Higurashi is a visual novel that deals with isolation, horror, mental health, and so much more. Despite not having player-based choices that determine different endings, it still stands out in terms of the overall experience. Yes, it would be a stretch to call it a “game” to play like other visual novels.
Which Higurashi to watch first?
What does "Higurashi" mean? A type of expression in animation (typically anime) in which the facial features of a character are exaggerated to extreme proportions. This is usually done to show an insane or angry expression to a character. The name originates from the anime Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. The show is infamous for having a lot of strange faces that will make you feel extremely uncomfortable.
Enjoyment: Simply put, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is the perfect anime for anyone that enjoys to really interact, predict and think with the storyline and it's characters. An unbelievable horror anime, and a decent comedy too.
Higurashi When They Cry is a Japanese anime television series based on Ryukishi07's visual novel series. The English titles for the first season are accorded to the titles used by Funimation. English titles in the other seasons are not official.
Today, we'll be covering the NEW adaption of the beloved visual novel, Higurashi: When They Cry or Higurashi no Naku Koro ni . A horror-mystery written by a dude with the moniker of Ryukishi07 , that's already spun itself into many other forms of media even having been adapted into two seasons prior by Studio DEEN .
Sin and Atonement are major themes of the Higurashi series. Particularly, it pushes the idea that people must atone for their own sins. Rika could not break the cycle of tragedy because she was trying to take responsibility for people's sins from them.
What is the true ending of this anime and manga, does everyone survive in the true ending? Well, the original ending is Matsuribayashi-hen in which, yes, everyone survives. But if you wanted to, you could think of Miotsukushi-hen as the true ending instead. Or the alternate version of Miotsukushi-hen.
Takano MiyoObi-Wan Takes the High Ground! Takano Miyo (鷹野 三四), born Tanashi Miyoko (田無 美代子), is the main villainess/antagonist in the original Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai.
Murder mystery Psychological horror Supernatural horrorHigurashi When They Cryひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni)GenreMurder mystery Psychological horror Supernatural horrorCreated byRyukishi07 07th ExpansionGameDeveloper07th Expansion147 more rows
There is plenty of violent horror anime. Genocyber, Elfen Lied, Corpse Party, and the infamous visual novel Saya no Uta are all incredibly gory -- far gorier than Higurashi. But Higurashi endures where they fade due not to its gore, but due to its mystery and psychological horror.
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni (“When the Cicadas Cry”) is one of the best horror anime of all time. Instead of cheap jump scares, Higurashi inspires terror in its brilliant plot and abrupt shifts in tone and characters. The story follows Keiichi, a young boy who moves to the remote town of Hinamizawa.
Hinamizawa is based on the real world village of Shirakawa-go (白川郷 Shirakawa-go).
Higurashi: When They Cry (Japanese title: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, which roughly translates to "When the Cicadas Cry") is a series of eight Kinetic Novels/sound novels by 07th Expansion, released between 2002 and 2006 and later adapted into both an anime and a manga series.
Release OrderWhen They Cry (2006)The end of the world has been foretold since ancient times.Rei (2009)Umineko When They Cry (2009)Higurashi When They Cry – Gou (2020) -> (ongoing)
The game comes in more than one physical package. There are the standard version and the version which comes with both the drama CD and visual book.
Rika Furude – Rika is a shrine maiden and the daughter of the late priest of the village. As a young orphan, Rika is incredibly self-reliant. She is mature and polite. She’s known to use cute words like “niipa” and “mii”. She’s known to be “wise beyond her years” for a number of reasons.
The When They Cry series has been distributed to the world through multiple forms of media. It was originally created as a visual novel that was first put out on PC. The first arc, Onikakushi-hen, made its debut on August 10, 2002. The final game, which is the 8th in the installment, Matsuribayashi-hen, came out in 2006 on August 13th.
Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni the live-action film is written and directed by Oikawa Ataru.
The first season of Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is where all the questions are established, whereas, in Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai, this season focuses more on getting the answers .
Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kai is the second season and continuation of the Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni series. The seven main characters who we follow in almost every arc of the first When They Cry season rejoin us, along with a goddess named Hanyū.
After Keiichi inquires about the incidents, his friend group remains quiet about the dark mysteries surrounding their hometown. As time passes, more and more horrifying situations occur, creating more questions without providing any answers.
Higurashi's live-action feature film came out in 2008 and its sequel was released the following year.
After episode two, the anime’s subtitle changed from New to Gou, which means “karma. ”. This, as well as other subtle references, have many believe that this is an alternate reality or a more complex continuation of the original series.
There are many different anime that are able to get under their audience’s skin and resonate in major ways, but Higurashi: When They Cry is a series that’s been creeping out fans for over a decade. One of the most striking aspects of Higurashi is how understated its danger can be and that it’s considerably more unconventional than standard horror anime series.
Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou has put together a formidable dub cast, but they also have the luxury of better understanding Higurashi’s unusual nature. The dub for the first anime adaptation was carried out by Geneon with the help of BangZoom! and the direction for it seems to fail to comprehend the nuance of the anime.
One of the more emotional aspects of Higurashi: When They Cry is the ceremony that surrounds the Furude Shrine and how much respect is given towards this custom . Higurashi is set in fictional locations, but it does base some of its environments after real world counterparts.
Mystery Incorporated has an episode that’s titled, "When the Cicada Calls," which is essentially what Higurashi translates to in English. The Mystery Incorporated episode not only references Higurashi in several ways, but the unconventional narrative for the whole series also bears a lot in common with the anime.
The When They Cry series released ten visual novel titles for the PC that effectively comprised the majority of the story. Other video games have been released in later years, but these original visual novel games are still often regarded as the best version of When They Cry.
