Review of Higurashi: When They Cry – Kai

Note: I have not played the visual novel game so I won't be comparing the anime to the visual novel in this. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai starts off from where Higurashi no naku koro ni left off from, so essentially, it's really important for you to watch the second season after you've watched the first one. The first one consisted of four question arcs and two answer arcs. The second season has two answer arcs as well as some additional ones in both seasons. These answer arcs answer the unanswered questions of the question arcs. As you go deeper in this anime, eachquestion arc and the corresponding answer arc enlightens the viewer about the situations and the overall big mystery behind things. So when you watch the anime, you might want to know which answer arcs corresponds to which question arc to make things easier.
Story: 9/10
I'm not much of a horror fan, but I absolutely love mystery, so I generally loved the series because of it's unique way of storytelling in question arcs and answer arcs. It's very smooth in the way it can change the point of views in each arc. My main problem when it comes to a lot of the anime that I have watched, is that the overall big mystery surrounding things aren't answered. Thankfully, Higurashi isn't like that and most of the answers are answered. The first season seems to be more horror and supernatural. The second half of season 2 doesn't show much horror at all, and people who really liked this about the series might even be disappointed. It could get confusing because it may seem like the question arcs have nothing to do with each other, but they are significant and if you watch the series, you'll know what I mean.

Art: 8/10
The art is slightly different in season two, but I preferred the art in the first season. The second season seems to look a little more "clannad-type" with the wider faces. But I think there was a change to the art because the anime in the second season took a more "positive energy" change compared to how dark the first season was. When I first saw the series, I was like, "What the hell, the art looks cute but the plot seems so dark." After you see the angry expressions of a cute character like Ryuuga Rena, I realized how wrong I was. The way the expressions are illustrated is amazing, it actually gave me the creeps when I saw it. When you see a character snap like that, especially a cute character, it has more affect on the viewer.

Sound: 7/10
I'm not familiar with voice actors, but everyone seemed to do fine to me. Because I don't know any Japanese at all, and every language has a different way of speaking, it's hard for me to differentiate what is good voice acting and what is not. The music seemed pretty good to me and I liked the opening song for both seasons. The ending song was also good. I didn't really like the first season's ending song though, but that's just me. The background music was good too, especially the parts where they showed the murders or the depressing parts of the anime. It had a good eerie affect to it.

Character: 10/10
There's a lot of character development throughout the series. Each character has a past and their own story, and act differently because of it. The story didn't just focus on one character, everyone got a chance to shine, and through this, the circumstances of the characters are shown. In the second season though, the characters change, and of course, the change is brought on by Keiichi. They become more positive and make better decisions because of their better understanding of things. They become more considerate of each other, and you can see teamwork growing throughout the series.

Enjoyment: 9/10
The serious parts were more entertaining to me then the parts where everyone are carrying out their club activities. Those were the parts where I was mostly was just sitting and thinking "Hurry up, let's get to the main part" But I also loved the mystery part to the story. To me, and I'm sure many of you (unless you're one of those that read the last page of a book first) suspense is what makes a mystery so enjoyable. Sadly, if you watch the preview at the end of each episode in the second season, there's a certain episode that pretty much gives away who the culprit is. That completely ruined the story for me, so I'm strongly stressing this part for those of you who like the suspense. DON'T WATCH THE PREVIEWS OF THE ANIME. Maybe I was being stupid but I haven't heard of an anime where they reveal the culprit like that and I watched it unknowingly.

Overall: 9/10
This is definitely should be a must watch anime. I'm not a fan of anime that are long (this might not seem so long to some of you, but to me it was since there are two seasons) but I gave this a go and I'm glad I did. It's certainly really enjoyable and will have you at the edge of your seat wanting for more.