Backlog Dialogues

Furudo Erika and Battler have solved the Epitaph! As they discover the hidden gold, Battler learns just how awful Erika's personality is as she describes herself as something that we are not keen to repeat in polite company. But strange things are still afoot on the island, as Natsuhi finds herself cornered both by the relatives trying to gain access to Kinzo now that Battler is the new head, and the strange man that keeps calling her...

Lambdadelta's game reaches October 4th, 1986, and what starts as a fairly normal game is swiftly diverted when Bernkastel drops a completely new piece on to the board - Furudo Erika, her arrogant jerk Detectivesona! And if that's not strange enough, Natsuhi is getting unusual phone calls from a young man claiming to be a child she murdered 19 years ago! As Battler can do nothing but observe, the pieces start to move in unusual ways.

We're back, and it's time to start unraveling this big mystery by working from the one answer we have - Kinzo is already dead and Natsuhi and Krauss are trying to hide it! Unfortunately, Beatrice is not able to game master, having become a silent captive of Bernkastel and Lambdadelta's treachery. What can we learn from this new game that Ronove describes as without love? And who the heck was that Rika-clone in the prologue?

We're bringing a second minilog to you this week, because before we go in to the part of Umineko focused on rolling out answers to the mystery, we wanted to have some fun discussing Rian Johnson's take on Cozy Mysteries, the Benoit Blanc Trilogy! (Netflix calls it the Knives Out Trilogy but that's silly, only one movie is called Knives Out.) We talk about the themes and structures of three very progressively minded mysteries, what we learn about the detective that solves them, and so much more.

Our final minilog of the season is John's favorite manga and the second minilog covering a Satoshi Mizukami work, Spirit Circle! We go in to this short but poignant, melancholy, and ultimately optimistic work about spirits locked in a perpetual battle through reincarnation. Fuuta just wants to get to know Kouko, the cute new girl in his class, but Kouko hates him due to the actions of his spirit seven lifetimes ago! Can this Boy meets Girl story reach an outcome other than Girl kills Boy?

We've reached the end of another tale, so it's time for more TIPS, Adaptation Discussion, and special spoiler discussions! We make sense of where we go from here, and also John celebrates finally being free of the hell that is watching When They Cry anime!

At last, we have reached the end of the games. Of the Questions. At long last, in a fierce storm of red and blue, Fantasy and Mystery clash. Only one can win. But what fate awaits the one that began this tragic tale? The end is here. But the story is just beginning. Welcome to Rokkenjima. Do you have an answer yet?

It's time for part two of the Question Arc finale, with the emotional resolution of the story of Ushiromiya Ange! In 1998, Ange arrives at Rokkenjima, where she confronts the Black Witch that creates the cycle of hatred consuming the world. Then, she heads to the Golden Land to start the game back up and return Sakutaro to Maria. But what will she sacrifice to see this story reach its conclusion?

It's time for the action packed first part of the finale of the question arcs! The surviving humans mount a resistance against Beatrice, but will they be able to leverage their magic-like powers and the rules of narrative irony well enough to defeat the demons consuming the island? And what is with this test that Beatrice is putting the cousins through? And most importantly, is Battler even Battler?

Finally, FINALLY the game has begun, and it has begun with a bang! Kinzo reveals himself to the family conference and immediately things go off the rails. We also get to see just what Beatrice has been teaching Maria about coping with sadness, a glimpse of what Shannon and Kanon think about the golden land, and Ange being frustratingly vague about seeing something that spooks her! But why hasn't Battler really done anything yet?

It's time to get sad in two of the saddest chapters in all of Umineko! First, Ange kills her imaginary friends and everything that can possibly bring her joy in her high school life. Then, Rosa goes to unthinkable new lows in her treatment of Maria. It's time for another scene heavy episode, so get some tissues ready!

