Samson College of Science and Technology

587 Edsa Cubao, Quezon City

A Phenomenological Research on the Positive Effects of

“Umineko” on Individual’s Deductive Reasoning

Researchers:

Research Adviser:
 Ms. Lynneth Ret LPT

2020

Chapter I

Introduction and its Background

This chapter presents the Background of the study, Conceptual

Framework, Statement of the Problem, Significance of the study, Scope

and Delimitations , and the Definition of terms.

Introduction

What makes a mystery good? Is it the detectives? Maybe the

mystery itself? Or perhaps, the answers that reason out into mysteries?

However, What if the mystery genre people were familiar about co-exist

into the famous Japanese animation? Anime. According to Fandom

(2017), a site on the internet, mystery animes are shows that focus on the

unresolved questions surrounding characters and effort to find the truth.

But how does the characters find it? Using deductive reasoning.

“Deductive reasoning” or deduction, starts out with a general statement

and examines the possibilities to reach at a specific conclusion

(LiveScience, 2017). Given that information, “Umineko no naku koro ni

(When the Seagulls Cry)” was the anime on the researcher’s minds.

At first Umineko no Naku Koro in was just a Personal Computer

and Playstation 3 visual novel however, soon later it got an Anime

adaptation. So, what is Umineko no Naku Koro ni really about? Based on

an article from Ricedigital (2014), Umineko is an exceptional murder

mystery. Heavily inspired by Agatha Christie’ .”And then there were None”.

Being captivated by the mysteries from a story is a really nice past time

also “mysteries require people to think critically in solving a problem. It

helps them learn the value of their theories and the steps they take on

confirming whether its sound and valid” (Gannett,2019).

This research will not just be mere a review of Umineko however,

the study will be the light that make people know that there are positive

effects of watching mystery anime on one’s deductive reasoning.

The mysteries from Umineko are really exciting to solve and think

about. The act of deducing the answers is a greater challenge too. The

motivation of the researchers of the on this study is its unique nature and

how it will change the perspective of the people towards mystery animes.
 Input

-Review of related literature

-Statement of the problem

-Deductive Reasoning.

-Umineko no Kuro Ni

-Individuals who watched

Umineko.

-Phenomenological

Research

Conceptual Framework

Process
-Analyzing the Review of

related literature.

-Conducting of In-depth

Interviews.

-Gathering of data.

-Interpreting of data.

-Drawing out conclusions

from the data gathered.

Output
-Researchers determine the

positive effects of Umineko

on individual’s deductive

reasoning.

-Researchers find more

reason why to watch

Umineko.

Figure 1:

The inputs of this phenomenological research are the individuals

who have watched “Umineko”, the reviews of the related literature,

statement of the problem, concept of deductive reasoning.

 In the process of the study, the researchers first analyze the

reviews of related literature, next is the conducting of In-depth interviews

to gather data. Once the data is gathered, the researchers will interpret it

in order to complete conclusions.

Lastly the output of the research is for the researchers to determine

the positive effects of Umineko on individual’s deductive reasoning and

find out more reason why to watch the show.

Statement of the Problem

Research aim to answer the following Questions:

A.) What are the positive effects of “Umineko” on the viewer’s

deductive reasoning skills?

B.) How does “Umineko” affects the deductive reasoning skills of

Anime viewers who watch it?

C.) How does “Umineko” sharpen the deductive reasoning of its

viewers?

Assumptions
The researchers assume that:

A) Viewers can get positive results such as their reasoning skills

getting sharpened and a more in-depth perspective of thinking and

ability to reason out things through some tricks and logic presented on

Umineko.

B) Mystery anime like Umineko will be beneficial to individuals

because it shows ways of critical deductive thinking, exercises the

minds of the watchers and challenges individuals to deduce what is the

answer to the mysteries involved throughout the story.

C) Umineko sharpens the deductive reasoning of individuals by

giving them mysteries to solve and challenge the watchers in

mind-bugging unique and mysterious occurrences.

