Umineko Visual Novel episode 2 review. Spoiler-free 4.5, yeah, I really liked it. So I finished Umineko chapter 2 today, and I have to say... I'm still heavily invested and absolutely intrigued by everything. This episode was very confusing, like even the episode 2 description says this is the ***** all-out attack, and it shows. My main takeaway is that maybe we shouldn't believe everything that was presented here. It does feel like the narration and what we are shown are highly unreliable, which I love. I mainly clocked that out during the... goat scene. I won't lie. The game almost kind of lost me there. Anyways, it's a really slow opening, kind of a slog, but in hindsight, also kind of genius? Like the tone already is meant to be eerie, especially coming from episode 1 and THAT ending. I mainly moved past it and wondered where it would lead, kind of zoned out until we saw Beato again, and this is where the game got me. The whole meta-narrative and meta-subtext it has are so good! I love the way it ties into the game and the way it seemingly can affect the game, yes, but not fully. Red truths are a great concept but also shown to be potentially untrustworthy. I feel like it is true, but it is vague enough that some certain details can be omitted. Battler, MY GOATTTTTTT: He got some great moments to shine, especially a really big one. I do feel like he and I find the way he develops here; he gets a victory yet still gets down a bit. I like that you know you can't always give the hero a big win. The tea party was great except for the line about Maria (seriously, really gross; I assume it's a translation error because it feels wildly out of character). Rosa has some real development; I loathe this woman, yet I am so fascinated by her writing. The train scene was borderline blood boiling, like it's been a while since a piece of media has genuinely made me feel so angry at a character's actions yet.... I also found her character to be really easy to be sympathetic towards. It goes without saying the Ushiromiya family is so messed up; due to Kinzo, I believe, every time he gets more and more scene time, I despise him more. There's this line in particular about him... "using" someone, which could be misinterpreted or me thinking the worst, but it feels vile. Anyway, I don't care about Kanon or George. Shannon had a really cool scene, but I don't really like her. I feel like there's seriously something up with her, way too much spotlight and these cutesy moments that feel like a misdirect and an attempt to make the reader make her feel too innocent. Love Beato, so insane and sadistic. Also, surprisingly, there is lots of sexual tension between her and Battler, which is like... surely not, right? Also, her crash out was so good. Seriously, what's up with her? Her view of love has some troubling implications, like Kinzo. What did you do? Especially with the mentions of him seeking "atonement." Anyways, really, really good continuation from episode 1. I was a bit worried that I wouldn't enjoy the way the story would move forward and that the bar was set too high by episode 1, but still, I find myself as equally into it. Anyways, going into episode 3, I can't wait.