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REVIEW: When They Cry Blu-Ray


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Gemnist



Joined: 10 Feb 2016
Posts: 1757
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:40 am Reply with quote
The guy who plays Satoshi is Darrel Guilbeau, who also plays Mikado in Durarara.

And speaking of which - why no dub for the second season, Sentai? The franchise is huge and we've been waiting forever to have it on our shelf, so that clearly justifies the cost. And if you can't afford bringing the originals over then fine - recast them for all I care!
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Paul D. Atreides



Joined: 17 Jan 2016
Posts: 128
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 9:48 am Reply with quote
This was one of my formative titles. I remember being very on edge in the first story arc because it was so unclear whether what was happening was just a psychotic delusion or if it was real. I love stories that can give such an immersive experience of what it's like to be mentally ill. Besides Higurashi there's also Eva, and the VN Saya no Uta comes to mind.

That last shot in episode 2, where the girl stands outside the MC's house at night and looks up at his window, still gives me the creeps. The chilling sound effect they added to it just made it scarier. Does anyone know what that is? It's also used in Monster when Johan Liebert first opens his eyes.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5316
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:01 am Reply with quote
I think you maybe the first person who likes the dub.
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Keichitsu0305





PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:11 am Reply with quote
Well now, what are the odds?
I literally just marathon season 1 on Hulu last night...what a coincidence!
The mystery was the most fun part of the show. Figuring out how the "curse" worked or why some people were killing others and how some key figures contributed to the story at large.

There's just one tiny problem I took issue with When They Cry; the art and animation is ugly as sin.


Quote:
The art in general isn't particularly nice looking, and there are a lot of anatomical problems with the character designs, but it doesn't skimp on the visceral horror.

That's just it; I can't take the horror elements seriously when the characters bulging bug eyes keep sliding off their face or those tiny weeny arms on characters like Satako or Rika swinging around so seeing spoiler[Mion stabbing Satako's itty bitty arms or Rika stabbing her own head]were more comically awkward than bone-chillingly scary. The inconsistent character designs also through me for a loop such as how their faces twisted or squished was creepy only a few times yet, when you freeze frame it, it makes for a killer background art. And that annoying camera that will do a double or triple close up when ever something "thrilling" was happening was so terrible and jerky.

Story wise, I could follow it more or less (thank you Higurashi Wiki) but, then episode 25 made me wonder if the show transformed into spoiler[an action series with Keichii and Rena dueling each other on the roof talking about the power of friendship and maid outfits. And then with Rena saying aliens cloned her and Takano...WTF?] I get that it was referring to those spoiler[saccharine moe slice of life moments] but, it felt so manufactured then genuine.

As a whole, I wish season 2 was on Hulu but, I have no plans on buying the DVDs. Only saw the show in Japanese so I have no clue what the English dub is like. spoiler[Mion/Shion] was my favorite character; her shrieking laugh was fantastic!!! Very Happy
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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18187
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:22 am Reply with quote
Gemnist wrote:
And speaking of which - why no dub for the second season, Sentai? The franchise is huge and we've been waiting forever to have it on our shelf, so that clearly justifies the cost. And if you can't afford bringing the originals over then fine - recast them for all I care!

The second season has never previously been licensed in R1, so they don't have an original dub to rely on for it. And Sentai generally hasn't produced dubs for previously-unlicensed titles that are several years old. (In fact, I'm coming up blank on thinking of a case where they have.) It's also possible that you're overestimating the franchise's active following; if this had come out in 2009 or 2010, sure.

Some of the major roles would probably have to be recast if a dub was done, as the voices behind Mion/Shion and Satoko haven't done anything anime-related in several years.

MarshalBanana wrote:
I think you maybe the first person who likes the dub.

Not true; I also thought it was quite well-done.

Anyway, it occurred to me while reading this review that I have never actually rewatched the series in full, so now I may have to do that. First up on the agenda for the next time I have a lot of downtime. . .
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4082
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:35 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:

The second season has never previously been licensed in R1, so they don't have an original dub to rely on for it. And Sentai generally hasn't produced dubs for previously-unlicensed titles that are several years old. (In fact, I'm coming up blank on thinking of a case where they have.) .


Well, there's the Utawarerumono OVA dub while the main series is still with Funimation, the third season of Rozen Maiden after license rescuing the first two... they didn't have a problem coming up with a new dub cast for that one..... the Mahoramatic OVAs.. That one they had Bang Zoom do the dub just for those two episodes... K-on!! Season 2 and the movie... do we tend to forget how old K-on season 1 really is?... that was Bang Zoom as well...

Beyond those cases, I can't think of any others. Elfen Lied. Weird but it applies, from ADV to Sentai

If you mean any old show in general, there's that 2007 Sci Fi show that's getting dubbed instead of Higurashi Kai. Don't know what they're thinking with that one, I don't even remember the title beyond "Not When They Cry season 2".

. I think they didn't expect When They Cry season 1 to sell as well as it is. In comparison, season two is anemic; I know I'm not buying it, I'll just watch it when it streams


Last edited by Animegomaniac on Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:39 am; edited 3 times in total
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 10:36 am Reply with quote
What a coincidence; i'm actually watching through this for the first time! I've read through the mystery parts of the manga, so it's interesting to compare what's done better (in my opinion) in both adaptations. I'll agree that i find the outdated moe designs distracting, but i think that's part of the charm of it, that the story contrasts with it so drastically.