Significance of the study

This study will identify the positive effects of Umineko on

individual’s deductive reasoning. The significant findings, conclusions

and recommendations of this study may be useful to the following:

Teachers

The teachers will be able to understand that leisure like mystery

anime can be beneficial to the student’s learning too.

Parents

The parents would know that mystery animes like Umineko is not

just for pastimes and entertainment, because it also sharpens the

minds of their children.

Students

Students realize that they can also use Umineko to learn more

regarding the deductive way of reasoning.

Scope and Delimitation

This study focuses on the positive effects of watching “Umineko no

naku koro ni” on individual’s deductive reasoning. The researchers will

choose people who have watched “Umineko” as the participants of the

study.

The research is limited to the topic of deductive reasoning and

research will choose selected participants which is qualified for the study.
Definition of Terms

● Deductive Reasoning

- A type of reasoning in which states that an inference is valid if

its conclusion is true in any case in which its premises are true

(Laird,2015)

● Mystery

- Based on Idoce, a mystery is an event, situation, etc. that the

people do not understand or cannot explain because they do

not know enough about it.

● Reasoning

- The act of reasoning out an argument, situation or problem in

a logical way (Dowden,2019)

 Chapter ll

Review of related literature

This Chapter presents the Review of the Related Literature and

Studies.

Foreign literature

In Solving Mysteries People use their minds,When people use their

mind they reason out deductively but what exactly is Deductive

Reasoning? In the book Encyclopedia of the mind(2012)It is stated

that,"Deductive reasoning is the kind of reasoning in which, roughly, the

truth of the input propositions (the premises) logically guarantees the truth

of the output proposition (the conclusion), provided that no mistake has

been made in the reasoning. The premises may be propositions that the

reasoner believes or assumptions that the reasoner is exploring.

Deductive reasoning contrasts with inductive reasoning, the kind of

reasoning in which the truth of the premises need not guarantee the truth

of the conclusion."
 Mystery genre is also on the Japanese platform too. One example

of that is the story of "Umineko no naku koro ni"however,What is Umineko

really all about? Umineko no Naku Koro ni’s story takes place primarily

from October 4 to 5, 1986 on Rokkenjima, a small island privately owned

by the wealthy Ushiromiya family. The Ushiromiya family gathers for the

annual family conference, which concerns the division of assets belonging

to Kinzo, the ailing family head. In addition to the twelve family members

are five of their servants and Kinzo's physician, comprising a total of

eighteen people.

The protagonist Battler Ushiromiya, one of Kinzo's grandchildren,

has been absent from the family conference for the past six years due to

personal family circumstances. Upon his return, Battler becomes

reacquainted with the legend of the "Golden Witch" Beatrice, who is

rumored to have given Kinzo ten tons of gold in the past to revive the

Ushiromiya family, which had been crippled in the 1923 Great Kantō

earthquake. A portrait of her lies in the entrance hall of the Ushiromiya

family mansion, and a puzzling epitaph is written below it. It is rumored

that whoever solves the epitaph's riddle will receive the gold and become
the successor to the Ushiromiya family. After a typhoon traps the family on

the island, mysterious murders begin to occur, often in ways that seem

impossible for a human to have committed.(Fandom)

To give a better understanding why Umineko tackles

Deduction,Here is a passage from Umineko's official introduction.

"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"?

Please, enjoy this isolated island, western mansion, mystery-suspense

gadget of the good old days to the fullest."

 Before even solving a mystery, curiosity comes in, and that curiosity

makes people search for answer and because of that, it helps people

become better problem solvers.(ThriveGlobal,2019)

Local Literature

In an article on WazzupPilipinas, it is said that many people may

think that anime may ruin a person’s school grades, probably some failed,

but the truth is anime give ideas to the students since it gives a lot of stock

knowledge and facts. Anime also gives us ideas like ‘what would happen

if’ when the series is finished which enhance our creativity and writing

skills.

According To Filipinograsps (2016) ,Stories like Umineko peak up

the curiosity of people.People also get inspired on the scenes present in

the storyline, thinking that if the detectives can do it,Then it is possible that

individuals try to solve it too.

