LOVE THAT GOES UNSEEN

RAHM JETHANI - Writer, 3rd Year, English

When we say “slay,” we literally mean “murder.”

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI!

Umineko no Naku Koro ni is a complex, intricate multi-layered story. Using its extremely long runtime, the story delves into many complicated and nuanced subjects with attention, delicacy, and care. Standout themes that Umineko addresses include how parents treating their children poorly can lead to generational trauma, how processing loss and grief in conjunction with feelings of denial and revenge makes pain linger, and how deadset convictions can both break and heal the human spirit. Each of these kinds of philosophies are discussed in-depth, with arguments presented to readers on all the different angles of the topic. From there, readers are meant to take all the information they’ve been given and work out for themselves which viewpoint they choose to believe. As a result, reading Umineko can feel extremely philosophically rewarding. However, there’s one subject matter that doesn’t get elaborated on, and the lack of elaboration or discussion leads to a popular viewpoint and interpretation that can feel disturbing. This is the issue of sexuality, specifically with regards to the character(s) of Sayo/Lion. However, through love, I believe ‘it’ can be seen.

Ushiromiya Lion was born a man, and subsequently hid that fact from everyone, due to discomfort and shame surrounding the circumstances of their birth. Most characters in the story don’t even know Lion’s gender, and even when asked, Lion refuses to elaborate. Likewise, since Lion is an alternative version of Yasuda Sayo, the same nuance is given to that character as well, with Sayo assuming two personalities of different genders, Shannon and Kanon. This presentation alone is not disturbing; Sayo’s and Lion’s choices to display non-conventionally raise no issues. However, the problem comes with how this non-conformity is portrayed to affect Sayo’s mental state.

Lion is the version of Sayo that was accepted by the Ushiromiya family, and as a result, is a stable and normal human being. However, Sayo was never originally accepted; not by the Ushiromiya family due to their illegitimacy, and not by Battler who forgot his promise to Shannon. As a result, Sayo goes mad when Battler returns to Rokkenjima, which is the crux of the myth of Beatrice and the Ushiromiya family murders. While emotional justification is given to the motivations of Sayo, there is still an uncomfortable insinuation made by some that their madness may be, in part, due to their repressed sexual identity and unrealized relationship with Battler. Umineko itself gives no philosophical implications one way or the other about this possibility, but the lack of elaboration, especially given other subjects presented in the story, is confusing. As a result, to make sense of Sayo’s condition, I think it’s necessary to extrapolate meaning from the alternative reality, where Ushiromiya Lion exists with someone who cares for them.

To start off, it is necessary to say this: Ushiromiya Lion and Willard H. Wright are a cute couple. While their romance isn’t at the forefront of any part of the story, their interactions are fun, sweet, and wholesome, despite the situations they find themselves in during Bernkastel’s game. Will and Lion are both reserved people, sharing many other similar personality traits as well. However, breaking the “opposites attract” mentality, their relationship of logical banter with each other builds over the course of the episode, and culminates at the end where Will selflessly fights life-and-limb to save Lion from Bernkastel’s cats. While they may have a simple relationship, it is still a solid, good one.

In this reality, Lion is given care and love, both by the Ushiromiya family and by a romantic interest. This contrasts with Sayo’s reality, where neither is able to be given. As a result, one may draw the relatively simple conclusion that the lack of a nurtured upbringing is more likely to have caused Sayo’s madness rather than any sort of sexual or romantic-repression-fueled outburst. The fact that Lion is able to exist and express in the ways they want to, with the support of Will and the Ushiromiya family, is a major testament to the power love has upon the human psyche. And so once again, as is often the case with Umineko, without love it cannot be seen.