Hinamizawa is a village frozen in time and Im not just talking about its isolationist principals. Its the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone and most family names can be traced back for centuries. Despite belonging to a family of outsiders new resident Keiichi Maebara has had no problem fitting in with the community. In less than a year hes already amassed a close circle of friends who are just as snarky competitive and weird as he is and his days playing games with them are pure peaceful bliss... Right up until a chance encounter with a transient photographer leads him to a glimpse into some of the towns darker more disturbing secrets. As it turns out Hinamizawa was almost destroyed to make way for a dam a few years ago and the conflict eventually resulted in a gruesome murder... And to make matters worse mysterious deaths and disappearances have literally become a yearly thing in this quiet village and the deeper he digs the closer it takes him to the very people hes becomes close to. With every new discovery leading to more questions will Keiichi even survive long enough to untangle this vast intertwining spiderweb of a mystery? Studio Deen has a pretty dodgy reputation but theyve been getting better in recent years. Obviously 2006 is not a recent year. Well maybe thats not entirely fair because they did release titles that were okay looking and thats pretty much the camp that Higurashi no Naku Koroni also known as simply When They Cry belongs to. Its not too bad looking overall nor is it the worst thing Ive ever seen from its studio but it has a hard time not tipping its hand as to the fact that they didnt have a great budget to work with when they were animating it. It checks off most of the boxes for responsibly managing this issue though... There are a lot of static images and key frames but the backgrounds are well drawn and highly detailed and theyre edited in such a way that they never get boring what with sharp cuts dramatic panning in all the right places intense closeups and heavy support from the soundtrack and dialogue to keep you on the edge of your seat while it milks the scenery. It doesnt always work however and youll still get the odd moment when two people are having a conversation while walking and their pictures are basically just being bounced up and down in time with each other while their lips move which is kind of an ugly exception to make considering all the other areas where the visuals were able to successfully compensate for their shortcomings. Im also willing to bet although I havent really looked into this that having the series largely take place in the same village means a lot of the backgrounds and scenery get reused which might be why they were able to splurge so hard on background art. I know that at the very least the repetitive nature of some stories has allowed animation to be reused although I cant say for sure whether or not it happened in more than one obvious instance. I will say that for a village we never leave the range of settings that it lends itself to is surprisingly diverse even if most areas get revisited a ton of times. One area where it does come up short a lot of the time is with character animation. Now in regard to the character design as cartoony and overdesigned as the characters may look it turns out that theyre just as malleable as the setting with each one of them having quite a few more outfits than their basic everyday anime attire. Yes I say everyday meaning that the characters do generally wear the same clothes everyday but they have other outfits too and the switch between them does feel natural with the way its all used throughout the story. The repetitive outfits do help in some cases like in one story arc where outfits being exchanged between two characters is very important to the plot. The area where the animation falls short is in some instances where we get the aforementioned dramatic closeups and the artwork gets so distorted that even if it works in the moment they look really weird when paused. The characters also unfortunately stray offmodel more than once with some shots showing their legs looking about an inch thick and some truly derpy expressions for anyone willing to search for them. The character designs do manage to shine where it counts though. This is meant to be a horror title after all and while their outfits and hair colors may be a bit on the goofy side theyre still designed to be extremely expressive and instead of the sweet doe eyed smiles and waterfalls of tears that you may expect from similar moeinspired characters their faces can contort in very frightening ways showing off a range of emotion that can convey paranoia fear exhaustion fullon batshit insanity and in some cases the cold dead eyes of hopelessness and resignation. Keep in mind some of these characters are still little like literally little. A couple of the female characters have very generously endowed figures which youre probably no stranger to if youre into anime but even when they are showing cleavage or baring skin theyre never sexualized either by the story or the camera. If anything some of their most revealing moments take place in scenes where youre meant to be more worried than titillated with their exposure linked more strongly to their fear and vulnerability than to your pleasure. The music in this series for the most