On the board, Kyrie proposes a stunning theory - Kinzo is already dead! But Battler is not able to fully capitalize on that, as Beatrice has changed her strategies and is refusing to use the red, meaning it's time to introduce a new rule! But enough about those losers, it's time for even more of Ange's sad life and how she views Maria! At least there are stuffed animals. Oh, and Lambdadelta wants to make her a better offer than Bern! Fun times all around.

It's almost time to start a new game, but before we can do any of that, we need to learn all about Ange! Her story is one of the most complex of any Ryukishi has written, taking place along a winding path through narrative time weaving between the space above the game board, her life at St Lucia Academy, and her life in 1998 after miraculously surviving her leap off a skyscraper. Let's try to make sense of it all! Let's also try to make sense of why the fuck Okonogi is here!

It's the belated Backlog Dialogues holiday minilog, covering Terry Pratchett's Hogfather novel. Our first but probably not last peek at the Discworld covers the time the titular jolly fat man got inhumed by a deranged assassin, and so Death has to step in to fill his job while Death's granddaughter Susan tries to figure out what happened to the Hogfather and why all these other innocuous gods keep appearing. An immensely quotable and thoughtful adventure, just a few months late for the holiday season! Happy (Belated) Hogswatch, everyone!

God dammit we got got again! Join us as we discuss everything that happened on the last episode, as well as adaptations and our usual special black tea for those who have seen to the end.

It's time for a showdown as Battler and Beatrice face off against the demented witch EVA-Beatrice! Beatrice's noble turn and Battler's valiant deductions lead to a mind bending conclusion and some of the craziest turns yet! Wait, Beato, why are you making that face? And... who is that?

The rampage of the new Golden Witch Eva-Beatrice cannot be stopped! The childish and brutal witch becomes increasingly deranged as she loses all sense of what it means to respect life thanks to the endless magic. As Battler suspends the game to let Beato go on a journey of self discovery, massive battles break out which reveal hidden sides of characters and unleash terrifying new magic on to the board - magic with bunny ears.

Schools out, it's party time! Now that we know how to deal with magic, it's time for everything to get crazier! Ushiromiya Eva solves the epitaph and becomes the new Golden Witch! It's just like in that one movie, you know, where a guy has to become Santa. It's legally binding! And it leads to some really violent stuff.

The First Twilight is here early, and Beatrice has turned her sights on the servants this time! Battler is increasingly flummoxed by the rapidly escalating scale and spectacle of the Golden Witch's magic, but finds an unlikely ally in another Witch, who takes on the name Virgilia. Now that Battler knows how to argue against magic, surely things will start to get more sane.

How many people are on Rokkenjima, really? This seemingly obvious and straightforward question leads us down a rather strange rabbit hole as Ushiromiya Rosa tells us a story about how she met Beatrice almost twenty years before the event of this story. Plus, we get to learn about Contrapositives thanks to Beatrice's favorite countermove to the Devil's Proof, Hempel's Raven!

A new game is about to begin, but before we do, we have to confront the cringe of our past! Beatrice, Eva, and Battler are all asked to think about their younger selves, and even talk to one in one case. Then, as the game begins, a demonic butler named Ronove pops in to let us know that things are only going to get wilder from here.

For our Minilog this week, we're covering a truly strange Weird Japanese Thing series, Migi and Dali! We follow the Titular Twins as they pretend to be the same person while investigating the death of their mother in a tale about revenge, forgiveness, individuality, and some extremely strange methods of child rearing. It's got everything you could want - strange maybe demon children, strange maybe demon parents, good dogs, a kid that looks like a beaver, a kid that wants to be a bird, and oh so much heart. Give it a look, and listen to us talk about it!

We have finished Turn, let's talk about what we learned! Also, yap interminably and incoherently about Voice Actors. Also included, discussions of the manga and anime adaptations and a glimpse behind the curtain for those who have already navigated to the answer.

Beatrice has won. Play again? This week on Backlog Dialogues, we fall and rise.

