Episode I-III: Dubious Move is the third episode of the Umineko no Naku Koro ni anime adaptation and the third episode of the Legend of the Golden Witch adaptation.
Synopsis
With six people murdered and no way to contact the police, the remaining survivors become trapped on the island with the culprit until the storm passes. The cousins have trouble dealing with the losses as Natsuhi pulls out a gun from Kinzo's collection to protect the family with. However, tragedy strikes again.
Plot Summary
First Half
The family is still in shock over seeing the corpses of Gohda, Rudolf, Kyrie, Rosa, Krauss, and Shannon inside the tool shed, their faces horribly destroyed. George asks Hideyoshi, who's inspecting the bodies, to see if Shannon's wearing a ring. He confirms this, and asks George not to look, asking instead that he remember the last time George saw Shannon's real face.
After mourning the losses, the remaining guests try to regain their composure. Natsuhi and Eva go to Kinzo's study to speak with him as Kumasawa barges in. She's discovered several bloodstains inside the dining room, where the conference was taking place. After investigating, they deduce that the culprit must have killed the six people in that room before dragging them to the tool shed.
Later, Maria explains to the family what the strange symbol on the tool shed was: a magic circle that can transport things between locked doors. Genji notes that their radio is not working, effectively leaving everyone stranded on the island with the culprit until the typhoon passes. Natsuhi and Eva come back from the study to report that Kinzo wasn't inside, so the family searches around the entire mansion for him, stopping by in the servant room. Battler goes through the key box inside to see that the key to the tool shed is still there. Battler finds it strange that the culprit would go to the trouble of putting the key back instead of throwing it away when they killed the six people; he deduces that the culprit is familiar with the mansion's layout.
As the search for Kinzo narrows down and no results come up, Battler and Eva discuss who the culprit could be. Eva claims that the culprit had accomplices, as no single person could drag six bodies into the tool shed by themselves in one night. She also thinks the servants could be the culprits and are working together, and Battler refutes this. The culprit made a big show of the murders, so if the servants really were responsible, they could've made the murders look like an accident instead of drawing attention to them. Eva ends the conversation by saying that her family isn't responsible. With every sibling dead, Eva can now inherit the Ushiromiya family wealth, and such an obvious crime would put her under suspicion. Eva claims that if she really was responsible, she would've done it better.
As everyone eats lunch, the servants are in the kitchen lamenting Shannon's death and asking why Beatrice would choose to kill her. Battler suddenly interrupts, finding their conversation interesting and wants to hear more about who Beatrice is. The clock strikes 13:00.
Second Half
"Right now, Beatrice is here."
The servants explain that Beatrice was a real person and was the one who gave Kinzo the gold many years ago. They also claim Beatrice is on the island with them but has no form, much to Battler's disbelief. Maria soon joins the conversation and adds that Battler cannot see her because he lacks the "proper wavelength", and that he's only alive thanks to the scorpion charm she gave him, which wards off magic abilities; Battler then says he actually lost the charm, and leaves after expressing his belief that Beatrice isn't real.
"That's the one Steam McQueen fired off in Wanted: Alive or Dead!!"
Back in the parlor, Natsuhi arrives carrying an old Winchester, a Western rifle from Kinzo's gun collection. She hopes to defend the family from any danger, should they be attacked by the culprit. The cousins continue discussing the existence of Beatrice, with Battler deducing that the culprit is indeed human. He thinks the culprit wanted to make it look like the crime was committed by a witch so as to draw attention towards an unknown 19th person. George thinks back to the letter and how Beatrice was going to claim everything created from Kinzo's gold, and that "everything" includes the lives of all the servants and family members. The rest of the family then comes to think that Beatrice wanted them to solve the epitaph in order to stop the murders. They think Kinzo was kidnapped by the culprit and interrogated for the answer to the epitaph, threatening to kill the family.
Eva then announces her suspicion regarding Kinzo's disappearance. When Eva went to meet Natsuhi at the study in the morning, Eva placed a receipt in the crack of the study door. Later, after she and Natsuhi went there to speak with Kinzo after the murders, the receipt fell out, meaning that no one had opened the door since then. Eva then accuses Natsuhi of killing Kinzo and hiding his body, trying to claim the Ushiromiya family wealth for herself. Angry at this insinuation, Natsuhi aims the Winchester at her, with Eva daring her to shoot. Battler tries to defuse the situation by proving Natsuhi's innocence; he claims that when Natsuhi and Eva searched the study, Kinzo was hiding under the bed the entire time and then slipped out when they left, explaining how Kinzo could disappear without touching the receipt. Eva doesn't reply and backs off amidst accusations by Jessica of having murdered the six people.
Eva and Hideyoshi return to their room to relax. Eva talks about how she's always hated Krauss and tries so hard to become the successor to the family, thinking that George hates her. Hideyoshi reassures her that George understands how hard she tries, and they share a heartwarming hug.
Later, Genji and Kanon knock on the door to Eva and Hideyoshi's room to call them to dinner, but get no response. Fearing for the worst, they unlock the room with their keys to get inside, only for the chain to block their entry; Genji goes to warn Natsuhi while Kanon goes to get bolt cutters. He returns with Kumasawa to find yet another strange symbol drawn on the door. They break the chain and rush inside, only to find Eva and Hideyoshi's dead bodies, with strange spikes embedded into their heads.
Shannon narrates the preview, asking if all of the men out there enjoy looking at girls with big breasts. She remembers when she was carrying George's luggage and saw a "picture book" inside there, seeing that it contained grown-up blonde women posing, who had even larger breasts than hers. Shannon nervously accepts that George must like girls with big breasts and she suddenly gets a message from him, telling her to come to the arbor in the rose garden. She's confused, fearing that he might be like Battler; she then remembers something Beatrice told her, where "if a man rubs your right breast, you should offer him your left to be polite." After some more uncertainty, Shannon says the next episode title and calls out George's name.
Soundtrack
| Start | End | Title | OST | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0:00 | 1:29 | Katayoku no Tori | Katayoku no Tori | Opening |
| 1:49 | 3:07 | Overflowing Tears | Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ | George laments Shannon's death |
| 3:58 | 5:57 | N/A | N/A | Kumasawa finds bloodstains in the dining room |
| 6:49 | 7:20 | N/A | N/A | Battler sees the storehouse key is still inside the servants room |
| 8:00 | 9:57 | N/A | N/A | Battler and Eva discuss the crime |
| 11:20 | 13:06 | Melody | VN OST | The servants tell Battler about Beatrice's existence |
| 15:50 | 17:38 | N/A | N/A | Eva tells of her suspicion about Kinzo's study |
| 18:34 | 19:30 | Core | N/A | Battler proves how Kinzo could've escaped the study |
| 21:25 | 21:43 | Golden Slaughterer | N/A | Eva and Hideyoshi's corpses are found |
| 21:45 | 23:14 | la divina tragedia | la divina tragedia~Makyoku~ | Ending |
| 23:15 | 24:28 | Worldend | N/A | Teaser |
Trivia
- When annotating Chess, a Dubious Move is a move that can be considered poor, but not outright a Mistake (a poor move).
- The TV show Maria watches in this episode and the last one contains modified scenes from the 19th episode of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.
- George's preference mentioned in Teaser matches that of Battler as mentioned in Dawn of the Golden Witch, which wasn't released until more than 5 months after this episode was originally aired, ironically.
Template:AnimeEpsNavBox