part is very subtle and used almost exclusively as support for the story. Aside from the obligatory fun with friends music of which there are a few generic sounding tracks the composers knew exactly what they were doing whenever it came time to accentuate the tension of a scene which they can do with nothing more than a few wellpicked notes to drone on while these pivotal scenes build up to their inevitable conclusions. One of my favorite tracks is Michishirube which they play during a lot of the more sad or depressing moments making it instantly recognizable not just for the feelings it evokes but for its attachment to some genuinely heartwrenching moments. Theres also a lot to be said for the sound design which takes the place of the music in a lot of instances with such effects as concurrent thuds and especially with the shrill cry of cicadas or Higurashi in Japanesewhich the series was of course named after. Sounds like these are way more memorable than the music which feels like it was kind of the point. As subtle and forgettable as the music may be... And I have spoken to some people who didnt realize the series had music at all which speaks to how good a job the legendary Kenji Kawai did... The opening to this portion of the series is my favorite of all time and no thats not me using hyperbole. The song captures all of the tension and drama of the series with almost all of the more chilling sound choices taking place inbetween the actual verses and its easily one of the only anime songs that I feel gets better when you listen to the original uncut version which opens on a more creepy demonic sounding gasp of a note that wouldnt feel out of place in a Fatal Frame game. The actual video is filled with imagery that carries the themes of the series as well as clever foreshadowing as to the fates and pasts of the characters. Its hard to decipher what they all mean without seeing the entire series so you cant really appreciate how brilliant the image of Rika taking off a mask really is until later on. Having said that I think most audiences will be able to grasp the significance of all the flowers and kaleidoscope imagery at least as far as its representation of twisted distorted innocence and while thats not the central theme of the story it does support its more important themes quite nicely. Theyre performed by a woman named Eiko Shimamaya a Japanese singer whos best known for her work on this series because she sings the opening and closing song for both seasons... And yes this means she also sings the English language closing song Why or Why Not which is sung from the character Renas point of view as blood flows over a black background. This as well is really awesome. The English dub like the animation is okay. It start s out on a really weird note with the actors using voices that were obviously directed with the intention of matching their Japanese counterparts but this is usually a really bad idea. Considering this was a Geneon effort its also not a surprising choice as a lot of their dubs towards the end of their existence were plagued by screechy unnatural sounding performances of women trying their best to sound like moe characters which there really isnt any English language equivalent to. The problem is just as bad here but the actors did the best they could with it and it does get mostly better over time. The voices almost all sound unnatural and awkward but the actors do settle into their roles fairly quickly if you manage to stick around long enough for them to do so. The acting in spite of this unnatural quality is largely competent but the performances are just about as inconsistent as the moods swings of the cast. Grant George who has a very long resume in both Japanese and American productions does an admirable job as the lead role Keiichi even if the voice he has to use sounds like somebody doing a really bad impression of Bob Dylan. He shares a similar quality to most of the rest of the main cast... He sounds weird and awkward during his downtime but shines really effectively when he has to push the character to more intense material. The same thing goes for Rebecca Fortstadt as Rika Jennie Kwan as Satoko and Mela Lee as Rena... They sound almost unbearable most of the time and rarely ever sound like actual people but when they have to freak out scream or you know act at all youd practically forget any complaints you may have had about them before. There are two exceptions to this. and the more bizarre one is Megan Hollingshead who you may know as both Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy in the earlier seasons of Pokemon who plays Mion Sonozaki among others. With her its the opposite situation. She sounds great normally matching her Japanese counterpart beatforbeat even improving faster than her peers after the awkward beginning but its during the more intense scenes where she has more trouble sounding over the top and hammy instead of genuinely insane. The other exception is with the supporting cast most of whom actually used their real names in the creditsthe only main actor to do this was Grant George and while Kyle Hebert and Karen Strassmen do some pretty solid jobs as the illfated Jirou Tomitake and Mio Takano the actor who most impressed me was John Snyder in the role of Detective Oichi a character whos personality seemed to change depending on each story arc. Aside