Umineko: When They Cry (うみねこのなく頃に) Manga Version(Full Series) Thoughts

 

                                                 VIEWER DISCRESION ADVISED 

   Umineko is a franchise that began as a series of visual novels created by Ryukishi07. The novels were then turned into games that were never released outside of Japan. A twenty six episode anime was also create for about half the Umineko series. Many products were made for the series due to it's critical acclaim being created by the author who wrote Higurashi: When They cry. 

    

   A wealthy family meets every year on a getaway island for their family reunion. They are soon thrown into a murder mystery one rainy night that involves the legend of the Golden Witch known as Beatrice. A long game featuring magic verses reality ensues. Though the Golden Witch's legend to revive her says all on the island are not to make it out alive.......  

   This manga consists of a whole lot of volumes. I believe there's fifty five volumes in all. I wasn't aware that this was such a long series when I firsts started reading Legend of the Golden Witch. Higurashi was a series I read years ago. Not all the different arcs really appealed to me, so I jumped around reading only the arcs that had good art and a storyline that I was interested in. Umineko was released in big omnibus volumes in English that covered a good portion of the story each volume. Be prepared to hang in for the long run as there's eight arcs, split up into four arcs each section. I've never read a manga that could take the same story and spin it into multiple forms. Each arc retells the same mystery from a different point of view while giving more background on the family's involvement with Beatrice. The original mystery is a very gory one landing on the line of horror mixed in mystery. As the story is retold, you get more genres added in the plot, such as action fantasy, romance, and logical battles. Nothing is truly as it seems in Umineko. Just when you think you have the mystery pinned down, Another pawn enters the chessboard to turn the game inside out. That being said, Umineko won't appeal to every reader. It's a mystery that's long winded in story as well as dialogue. You'll have to read since many speech bubbles are filled to the brim with dialogue. Especially in the battles with red truth where the person must state the facts of what happened that night without the opponents ability to rebuttal. A big cast of characters also exist in the Umineko universe like most mystery stories. These characters shape the foundation of the different games played based on the murder that took place. Ryukishi07 made a series that allows you to come up with your own answer to mystery. The conclusion takes a long time to get to. I would gasp when I would finish each volume only to find that there was a whole other arc to read..... This happened a lot until I decided to start reading Umineko digitally(imagine all those big manga volumes in my room..). Bookstores stopped carrying them too.... Probably because people lost interest as the story got longer. I would recommend reading this series digitally right off the bat. Unless you're a collector, Umineko will take up a lot of space in your room..... That's space better taken up on a cloud or device. Taking a step back to the conclusion of Umineko, It's not what you would expect given the dark nature lingering over the whole series. At a certain point in the story, you start to feel that the effort is useless due to the fact that events lead you to believe this. I won't spoil the story. Don't worry. However, The ending wasn't one that I was completely satisfied with but I accepted. I'm not sure I would read this manga again for a long while. Most of the story was enjoyable though. 

    Different artists joined the Umineko project. I'm not going to lie to you. I wasn't a fan of every artists that jumped on board. I think I like the artists that started out the series the most. Each arc had a new artists that took getting use to. It must have been a very fun series to draw considering all the different characters. 

    Umineko: When They Cry is a somewhat complexed piece of art. Some readers will hang in there through the long story to appreciate everything this manga is. Others will find the story too complexed to comprehend and give up after a couple of volumes. Japanese people even find Ryukishi07's works hard to understand.  

One Night(ひとよ) Japanese Film Thoughts

     

   One night is one in a slew of films that actor Takeru Satoh has been in over the last year or so. The film was directed by Kazuya Shiraishi and written by Izumi Takahashi. Mayu Matsuoka, Ryohei Suzuki, Veteran actor Kuranosuke Sasaki, and veteran actress Yuko Tanaka comprise the casting along with Satoh. I also believe the film was adapted from a novel but don't quote me on that. 

    One rainy night a mother kills her abusive husband in front of their family cab company. She then leaves her three children behind to turn herself in. Fifteen year later she returns to her children suddenly, fulfilling the promise she made to return to them years before. What has become of her children during those fifteen years and how will her appearance affect them now?

   One night was a film that is very settle in how it's story chooses to express itself. At many many moments in this film, things feel slow moving, yet interesting as each scene plainly showcases everything to the viewer. subjects such as connections in families and a mother's love play an important role in the film's excitement. Even then, I wouldn't say that I left one night feeling completely satisfied. I felt more alright with how event concluded but still a bit sad because One night manages to give two storylines in one plot. Well, I guess three storylines if you count the other relationship that was more for comedy/filler content. However, The story about the father and son was left a bit unfinished. Another scene toward the end with the two would have been a nice scene to close with. Much of the film is dark due to the subject of murder the plot's foundation is on. There's a lot of wrestling back and forth about whether the murder was justified or not. We can all agree that murder is wrong on all levels. I still could relate to the situation the Mother was in though. She was in between a rock and a hard place which I think the acting conveys very well. Overall, One Night is a dark film that should be enjoy for it's maturity in how it handles difficult topics. I did feel the film ran a bit over time then what was needed. 

      The performances by the whole cast is pretty much what One Night was. This film relied so heavily on the cast that there isn't really room for a lackluster actor to be in the mix. I loved the scene where the mother kills the father but you don't actually see her do it until a flashback scene latter in the film. When Yuko comes into the home, you can see the weight of what she has done in her body posture and her facial expression. Her acting is enough to signal to the viewer how horrific what she's done was without show her committing the murder.  Ryohei Suzuki is an actor that's more known to give a light hearted laugh than to lead you down a dark road which he does as the youngest son. That inner war he has with himself throughout the film was a very emotional to see. His stutter confused me a bit. Sometimes the plot has his character like he developed a stutter because of physical abuse then other times it seems like he had the stutter the whole time. Takeru is in another dead give away role. He's played rebel character's before that are quiet hotheads. He's the most well known among the cast but I wouldn't say he shined the brightest in his portrayal. He was good like always though. Mayu is a good actress too. She's even better when she has scenes with Yuko as their chemistry brings out a pure honesty in her acting. 

