Hey guys what is up welcome back to my blog I’m so thankful that you guys took the time out of your day to read my blog post. Hope you all are safe from the COVID-19 and having a great day. This anime was a hell of a watch, just so much to see and remember, it was a great journey and since SOTSU is on the way this is the perfect time to review it. SPOILERS AHEAD.
The show is set in the rural village of Hinamizawa, a quiet and calm place, perfect for the setting of a slice of life anime (as if). Keichi Maebara, a new kid in town along with his friends, Sonozaki Mion, Ryuugu Rena, Satoko Hojou and Rika Furude is trying to prepare for and enjoy the Cotton Drifting Festival of the village. Soon enough things start to go south as Keichi discovers that a man was murdered in the town and since then every year one person dies and another disappears during the time of the Cotton Drifting festival, this phenomena is dubbed Oyashiro-Sama’s curse by the villagers as they believe that their residing deity, Oyashiro-Sama is killing the villagers who are traitors to the village and are planning to leave. The show follows Keichi and his friends in a time loop, unaware but stuck trying to find out the identity of the killer, the truth behind the curse of Oyashiro-Sama.
The characters in the show are extremely lovable, Keichi who is the new kid is shown to be stubborn and headstrong while Mion is shown to smart and deceptive, Rena with her obsession of cute things really steals the spotlight and makes for good comedy. Satoko and her pranks and Rika’s Ni-paa’s all make fore good comedic antics. There are also other, more evil characters such as Ooishi, the policeman who at first seems to be a good guy and then a jerk and then at last a good guy again. The vast majority of the characters go through much character development as we see their mistakes and their values and how they’re changed and molded into better ones all while it culminates into them becoming better people and to be prepared for their final battle.
The journey spans two seasons originally with one season setting up the mystery and other solving it. The original season and then Kai (which means answers) are both meant to be watched in succession to make for the full mystery and its answer. Gou on the other hand is a sequel of its own, having a story that at first seems to be the same as the first season but then deviates off into its own story which has its answers coming out in SOTSU. The show has some intense action and gore, and while I am not the biggest fan of gore I actually liked it at points just because of how much the brutality showed the personality of the character. I also loved how everything added up into one neat bundle and how nothing was wasted and every lose end was tied up. A perfect blend of science fiction and supernatural, When they cry is simply amazing with its story telling, the action is perfect to hype you up and the comedy is a nice change of pace.
The thing that should be taken from the anime is that despair is never the answer, no matter how hard things get and how much the odds seem like the odds are stacked against you, you need to keep going and keep attacking the problem from different angles, using different strategies, taking help from more people, until you finally succeed. The show shows from its time loop mechanism that how nothing is wasted, how every effort that you put in, will in the end bring results.
The anime is overall a really interesting watch. You might be very very confused with the time looping at first but after the first season you finally understand what is going on and that will only drive you more to finish the second season. I personally didn’t like Gou for the simple reason that with the original two seasons, the time loop does give more room for creativity and new content but the story was finished in the first two seasons and I didn’t like jumping into a sequel which is the same at first and a bore to get through to the good parts. My point is that you can stop at just the original and Kai, its a perfect ending and very very satisfying, but if you want more When They Cry content then go right ahead and watch Gou and SOTSU which is now ongoing. A thrilling adventure filled with comedy, romance, friendship, action and lots and lots of murder, When They Cry is not for the weak hearted but is a must watch for the viewers who want a well thought out mystery and can stomach the gore.
Rap section:
Let’s shift to the quiet Hinamizawa village,
Of a nice and calm town it gives the image,
But dark secrets lurk underneath not many have the privelege,
To see who behind the scenes is actually the villan.
Maebara Keichi loudmouth new boy,
With his friends at school just tryna enjoy,
The festival of the village which is just a decoy,
For the dark methods that the people employ.
Teaming with his friends aiming to be free,
Of the village’s mystery and murder spree,
But he’s got a role to fulfill to guarantee,
To solving the mystery of this village he’s the key.
Murders happen each time then the loop reset,
Everything seems normal but one of them doesn’t forget,
Of not having caught the killer at that time regret,
Playing against each other in a 100 year old bet.
So that is it for this post guys hope you got some value from this. Thank you guys for reading to the end hit me up on Instagram and Twitter with your thoughts and if you have any ideas on what I should write about. Stay safe from the COVID-19. Thank you again and I’ll see you all next week.
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