Umineko no Naku Koro ni (novels)
Umineko no Naku Koro ni (うみねこのなく頃に, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, lit. When the Seagulls Cry) is a series of Japanese murder mystery novels written by Ryukishi07. They are based on the visual novels of the same name by 07th Expansion. Each story arc is divided into two volumes and contains illustrations by Tomohi. Kodansha Box started releasing the novelizations in July 2009 with Legend of the Golden Witch.[1]
Story
Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place primarily in the year 1986, during the time frame of October 4 and October 5 on a small, secluded island named Rokkenjima (六軒島) owned and lived on by Kinzo, the head of the wealthy Ushiromiya family. Kinzo is near death, and eight of his family members arrive on the island for the annual family conference, where the adults plan to discuss how Kinzo's assets will be divided once he is dead. Also on the island are three family members who live there, five of Kinzo's servants, and his personal physician. After the eight family members arrive, a typhoon traps them on the island, and shortly after, strange things start to happen and people start dying.
The main character of the story is Battler Ushiromiya, son of Kinzo's second son Rudolf. Battler has not been to the annual Ushiromiya conference in six years due to living with his maternal grandparents ever since his mother Asumu died, and even took his mother's maiden name instead of Ushiromiya. When his grandparents died, he went back to living with his father, his second wife Kyrie, and their daughter Ange, his half-sister. Once on the island, Battler once again becomes acquainted with the legend of the golden witch Beatrice who supposedly lives in the naturally dense forest on Rokkenjima. A portrait of her lies in the entrance hall of the Ushiromiya family mansion, and a puzzling epitaph is written below the portrait. Rumor has it on the island that Beatrice gave ten tons of gold to Kinzo in the past to restart the Ushiromiya family after being crippled in the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake. It is said that whoever solves the riddle of the witch's epitaph will receive the gold and be the next successor to the Ushiromiya family.
Once the typhoon hits, a ghastly game begins, starting with the murder of six people on the island. If the witch's epitaph cannot be solved, people will continue to die in mysterious deaths, following the outline given by the epitaph itself, until the witch Beatrice ultimately revives. From this point on, Battler and Beatrice are locked in a game of twisted logic where Battler must attempt to explain all of the mysterious events on Rokkenjima from the standpoint that they are caused by a human, and Beatrice attempts to explain everything with witches and magic. If Beatrice can get Battler to ultimately surrender and accept witches and magic, Beatrice wins.
Volume list
| No. | Title | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 1 Legend of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 1 Legend of the Golden Witch （上）) | July 2009 | ISBN 978-4-06-283719-4 |
| 02 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 1 Legend of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 1 Legend of the Golden Witch （下）) | August 2009 | ISBN 978-4-06-283721-7 |
| 03 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 2 Turn of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 2 Turn of the Golden Witch （上）) | November 2009 | ISBN 978-4-06-283730-9 |
| 04 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 2 Turn of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 2 Turn of the Golden Witch （下）) | December 2009 | ISBN 978-4-06-283735-4 |
| 05 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 3 Banquet of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 3 Banquet of the Golden Witch （上）) | March 2010 | ISBN 978-4-06-283744-6 |
| 06 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 3 Banquet of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 3 Banquet of the Golden Witch （下）) | April 2010 | ISBN 978-4-06-283745-3 |
| 07 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 4 Alliance of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 4 Alliance of the Golden Witch （上）) | July 2010 | ISBN 978-4-06-283753-8 |
| 08 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode 4 Alliance of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に Episode 4 Alliance of the Golden Witch （下）) | August 2010 | ISBN 978-4-06-283754-5 |
| 09 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 5 End of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に散 Episode 5 End of the Golden Witch （上）) | July 2012 | ISBN 978-4-06-283757-6 |
| 10 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 5 End of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に散 Episode 5 End of the Golden Witch （下）) | December 2012 | ISBN 978-4-06-283811-5 |
| 11 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 6 Dawn of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に散 Episode 6 Dawn of the Golden Witch （上）) | March 2014 | ISBN 978-4-06-283840-5 |
| 12 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 6 Dawn of the Golden Witch (2) (うみねこのなく頃に散 Episode 6 Dawn of the Golden Witch （下）) | June 2014 | ISBN 978-4-06-283844-3 |
| 13 | Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru Episode 7 Requiem of the Golden Witch (1) (うみねこのなく頃に散 Episode 7 Requiem of the Golden Witch （上）) | June 2015 | ISBN 978-4-06-283885-6 |
References
- ↑ "Umineko When They Cry novelizations official website" (in Japanese). [[w:Kodansha Box|]]. Retrieved 2015-06-22.