They/Them Beware Umineko spoilers. If I like something, and I will want to see it again, I will repost it. Formerly known as pesadilla001. PFP by @crocrubies
Was thinking about Umineko lately, and namely the antagonists in Umineko, of which there are several.
This "hot take" post here calls them to mind:
And here's my own hot take that it led me to: Erika Furudo is one of the most well humanized and developed villains in Umineko, and it makes her one of the most likable. Which on its face seems totally against what we all agree makes Erika Furudo the powerhouse of gloriously over-the-top, wretched, reprehensible villainy that she is: she's the worst little gremlin ever and we love to hate her for that.
Hating on Erika and having fun doing so is a what. How about the why that makes it so possible and so invigorating? The heart of it if you will, ironic given that Erika's fundamental weakness is in how she ignores the heart of any given mystery situation she investigates. When you get down to it, there's honestly very little about Erika's basic overlining characterization that's too terribly unlikable any moreso than other Umineko characters. Even when she has to play an evil role, she's like a Batman villain - sort of a combination of the Riddler, Harley Quinn, Lady Firefly and Killer Moth - who's too fun and extravaggent to loathe too much. Most of what is viscerally hateable and despicable about Erika doesn't really come from Erika alone, but from her master Bernkastel and what she brings out in Erika. Bernkastel is the one who built her up to be the greatest, most specialist and awesomest super detective ever or else. She's the one who hard-wired Erika to behave as terribly as she often does through what Lambda calls a process for creating the Grade A Bully (abuse and demean person repeatedly, then give that person power). She's the one who, as Erika's master, directly assigns Erika to all of her objectives and either orders or encourages the methods she turns to. And she even made Erika her personalized doppelganger piece who shares her blue hair and face (and possibly the name, a play on Rika Furude.) In order to please and recieve the love and praise of such a thoroughly cruel and cold-hearted master, Erika emulates her in being just as cruel and cold-hearted. Whenever Erika morphs into the worst concievable version of herself, it's because she's had Bern's prodding and Bern's permission. Bern and Erika are two identical faces to the same whole menace, and we thus despise them both.
But here's the most twisted and deepest facet of Erika's character: we're shown on a number of occassions that were she not tied to Bern, and was just free to act on her own and follow her own course as the detective she naturally is, Erika would not be an evil person. She is, at her core, a maladjusted, arrogant, unkind, deeply flawed, morally gray antihero type character; not all good, but not truly evil. And this is fundamental in understanding why Erika is how she is and appreciating the value in the role she plays. In the extra meta joke segment of the Umineko special epilogue written by Ryukishi07, Last Note of the Golden Witch, there's a very morbidly humorous sequence where some of Erika's characteristics and some of her deeds are being described to characters who've lost all memory of who Erika was, and their takeaway is that whoever was being described sounds like the worst kind of person in the world who no one would ever want to be friends with or invite to parties. A savage evisceration of Erika's character that she's not even present to hear, but the ironic "punchline" of this bit is that, like Erika herself, all these people are missing the heart, as they cannot remember that heart. For without love, it cannot be seen; they've lost memory of the love they all had for this person along with the dislike and displeasure of her unsavory qualities, so they cannot see what reason there could concievably be to want her around. But when they do all regain their memories of Erika's existence, they revert back to knowing that while Erika may be a pain in their rear ends, she's also a precious friend to them who they cherish and appreciate in spite of her many flaws.
This is what I believe to be the paradox that makes up the core of Erika Furudo's character: she is a character who evokes and earns our irritation, disgust, and hatred of her every step of the journey while also being a character that even we can recognize deserves to be loved and be shown love. We love to hate Erika not simply because she's The Worst, we love to hate Erika because we know she has it in her to be better. And so long as she's being The Worst instead, we relish her comeuppances and hope she gets taught a good lesson from all the mishaps and that maybe, just perhaps, long shot though it may be, it'll help her grow and improve in the long run. Through this she crosses the line into being quite a lovable and popular character, as our own softer feelings on her manifest in five different ways:
- Affectionate endearment and adoring of her cuteness and quirks.
