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Middle Game is the sixth episode of the Umineko When They Cry anime adaptation and the first episode of Turn of the Golden Witch.

Synopsis[]

Years before the murders happen, Shannon falls in love with George. But in order to secure his love, she must ask for help from the Golden Witch, Beatrice.

Plot Summary[]

First Half[]

Anime ep2 aquarium

Sometime before the murders, Shannon and George are on a date at an aquarium in Okinawa. Shannon thinks it wonderful how the fish tanks may not be the real ocean, but the fish inside believe it is. While eating, George asks Shannon if he can call her by her real name, Sayo, when they're together. Shannon meekly accepts, finding it difficult to talk with George since she's a lowly servant and he's an Ushiromiya. The two of them talk about how they've known each other for years, and how their strong feelings created magic to bring them together.

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Sometime before that, in December 1985, Shannon goes to a shrine on Rokkenjima. She pulls out a mirror inside and smashes it; doing this, Beatrice will change her fate as promised.

Sometime before that, at one of the family meetings in 1984, Eva and Hideyoshi receive praise from the family for raising George to be such a fine young man. Natsuhi says Jessica should learn from him, but her daughter leaves in a huff while Shannon arrives to serve tea. She drops a teaspoon and Natsuhi chastises her for her clumsiness. George helps lighten the mood by complimenting Shannon's choice of tea, sharing his own knowledge of black tea.

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In the garden, Shannon admits to Jessica that she has a crush on George. George arrives and Shannon thanks him for helping her earlier. Eva, who's been watching them, comes down to meet them. She mentions that George will be taking part in an arranged marriage, making a point to say that the girl in question is from a prestigious family. Shannon is visibly disturbed by this, to which Eva whispers to her that she's not good enough for George.

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Devastated, Shannon stands in front of Beatrice's portrait, asking why she was given a heart that can love if she's just furniture. Answering her call, Beatrice appears in person and starts extolling the virtues of love, citing it as the single element that makes up the world. She understands Shannon's condition of having experienced love and wanting to be furniture no longer. To that end, Beatrice makes a deal with her: in return for smashing a mirror in the island's shrine that limits her power, Beatrice will guarantee George's love. Shannon refuses, believing that her peaceful days will continue if she leaves the mirror alone, and doesn't know what would happen if Beatrice regained her power. Beatrice accepts her choice and allows Shannon to change her mind later if she wants, when Kanon appears. He asks her to stop bullying Shannon; Beatrice starts walking over to punish him for speaking down to her when Shannon asks to forgive him. Beatrice accepts, and then leaves Shannon with a magic butterfly brooch as a parting gift. As long as Shannon has that brooch, she will gain true love, but only if she breaks the mirror.

Second Half[]

In August 1986, Jessica and Shannon are talking about her date with George at the aquarium. Jessica is annoyed that Shannon could get a boyfriend before her when she starts having a coughing fit, a result of her weak bronchi. After getting her inhaler, she asks Shannon if any part of her appearance or voice is a problem, which the servant interprets as Jessica having a crush on someone.

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Sometime later, Shannon and Beatrice are having tea on the beach, enjoying some sweets that Shannon brought from her Okinawa trip. Shannon pulls out the butterfly brooch and tries giving it back to Beatrice, not wanting to rely on magic to preserve her relationship with George, but the witch refuses. She wants her to keep it as a sign of friendship. Beatrice then talks about how Shannon and Kanon are the only ones that can see her. Long ago, Kinzo tried summoning her and seeing her; Beatrice, in her arrogance, appeared to him and mocked him, becoming trapped on the island. The mirror that Shannon destroyed was placed there long ago by a traveling Eastern magician, who wanted to seal away all the evil spirits on Rokkenjima; it also weakened Beatrice's powers when she became bound to the island. Gray clouds start to gather over the ocean, and Beatrice laments how the ocean is turning gray as well; Shannon still sees it as beautiful blue, which Beatrice takes as proof that Shannon is human, not furniture.

