When They Cry (2006) User Reviews

Remember to watch "Kai" after this.

[rapzip1-1 · 9/10 · 14 September 2008]

For those who doesn't know about Higurashi. Three points:

(1) Higurashi has 50 episodes in total. Second half (24 episodes) are called "Higurashi no nakukoroni Kai". "Kai" means "Answer to mystery". You won't get answer and you won't understand the whole story until you watch "Kai" part.

(2) Style is somewhat similar to US drama "Lost". You will keep wondering if bizarre phenomenon will be explained by science and logic, or by pure fantasy.

(3) If you don't know about Anime, you may think some part are very childish, silly or weird. There are many "Moe" elements in this anime, which are prevalent in current anime. Maid dress, multiple very young female characters with one central male character, are typical "Moe" elements, and you should just ignore them and they shouldn't distract you from concentrating on the main story. What's new about Higurashi is the combination of "Moe" and horror, not unlike "Elfen Lied" which combined "Moe" and Science fiction. But "Moe" part may be just annoying for those who like serious drama.

When Cicadas Cry, People Die

[jediknightmare123 · 7/10 · 25 October 2006]

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni starts off in a quiet, peaceful little village that looks quite ordinary and amiable to anyone.

But, of course, there's always something horribly wrong.

Higurashi was first brought into the world in the form several PC games, with the covers designed to look quite disarming so any person would think that this series was harmless. But once you get into the meat of it, things aren't looking so rosy. You'll be pulled, dragged, and unwillingly shoved into a head-spinning mystery that you wished never surfaced in the first place, fighting for your life against people you trusted, and digging through graves and lies in order to survive.

There are four "question" arcs, consisting of four different viewpoints of the fateful Hinamizawa festival and two "answer" arcs (in the anime), which will reveal what went wrong in two of the question arcs.

What's best of all is the horror, both physical and psychological. If the blood won't get to you, the emotional tension will. With a cast of memorable and lively characters, you won't be able to watch this anime only once.

There are FOUR of them now. Yes, you'll have to deal with four creepy girls instead of one like a normal horror film would. They'll be cute and bouncy for one moment, then murderous and psychotic the next. Full of twists, turns, and unpleasant surprises, after watching this, you won't be able to close an eyelid for some time.

Welcome to Hinamizawa. Enjoy your stay.

Almost a perfect David Lynch anime

[eetukarhulahti · 8/10 · 12 October 2020]

Nothing makes sense, so everything makes sense. Weird stuff all time. Some things were creepy and others made me laugh

How to watch When They Cry series:

[eurodiscordsonly · 10/10 · 5 July 2021]

1. Higurashi no naku koro ni 2006

2. Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai 2007

3. Higurashi no naku koro ni Rei (OVA series)

4. Higurashi no naku koro ni Gou 2020

5. Higurashi no naku koro ni Sotsu 2021

6. Umineko no naku koro ni (don't watch the anime, you must play the visual novel on steam or read the manga)

7. Ciconia no naku koro ni (play the visual novel)

The ONLY good anime show that can really be called "Horror"

[syberpuppy · 10/10 · 26 May 2008]

I said good but this show is amazing...

After watching the first episode most people will discard it as a kids show, personally, I wouldn't let my kids anyway near this show, although I like horror movies and shows it's really rare for me to feel horror myself, this show though, did it like no other.

The story takes place in a small village, around a group of small kids (I wold guess the ages between 8 and 14, but that's all this is), although the village gives you a warm and soothing feeling, it will, by the end of each story, make you feel isolated and suffocating, the children are perky and sweet at the beginning (a little too much, some will say), are really dark and scary at the begging, The show divide to few stories, all around the same time of the year, it runs as a detective story from different angles, slowly gaining more details about the dark past of the village and it's people.

You should watch the whole show, though, if you expect to understand any of it (even twice won't hurt, if you'll like it as much as I do), but only after seeing the sequel "Higurashi no naku koro ni kai" (which is not half as good, and can't really be called "horror") you'll really understand more then a few pieces.

