#also love that tohyas name is revealed like. Ep4. But

[gothamcityneedsme]

tohya, the final umineko character, hiding behind two other existing characters, one of which pretends to be him and uses his name

(the other of which is an existential threat that he fears will overtake HIM)

also vital to uminekos core that tohya is hiding behind a man and a woman

[kyuu-rereads-umineko]

Ep6, Chapter 11

I forget what happens in this chapter exactly, beyond the next part of the love trial. Let’s get right into it!

On that note, I’m officially behind the Rokkenjima Tea Party, which is great, because I’d still love to join in on the Ep7 podcast. I’d love to just speed through the rest of Ep6 so I can catch up, but we’ll just have to see how things go, I guess. What I’ll probably end up doing is reading through the rest of Ep6 on my own, then reading Ep7 for the podcast, taking notes on things to revisit for this blog later for both Episodes. 

We open on Rosa, alone in the parlour, relaxing during a break in the family conference.

“...A pleasant silence. Now that no one was in sight, Rosa’s heart finally awoke.” Huh, that’s an interesting line. I’d forgotten about it.

The narrative notes that the other siblings would treat her almost like an impartial mediator in their conferences, and she reflects on having to use that status to steer the conversation in the direction she wants. All the political jockeying the siblings end up getting into with each other must be exhausting...

“That [debt] was supposed to be my great commitment, a burden I bore to help support ‘that man’s’ business. [...] If I can pay off my debt... will he call me again?” I forget, do we ever get details about Maria’s father and Rosa’s debt anywhere else? I mean, I’m pretty sure it’s touched on in Ep1, with the whole ALL THE SIBLINGS WANT A LOT OF MONEY RIGHT NOW thing, but other than that...

And then Rosa thinks, “even if you do contact me again after all this time... I’ll be the one to refuse. ...But still... you are Maria’s father, aren’t you? Please come and see her... if only just once...”

That first part in particular is quite interesting. I feel like there’s a parallel to be drawn there, between Rosa and Yasu (what with the latter “moving on” from Battler, only to be devastated when he actually returns), but.

(alternatively i feel like i’ve been doing a shit job with the whole analysis thing and am looking for the tiniest thing to latch onto i’m not really sure)

Rosa’s thoughts are interrupted by Kanon, who... arrived silently without her noticing. lol

Aaaand as usual for this episode, Kanon is extremely forward. “The reason you are currently in pain is because of love, Rosa-sama. ...Am I wrong?”

Interesting - Kanon shows explicit knowledge of Rosa’s financial situation. She brushes it off as him overhearing Krauss from the hallway earlier...

...and the narrative immediately josses that explanation. “Krauss had seen through to the fact that Rosa was bearing a massive debt because she had become a co-signer on a loan. However, he hadn’t said that her partner had been Maria’s father... Why... did Kanon know so much...?”

(Note: this thought is split across a period of like, two weeks, because I just wasn’t in the mood to write anything, so apologies in advance if it’s incoherent) The narrative drawing attention to Kanon like this reminds me of something we talked about a bit on the Rokkenjima Discord server - Namely, the idea that Ikuko wrote Episode 5, while Tohya/Battler wrote Episode 6. It’s true that the two of them together are what makes Tohya Hachijo, but even then, Ep5 and 6 are drastically different in terms of tone. Episode 5 is probably the most ruthless depiction of Yasu we ever see, whereas she doesn’t even seem to be planning a murder in Ep6. Ep5 also presents Erika as pretty unapologetically terrible, while Ep6 has its tidbit with her backstory to humanize her (even if she goes way off the deep end later, but, y’know).

In terms of timeline, I imagine it’d be something like... Between Ep4 and 5, Tohya has his seizure and is hospitalized for a while. During that period, Ikuko writes Ep5 on her own, much to his chagrin (this is also why, on a meta-level, Battler is boycotting most of the 5th game - it’s symbolic for Tohya’s hospitalization). Once he recovers, Tohya starts writing Ep6 on his own, making a point of portraying everyone more lovingly (relatively speaking, of course) than Ikuko had.