Later that night, Shannon asks Kanon what color the ocean is, to which he responds "black". She tries giving Kanon the butterfly brooch, which he objects to. As it turns out, Jessica convinced Kanon to come to her school festival and pretend to be her boyfriend.

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The next day, Kanon arrives at school and Jessica's friends start squealing over how cute he is; Jessica tells him to stand outside for a bit and beats her friends with a brass knuckle. During the festival, Jessica sings with a band in a very upbeat manner; Kanon is perplexed at seeing a different side of Jessica in public. Later that night, back at Rokkenjima, Kanon compliments Jessica on her singing. Jessica explains how the pressure of being part of the Ushiromiya family is a lot, and so she's created "another self" that can live the way Jessica wants to live. Jessica says that Kanon can do the same thing, and asks what his real name is. Kanon's forgotten it, and says it's not important because he's furniture. He goes on to say that furniture isn't allowed to have dreams or a future and cannot love humans. He then says that Shannon and George will break up, much to Jessica's dismay. Kanon thanks Jessica for thinking of him as a human and leaves.

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Kanon then runs into Beatrice, who was so sure that she had gotten Kanon and Jessica together. It's shown Kanon had actually accepted the butterfly brooch from Shannon, but he throws it down at Beatrice's feet and destroys it, accusing the witch of toying with people's emotions. Beatrice merely laughs and says that no matter what happens, her power will return and the path to the Golden Land will be opened. The episode ends with Beatrice monologuing over having sown three seeds of love: one in Kinzo, who's standing in front of Beatrice's portrait and calling her name, one in Shannon, who's looking at a picture of her and George, and one in Jessica, who's crying on her bed, sad that Kanon rejected her. Beatrice awaits the "harvest" of fruit.

Teaser[]

Kanon narrates the preview, saying he and Shannon are furniture. He jokingly explains what furniture does, saying they do not go to the bathroom or pass gas. They do however have 100,000 horsepower and rear-mounted machine guns. They might even have pockets on their stomachs and wear school uniforms. Kanon says their real names are probably Shannon and Kanon Andou, and that Shannon has a maiden circuit inside her and could fire breast missiles. In any event, they are furniture. Kanon says the next episode title and then says he wants to become human already.

Soundtrack[]

Start End Title OST Description
0:00 1:29 Katayoku no Tori Katayoku no Tori Opening
2:06 3:27 N/A N/A George and Shannon go on a date at the aquarium
3:34 4:09 Creeping Anxiety Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Shannon destroys the mirror in the shrine
5:49 6:38 N/A N/A Shannon and Jessica talk about George
6:54 7:10 N/A N/A Eva tells George that Kinzo wants to hear about his marriage meeting
7:14 7:27 N/A N/A Eva warns Shannon not to pursue George
7:27 8:13 N/A N/A Shannon pours out her sorrows to the portrait to Beatrice
8:15 9:12 Golden Sneer N/A Beatrice offers Shannon some assistance
10:26 11:50 N/A N/A Kanon objects to Beatrice's presence
12:29 12:54 Moon Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Jessica and Shannon have a chat
15:23 16:20 Gentle Afternoon Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Shannon gives the butterfly brooch to Kanon
17:20 18:06 Dokkyun☆Heart Umineko no Naku Koro ni Character Song Vol. 1 Jessica sings at the festival
19:21 20:09 Gloomy Afternoon Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Kanon reinforces that he's furniture
20:30 21:44 Scorpion Entrails Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Beatrice talks down to Kanon
21:45 23:14 la divina tragedia la divina tragedia~Makyoku~ Ending
23:15 24:03 Requiem Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rose Crimson~ Teaser

Comparisons to Source Material[]

This episode adapts the prologue with George & Shannon, and the chapters "'Furniture'", "Wonderful Utopia", and "School Cultural Festival".