And I'll finish in a few words of warning, this is one of the best Japanese anime shows ever created, but it really ISN'T FOR THE FAINT OF HEARTS, enjoy

Absolutely stunning

[mmmguro · 10/10 · 5 April 2008]

This a series of many different arcs all taking place in Hinamizawa of 1983. With the first episode it kinda make you think this is gonna be your typical cute funny anime. But it's not. It is truly a horror and a thriller anime. Even if you don't like violence I believe most people would still appreciate this anime. In a way it could also fit into the mystery genre.

Surprisingly, the arcs do not get old nor repetitive. Which before watching this anime I was afraid of. After each episode you want to watch more. Overall this is an amazing anime and I would recommend it to anyone. (not children though of course since it is quite violent}.

It's amazing if you watch the whole series

[worldendxdy · 10/10 · 25 May 2020]

People who thinks it's trash, most likely is because that only watched the first season, which this page shows. You have to watch the complete series in order to understand the plot. EVERY THING WILL MAKES SENSE!!! PLEASE WATCH IT!!! -It's call Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai.- I won't write any specific about the plot because you can really understands its beauty after watching it. At least, I think its epic. One of the best wrotten, comparable with Steins;Gate. The music and other aspects are also good. IT SHOULDN'T FAIL YOU.

"We of Hinamizawa welcome you!"

[Real77 · 24 November 2008]

Once upon a time, a young man who had grown to love those about him began noticing things; little things at that, and too many little things. He was then to die, and he did. Suddenly it began again. The young man was alive and he loved those about him; and they loved him.

With each of the chapters, little more is revealed of why there are murders which occur during each 'Watanagashi Fesitval', however, with each chapter, more IS revealed through our ignorant Keiichi (our unlucky-as-all-hell protagonist who is to experience this all). Every chapter begins fresh, with time having seemed to rewind it's self and Keiichi having no memory of having suffered; as do also most every other of the characters.Each chapter can be divided as beginning simple and very humorous (Rena, the secondary character, has an obsession towards cute things and finds garbage and the like as such), and this will contrast with it's inevitable climax (that tends to be extreme in that some or most of the character die, and in brutal ways). The transition between points A and B is very organic and unclean, in that it never seems too 'planned out'.

The characters become very interesting through this transition. Again, the character of Rena begins cute and innocent (moe urges growing!) though she is not without her 'moments' during point B. The character of Keiichi changes also. During each 'begining', he is 'simple', and during point B, he is then already paranoid towards every of the supporting cast. This change only adds to the suspense which builds it's self gradually.

This show is perfect, in that it masters what even most films try and cannot: the ability over an audience's fear, and it uses little gore so to do this (though that's not to say that it's without such 'scenes'). Watch this show and enjoy it's intro sequence (which I think captures the exact feel of the show it self).

The only thing negative I can say about this show is that it's English voice cast is weak, or course, and that it's animation dose not transition with it's subject matter (it's too cute during point B, but I'm just complaining for the sake of complaining about something).

10/10

Creepy, disturbing, and mysterious

[ccrunner3234 · 7/10 · 15 December 2012]

This series was so immensely pleasurable to watch. It's a horrific and slightly sadistic series that leaves you constantly guessing what's really going on in this small haunting rural village. I must admit though that I couldn't bring myself to complete it. Not because I was scared or anything, but because the explanations for why things were happening were unfolding and I didn't like it. I was hooked on the series from the beginning to around the last few episodes simply because I never really knew why things were happening the way they were. I was blissfully confused and baffled throughout the whole series, and the final episodes were like getting smacked upside the head with the facts of all the episodes previously. From what I've read though, those final episodes didn't explain everything all the way anyway, so maybe its worth watching. For me personally though, I felt that explaining the mysteries of the village the series takes place in took away from the overall appeal. If you love mysteries and creepy moe characters and can handle some gore, I highly recommend that you at least watch the first few episodes. If you aren't completely hooked then I'd say leave the series alone and watch something you'd find more fulfilling.

Oh and by the way, for those comparing to Elfen Lied, this series is tens times better and creepier as opposed to being composed of pure gore.

Surprisingly good animation with great voice acting and story

[kanegx · 9/10 · 14 September 2006]

For those who have not watched this show yet, this anime is based on popular digital novel created by and amateur (refered as 'Doujin' in Japan)writer.

