When the Seagulls Cry #02 — Slaughter

July 8th, 2009

 

You’re looking crazier than usual, Maria.

Impressions:

Yes, yes. They used the game music a lot this episode. Please keep the dancing and inevitable wetting of yourselves in excitement in the corner. I guess this was a little bit better than last week, but without the random censoring livening up the dull parts, it certainly doesn’t really feel like it. They started to get more into the mystical side of the show here, with a number of poorly explained magical trinkets, magical circles drawn in blood, and the first of the murders at the very end. They’re really trying very hard to sell the witch side of things here, which I think is going to bite them in the ass eventually when magic vs rational logic becomes the central theme in a couple weeks.

The biggest problem at this point is that they’re starting to mix the real mysteries of the series with just really poor presentation in other areas. George’s proposal to Shannon, for example, was probably meant to be more romantic, but with him telling her that it wasn’t a request, but an order, he came off at least three or four times more sinister than I’m sure they meant him to be. The fact that he was ogling her giant undulating breasts two minutes prior certainly didn’t make him seem any more sincere either. Maria also descended into some kind of insane killer mode when she was reading the letter supposedly from Beatrice. Remembering that maybe 5 minutes of the show have passed between being beaten around by her mother and descending into crazy eyes. There are enough mysteries in this series without poor direction creating more obfuscation.

And yes, Maria is watching Higurashi Rei. It’s okay though, lord knows there hasn’t been a single thing more violent than, say, Bambi, in that dumb OVA.

 

Posted in Umineko | 27 Comments »

27 Shouts From the Peanut Gallery

  • sage says:
    July 8, 2009 at 5:43 pm

    Yes, yes. They used the game music a lot this episode. Please keep the dancing and inevitble wetting of yourselves in excitement in the corner.

    Bah, only like 30 seconds of goldenslaughterer. That’s not enough, DEEN!

    “George’s proposal to Shannon, for example, was probably meant to be more romantic, but with him telling her that it wasn’t a request, but an order, he came off at least three or four times more sinister than I’m sure they meant him to be.”

    Actually, George did order Shannon to accept the ring, but it’s exactly as you say, the whole feel of the scene was a lot different in the visual novel, it was way more romantic. In this, without the proper setup and with George’s animu’s design, he looks like some narcissistic freak is forcing his feelings on the poor maid (who is infatuated by him anyways because of his looks).

    Maria also descended into some kind of insane killer mode when she was reading the letter supposedly from Beatrice.

    Wrong approach to the scene. In the novel, it’s stated that Maria changed from her usual demeanor to being dead serious when reading the letter. It was never implied that she was using a crazy face. Also, her smile was only mocking the adults for not believing in Beatrice, not the kind of creepy smile that was shown here. Meh.

    All things considered, this episode was better than the previous one. And at least they gave Natsuhi her moe back (and she’s now also pajama moe! \o/ )

    • Travis says:
      July 9, 2009 at 3:44 am

      Meh, I wouldn’t hold out too much hope; I’m still interested in how they handle certain later developments, but so doth hope spring eternal. Then again, I’m one of the few people I know who was really disappointed by Higurashi, so don’t take me too seriously on this one, heh!

    • Anonymous says:
      July 10, 2009 at 3:17 pm

      Agreed! And I finally remembered what the ending song reminded me of: Sanhora’s Revo.

      • Anonymous says:
        July 10, 2009 at 3:19 pm

        Rather, I agree to the guy with incredible long post of quotes. Not the guy who said ‘Ops how could you find Higurashi so bad? Let’s have a talk dude ^^;.’ Higurashi: The Animation was terrible. Kai was somewhat better, but still meh. ’nuff said.

  • Anon999 says:
    July 8, 2009 at 6:08 pm

    Oh, god. Where do I begin? For the fact that Umineko’s animation is so cheap and medicore? And the characters aren’t even that lovable. They’re just so annoying.

  • jpmeyer says:
    July 8, 2009 at 6:30 pm

    1) lolololololol I came here entirely to see if there would be more breast-based stupidity, and I was not disappointed.
    2) Uuuuuuuuuuuuu

  • Anonymous says:
    July 8, 2009 at 8:23 pm

    I don’t know how they showed it in the animu, but in the novel George only ordered Shanon to accept the ring because of her overwhelming modesty, she thought it was a gift too great for a mere servant like her. George only ordered her to take the ring, but he did not order her to marry her. He left that up as a choice to her.

    I doubt DEEN really did anything to show any of the emotions here though. Even in the visual novel this scene feels a bit out of left field since they spend almost no time on George and Shanon’s relationship prior to that point, so I can’t say I blame them too much. They should’ve made a clear distinction that the order was not for Shanon to marry him, only for her to take the ring.

  • MuzikalNotes says:
    July 8, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    Huh, it does look more censored than the VN and manga, where the manga actually showed their faces fully or half-smashed. The VN scared me more than the anime did, if that wasn’t so obvious already.

