Umineko WHEN THEY CRY Episode 8

“without love, it can't be seen.”

i don't think there is a current literary work that can compare to umineko, except for maybe house of leaves. isn't that weird?? umineko, a manga/sound novel, weaving such a complex (the number of characters and the depths of their backgrounds, the meta-world, the interactive nature in which the mysteries are laid out, how it begs for the reader to solve them instead of waiting to receive a the answer) and multi-layered (“I am one but many.” not to mention the different lenses in which you can view the episodes of umineko—alternate realities, novels, a romance story, a metaphysical search through ones lost memories) narrative.

one drawback of umineko is of course the anime tropes—girls outfits that don't make sense, battler's weird pervert comments in the beginning. but if you push past the first episode and let everything work its way, at the very least you will walk away knowing you've read something meticulously written that you'll most likely not see again for a long, long time.

I'd even argue that in the end, the protagonist wasn't really battler at all.

“who am i?”

a lonely child, trapping infinity in a closed room.

“ashes to ashes, dust to dust. illusions to illusions.
and dreams to dreams.”