Unlike other anime series, this one splits itself into several stories(arcs). Each arc consists of about 2-5 episodes. All episodes tells the story of main characters(some side characters) encountering different/same/similar events in small countryside village called 'Hinamizawa' (This feels like parallel universe setting, after each story ends, good or bad they go back in time and start again but this time something else happens with new characters, and more mysteries are created or answered).

First few episode of each arc are done average to near horrible (Personal Experience: I almost decided to stop watching the series after half way through the first episode,,,thank god I didn't!). It's probably due to the way they made it very 'comedial' and some of the ways characters talk, and also how they look.

However, real excitement usually starts from around mid-second episode. Everything will change dramatically! There are plenty of mystery you can try solve in each story (Later episodes reveals the answers to the mystery, so I recommend watching them in order, it is also hard to solve the mystery with anime version due to lack of details in the story compared to the original novel).

Voice acting is very well done, Mion/Shion Sonozaki are personal favorite characters, but everyone else does good job of making the overall warm/dark feel of the atmosphere!

I highly recommend this animation for people who likes mystery, suspense, violence with interesting plots and twists.

*Added - The same author of this series has released new digital novel called 'Umineko no naku koroni (Umineko - Japanese Gull/Black tailed gull)'. 'Umineko' is not a direct sequel to 'higurashi', but has similarity to higurashi. It has better character settings in term of 'realism' (People are a lot more believable), more serious (less jokes that was less appearing to 'serious story' seekers, and still contains a lot of gore. If you understand Japanese, I highly recommend all mystery loving people to read the novel!

intriguing, original and engrossing, but too much for me

[cherold · 7/10 · 27 March 2021]

When They Cry has is remarkably constructed, putting the same characters through a shifting story arc for much of the first season, then changing the perspective in a way that explains some, but not all, of the mysteries.

The series focusses on a group of high school students. It starts off as a cutesy, manic show in which they play games and act silly and then there's strange stories and creepy characters and murders and then ... it starts over, but different.

This made me concerned that the series was going to be like Lost and overload me with unanswered mysteries, but online research suggested that answer were coming, so I kept watching and found it all pretty interesting.

What stopped me watching was the second-to-last story cycle of season one. I like my horror tingly and pretty mild, and When They Cry got *intense!* It freaked me out. Which for some will be a recommendation, but even though I've heard the final story cycle is less intense, I don't think I'll watch it.

I did a bunch of more research to find out what was going on, and it seems there are answers and it sounds like they do make sense. And if I would get all the answers at the end of season 1 I might watch the last episodes, but apparently you just get some answers and have to watch the next season to really understand what's happening, so what's the point?

Anyway, if you're less squeamish than I am and like very dark horror (much darker than, say Death Note, which I really liked) then you should definitely check this out.

What do you believe?

[Thumper-113 · 10/10 · 10 November 2019]

Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni was such an amazing and uniquely mysterious anime that really does put you into question of what to believe in. Can certain incidents really only be explained with supernatural factors, or is there really just a logical explanation to everything that's happening? Questions like this are definitely what drive the viewer to wanting to figure what the real truth is behind all the mystery at the end of the day.

For the first half of this series, we're introduced to Maebara Keiichi, a young teenage boy who moves to the small village of Hinamizawa. From there he meets many new friends, particularly when joining an afterschool club to get along better with a handful of his new classmates. But even though his first impressions are positive, he soon begins to learn of the dark secrets the village has within the shadows. As he chooses to dig in deeper to these secrets, his sense of paranoia begins to rise further as the days go by, while also realizing his newly made friends may also have secrets of their own.

I love how an anime like this can make you be on your feet with suspense at times when it feels like you're not even meant to. I also love how this anime is very careful with the mysteries surrounding it, as well as when it's a proper time for each of them to come into play. You may not understand everything right away or even halfway, but the greatest thing about this anime is they leave no stone unturned.

The characters are also a very big highlight in this series, as each of them present themselves as a very unique element for when the time comes. A great way they do this is splitting the focus of all these characters into separate arcs, that way you can learn more about the characters and why they are the way they are now. Something I like about these characters to is, as violent as some of them may be, the choices they make throughout the story are pretty realistic and/or understandable depending on the situation. You may even think that the most violent options are sometimes the right options in the end.