Our When They Cry map is becoming increasingly useless. As the storm rages and our ship drifts in to uncharted waters, we continue to be plagued with more questions than answers. Just what can the red truth not say? Just how many goats can Beatrice summon? What is Rosa's problem anyway? And for that matter, why does Beatrice get so mad about the subject of love? The answers to these questions will not be contained in this episode. Be careful, sailor. Here be Goats.

It's time for a new rule! Umineko has been going easy on us for a chapter and a half now, but this week it shows its cards and reveals that we're in for a very different story. As the First and Second twilights happen again, this time with a far more grotesque display, Beatrice reveals just how much magic she can muster - and it turns out to be a lot! But the game truly begins when Beatrice introduces the rule that will change everything - Red Truth.

And now, Umineko truly begins. As the family returns to Rokkenjima, Battler and Beatrice begin a game of their own, a contest to determine if a Witch is behind the murders on the island, or if a human could pull any of these bizarre cases off. Pseudo-logical arguments and lots of yapping abound in this episode, as Beatrice makes a bold first move, showing her in the flesh on the island! This week on Backlog Dialogues, we prove devils.

Umineko's second episode starts by focusing on the lives of the two young servants on Rokkenjima, Shannon and Kanon. Both yearn for love, both yearn to be human, both yearn to be free from their fates as furniture. But Shannon makes moves that Kanon can not, and the mysterious witch Beatrice sees an opportunity to facilitate her revival through the servant's desires... This week on Backlog Dialogues, we search for the one true element.

For our first Umineko minilog, we venture west, with our first Western RPG discussion, Obsidian's Medieval Murder Mystery game, Pentiment! The Bavarian village of Tassig and Kiersau Abbey play host to the lives of many people, including visiting artist Andreas Maler, who gets swept up in the murder of a valuable patron of the Abbey's Scriptorium. We discuss the nature of truth in history, the role of religion in the lives of people who would rather just be left alone, and the impact of the printing press on the world. It's educational!

It's time for a godcast, for real this time! We delve in to the TIPS, discuss the adaptations, and more. And of course, for all you witches out there, the spoiler section awaits.

Now that we've hit the end of a When They Cry chapter, it's time for an after party! Join the characters as they discuss the story like usual - wait, what? WHAT?! HUH?!?!? This week on Backlog Dialogues, the End of the Beginning.

Everyone is dying! After Eva and Hideyoshi are found dead in a room sealed by a chain, Kanon gets killed in the boiler room, Kinzo's body is found, and tensions run high! As the storm rages, truth is washed away, leaving nothing but rubble and questions. Who was that mysterious person Battler saw as the clock struck midnight? The only answer we can hear are the sad cries of the seagulls... This week on Backlog Dialogues, we once again ask to seek the truth.

Oh fuck, six people are dead! In the middle of the night, someone killed Krauss, Gohda, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, and Shannon and dumped them in the shed, then painted a strange occult marking on the shed door! The baroque and grotesque murder mystery begins this week as Battler takes it on himself to question the people around him and try to prevent his Aunts from increasing the body count further now that Natsuhi has pulled Kinzo's favorite rifle from storage... This week on Backlog Dialogues, some bodies have been discovered!

The Family Conference is disrupted by a strange event - Maria claims to have received an umbrella and a mysterious letter from a woman claiming to be the Golden Witch, Beatrice! The not-so-peaceful atmosphere of the island begins to roil as the typhoon blankets it, cutting it off from the world. Is there a 19th person on the Island, or does one of the 18 people have a secret? This week on Backlog Dialogues, we get a bit paranoid.

