Umineko Episode 2, Pt. V
Shannon and Genji have told Kinzo what happened. He is happy that the game has finally begun. Shannon asks what she should tell Rosa, and Kinzo freaks out, telling them to spend their remaining time doing whatever they want, servants included. Genji and Shannon decline, saying, as furniture, their duty is to serve their master [Kinzo]. Kinzo decides to write a will, and asks Shannon to copy it down. Genji serves him a drink, and he begins with when he met Beatrice.
Gohda has returned the to chapel, and explains the current situation with Rosa. Nanjo says they should all leave and lock up, so once the police come, everything will be intact. Gohda and Rosa agree, asking Battler and George to come out. George swears to his parents that he will become a man they can be proud of. Battler says the same thing, and adds that they were at least allowed to rest in a pretty badass place. He vows he will catch the person who did this, and they leave the chapel.
Outside, they start discussing why the bodies would of been placed in the chapel. Rosa says, even as a child, she was never permitted to go inside. TEven though it was never used, the servants were still required to clean it a few times a year. Everyone referred to it as the “forbidden” chapel. A plaque above the door states “This door will not open without a miracle”. Nanjo tells them that Kinzo used to be quite the romantic, and probably built the chapel with the hopes that he could one day marry Beatrice. Battlers laughs and says it’s a pretty lame “forbidden” chapel if the servants go in 4 times a year to clean, and besides, they were just inside now, weren’t they? Rosa freaks out and mentions that Genji said there was only one key.. Maria laughs, telling everyone how slow they were to realize this. The key had been in Maria’s bag for over a day, so how could the culprit get inside the chapel?
Cut back to Beatrice and Battler’s “chess game”, Battler is pissed that Beatrice is adding more ‘closed rooms’ to the game (much like the gardening shed in episode 1). Beatrice says her magic unlocked the door, but Battler disagrees. Just like last time, he isnt given enough information to decide how this could of been done. Beatrice laughs, and the two of them go back and forth about the closed room theory. Beatrice decides to set up a new rule: whenever she is speaking the truth, she will speak in red. When she isn’t, she needs to explain herself or show proof to back up her point. Battler starts spewing off excuses or reasons why the doors to the chapel couldnt have been used, such as a secret entry or someone unhinging the door, but Beatrice red texts Battler’s poor ass. Battler is about to give up and resign to Beatrice, until he realizes his thinking has been flawed all along. Instead of inquiring about the door, he starts asking about the key. He guesses that, while Beatrice did give Maria the key, she took it out and used it and then replaced it, as Maria’s bag wasnt under her [Maria's] constant supervision. Beatrice refuses to say in red that Maria’s bag was always under her supervision, proving Battler’s theory. Beatrice also asks Battler to call her Beato, just like her close friends do. Since Beatrice can’t say the key was never used in red, Battler calls checkmate. Beatrice resigns, saying Battler has won this board, but he can’t win them all.
Rosa and the children arrive at the parlor, and Kumasawa cheerfully greets them. Gohda fills her in and she is shocked/terrified. Rosa decides she is no longer a child, as she is acting as a parent for Battler and George now. She decides to go upstairs and speak to Kinzo personally. As she’s walking up the stairs, out of the corner of her eye, she sees golden butterflies. As Rosa gets upstairs, Beatrice shows up laughing, asking how the next piece will entertain her.
In the parlor, Kumasawa offers to make everyone tea with biscuits. They decline, and continue discussing theories around what happened. They realize the culprit is still on the island, which scares the shit out of Kumasawa. They start discussing the 3 gold bars that were in the middle of the table in the chapel, and Kumasawa mention she’s heard Krauss talk about one gold bar before. It was mentioned that only one gold bar was ever found.. so how was there 3 in the chapel? They discuss several theories, such as someone sneaking the bars onto the island or each sibling having one, but they’re all refuted rather quickly. Rosa returns to the parlor with Genji, Shannon, and a gun. Everyone is shocked to see it, until Rosa reminds them that, hey, a serial killer is amongst us. Protection would probably be wise. They decide to go upstairs and get Jessica and Kanon, as all being together would be wise.
