u/ThePopStarDude

Right, this'll cover the entire series, so I'll put the whole post into spoilers. TL;DR: I present my perspective of why I >!personally don't consider any events on Rokkenjima that we see in the VN or otherwise as the truth of what happened.!< I'm sorry if this is all obvious and already known by y'all, but I guess I lose nothing by writing down my thoughts.

>!The question comes down to whether you believe the Tea Party of Episode 7 shows the true events of Rokkenjima, and many do. It seems to be the interpretation of the overwhelming majority of the community online, primarily due to Bernkastel's interrupted red text and the manga's much more objective depiction. However I and some others I know stand by it being another forgery. I'm not sure I often see the reasons for this denial outlined besides vague notions of "love", whatever that is, so here is my attempt to rationalize this from an amateur literary analysis perspective.!<

>!The first reason is that the story is built around the subjectivity of truth around incomplete empirical knowledge, and whether empirical knowledge can ever be the "complete" truth. This is why I am hesitant to believe any portrayal of the objective truth of the events that the story builds up through the abject lack of empirical knowledge. The only way Ange would be able to find out anything is through Eva's diary, and even that would not be able to include everything Bernkastel shows us, which means much of it is baseless conjecture by the mechanics of the narrative. We also never really get to see what Eva wrote, leaving the possibility open for anything we choose to believe in. Thus there is no true confirmation of the Tea Party's reality within the VN, which in spirit of the theme of the subjectivity of truth gives us the possibility to accept or deny it as we wish.!<

>!The second is that much of the heart of Umineko's philosophy lies in charitability and believing in the best in people, so this is a strong motivation to question the blatantly evil depictions of Kyrie and Rudolf. The story also tackles with the danger of blind faith, too, and so I still see the narrative satisfaction in believing their evil nature. However I see this strongly correlate with Erika's philosophy whereas believing their innocence is correlated with Ange's philosophy in the magic ending. Thus I wager people who already prefer Erika's thoughts on magic and faith would be more inclined to believe the Tea Party. I also believe that Ryukishi intended for both endings' respective philosophies to be equally valid, and thus I think accepting and denying the "truth" we're shown are also both equally valid in the author's eyes.!<

>!I have my suspicions that Ryukishi leans heavily on the Magic side of things based on everything in his writing, though. My main argument for this is the Buddhist correlations with the philosophy of the Magic ending, and Japanese culture and philosophy is significantly influenced by Buddhism. The concept of Mettā, unconditional and universal compassion, is strongly compatible with the perspective that we should believe the best in others until we are proven otherwise. This is seen especially in Maria's perspective in Episode 4 and later Battler's perspective in Episode 8. Neither of them yield to Ange's conviction to condemn the Ushiromiya family, and stand by that there is nothing to gain in believing in the worst interpretations of their actions when you can't know for sure. While accountability for caused suffering is important, the Buddhist argument would be that one can only benefit from believing, for example, that despite his undoubtedly horrible crimes, Kinzo learned in his later life to be a loving grandparent and at least find some personal peace in recognizing the sins his monstrous past. After all, Ange doesn't really remember what he was like, and so her perception is based on his public image and past deeds. I do not believe this forgives Kinzo because that is not for us to decide, only those he abused can forgive him, but I believe this is what it means to think of the Ushiromiya family with mettā. You can condemn someone's actions and demand accountability while still loving them unconditionally as you do all living beings, according to the dharma.!<

>!I don't know if I'm quite there yet personally, but what I do know is that already five years ago upon reading the story I felt the same way I do now. I believe the Ushiromiyas were all kinds of messed up in their generational cycles of abuse and privilege, and I believe Kinzo is the most detestable person in the family, but I do not believe they would ever stoop to the worst that they're accused of, and that includes Kyrie and Rudolf killing the others. Thus my own headcanon is that something completely different happened leading to Eva's survival and the explosion killing the others, and this could even be a terrible accident. I choose to believe this because the story deliberately presents it as an option, and I am motivated by a desire for charitability and compassion in my interpretation, during my first read and now. I also believe the opposite interpretation is equally valid and has its own narrative satisfaction.!<

That's about it. If you agree or disagree or feel I have presented either side inaccurately, please do share your thoughts.