Completed Umineko Episode 7 and it was absolutely fantastic. Thematically brilliant, emotionally powerful, and rich in terms of what it does for its characters, especially Beatrice, who we finally dig all the way into. Best episode so far. So much detail, so much heart given to-

fill in the gaps and give meaning to Beato's actions. There's a lot of great character stuff here, adore the use of representing different parts of Yasu through fantasy creatures and we see most of what she's gone through that made her life so hellish.

From basically her birth, to being raised as a servant, to making these different personas, bottling up her negative emotions and pushing them away to different personas. Her bonding with Battler, their promise, her falling in love with mystery novels, Battler not coming back,

her life just getting worse and worse, solving the Epitaph, when she confronts Kinzo and everything gets revealed and turns her entire life upside down, basically revealing the fact that everything she's ever thought about herself has been a lie.

It is implied that the fall damaged her genitals, so Yasu is most likely male, but identifies as and has been brought up as female. We also see a snippet of the part she tried to hide when telling her story when Bern rips out her guts, her confronting Nanjo and Genji,

asking them why they had to save her, why they couldn't just have let her die back then, which is just heartbreaking to watch. When the flashback started I figured the motive would be long lost love, but Battler's role is actually not as crucial as I thought it'd be,

and I really like that, I think his role in the crime is quite brilliant. Ofc, there's still stuff left to Beato, we don't yet know everything about the motive, and her cursing them for not letting her die is probably just a snippet of what she didn't tell us.

Confessions will probably adapt those two years, the darkest years of her life, so there's surely more to come about her, perhaps even the most significant character stuff from her has yet to come. I'm excited for more.

Then we have Will and Lion. Will is a neat parallel to Battler, a detective who isn't incompetent and who understands the heart from the very start, and Lion, a parallel to Yasu, a version of her she wishes she could've been.

We also got Kinzo's backstory, which was very much appreciated. While there were some disgusting reveals about his incestuous relationships and the fact that he was the one who suggested they should steal the gold, the backstory did effectively humanise him in several ways.

This episode just also reaffirms that Battler is an absolutely phenomenal protagonist. He's actually barely in this episode, but his speech about the human heart and seeking the truth is very resonant and thematically cohesive with the spirit of the series as a whole.

The Tea Party, which was horrific and gut-wrenching in all the right ways, also added yet another layer to Eva, as it reveals she did try to raise Ange but was rejected by her, and with the media twisting her image, and having lost her entire family,

it made things difficult, but it also gave her the chance to act as the villain, to protect Ange from knowing the horrible truth about her parents. I don't yet know how much of that tea party is the truth, but I have a feeling it's mostly true.

About Rudolf and Kyrie, I do not think they initially planned to kill anyone until Krauss and Natsuhi died. And about the whole Kyrie hating Ange, it's likely she just said that so Eva would kill her, can't imagine Kyrie wanting to live now that Rudolf is dead,

and she seemed to smile (though evily) once Eva said she'd take care of Ange, so her saying that was an indirect suicide and making sure Ange will be taken care of.

Maybe that's why she was "sick", that's why she was left home, though that would mean they were prepared to kill from the start, so I dunno about that.

Other great stuff in this episode too, exploring more of Maria and her escapism, Jessica and her idea of creating another self which is very relevant. Bern is here too. I don't think we'll get much more out of her as a character, but she's here and she's good.

Will really encapsulates Umineko's attitude to approaching the mystery. Don't be too much like Erika, or too much like early Battler, find a middle ground. Respect the rules, analyse and follow the logic, but don't abandon the heart.

If you can find the motive, a heart that can commit murder, then you've found your culprit. It's a neat commentary on mystery fiction, as Ryukishi obviously has issues with stories that don't focus enough on the motive, which resonates with me very much as well.

So, what's up next, for episode 8? It's a game for Ange, and it's her story left. I think just like how in EP 2, when Rosa protects Maria, and she notes that there is no bad mom, no good mom, just her mom, Ange must come to the same terms on how she'll let the truth affect her.

Ultimately, whether the tea party ends up as true, Ange doesn't have to let this drive her to madness. People are complicated, they're more than just one bad day and one bad decision. As demonstrated with Natsuhi and Lion, given the opportunity,

there's always a possibility for goodness. It is now up to Ange to decide what she'll take away from this, how she'll remember her family and ultimately move on and live life to the fullest. I have incredibly high expectations for this last episode. I'm sure it won't disappoint.