Episode
Umineko: When They Cry: Problem Child
Overview
Kinzo appears at the family conference and denounces his children as being unfit to succeed him as the head of the Ushiromiya family. Deciding that his grandchildren may be more suitable successors, Kinzo summons the Siesta Sisters to select the first six sacrifices for his ceremony to revive Beatrice (Natsuhi, Eva, Hideyoshi, Rudolf, Rosa, and Genji), while the survivors (Krauss, Kyrie, Shannon, Kanon, and Nanjo) are imprisoned in the dungeon of Kuwadorian by the demon Gaap. Afterwards, Maria has her revenge against Rosa for destroying Sakutaro by torturing her with Beatrice's assistance, and fully realizes her own potential as a witch. Gohda and Kumasawa, who had survived the slaughter and escaped capture, inform the cousins in the guesthouse about what happened when they receive a phone call from the hostages telling them to stay in the guesthouse until Kinzo makes preparations to test his grandchildren for the family headship.
Details
- Series
- Umineko: When They Cry
- Season
- Season 1
- Episode
- Episode 22
- Air date
- 2009-11-26
- Runtime
- 23 min
Episode context
Problem Child is Episode 22 in Season 1 of Umineko: When They Cry. It aired on 2009-11-26. The runtime is 23 min.
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Episode 21: Prophylaxis
During her years at Saint Lucia Academy, Ange is distracted from her studies by Maria, Sakutaro, and the Sisters of Purgatory, and is humiliated by her classmates after failing a test. Ange lashes out against her friends for being helpless against the magical resistance of her classmates and denounces them as illusions, prompting Maria to expel her from Mariage Sorcière. Inside the world of her diary, Maria locks herself out of her house with Sakutaro while Rosa is away on vacation with her boyfriend instead of being at work. Upon returning and being confronted by child services, Rosa takes her anger out on Maria and destroys Sakutaro, who Beatrice is unable to resurrect as Rosa created his vessel and has denied his existence. Maria demands to learn magic to kill her mother and avenge Sakutaro. In 1998, Ange finally comprehends what Maria tried to teach her and apologizes to the Sisters of Purgatory and Sakutaro who she is still able to summon, hoping to atone for what she did to Maria
Episode 23: Breakthrough
In 1998, Ange interrogates relatives of the Rokkenjima murder victims and hires a boat captain to take her to Rokkenjima, discovering Sakutaro's torn remains as well. In 1986, the cousins are informed of Kinzo's test from the hostages in Kuwadorian and are forced to lock Gohda and Kumasawa in the storehouse to keep them from interfering. Jessica and George are individually tested by Ronove and Gaap, respectively, and instructed to choose which of the islanders will be next to die: themselves, their true loves (Shannon for George and Kanon for Jessica), or everyone else. Jessica chooses herself for Kanon's sake so that he may live his life to the fullest, while George chooses everyone else as he is willing to go so far for his love for Shannon to be accepted. Unwilling to leave the hostages in the dungeon, however, Jessica and George defiantly engage their respective demons in combat.
More episodes from this season
Episode 20: Zugzwang
Ange briefly withdraws from Beatrice's game to confront Maria over her denial of being neglected by Rosa, but Maria tells her that she is content with Sakutaro ensuring her mother's love. Beatrice decides to show Ange how she, upon noticing how Maria created a soul for Sakutaro, gave a human body to Sakutaro and named Maria the Witch of Origins, joining forces with her in a witch's alliance called Mariage Sorcière. Ange recounts how she too was once a member of this alliance and learned how to summon the seven Sisters of Purgatory, becoming close friends with Mammon in the process. By the year 1998, however, she loses the ability to use magic, and continues her investigation of the Rokkenjima murders. Before she returns to the game, Ange is confronted by Lambdadelta, who tells her that if Battler defeats Beatrice, he will return to her past self in 1986 while her current self will remain alone, and proposes that Ange can remain with her brother if he continues to fight against Beatrice for eternity.