I really like how they set up the animation at certain times in the story as well. When necessary, the goofy and fun moments can have the most bizarre styles of animation for some great humor. When necessary, the violent animations can make it seem like they're the creepiest things you've ever seen. At the end of the day, the anime is very good with introducing the proper atmospheres when needed to.

Overall an amazing first season to a show that will definitely leave you wanting more on the search for finding out the truth. I would without a doubt recommend this anime to anyone interested in looking for another mystery anime to follow along with, while also encountering some amazing, caring, but also horrific events to be shown in the summer of 1983.

Overrated

[Flalfs · 6/10 · 15 April 2020]

I couldn't deal with the fact that this show was half filler. For a show this short and with so many small arcs it is disappointing that half the time something is happening and the other half it's a slice of life. The short arcs felt like they could have been expanded on, and instead of having these it should have focused on one or two more developed ones. The plot could have been good but in my opinion, while watchable, this anime was nowhere near as good as what I had been led to believe.

Average animation, flat characters and an inconclusive story

[aractos-890-607133 · 4/10 · 4 February 2014]

--Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, or When They Cry is a mystery anime with some cute characters, a few morbid scenes and several stories that are shown in sequence.

--It revolves around the standard Japanese anime trick of not giving you enough information. The lack of information lets your imagination run wild, contemplating the reasons and motives of the events that take place, which can sometimes be a really good thing. When the story reveals one of those ideas to be right on the money, or when it's so inconceivable it sweeps you of your feet! However, this is not the case with When They Cry. The initial mystification caused by the apparently cute characters with dark secrets falls short when the characters' motives are reveled to be underdeveloped, oversimplified even. Grievous topics such as insanity and family abuse are touched, but shown with the depth of perspective you would get from reading about it in a news paper. Even when love is mentioned, it's used so trivially to motivate characters that all immersion is lost.

--The animation aspect of the anime is also lacking. The colors of the characters will hurt your eyes due to distasteful and unappealing choices, while the backgrounds are pretty standard. The characters sometimes go into "spooky mode" which is overemphasized, like emotions in most anime. In this case however, the overreactions in "spooky mode" cross the line necessary to communicate the characters emotions to the viewer and wind up being outright grotesque.

--The end of the anime is inconclusive and looks pretty much like a commercial for the video game from which this anime was adapted.

--In short, When They Cry doesn't deserve it's misleading current score of 8,3 on a site like IMDb. This score is held by famous movies such as Rashomon, Snatch and Some Like it Hot. The more appropriate number, in my opinion is around 5, maybe even lower. Cheap thrills in a visually unstimulating package. Cheers!

Coolest new anime I've seen this year

[sunabozufan · 10/10 · 31 August 2006]

I LOVE this anime. It's my second favorite (After One Piece). The girls are all so cute(Especially Rena and Rika *Ni-pah!*). The story's original, and the characters all have wonderful personalities.

However this anime does get very dark at times and may not be suitable for everyone as it DOES contain stuff like murder, child abuse, child torture, beatings, and the story keeps going back which may get on some peoples' nerves. However, aside from all this, it really is a great anime and in my opinion, is a true masterpiece in both story and horror. A must see for any horror fan.

BEWARE THE KILLER LOLIS.

Cute, Scary & Bloody

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 17 June 2008]

I recently watched this anime for the first time and initially wasn't sure what to make of it; I'd heard that is was a horror story but the animation style and opening episodes gave little suggestion of what was to come apart from the short pre-credit sequence in the first episode.

Keiichi has recently moved from the city to the small, traditional village of Hinamizawa and has settled in at the local school where he has befriended a group of girls and joined their "club". This all suggests it is going to be a comedy with him getting into embarrassing situations with the girls, there is some of that but it leads on to murder and mayhem.

The story repeats a few times during the series with slightly different situations leading to different characters taking the lead roll. All the stories however end in murder, often shockingly brutal murder and torture.

We later learn that the repeating stories aren't merely showing how things could be different if different choices are made but time is repeating like a macabre version of "Groundhog Day", except that more than a day is repeated. We later learn that one of the girls is aware of this and is trying to change fate to prevent it from reoccurring, occasionally one or more of the others will remember something too but tends to write it off as a half remembered dream or déjà vu.