Our story begins by introducing a family. A family of rich assholes. Meet the Ushiromiyas, a family led by a domineering dilletante, Kinzo, and his four backstabbing offspring, Krauss, Eva, Rudolf, and Rosa. It's time for their annual family conference, and the four siblings are jockeying for money and power. But our hero, Battler, doesn't care about that, he just wants to catch up with his cousins Jessica, George, and Maria, and enjoy the finer aspects of the female figure. Rounding out the crew are a host of servants, the spouses of the four, and the family doctor, for a total of eighteen people on an Island as a storm approaches. And to perfectly set up the mystery, here's a portrait of a mysterious woman, the Witch Beatrice, and an unsettling epitaph dedicated to her... This week on Backlog Dialogues, we meet a very unique family. (This ep is a long one, I'm very, very sorry, there is a LOT of setup.)

As Summer gives way to Autumn, so too do the melancholic cries of evening cicadas give way to the haunting cries of seagulls after a storm. The soundscapes are changing, but the discussions are not. Backlog Dialogues is back, and we're following up Higurashi by discussing Umineko When They Cry! In this episode, we reintroduce ourselves and what we're doing, and get the audience settled in for a cozy mystery on that old standby, the closed circle of an island in a storm. Surely nothing strange will occur that upsets that entire dynamic. This week on Backlog Dialogues, we get ready for a storm.

We're still on break, but we are here with a bonus episode as a listener request, just in time for Watanagashi! Join us as we discuss the surprisingly good 2016 Live Action adaptation of Higurashi When They Cry, as well as the many difficulties we had in watching it that make it a hard recommendation anyway. Discussing Regional Idol Groups, Tokusatsu Stars, Prolific Character Actors, and roughly twenty minutes of yapping about other adaptations await in this episode inspired by a patreon subscriber!

It's the season finale for Backlog Dialogues, and what better way to send off Saikoroshi than a Minilog about a game for true witches, Undertale. Join us as we discuss the many characters and endings of 2015's smash indie success and summon all our determination to see it through. Plus, bonus heresy as suitable for a minilog paired with Saikoroshi! Oh what fun. This week on Backlog Dialogues, we take a look at ourselves in the mirror.

Its the Maebara show, with our very special guest star, Hanyuu Furude! YAAAAAY! Its time to play the board games, its time for squirt gun fights, its time to meet the club mates on the Godcast show tonight! Its time to put on theories, its time to penalize, its time to raise the curses on the godcast show tonight "Why do we discuss it all here?" "i guess you need to know its like a kind of magic to talk about this show!" "But now its time to start it We're out of time lets start outside of time we start it On the most conspiratal Reckless therical Perfect poetical Smacks Heretical This is what we call the godcast show! [Adapted from the Muppet Show Theme] This week on Backlog Dialogues, we bid farewell to Higurashi When They Cry.

Rika has to make a choice, and the responsibility for that choice cannot burden anyone but herself. Will she kill her mother and return to the world she fought for, or will she live in this world and attempt to improve herself here? Is she a human, or a witch? Perhaps a certain orange haired street magician has the answers... This week on Backlog Dialogues, we accept the world we are in, and bid farewell to witches.

In her search for the fragment that prevents Hanyuu from finding her, Rika's depersonalization continues as she lashes out at Satoko for bullying her. Is this world real, or is the world she came from a fabrication of this world's Rika's sad mind? Rika consults Doctor Yamamoto, setting off a chain of events that leads to both the possibility of this world's Rika finding happiness but also a terrible truth that provides Bernkastel a way out. This week on Backlog Dialogues, we get a little heretical.

Rika has arrived at the 1983 of her dreams, and is riding high off the success. But in her arrogance, she fails to remember the important lessons from train safety PSAs and plays in traffic, finding herself in a nightmare bizarro Hinamizawa where no one likes her and Hanyuu isn't around. Can Rika find her way out of the labyrinth and back to her world again? It's time for the coda of Higurashi, Saikoroshi, and its far more introspective mood. This week on Backlog Dialogues, we talk about being safe around vehicles.

