In October 1986, a family conference is held on Rokkenjima, a private island owned by the wealthy Ushiromiya family. As tensions rise over the division of the head's inheritance, a typhoon cuts the island off from the outside world. Soon, a series of gruesome serial murders begins, following the riddles of a mysterious epitaph left in the mansion. The story of "Umineko When They Cry" is broadly divided into the Question Arcs, which unravel what happened on Rokkenjima in 1986, and the Answer Arcs, set in 1998 to pursue the truth.

Basic Structure

Setting and Situation: Rokkenjima, a secluded island in the Izu archipelago. Eighteen people gather for the annual family conference, but a typhoon renders telephones and radios useless, trapping them on the island. Existence of the Witch: Scenes that seem impossible for humans to execute occur, and letters are left suggesting the crimes are the work of the witch "Beatrice." The protagonist, Battler Ushiromiya, insists on "human-perpetrated tricks" and engages in a fierce battle of logic against those who believe in the witch, debating whether these events are the work of a witch or a human.

Series Flow

The story unfolds through multiple loops of different interpretations (game boards). Question Arcs: The horrific serial murders on the secluded island are depicted as a game played by witches (Episodes 1–4). Answer Arcs: 1998, twelve years after the incident. Since the sole survivor, Eva Ushiromiya, died without ever speaking of the truth, the only remaining relative, a young girl named Ange, sets out on a journey to find the truth (Episodes 5–8).

The structure invites the player to deduce whether the culprit is among the eighteen people or not, and whether the culprit is human or a witch. The full scope of the incident is referred to in the story as a "Catbox" (derived from Schrödinger's cat), depicted as a mystery with multiple possible interpretations.