The story is fairly gripping and doesn't get boring as events repeat themselves. I found the juxtaposition of cute animated characters and disturbing imagery quite disturbing in a good way.

The greatest horror anime of all time

[themarvelheroeslildoop · 10/10 · 2 April 2018]

When watching When they cry for myself I binged so much; Watching 14 episodes before 1 PM, waking up early to see as much as I could. Every episode leaves you wanting more, it is very mysterious and can be quite confusing but looking at that as a negative would be idiotic.

The characters are lovable and yet very creepy, disturbing and sick as well; I don't want to spoil anything because you really should give this a shot; you will not be disappointed!

As I said earlier though, it can be very confusing and it left me bewildered, almost nothing is answered even at the end and that is why you must be sure to watch when they cry:Kai (season 2) once you complete this.

This anime will make you feel sick to your stomach at times and will make you want to die because of how cute it is at others, I laughed, I cried, its a very complex and beautiful work of art with just the right balance of morbidity, mystery and fun.

Animation: 10/10 It makes you feel all sorts of freaked out, absolutely amazing and suits this style of anime perfectly.

Voice acting: 10/10 There is never a moment where you feel as if the voice actors don't care, every scene is engaging and awesome and the cry's and screams of our beloved antagonists will never leave our minds.

Re-watch(?): 10/10 I am actually planning to re-watch it soon myself and it has only been a year since I saw it. It is amazing, be sure to pay close attention to it because there is so much going on, you don't want to get lost and forget things. Even if you watch kai (season 2) some things (not essential things, don't worry) will be left unsolved, if you find yourself (like me) hungering to know all there is about When they cry, feel free to go and read the manga series which in English is called (wont let me say Japanese name) "When Seagulls cry", this is a different story line but it features some of the same characters, it is not a redoing of the anime.

You will not find an anime better than When they cry.

You like Mystery? This is the Mystery.

[knightjaussalam · 10/10 · 26 November 2012]

This delightfully prepared anime has one of the best plots I've ever seen.

In style, the anime employs cuteness, fun and games to ease you into it just to make the creepy parts even more creepy. Always shocks you at the right moment. Kept me up on my seat the whole time.

Starts with a lovely intro music with thoughtfully written lyrics, if you're into that kind of thing. I am.

What is really wonderful about this anime though, was the mind blowing quality of the subs provided by WindFS, who even included their often cryptic messages to us somehow (look out for them). Only this feature kept me going excitedly through just a few monotonous moments this anime had to offer.

Also has a sequel named Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, for which all my previous comments still apply. And there is a second sequel named Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, which is a lot different, though equally elegant.

Fantastic psychological horror anime.

[derekbellas · 10/10 · 11 February 2016]

When They Cry is a perfect example of a horror/thriller done right. The show takes place in an isolated village in Japan, giving it an ominous feeling. As the show progresses, we learn that not everything that happens there is all innocent and nice. It starts out looking like a cute show intended for children, but there is no way a kid should be exposed to this. Starting around the second episode, we are introduced to several horrifying stories, that may or may not be true. Stories and events contradict each other, making the viewer decide for themselves what actually happened. Amazing characters, paired with the confusing and terrifying story make the show worth the time to watch.

One of the best and most underrated anime I've ever watched.I highly recommend everyone to watch this anime.

[karandeb · 10/10 · 14 July 2021]

You Should watch the 2006 ver. First and then Higurashi kai.

An overrated anime with a misleading score.

[yokoyakamori · 4/10 · 25 June 2017]

After looking at some reviews about the anime, I became excited to see this anime with all the praise it has gotten. But sadly, I quit watching around episode 6 and came to the conclusion that this anime wasn't as good as everyone made it out to be. Where do I start:

Animation: Surprisingly, the animation was very...bland and sub-par to the other anime I have seen. The setting while well made were just dull to look at. Most of the environment weren't that great and fell flat most of what I had watched.

Characters: There are times when I ask whether color theory is even a thing in Japan anymore, because this show has some of the worst color palettes I have ever seen. Colors were definitely never considered in this anime and could have actually made the show itself much more scary.