Most shows are just for entertainment only, however it can also be

used to help educate as well, depending on the creator's vision and

purpose for making the series or movie(Bernard,2018)

Foreign Studies

Based on the research of Chan(2017), It is a fact that educators

cannot control what the students learn and see outside the classroom.

One of the main findings about the learners’ interest in anime is that they

gain learning based on the anime they watched.

Furthermore,Students enjoy watching anime since it is fun and have

many elements that they can gain knowledge (Sallehuddin,et al,2011).

We enjoy piecing together the disparate clues, building them up

ourselves into a coherent picture, and reaching that final chapter to find

out it was not who we thought it was all along, but that now it all makes

sense(Lamond,2016)

Local Studies

Based on the findings of Acido(2013), High school students’

reasoning skills have significant relationship with their study habits and

attitude towards learning. Students having good study habits and positive

attitude towards learning had better reasoning skills than those students

with poor study habits.So what If learning is now on the form of individual's

hobbies?
 According to the research of Ongcoy(2016),Students must engage

to activities that will enhance their deductive reasoning skills.

People learn by observing what others are doing. Similarly, it applies

to what people are watching (Altaph,2019). Therefore, If people are

watching mystery animes like Umineko no naku koro ni when they cry, can

learn in a way that is also enjoyable for them.

Chapter III

Research Methodology

Chapter III presents te overall strategies and methods to be used

on this research.

Research Design

The researchers chose phenomenological research as the research

design. According to Neubauer (2019) a phenomenological study focuses

on an individual’s lived experience within the world. Phenomenology is

chosen by the researchers because viewers can learn and get influenced

by animes that they watch, just like as stated by the writer, Eum(2015),

”There is a lot of meaningful things that you can learn from if you just

look.Anime is a depiction of the real world that may be slightly tweaked,

it’s made by real people with real feelings and thoughts. Some of those

ideas are going to go through”.

Sample Description

In choosing participants, Snowball sampling is selected, based on

Venette (2013), snowball sampling is when potential participant directly

recruits other participants for the study. The researchers chose this

sampling method because people who watch anime usually are in a circle

of friends who also do.

Respondents

In this research, Anime viewers ages 15-20 are chosen.The initial

participants are close to the researchers, while the others are recruited

using Snowball sampling. Respondents chosen have atleast watched the

anime adaptation of “Umineko” and understood its story. Only 5

participants are to be selected for this research.

Data Collection Method

Following the nature of phenomenology, In-depth interviews will be

used as the data collection, method, specifically, unstructured interviews.

An unstructured interview is an interview in which there is no set of

predetermined questions (Study, 2015) with this method, the researchers

can get more natural and open ended information on how Umineko

influenced and gave positive effects on the participant's deductive

reasoning.

Data gathering instrument

The researchers will use face to face unstructured interviews as the

research's data gathering instrument. According to Giveagrado (2019).

Face to face interview is a "personal" interview in which a person can

firsthand see and analyze if a person is telling the truth and committed to

giving answers. Face to face interviews can give the researchers more

information about the participant's responses and see the direct effect of

Umineko on their deductive reasoning abilities.

Data gathering procedures

After choosing the research design. The researchers will then

proceed to gather participants who have watched “Umineko”, through

snowball sampling. Researchers will inform the participants first about the

research and hand out permits regarding their participation. Unstructured

intervews wil then get carried out on the places the participant's agreed,
but preferably somewhere they are most comfortable, after the data are

collected, the researchers will now analyze the data and lastly, make

conclusions on the gathered responses from participants.

Data analysis

Content analysis will be the analysis type of this research. Based

on Mailman.Columbia(2011), “Content analysis is a research tool used to

determine the presence of certain words, themes, or concepts within some

given qualitative data (i.e. text). Using content analysis, researchers can

analyze the presence, meanings and relationships of such certain words,

themes, or concepts. Researchers can then make inferences about the

messages within the texts, the writer(s), the audience, and even the

culture and time of surrounding the text”. in the researchers case, Content

analysis will be used in order to describe the positive relationship of

watching “Umineko’ on a viewer’s deductive reasoning skills.