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Umineko When They Cry (Manga English Numbering ) #21
Umineko WHEN THEY CRY Episode 8: Twilight of the Golden Witch, Vol. 3
Though none may know the truth about what happened the day of the Rokkenjima massacre, Ange has come to understand the players were neither devils nor angels, merely people—her flawed, complicated, ultimately loving family. Now battling against every kind of cruel theory that's been leveled at the Ushiromiyas since the tragedy, those who remain in the cat box fight to preserve the memory of their humanity. Armed with this truth, Ange strides forth to reclaim her future!
714 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2020
4 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
Ryukishi07
299 books321 followersRyukishi07 (竜騎士07, Ryūkishi Zero Nana?, born November 19, 1973) is the pen name of a Japanese man originally from Chiba Prefecture who is well-known as the original creator for the idea of the visual novel series Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Umineko no Naku Koro ni. He is the representative member of the group 07th Expansion. His pen name originated from the Final Fantasy series, "Ryūkishi" being the Japanese term for "Dragoon", and "07" goroawase for the name "Lenna". His illustration style is recognizable from the large hands he draws on people.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 2, 2026
The second time reading through this series, and I cried, once again at the same place as last time...
Trigger warnings of the series: every single dark emotion and twisted thought that can cross your mind. I have listed a few at each volume.
This series is based on the visual game novels. (They aren't strictly 'choice' based, but the player has to answer riddles.)
I know many don't like this series, and that is fine, but I adore this series. This series cemented my roots into cosy crime mystery novels. And I am grateful for it. This manga is also slightly based on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
There are many ways to interpret this series. You have to question everything to uncover the truth of what had happened. Each arc reveals bits of the truth to assist you, the reader, in coming to the same conclusion.
Some of the characters will get on everyone's nerve yet somehow they are all relatedable. I feel that some of them resembles a certain feeling or behaviour styles. One big issue most people will find with this series is the 'repetitive' nature, but one does forget sometimes that the island is in a closed cat box where no one really knows the truth, and a lot of theories have leaked into the legend of the island.
This story digs deep into the undertones of human nature, which can leave scars very deep and not all is visible. And strangely, even though I know this story and the truth of what had happened, I still looked forward rediscover the story.
Yes, this will frustrate you, and some will agreethat nothing makes sense. I don't want to go into a philosophical debate about what certain events can mean or read deeper into what they actually were. There is a lot that I can say about this.
All the characters for me in this series is on somewhat level relatable, which is a scary thought, but I learned so much from this series. I can recommend this, or at least say try vol 1 and 2. This series keeps the creative juices flowing, and with the incorporation of Knox's commandments and Van Dine's rules, it makes it fun to unlock mysteries.
I enjoy cosy murder mysteries because of the stories that are revealed when the detective detangles everything, and I love it especially if it takes me by surprise...
Along the line, the series takes a deep turn where the emotions, grief, resentment, anger and suicide play a high role and somehow we get to acceptance. Overcoming what feels like the impossible.
And I feel this story makes you feel every fibre of what the characters are feeling.
This series remains one of my ultimate favourite manga, and I know I am in the minority that feels this is a mind-blowing story.
Trigger warnings of the series: every single dark emotion and twisted thought that can cross your mind. I have listed a few at each volume.
This series is based on the visual game novels. (They aren't strictly 'choice' based, but the player has to answer riddles.)
I know many don't like this series, and that is fine, but I adore this series. This series cemented my roots into cosy crime mystery novels. And I am grateful for it. This manga is also slightly based on Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.
There are many ways to interpret this series. You have to question everything to uncover the truth of what had happened. Each arc reveals bits of the truth to assist you, the reader, in coming to the same conclusion.
Some of the characters will get on everyone's nerve yet somehow they are all relatedable. I feel that some of them resembles a certain feeling or behaviour styles. One big issue most people will find with this series is the 'repetitive' nature, but one does forget sometimes that the island is in a closed cat box where no one really knows the truth, and a lot of theories have leaked into the legend of the island.
This story digs deep into the undertones of human nature, which can leave scars very deep and not all is visible. And strangely, even though I know this story and the truth of what had happened, I still looked forward rediscover the story.
Yes, this will frustrate you, and some will agreethat nothing makes sense. I don't want to go into a philosophical debate about what certain events can mean or read deeper into what they actually were. There is a lot that I can say about this.
All the characters for me in this series is on somewhat level relatable, which is a scary thought, but I learned so much from this series. I can recommend this, or at least say try vol 1 and 2. This series keeps the creative juices flowing, and with the incorporation of Knox's commandments and Van Dine's rules, it makes it fun to unlock mysteries.
