When They Cry is a series that surprised me upon my initial viewing, and I will admit that when I first saw it years ago my expectations were terribly low due to its stylistic similarities to Elfen Lied. One thing among many that Elfen Lied did terribly was the meshing of its genres. The comedy clashed with the violent content and the fan service clashed with the horror. Therefore in the end, I couldn't take any of it seriously. This anime doesn't suffer from that tonal whiplash.
When They Cry is superior to EL in every way by balancing its features. The comedy is well paced and it isn't presented to "lighten up" the mood. The comedy normally takes place in the beginning of an arc, and it actually works into the characters three dimensional development. It's meant to establish the kid's innocence and care free nature. This form of development may not be the best, but it did make the characters fun to watch on some occasions. However, when things become serious, this anime maintains the right tempo through well paced suspense, story build up, and definitely mystery.
The plot follows a group of friends as they find themselves falling victim to their town's curse, in which a person dies and another disappears during a festival that takes place each year. Some of them don't believe in it despite weird occurrences taking place; while others are convinced to the point of obsession and paranoia.
The meat of the series for me has to be the story and plot. The anime is broken up into six chapters using a horror-mystery backdrop. This is where the series takes some getting use to. At first, it utilizes a repetitive story and plot elements that becomes quite predictable. Normally, I hate this method of storytelling, but it actually works here for several reasons: For one, the stories continue to add background and present different, in-depth perspectives to the character's backgrounds and motives. Second, the stories are just plain interesting with the focus being on different individuals. Finally, the ending ties up everything making sense of it all in the process, and believe me, the ending is very strong because things feel quite weird nearly throughout the entire trip.
The series tells its tale by exploring the myths surrounding the villages history and traditions. I found the anime to be gripping once the plots began, and I believe the horror elements worked out rather well. The anime did a great job exercising its themes such as paranoia, deceit, manipulation, revenge, and obsession.
One of the elements that most fans mention about the series is the violence. The violence in the series can be very over the top, but it doesn't take place to carry or mask an incoherent plot. It also isn't used as a cheap and repetitive gimmick like a certain title out there. The violence is meant to shock the viewer, and I do believe it's effective along with supporting its themes.
The characters will work for some folks, but at times they were too saccharine for my taste. I understand the reasons for combining cute with violent. Still, this is an approach that can spell disaster for some, and I found a couple of the characters detestable on certain occasions. Overall, they are well developed and actually benefit the story.
The series does a great job handling its soundtrack and sound effects. The sounds of the cicadas adds to the series atmosphere creating a sense of ambiance when it's needed. The soundtrack also works well making the drama and even the horror stand out a tad bit more. Although my feelings are slightly mixed here; I enjoyed the artwork concerning the beautiful backgrounds but the character designs really didn't do a thing for me. The animation really wasn't anything special either. However, I must give props to the violence, when someone is getting smashed to pulp with a pipe, it can be quite disturbing.
Overall, When They Cry is definitely something hardcore anime fans should see. I think the series did its job in delivering a gripping experience. Some people think multiple watches are needed to fully get the story but I disagree there; the twists are nothing very special and a single viewing should be enough, yet I do think the ending is one of those "wow" moments. Personally, I don't think it's the masterpiece some may consider it. I didn't find the comedy funny in the least, and I do think the characters could have been developed differently. In any case, the only people I would advise against watching this are those whom despise this type of style. If you need 100% serious, tonal consistency with adult character designs in your anime, then it would be a very good move to skip this.
Highs: Well use of horror elements, becomes more focused later
Lows: Unfunny comedy, style will completely put of certain types of anime fans
