With another decade of anime behind us, one could look fondly over any of the great series that premiered. Of course, everyone has their own opinion about which was the best of those past ten years, and while I don't want to demean or put down anybody's favorite, I just have to say that if you have not yet seen Higurashi no Naku koro ni (Translated: "When They Cry"), and are mature enough to handle it, I beg you to see one of the most under-appreciated psychological anime, and perhaps all anime in general, of the 2000's. Trust me, it's worth it.
If you enjoy watching a serious anime or, like me, have watched Death Note with great anticipation of what's going to happen next, this would be a great addition to your collection. Now, enough with the praising, I bet you're wondering what makes it so great.
The basic plot starts in 1983, when a city-born kid named Keiichi moves into a rural Japanese countryside. He befriends some locals his age and starts to live a happier life compared to that in his previous home. When They Cry has 20-odd episodes, which are divided into different story arcs. Each arc is about 3-5 episodes long, and tells a story involving the same characters and same settings. Some may be confused by the show's unorthodox method of storytelling. The information above remains the same with each arc, but in each one, things begin to escalate. Weird things involving Keiichi and his friends start to happen, causing suspense, suspicion, and scandal to rise and rise, until the arc finally, dramatically concludes. The arcs are not in any order, jumping around the time frame the series relies upon. On top of that, each arc begins with a character being vengeful, betrayed, or misguided, thus making them become progressively insane, until the end of the arc, where the character either come to realize their faults and inner demons and become normal again, or are all killed. The later is what usually happens: everyone, including the one responsible, is usually killed at the end of an arc, and in a rather gory fashion, too. If you think I just spoiled the ending, think again. To make matters more confusing, once an certain arc ends, and everyone is dead or forgiven, the next arc starts at the beginning of the previous one, with everyone alive, and what plays out is either the perspective of a different character of the previous arc (keying you in on some of the mysterious questions you had last time), or a whole new "scenario arc ".
When a new scenario arc starts, it begins with the most basic of plot synopses; the characters, the setting, and the story all "reset" (for lack of a better word), and things start over as a clean slate, beginning the arc in the same key point as the others. The characters are unaware of the "reset", and the arc begins as if nothing happened, but this time with different outcomes. Yes, I know, it's very confusing to understand, but trust me when I say it's just something that is needed to be seen. And please don't look at this as if it's too confusing to even bother watching, because that would be a damn shame. The point of this is so the viewer can see "what would have happened" if things played differently, like if a certain character went to a certain place instead of another character doing it. All the previous knowledge you've learned about a character still holds true, and can be used to understand other arcs (for example, if Keiichi told someone a huge secret about his past in the previous arc, then the secret is still true throughout the show). It creates a feeling of Deja Vu, and when something that was mentioned about three arcs back is brought up in the current arc, you get a great feeling. It's an anime that requires constant attention, yet pays off after the final arc. And rest assured, most of the questions are answered in the last episode, so you don't have to be left in the dark too long.
Even though the story is so strange, it's still difficult to find a fault with this show, though it does have difficulty finding its strides. This show is of the murder-mystery genre and, though I hate to say it, most of the arcs end in tragedy; where the character the arc is focusing upon kills everyone before ironically dying themselves, or they kill themselves, or they kill everyone and escape scott-free. Despite it seeming like a grim, dark, always-disturbing show, it incorporates in romantic elements, lighthearted moments and even wacky mishaps in contrast to brutal murder. While I found this weird at first, the reason as to why things were this way was later addressed in the story.
On top of the aforementioned, the animation is also incredibly odd. The characters looked a tad cartoony... not the art direction I would have chosen to use for the anime, but then again, the style was so diverse in both the humorous and serious parts of the show that any other kind of animation would not have worked at all. It's simple, yet effective. Although, with that said, it's still a pain to see this great work cursed with horribly low budget and oddly proportioned character designs.
Again, I can see how the story might be a bit much, considering how it can be viewed as repetitive, but do not fret. This show is one of my all-time favorites, if only because anything can happen, and I mean that in the most genuine manner I can. When you soak in the fact that things "reset", you realize that there are no boundaries protecting any character from an untimely demise. The main character could die unexpectedly halfway through the arc, you could just never know. Sure, whenever you watched a suspenseful series, you were kept guessing, but that was only because you had a suspension of disbelief that allowed your brain to believe that the main character was in danger. Really, if you think about it, any real suspenseful work of fiction requires a suspension of disbelief, because it's unlikely a writer would kill off the main character if it weren't late in the story or dramatic. But with Higurashi? Nope, it's all fair play. Anyone and everyone can and will die and it's great because, with each arc, it's almost like a whole new show within itself, truly a great thing to experience first-hand.
I don't have any huge gripes with the series, other than the depressing arc endings or the lack of explanation about the "Arc" system of the show. Otherwise nearly flawless, the work is full of questions and great story-telling, and by the end of it, you'll come up with your own conspiracy theory about what really happened. One other thing I would like to share, though, is the voice acting. While it crosses over into cheesy at times, the Japanese dub is still by all means passable, that said, I have to comment on the English ADV dub as well. It is by far the worst English dub I've ever heard in terms of the context of the series… and I lived with early 90's and late 80's animes. It's a damn shame that this series doesn't get the dubbing it deserves, and it really doesn't deserve to be ridiculed like it is to the English crowd.