As they approach the top of the stairs, Rosa yells for them to stop. Another magical symbol is painted onto the door of Jessica’s room. Genji opens the door, and they find Jessica’s corpse, with an icepick sticking out of the back. Everyone freaks out until Rosa tells them to calm down. She asks where Kanon is, and they search the room, hoping maybe he had been hiding from the culprit. No dice. Rosa finds a key on Jessica’s dresser and asks what it’s for. Gohda says it’s the key to Jessica’s room, and Shannon piped in that Jessica only locked her room when she went to school. Rosa asks if the master keys can open the door, and the servants say yes. Rosa asks if there are any extras, and Shannon says no, Natsuhi asked them to destroy them.
Cut up to Battler and Beatrice’s game, Battler mentions that “spare” master keys were brought up in the last game. Beatrice laughs, saying she gave this game a little twist..
Rosa again asks if all the servants have their master keys. They all respond yes. Rosa then suggests that maybe Kumasawa was the culprit, as she ‘woke up’ late and no one had seen her until they returned from the chapel. As Kumasawa denies that, she then suspects Gohda, as he was the last person to see Jessica or Kanon alive. Gohda also denies Rosa’s claims, and as Shannon and Genji were with Kinzo in his study the whole time, the only logical suspect is Kanon. No one wants to believe this is true, but every time someone says Kanon couldnt be the culprit, Rosa asks who seems more suspicious: Gohda or Kumasawa. To Rosa, those 3 are the only viable suspects. Everyone agrees to just ‘suppose’ Kanon is the culprit, as he is the only one not present, and it’s a much better option then suspecting someone who is currently in their group.
Jessica and Kanon are watching over the group, with Jessica crying and screaming that Kanon isn’t the culprit. Beatrice appears and laughs at her, saying her voice will never reach them. Jessica appears beside Rosa and screams at her to listen, because Kanon really isnt the culprit. Everyone decides to leave the room until the police can come and investigate, and Beatrice continues laughing at Jessica’s attempt to talk to her family. Before they’re about to leave, Battler speaks up. He says he refuses to believe Kanon is the culprit.
From their game, Beatrice laughs. She asks Battler how he’s going to prove this closed room wrong. Battler admits that he gives up on that aspect, and he can’t be responsible for his own real-world conduct.
Battler again says that Kanon can’t be the culprit. Rosa asks him which of the servants did this to Jessica, and Battler says none. Kumasawa and Gohda both exist to make others happy, with their jokes and food, so neither of them could of done this, even with a pile of money in front of their eyes. He asks everyone to stop suspecting anyone.
From their game, Beatrice asks how Battler can prove Kanon isnt the culprit. Battler asks Beatrice to say it in red: Kanon had his master key on his person. She can’t (as she stole Kanon’s master key to open the honoured guest room).
Battler mentions to everyone that he heard what Gohda said before he split up with Kanon, about Jessica bursting into Beatrice’s room. Everyone is confused, and Battler congratulates Gohda on protecting Kanon’s honour.
From their game again, Beatrice laughs, saying since Kanon’s corpse isn’t present, nothing can be proven. Battler says it’s actually really simple..
Battler asks Nanjo to search Jessica’s pockets for Kanon’s master key, which he finds. Kanon is now cleared as the culprit for now. Battler asks everyone to not suspect anymore.
Back to the game, Battler admits he probably fell into Beatrice’s trap, as now he can’t prove how the door was locked behind the culprit. Beatrice says the door is the only way in, there are no secret doors, the master key and Jessica’s keys are the only way in, and the window was locked from the inside in red. As Battler proved Kanon couldnt be a suspect, all that’s left is one of the servants, or accepting Beatrice. Beatrice says that the door to Jessica’s room could not of been unlocked by any other means in red. Battler’s realized that he’s backed himself into quite the corner, as his previous theory for the chapel would also put himself and the rest of the cousins as suspects. Beatrice laughs at Battler closing himself into his own ‘closed room”, and they get back to their game.
Battler gives up, admitting that he can’t figure out who killed Jessica. Shannon thanks him for clearing Kanon, and Battler reminds her that, with Kanon cleared, she is now a viable suspect. He apologizes to Rosa for not agreeing with her, and Rosa apologizes for jumping to conclusions. Him and Rosa shake hands and make up.
Everyone is back in the parlor, eating a delicious lunch of canned food. Rosa suspects poison may have been involved, so no one is allowed to eat any of the fresh ingredients in the house. Maria shows Battler a “Sheeps and Wolves” puzzle, some crap about transporting sheep idk. Battler recognizes that Rosa sees all the servants as “wolves” (aka bad guys). Rosa asks all the servants to go into the kitchen with Gohda while he does dishes. Rosa starts discussing new theories she has, such as a secret passage being in the room so Kanon could lock the door from the inside and then escape.
