Higurashi: When They Cry

Higurashi When They Cry (ひぐらしのなく頃に, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, lit. When the Evening Cicadas Cry), known simply as When They Cry for the North American release of the anime adaptation, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released on August 10, 2002, and the eighth and final game in the original PC series, Matsuribayashi-hen, was released on August 13, 2006. While the first four games carried the overall title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, the next four games were produced under the title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. A bonus fan disc called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei was released on December 31, 2006. In addition to the original series, new story arcs were created in manga form and in video games for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, in order to expand the story. The original eight PC releases were released in English by MangaGamer between 2009 and 2010. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in the rural village of Hinamizawa and the strange events that occur in 1983.

Two sets of drama CDs were produced, one by Wayuta and the other by Frontier Works. Novelizations of the game series were released by Kodansha Box between August 2007 and March 2009. A manga series adapted from the games began with eight different manga artists working separately on one to three of the multiple story arcs and were published by Square Enix and Kadokawa Shoten. The manga was licensed for release in English in North America by Yen Press under the title Higurashi: When They Cry and the first volume was released in November 2008. Following the manga's release in Japan, two anime television series were produced by Studio Deen in 2006 and 2007; a third anime adaptation was released as an original video animation (OVA) series in 2009. The first anime series was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in English, but the license expired in 2011. Sentai Filmworks has since licensed both anime seasons and the Rei OVAs. A live-action film adaptation of the series, directed by Ataru Oikawa, premiered in Japanese theaters in May 2008, with a sequel released in May 2009. A six-episode live-action television series adaptation premiered in Japan in May 2016, and a four-episode sequel premiered in November 2016.

A new anime project by Passione has been announced.

Plot
Higurashi: When They Cry takes place during June 1983 in a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa (雛見沢) (based on the village of Shirakawa, Gifu, a World Heritage Site), which has a population of approximately 2,000. The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates, Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude and Satoko Hojo. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, consisting of cards and board games (and punishment games for the loser – usually him). Hinamizawa appears to be a normal, peaceful, rural village. However, the tranquility abruptly ends after the annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to commemorate and give thanks to the local god, Oyashiro. Keiichi learns that every year for the past four years, one person has been murdered, and another has gone missing on the evening of the Watanagashi Festival. Keiichi himself soon becomes drawn into the strange events surrounding the Watanagashi Festival and Oyashiro. In each story arc, he or one of his friends becomes paranoid and a crime is committed. Usually, the crime involves the murder of one of their own friends.

While the story arcs follow various plots, the general basis is thus: During ancient times, the village where Hinamizawa sits is founded, unknowingly near a swamp that contains a parasite that causes paranoia and eventual madness. The parasite is interpreted by the villagers at the time to be demonic possession, and laws are placed that state it is taboo to leave the village. This law is eventually enshrined as holy laws of a local deity, Oyashiro, and the punishment eventually becomes death by torture, as the village became paranoid of being wiped out if too many "demons" leave the village. Living in the village, and the presence of the shrine maidens, who produce a sort of pheromone, holds the disease in check.

Eventually, the village customs fade, and in 1983, a bioweapons researcher named Miyo Takano decides to deliberately release the disease to vindicate the work of her adoptive grandfather, who was mocked and shamed by the scientific community for his thesis about the disease, by killing the current shrine maiden, Rika. However, a spirit, Hanyu, rewinds time to save Rika. But rather than simply reset, the universe of the rewound time becomes slightly different, influenced by changed past events of the characters' lives and personalities, with Hanyu and Rika being the only characters aware of it. This leads to the multiple plot lines that are independent, with the only common thread being Rika's murder by Takano's henchmen, which releases the disease on the village and wipes it out.

After several hundred loops, Keiichi becomes aware of them in a handful of flashbacks and subconsciously remembers several of his past loops, which allows him to avoid several critical points where various characters would be murdered or driven insane, and the group of friends nearly manages to outwit Takano. In the final loop, the group asks Hanyu to join them, and the spirit manages to manifest a physical body. With her assistance, they manage to stay alive long enough to prevent Takano's plan. Hanyu travels back to the past to save Takano and her father, and to prevent their psychotic drive from forming.

Characters
Voice by Yukari Tamura (Japanese) Voice by Mika Kanai (Japanese)
 * Rika Furude
 * Satoko Hōjō