Ougon Musou Kyoku – Golden Fantasia (PC/Xbox360 Game)

After the first season of Umineko No Naku Koro Ni (When the Seagulls Cry), comes Ougon Musou Kyoku! Also called Golden Fantasia, this awesome 2D doujin fighting game was produced and released by Ryukishi07 together with his team. You get to fight alongside both Battler and the evil Golden Witch Beatrice herself in this alternate universe of Umineko. Time to spin a whole new tale with the mysterious events revolving Rokkenjima Island! Welcome to the Symphony of Golden Dreams!

Let me just say first that I fell in love with this game at first sight because of the fact that it supports up to 1080p Full HD resolution, and not show even a single crappy pixel from both the 2D characters and 3D environment while playing! After launching, the game starts with a dark yet nice Victorian-esque opening that introduces the ten playable characters.

With its 2 vs 2 battle system, you get to select among Battler, Ange, Beatrice, Virgilia, Eva Beatrice, Lucifer, Ronove, Shannon, Kanon and Siesta 410. In the 1.10 patch, Jessica Ushiromiya is added in the roster of characters, but cannot be played in the Arcade Mode.

The modes in the game are simple and just like any other: Arcade Mode, where you get to pick two characters and play through a number of battles, and get an ending depending on the pair you choose; Versus Mode, where you get to fight with a friend, AI, watch replay matches and even play online with people from all over the world; Training Mode, the place for you to hone your skills and also find out about those glitches in the game that bring about infinite combos; and of course, Options. Click here for the English translations in the Options and Training menu, as well as how to play online.

The computer AI is quite good and worthy of human matches. But I have to say that in the Arcade Mode, the AI gets tougher and harder to beat as you play along. Not to mention irritating you without fail by spamming you with their long range moves. Ronove and Virgilia are usually the ones who get on my nerves.

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Review

Umineko No Naku Koro Ni, or When Seagulls Cry / When They Cry 3, is the successor to the exceptional anime Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (When Cicadas Cry) by Ryukishi07, but didn’t quite rate as great for many. Most were probably turned off by this show because they were expecting something Higurashi-like. Although Umineko sports similar concepts (parallel dimensions, grotesque murders, misery) reminiscent of its predecessor, it takes on a risky yet new approach by dwelling away from mystery-solving to a battle of wits between magic and reality using logic and reasoning.

It has its flaws and didn’t quite make the legendary impact Higurashi did, but the good things found in this anime still outweighs the bad. And I still love it nonetheless.

Plot: In year 1986, the annual family conference of the Ushiromiyas is held at their private property Rokkenjima Island. The four family members, along with their spouses and children, arrive at the island to discuss how the assets will be divided among them once the old and near-dead family head, Kinzo Ushiromiya, passes away. Shortly after, a typhoon traps them in the island and bizarre things started to happen where people in the island start dying.

Coming Soon: The All New Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira!

The anime production company Frontier Works announced in their official Twitter account that a new OVA series, Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira, is going to launch to mark the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni horror franchise’s 10th anniversary. There will be 4 new episodes in this OVA.

Of course, the original creators Ryukishi07 and 07th expansion produced the story while having Toshifumi Kawase again supervise the scripts. Hideki Tachibana will be the new director. I hope he won’t stray far off from the Higurashi feel. That is – killer lolis!

Based from Wikia:

The first volume will adapt the original software’s Batsukoishi-hen storyline, while the remaining volumes will have all-new original stories. There will be limited edition volumes with deluxe bonus extras, as well as regular edition volumes.

Higurashi: When They Cry Review

I never really watched anime that much anymore after high school, but this got me hooked me up again. I found out about Higurashi when a friend who went to Japan gave me Deformation Maniac Figures of some of its characters. I got curious on what kind of anime it was, and voila! I was watching again before I knew it.

Synopsis: The story is set in a fictional rural village of Hinamizawa of 1983. Our protagonist Keiichi Maebara, who recently moves in, befriends his new classmates (Rena, Mion, Satoko and Rika) and participates in after-school club activities comprised mostly of card and board games. The village may seem peaceful and ordinary at first, but that all comes to an end at the village’s annual Watanagashi (Cotton-Drifting) Festival – to pay homage to their local god, Oyashiro-sama – when Keiichi discovers that for the past four years, one is always murdered and one disappears on the day of the festival. Keiichi is then drawn to the strange events happening, and the truth is slowly revealed.