I enjoy cosy murder mysteries because of the stories that are revealed when the detective detangles everything, and I love it especially if it takes me by surprise...
Along the line, the series takes a deep turn where the emotions, grief, resentment, anger and suicide play a high role and somehow we get to acceptance. Overcoming what feels like the impossible.
And I feel this story makes you feel every fibre of what the characters are feeling.
This series remains one of my ultimate favourite manga, and I know I am in the minority that feels this is a mind-blowing story.
January 30, 2024
What a bloated and convoluted mess. Yet it was still glorious nonetheless.
June 30, 2025
3.5✨
✨Writing a grouped review for the entirety of the manga and copy/pasting. I started reading this 6 months ago at the time of writing and read over a few months and don't remember specifics about every single volume except what I rated them ✨
Umineko has an intriguing premise and good execution which does a lot right. The author manages to create such eerie and scary atmospheres and have the reader on edge wondering what is going to happen next. I particularly enjoyed a lot of the locked room scenarios and discussions and explanations.
Where this manga fails is it's extreme repetitiveness. It wears down on the reader very quickly. As a result I'm not sure this is a manga I would recommend to many people.
I will eventually watch the anime, whilst a short run this may be something I'd be inclined to recommend more as the premise itself is well done.
✨Writing a grouped review for the entirety of the manga and copy/pasting. I started reading this 6 months ago at the time of writing and read over a few months and don't remember specifics about every single volume except what I rated them ✨
Umineko has an intriguing premise and good execution which does a lot right. The author manages to create such eerie and scary atmospheres and have the reader on edge wondering what is going to happen next. I particularly enjoyed a lot of the locked room scenarios and discussions and explanations.
Where this manga fails is it's extreme repetitiveness. It wears down on the reader very quickly. As a result I'm not sure this is a manga I would recommend to many people.
I will eventually watch the anime, whilst a short run this may be something I'd be inclined to recommend more as the premise itself is well done.
Read
September 8, 2023Adding another series to the list of manga I have speed-read this year. I've just finished up Umineko with a tally of 51 volumes (if you judge it by normal volume length) in barely over 2 weeks, all amidst working extensive overtime to write a handover at work and then starting a new job. From a detached perspective I'm not wholly convinced by some of the concepts in Umineko; some of the stylistic tropes began to wear on me during some episodes (how many pieces of Witch's furniture were really necessary), and one reveal to a central mystery balanced *just* on the edge of acceptability for me. I would also be intrigued to hear how people find this if they've not encounteted Higurashi - I have to wonder if some of the characters work for them at all. However, it cannot be denied that this series has utterly consumed my life for the last two weeks and the final chapter made me utterly bawl my eyes out.
I have never encountered narratives like this anywhere other than the When They Cry series, and for me any negatives pale in comparison to the entirely unique experience. It's impossible to capture the feeling of reading these for the first time. While I know that manga isn't the original format of these stories (I didn't have time to play the visual novels okay please don't come at me) I do still believe that anyone with a more than passing interest in manga deserves to give these a chance. You will never read anything else like it.
I have never encountered narratives like this anywhere other than the When They Cry series, and for me any negatives pale in comparison to the entirely unique experience. It's impossible to capture the feeling of reading these for the first time. While I know that manga isn't the original format of these stories (I didn't have time to play the visual novels okay please don't come at me) I do still believe that anyone with a more than passing interest in manga deserves to give these a chance. You will never read anything else like it.
October 24, 2020
this was insane - that last chapter was one hell of an emotional rollercoaster. I really didn't want it to end because I was afraid of how it would, and now . . . I'm just going to go cry some more now.
December 15, 2023
absolutely ruined me
July 6, 2020
It's finally over.
I've been excitedly following this series since it began its run, and it has been a heck of a ride. But it's all finally been concluded and I am happy with the ending. This weird, dark mystery vs. fantasy series is over...
...and now I really need to finish the visual novels, which I have owned and have been sitting in my Steam library for... probably 2-3 years? To see how they compare. For science.
The manga series might be over, but at least I have something else I can go to that will let me continue to enjoy it for a bit longer! And I think it's a good thing when you can be satisfied with the ending of a series but still want more!
I hope more people discover this series and enjoy it! It's a unique beast in the world of manga, and I can't be the only person who hears "This is really WEIRD!" and get excited about something! And this series is quite weird! I really need to read the sister series to this, Higurashi When They Cry. I will have to make it a point to track them down!
I've been excitedly following this series since it began its run, and it has been a heck of a ride. But it's all finally been concluded and I am happy with the ending. This weird, dark mystery vs. fantasy series is over...