- Amusement at her antics and how humorous she can be.
- Pity and sympathy for her when she's sad, pathetic, in pain, etc.
- Begrudging respect and admiration for her better qualities.
- Even finding her to be distressingly relatable at times! Yes really!
A well known piece of trivia among fans is that much like Princess Azula of Avatar: the Last Airbender fame, the character concept that ultimately became Erika began as a male character - the evil young detective Virgilius, who'd be introduced in EP3 posing as an obscure and overlooked member of the Ushiromiya family, would investigate a dark, brutal version of the Rokkenjima murders that would tie into the origins of Beatrice, and would become Battler's archrival who'd clash with him as a recurring antagonist afterwards. He had only a concept, rough character design, and a few planned scenes to his name before he ended up getting scrapped, but from the look of him, Virigilius was set up to be the Anti-Battler whose character would parallel Battler's own despite the superficial differences. While I'm not the biggest fan of EP2 compared to the other chapters that aren't EP7, I'm ultimately thankful it turned out like it did, as the polarized and confounded fan response led to Ryukishi07 overhauling his plans for the following chapter, replacing Virgilius with the very different Virgilia, and repurposing those original EP3 concepts for EP5. And Erika Furudo as we know her was effected in a major way by two fateful decisions: bumping her debut up to EP5, and making her female. The former tremendously changed up what her dynamic with Battler would be like, having it start off like what was planned for Virgilius but at a more appropriate place in the narrative for that sort of Difficulty Spike in the challenge presented by this character to Battler (rather than Virgilius "beating Battler down to rock bottom" in just the third arc) and then flipping the script completely so that Battler becomes Erika's "Beatrice" and Erika is now Golden Sorceror Battler's own "Battler", making for more interesting and meaningful conflict between them. And the latter meant that rather than be an Evil Counterpart to Battler as Virigilus was going to be, Erika instead became an Evil Counterpart to Ange, being brought in to replace Ange as Bern's piece to use against Lambda and with Ange herself noting the similarities at least twice (which is likely a huge factor in why Ange could so easily forgive Erika after the whole "wanted to marry and rape her big brother" thing, but then again Beato and even Battler himself have no hard feelings about that nasty business...)
Gonna spend the rest of this post with some manga panels from the EP5 adaptation, 'cause while I think Erika's humanizing moments in her subsequent appearances are well known, the manga art for EP5 that allows for more vibrant body language and expressive faces really adds to her and enhances the nuances in her characterization.
Erika's excited enthusiasm for chopsticks is 100% genuine, as is her request for Gohda to bring her chopsticks with which to eat the next dish, 'cause "with a pair of chopsticks, she can eat absolutely any dish!" Except that turns out not to be so, as the next dish is soup. There's a pin drop. Erika is no doubt embarrassed and internally going "Fuck fuck FUCK!" But, she saves face by giving a shrug with an adorably goofy grin on her cute little face, much to everyone's amusement. Of course this is also when everyone starts shilling her to an obnoxious, insufferable degree, but this was a good starting point for Erika's characterization and nice little gesture from her.
The family dinner continues to go well as Erika remains polite and laughs, jokes, and chats with all the others. It's part of her fake good girl routine and doesn't reflect her actual character, but as Jessica puts it, the Ushiromiya conference atmosphere is normally strained and not pleasant to endure. Even if it comes from a disingenuous place, Erika's done a decent thing by livening up the get-together and ensuring that everyone gets to enjoy themselves more than usual.
Note that all this happens before Erika has any reason to despise Battler, nor is she at the point where she wants to use him to find and attain the hidden gold just to spite Jessica and watch how the rest of the family reacts - she actually respects Piece Battler and gets along with him quite well, which is a harbinger for their dynamic to come.
