Title: When they Cry – Part 2: Episodes 14 – 26
Alternative Title: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, When Cincadas Cry, ひぐらしのなく頃に
Published by: Siren Visual (Australia), Geneon (US)
Based on: The Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Visual Novel series by Ryukishi07.
Audio: English and Japanese Dubs
Subtitles: English
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Full Frame, Original Ratio.
Run Time: 300 Minutes over 3 DVD’s
Cost: $AUD 49.95 from the Siren Visual online store.
Classification: This title is rated MA15+ for Strong Animated Violence.
My Blurb: “With the three arcs in the previous volume being question arcs, now is the time for the Answer arcs which focus on presenting new questions, but also answering some of the questions made prior. The seriousness has stepped up a notch, and the violence increases as well.
Special Thanks: A special thanks goes to the PR team at Siren Visual for providing me with a review sample of this title.
At long last, the much awaited second part of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (or When they Cry) has been released to Australian shores. Bringing with it, the same mystery and murder elements of the previous episodes, it steps it up a notch by having viewers question if there is any link between the three sets of murders previously and if there is a reason for all this to happen. Of course, there is no answer to the mystery as of yet due to only the first season of the series being released (It was originally dubbed by Geneon before they shut down US distribution) and nothing announced regarding the second season as of yet. This part also contains three arcs, the Time Wasting Chapter, Eye Opening Chapter and Atonement Chapter. Are these any good? Read on to find out in my review of When They Cry Part 2.
On a hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he befriends his classmates Rena, Mion, Rika and Satoko. Just as Keiichi is beginning to assimilate into simple rural life, he stumbles upon the dark history of Hinamizawa – every year for the past four years, one person has been murdered and another has gone missing on the day of the Watanagashi Festival.
As I stated above, there are three separate arcs within Part 2 of this series. These are Chapter Four: Time Wasting which goes for two episodes, Chapter Five: Eye Opening which is six episodes, the longest in the series and Chapter Six: Atonement which is five episodes long. As with my review of Part 1, as each of the arcs are different and essentially take place in a time loop, I will be reviewing each of the chapters individually.
Time Wasting
As the name does sort of suggest, this chapter is a small, two episode arc that has absolutely no murders in it, instead focusing on Rika and a police officer named Akasaka, who she meets when he is visiting Hinamizawa. The storyline follows Akasaka, who has arrived in Hinamizawa to investigate the abduction of the son of the Dam Construction manager. The actual storyline is rather bland, and has just been put in there to justify having this chapter in the first place, however, more important is the interactions between this police officer and the young girl, that will show that the characters fate maybe be unavoidable. It is important to the storyline of the entire series, but if you were to watch the series all the way through, you would no doubt figure out all that was discovered in this arc.
Eye Opening
Remember in Part 1 how the second arc, Cotton Drifting had a rather confusing storyline with many unexplained mysteries to it. Whilst this chapter does not explain all the mysteries, which are further explained in the second season, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, the secret behind the real “Mion” and Shion’s backstory with Satoshi are investigated. This storyline passes the main role from Keiichi to Shion, and shows the background story to Cotton Drifting unfold and whilst the backstory does drag on, it is fundamentally key to understanding Mion and Shion in all future arcs.
If you were to compare the brutality in this chapter in comparison to every other chapter in season one, this would take the cake as the most bloody one, with the murders of all characters shown, including that of Satoko and Rika. This chapter did have the best written storyline, even with the high focus on murders, and is the only chapter in which every one of the main characters gets some character development.
Atonement
As of Episode 22, every individual character had received an arc that focuses on them, with the exception of Rena. This is quite often considered the Answer Arc of the first chapter, Spirited Away By The Demon, however unlike the Eye Opening chapter, follows a different storyline where Rena has the same premonitions as Keiichi did in terms of the secret intentions of her friends and those around her. With this being the final chapter in the season, they have also able to add factors that causes Rena’s delusions. Generally. every arc had one key moment in time which changed the environment from peaceful to murderific, this time however, a number of different aspects lead to this murder, some of which have been individual aspects in previous arcs.