Episode 24: Adjourn
Jessica and George are about to land their blows when Gaap teleports them into each other, killing both. Temporarily resurrected Jessica calls Battler to warn him. The hostages break out of Kuwadorian, but are killed off until only Kyrie remains. Kyrie calls Battler as well and tells him to believe in witches. Maria is sent off to take her test when Battler receives a call, this time from Beatrice, and goes to meet her, discovering Gohda and Kumasawa dead in the storehouse. Beatrice gives Battler his test: to remember a sin he committed, however, Battler is clueless as to what that may be, much to Beatrice's frustration, prompting her to take her anger out on Kinzo by killing him. Having lost her interest in the game, Beatrice decides to suspend it by deeming Battler unqualified, revealing that his birth mother was not Asumu as he had believed, and claiming that he is not Kinzo's grandson Questioning his own identity, Battler fades and Beatrice retires to the Golden Land with Maria.
Episode 19: End Game
Between 1986 and 1998, Ange leads a harsh, isolated life at St. Lucia Academy, a boarding school Eva sent her to. Between classes, Ange learns about magic from Maria, whose soul is kept alive in her old diary. Maria shows Ange how she was often left at home by Rosa and forced to care for herself with Sakutaro, a stuffed lion doll Rosa made her for her birthday who was brought to life by Maria. In 1998, Ange discovers that she is being hunted for her fortune by her aunt Kasumi, Kyrie's sister, and escapes with assistance from her bodyguard, Amakusa. She begins her journey to Rokkenjima, where she enters Purgatory and becomes Battler's ally against Beatrice under the name "Gretel". To make things more fair for Battler, Ange convinces Beatrice to let Battler use blue text for when he makes his theories. During the family conference in 1986, Kyrie theorizes that Kinzo is already dead, which is why none of them except for Krauss and Natsuhi have supposedly seen him, and that there are actually seventeen people on the island. Battler adopts this theory and states it in blue, but after Krauss and Natsuhi are sent by Kyrie to prove that Kinzo is alive, Kinzo agrees to attend the family conference and settle the argument himself.
Episode 25: Forced move
In 1998, Ange arrives at Rokkenjima and continues on alone with Mammon and Sakutaro, only to be ambushed by Kasumi and her men, who proceed to beat and taunt her mercilessly, and destroy Maria's diary. Noticing that Kasumi is being manipulated by the spirit of Eva-Beatrice, Ange miraculously summons the Sisters of Purgatory despite the large amount of magical resistance present, killing Kasumi and her men. Before vanishing, Eva-Beatrice resurrects the long-dead, human Eva to shoot and kill Ange, though Mammon destroys her gun, allowing Ange to kill Eva and make peace with her own emotions towards her. Ange meets with Bernkastel, who confirms that she is nothing more than a piece in the game between Battler and Beatrice. However, Ange remains determined to save her family.
Episode 18: Swindles
Beatrice resurrects Kanon's spirit for Jessica and defends her against Eva-Beatrice, nearly getting killed in the process. Before Eva-Beatrice can finish her off, Battler brings her to Purgatory to challenge her. Battler theorizes that the real Eva is the culprit, but is unable to explain how Nanjo could have been killed, since Jessica was blind and he was with Eva the whole time. Battler nearly surrenders until Beatrice uses the red truth to "deny" the existence of witches and destroy Eva-Beatrice, leaving the emotionally unstable Eva to kill the other survivors and escape Rokkenjima alive. Battler is brought to the Golden Land where Beatrice and Virgilia suddenly attempt to force him to accept the existence of witches by signing a contract, revealing that Beatrice only pretended to reform to achieve this goal, and that it was Virgilia's strategy to do so. Before they can, Battler is saved by his sister Ange who, twelve years in the future, had been dispatched by Bernkastel to begin a new game. Afterwards, Lambdadelta orders Beatrice to keep winning so that she may be with Bernkastel for eternity. In the year 1998, the resentful, dying Eva grants Ange the name "Beatrice" and the Ushiromiya family headship and fortune. Hoping to find out what really happened to her family in 1986, Ange meets Bernkastel and accepts her offer to save them from Beatrice.