I love that Erika and Dr. Nanjo spent a good many minutes on end just geeking out about different intellectually stimulating topics with each other, and she even uses her famed catchphrase in a joking manner. Granted, Nanjo is a bit inebriated from wine at the moment, but as a funny little aside, Erika says she wouldn't mind being so too!
This is when having someone as bright and genre-savvy as Erika with you during a tense and dangerous situation is a blessing, as she points out why it's both a cliched and terrible idea to split up and look in different places rather than stay together as a group. The scene then escalates into a joke where Erika mocks how easy Beatrice is being to figure out here and how "third-rate" it makes her seem as a culprit before randomly noting that third-rate action movies go in the direction opposite of third-rate horror and mystery stories because the main character can act alone yet always survive. Go figure!
Erika starts to get bored when it's seeming like the mystery isn't going to be an intellectual challenge to think her way through and figure out, and that face of her's conveys that she's not just being snarky here, she is actually getting disspirited by the unfolding of events and had really expected Beatrice to be a worthier opponent.
This is an interesting artistic choice, having a brief panel of Erika's face close up in between Battler's question and Erika giving her cheeky reply. I think she's meant to be thinking "Of course I have a heart. What kind of question is that?", because if she had no heart, she'd never had experienced heartbreak in her past relationship with her unnammed, unseen ex-boyfriend....but that only reminds her that it is because she suffered that heartbreak that she'd much prefer to NOT have a heart, to live in accordance with her mind, intellect and deductive reasoning rather than her heart and feelings for others.
Look at how excited she gets over a closed room! It's so precious! <3
And in another strangely relatable moment for Erika Furudo, she expresses some pleasure at the idea of finding Kinzo dead!
This is Mystery Nerd Erika Furudo fully unleashed. While she gets into smug, insufferable know-it-all territory and displays her lack of empathy by equating the mass murder of 18 people with fictional murders of fictional characters in fictional mystery stories (but to be fair to her, when you come from the Meta Realm and are well aware of the nature of "the gameboard" and "game pieces" in a Witch's Game, it's sort of hard not to have this mental conflation!), it starts off with some genuine gushing and trivia concerning her special interest, which is hard not to find a bit adorable and even identifiable.
After Battler demolishes Erika with facts concerning detective fiction that she didn't know or overlooked, Erika feels humiliated and furious over it, getting visibly flustered and twitchy but trying her best to not lose her cordial front and keep her respect for Battler, both internally and externally. When Battler tests her further, she's brought to the verge of tears from how embarrassed, shown up and shamed she's getting. Even when she's getting back to business as the detective, you can see the tears still in her eyes. Damn, this really cut her deep.
OK, now it's just getting funny. Poor Erika, your ego is so fragile!
Erika was absolutely petrified of having to give her full report of how her investigation's gone and what theories she's come up with to her beloved master. She fears her master will start to hate her and will abuse her verbally, emotionally, and physically for her failings. So Bern seeming to be chill and gracious brings her such visible relief...
....And then Lambda tears into her deductions and theories, ripping them to shreds with Red Truth, and being the most terrifying menace possible. Just look at how Erika takes to it: she's panicked, she's struck by stark horror, she's despairing and feeling violated here!
And there's the abusive treatment from Bern that Erika was fearing! Right after a moment where it looked like her master still had some degree of pride and respect towards her only to cruelly yank the chain and tear her down instead. Erika's horrified face really sells it.
She's the ultimate asshole, but how can you heart not break for her seeing her like this? Even she doesn't deserve to be put through this.
While this is mostly a strange and comical moment where Erika just spontaneously has an outburst at the breakfast table about how she's figured out how Battler was able to pull off an escape from the closed room of Kinzo's Study in an implausible way that he shouldn't have lived through, including saying stuff about her master than no one in the room would understand, this point at the end is just pitiful - Erika is close to shedding tears again and pleading out loud for Bern to forgive her and accept her, to not think her an incompetent failure who can't play her role right, and to not throw her away as her piece.
And then after Bern sends her a sign from above that she heard her plea and understands? We get this. And it's bizarrely wholesome.
