Let's Play Umineko, Episode 1 Scene 3: The Servants

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Ushiromiya Maria

Rosa's daughter. Her father's identity is unknown. She can't shake off the habit of speaking like a young child, which often earns her a scolding.

She has no interest in studying or making friends, but is very interested in things concerning the occult and black magic. Thanks to her excellent powers of memorization, she knows all kinds of obscure trivia.

---

October 4th, 1986, 10:30 AM



The family has arrived.




Toshiro Gohda
Elite Chef
Relation to the patriarch: Servant



It seems that Rokkenjima has acquired a new employee!

Battler only knows two ways of interacting with people: Boob jokes, and height panics. Gohda fits into the latter category, as he's massive.



Ex-mob? I'm guessing ex-mob.



And so the boat leaves. It's now just us and Rokkenjima, for today and tomorrow.



Battler is used to hearing the seagulls cry to welcome them to Rokkenjima, but they're not here this time.

For the record, Umineko no Naku Koro ni means When the Seagulls Cry. This is basically a title drop.



This is probably a bad omen. Right, Maria?



After some trolling from Battler and antics from George and Jessica, Maria's mood is improved by knowing that it's a weather thing. George is very good with kids.



Yes, yes, enough lollygagging about. The mansion awaits!



But before the mansion itself, they must drop off their things at the guest house - not everyone is staying in the mansion proper.

Lead on, Gohda!



The path from the harbor to the guest house is long and circuitous.

But, eventually, the path ends, and...



...the garden in front of the guest house distracts the guests from the house itself.



It is sometimes hard to tell what Maria is thinking, because she doesn't always show her thoughts on her face.

She eventually does make her feelings known: One of the roses is different from the others.



Some flowers flourish, some wither. There's no real reason for it. Maria feels sad for it regardless.

Once again, George comes to the rescue.



George takes a piece of candy wrapper and ties it to the withered rose as a marker. This way, Maria can find this rose again later. That way, she can come and water it later. It will be her rose.



Enough gardening. To the guest house, for real!

On the way in, Battler encounters yet another member of the staff.




Kanon
Age: 16
Furniture
Relation to the patriarch: Servant



Battler doesn't recognize the boy, who is probably a couple years younger than him. Standing next to Gohda, Kanon seems even more socially inept than he would be on his own.



He seems to have some odd ideas about his role as a servant, and what it entails.

Don't worry, Kanon. You're not the only strange person here.



Jessica is quick to jump to Kanon's defense. Seems like he's just the sort of person who has trouble interacting with others.



Battler makes some half-hearted attempts at mood-breaking banter, but they slide off of Kanon's icy aura. Before long, he seems to have used up his allotment of social activity, and shuffles off into his duties.



And he can't even manage a cool exit! What a loser.



Jessica tries to help, but Gohda protests. Battler steps in to be the hero instead.

Kanon is visibly startled at receiving help from a guest.



For someone who acts like such a moron, Battler is really very perceptive to the problems and feelings of people around him.



Gohda hurriedly rushes Kanon away, deeply embarrassed by having shown such an unsightly scene to the honored guests.

The family heads off to the guest house at last.



Kanon keeps going over his mistake in his mind. The sacks were too much for him, but Battler had lifted them as if they were nothing.

Something about it nags at him from the inside.



"Even I..."



The guest house was built between Battler's last visit and this one. It's a stunning building considering the time frame in which it was built - and for guests that only come once a year, no less.

The point is, Kinzo is Extreme Rich.



There was a lot of debate over whether to make it a western-style or Japanese-style house, but western won out in the end. The rooms are two-person, so the married couples each get a room, then probably Rosa and Maria, then the cousins can duke it out for what remains.



Kinzo has been in a dark place, and the impending end of his life has not improved his mood.

He's shut himself up in his study, where he's doing strange occult things and only admitting Genji, the head servant.



This is an elite family of eccentric rich weirdos, and Kinzo is the richest and weirdest of them all. When the previous generation was young, he was unbelievably strict with them, beating his sons and daughters with his fists or even a wooden sword.



Battler is old enough now that Kinzo will no doubt expect great things from him.

Jessica's got it the worst off, though, since she's the heiress of the eldest child's household. All things considered, she'd rather just hand it off to George.



Battler, George and Jessica are all sharing one bigger room, it seems. Maria has been given special permission by the mighty Battler to come and go as she pleases, although she'll be staying with Rosa.



The adults are all off to the main mansion, but the younger generation stays behind to unwind.



Hey, now, what's this? George is exchanging secret intel with the servants!



After much waterboarding and/or annoying, the others manage to extract the truth that George was hoping to see some of the other servants. The name "Shannon" is dropped.



Finally, a name that Battler recognizes! But who is this mysterious Shannon?




Ushiromiya Natsuhi
Age: 47
Jessica's mother
Relation to the patriarch: Daughter-in-law



The reason Natsuhi perpetually looks like she has a migraine is probably because of the rest of her family. Especially Eva.

She does her best to ignore the barbs for now.



They're not the only ones with children coming up on exam season, of course. Rudolf is fretting over how to best deal with the ever-rebellious Battler in this regard.



Kyrie suggests that they have some tea, but Rudolf hastily shoots the idea down. They have been greeted as guests, but tea has not been prepared for them yet. This is already an embarrassment for the host - to get their own would be rubbing salt in the wound.

Being upper class is confusing.



It finally arrives, in the hands of a character mentioned earlier.




Shannon
Age: 16
The Maid
Relationship to the patriarch: Servant



Shannon's intro to the story goes quite poorly! She's late, she drops several teaspoons, and she gets harassed by Eva and Natsuhi.

Natsuhi is in charge of maintaining this house, so every one of Shannon's mistakes reflects poorly on her.



Kyrie tries to soften the mood with a kind word, but it just makes things even worse.



The use of a silver spoon, a subtlety which Shannon doesn't pick up on, is to detect poison in the tea. If the silver touches poison, it is said, it darkens.

In other words, Eva is continuing to be terrible. The offhand comment is an insult both to the tea and to Natsuhi's governance of the household.



Rudolf snaps back with his own jab, and for a moment, the mood of the conversation is almost normal again.

Shannon finishes setting the table before retreating back into the hall.



Out in the hall, the servants reconvene.



As it turns out, Shannon had not been at fault for the delay. Gohda had caused some trifling problem in the kitchen that slowed everything down.

In Kanon's eyes, it was an act of dire cowardice for Gohda to shift his failure over to Shannon's shoulders.



As Kanon chastises Shannon for bottling up her emotions too much, a third person joins them in the hall.




Genji Ronoue
Age: ??
Kinzo's lieutenant
Relation to the patriarch: Servant



Kanon tries to defend Shannon, but she won't have it. She returns to her post, and urges Kanon to do the same.

Kumasawa watches on from around the corner in sympathy. The two young servants are not held in high esteem by Gohda, just due to their inexperience.




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