I really like the first arc of the anime (spirited away, i think? the one focusing on Rena); it does a great job of portraying gradually building paranoia, and it's fascinating to wonder how much of it is in Keichi's head. If i'm being honest though, the second arc (Mion/Shion) is pretty weaksauce. At least in the manga, the last couple pages of that arc were, in my opinion, really creepy and startling, unlike the anime (but then again, the manga wastes about half of each arc on cutesy shenanigans before getting to the meat of the story). Kudos to the third arc (Satoko) for being as difficult to watch as it was to read; child abuse arcs always get to me, and that scene with spoiler[Satoko's panic attack] is up there for one of the most disturbing anime scenes I've watched.

All in all, i'm enjoying the story, and i'm looking forward to the solution arcs, which i haven't read.

PS Am i the only one who's noticed that Mion is straight up packing heat in the 2nd and 3rd arcs, and no one draws attention to it, or mentions it in any way? If it was an intentional joke it would be hilarious.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 11:05 am Reply with quote
Key wrote:
And Sentai generally hasn't produced dubs for previously-unlicensed titles that are several years old. (In fact, I'm coming up blank on thinking of a case where they have.)

The only case I can think of is their upcoming release of Den-noh Coil.
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Key
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 11:06 am Reply with quote
Merxamers wrote:
PS Am i the only one who's noticed that Mion is straight up packing heat in the 2nd and 3rd arcs, and no one draws attention to it, or mentions it in any way? If it was an intentional joke it would be hilarious.

No, but IIRC spoiler[her family is either yakuza or yakuza-connected], so in that context it wouldn't be so odd.
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Chrno2



Joined: 28 May 2004
Posts: 6171
Location: USA
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:12 pm Reply with quote
I know seeing this is BD makes all the blood and gore all the more intense. Well, we finally got our copy. Students here will now have a chance to check it out and that will get them to check the books again.

If I didn't own the first series from Geneon I would've have bought this. But again what is the odds we'd see this again and sometimes waiting around doesn't always work.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:14 pm Reply with quote
Chrno2 wrote:
I know seeing this is BD makes all the blood and gore all the more intense.


You know, at least from what i've seen in the first 3 arcs, there really isn't much blood and gore at all. There's one VERY significant exception in the third arc, but it seems like most of the violence is either implied or not directly shown, or at least not in graphic detail.
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WingKing



Joined: 27 Apr 2015
Posts: 617
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 12:52 pm Reply with quote
Animegomaniac wrote:
Key wrote:

The second season has never previously been licensed in R1, so they don't have an original dub to rely on for it. And Sentai generally hasn't produced dubs for previously-unlicensed titles that are several years old. (In fact, I'm coming up blank on thinking of a case where they have.) .


Well, there's the Utawarerumono OVA dub while the main series is still with Funimation, the third season of Rozen Maiden after license rescuing the first two... they didn't have a problem coming up with a new dub cast for that one..... the Mahoramatic OVAs.. That one they had Bang Zoom do the dub just for those two episodes... K-on!! Season 2 and the movie... do we tend to forget how old K-on season 1 really is?... that was Bang Zoom as well...


I don't know anything about the others, but K-On season 2 was licensed by Sentai right from the start and released on DVD only about a year after Bandai released season 1, so it was probably easy to keep the cast together. That's not really the kind of situation Theron was talking about. He's talking about something where a series or second season of a series was never licensed in the US at all until years after the fact. Higurashi Kai aired in 2007 and is only getting licensed now, nine years later. Familiar of Zero is another one in the same situation - Geneon licensed the first season of FoZ and we got a dub with that set when the DVDs came out in 2008, but the second and third seasons were never licensed by anyone in the US until Sentai picked them up in 2014/15, seven years after they aired, and they didn't go back and dub those seasons (nor season 4, which they already had).
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Shiroi Hane
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 25 Oct 2003
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:06 pm Reply with quote
"Sentai's only extras are four company trailers and the only major glitch is that no credit is given to Satoshi's voice actor in the credits."
I'm reminded of my From the New World discs where there was a whole string of episodes with only three Japanese cast credited, one of whom wasn't even in most of those episodes.

"there are a lot of anatomical problems with the character designs"
There are two things I vividly remember being distracted by: the fact that Rika's neck was too thin to support that much hair, and that Satoko's eyes were sometimes bigger than her fists.

Merxamers wrote:
PS Am i the only one who's noticed that Mion is straight up packing heat in the 2nd and 3rd arcs, and no one draws attention to it, or mentions it in any way? If it was an intentional joke it would be hilarious.

Back when this was originally airing someone said that material outside of the anime clarified that the gun was a toy.
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NearEasternerJ1





PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 1:33 pm Reply with quote
Still deducting scores off of dubs for pronunciation "issues", Becs? When Sentai releases Big O, are you going to deduct the score off of the entire Japanese version? Will you gripe over "Ellex" in Episode 26 of the dub?

By your logic, you would.
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Hikaru Suzuhara



Joined: 31 Dec 2004
Posts: 85
PostPosted: Fri Apr 15, 2016 2:07 pm Reply with quote
Kenji Kawai's music for both seasons is fittingly creepy, foreboding, atmospheric, and of course upbeat when it needs to be. To me it is the glue that hold's the overall tone of the series together in its animated form.

So while I was a bit disappointed to not see so much as a mention of the series soundtrack in the written portion of the review, I was glad to see the music score given a respectable B.

Have a listen to the main theme of the first season:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuofG8a7EEk
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