This is a particularly interesting bit. Natsuhi tells Erika that she surely must have never really been in love before in her life. Which raises an eyebrow on Erika and she retreats into her head, thinking back to the girl in a shaky, unfaithful relationship that she used to be before she became the great detective and "intellecutal rapist". She dated some guy, she suspected him of being unfaithful to her and invaded his privacy in order to investigate and obtain proof of it, and she was heartbroken by how he threw her out and they broke things off...but in all those memories, she finds no proof that she was ever really, truly in love. And even now, she's never known a loving relationship.
Some really solid fleshing out of this brief line via artwork. When Natsuhi refuses to break down and confess her guilt, still insisting upon her innocence in all the murders (which she's right about, but Erika absolutely needs Natsuhi to be the TRUE "Beatrice" in this case so that Lambda's game can by won for her master and is going to follow the most heartless and twisted logic imaginable in order to reach the solution she wants to reach), Erika's eyes narrow in this very joyless way, shadow falls over her face, her expression glum. Almost like a part of her wanted this case to be wrapped up before she'd have to reach this point and go to the lengths she's about to go to, like she'd hoped she wouldn't have to resort to the slut shamey deduction she'll soon make and feels a bit icky deep down inside that it's about to come to that. She expresses both disdain and pity to Natsuhi, assigning her the blame for what she's about to pull as she was giving her that one chance to avoid it, and Natsuhi refused it.
This is all just so sweet, you almost forgot that Erika's a despicably villainous detective who intends to instill a reign of terror over Beato's gameboard in her master's name, and that Bernkastel is just as despicable for now showering Erika with all the kind treatment and rewards she'd been yearning for from her even when she mistreated her so horribly beforehand and will again horribly mistreat her later.
Just like that, all that kindness from her master, all that she'd been rewarded with, all that good, proud, accomplished feeling she had upon winning the game and becoming the Witch of Truth is gone. Erased. Utterly obliterated. With Lambda sadistically rubbing it in because she gets off on seeing the humiliation of friends and rivals. No wonder Erika undergoes what is by far her most massive mental breakdown in the series at this point and is ready to destroy Battler.
One of the most heartbreaking moments of pity and sympathy for Erika, which is then turned into one of the most heartwarming too. Dlanor comes to Erika's defense and validates the truth she'd managed to pull from this case as being effective and plausible, with Battler also vouching for it since while it can't be definitively proven, it can't be definitively disproved either, both Battler and Dlanor firing shots at Bern by reaffirming it's not a truth that can be written off as pathetic and arbitrarily denied, and Dlanor's vow to protect Erika and her truth finally breaking down all of Erika's walls as she wails and sobs on the floor. Even Lambda seems to find it sweet and pleasing!
Erika Furudo, wherever you are, know that we think you're the Worst Girl and we appreciate you for it. You're bad, and that's <Good>.
Can't help thinking about how fucked up it is that Sayaka gets roped into this whole magical girl stuff, heck, is actively invited into it by mami and kyubey, only to be categorically told that she is not supposed to be there once she steps foot into it. You were never supposed to be one, you were an ignorant bystander in your original timeline, living in blissful ignorance while your friend fights. Your admired upperclassman Mami was never supposed to be your friend, that relationship was always meant for Madoka only. You become a magical girl, and the first other mg you meet, Mami's old friend in fact, attempts to beat you out of the space, with extreme predjudice. You're far weaker than every other girl, and this is repeatedly pointed out to you, specifically by the creature that coerced you to fight. You entirely lack the 'potential' to change the world. In every single timeline you become a magical girl, you become a witch, your cosmic punishment for encroaching in a space you were never meant to be. All you ever wanted was to do right by others and yet you're punished for this over and over- because this world of magical girls never wanted you. Not to mention her wish. Over and over again, Sayaka is punished for wanting, for desiring to be more than she is right now. She was destined to be an ignorant bystander and punished for defying that- except she never really had a choice in getting wrapped up in the situation either.