Whilst Curse Killing remains my favorite arc in this series,Atonement takes a definite second. It makes bloody murder a second priority, and instead focuses on the conspiracies behind Hinamizawa and its residents, but in a way that makes you question everyone’s intentions. Also, more information is provided on the nature of these time loops and the reasonings that people go insane. Whilst ending on what could be considered the only Good End of the series, instills a sense of hopelessness as whilst they can rebel against fate, they arent necessarily going to defeat it, an aspect that is usually ignored in most anime series (Usually rebelling against fate yields a good end in other anime series I have watched).
Overall, whilst primarily focusing on answering some questions delivered by the first three arcs, each chapter delivers more to the table through unique storylines or backstories that help us get a better incite to the personality of the characters. It is a shame that the series has a moderate chance of not having its second season, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai (or When They Cry 2) released to any English market, as most of the final arc was based around delivering information necessary to appreciate the second season.
My opinion on the design and music standards of this series still hold for the second half of the season. Whilst the character designs remain decent, they always seem to remain better designed during scenes of murder or fanservice and when they get down to scenes regarding action, such as the image above, the quality seems to dip down quite significantly. As I have said before however, their environment designs, especially the forest landscapes are very well done. Music also remains the same set of tracks, ranging from the suspenseful to light hearted. The voice actors all remain the same, and with the exception of Rika’s voice actress, who sounds a little bit too fake for her cutesy role (Although surprisingly good at her serious voice), the voice acting cast is solid. Darrel Guilbeau was a new addition as Satoshi, and whilst I have heard him in many other titles before, I can’t help but feel a little bit disappointed in his performance this time around.
Credits for this image go to Siren Visual. This was posted on their facebook wall.
Before I discuss the extra content included in this set, I would like to discuss the actual contents of it. There is the obligatory slip-case included which has a picture of Akasaka and Chibi Rika at the bus stop they first meet, which is cute, however differs vastly from the darker toned slip-cover of the first DVD set. The actual DVD cover has a theme of the Okinomiya Baseball Courts with Shion and Satoshi standing on it. Inside the DVD cover has three DVD’s which I shall discuss later, as well as a background design, with the left being the list of episodes and the right being some cute art of Rika and Satoko.
My biggest issue however was with the DVD design. I am usually lazy when picking out DVD’s (Time wasted looking is less time for watching), so I usually if possible, either look for big letting of the DVD number of use the design of the disc to determine what DVD to put in. Several times whilst doing this review to collect images, I put in the wrong disc, because the wrong arc’s images are included on the disc for each arc. Whilst I am not lowering scores for this, just be warned to look at the DVD before putting it in the DVD player. However, the overall design of the set looks impressive.
In terms of extras, there isn’t that much on offer. They have included the textless Opening and Closing sequences for the series which is nice and a bunch of trailers, which surprisingly isn’t the normal three they include on their DVD releases. The series Durarara!!, Welcome To Irabu’s Office, The Tatami Galaxy, Clannad, Casshern Sins, Ghost Hound and Tears To Tiara all have trailers on the DVD.
Personally, I am a fan of all works by Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion, and this series is a worthy adaptation of his original storyline to anime form, remaining faithful to most of the plot elements he included in his release. Whilst the storyline is a bit slower in this part in comparison to Part 1, the plot development they brought was each interesting, gave each of the characters some much needed development and of course, what most people at least partly check out this series for…. the murders.
Final Score
Storyline: B+
Character Development: B+
Design: B
Music: B
Voice Acting: A-
Packaging Designs: A
Extras: D
Personal Opinion: A
Overall Score: B+
Afterthought….
It would be easier to enjoy this series if we knew we were at some point going to get the concluding arcs for this series, even if we didn’t get the bonus OVA episodes. However, do not rule it out yet, as Siren Visual have indicated an interest in looking into the series on their facebook wall, as exampled below:
So with that in mind, do not hassle Siren Visual about possibly picking up Season 2, as with all series, they will not do announcements of new titles responding to questions on their Facebook wall. However, keep your fingers crossed that we will one day see this title hit our shores, either in Japanese or English dubbing.
Related posts:
- Attack of the Killer Lolis! – When They Cry: Part 1 (Episodes 1 to 13) Review
- Starfish Underload! – Clannad Part 2: Episodes 13 to 24
- Starfish Overload! – Clannad Part 1: Episodes 1 to 12
- (In)sane Psychiatry – Welcome to Irabu’s Office: Complete Series (Episodes 1 – 11) Review
- The First Aussie Anime Simulcast – Tiger & Bunny Episodes 1 – 7 Review