from these names The English dub may be serviceable enough for hardcore dub fans but it doesnt hold a candle to the original Japanese. Back when this series was still new the terrifying performances of the female seiyuu were legendary and kind of turned the series into a viral hit. The sub is highly recommended in this case. Speaking of those performances Higurashis popularity in the states is very similar to another title that came out around the same time The Melancholy of Haruhi SuzumiyaIts eerie how many discussions lead to her isnt it?. Both shows slowly gained an audience through viral exposure... Replace the Hare Hare Yukai with videos of over the top death scenes and scary Japanese laughter... And soon took the nation by storm becoming one of the most popular and well known titles before the diminishing returns of its franchise caught up with it and it faded back into obscurity. These days its easy to find people whove never seen either title which used to not be the case. The difference is that unlike that famous moe nerd comedy the original Higurashi series has aged really well at least in terms of story and content. However since its been largely forgotten I cant stress enough that this is a show you really need to go into blindly so before I go any further I have to ask that you at least watch up to episode 5. Did you do it? You promise? Good. Rena hates liars. Now if youve gotten that far into the series youve probably noticed a few peculiar details some of which you may have questions about. Yes the story escalates very quickly but more importantly if youre like me on my first viewing you might be confused as to why and how the series reset itself. Thats something youre going to have to get used to with Higurashi... Rather than one long continuous story its made up of several smaller arcs which occupy completely different timelines that focus on their own unique situations and perspectives. Setting aside the how as I promise there is an inuniverse explanation for it the reason why is because this anime is based on a series of visual novels and if you know anything about those youll know that VNs and dating games present a tricky challenge to anyone who wants to adapt them... How do you make a coherent series out of a story that has so many branching and unique paths to explore? There are many answers to this dilemma most of them bad but Higurashi luckily had the perfect solution ready and waiting in the source material. I wont spoil what the secret behind it is especially because you wont officially learn it until the second season but there is a reason that time is always rewound after a huge disaster and it has several effects on the story both positive and negative. On the positive side the pacing is unusually tight and while the series does have a tendency to goof off in the early stages of most arcs none of it ever feels like wasted time... Not even the Time Wasting Arc which yes is a thing. Another benefit is the lack of plot armor as any character can die at any time during a story and theyll be there again in the next arc. You would think this would take away the tension and stakes of any given scenario but youre wrong because some seriously strong writing gives each arc a healthy dose of gravity and stakes which they go out of their way to make you care about resurrection be damned. Of course then you have one of the biggest drawbacks of the series which is the heavy amount of inconsistency between each arc. First of all while were supposed to believe this is just the same period of time repeating itself there really isnt any clear divergence point. Rather most stories save for two that work as mirrors of each other from different perspectives follows a totally different series of events which feels less like a proper Butterfly Effect story and more like the writers just doing whatever the hell they want. There are some details that never change such as Hinamizawas history and certain events taking place at the Cotton Drifting Festival but aside from that some of the changes can be baffling at best and stupid at worst. Like youve seen episode five right? Notice how easy Mion gave up the fact that she had a twin sister? In the first story arc she was tight lipped about a lot of her personal details but she doesnt even question how Keiichi met her sister or what he thought of her. I can only assume this was done to service the reveal at the end of the episode but it feels like a fullon betrayal of her character. There are a lot of inconsistencies like that and while Im glad that certain details that were meant to be reveals and mysteries in previous arcs become common knowledge in future arcs... It does at least keep the story from becoming repetitive... It has another element working in its favor. Higurashi likes to play around with the concept of an Unreliable Narrator... You know that literary trope where you dont know the truth of a story because its being told from the perspective of someone whos too biased or unstable to give you an accurate recounting of events? Theres more than enough evidence in this story to suggest that its narrators dont always see things as they are and there are times when you cant really guarantee if entire events are really going down as youre seeing them. you cant trust whats real and whats not which works as an excuse for Higurashi to do plenty of things