Higurashi no Naku Koro ni originated as a visual novel written by Ryukishi07 which was released in 2002. By 2006, the visual novel series was complete, and the story had garnered enough of a following to earn an anime release. The rest is blood-spattered history. While Higurashi has enjoyed a plethora of animated features based on its locale and characters, its successor series, Umineko no Naku Koro ni, has received less animated attention.
Ryukishi07 started Umineko in 2007 and released the final novel in 2010. While the series did get a 26-episode anime run in 2009, but much of the visual novel was never animated. This left many Umineko fans and viewers of the anime predictably miffed. However, there may be reason for them to rejoice after the 2020 release of Higurashi: Gou. Ryukishi07 has long claimed that there has been a relationship between Higurashi and Umineko and has teased it in the visual novels. While the Umineko anime suggests a connection with Higurashi, there are even more clues to be found buried within Higurashi: Gou.
10 Eua Is Strikingly Similar To Featherine Augustus Aurora, The Witch Of Theatergoing, Drama, & Spectating
Much like how the characters can loop back in time in Higurashi, Umineko takes place in an alternate dimension with witches who can reset the series' various murder scenarios. They are powerful otherworldly beings who play literal board games using humans as their "pieces." Since witches live forever, they use these games to escape eternal boredom, often at their pieces' expense. Featherine is known for being particularly disdainful of boredom and is always looking for interesting new pieces for her entertainment. Eua's demeanor and treatment of Satoko is like déjà vu for the Umineko aficionado.
9 Rika And Satoko's Friendly Banter Mimics Bernkastel & Lambdadelta's Rivalry
Rika and Satoko have long been game buddies but the new series goes out of its way to point this out. Rika jokes that her soul has been stained as black as Satoko's, to which Satoko satisfyingly replies that that's the Rika she knows and loves. This, coupled with the fact that Rika called their club games that day "too wholesome" for them, is reminiscent of a conversation between the Umineko witches Bernkastel and Lambdadelta if they were far more innocent.
8 Satoko Brazenly Claims That Her Victory Over Rika Will Be "Certain," Something Lambdadelta Is Known For
In Umineko, Lambdadelta is the Witch of Certainty who has the power to grant wishes and set someone's fate in stone. The similarities with Satoko don't end there, as they're both arrogant tricksters who hate to lose.
When Satoko made this proclamation at the very end of the last episode of Higurashi: Gou, all the Umineko lovers out there quickly surmised that Lambdadelta was somehow involved with Satoko's looping.
7 Satoko's Claim That She Will Win The Battle Of Endurance Is Something Lambdadelta Would Approve Of
At the end of Part 5 of the Village-Destroying Chapter, Satoko diligently sits through a 100-year marathon of Rika's past lives. And once it's over, she ardently claims that she will win the battle of wills with Rika. Satoko knows her work is cut out for her since she's now fully aware of Rika's determination to leave the Hinamizawa of 1983. Lambdadelta is known as a witch who rewards hard workers and enjoys watching them fight for their goals.
6 Satoko Is Suddenly & Passionately Proclaiming Her Love For Rika In A Manner Resembling Lambdadelta
Satoko wasn't known for expressing her love for Rika prior to Higurashi: Gou, but this series makes it a point to showcase her emotions. In Umineko, Lambdadelta frequently and enthusiastically declares her love for Bernkastel and is borderline obsessed with her. Satoko is also becoming quite possessive of Rika, with her major goal being to live in Hinamizawa with Rika forever. Likewise, Lambdadelta is determined to keep Bernkastel stuck in a game of wits with her forever.
5 Rika Called The Memory Accumulation Across Fragments "Miracles," Which Is What Bernkastel Is Known For
When Satoko is speaking to Eua, she mentions that she noticed memory accumulating in the worlds she has been resetting. Eua responds that Rika referred to those as "miracles". Bernkastel is the Witch of Miracles whose special power is part of her name: creating miracles. More specifically, Bernkastel can change the outcome of a bad situation as long as the possibilities are not zero. This power is remarkably similar to what Rika managed to pull off while trying to escape Hinamizawa.
4 Eua Drops A More Subtle Hint When She Calls Rika A "Cat"
There are several implications to unpack here. For starters, Rika has long been associated with cats. She has worn cat ears and tails during punishment games and has mimicked cat sounds many times in Higurashi. But more importantly, Umineko is explicit in referring to Bernkastel as a cat. For instance, a cat tail is part of her character design, different characters in the visual novels call her a cat, and she even uses black cats as part of her magic when she fights.
3 Rika's Escape Of The Hinamizawa Of 1983 Is Similar To Bernkastel's Backstory
In Umineko, witches can become stuck in their games if they commit a logic error. Logic errors are contradictions that can appear in the story they're creating on the game board. Witches have only two options when a logic error appears: admit they messed up and destroy the gameboard or solve the error.
Furthermore, witches are unable to do anything else until the error is fixed. Bernkastel is one of the only witches to survive a logic error. Surviving one of these errors can take hundreds of years and is likened to torture, exactly what Rika had to go through when trying to escape Hinamizawa.
2 Satoko Is Granted The Power To Loop & Lambdadelta Was Once A Human Who Was Stuck In A Logic Error
Eua gives Satoko the power to loop in Part 4 of the Village-Destroying Chapter, potentially tying her to Lambdadelta. Like Bernkastel, Lambdadelta is one of the few witches to survive a logic error and make references to her past life as a human in the Umineko visual novels. Specifically, Lambdadelta states that her human self was quite the daredevil in Twilight of the Golden Witch, Chapter 8. Considering Satoko has brazenly killed herself to loop back in time over the most trivial of matters, it's possible she’s becoming Lambdadelta.
1 Takano's Unwillingness To Inject Tomitake With H173 Prompts Satoko to Create A Logic Error
When Satoko asked for Eua to make Rika remember past fragments, she inadvertently intensified other characters' abilities to remember their past misdeeds. Since Takano feels increasingly guilty about her secret plot, Satoko has to take her place in trapping Rika by fabricating Level 4 and 5 Hinamizawa Syndrome in villagers by injecting them with H173.
If Satoko is to ever reach a Hinamizawa where she and Rika will live happily forever, she will need to keep trying until Rika gives up. And it's worth noting that Bernkastel was born from Rika's despair as she struggled to break free of Lambdadelta's logic error.