When They Cry Vol. 4 Review

            In the first of four episodes on this volume, the ‘Time Wasting’ chapter comes to a close. Oishi and Akasaka have tracked down the missing boy to a deserted village but Akasaka has Rika’s words weighing heavily on his mind.  They will remain there for years after as he thinks back on the fate of Hinamizawa.

            In episode sixteen, the ‘Eye Opening’ chapter begins. In this story, we pick up a year before the arrival of Keiichi to Hinamizawa. Shion is unknown to everyone because she was sent to a private school far away. Mion was moved into the main family house to be groomed into the next heir. After Shion breaks out of the school though, she returns to the city disguising herself as Mion. Soon after her arrival though, she meets Satoshi and falls in love causing problems within the Sonozaki family.

            The strain that this creates within Shion will stay with her throughout the next Cotton Drifting festival. And it’s there that she starts to learn more about the dark past of Hinamizawa.

Good and the Bad

            Picking up right where we left off a year ago, the second half of When They Cry begins with the close of the shortest story arc of the first season. With this story, the audience gets another small peek into the future of Rika and the village of Hinamizawa. Oddly enough, the story in this chapter is the least important part of it and Rika will be the character of focus.  

            In this two episode arc, the series introduces the second half in a very subtle way. Akasaka is such an odd character since he is inserted so randomly and disappears just as quickly. While it’s easy to believe that he will play a larger role in the future, at the moment it’s hard to imagine where the series will go in the future to insert him again. The ‘Time Wasting’ chapter is the odd story out so far though being the first story to break the story telling pattern that has been established thus far.  

            With the close of episode fourteen, When They Cry moves back into its regular pattern introducing the newest story arc. Once again, the series keeps the audience on its toes introducing the story a year earlier than the previous arcs and gives the audience its first real experiences with Satoshi. Satoshi has been a constant fixture of this series since the start but has never had any screen time until now. This works completely in favor of the staff who has been writing him up for fourteen episodes now making the audience feel like we already know him.

            As with previous volumes, squeamish audience members are going to have their stomachs tested with this volume. Early in the volume, the torture scenes will continue with Rika and continue further with Shion facing off against the head of the Sonozaki family. Earlier volumes have had scenes that were far worse and more gruesome than the ones on these episodes but the fingernail scene will affect audiences every time they see it.

Comedy has never been the primary draw for this particular series but twin characters are always good for a laugh and Mion and Shion don’t disappoint. Using Keiichi as the catalyst, the staff has no trouble writing some very light hearted, fun dialogue for the twins to fight with. The jokes in these episodes are much more infrequent until late in the volume but the scenes that the twins share provides great comic relief after some of the more disturbing scenes.

            The most constant complaint from audience members that I’ve heard over the last year is how confusing the story is coupled with the very slow pacing of the series. Anyone who has stuck with the series this long is going to find that the series has no intention of changing things anytime soon. The story telling has remained the same since the beginning and with the start of the new chapter, continues in the same vein.   

Music

            Most of the music on this volume is understated if not completely absent. There are some very soft piano pieces late in the volume that have great impact on the tone of the scenes they were included in. The soft music that plays during Shion’s family stare down also highlights the scene that much more causing some uncomfortable shifting in my seat as I continued to watch.

Dub vs. Sub

            Kelli Kassidi has her work cut out for her in this volume in the twin roles of Mion and Shion. In this volume, the twins are going to run a wide range of emotions and are often the only two characters in a given scene. The flow from one character to the other and back again never feels off though and always transitions smoothly.

            Overall When They Cry sounds much better in the Japanese however. When writing the ADR script, Kristie Reed takes a route that eliminates most of the Japanese honorifics and hierarchy system. This eliminates a few jokes and some of the more subtle foreshadowing clues from early in the volume. The English dialogue still works well but doesn’t come across nearly as well.

Overall

            One of the best horror animes to come out in a very long time, When They Cry continues to be an innovative, thrilling and suspenseful ride. The ‘Eye Opening’ chapter ends at a very solid point on this volume and audiences will be left eagerly waiting for more. The slow storytelling is going to alienate many in the audience but those who find themselves compelled by curiosity will not be able to resist seeing more.