Episode 26: Sacrifice
Ange enters the Golden Land where she happily reunites Maria with Sakutaro and forces Beatrice to continue the game. Battler, however, has lost his soul due to his uncertainty of his own identity. Desperate to revive Battler, Ange confirms his qualifications as Kinzo's grandson, and reveals her own identity as his sister to him, successfully restoring him. Having broken the most important rule as a piece in the game to keep her identity a secret, however, Ange dies. With Battler's resolve strengthened and Beatrice realizing she cannot escape the game, the two engage each other in their final confrontation, with Battler's blue truth against Beatrice's red truth. Kinzo's spirit appears to protect Beatrice, but Battler dispels him in blue by confirming his death not only at the start of the fourth game, but every game thus far; however, Beatrice confirms in red that there are actually no more than seventeen people on Rokkenjima. Nevertheless, Battler manages to explain all four games through human means, while Beatrice is left completely skewered by his blue truth, but unable to die. Beatrice begs Battler to kill her and presents him the last mystery she is able to give: since Battler is the only person left alive on the island, and yet Beatrice is also there to kill him, Beatrice asks, "Who am I?" Understanding Beatrice's plight, Battler promises to solve her final mystery and put an end to her suffering. Bernkanstel and Lambdadelta, however, intend to keep Beatrice in the game, torturing her for eternity.
Episode 17: Promotion
Battler decides to give Beatrice another chance to change her ways, so Beatrice goes to the real world to visit George, who is still grieving over Shannon's death, and offers to bring Shannon back to life. However, her powers have greatly diminished, but with George's assistance, she manages to resurrect Shannon. Sensing this, Eva-Beatrice kills George and Shannon shortly after they reunite, along with Krauss and Natsuhi in the process. Shortly after the survivors discover the bodies, Jessica accuses Eva of being the culprit. Eva panics and accidentally fires her rifle at Jessica, blinding her with the muzzle flash. While Nanjo escorts Jessica away to treat her, Jessica insists he go back to keep Battler out of danger, but Nanjo is killed by Eva-Beatrice before he can, leaving Jessica completely defenseless.
Episode 16: Queening Square
After the bodies of Rosa and Maria are found, Rudolf, Kyrie, and Hideyoshi go to retrieve food from the mansion, only to be trapped inside by Eva-Beatrice. Two Stakes of Purgatory, Leviathan and Belphegor, are sent to kill Rudolf and Kyrie, though they manage to outmaneuver and defeat them. Eva-Beatrice summons more powerful furniture, the Siesta Sisters, who successfully kill Rudolf and Kyrie. Hideyoshi confronts Eva-Beatrice to knock sense into her, but is killed by her as well. Beatrice berates Eva-Beatrice for ignoring her advice, but Eva-Beatrice tells her off, revealing she knows that acting dignified is only a means for Beatrice to get back in Battler's good graces in Purgatory. However, Battler is convinced to continue playing with Beatrice if he is to make any progress, though he still refuses to forgive her. Virgilia, meanwhile, meets with Beatrice and encourages her to act more passively if she is to make Battler accept witches.
Episode 15: Isolated Pawn
Eva is discovered by Rosa and leaves to discuss how Kinzo's gold should be divided among the siblings. The young Eva, however, refuses to share the gold and remains behind, declaring herself to be the head of the Ushiromiya family. Acknowledging the young Eva's achievement, Beatrice appears and dubs her the new "Beatrice", whom Battler deems to be an alter ego for the real Eva. Later, Eva falls ill, and Rosa takes a whining Maria outside to spare Eva from her tantrum. They are suddenly attacked by Eva-Beatrice, who repeatedly kills and resurrects them in bizarre ways. Beatrice takes pleasure in the scene, but ends up enraging Battler, who refuses to play with her any longer. Dejected, Beatrice confronts Eva-Beatrice and mercifully kills Rosa and Maria once and for all, ordering her successor to act more dignified and reasonable in the future.
Episode 14: Positional play
Beatrice and her predecessor engage in a magic battle, though a surprise attack allows Beatrice to kill her teacher. Battler is bewildered by the entire spectacle, but regains his composure when the former Beatrice, under the new name Virgilia, reappears and gives him advice for countering Beatrice's claims, allowing him to deny that the witches' battle ever took place. In the real world, the siblings discover the bodies of Kinzo and the servants, each locked in a room containing the key to the next locked room, forming one large locked room. With Virgilia's guidance, Battler theorizes that one of the six victims is the murderer, created five of the locked rooms, and then died in an accident in the sixth room, forcing Beatrice to concede this round. Meanwhile, Eva, urged on by the vision of her younger self, solves the riddle of Beatrice's epitaph and discovers Kinzo's hidden gold.