Hinamizawa, le village maudit

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!

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.

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)

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.

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