although it never really grasped me until the 3rd game. Maybe because Ange hadn’t shown up yet.

More Ange please!!!