Bringing this back to Kanon - in the question arcs - Ep1 and 2 in particular - there’s a pretty strong focus on him as being suspicious. His death is the only blatant fantasy scene in Ep1, and he’s constantly fingered as the culprit in Ep2. In comparison, Ep5 really does brush over him and Shannon almost entirely. Assuming Ikuko wrote Ep5, as a sort of “pure mystery” type thing (i.e. the culprit is a cold-blooded killer intent on framing Natsuhi), Tohya’s Ep6 is, in a way, a sort of “return to basics.” Yasu’s romantic relations take centre stage again, and no one is portrayed as an irredeemable monster (well, except maybe Kyrie, and Erika once the murders start, but).

Anyway, Rosa mentions that she’d considered helping Maria’s father out financially her “responsibility as his future wife.” Which, of course... didn’t happen. “So afterwards... Rosa was always alone. And Maria... never had a father.”

“Maria, who should have been a symbol of their union, just kept growing, almost like a living hourglass measuring the length of the hell Rosa had crawled through...” Hmm. Pretty evocative of Kyrie’s talk to Jessica last chapter. Between this and their daughters, I wonder if there are more parallels between Kyrie and Rosa that we’re meant to see...

Rosa mentions trying to forget Maria’s father several times, but also says, “If I can manage to pay everything off, it’ll mean that I’ve passed the trial of love that he gave me.” 

She’s using a bit of her own magic to keep herself going here, huh... “If she was able to succeed in paying back the loan... he might acknowledge her usefulness as a wife...”

Oooh, I’d forgotten this. The narrative mentions that Rosa viewing the loan as a “trial” “might have been her blindness due to love.” Again, we’re getting the message that love isn’t always necessarily a force for good.

And Kanon wonders out loud if this is the “hell” Kyrie was talking about, lol. Rosa agrees, “though [she’s] not sure what [he’s] talking about.”

“And how can that be put to an end...?” Ouch. Rosa replies, “Who knows? If anyone did... no one would ever be crushed by the disease of love.” 

“That disease is a serious one. ...It sometimes eats into a person for their entire life, spreading to and hurting the people closest to them... That disease was torturing her now as much as it ever had...” And there it is. The heart of many of Yasu’s troubles, and the heart of the story itself.

Erika was right a few chapters ago - the counterpoint to “without love, it cannot be seen,” is that love will end up blinding you to things as well. Vilifying someone and deifying them are both just as dangerous, and just as naive - in doing so, you’re missing “half of the story,” as it were.

At any rate, Rosa expresses... admiration, I guess, for Kyrie and her perseverance. She comments that she’s only waited half of Kyrie’s 18 years, and Kanon asks if she thinks a miracle will happen sometime in the next nine. She responds with, “If I doubt that, it’s all over.”

“In a sense, I’m a ghost. ...I’m already dead. I’m just living on without noticing.”

“...A ghost waiting for eternity for a person who will never come...” The parallel’s pretty obvious here, isn’t it? Rosa finishes with, “I wish someone would just kill me.” are you sure about that

Zepar and Furfur show up, commenting that “losing and dying” isn’t the frightening part - it’s being unable to win, but unable to die, too. Elder adds, “They say the most torturous toxin for humans is made from rotting love.” Bits like this really make my heart ache, because of how vividly they paint Yasu’s suffering.

Elder says something pretty revealing here - when Chick expresses understanding that she needs to either “kill that seed [of love for Battler] or make it bud,” Elder says that the poison of rotting love “is the most fearsome torture in the world, even for us thousand year old witches.”

Back on the board, Kanon kills Rosa quick and painlessly. “Sleep well, Rosa-sama... Your hell... has ended.” He even goes on to cover her with a blanket, to make it look as though she’s just sleeping. Again, Ep6 really makes a point of portraying the family and servants in a much more positive light - this is the same Kanon who’d normally be decrying Rosa as a terrible human being for how she treats Maria, after all.

“Those demons had not exaggerated when calling this trial a battle of love. It was at least accurate on this cruel but unassailable fact: that those who have their love shattered meet with death...”

