Music To My Ears (formerly A Musical Journey) posts chronicle a sampling the great music of a particular series, franchise, etc. Posts probably tend to be skewed towards videogames, but can cover anything with a great soundtrack behind it (TV shows, anime, movies, etc.). If you have a music track from the series discussed that you like, comment and it may be added to the post!

As mentioned in my last blog post, I will unrelentingly plug the heck out of Umineko every chance I get – it’s a fantastic sound novel series. The series can be described as a mystery novel with unique supernatural and psychogical elements. Check the last post (http://www.brianorchosky.com/blog/?p=144) for details on how to start diving into the series. Umineko is split into eight parts in total. This post only focuses on the first four parts: Legend Of The Golden Witch, Turn Of The Golden Witch, Banquet Of The Golden Witch, and Alliance Of The Golden Witch. The next four episodes (which have even better music!) will have their own post soon.

For some of these songs, I am unsure which episode they first appear in. I believe I made a note of those.

Umineko no Naku Koro ni

First off, there’s the theme to the whole series. The intro isn’t quite as good as the rest of the song, at least in my opinion, but hey, it sets up the mood, I guess. Anyway, at 1:24, the intro ends, giving way into the main theme, which is probably best described as a dance. That’s what comes to mind while listening to it. Rokkenjima is about to become host to some crazy stuff, including witches, murders and logic battles settled by nothing more than duct tape. Note: Lyrics to the song are found on the video page.

System 0 (Legend Of The Golden Witch)

Unlike most of the other songs on this list, I know exactly where this one first plays within the episode. Each episode contains a number of tricks performed by the culprit, and this is played during one such trick. There are about 8 or so people in a locked room, which the survivors barricade themselves in to escape the mystery murderer and keep watch over each other. A letter by the culprit appears in a spot where it wasn’t a second beforehand, which implies the culprit is locked up with them!… or was it a witch who did it after all? System 0 captures the extreme tension that results as suspicion runs wild and nobody trusts anyone.

Dead Angle (Legend Of The Golden Witch)

This is a good ‘train of thought’ song, but it also has other uses.

Bring The Fate (Legend Of The Golden Witch)

While this first appears at the end of Legend, it actually holds more significance for me when it plays in the middle of Requiem, in a particularly powerful scene… which I can’t really describe because of spoilers. Oh well. Anyway, the song has a unique vibe to it. If you didn’t know any better, you think something good had just happened, but that’s not really the case either time it plays…

Answer (Turn Of The Golden Witch)

This is played whenever Battler and Beatrice are ready to battle, among other times. After 0:40 or so, we hear some nice piano playing. This is definitely not the last we hear of Dai’s epic piano skillz.

Worldend Dominator (Turn Of The Golden Witch)

I’m not really sure where this plays, but I know it’s introduced no later than Banquet. This plays when there’s a magical battle going on, for example, when Rosa faces an army of evil demon goat butlers. Did I mention weird stuff would happen on Rokkenjima?

Dir (Turn Of The Golden Witch)

More piano. This is a similar song to Answer, in that it plays before Battler and Beatrice start a logic battle/game.

F Style (Banquet Of The Golden Witch)

I do not remember where this is used in the first four episodes, but I do know this is used in the fifth, where Battler, with help from an unexpected source, goes through the huge mystery of Kinzo’s epitaph again and starts to close in on the truth.

In The Sun (Alliance Of The Golden Witch)

Again, I’m not sure where this plays in the first four episodes. I first heard it at the beginning of Episode 6, where Kanon and Shannon are enjoying a nice conversation. The song is quite peaceful and lighthearted. This was a standout piece for me when I first heard it.

Thanks For Being Born (Alliance Of The Golden Witch)

“Battler Ushiromiya, right now, on this island, no one exists except for you. You’re the only one alive on this island. However, I’m here right now and I’m about to kill you. Who… am I?”

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