While I haven't yet seen the second season (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai), I plan to, and I hear it clearly sums up unexplained parts of the first. In fact, the reason I haven't seen it yet is because I plan to view all 26 episodes in one sitting. Fully explained or not however, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is, without a doubt, a show that will stick with me until my life is cut short by a hatchet-wielding Rena. Hopefully, though, that isn't too soon.
-Marcus Speer
If you enjoy watching a serious anime or, like me, have watched Death Note with great anticipation of what's going to happen next, this would be a great addition to your collection. Now, enough with the praising, I bet you're wondering what makes it so great.
The basic plot starts in 1983, when a city-born kid named Keiichi moves into a rural Japanese countryside. He befriends some locals his age and starts to live a happier life compared to that in his previous home. When They Cry has 20-odd episodes, which are divided into different story arcs. Each arc is about 3-5 episodes long, and tells a story involving the same characters and same settings. Some may be confused by the show's unorthodox method of storytelling. The information above remains the same with each arc, but in each one, things begin to escalate. Weird things involving Keiichi and his friends start to happen, causing suspense, suspicion, and scandal to rise and rise, until the arc finally, dramatically concludes. The arcs are not in any order, jumping around the time frame the series relies upon. On top of that, each arc begins with a character being vengeful, betrayed, or misguided, thus making them become progressively insane, until the end of the arc, where the character either come to realize their faults and inner demons and become normal again, or are all killed. The later is what usually happens: everyone, including the one responsible, is usually killed at the end of an arc, and in a rather gory fashion, too. If you think I just spoiled the ending, think again. To make matters more confusing, once an certain arc ends, and everyone is dead or forgiven, the next arc starts at the beginning of the previous one, with everyone alive, and what plays out is either the perspective of a different character of the previous arc (keying you in on some of the mysterious questions you had last time), or a whole new "scenario arc ".
When a new scenario arc starts, it begins with the most basic of plot synopses; the characters, the setting, and the story all "reset" (for lack of a better word), and things start over as a clean slate, beginning the arc in the same key point as the others. The characters are unaware of the "reset", and the arc begins as if nothing happened, but this time with different outcomes. Yes, I know, it's very confusing to understand, but trust me when I say it's just something that is needed to be seen. And please don't look at this as if it's too confusing to even bother watching, because that would be a damn shame. The point of this is so the viewer can see "what would have happened" if things played differently, like if a certain character went to a certain place instead of another character doing it. All the previous knowledge you've learned about a character still holds true, and can be used to understand other arcs (for example, if Keiichi told someone a huge secret about his past in the previous arc, then the secret is still true throughout the show). It creates a feeling of Deja Vu, and when something that was mentioned about three arcs back is brought up in the current arc, you get a great feeling. It's an anime that requires constant attention, yet pays off after the final arc. And rest assured, most of the questions are answered in the last episode, so you don't have to be left in the dark too long.
Even though the story is so strange, it's still difficult to find a fault with this show, though it does have difficulty finding its strides. This show is of the murder-mystery genre and, though I hate to say it, most of the arcs end in tragedy; where the character the arc is focusing upon kills everyone before ironically dying themselves, or they kill themselves, or they kill everyone and escape scott-free. Despite it seeming like a grim, dark, always-disturbing show, it incorporates in romantic elements, lighthearted moments and even wacky mishaps in contrast to brutal murder. While I found this weird at first, the reason as to why things were this way was later addressed in the story.
On top of the aforementioned, the animation is also incredibly odd. The characters looked a tad cartoony... not the art direction I would have chosen to use for the anime, but then again, the style was so diverse in both the humorous and serious parts of the show that any other kind of animation would not have worked at all. It's simple, yet effective. Although, with that said, it's still a pain to see this great work cursed with horribly low budget and oddly proportioned character designs.
Again, I can see how the story might be a bit much, considering how it can be viewed as repetitive, but do not fret. This show is one of my all-time favorites, if only because anything can happen, and I mean that in the most genuine manner I can. When you soak in the fact that things "reset", you realize that there are no boundaries protecting any character from an untimely demise. The main character could die unexpectedly halfway through the arc, you could just never know. Sure, whenever you watched a suspenseful series, you were kept guessing, but that was only because you had a suspension of disbelief that allowed your brain to believe that the main character was in danger. Really, if you think about it, any real suspenseful work of fiction requires a suspension of disbelief, because it's unlikely a writer would kill off the main character if it weren't late in the story or dramatic. But with Higurashi? Nope, it's all fair play. Anyone and everyone can and will die and it's great because, with each arc, it's almost like a whole new show within itself, truly a great thing to experience first-hand.
I don't have any huge gripes with the series, other than the depressing arc endings or the lack of explanation about the "Arc" system of the show. Otherwise nearly flawless, the work is full of questions and great story-telling, and by the end of it, you'll come up with your own conspiracy theory about what really happened. One other thing I would like to share, though, is the voice acting. While it crosses over into cheesy at times, the Japanese dub is still by all means passable, that said, I have to comment on the English ADV dub as well. It is by far the worst English dub I've ever heard in terms of the context of the series… and I lived with early 90's and late 80's animes. It's a damn shame that this series doesn't get the dubbing it deserves, and it really doesn't deserve to be ridiculed like it is to the English crowd.
While I haven't yet seen the second season (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai), I plan to, and I hear it clearly sums up unexplained parts of the first. In fact, the reason I haven't seen it yet is because I plan to view all 26 episodes in one sitting. Fully explained or not however, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is, without a doubt, a show that will stick with me until my life is cut short by a hatchet-wielding Rena. Hopefully, though, that isn't too soon.
-Marcus Speer