As Kanon declares his part to be over, Maria arrives and attacks him, screaming bloody murder. “In MARIA’s eyes, though Rosa was the black witch... she was also the vessel of the mother she couldn’t help but love. Her anger at having that stolen from her was near madness.”

Sakutarou appears, preventing Kanon from retaliating, but before Maria can kill him, Shannon appears, declaring Maria as her target for the trial. She uses her barrier to crush Maria and Sakutarou against the wall, since she’s technically not targeting them that way. lol technicalities

Instead of crying, Maria accepts her death, realizing that the parlour would be a closed room. “This might be just perfect for that wannabe detective who’s trying to deny Beato’s magic.” I can’t help feeling that her nonchalance here is meant as a pretty big hint as to what actually happens on the board before Erika gets involved...

Zepar and Furfur acknowledge Shannon and Kanon’s efforts as “truly splendid,” then notice that Chick’s disappeared - she’s off picking a target of her own: Natsuhi.

In her own room, Natsuhi looks into her spirit mirror (that we last saw in Ep2, as I recall, so it’s been a while) and laments her inability to support Krauss by being at his side. 

“It’s tough, isn’t it... waiting for the sake of love...”

And then Chick arrives. “Because of your love for your husband, you couldn’t bear to be made to care for an unfamiliar child.”

It’s funny and sadly ironic - Chick says she isn’t holding Natsuhi’s sin of 19 years ago against her, but the narrative goes on to mention that she does view Natsuhi as an “enemy” because of Battler’s blue truth from the end of Ep5. If only she knew...

(though if she did then I suppose this scene wouldn’t even be happening like this in the first place so)

“...Please do not hold it against me when I kill you for the sake of my love.”

As she goes to strangle Natsuhi, though, the spirit mirror falls to the ground, and she glances at it... which hurts her and breaks her concentration, much as it would against Elder. Both Elder and Chick express surprise over the fact that the spirit mirror has an effect on her, seeing as spiderwebs don’t. I’d forgotten that we actually get clued into  the fact that “Beatrice’s” weakness to mirrors isn’t strictly related to her “being a witch” here.

Natsuhi realizes immediately that the mirror will protect her, and uses it to corner Chick.

“If I lose here... I’ll be the only one... to fail this trial... Just like George-san and Shannon-san... Jessica-san and Kanon-san... I also want Battler-san to acknowledge me... and treasure me...”

Zepar and Furfur tell Chick to “believe,” because “the miracle of love will surely occur.” With that, she realizes that she’s in love with Battler. “I want him to notice me. And I want him to acknowledge and accept my feelings...”

“I was born because I love Battler-san... and I want him to love me back...”

With that, she steels her resolve. “I cannot lose here...! After all... I was born for Battler-san’s sake...!!” And then, in stake form, Lucifer flies into the room, knocking the mirror out of Natsuhi’s hand and breaking it. GO LUCIFER

Chick moves to choke Natsuhi again, and Natsuhi reaches for the door to unlock it. “A closed room is one of the definitions that makes a witch. Just unlocking the door made the anti-magic toxin strengthen a little. Since Beato was at her limit even within a closed room, if Natsuhi undid that lock... Beato’s power would weaken immediately, and Natsuhi would surely escape into the hallway.”

She gets closer and closer to the lock - “The power of the living to live is fundamentally stronger than the power of magic” - but before she can reach it, Battler instructs Lucifer to finish things, staking Natsuhi in the forehead.

“Hey, Zepar! Does this count? Beatrice didn’t complete the trial by her strength alone, right?!” theatrics etc. etc., and the two say in unison, “A pair in love are as one! This doesn’t count as help from outside!”

Battler appears, gently chastising Chick for scaring the hell out of him by almost getting herself killed, lol. Chick apologizes for not staying in her room...

...and Battler apologizes for being so harsh to her. When she slips and calls him Father again, he grins and says, “It’s okay. Call me whatever you like.”

“True, the old you may have called me just ‘Battler’. ...At first, I might have tried to force you to speak to me that way. ...However, that would be pointless. You are Beato... but you’re yourself. You can call me whatever you want.”

