Umineko was a series that I really loved for a while. I loved the first episode, and the sequential episodes somehow continued to build upon and explore the concepts and characters previous in a way that was extremely unique and enthralling. I have my complaints of course, but up until I noticed a certain narrative trend in the answer arcs I would hesitate to call Umineko "bad". Until episode 8. It turned a intensely fun, intriguing, thematically and philosophically poignant series into one with excessive cloying melodrama with bizarre moral postulations that barely hold up under any form of scrutiny. And that's because of one character.

Ange ruined Umineko. That's my take.

It's bizarre to highlight her specifically and if I told myself Ange was the worst character in Umineko after reading the question arcs I would have thought I was insane. The conceit behind her character isn't bad but the execution and ultimate conclusion makes all the difference. Essentially Ange's introduction highlights and opposing position for Battler in needing to return from the gameboard and care for his sister who was grieving the loss of her entire family. At least from the position of having finished the series, Hachijou Tohya is a little bit of a reach logistically, but I'm willing to let it slide.

It's the manipulative framing of Ange as this helpless victim in the positioning of Umineko's themes, ones that only work because Ange is such a victim from circumstances that run antithetical to the ideas Umineko was originally about. It's why the whole "magic VS trick" ending has caused such a divide in the fanbase because it involves Ange.

Let's break this down in detail, after 1986 Ange is left with Eva and the Ushiromiya family fortune and 12 years of trauma to sort through.

Let's get this out of the way, Eva Ushiromiya is a horrible human being. She had 12 years to actually take care of her surrogate daughter but essentially spent those years pissing away a fortune she didn't earn and in no way deserved. I have absolutely no sympathy for her no matter what happened on the island in 1986, if her emotional incompetence traumatized a young child without knowledge on healthy coping strategies. If you cannot take care of a child, put it up for adoption. In fact, with the way George turned out she really shouldn't have had any in the first place, Hideyoshi really was keeping everything together. The reason this matters is that I have a hard time believing any form of "guilt" can be put on the goats or Erika Furudo (which R07 has used as a jab at certain fans of umineko) for causing emotional trauma to this girl who was already in a shitty situation in the first place. Getting bullied at school, having guardian figures and bodyguards who couldn't care less about you, and using a children's diary to cope with you're mental issues. This becomes extremely bizarre when in Episode 8, Eva is essentially vindicated for 12 years of being a shitty mother because she died and took the truth with her to the grave, as if she didn't play a massive role in putting Ange in the position she was in the first place.

All of this culminates in the conflict of Episode 8 where Ange is forced to come to a choice of perspective in how to cope with her trauma which all comes down to framing, but neither ending is satisfactory in showcasing an honest portrayal of grieving. The magic ending has her become a story telling charity worker who believes her family never died at all and are still alive out somewhere in the world, the trick ending has her fall to the curse of inquisitiveness and continue to search the globe to completely understand the truth of the incident. I say neither is satisfactory because each one is based in extremes. This is a gripe I have with R07's writing, everything is over the top for the sake of appealing to the reader's emotions which especially come through in the murders of both umineko and higurashi. However the end result in the case of this ending has Ange becoming a completely different person instead of building off the foundations we already have and growing because of it. This is how a lot of characters in fiction deal with the death of a loved one, they don't pretend it never happened or have it define them, they grow because of it. A more middle ground solution would have proven great if enough background for her character was presented that wasn't abuse cry porn from mentally maladjusted teenagers.

In fact the magic ending and the framing that supports it is extremely manipulative to the point that I don't understand how R07 thought this would work, like we would just forget the previous 7 arcs of the story. Essentially to remove the guilt present for each individual party everyone is vindicated as one big happy family. Even when Kinzo is an incestual rapist deluded by occult magic. Even when Eva is a vindictive sociopath that emotionally traumatized Natsuhi and her own son and surrogate daughter. Even when there are literal children who couldn't have done anything wrong like Jessica and Maria who we're brutally murdered by the hands of the greedy adults and their accomplices. I will stand firm in my belief that the Ushiromiya family has some horrible people in it, which the "truth" of the matter should acknowledge.

I think here is the time to expand upon the manga specifically in how it handles the eventual conclusion to the mystery of the series. Personally, I don't think Shkanontrice is actually canon because it opens up a whole bag of red truths that are extremely questionable to the point of grammatical inconsistency. My point is the inclusion of the "confessions of the golden witch" chapters which essentially spells out said theory in such plain terms that it becomes a slap in the face to those who actually read the story looking for the answer. As if episode 7 wasn't easy enough to understand to all the idiots who didn't turn their brains on. Is it trying to appeal to the magic readers who don't care about the culprit anyway?

Whatever ending R07 was trying to tell with his characters it's all put through the lens of someone that we didn't even know until halfway through the series. Fans of the first three episodes are literally told to shove it because their inquisitiveness is flanderized as a sociopathic egomaniac Erika Furudo, mindless truth hungry drones as the goats, or the reason why Ange is on the verge of suicide. Despite how much the series preaches the love the author has for their reader I'm not entirely convinced R07 loved every reader of Umineko through such vindictive portrayals.

It's hard to imagine an Umineko "without" Ange but the arcs that don't involve her (I liked 1, 3, 5, and 7) we're really good in my eyes so make of that what you will. Despite my endless bitching I just put you through I don't think Umineko is ENTIRELY bad (episode 7 is probably the best VN I've ever read, manga's alright), after all this is just my opinion and you're allowed to feel whatever you want about the story.

But my god this ending sucked ass.