that Id call shenanigans on with any other anime. You dont know whether characters are really living dying or even present when youre told they are so of course some personality based inconsistencies are going to happen. Besides even with those inconsistencies occasionally working against them the cast of characters in this series is still absurdly strong. Theyre all complex and layered with their own unique flaws and motivations and these play very well into their own individual stories. To be fair they dont all get their own perspective stories at least not in this season but theyre still at least explored thoroughly in other characters stories either as antagonists or in supporting roles. The issues these characters go through are unbelievably relatable as well. Even though most of us have never had first hand experience with the more horrifying elements of the stories... Lets face it most people dont wind up involved in the middle of conspiracies or murder cases... They do have to deal with real world issues like divorce child abuse watching loved ones suffer and get taken advantage of family drama and forbidden love and while the way they approach and resolve their issues may be extreme it never feels melodramatic or cheap because of how well we know and care about the characters. If I had to group all of these situations into one theme which would admittedly be a huge stretch Id have to see that this is mostly a show about secrets. Its about the dark secrets you keep from others secrets you know are being kept from you what you should and shouldnt tell your friends and the possible consequences of digging too deeply into someone elses affairs. This theme is explored thoughtfully and from many angles and to be honest I can personally relate to it because Ive been on some very distinct sides of it. Ive been left in the dark plenty of times in regard to issues directly effecting me. My whole family keeps secrets from me and other people just for the sake of convenience using obvious strategic lies that I felt alienated by. I used to have friends who I thought I could trust but who dug up dirt on me behind my back and spread it all to pretty much my entire workplace. I dont know if you can find all this relatable but for me it hits really close to home. Of course there are some problematic elements. On top of other issues theres some really outdated gender politics on display with more than one instance of female characters basically being told to smile more and theres one really awkward moment where a grown man expresses a genuine interest in romantically pursuing and eventually marrying a preteen but considering the fact that this is supposed to be 1980s Japan we should probably just be grateful that it isnt worse. Also while Im glad there isnt any obvious romantic subplot among the main castaside from some flirtatious banter and a couple of hinted or confirmed crushes which I understand is accurate to the nonH VN but there is one story arc that could be described as a yanderetype situation with a characters psychotic behavior tied directly to her unrequited love for another character but Id also argue that her circumstances are much more forgivable than they would be in most similar titles. Higurashi or When They Cry is available from Sentai Filmworks. The original Geneon DVDs are out of print but the new format is way superior because theres a Bluray option and the disks are divided so that each one carries a different arc so its easier to watch whatever individual story that you want without having to change disks. Sentai also released the sequel Higurashi Kai and one of the OVAs Higurashi Rei in the same format. Three other OVAs have not been released statesidebut you should totally check out Outbreak neither have the awful live action movies. The light novels and a live action TV show havent been released either but the manga has been released stateside by Yen Press and it contains some crazy details from the games that the anime omitted. I dont know any specifics about the games but Ive heard some of them are available online. Theres also a spiritual successor called Umineko which Ive seen and its honestly pretty awful but its still kind of interesting with some of its choices so give it a watch. Higurashi might just be one of the most effective horror titles in anime history. Its MO is to keep its focus on suspense building up scenes of simple conversations and interactions with tense music and creepy unsettling direction leading to payoffs so abrupt and shocking that most of them have become memes or AMV Hell jokes in the years since. It avoids using jump scares like the plague and keeps its horror elements centered firmly on the story and plot and while it doesnt go out of its way to be edgy or disturbing it still never shies away from showing the gory details of any given scenario when the time is right. The mystery is tightly woven and full of red herrings and unanswered questions and while it lays out several details at a decent pace it still leaves enough loose threads to leave you wanting more even if the second season winds up being a bit of a disappointment. Its not perfect though and even if you were to excuse the lackluster visuals and spotty dub the writing itself still leaves enough holes to tarnish what could have been considered a masterpiece. I give Higurashi: When They Cry an 8/10.