Mourning Doves

The narrator talks about their experience during the COVID pandemic, where they stayed at home and communicated with friends online. They started playing video games and discovered a genre called visual novels. They became engrossed in a series called Higurashi, which they found to be the longest book they've ever read. They then moved on to another series called Umineko, which they found to be even more complex. They talk about the romance aspect of Umineko and how it is up to the reader to interpret. They mention a new installment in the series called Chikonya, set in the future. The narrator reflects on their love for the When They Cry series and hopes that it will gain more recognition in the future. They end by mentioning the comforting sound of doves calling them to sleep. I haven't slept again tonight. It's been this way for a long time. When did it begin again? I forgot. Oh, that's right, COVID. I remember when my father told me my spring break would be extended to two weeks. Two weeks turned into three, turned into four, then it was an extended summer. I don't know if it was a warm summer or not. I never left my home. I didn't see my friends either, at least in the conventional sense. We would talk online over Discord, Zoom, phone calls, you name it. We would stay up very late. Very late. 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m. Truly, it was a glorious time. And then it all went away. Everything was normal, and then I was alone. My family was asleep, my friends were missing, and I was still awake. I looked at the bottom right of my screen. It was already three. Oh, I guess I should go to sleep. Going to bed, I stared at the ceiling. My phone lay near my head, my eyes began to drift, and yet, yet I was awake. Soon enough the early sun rested upon my eyelids through the sheltered curtains, and how cruel it was. My brother's alarm was going off, the morning doves cast their call, and that is when I began the cycle as I recall. But what did I do during this time of unrest? A hotly debated subject, to be sure, but truthfully, nothing. I was gorging myself in media, watching anything that came on, and it was then I was faced with a harrowing realization. I was doing nothing. I really was. I roused from my bed, paced around. What do I do? And then it hit me. I would play video games, but not just any video games, no. I lost my motor functions to play them after the five-year hiatus I took. There was no way I'd be able to crank 90s or whatever it's called. No. I would need to play something else. I scoured Steam looking for anything which brought me to a peculiar genre of gaming, one that I could accomplish. Visual novels. There is no complex mechanics required, it's literally just reading with pictures and music and occasional choice. It was perfect. But what would I read? There were so many choices and- Higurashi no Naku Koroni, or Cicadas When They Cry, is a story about a young boy named Keiichi Maibara who goes to the rural town of Hinamizawa to get away from the city with his father and mother. The year is 1983, and there he encounters a group of friends. They have a game club and a local festival, whereupon he learns that- Every year, someone dies, and someone else goes missing. And it always happens after the festival, celebrating the local guardian deity, Oyashiro-sama, whom the locals are strangely connected to. And it's been happening for the past four years. And the town's in on it. And the police have done nothing. And it always happens to either outsiders of the village or those trying to leave. And Keiichi's probably next! I was hooked. However, what I did not know was how long it was. See, I started reading it on August 25th of 2020, and I finished it on March 2nd of 2021, after a fiendish seven-hour reading session beginning at midnight, trailing until the morning. Now, in total, it took me about 103.9 hours to read all of it, accounting one hour for sleep. And since the average reader reads 100 pages every 2.8 hours, that equates to around, you know, 3,711 pages. But if you are not a believer of that, and you are instead a believer of word counts, then, for your sake, the total word count of Higurashi is 1,111,705 words. Now, when I say it is the longest book that I have ever read, believe me. But that was at least until... Umineko no Nakokoroni, or Seagulls, When They Cry, is the sister sequel to Higurashi. It takes place in October of 1986 on a distant island named Rokkenjima. You have been given a glimpse of the family conference held annually by the family head Kenzo. The remaining life of the old family head, who has built up a vast fortune, is very slim. To his children, the greatest point of contention at this family conference is the distribution of his inheritance. Everyone desires all that money, no one relents, and no one believes. Who will gain the old head's vast inheritance? Where is the ten tons of gold that the old head is said to have hidden? Can the unnerving riddle of the epitaph, which is said to point to the location of that gold, be solved? In the midst of this, a suspicious letter is sent from one claiming to be a witch. The presence of a 19th person on this island, which should only have 18, begins to hang in the air. Brutal murders repeat, and unsolvable riddles are left at the scene. How many will die, how many will live, or will everyone die? Is the culprit one of the 18 or not? Is the culprit a human or a witch? Let's take a moment to talk, shall we? If Higurashi helped me, then Umineko threw me to the skillet and filleted me. Not a single ounce of what I had learned in Higurashi's mystery served me here, separating itself fully from the previous work except for some occasional relapsing characters here and there for fun. The work is a bit longer than Higurashi as well, coming in at 1,154,971 words, which is only about 40,000 additional words and so. And yet the content covered is so much more complex. Now, to not give anything away, but still give some context as to why it's my favorite, take this. Umineko is not a mystery. Instead, Umineko is a romance masquerading as a mystery, and it is up to the reader to decide whether that is true or not. In romance, magic is expected, and things seem to happen too conveniently. But in mystery, every convenience is but a trick to delude the reader into falling for a trap. The protagonists of the story are stuck arguing over its genre, and it is that which makes it so compelling. And if you're asking me, John, how is this romance? The only thing I can tell you is to read it, because that is for you to decide. And I've already made up my mind. This is getting a bit long, so let me cut to the- Chikonya no Naku Korone, or Chikonya, When They Cry, is currently the newest issue to the When They Cry series. It takes place 200 years in the future, where the world was almost destroyed in the Third World War, but technology saved it. 100 years later, this eventually gave rise to the new ultimate military technology, the gauntlet. In this new era, all existing military forces would become obsolete, except for the small number of boys and girls who have what it takes to become a gauntlet knight. The young are supposed to be the main characters in their own eras, but in reality, they are nothing but game pieces lined up on a board for those who are crafty and more experienced. Must these boys and girls be forced to kill each other? Who are the pieces, and who are the players? And who does the player's bidding? What victory conditions does each person have? Is it peace? War? Annihilation? Is the foretold tragedy a scheme, or a delusion? The future, or reality? All tragedies come in three parts. Like Icarus who flew too close to the sun, Ryukishi wrote a story too like reality. The ensuing wars and plagues that befall the characters in the story are eerily familiar to the wars faced in Ukraine and COVID. In his own words, it was like Godzilla came when he was writing Godzilla. Because of this, he is no longer working on the series, and has left it for better endeavors. When I think of When They Cry, I think of the endless nights I spent reading it. I think of the many times I have told someone to read it, or watch it for that matter, only to be met with simple nods and smiles. While I do think he has provided the modern era with some of the best writing I have found thus far, it is a shame many will never even know it exists due to its elusive nature of digitality rather than it being sold concretely on paper. Perhaps one day he will be regarded as one of the greats, but for now he represents a cult following instead. Say, we've gotten so off track, but I think it's okay. I'm glad you've stuck around to hear me ramble for ten odd minutes. What fun we had. Alas, I will leave you now with a final message. When I was awake, the only thing to keep me company was the cry of the doves calling me to sleep, and I think it was for the best.