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When They Cry, Vol. 3
FUNimation // Unrated // September 30, 2008
List Price: $29.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Series:
When Geneon announced that they were stopping their North American operations that one title that was really gnashing my teeth over missing was When They Cry. This series is truly unusual and unique with an unusual set of characters and a novel way of telling a story. Happily FUNimation stepped up to the plate and released the rest of the series. Woo-hoo! Though it's been a while since I screened the previous disc, volume 3 quickly reminded me why I enjoyed this grim and scary show.
Series background:
Keiichi Maebara is a teenager who has just moved to the small rural village of Hinamizawa, and is having just a bit of trouble fitting in. The school is very small and everyone who attends has known their classmates for years. He soon makes friends with Rena, who is Keiichi's age and might have a small crush on him, Mion the head of the school game club and a year older than Keiichi, and Satoko and Rika, a pair of younger girls who are too cute for words.
Rena's a bit strange, but Keiichi hangs around with her mainly since she's the only kid his age. She likes to go to the local dump and look for things, and on one such trip the new student accompanies her. While he's there he meets a photographer from Tokyo, Tomitake, who comes to the village every once in a while to photograph the local birds, and his lady friend Takano. Talking to this man Keiichi learns of the city's deep dark secret: Five years ago a damn was going to be built that would have flooded the city. One night a man working for the company that was going to put up the damn was murdered and dismembered, and parts of him were never found. Every year since then during the Cotton Drifting Festival, the anniversary of his murder, another person turns up dead. The locals say it's the work of a demon named Oyashiro, but who believes in demons in this day and age?
This anime is a little unique. It is made up of four part stories, with each story taking place at the same time and with the same characters, but they are totally different and contradict each other. The backgrounds are the same but each different story is like a look at an alternate reality.
This volume:
The disc starts off with the final three episodes of the "Curse Killing" story line. When Keiichi asks about Satoko's brother, Satoshi, transferring away he finds that the story he's been told isn't really true. The older boy seems to have run away, though some people think that he was cursed and killed by Oyashiro. Keiichi pretty much scoffs at that, but when he sees the young girl's home life he's appalled. Satoko lives with her uncle who treats her like a slave, and there are bruises all over her body. When Child Protective Services come to check it out though, she denies that she's being abused.
This abuse drives Keiichi wild. He can't stand to see his friend hurt, so he decides to take matters into his own hands and kill Satoko's uncle. He plans out exactly where and how he's going to do it, during the Cotton Drifting Festival while everyone's attending the events. He pulls it off, but the next day everyone remembers him attending the Festival, and Satoko is still behaving like she's being abused. Did Keiichi murder someone or was it all in his head?
This volume ends with the first part of the next story, "Time Wasting." This tale takes place earlier, when the dam that would flood Hinamizawa was still being considered. While there is naturally a lot of protests in Hinamizawa itself the Minister of Public Works' grandson, a young man named Keiichi is kidnapped. The police are handling the case very discreetly so they send a young officer named Akasaka to the village to check out the groups that are resisting the dam (and who might have a reason to kidnap an official's relative.) He's posing as a photographer and has some unsettling experiences while visiting.
This series just keeps getting better and better. The fact that not everything is explained in some of the stories makes it even more thought provoking. Did Keiichi really kill Satoko's uncle? What about the other people who died, was anyone to blame? I love the way that each story starts off with a very pastoral and gentle tone but then gets increasingly eerie and nerve wracking as it progresses.
The DVD:
This disc includes the next four episodes in the series. It comes in a clear keepcase with reversible cover. There is an insert that lists the episodes and opens up to a mini-poster of Satiko.
Audio:
This disc comes with the original Japanese soundtrack as well as an English dub, both in stereo. I alternated between languages while watching the show and enjoyed both tracks a lot. The young girl's voices in the English dub are high pitched and squeaky, which is annoying, but when the girls change to scary mode it's very effective. The voice changes aren't so different to be silly, but they are very eerie. The sound quality is very good, with the dialog coming through loud and clear and the effects coming in at the right levels. There isn't any distortion or other common audio defects. Subtitles are available in English and for signs only.
Video:
The 1.78:1 picture is anamorphically enhanced and looks great. The image is sharp, the colors are solid and strong, and the level of detail is fine. There is a small amount of aliasing in the background, but this is pretty minor and doesn't interfere with enjoyment of the show.
Extras:
The only extras are three previews.
Final Thoughts:
Eerie, scary, dark, and grim. When They Cry Volume 3 is all that and more. One of the better anime shows to be released in 2007, I'm really glad that FUNimation picked up where Geneon left off. It's an awfully good series and comes Highly Recommended.
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