  • As opposed to other adaptations, the anime offers a precise timeline of Shannon's relationship with George:
    • December 1985 - Shannon is seen breaking the sacred mirror at the small shrine atop the reef.
    • October 1984 - A panic-stricken Shannon is saved from embarrassment by George in front of the Ushiromiya family members. As Jessica teases Shannon and George in the rose garden, Eva interrupts them and discreetly insults Shannon for daring to approach her son.
    • August 1986 - Shannon tells Jessica about how her overnight trip with George went. She is still in the same outfit she wore at the aquarium, so this may have been immediately after Shannon returned from the trip.
  • The anime rearranges some events:
    • In the VN, Shannon confides her anxieties about a servant like her not deserving to date a member of the Ushiromiya family like George in the beach. In the anime, this happened in the restaurant.
    • In the VN, Beatrice uses magic to open Kanon and Shannon's hands and imprints a butterfly-shaped burn mark upon their palms as a reminder to them that their meeting is real. In the anime, Beatrice opens Shannon's hands and gives her a butterfly-shaped brooch as a gift.
    • In the VN, Shannon gives Kanon the brooch before she points out to him that the ocean is blue. In the anime, it happens after she points out that the ocean is blue.
    • Just like the VN, Jessica is wearing a Marisa Kirisame cosplay, with her bandmates cosplaying Reimu Hakurei and Sakuya Izayoi. However, they sing Dokkyun☆Heart instead of Tsurupettan.
    • In the VN, Jessica wanders in the rose garden sulking over her parents before Kanon shows up. In the anime, Jessica sits down in the arbor of the rose garden, feeling glad that she had fun at the cultural festival.
    • In the VN, George tells Shannon of his plan of proposal to her once he's built up in his career at the restaurant. In the anime, Shannon is seen looking at the picture of her and George.
  • The anime omits the discussion with Shannon observing the sea on how it looks gray to her during her work, no matter how blue it is, and George teasing her about it.
  • The anime omits George telling Shannon to open the teapot to find some dried bergamot mixed in with the tea leaves, along with him discussing that it's the main ingredient in Earl Grey's scent.
  • The anime omits mention of George being sent out of the parlor by Eva to prevent him from seeing how Kinzo treated them.
  • The anime omits Jessica asking George if he has a girlfriend.
  • The anime omits Natsuhi noticing Shannon being distracted and orders her to clean the entrance hall as punishment for talking back.
    • It also omits Kanon offering to help Shannon clean the entrance hall before she rejects.
  • The anime omits the mention of Shannon and George staying in separate rooms, the mention of Shannon being one of the few people Jessica could confide in, and the scene of Shannon leaving Jessica's room from her request, with Jessica wanting to deal with her feelings alone.
  • The anime omits Beatrice visiting Shannon during her work at the rose garden.
  • The anime omits mention of Krauss and Natsuhi not sensing Beatrice at all.
  • The anime omits Beatrice noticing Kanon showing up at the tea party before she disappears, along with Kanon circling Shannon for hanging out with Beatrice.
  • The anime omits Kinzo meditating alone in the rose garden and rambling to himself about Beatrice, with Beatrice pitying that he cannot see her.
  • The anime omits Jessica's discussion with her friends on what kind of person her boyfriend is before Kanon shows up, along with the flashback of Shannon's suggestion to Jessica on proposing Kanon to be her fake boyfriend for the cultural festival.
  • The anime omits Kanon's venting of the festival atmosphere and his consideration to report Jessica's undignified behavior to her family before the performance states.
  • The anime omits Jessica's family discussing the cultural festival at dinner.
  • The anime omits Kanon telling Beatrice to disappear before she obliges.
  • The anime omits Kumasawa checking on Jessica after hearing her cry.

Trivia[]

  • In chess, the middle game is the portion of moves between the opening and endgame.
  • During Shannon and George's date at the aquarium, George is seen wearing a printed T-shirt with the phrase "TOMITAKE FLASH", much like his sprite in the original game, a reference to Jirou Tomitake in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and one of his comic abilities/catchphrases.
  • At Jessica's school festival, her friends Saku, Hina and others are seen wearing maid uniforms and serving visitors, possibly implying that her class was doing a maid café for the festival.
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