When beginningUmineko no naku koro ni, it was been difficult to predict that the series would by the end feature no less than six witches, one dragon, one butler, three military bunny girls, seven floating females wearing school uniforms crossed with leotards, and hordes of sharply suited goat-men. Saying that it eases into these bizarre characters with subtle hints and smart progress would be a bare-faced lie - it springs these absurdities without warning or concern for cohesion. This is indicative of the overriding attitude of the show: favouring reckless abandonment of storytelling for twists that often test the limits of patience. Were it not so melodramatically entertaining it would be hard to endure.
The softly spoken, servant loving George is in fact a kung-fu master able to literally kick someone's face off
Starting with a set up familiar to those who experienced 07th Expansion's prior work, Higurashi no naku koro ni, a typhoon has sealed off an island of eighteen members of the Ushiromiya family who are tasked with solving a riddle to earn the family inheritance. The riddle pertains to a Golden Land touted by the mysterious witch Beatrice, who takes a sadistic pleasure in torturing and murdering the family members as the bonds fracture and accusations fly. Initially a murder mystery with occult overtones, when the witch Beatrice finally reveals herself, one of the family members refuses to acknowledge her status as a witch and starts a competition to prove each murder could have been committed by a human rather than magic. The series covers four stories, resetting after each one, and introduce increasingly more characters, both magical and human, as well as a deeper look at the magical world inhabited by Beatrice.
So how are we going to follow Higurashi? We can't diverge too much from the formula otherwise people won't like it! What about if we set it on an island? And use a bunch of aristocrats instead of teenagers! We'll have to have some annoying teenagers in there somewhere. And a creepy child! But keeping with the murder theme? We'll use a witch this time, totally different from the demon we had scuttling about in Higurashi...
her insistence on emitting an infuriating noise at the slightest provocation
And so the first three episodes of Umineko naku koro ni unfold in a similar but no less enticing way than its predecessor, Higurashi no naku koro ni. Building on the success of its forerunner, Umineko continues the same malevolent and supernatural atmosphere while subtly twisting it into its own beast. With nary a reset in sight, the nouveau rich are bumped off with surprising speed until only a select few are left to solve the mystery of whether a witch is to blame (similar in nature to when wizards do it) or whether one of their own is taking up finger painting with other people's blood. The switch from a remote village to a closed-off island serves the same isolating purpose but opens up the alluring possibility of using the island itself as an antagonist rather than simply letting the box of scorpions scenario play out; likewise the shift from village dwellers to an affluent family keeps the paranoia and tension running thick. Indeed, the story revealed in the first episodes of Umineko is just as captivating as the first arc of Higurashi.
It would be easy to be confused as to just where exactly Blue Drop sits in terms of genre if one went by the first three episodes: perhaps the all-girl school histrionics would give some indication, but juxtaposed with operatic science fiction it would seem that maybe the series is trying to tell a different, as yet, hidden story touching on old Gundam favourites such as the horrors of war or its effect on children. Blue Drop actually occupies the secret third option and the hint lies in the source manga's genre: yuri.
The quiet, fringe-afflicted girl shows up in an entirely out-of-place outfit consisting of a leotard crossed with navy regalia
This divulgence is able to put a lot of the introductory material into context, and while it certainly doesn't contain anything near the raunchy material of the manga, Blue Drop still seems uncertain as to who the series is aimed at. The character design is less than stellar, it seems that clichés are born and bred in the school the central characters attend and the animation does nothing to compensate for this, instead the aesthetics feel washed out and less than enticing. Development is restricted to the protagonist only, and the revelation that her nemesis is captain of a futuristic underwater craft comes across as more underwhelming than it was perhaps meant to. So with the interpersonal relationships and sexual content that series should have inherited from its parent missing, and the other typical trappings of the yuri genre absent, the question of what exactly the series offers becomes difficult to answer.
I mentioned in my review of Darker than Black that it's a series which is as complicated and metaphorical as you wish it to be really and given the ending which seemed to finish the series without completing it, there's plenty of tid-bits to sift through and question. It was made clear that another episode of the series, number twenty six, would be released on DVD, however word is that this is a side-story rather than the much anticipated explanation so many desire.
