If there is any form of entertainment out there whether it be books, movies, anime or comics that need something to spark an inspiration for how they should tell a story to their audience. To have them constantly wondering, to have them second guess the people involved, to have the shit scared out of them so bad that they lie awake at night thinking "my god...that was not only the most terrifying experience of my life, that was the most well structured piece of storytelling I have ever seen." Then they should look at Higurashi (When they Cry.)
The absolute brilliant thing that When the Cry did for me was how I was able to re-watch it three times and even though I knew it was coming, was still creeped out by the scary stuff. But was also able to figure other stuff out that I wasn't able to the other viewings. The fact that I can watch it so many times and know what is exactly going to happen but still find something new out is brilliant storytelling.
The story follows a small village of Hinamizawa and its endless cycle of blood and violence in the year of 1983. Maebara Keiichi has just moved in. He befriends a group from his school, the shy and quite Rena, the loud mouth boss-like Mion and two younger girls cat like Rika and another quite type Satako. It all seems well for Keiichi, until the annual cotton drifting festival comes around and Keiichi's world turns for the worse. And this all happens about five different times!
If you didn't fully understand what I meant in that last part, the show is split into different arcs that tell different sides the story involving the other characters and introducing new ones. The point is these reviews on this site are not gonna be enough, I can give you endless descriptions of this show like "It's groundhog day with killer little kids" but When they Cry is an anime that is not meant to be talked about until it is watched Going into more detail would only ruin what I consider to be a classic not just among anime, but just a classic in general.
Take care everyone.