    And luckily you aren’t comparing it to Higurashi (I haven’t seen any yet, but that doesn’t mean anything). Those two shows are VERY different from each other, and I love laughing at people who complain how Higurashi had [insert something here] and Umineko doesn’t, so Umineko is bad. Eh, then again, that’s just me being critical about people complaining about a series that hasn’t even finished yet.

    Eh, I’ll watch this up to episode 5, then see if it’s worth continuing. Even if it’s not, I’ll just watch it anyways, since the 5th arc (VN) still won’t be out by then. And eh, it couldn’t possibly be worse… What am I talking about? Stupid optimism getting to me.

  • chad001 says:
    July 8, 2009 at 10:49 pm

    Wow… if Maria ends up like Shion, I swear, Ill just drop the series, it works on Shion, cause she’s a demon, but Maria’s a little HUMAN girl…

    • Solaris says:
      July 10, 2009 at 8:51 am

      I’d pair her with Rika. I feel this Maria little girl is the very key to the mistery. Who bets she’s the witch or something like that?

      *VN readers are excluded frm the bet :P
      And as a side note a really envy you who could read the visual novel in Japanese ;_;. I must go back studying that damned language a bit more sigh!!

  • TJ says:
    July 9, 2009 at 1:02 am

    Ahhh just the gore I was looking for.

  • Tylon says:
    July 9, 2009 at 1:17 am

    Does Maria know how to read a letter? She was 9 years old right? I do not have the VN, is the entire letter written in hiragana?

    lol… That is the swan from that Rei ep01.

  • sora says:
    July 9, 2009 at 10:23 am

    that was just wrong, Beatrice is a G man.

  • Omisyth says:
    July 9, 2009 at 1:56 pm

    “he came off at least three or four times more sinister than I’m sure they meant him to be.”

    I think the combination of the music, the setting and constant blushing made it seem more like a playful joke between lovers than anything.

  • The Phantom says:
    July 9, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    So far is not going very well, this series needs more violence/Blood/Gore, I will stick around for a few more episodes hoping for it to improve, but so far is just a stupid thriller wannabe.

  • Irie says:
    July 9, 2009 at 3:08 pm

    Wow. Talk about some critical comments. I haven’t seen or read the novel so don’t have a frame of comparison. That being said, the proposal used more physical expressions to convey the feelings. If you go with what was said, it does seem dry. I thought it worked well visually since the relationship was disclosed so quickly. As a result, Shannon’s death was a bit of a non-factor. No real buildup to make us care.

    Really wondering how this will turn out. If they keep elimating characters in large quantities, there won’t be much of a show.

  • Anonymous says:
    July 10, 2009 at 1:02 am

    Fuck that! No bitch slap IN Maria’s face = No FUKKEN Win in mah book. Hope she gonna get tortured soon, that lil’ UUUUUUUU annoying loli who gives bad name to the LOLI’s community out there. Otherwise, the MILFs in this show are insanely hot & their husbands are so FUGLY is what I wanna say, otherwise.

  • Anonymous says:
    July 10, 2009 at 3:34 pm

    “Wow. Talk about some critical comments. I haven’t seen or read the novel so don’t have a frame of comparison. That being said, the proposal used more physical expressions to convey the feelings. If you go with what was said, it does seem dry. I thought it worked well visually since the relationship was disclosed so quickly. As a result, Shannon’s death was a bit of a non-factor. No real buildup to make us care.”

    The original scenario for the George and Shannon was so well-written that it actually tugged at your emotions. The way it as presented in the animation was quite poor, since they cut it short quite a bit, thus neglecting the build-up. True, the first chapter isn’t as necessary to the central plot as the rest, but it gives insight into the characters whose backgrounds weren’t as covered as thoroughly in the first chapter.

    • Anonymous says:
      July 10, 2009 at 6:08 pm

      Actually I didn’t really care a whole lot for Shanon until Episode 2 of the visual novel. They don’t focus on her a whole lot in Episode 1.

  • Anonymous says:
    July 10, 2009 at 7:05 pm

    Ha Ha Ha, so LULZ, guy proposed to girl & girl get killed. Take that in your face, 4 eyes bastard, dunno why but I never like the nerdy type in anime. N-E-V-E-R

  • Solaris says:
    July 10, 2009 at 9:16 pm

    @Anonymous user: thank you very much for the nice hint about the translation.

    And about Higurashi, i really can’t compare it with its own novel, but even if the animation wasn’t the best i could appreciate the story and unique narration style. I’m fully satisfied by that show (counting both series and oav too)

    I always tried to judge a show by its overall value and not only by flashing animation and stunning graphics. Usually some too good visual may hide a dangerous lack of contenents.

  • Cross says:
    July 17, 2009 at 1:17 am

    FFFFFFFFFfffffffffff-

    I cried when they got to the Shannon death scene in the VN, I mean, that part was just so…..it was one of those “What did they do to deserve that kind of crap” moments and for it to be cheapened by this kinda crap…….ugh.

    FFFFFFFFFFFFFFfffffffffff-

    I HATE YOU STUDIO DEEN I HATE YOU AND HOPE YOU GO TO HELL.