    One Night was a good film that comes with bumps in the road. Charming bumps in the road that will hurt you emotionally. I would prepare yourself if you're triggered by scenes of child abuse. There's only one really major one by the way..... It will make you so angry that you'll want to cry.

Marz23 - 23 Album Thoughts( Mando-rap/rock)

 

   Marz23 is like many other independent artist from Taiwan who started out on his own by releasing songs online then gaining a fanbase. He has a very particular type of look that's new to the genre of music he's underline trying to pursue. I actually don't know what kind of music he's trying to fit himself into. I know one thing though, I would swing on his scary looking self if I ran into him at night alone in a back alley. Goth rap seems to be his vision.... 

Track List:
01.I Hate You
02.Don't Wanna Wake up
03.我不是饒舌歌手
04.寂寞男孩(feat. TYSON YOSHI)
05.那種人
06.8:49
07.脆弱
08.陪你失敗(feat.寺二)
09.Break Me Down (feat. JESSE)
10.23 - Marz23 03:20
11.Everything (feat_W_LIN)

    23 wasn't an album that I originally planned on listening to. I had my sights set one another artists for this week's post but this guy's whole imagery intrigued me so here we are. Marz23 would make you think rock singer just by looking at him but as you drive into 23, you find that he's a mixture of different ideas he's yet to perfect musically. The first half of the album sounds good due to the fact that things are starting out as you listen. Then as you go deeper into the album, you find that the same guitar arrangement is used for almost every track and you notice it more after listening to seven tracks all start off the same way. Marz23 seems to be more of an experimental artists that looks like he lives in Hot Topic without all the rules of being strictly a rock singer. He has a track stating that he's not a rapper while still proceeding to rap in his music. 23's sounds are more pop rock with a lot more pop and a lot less pop outside of one track where you randomly screams into the mic or a another track that finally lets the band backing up Marz23 get a bit loud. Those tracks that would be consider the titles are defiantly hits though. Whats so good about these songs are that he sings like the leader of a rock band to a pop rock song that's fundamentally very strange until you really hear it all come together to make something nice to hear. It's like a trick to make you think you're listening to an edgy song when really it's just a pop song in disguise. 23's lyrical content comes from a hateful place from which most who have felt wronged would relate to. This once again plays into his edgy social media presence he's created for himself.   

    Performance wise, 23 shows all his talents. He's not a fantastic rapper but his chill flow works on some tracks and sounds like he can't find the beat on others. Singing like you front a rock band isn't anything new in Taiwan either. Many other male singers have the same sound. However, what works for Marz23 the most is his crazy get up and his lyrics. Especially since he speaks English well. 

  I would have liked this album to have been a mini album too. Yeah Yeah. I do say this a lot but I only say this due to the fact that more tracks means you see the imperfections in the track line up. None of his features really helped elevate 23 except W_LIN. Also, Marz23 should work on creating an album that varies in sounds across all tracks.       

  

The Island(一出好戏) Chinese Film Thoughts(2018)

 

   The island was directed, written and starred by singer actor Huang Bo. The rest of the cast includes Shu Qi, Wang Baoqiang, and pop star Lay Zhang. The film's box office sales gained the film150 million Yuan in Taiwan and was also met with copyright claims after another screenwriter stated that the script was similar to her work.

    A man wins a two million dollar ticket during his company trip and has ninety days to claim his money but the water taxi is hit by a huge ocean wave sending him to a deserted island. He survives with his other colleagues while not knowing if the world outside the island has been wiped away.....

    You might watch the trailer for The Island, thinking that this film is an all out comedy. I thought that's what this film was which was the reason it took me so long to finally watch this film. The Island has comedic elements to the story especially in the beginning. Though, I wouldn't call The island a laugh out loud film in the slightest. I can probably count on my fingers how many times I chuckled during my viewing experience and it wasn't very much. The story overall was engaging until it ran on for too long. This situation the characters were in was basically Tom Hank's Castaway only with more people who let their egos divide them as a collective. That then brought a whole bunch of problems that could have been completely avoided. When you're stuck on a deserted island, everyone becomes on the same level. Your status means nothing when you're trying to survive. Some of the fantasy sequences seemed tacked on at random to the point that even I was questioning if what I saw was real. I'm not going to go much into details that will spoil the film, however, the message of humanity's selfishness mixed in with the misplaced thirst for laughs somehow created an alright film.

    The sights on the island looked about as good as any other film dealing with a random deserted island. What was the winner here was the special effects when things started to get dangerous. Those effects are what every film out of Taiwan and mainland China should strive to look like. Instead of like you created the effects with a computer running Windows 98. 

      Lay acted a hell of a lot better than I expected him to. Especially toward the latter half of the film. I didn't agree with his actions. His actions made me see him differently as a character but he had that in him the whole time. You see how a little bit of power changes people. Honestly, His acting was the only one who stood out to me. The rest of the cast wasn't bad. They just weren't amazing either. 

    The island is a film you can watch more than once to find something you might have missed. It's a film that feels a bit draggy toward the middle too. Don't go into this film hoping for a good laugh. You won't get one no matter how hard the film tries to make you smile.