Review of Higurashi: When They Cry – Kai

I accidentally watched this part of the show first when its actually part 2 of the series, and i still was blown away by the story and the engagement I had with the show. I'm still debating whether to recommend watching this part of the show before the first because this is a rare instance where its not bad to do either way. Without spoiling, the reason why is because the second season re-contextualizes the events from the first season into a new plot similar to Edge of Tomorrow or Run Lola Run. You get to see flashbacks of the events from the first film, sowhen I watched the second season I just thought they were scenes made for this season only.

afterwards, I eventually realized this was the second season and I went back and watched the first season and still enjoyed it as much as this season.

The two seasons have some differences. The first season is more of a horror story than the second season which leans more on drama (although it does use horror elements). The first season is like an anthology: multiple stories with the same characters with events that don't matter in the end. The second season uses those nonlinear events and turns it into a standard conflict resolution story.

the storytelling is off the charts. It always maintains a sense of urgency, the pacing is fast, and the plot is constantly evolving and changing to keep the story fresh and engaging. I binged through this show extremely fast which is rare for me and its a testament to how entertaining this show is.

The characters aren't the best, but the story does its best to make you care about them especially when the story focuses on them. However, one major plus to this season is its villain which they give a ton of back story to and was a riveting character.

The biggest flaw of this show is the animation which is very standard and not anything to write home about. The second season had a quality drop from the first season which also hurt the show as well. It is 2d animated though so it won't become dated as the years go by though.

I recommend both seasons for horror fans and people who care more about story than flashy animations and the spectacle.