Hinamizawa, le village maudit

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.

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.

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.

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)

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.