And then your best friend rewrites that universe, and becomes a god. She, your beloved friend who you love and loves you in turn, respects your choices, sees the path you took and accepts it, not as the actions of an irrational interloper, but as your own actions, born from a reasonable set of decisions. She keeps you by her side. You become God's right hand. There is a place for you.
MADOKA - “I’m thinking I’ll order a beef udon bowl, since Sayaka-chan told me that they make those really good here. What about you, Homura-chan?”
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY - Food needs can be met with an expenditure of 1.23% of total magic. Proceed?
GRIEF SYNDROME [Trivial: Success] - MAGICAL GIRLS THAT IGNORE FOOD ARE OFTEN MORE PRONE TO GRIEF ACCUMULATION. MY ARMS WILL ALWAYS BE WAITING FOR YOU, HOMURA, BUT IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE HAPPY UNTIL THAT DAY. BESIDES, MADOKA WANTS TO EAT WITH YOU. DISAPPOINTING HER WILL FILL YOUR SOUL GEM WITH A HALF A GRIEF SEED WORTH OF DESPAIR.
TEA WITH MAMI-SAN [Legendary: Success] - Sayaka says the beef bowl is good? Maybe go for that. She knows Madoka’s tastes better than anyone — and if Madoka likes something, you will certainly like it too.
“I will have the same as you, Madoka.”
“I’m not feeling very hungry.”
[CALL AND RESPONSE - Medium 10] Come up with an order on your own
CALL AND RESPONSE - [Medium: Failure] - You’ve eaten here before, you’re pretty sure. Was it Loop 32… no, Loop 12..? No, wait, it was on the first Friday of Loop 68. No… that’s not right. You’ve never eaten here before. In a stunning display of incompetence, you have taken Madoka on a date to a restaurant that you have never experienced before.
THE ANGEL - It’s okay, Homura-chan! I don’t mind if you haven’t eaten here before. Remember what real me said, Sayaka thinks this place is good! And even if it’s not perfect, that’s okay, just spending time with you makes me happy.
THE CRAVEN MASSES - Sayaka has raised her blade against Madoka 16 times before. You should leave this restaurant and kill her. It would only take-
FALLING SAND [Trivial: Success] - 1528 seconds on average.
CONSERVATION OF ENERGY - It can be cut down to 1243 seconds with an expenditure of 2.7% of total magic pool.
THE CRAVEN MASSES - Exactly. Do it in front of her family and make it bloody. Kyoko would likely try and stop you, but even she isn’t immune to bullets. And if Mami comes for revenge, well, you know the exact words you could say that would destroy her, don’t you?
THE ANGEL - A-Ah, I think that’s a bit of an extreme reaction, Homura-chan!
HUMAN SHELL - Your heart rate is increasing. Stop that. You have absolute control over your flesh. Act like it.
MOE INSTINCT - AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT ARE WE GOING TO ORDER MADOKA IS GOING TO LAUGH AT US
WITCH’S NIGHT - Is… is this a trap? Walpurgis may be defeated, but you know that the stage witch never truly ceases its show. Perhaps this restaurant is a part of the stage?
MADOKA - “Um, are you okay, Homura-chan?”
MOE INSTINCT - OH GOD SHE HATES US
“I’m going to kill myself.”
“I’m so sorry. Would killing myself make you feel more comfortable?”
Isn’t there anything else you can say?
YOU - Isn’t there anything else you can say?
THE DEVIL - Come on, Homura. It’s high time you do it. Really, this is just another in the long, long chain of failures that make up your life. The only way to fix it is to kill yourself.
CLOCKWORK PRECISION - Target: Located on right ring finger. Target is not moving. Chance to hit: High. Plan: Retrieve pistol. Aim pistol at ring. Pull trigger.
THE ANGEL - Oh my god, please do not do that!
"I am going to kill myself."
"I'm so sorry, I'll kill myself if it makes you feel better."
