Umineko Episode 2, Pt. I
I’m splitting this up into a few parts, because otherwise it would be a huge GREAT WALL OF TEXT. (it still is, but whatever).
The chapter starts out with Shannon and George on a date at an aquarium. They are acting awkward and silly, and while on a walk at the beach Shannon hints to George that their relationship is nothing short of “magic”. Ohh, foreshadowing.
Shannon is suddenly headed towards a shrine on the island, to break a mirror and “taste forbidden knowledge”. She is trying to erase the part of her that is waiting in time for nothing, and wants to move forward with her life. She smashes the mirror and screams Beatrice’s name.
Cue to (further in) the past where George and his parents have come to Rokkenjima to ask for a loan from Kinzo. Shannon, George and Jessica are outside in the garden talking and Jessica puts Shannon/George in an awkward situation by bringing up George’s lack of a girlfriend, causing Shannon to suddenly/MAGICALLY!!! realize that she loves George. Jessica and George let it slip that George is about to have a discussion with Kinzo about an arranged marriage, since he [George] hasn’t found a girl on his own. Eva comes and interrupts the conversation to collect George, and whispers to Shannon that she is nothing but furniture and shouldn’t dare hope for any sort of relationship with any Ushiromiyas, and to not forget her place as a servaaaaant. Shannon despairs about this, and starts to shirk on her duties, until Natsuhi catches her one evening and pitches a fit when Shannon talks back. Natsuhi punishes Shannon by forcing her to clean the reception hall, and until that’s done she cannot eat. Kanon comes and tries to offer his help, but Shannon refuses, saying it is her own punishment to deal with.
While cleaning off Beatrice’s portrait and speaking to the witch in her heart, Beatrice herself pops up, proving that she is, in fact, ‘real’. Beatrice promises to grant Shannon’s wish for being so diligent in her care of the portrait: having George love her. Beatrice reveals that the woman George is arranged to marry is ‘perfect’ for him (his soulmate, I guess), and without Beatrice’s help Shannon will never succeed. Beatrice explains that “love” is the missing element that will make Shannon ‘human’, and not ‘furniture’. All Shannon needs to do in return is break a mirror that’s at a shrine on the island. Shannon is reluctant and at first refuses, and while Beatrice torments her with the speech Eva gave her in the garden about knowing her place, Kanon bursts in and screams at Beatrice to stfu. Beatrice is displeased with Kanon’s insolence, and nearly kills him, until Shannon pleads for her to stop. Beatrice laughs it off and tells Shannon her offer still stands, but her time is limited; once George meets up with the girl he is arranged to marry, Shannon will no longer be a viable ~love option~ to him. As a parting gift, Beatrice forces Kanon and Shannon’s left hands out and places a small, butterfly-shaped bruise in their palms, so they will wake up in the morning and know their meeting with Beatrice was real.
Fast forward to Jessica and Shannon discussing Shannon’s date with George to the aquarium, and how they slept in seperate rooms (apparently pissing Jessica off greatly). Jessica starts bawling because she doesn’t have a boyfriend, and gives herself an asthma attack (????). Jessica beats Shannon up with pillows, so Shannon leaves to water the garden. Beatrice shows up to inquire about how their date went, and the two of them have a tea party on the beach, complete with snacks Shannon brought back for Beatrice. We learn that Beatrice is RONERY, because none of the Ushiromiya’s have any magical talent at all, but Kinzo somehow managed to summon her after years of research. After giving him the pile of gold, she somehow became stuck in Rokkenjima, barely able to show herself to anyone because her power is now next to nothing. Kanon interrupts again because he is a whiny bitch, and their tea party ends. Shannon tries to convine Kanon that she is no longer ‘furniture’, and he can change too, if only he listened to the witch. She gives him a brooch Beatrice gave her to enhance her ~love spell~ on George, and tells him to hold onto it to help him see he isn’t just ‘furniture’. He tells Shannon to fuck off because witches are stupid (but keeps the brooch, just in case. Smart move.)
Shannon is now trying to convince Jessica to ask Kanon to come to her cultural festival, since Jessica needs a fake boyfriend to impress her friends ASAP. Jessica is tsundere and embarassed, but Shannon insists, and secretly convinces Kanon to do it to help Jessica not lose face at the festival. Jessica approaches him, and he informs her he already knows all about it, and will attend. Jessica is deredere.
The day of the festival arrives and Jessica is worried Kanon won’t actually show, while her friends are obnoxious bitches who KYAAAAA constantly. Kanon shows and they freak out thinking he is SUPER KAWAII, Jessica beats them up. Kanon watches Jessica’s band perform a Touhou song and realizes, “shit. Jessica’s pretty different when she’s at school.” the two of them return to the island for supper, and Jessica’s parents comment on the festival and how well Jessica spoke as Student Council President. Jessica is secretly upset that her mother didn’t watch her band perform, knowing full-well her mother would of beat her ass for disgracing the Ushiromiya name like that. She leaves to go to the garden, and Kanon joins her to say he enjoyed her performance. Jessica is embarassed, and tries to convince Kanon that he should make a seperate ‘self’, like she has, to seperate himself from being ‘furniture’. Kanon says no, because he can never be human, and tells Jessica that her crush on him needs to end, because he can never be anything but ‘furniture’. Jessica runs away bawling and Beatrice appears laughing maniacally, thanking Kanon for the entertainment. He tells Beatrice to suck a cock and smashes the brooch Shannon gave him, amusing Beatrice even more. She is surprised that she can’t control ‘furniture’.
The game cuts back to a scene of George and Shannon, still (at least I assume) at the aquarium, where George announces his intentions to marry Shannon, and, should she accept, to announce it to the whole family at the Conference.
Current thoughts are that Beatrice is badass, Kanon is an asshole, and Shannon is pretty stupid. Also, I wonder what kind of effect Kanon smashing the shit out of that brooch will have on Shannon and George. I hope something evil. Beatrice is badass because she has the best evil/creepy faces in the universe… at least until Lambdadelta comes along.