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Dubious Move is the third episode of the Umineko When They Cry anime adaptation and the third episode of Legend of the Golden Witch.

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.

Anime ep1 dining hall blood

The group finds blood stains in the dining hall

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[]

Anime ep1 beatrice is here

"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.

Anime ep1 natsuhi gun

Natsuhi procures a Winchester rifle

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.

Anime ep1 natsuhi kinzo death

Natsuhi is accused of murdering Kinzo

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.

Anime ep1 eva hideyoshi

Eva and Hideyoshi hug in their room

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.

Anime ep1 2nd twilight magic circle

Kanon and Kumasawa discover a magic circle painted onto Eva and Hideyoshi's room door

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.

Teaser[]

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
13:10 14:46 N/A N/A From Maria's TV while the cousins discuss on the existence of the 19th person
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
21:14 21:44 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

Comparisons to Source Material[]

This episode adapts the visual novel chapters "The Six Chosen by the Key", "Curtain-rise on Tragedy", "Occult", and "The Two Who Are Close".

  • The anime rearranges some events:
    • In the visual novel, when Maria hears about the six victims, she mentions they were "the *** chosen by the ***" (the six chosen by the key). In the anime, Maria mentions it after the survivors hear about the phone situation and learn the killer is still on the island with them.
    • In the visual novel, Maria explains the magic circle after Eva and Battler's discussion about the culprit. In the anime, Maria explains the magic circle after the group checks the dining hall.
    • In the visual novel, Natsuhi returns from the search with the Winchester rifle, proposing herself to take responsibility on what happens to the family. In the anime, Natsuhi mentions it after the servants and Maria explain to Battler that Beatrice is a real person.
  • The anime omits discussion of preserving the storehouse crime scene and locking it with a new padlock.
  • In the visual novel, the topic of the storehouse key being taken by the culprit and put back is first discussed by Genji and Natsuhi when they lock the storehouse shutter. In the anime, it is first discussed in this episode when Battler and company inspect the servant's room during their search for Kinzo.
  • The anime omits George opening up about his relationship with Shannon.
  • In the visual novel, Natsuhi and the servants went to search for Kinzo together while Battler and Eva remained in the parlor, allowing them to have a discussion about the culprit. In the anime, all of the survivors search for Kinzo together. Battler and Eva's discussion occurs near the end of their search.
  • The anime omits Battler grabbing Kanon's collar and confronting him about the conversation he had with Genji.
  • The anime omits the cousins talking about Maria's eerie personality changes.
  • The anime omits Jessica breaking out into coughing and being given the inhaler by Nanjo.
  • The anime omits Eva inviting George to the guest room with her and Hideyoshi before he declines it, stating that he does not want to distrust his family.
  • The anime omits Maria and Battler's discussion of locks being useless against Beatrice, who can summon the demon Gaap to take a person to any location, Battler confiding to Maria about believing the existence of the 19th person and Battler asking Maria to tell Beatrice to commit the next crime in a way that's impossible for a human.
  • The anime omits mention of Eva raising George to groom him as a successor to the Ushiromiya family and not approving of his relationship with a servant, secretly feeling happy about Shannon's death.
  • The anime omits Nanjo being frightened by the events going on, with Genji believing that everything is according to Kinzo's plan and shows no fear as his servant.

Trivia[]

Umineko Chiaki

Maria watches UraHigu

  • 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 scenes from UraHigu.
  • 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.
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