From their game, Beatrice laughs. Battler knows this theory is wrong, as he tried it himself, but he has no way of telling Rosa this. Beatrice again stats in red that there are no secret passages, and no way in except the door and window.
Rosa is again saying the servants have done this. She says Shannon is definitely a suspect, which pisses the shit out of George, but Rosa won’t apologize. Since she is trying to act like a mother to both him and Battler, she will even turn into a demon to protect them and Maria.
The servants are happily washing dishes and making soup in the kitchen. Since it is just the servants, they seem relaxed. Gohda decided to make food with the fresh ingredients anyways, just for the servants. Nanjo and Genji are playing chess, while Shannon and Kumasawa are washing dishes, until they hear a loud bang on the side door. Realizing that not only is this outside, but is probably only something the servants know of, Genji grabs a knife and him and Gohda open the door. And there is.. Kanon?? He is bleeding seriously through a wicked deep chest wound, and everyone surrounds him. Kumasawa is about to go tell Rosa when ‘Kanon’ tells her not to. They all bring Kanon upstairs into the servants bedroom to treat his wound. After a few minutes of trying to stop the bleeding, ‘Kanon’ seems to be in less pain and bleeding less. He opens his eyes (which are somehow red) and mentions that Rosa is the one who did this to him and Jessica. Gohda is outraged, demanding the go downstairs, as George and Battler are alone with Rosa and her gun. Shannon storms out and heads into the.. Boiler room?
Gohda is trying to persuade everyone to go downstairs to save Battler and George, but Kumasawa suggests they not provoke her. Her gun only has 5 bullets, not enough to kill everyone, but enough. ‘Kanon’ somehow gets up and again begins to scream about Rosa being the one who did this to him and Jessica.
Shannon returns from the Boiler room with a hankerchief covered in spiderwebs. She asks ‘Kanon’ if he is the real Kanon, and he laughs. He asks about the hankerchief, and she tells him. She says, if it is really Kanon, this will be okay, but if he isn’t.. as she comes closer, ‘Kanon’ freaks out and a blade homes out of his arm. He slices through Nanjo and Kumasawa’s necks (OSHI-), as Genji pulls Shannon out of the way. Genji instructs Gohda to pin ‘Kanon’, and he does. Genji takes the hankerchief from Shannon and presses it against ‘Kanon’s’ face, burning him and causing him to blow up into thousands of butterflies. So this Kanon wasn’t real, it was a trick.
Kumasawa and Nanjo are lying on the floor, coughing/puking/leaking blood everywhere.
The remaining servants head downstairs and inform Rosa of what just happened. She asks if they saw the culprit, but none of them can really explain what happened. Bit by bit they start to explain, but all Rosa hears is Kanon’s name, and how he somehow was alive and killed Nanjo and Kumasawa. They all decide to head to the servant’s bedroom to survey the damage/bodies.
When they arrive at the bedroom, everyone is taken aback by the blood. Until they notice something.. the bodies are missing, despite the room being locked. Everyone freaks out, and Rosa suspects the servants even more. The servants relinquish their master keys to Rosa, and tell her that, when she is ready, they will be waiting for her. As they are furniture, their only purpose is to serve the Ushiromiya family, no matter what. As the servants go to leave, George decides to stay with Shannon, and leaves with them. As soon as they’re gone, Rosa laughs and tells Battler that you can never trust furniture, and that more than 5 keys obviously exist.
From their game, Battler is crying and accepting Beatrice’s existence, although he wont lick her shoes like she wants. She is telling him to strip naked and crawl around on the floor, so he can become her furniture.
Daamn, Battler and Beato’s epic battle about Jessica’s killer was awesome. She really had Battler cornered. (I’m playing through Ep3 now, and it’s funny how much better/badass Battler has gotten at countering Beato’s closed rooms)
Fake!Kanon was also awesome, as soon as he started talking about Rosa I knew he had to be a Stake. Shannon and Genji were pretty great, especially Shannon and her spiderweb hankerchief crap.
I also like how easily Beato can corner and ruin Battler’s theories with her red text.
enjoyed this blog!