"I'm so sorry. Should I kill myself?"
There. There has to be better options than this.
YOU - There. There has to be better options than this.
MOE INSTINCT - I CAN’T TAKE IT ANY MORE. THE ONLY RECOURSE IS IMMEDIATE SUICIDE. THAT’S THE ONLY WAY MADOKA WILL LOVE YOU AGAIN.
"I am going to kill myself."
"I'm so sorry, I'll kill myself if it makes you feel better."
"I'm so sorry. Should I kill myself?"
YOU - “I’m going to kill myself.”
MADOKA - Madoka’s face twists, her eyebrows raising slightly in shock. Whatever response she was expecting, it was clearly not this.
GRIEF SYNDROME [Challenging: Success] - IF MADOKA WAS A MAGICAL GIRL, HER SOUL GEM WOULD FILL BY A QUARTER HEARING YOU SPEAK THOSE WORDS. THAT WAS CRUEL, HOMURA.
MOE INSTINCT - WHY DID YOU SAY THAT?
MADOKA - “I’m so sorry, Homura-chan. Please don’t do that. I… I really care about you and so does everyone else.” Madoka’s eyes fill with tears as she speaks. She hugs you.
DAMAGED MORALE -4
CALL AND RESPONSE [Trivial: Success] - Quick, tell her you were making an edgy joke that didn’t land. You’ve gotten away with that before, you’re pretty sure.
SPACE-TIME MASSACRE - Twelve quarter shifts left and two up from your current space-time position, and there’s a Japan that it’s actually illegal to not commit suicide in.
FALLING SAND - You’ve been seated for 5 minutes and 32.5 seconds already and still have not ordered. Mami has requested your presence at her apartment in 3.4 hours from now.
TEA WITH MAMI-SAN - She wants to help you find a hobby. She’s really worried about you, you know.
STRINGS OF FATE - You can feel Madoka’s heart beat in sync with yours as she holds you. Everything will be alright, as long as you follow the beat.
THE ANGEL - Yeah! It’s okay Homura-chan. Just explain what’s been going on and Madoka will understand. And then order something, it’s important to eat a full meal!
YOU - “Ah, sorry Madoka. I was… overwhelmed with choice, and my… brain spit out the first thing it thought. I am not planning on killing myself.”
MADOKA - “Um, I think we should probably talk about this more, Homura-chan….”
CALL AND RESPONSE - Ask her a question to change the topic. It’s worked in three different loops, it should work here.
RATIONALITY COMPLEX [Trival: Success] - Ask her if she wants to try anything else and then order that for yourself. This will accomplish your goal of deciding on what to order, as well as showing Madoka that her desires are important to you.
YOU - “Is there anything else you’d like to try, Madoka? We can share our dishes.”
MADOKA - “Uh, okay Homura-chan. Maybe get some tempura?”
Order 10000 yen worth of tempura
Order 1000 yen worth of tempura
Order 100 yen worth of tempura
YOU - “Excuse me waiter, give me 10000 yen worth of tempura.”
HUMAN SHELL - Calories and magic are just two different types of fuel. Feed me and control me.
THE ANGEL - T-that’s probably too much, Homura-chan. Maybe you can sneak some into your cool shield, though!
MADOKA - Madoka doesn’t say anything, but her eyes do bulge out slightly. She gives you a gentle pat on the shoulder and smiles at you.
HEALED MORALE +1
RATIONALITY COMPLEX - Displays of wealth like this can broadcast value to potential mates. This will increase your value in Madoka’s eyes, furthering along one of your goals.
THE ANGEL - I think you should just focus on enjoying the food, Homura-chan. Take a break, everything is okay.
Thank you.
Why don’t you hate me?
YOU - Why don’t you hate me?
THE ANGEL - Because I care about you, Homura-chan! And besides, you hate yourself far too much already.
Thank you.
THE ANGEL - You’re welcome! Now, please, enjoy your meal with real Madoka. She loves you a lot too, you know.
