Umineko no Naku Koro ni

Umineko no Naku Koro ni (うみねこのなく頃に) is a Japanese media mix franchise created by 07th Expansion. It is a part of 07th Expansion's wider When They Cry franchise. The story focuses on the Ushiromiya family and their servants, all of whom are on a secluded island for a period of two days while beset by mysterious murders. Incorporating elements of fantasy and metafiction, the goal of the each story is to discern not only the identity of the murderer, but whether the culprit is even human at all.

The franchise began with the release of the sound novel {{legend}} in 2007. The series continued for a total of eight sound novels, all of which were written by Ryukishi07 and published by 07th Expansion. Square Enix, Ichijinsha, Kadokawa Shoten, and ASCII Media Works all published various manga adaptations of the series, all written by Ryukishi07. Kodansha Box published a series of light novels also written by Ryukishi07. The series was also made into a 26-episode anime by Studio Deen, which aired in Japan between July and December 2009. The game was re-released by Alchemist under the name Umineko no Naku Koro ni ~Rondo of the Witch and Reasoning~ with updated graphics on December 16th, 2010. A fighting game based on the franchise was released by 07th Expansion on December 31, 2010.

The word umineko is the name of a type of seagull known as the black-tailed gull. Naku means to make sound (鳴く), specifically referring to the sounds made by non-human organisms. According to the original creator, Ryukishi07, the red character Na ( な ) in the logo is an official part of the title.

List of sound novels

 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni
 * {{legend}}
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)
 * (compilation)

The sound novels were accompanied by a series of guidebooks published by Futabasha, named Shinsou Kaimei Dokuhon.

Anime series
A 26-episode anime adaptation based on the visual novel series aired in Japan between July 2 and December 24, 2009 on Chiba TV, and aired on additional stations at later times. The anime is produced by the animation studio Studio Deen, directed by Chiaki Kon, and written by Toshifumi Kawase. The opening theme of the anime is "Katayoku no Tori" (片翼の鳥) by Akiko Shikata, and the ending theme is "La Divina Tragedia: Makyoku" (la divina tragedia～魔曲～) by Jimang from Sound Horizon. The singles for both songs were released on August 19 and September 16, 2009, respectively. The anime is licensed by NIS America for release in North America and was released in two Blu-ray Disc compilation volumes in December 2012.

Manga

 * Manga released in English
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni
 * {{legend}} (1, 2, 3, 4)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
 * (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
 * Manga not released in English
 * Umineko Biyori: Rokkenjima e Yōkoso!!
 * Umineko Dōri no Peru-san
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode X
 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni Shi: Forgery of the Purple Logic
 * ''Ōgon Musōkyoku

Drama CDs
Frontier Works began to produce a set of drama CDs for Umineko starting with the first volume Ōgon no Kakeratachi (黄金のカケラたち) released on June 24, 2009. The second volume, Ōgon Chō no Miru Yume wa (黄金蝶の見る夢は) followed on July 23, 2009. The voice cast is the same as the anime.

Novels
Kodansha Box released novelizations of the visual novel arcs, written by Ryukishi07 and illustrated by Tomohi, in two volume sets, beginning with Legend of the Golden Witch released on July 1, 2009 for volume one and August 4, 2009 for volume two. Fifteen volumes were released in total, with the last released on September 30, 2018, novelizing the last arc in one volume.

Video game
A dōjin 2D fighting game produced by 07th Expansion titled Ōgon Musōkyoku was released on December 31, 2010 at Comiket 79. An append disc, titled Golden Fantasia Cross, was released at Comiket 81 in December 2011. In addition, an Xbox 360 port of the original game developed by Alchemist was released on October 6, 2011 under the title Golden Fantasia X.

Internet radio show
An Internet radio show titled Umineko no Naku Koro ni Episode R: Radio of the Golden Witch aired ten episodes between August 26, 2009 and January 13, 2010. Produced by Animate TV, the show was hosted by Sayaka Ohara (the voice of Beatrice in the anime adaptation) and featured numerous guests who were also voice actors from the anime such as Daisuke Ono (Battler Ushiromiya) and Marina Inoue (Jessica Ushiromiya). A special episode was later aired on April 28, 2010 featuring Rina Satō (Ange Ushiromiya) and Ryukishi07 as guests. Two CD compilation volumes containing two CDs each were released on December 23, 2009 and January 27, 2010 compiling the ten main episodes.

Trivia

 * Umineko no Naku Koro ni is sometimes referred to as "Seacats", a result of the fact that the Japanese words "umi" and "neko" separately mean "sea" and "cat".