The summer anime season is closing in, and there is a show starting in July that I have on my radar as very promising. That's why I finally brought myself to reading it's source material - the Umineko no naku koro ni sound novel.

A sound novel is a term used by the 07th Expansion - the creators of the novels. From what we can gather, it can be used as a synonym to 'kinetic novel' - as you don't have any choices in the story, you just read. In Umineko, the sound has another meaning though - it has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a long time. Notice that it's a doujinshi. On the other hand, while it's a doujin, it has really... Unique art. Some might say even ugly (especially the backgrounds) and the chara desing is apart from clothes really no eye candy.

But the power lays on the story. Many people have heard of or have seen Higurashi no naku koro ni, which is also based on a 07th Expansion VN. It's a psycho thriller, while Umineko is a psycho murder mystery. I hope they don't screw it up in the adaptation - if not, it will be a nice mindfuck indeed.

I'm reading episode 1 at the moment. There are 4 episodes out, which have also been translated to english by The Witch Hunt.

The trailer for the animu:

Witch Hunt translation project: http://witch-hunt.com