...and now I really need to finish the visual novels, which I have owned and have been sitting in my Steam library for... probably 2-3 years? To see how they compare. For science.
The manga series might be over, but at least I have something else I can go to that will let me continue to enjoy it for a bit longer! And I think it's a good thing when you can be satisfied with the ending of a series but still want more!
I hope more people discover this series and enjoy it! It's a unique beast in the world of manga, and I can't be the only person who hears "This is really WEIRD!" and get excited about something! And this series is quite weird! I really need to read the sister series to this, Higurashi When They Cry. I will have to make it a point to track them down!
April 25, 2024
Putting my review of Umineko the game here because it's literally just a book anyways.
Overall I liked Umineko, for an anime esque plot it was pretty alright. I liked how strong it started, and the middle, and the character concept of Erika was really interesting as a shitheel super detective. Also I enjoy the fact that I predicted the twist early, and so got to feel super smug for my whole read through.
That said, despite it not being nearly as long as weebs hype it up to be, it is definitely too long. A lot of the back half and ending dragged on, and the assertion that every little detail mattered turned out to just not be true. Like every detail did matter, but not in a grand tapestry way like some books (Malazan) just in the way that regular books have details matter. The fight scenes in chapter 8 were spectacularly lame, and it felt like an age was wasted in chapter 7 over emphasising a twist that was already made obvious by chapter 6.
I don't think the end of the story has made me sour on the entire book, in fact I think it's overall still pretty alright. Even if the magocal stuff was pretty bad the murder mystery and puzzle component was fun - but I wouldn't recommend it ahead of literally any other book if someone wanted to read it.
Overall I liked Umineko, for an anime esque plot it was pretty alright. I liked how strong it started, and the middle, and the character concept of Erika was really interesting as a shitheel super detective. Also I enjoy the fact that I predicted the twist early, and so got to feel super smug for my whole read through.
That said, despite it not being nearly as long as weebs hype it up to be, it is definitely too long. A lot of the back half and ending dragged on, and the assertion that every little detail mattered turned out to just not be true. Like every detail did matter, but not in a grand tapestry way like some books (Malazan) just in the way that regular books have details matter. The fight scenes in chapter 8 were spectacularly lame, and it felt like an age was wasted in chapter 7 over emphasising a twist that was already made obvious by chapter 6.
I don't think the end of the story has made me sour on the entire book, in fact I think it's overall still pretty alright. Even if the magocal stuff was pretty bad the murder mystery and puzzle component was fun - but I wouldn't recommend it ahead of literally any other book if someone wanted to read it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2022
Red truth: I love Beatrice.
You know which one I mainly refer to (But to be fair, every characters whom got passed the title of "-Beatrice" are equally splendid).
The ⭐ is the accumulated score for the entire (main) episodes of this series.
You know which one I mainly refer to (But to be fair, every characters whom got passed the title of "-Beatrice" are equally splendid).
The ⭐ is the accumulated score for the entire (main) episodes of this series.
April 18, 2023
As a whole, Umineko when they cry from episode 1 to 8 has been a tremendous battle between Mystery and Fantasy. Between Witches and Human. But above all, this has been a Love story. Compare it Steins;Gate, which is a hard scifi but the things we love most about it is the love story.
Umineko features some interesting love stories of all shapes and sizes. Love between two souls, love between a mother and a daughter, love between two siblings, some love that are taboo and some that are tragic. What started as a simple locked room mystery and an effort to refute witches existence ended up being a rollercoaster of emotions that will stay with me for the next hundreds of years,- much like the meta witches of the story who, in a way, might represent us, the readers, involving ourselves in a made-up.world and connecting with it and live for many years with the sweet aftertaste it left behind.
Is it a happy ending? Well, to me the witty psychological battles and forbidden romance did come to an end with a happyish ending. I know happyish is not a word but then again what word could describe a story that is a cocktail of happiness and sadness, of romance and misery, of logic and fantasy, all coming to an end point with a feel of relaxation? Yes, I think the ending is "relaxing". Because it came to an apparent end. Because if it hadn’t, my dear Ange would not move on..
All literature lovers must taste this piece of fiction. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did in the past one month.
Umineko features some interesting love stories of all shapes and sizes. Love between two souls, love between a mother and a daughter, love between two siblings, some love that are taboo and some that are tragic. What started as a simple locked room mystery and an effort to refute witches existence ended up being a rollercoaster of emotions that will stay with me for the next hundreds of years,- much like the meta witches of the story who, in a way, might represent us, the readers, involving ourselves in a made-up.world and connecting with it and live for many years with the sweet aftertaste it left behind.