Also, the fact that the character design are also stiff and feel restrained to the point that they too feel dull. Giving characters large cat eyes when they go insane did nothing for me. They weren't intimidating in the slightest and made me question how anyone could find the characters terrifying when their visible personality is never really shown.

Also, just to get it out there, I hate moe stuff. Their actual designs and character makes me cringe and forces me to watch anime before the moe craze became a thing.

Plot: The one thing that got under my skin the most weren't the characters, but the structure of the story. Literally the first second of the first episode starts with a gruesome scene, and then we get a boring backstory that lead up to the scene that takes several episodes to tell before we actually get back to it. The story being half moe slice of life and half psychological and suspenseful doesn't work when you reveal the gimmick to your anime this early. To be honest, I didn't care anyway about what happens since this anime loves to beat you over the head with its disgusting moe sh*t.

Overall, the anime fails to interest me in its story with flat, boring characters and poor structure of storytelling. I do have to give credit to the soundtrack though, it was one of the few things I actually did like.

Magnificent

[lennylips · 10/10 · 27 October 2017]

When They Cry is a fantastic show, worth the watch, worth the buy. Revolving off a story where a curse spreads through the village at each cotton drifting festival keeps the story interesting. Each time the arch is finished, everyone is set back to normal and is alive once again. This show definitely has re-watch value, and becomes better each time you watch it. When They Cry is also one of the few horror shows that actually fits the genre, relying less on gore and blood, where instead it uses fear and story to scare the audience.

An anime with adorable character designs... then stuff happens

[Nymera · 9/10 · 28 July 2016]

An anime with adorable character designs... then stuff happens. Creepy stuff. This is not an anime for kids or those who do not like seeing extreme forms of torture gore... Otherwise, it's an amazing mystery anime for you. It's average in that it follows the life of a teenage boy, surrounded by his female schoolmates... but the commonness of it ends there. A horrific tale breaks out at about the halfway point of each arc, revealing a more gritty atmosphere and art style. From start to end, I found myself forming theories in my head as to what is truly going on. As stated before, the art style is not of high quality, but that was never really an issue for me. I find that its unique... "expressions" expressed by some of the characters would not have the desired shocking effect otherwise. The sound is also spot on. Constantly having the cicada chirps fill the otherwise empty soundscape creates a very unique kind of tension. I was actually surprised when I heard this was a visual novel first, given that I can usually tell by cliché elements... but there were next to none that I noticed. Overall, a beautiful show that I highly recommend to any horror/mystery/anime fan.

Best anime so far

[r-renealejandro · 10/10 · 20 January 2015]

I really enjoyed this anime, one of the best I've seen so far. The thing that makes it so good is that it can change from a relaxing environment to deadly one and this is what we see from the first episode and throughout. The story line is 8/10 graphics 6/10 however the graphics make the anime brilliant because that's one of the ways the anime changes the environment so quickly. Characters 8/10 and mystery 9/10. Just brilliant however don't be put off from the first episode. It's meant to be like that. The anime higurashi is divided into two seasons 24 episodes each and it talks about a new transfer student who joins the hinamizawa village an school and befriends a group of girls and life is good for a while. However he starts to uncover a deadly mystery within the village and not knowing who to trust is the least of his problems. The first season is more of a astonishing mystery masterpiece and the second season is more drama and the answer for the questions in season 2 😁👌

Deliciously violent and clever!

[stargazer-lea · 10/10 · 20 February 2010]

Simply put...NOT FOR CHILDREN!

A lot of anime is somewhat violent and sometimes disturbing but Higurashi is something else! The violence is untamed and brutal. The story is surrounding a little village that is led by 3 families. It all starts when a young boy Keichii moves to the little village from the city in the month of June 1983. He makes friends with 3 girls, Rena, Mion (and later her twin sister Shion), Satoko and Rika. All seems well until he learns the village has a lot of secrets of murder and unexplained deaths. In a series of different chapters (arcs) the story is repeated all based around each character in turn. Each character goes mad and a lot of the time at least one of the group of friends is murdered brutally by one another. The stories explore murder, suspicion and even aliens!

It's not something i would recommend to everyone but certainly one I'd recommend to those who don't mind a bit of violence!