First, let’s get familiar with the story. I highly recommend you skip reading this if you haven’t gotten the chance to see the first season of When They Cry (you can find my review of that right here), because I can’t really explain what the heck happens in the second season without any spoilers whatsoever.
Much like we already know by now, the events during a certain time span seem to be repeating themselves over and over, often ending with the death of one or more main characters. In the last episodes of the first season we learn that Rika Furude seems to be aware of what is happening. I’m pleased to say that a lot of stuff will be explained right from the very first episodes of this season and it will become easy to understand why everything happened the way it did.
The explanation may prove to be quite thorough and fortunately won’t leave to many plotholes open, though it will not be as satisfying as expected for some of its audience. First of all, it’s obvious that when something so mysterious and eerie gets a logical explanation much of its magic disappears and the series won’t feel as creepy as before. Actually, scratch that. The entire creepiness that we were all too familiar in season one is now gone.
Not only is the creepiness that made this anime so fantastic gone, but there is also close to zero gore in the second season, even though that’s what made When They Cry so popular and disturbing. The entire horror element of the series is gone, in other words, and while some may not be as bothered with that as others, I feel that the anime just lost an essential element in what made it so effective and fun.
Most of the second season will play out more like a thriller than anything else, where the characters will keep founding clues and getting more and more pieces of the puzzle put together. That may not be such a bad thing to start with, but unlike the first season most of it plays out without too much action or interesting events. The pacing is also much slower now and some arcs can drag on for quite a couple of episodes, even though their importance is not that big in the long run.
Even though I wanted to like When They Cry 2 mainly because the first season is one of my favourite anime series ever, I have to say that I am quite disappointed in the direction this season decided to take. It just didn’t do it for me, and while I know I can’t speak for everyone right now, I’m sure that most will agree that something was lost in the transition between this and season one.
Up until now I’ve only criticized When They Cry 2, but there are lots of good things in it as well. The main characters that we’ve come to grow fond of are back and better than ever. I may even dare say that they are written better than in the first season and even the comedic parts of the series are funnier and more entertaining to watch. Season two doesn’t introduce too many new characters, but it sure makes use of the few new ones. The most important new character would have to be Hanyuu, a young girl who seems to be invisible to everyone but Rika. She and Rika share a much deeper relationship than what is revealed at first.
The art style of When They Cry 2 has also received quite an upgrade compared to its predecessor. Many consider the first season’s weakest point to be its animation, but the visual aspect in this one feels much more polished and worked on. The additional detail put into the character’s looks is probably the most noticeable part of this change. Even though the first season’s look was rather simplistic, I have to say that I did not have any problems with it. Furthermore, I seemed to enjoy the look of the first season more than this one. Again, some may actually like the art in When They Cry 2 more, but I just feel that it now looks a bit too polished for the series’ overall atmosphere.
It may have proven to be a bit of a disappointment for me, but When They Cry 2 remains a solid anime that has a lot of good stuff going for it. Halfway through it may become a bit tiring, but the final episodes are definitely worth it all and they offer a great deal of closure to it all. This is definitely a must for those who enjoyed the first season and want to get their questions answered, but if you’re like me and thought that the horror and mystery elements were the ones that made this anime so awesome, it actually wouldn’t be such a bad idea to skip it, if only to remain with that eerie image that left a mark on you in the first season.
