End of the Golden Witch Vol. 1 is the first volume of Akitaka's manga adaptation of End of the Golden Witch and the 21st overall volume of the manga adaptation of Umineko When They Cry. The volume was released in English by Yen Press in an omnibus format with Volume 2.
Publisher's Summary[]
Japanese[]
第４のゲームの後、勝ちを諦め心を失ってしまったベアト。盤面は気まぐれな魔女たちに支配され、第５のゲームが始まる…。魔女・ラムダデルタの紡ぐゲームにて、戦人はベアトリーチェの真実に至ることができるのか!? 「うみねこ」解答編、堂々スタート!!
English[]
Beatrice is dead, her soul shattered by Battler at her own request. Though her body sits across the chessboard, she is no more than a husk of the laughing, impulsive witch she once was. Lambdadelta is more than happy to preside over the fifth game, and Bernkastel willingly steps in for Battler as he takes his leave to collect his thoughts. But two witches can cause all manner of mischief when left to their own devices, especially when they care as little for rules as Lambdadelta...
Chapters[]
Chapter 1: Promise[]
Battler plays with a chessboard as Virgilia does Beatrice's hair. He's looking through all of Beato's moves and doesn't understand how she can do this, but the Golden Witch just stares blankly into space. Virgilia tells her that Battler is speaking to her, but she hardly responds as Battler looks sternly. The reader is reminded of Beatrice's past, who gave up on winning in the previous game and asked for Battler to kill her; Beato has become a living doll as a result. Battler misses her insane laughter, imagining a scenario where she lashes out at Virgilia for messing up her hair.
Virgilia asks about Battler's thought process, and he says he's tried to imagine himself as Beatrice making her moves but is understanding the games less and less because of it. He remembers how Kinzo once told him that learning the art of chess is a journey to find out the thoughts of the previous great players; the path to Beato's thoughts seems very steep in comparison. Nevertheless, Battler doesn't want to give up, citing his promise to her in the fourth game to solve everything and let Beatrice die peacefully. Virgilia asks if he's really okay with this, as the fifth game has already started; Battler says he's not interested in "their" game.
Before the fifth game, Lambdadelta decided to take over as Game Master now that Beato has resigned and is unconscious. Bernkastel decides to play the opponent's side, and Battler takes offense to this as this is supposed to be his and Beato's game. Lambda tells him to calm down as Bern, a new player, can show him new moves and give hints; Bern asks Battler to wake up Beato if he's so concerned. Battler is obviously unable to and asks if a fifth game is even necessary. The witches are too impatient to wait around for Beato, so they're going to play a new game. Battler slams his fist down in frustration and Lambda asks if he'll step down, making it a loss by default. Bern adds that if Battler refuses to play, the fate of his sister Ange will be decided with certainty. Battler gets angry and tells her not to talk about Ange, but Bern reminds him that as the Witch of Miracles, she can still ensure that Ange gets a happy ending. She reminds him of how angry he was when Ange was torn apart and threatens to show it to him again, this time in full view.
Bern gives him the choice of stepping down or resigning, with Lambda commending her for how heartless her threat is. She conjures a bucket of popcorn and mocks Battler, saying how he and Beato are now pieces in their gameboard. She asks why Battler doesn't just give up if he's tired of being a piece in a witch's game, and tells him how painful it is to be Bern's piece and that he'll be thrown away just like Ange. Battler decides to leave, telling them that if they're going to substitute Beato then they can substitute him too; Bern decides to play in his place. The two witches are left to enjoy themselves, and Battler heads to the rose garden.
Battler wonders if the witches can even understand Beato's game, and Virgilia mentions that they're using the same gameboard, so they can't do anything Beatrice couldn't; they can do things she wouldn't do, however. She says that chess pieces are used to play chess, not cards. That doesn't stop people from throwing chess pieces at their opponents or scribbling on the board; nobody normally does this because it's a blasphemy against chess.
Ronove appears to offer more tea, saying that when he observed Bern and Lambda's game, they'd already reached the first twilight, with the next murder starting soon. Battler asks how the game looked, and the demon butler says it lacked love. Battler asks what he means by this, and Ronove explains that the game seemed disgraceful. It resembled Beatrice's game on the surface, but the foundations were much different. Battler imagines Beatrice talking to him, saying how the rules of the game are sacred and that they will start a new game; Beatrice says they'll fight until one of them surrenders, but her face changes to one of sorrow and asks him to kill her. Realizing his responsibility, Battler stands up and heads back to the gameboard. He tells Beato to wait for her, who stares up blankly at him. Virgilia and Ronove say they'll take of care of her and wish him luck. Virgilia asks him to find out something about Beato from this game so he can think he's fought with her.
Battler heads back to the gameboard, but Bern and Lambda tell him that they've already reached the second day and are nearing the end. They say that someone's about to say "You are the culprit!" like in any other mystery, much to Battler's surprise. Lambda decides to show Battler the finale to her "End of the Golden Witch" game.
Everyone is gathered in the parlor as Eva goes ballistic, accusing Natsuhi of murdering George and Hideyoshi. Natsuhi says she didn't kill anyone, but no one is convinced. Battler sees that currently, no humans exist except for those in the parlor, and six people's corpses have been discovered: Maria, Jessica, Rosa, George, Hideyoshi, and Genji. A new character appears and points at Natsuhi, declaring her the culprit.
Chapter 2: The Magic of Resurrection[]
Chapter 3: A Proper Mystery[]
Chapter 4: Storm Clouds[]
Chapter 5: The Visitor[]
Afterword[]
Ryukishi07[]
A New Pawn and Two Witches
Hello, I am Ryukishi07.
And here we are in Episode 5 of Umineko. From this point on, the story will really pick up speed. Up till now, Rokkenjima has had a limited number of "humans," but through the witch's power, a new pawn has been placed on the game board.
Is she a suitable guest for the Ushiromiyas? What purpose brought her to Rokkenjima? The mysteries deepen...
But you do not have time to rack your brain for the answer. Because this time...the witches will descend from the stands. They will have plenty of ideas for livening up the game, knowing them.
The girl named Erika Furudo and the two witches who are no longer idle observers. The game is prepared. That's right; our newest game has only just begun.
Welcome to Episode 5 of Umineko When They Cry, ENd of the Golden Witch. The witches have been awaiting your arrival. Are you ready? It is time for those two nightmarish days to repeat.
I hope to see you again in the next volume.
Akitaka[]
Special Thanks
Ryukishi07
& his entire staff
Kazunori Saitou-sama
Akinobu Yumoto-sama
Hiroshi Koizumi-sama
Staff
Tomi✰ta
Bunji
sibaco
Souichirou Hoshino
Hello, my name is Akitaka.
I've run into and through all sorts of walls in the process of putting together this first volume of Episode 5, but I did it. I hope to get Volume 2 out as well.
See you then.
Gallery[]
