Umineko no Nako Koro ni Original review

My earlier simple review or Umineko No Naku Koro Ni

 

Umineko is a way too often misunderstood story, slightly related to a much more acclaimed yet much more ordinary Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. It is made by the same studio 07th Expansion. Here I will review anime and Visual Novel together.

On the surface it is a mystery story in which a murder occurs and then detective finds out who is the culprit in the end. In actuality, it is much more than that. This story has so many plots, subplots, hidden plots, hidden meanings, implied things, metaphors and allegories that may even put literally fiction to shame. Many other reviewers and readers mention and discuss so called ‘metaworld’, but that is only a tip of the iceberg and there is much more to notice for an attentive reader.

If you like 2deep4you kind of stories and willing to think as you read/watch, Umineko will not leave you disappointed. If fact it is probably the deepest story out there. It may even surpass literary fiction from famous writers such as Salinger, Fitzgerald and Marques. It definitely fits this privileged class of literature. And you like literary fiction you definitely know how hard it is to find something worthy of this lofty title.

If you like trolling you will enjoy Umineko as well. Think all the mystery fans who raving over the fact that no one told them who is the culprit. On top of that, there is a witch in the story, who claimed that she killed everyone with magic, literally. And a guy who tries to convince her that she doesn’t exists. He succeeds, literally. But that is not where it ends. Umineko later trolls mystery fans further by saying that having a witch and magic in the story does not violate Roland A. Knox ten rules of writing detective stories therefore Umineko is a proper mystery.

If you like unpredictable stories you would enjoy this as well. Despite the story replays the same base plot 8 times, they do it different enough each time for you to say ‘I didn’t see it coming, but I doubt they will manage to pull something even more unpredictable next time.’ way more than 8 times.

If you like mystery stories like Sherlock Holmes novels then you probably should stay away. Unless you enjoy feeding trolls that is. Or if you are willing to try something as unorthodox as Black Metal is for someone who only listens to pop music.

 

Overall it is very unique and rich story that is outstanding in many ways which is why it got such a high rating for me.

 

Additionally anime only covers 4 out of 8 episodes of the visual novel so you will need to read VN if you want to know what happens next. Also many claim that anime is inferior to VN and recommend to read only the latter, I say you can enjoy them all. VN is surely more detailed and it is worth to read episodes 1-4 even after watching anime. But anime was definitely good and actually got me to read VNs.

With Umineko it is good idea to not rush things and take time to stop from time to time and think what is going on. That way you will understand more and will be able to fully enjoy the story. Otherwise you might got completely lost in ‘witches’ darkness’ and will never make sense out of it.

Girls und Panzer Original Review

Genre: Seinen

Summary: Nice and all round good anime that that will appeal to male audience.

 

Rating: 8.0/10

Girls und Panzu (no fanservice though)

 

This great anime is about cute girls riding WWII era tanks and participating in Senshado; a kind of fictional sport in which two teams of girls with 10 tanks each (more tanks allowed in finals in semifinals) fighting each other till the flag tank of the opponent’s team it taken out. Kind of like Quake III Arena, Unreal Tournament or Counter Strike but with tanks and moe girls.

Battles are entertaining to watch. Protagonist team (Ooarai) is often outnumbered and outgunned. They have to rely on their cunning and wit to survive and win.  Battles are really engaging like a sports game between equally strong teams with different play style. You want to keep watching just know whether they will manage to win this time and if yes how? It is really witty and cunning how Ooarai manages to turn their opponents strength against them and exploit their weaknesses.

The show has plenty of humor too. Ooarai team initially does a lot of silly things such as painting tanks pink and gold (literally) and dance in anglerfish costumes. But that doesn't take sportsmanship from matches itself. Ooarai eventually grow more serious, paint tanks camouflage and in the end fight seasoned veterans with vigor cunning and vit. Girls und Panzer managed to meaningfully mix comedy and sport without ruining either, and that is a great achievement.

Characters are nice, moe and pleasant. All characters are female. In their free time they like to cook, eat cakes and wash tanks wearing bikini. Many of them have hobbies like tanks, war and video games. What not to like.

There is 13 episodes of the original show. Two episodes long Real Anzio battle OVA and even full feature film long Girls und Panzer der Film. Plenty of fun to watch.

 

All in all it is fun and pleasant to watch and I would recommend this show to anyone.