As fans of the original series eagerly await what the new one has in store, Higurashi will undoubtedly reach new audiences when it premiers on October 1 st. Coming in just in time for Halloween, the anime’s development hasn’t gotten all that much attention. There’s a lot to catch-up on, and some surprises along the way as well.
Fourteen-years after the original Higurashi anime aired , fans of the beloved horror series are ready to experience the adventure all over again with Higurashi: When They Cry – New. Announced out of nowhere, the retelling of the classic story first introduced to the world in Ryukishi07’s sound novel series of the same name is a welcome surprise.
Kawaguchi has been directing since 2005. While he’s worked on more niche series throughout his career, he’s worked on some notable series over the years, such as Island, Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues and Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission.
The original sound novel received multiple adaptations and spin-offs, with the 2006 anime being one of the most famous and serving as an introduction to the series for many. So it’s only natural that this new adaptation get an accompanying manga adaptation.
2 Akio Watanabe Is The Character Designer. One of the biggest differences this new series has that fans have already picked up on is the art style. Studio Passione got one of the biggest names in the industry with Akio Watanabe.
Aside from reprising their roles, both Mai Nakahara (Rena) and Soichirou Hoshi (Keiichi) will be featured in a new radio show airing late in September.
As the New in the name implies, this will be a reboot of the original series. Fans will once again watch as Keiichi and friends are put through the ringer as the horrors of the Watanagashi Festival, and the string of mysterious deaths surrounding it are revealed.
Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead.
Geneon Entertainment USA initially licensed and distributed the first season of Higurashi until their closure in 2007. Funimation later distributed the Geneon release, but dropped the license in 2011 due to poor sales. It remained unlicensed until 2015 when Sentai Filmworks announced that they picked up the series.
A type of expression in animation (typically anime) in which the facial features of a character are exaggerated to extreme proportions. This is usually done to show an insane or angry expression to a character. The name originates from the anime Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni. The show is infamous for having a lot of strange faces that will make you feel extremely uncomfortable.
Higurashi is the Japanese term for 'cicada', a type of insect.
It’s only been 14 years since the first Higurashi anime debuted in 2006, and there are surely many fans of the series who have stuck around since then. Seeing the same story repeated again might be a tad boring, especially if they already dove into the games after watching the anime.
Nevertheless, the quality of this wider pool of Higurashi content is disputed, to say the least. So many of the extra arcs and special chapters made for the various game collections make no effort to disguise their blatantly exploitative aims, delivering only the thinnest of plotlines to go along with plenty of fanservice.
To almost everyone’s surprise, there’s a new Higurashi anime on the way. Studio Passione will be handling the project alongside character designer Akio Watanabe, who previously worked on the Monogatari franchise. While it is true that the image that formed the basis of the new series’ teaser trailer was actually already unveiled at the end of an all-night Higurashi anime marathon back in June, that image alone wasn’t enough to make true the many fans’ seemingly impossible, long-held dream of a new anime project. But, here we are.
In this sense, the new Higurashi anime has an exciting opportunity: create a more faithful adaptation that is sure to excite fans both new and old. This won’t be easy for Studio Passione, of course, given the dense nature of Ryukishi07’s storytelling style. But they do, quite helpfully, have the lessons from the past to draw from in order to help them in this task, alongside famed character designer Akio Watanabe, who will be updating the series’ visual style for a new age.
Part of the studio’s resurgence in the west is down to availability: it’s now possible to buy (most of) Higurashi and Umineko (including the fighting game) in English on Steam, which would’ve been a farfetched dream back in the late 2000s. But there’s also the issue of nostalgia, as old fans become adults and look back fondly at the series and the impact it has had on their lives. I know this is what happened to me – my days on DeviantArt as a kid certainly wouldn’t have been the same without Higurashi OCs, fanart, and memes.
4 Okami Kakushi: Masque of the Wolf (2010) Okami Kakushi has a very similar art style and vibe to Higurashi, making it perfect for fans of the latter. The story starts when a boy named Hiroshi moves to a new town that are known for their oranges.
School Days is the perfect anime for the morbidly curious and those who want to see their favorite girls lose their mind before going on a murderous rampage.
The anime is based around at detective name Rin, who is immortal.
In the very first episode, the anime takes a sudden turn into human cloning, and the story that unfolds from there only gets more and more harrowing. Some of the topics in RIN are disturbing in the physical and psychological sense, and shouldn't be watched by the faint of heart.
Satou holds her hostage in her apartment and will murder to keep their "happy sugar life" going on forever. Satou is, by all intents and purposes, an emotionless sociopath so when she abducts the lost Shio, she convinces her (and herself) that their chance encounter is true love.
Based on a video game of the same name, Angels of Death follows a young girl named Rachel, who wakes up in an underground complex only to be warned that she must fight her way up to escape.
School Days is an anime that, for better or worse, is one of the perfect examples of a misleadingly innocent anime with a bloody, twisted ending. This anime adapts the bad route of the popular harem game of the same name.
Yes, it's definitely one of my favorite anime. Contrary to most, I don't like the 2nd season (Kai) as much because I found the "answer" to be underwhelming but nevertheless, it's a really good and gripping series that genre-bends according to the plot which I find to be really cool.
Yes, and when you fall in love with it, the anime landscape is based on a real place called shirakawa go in Japan. Absolutely must go!
Higurashi creeps me out and made me uncomfortable. One of the only other things I've watched that had such an effect on me was Irreversible. And Higurashi did it in a much different manner.
Yes, definitely. I've seen dozens, if not hundreds of anime and Higurashi is one of the better ones.