When They Cry: Complete Collection

Viewers confounded over time-skipping plots will likely be totally baffled by this intricate 2006 J-horror creep-out anime (based on a popular novel/manga/video game franchise) that features a fiendishly multi-tiered narrative. The quaint, insular provincial town of Hinamizawa carries an ancient reputation as an abode of a demon-god. Its “curse” resurfaces in the 1970s, when a dam project threatens the community's existence. Five years later, newly arrived teen Keiichi learns about a frightening series of dismemberment-murders, bizarre suicides, and disappearances that are tied to the cancellation of the dam. Keiichi assists on an old police detective's investigation; meanwhile his enticing girl classmates (especially a pair of green-haired twins) start to seem less coquettish and more sinister, even dangerous. The same cast will go through an alternate permutation of the bloody events, after which versions of the story unfold from the POV of other characters, with different revelations of earlier incidents. Offering both occult and sci-fi explanations, the story is equal parts infuriating and compelling, while the cute “moe” style of the drawn females contrasts sharply with the grisly stuff (including fingernail-ripping torture). Interestingly, a live-action TV series is planned for 2016. Compiling all 24 episodes in separate DVD and Blu-ray editions, rated TV-MA, and presented in Japanese with English subtitles, this is recommended. [Note: When They Cry: Kai is slated for release on May 31, with When They Cry: Rei bowing July 26.] (C. Cassady)