Is it a happy ending? Well, to me the witty psychological battles and forbidden romance did come to an end with a happyish ending. I know happyish is not a word but then again what word could describe a story that is a cocktail of happiness and sadness, of romance and misery, of logic and fantasy, all coming to an end point with a feel of relaxation? Yes, I think the ending is "relaxing". Because it came to an apparent end. Because if it hadn’t, my dear Ange would not move on..
All literature lovers must taste this piece of fiction. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did in the past one month.
May 11, 2025
this is for the visual novel
i read umineko during the pandemic and it took like 4-5ish months to complete it. i remember reading it before bed and staying up all night since i was engrossed with all of the characters. like “the count of montecristo”, a book which is also quite long (not even close to the length of this) every character is fleshed out in quite detail so by the time you figure out the mystery re-readings can be done and enjoyed (haven’t done that though).
ep 1-4 were good, with every episode adding another variable to the mystery which made theorizing even more fun, however ep 5-8 steal the show completely. with answers getting revealed and epic moments taking place. i couldn’t imagine reading this monster in another form other than a visual novel (the volumes to compile everything would be enormous and the music would be also lost)
totally recommend reading this book (reading this with voices adds to the experience albeit anime voices slightly irk me, these are not obnoxious anime voices though)
i read umineko during the pandemic and it took like 4-5ish months to complete it. i remember reading it before bed and staying up all night since i was engrossed with all of the characters. like “the count of montecristo”, a book which is also quite long (not even close to the length of this) every character is fleshed out in quite detail so by the time you figure out the mystery re-readings can be done and enjoyed (haven’t done that though).
ep 1-4 were good, with every episode adding another variable to the mystery which made theorizing even more fun, however ep 5-8 steal the show completely. with answers getting revealed and epic moments taking place. i couldn’t imagine reading this monster in another form other than a visual novel (the volumes to compile everything would be enormous and the music would be also lost)
totally recommend reading this book (reading this with voices adds to the experience albeit anime voices slightly irk me, these are not obnoxious anime voices though)
December 16, 2022
A beautiful ending to an incredible story. I cannot recommend Umineko enough. Episode 8's ending was strong, but the manga adaptation only elevates it. Virtually every single flaw the episode had is ironed out. What was one of the weakest Episodes in the VN for me ended up the strongest in the manga. This is a loving, detailed, layered adaptation that clearly understands the story, its mysteries, and where its heart comes from.
Episode Ranking:
8 > 7 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 1 > 6
Original VN Ranking:
5 > 3 > 7 > 1 > 4 > 8 > 2 > 6
Episode Ranking:
8 > 7 > 5 > 3 > 4 > 2 > 1 > 6
Original VN Ranking:
5 > 3 > 7 > 1 > 4 > 8 > 2 > 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2023
WHEEEEEEEEW what the fuck!! what a story mark!! what a fucked-up family!! what an ending!! magic is real!! maybe it wasn't involved the night of but i know magic is real in my heart. this was a hell of a finale to a wild series!! there were so many times that i couldn't figure out what the fuck was going on or how everything fit together or what the larger framework was, but they somehow tied everything back together in the end. you can really feel the humanity and grief and love and loss and intensity in this one. it was a fitting end and i'm glad i read this!! what a story!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2025
It's been a week since finishing this series and I still can't get it out of my head. While reading, I thought to myself in the middle of chapter 3-6 "This is too convoluted" and then gave up, chalking the mystery up to the author deliberately writing the story to be as confusing as possible to the reader, believing most of what was shown to me to be meaningless. In other words, I gave into the witch's illusion. Then he took a sledgehammer to my head with red truth and left me seizing on the ground with the last 2 episodes. Ryukishi07 was right. Without love, it cannot be seen. If the reader does not trust the author there is no hope of solving the mystery. I've never read something so wholly inimitable.
Concept aside, the themes and characters are masterclasses as well and really the true core of the story. I cannot recommend this enough. If a single person finds this review and picks up the series because of me, my job is done.
Concept aside, the themes and characters are masterclasses as well and really the true core of the story. I cannot recommend this enough. If a single person finds this review and picks up the series because of me, my job is done.
September 2, 2021
Golden Truth - This is the most beautiful story I have read in my entire life.
February 26, 2022
This is the greatest thing I have read! I don't regret sitting all those hours. I have nothing left in my life now that it is over
October 7, 2023
😭😭😭😭😭🎉❤️
November 19, 2025
this vn starts with some guy crying over someone named beatrice, and by the end of it you're also crying over someone named beatrice
December 30, 2024
This is for the Visual novel more then the manga, this is the greatest story ever
Ryukishi is a genius and i hope more people read his stories
Ryukishi is a genius and i hope more people read his stories
August 6, 2025
The Greatest
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews