Short for Umineko no Naku Koro ni, a badass murder-mystery
anime series aired in Japan between July 2nd and December 24th, 2009. It deals with the events that unfold on the fictional island of Rokkenjima when the head of an incredibly rich family calls the entire family to the island to discuss the distribution of the family's wealth in the event of the head's death.
However, mysterious deaths start occurring the first night on the island, with everything somehow tying into the
legend of the "Golden
Witch," Beatrice -- who is rumored to have been a close acquaintance of the family head. Battler Ushiromiya (that's right, his name is
fucking BATTLER. It doesn't get much more badass than that), the protagonist of the series, refuses to acknowledge Beatrice, and instead insists that all of the murders can be explained using "real" and "physical" means - even those that seem to be impossible for
humans to have accomplished.
Long story
short, everybody dies (at least everyone who was on the island), more witches appear than I can even count, and Battler eventually becomes a sorcerer who wields a badass SHINY GOLD LONGSWORD that lets him SPEAK IN
BLUE-, RED-, AND EVEN GOLD-COLORED TEXT.
Originally a series of visual novel games which were later adapted into an
anime. Made by the same people responsible for Higurashi.
Person 1: Hey, did you catch the latest Umineko episode last
night?
Person 2: You
mean the one where five of the people get their faces ripped off, or the one where Kanon gets his owned in the
heart by a shiny drill/stake thing?