Umineko no Naku Koro ni 1

well this seems to be like some nice higurashi like game adaptation lets if it will be as awesome as the first higurashi.

still the whole setting is pretty much like higurashi hell even the comercials have the same kind of textposition at the beginning and end like in higurashi, i hope this anime can live up to my expactations that i got from higurashi.

also maria is just uguu Ayu Tsukimiya from kanon 2006 in disguise....but hell at some point her uguu is just got annoying

Wow, it felt like it took hours to get to the point when they're talking to Kanon in the VN but the anime does it in about 5 minutes (and that's including the OP). That is definitely a very good thing.

I much prefer the anime art style to the VN's, though Gouda seems to be missing something when he isn't drawn like such an incredibly smug twat. It'd be nice to give Battler more internal monologues - like when he goes to grab Shannon's tits in the VN, he doesn't actually know what to do when she just stands there to let him feel them; he just expects to get smacked so it's more of a big joke than a genuine attempt to grope people. When Maria clouts him over the head, he's actually thankful.

It got further in about 8 or 9 minutes than I have in (what feels like) hours of reading the VN so I stopped watching after that time. It does seem they've not only missed out a lot of the rambling dialogue (a good thing), they've cut out whole scenes (though they may have just re-ordered them a bit and I didn't see them 'cause I stopped).

Anyway, CoalGG subbed that episode and you can get the full thing here. By "full", I mean the file hasn't been compressed for streaming.

I honestly wished that this was spread out over 2 episodes, just like how the 4 episodes of Endless Eight can be condensed to 2.

This felt way too rushed. Seriously, way too rushed.

Still haven't watched further, but I actually thought that the start of Umineko (the VN) was painfully, horribly slow. It wasn't well-written and interesting dialogue, it was just verbose and rambling streams of thought - and about 5 million instances of "uu-" and "hihihihi". I can't say if they've sped things up too much, but it certainly really needed speeding up to some degree. If they'd have done a direct adaptation, it would have taken until about episode 5 for them to get to the mansion and most of it would have been Battler standing perfectly still and just monologuing your ass off.

I never played the game, so I guess this worked out just fine for me. Can't say I'm fond of the characters yet, but that isn't saying much. They'll eventually become the "characters you love to hate" in time.

I went ahead and watched the rest of the ep and also played on further in the VN. While I still think the sped up pace is generally good, I think they've cut out too much and left the characters feeling quite flat. I still haven't got as far in the VN as the anime gets in one episode, but I can still see how much atmosphere and background has been cut out. Far before the point that the anime is at by the end of this episode, you know a reasonable amount about every character's background and have seen them interacting with each other for significantly longer if you read the VN.

The anime also does more obvious foreshadowing, with the effect of simplifying and potentially dumbing-down the story. For example, it shows Maria doing a mad, evil grin in the OP and when she's getting scared that the shrine has gone missing (on the way over on the boat) her face changes and goes weird-looking, Higurashi style. In the VN, Maria never gives off any such evil/mad vibes - although she does seem a bit odd 'cause of the "uu" thing, it feels more like a childish thing than anything.

The anime makers (Deen?) were in a difficult position with this episode. I think it would have been better in the long run if they'd spent this episode only getting the characters to the mansion and spent the time fleshing out the characters better. The problem is, though, that people only watching the anime would have very little reason to come back next week as all they would've seen is a load of family members arguing and joking around on a boat and plane (they totally cut the plane out, didn't they?)

Which is why I love Maria ^_^ Yui Horie FTW! NANO DESU!

but yea I enjoyed the fact the the episode got going quickly in the beginning, as long as they take the time later on with future scenes, thou from the VN to Anime art wise, I preferred Battler VN just cuz his actions fit his design, and Maria & Jessica look great in this adaptation, not to say they didn't in the VN, but I am going with this look of there's as my fav
oh and of course Shannon is another fav of mine even more now thanks to Kugimiya ^_^

I should really start downloading the VN...... >_>

EDIT: meh..the graphics in the vn.....<_<

Oh, I really love Shikata Akiko's song for this Umineko, the VN too.

It didn't feel rushed to me at all, although I haven't play the game. That's probably why, but I'm also eager to get to the killing parts and so on.

I dislike the ending theme song, but I like the part with the chess board.

No favorite characters yet, but I dislike the MC already.



Let the loli abuse begin!!

I really liked the episode, but I also haven't played the game.

I think that while the characters aren't too fleshed-out in this episode, you still get an idea of who they are and what they're like. You can pretty much tell who you're going to like and who you're going to hate, though your opinion can of course change at any moment, depending on how the characters act. Like when the mother wailed on Maria. Opinion instantly changes to "hate that bitch" and would like to see her killed. Yet at the same time, I recognize that she's not the most evil person on the island.

I think I will greatly enjoy this series and each week, look forward to putting the pieces together and seeing what is being formed.