Considered as the third installment in the highly popular When They Cry series by 07th Expansion, Umineko no Naku Koro ni takes place on the island of Rokkenjima, owned by the immensely wealthy Ushiromiya family. As customary per year, the entire family is gathering on the island for a conference that discusses the current financial situations of each respective person. Because of the family head's poor health, this year involves the topic of the head of the family's inheritance and how it will be distributed. However, the family is unaware that the distribution of his wealth is the least of Ushiromiya Kinzou's (family head) concerns for this year's family conference. After being told that his end was approaching by his longtime friend and physician, Kinzou is desperate to meet his life's true love one last time: the Golden Witch, Beatrice. Having immersed himself in black magic for many of the later years in his life, Kinzou instigates a ceremony to revive his beloved upon his family's arrival on Rokkenjima. Soon after, a violent typhoon traps the family on the island and a string of mysterious murders commence, forcing the eighteen people on the island to fight for their lives in a deadly struggle between fantasy and reality.

On the 20th floor of the Tower, the Regulars who have been permitted to enter have to undertake arduous and extremely expensive tests to rank up. Most abandon hope and choose to stay where they are—but not Ja Wangnan. Wangnan is determined to reach the top and become the king of the Tower. However, he is weak and has repeatedly failed the exam, with debt collectors tailing him. In desperation, he attempts the exam one more time, only to encounter a mysterious and powerful individual: Jyu Viole Grace, a member of the crime syndicate FUG. Cursing his rotten luck, Wangnan has no choice but to form alliances with strong people, including Viole—who still refuses to be part of any team. Amid a dire situation, Wangnan must find a way to change Viole's mind to finally advance past the 20th floor, or he will never get a chance to build his legacy.

Tomoya Okazaki is a cynical delinquent who lacks ambition as he apathetically labors through high school. During his childhood, a tragedy had caused his father to seek solace in alcoholism and neglect his son. Yet, meaningful human interaction can be a benediction, as Tomoya learns when he meets the enigmatic Nagisa Furukawa. The odd girl offers a gesture of friendship to Tomoya, but he rejects the request, dismissing it as a trivial incident. However, as he soon realizes that he is encountering Nagisa more and more often during school, Tomoya drops his discompassions and befriends the girl. When he learns that Nagisa's dream is to revive the Drama Club, Tomoya decides to shed his detachment from the ordinary pleasures of life and dedicate himself to helping his new friend achieve her ambition. But what starts as a simple friendship may progress into something far more deep, intimate, and life-changing. As the pair face various hardships and afflictions, Tomoya and Nagisa gradually come to terms with the challenges of life.

A 20-year-old shut-in is suddenly transported from his apartment, only to appear in front of a goddess who offers him a second chance at life. Although she grants him overpowered magical abilities in this new world, when he awakes as the newborn Prince Reinhardt, his talents are only measured at Level 2. Thinking their child to be an abysmal failure, his royal parents abandon him in the woods. There, the prince, who names himself Haruto, encounters Flay, a Flame Fenrir who decides to devote her life in service to him. Haruto's relative, Gold Zenfis, meets them both in the woods and decides to adopt the child as his own. Nine years pass with Haruto under the care of the Zenfis family. His mastery over his overpowered barrier magic increases by the day, though Haruto would rather not use it to help others. He practices his magic in secret, preferring to have his family believe that he is weak. However, his younger sister, Charlotte, discovers his strength, and with the assistance of Flay, Haruto protects her and the rest of the Zenfis family from harm. With a shifty plot stirring in the kingdom, Haruto only wishes to stay inside and watch anime, but it seems he will have to use his magic to keep the family that took him in safe.