For our penultimate Minilog for this season, we look in to one of the most impactful stories of adolescence anime has to offer. A coming of age tale about growing to become the best person you can be, about the people that change you as you grow and that you change in turn. A tale about the changes one experiences in their body as they grow. A tale about being the most powerful psychic in the world, and how that doesn't make you special. This week, Backlog Dialogues is talking Mob Psycho 100.

We've made it to the end - or have we? As we explore the many facets of Matsuribayashi's post story elements, as well as the anime and manga adaptations of the work, it becomes clear that Ryukishi07 still has a bit more to say in this idealistic fantasy world of his. So join for this penultimate Godcast as we prepare for one final voyage.

It's time to get extremely indulgent in the way only Ryukishi07 (and Backlog Dialogues) can get in a finale. The longest chapter in all of When They Cry, a massive epic of big goonies energy and hype. We follow the Hinamizawa School Board Game Club as they enact Operation 48 Hours, throwing Takano Miyo and the Mountain Dogs for a loop. This week on Backlog Dialogues, the Festival is here. And you don't watch a festival. You enjoy it.

Alternate Episode Title: Furude's Eleven It's time to plan a heist! The club prepares for the fight of their lives, for the sake of Hinamizawa and everyone who lives in it! But before we can do that, a bit more movement of pieces along the game board is required. Ooishi's character arc hits its finale in one of the best scenes in all of Higurashi, and the hype builds as we go through this penultimate section of Matsuribayashi, in preparation for tomorrow's festival! (For bonus fun, here's a link to the insane house on Zillow that we can't stop laughing about in this episode: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1201-Marble-Way-Boca-Raton-FL-33432/87660584_zpid/)

Alternate Episode Title: Rika Explains it All We have left the realm of the gods and return to the realm of man, and we brought a really cute god with us! The club gets to know Hanyuu, and Hanyuu learns that Rika has forgotten all the stuff she needed to remember. Guess it's time to speedrun everyone's character development in this final world so that we can turn the tables on Takano Miyo... but first, we need to find out what her deal is, anyway.

As we cross the vast seas of possibilities, the winds shift around us. Whether it is a tailwind giving us support, or a headwind buffeting us and hindering our progress, these shifting winds help determine our course, our fate. What risks we take, what chances we see, and how we sail with the wind determine our fate, and our existence. With these thoughts, we close our discussions on Connecting Fragments, and chart the path to the true Matsuribayashi. This week on Backlog Dialogues, we set up the game board.

As a person lives, they take on many burdens in their life. Whether it's as simple as a watermelon too big to take home on a bike, as thoughtful as a large teddy bear as a birthday present, or as complex and hindering as the weight of ones sins, that person needs to let themselves accept the help of others, for no burden is so easy that anyone can bear them alone. Unless you're Takano Miyo, and are completely ignoring all the burdens you're building up in mad pursuit of your goal. This week, we help each other take the load off.

Fifty fragments lay before you. Within each, a morsel of knowledge to build the understanding needed to reach the ideal June 1983. It will be a long process to sift through them all. Which is why we need to do this in three parts. Sorry. This week, we cover the first seventeen fragments of Connecting Fragments, Ryukishi07's bizarre TIPS minigame that stands between us and the true Matsuribayashi, and look at the themes of the rot at the heart of the village that creates the circumstances that allow for a bad actor to appear and potentially destroy it.

The Mastermind has been revealed, and her god complex laid bare. With her unbreakable certain willpower, she is forcing the inevitable murder of Furude Rika, and the destruction of Hinamizawa. She wants nothing more than to tear god from his throne and be revered above all else. Truly, she is a monster for the ages... right? Would it make you happier if she had a good reason? A thousand little tragedies build upon each other to create big tragedies. Nothing happens in a vacuum. There are no good people, and there are no bad people. There are, however, bad ideas, and bad ideas can linger for generations. This week, we look at the tragic life of a brave woman who stood in defiance of a cruel god that tests people with tragedy, and the seemingly innocent bad idea that led her to become the one who would destroy a village...