She calls him Battler-san again, and he quips, “Can’t say being called Father is really my thing.” ew

“...Now, she was allowed to call Battler by his name. If you just looked into her eyes... there would be no need to describe just how happy this made her feel...”

He muses a bit on the “strange game” that’s started, then throws his hat in the ring... and mentions that he’s already picked his sacrifice. lol game master

“The resolve of all six [of the lovers] is the real deal! Let us test them further in the next trial!” With that, they disappear, leaving Chick and Battler some time to talk one-on-one.

Back in “1998,” Ikuko asks Ange what she thinks of the story so far. this is on chapter 11 out of 18 ffs it’s almost as bad as ep1

Ange is pretty clearly upset that she got so immersed in the forgery, lol. She goes on to say, “Normally, I’d try to skip over all the love and illusions and call them unnecessary, useless scenes for the mystery... but Okonogi-san disagreed with that way of thinking. He thought that, by looking at things without love that way, the truth could never be reached.” are we getting the message yet readers

“After all, she’s used up all these pages talking about love and trials. ...In other words, those are the themes and keywords of this tale.”

And Ikuko says, “And there are many who claim that all words not written in red ink are not worth reading. It is an honour, child of man, that you have read the black letters as well.” loool

“Stories are written because the writer has something they want to communicate. And some writers feel that it’s unrefined to lay everything out too directly.” meta-commentary etc. etc., but I feel like there’s another point to be made here - that some writers, like Yasu, basically can’t lay things out directly, whether it’s due to circumstances, the nature of what they want to say, or not having a voice of their own to speak up with (or in Yasu’s case, all three).

“...All of this about how you’ll never reach the truth without love has shown up many times in the works before this one. This new work makes that even more striking. ...It means that that is the one thing the writer wanted to tell the most... the thing that they want us to think about the most.”

Ange realizes that, even when Beato first started appearing on the board, way back in Ep2, love was a constant theme. Her first meeting with Shannon was all about love.

“Then, in the tale right before this one, where Beato had become like a doll, the scenes shown made it seem almost as though Battler and Beato accepted each other as rivals... or possibly something more.”

Ange challenges that Ikuko’s writing is talking about love from her own viewpoint, which she acknowledges. “That is what I wanted to tell. And it is my own sort of ‘answer’.” Ange replies pretty unhappily.

“Foolish child of man. ...After reading all of this, do you still not understand?”

Though Ange is pretty unhappy with how things are going, she does realize something - Ikuko’s writing really does have “the same presence, the same scent” as the genuine message bottles. “The author is certainly different. However, because it reached the real truth, it had the same scent...”

“If one has reached Beatrice’s truth, they can create a new tale, whoever they are. ...With this new manuscript, I’m sure some other than myself will appear and reach the truth. Those people will be qualified to create new tales of their own.” I’d forgotten that Ikuko makes this point - that the more “Endless Witches” there are who write tales of Rokkenjima, the more people will reach the truth.

“...When that happens, the very first Endless Witch, Beatrice, will finally be rewarded for writing such long letters, packing them in bottles, and throwing them into the sea...”

Ange reluctantly admits that Ikuko’s tale somehow rings true. Ikuko replies, “Very well, child of man. Perhaps, as the final survivor of the Ushiromiya family, it was fated that you would find the truth and become an Endless Witch. ...I exist only as a guidepost to awaken you as the true successor. ...ANGE-Beatrice.”

“...I don’t know the truth even after the two message bottles Beatrice left behind... and I’ve read several tales with hints afterwards. So... these hints are challenges, provoking me to think.” Ikuko agrees.

“Perfect. ...I’ll find this truth you say you’ve reached. ...It’s a good thing I came here. Let the truth I see and the truth you see overlap. Just as you see things with a single eye, so do I. Now that I’ve found you, I can finally look at the truth with both eyes.”

Back in the Meta-World, Erika yawns, complaining about things taking so long again. for once i am in complete agreement. Battler makes a jab at her for sleeping through things, lol.

“As you wish, let’s begin. ...First off, the first twilight.”