Higurashi: When They Cry

2006
Higurashi: When They Cry

Seasons & Episodes

  • 2
  • 1
  • 0

EP1 Reunion Jul 06, 2007

Mamoru Akasaka, with an assistant, visits the abandoned town of Hinamizawa in the year 2007, and meets with Officer Oishi. They still wonder about the Great Hinamizawa Disaster that decimated the town and the connection to Miyo Takano's File No. 34. Rena shares with them the little knowledge she has about Rika's strange behavior, shortly before the supposed "gas leak", and Akasaka recalls his meeting with the young Rika as well.

EP2 The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 1 - Tag Jul 13, 2007

Back in June 1983, the club participates in a game of "zombie tag". On their way home, they run into Irie, Tomitake, and Takano, who tell Keiichi about the yearly murders known as "Oyashiro-sama's Curse". However, he understands why his friends hid it from him and doesn't resent them for it. Regardless, this fails to reassure Rika, as she grows progressively depressed as the day of the Watanagashi Festival approaches.

EP3 The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 2 - Powerlessness Jul 20, 2007

Satoko worries about Rika's depression and tries to confront her about it, but Rika continues to deny anything is wrong. In the middle of the night, Satoko is woken by Rika arguing with a mysterious voice, and telling her she will soon be murdered, and there is nothing that either of them can do.

EP4 The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 3 - Pre-established Harmony Jul 27, 2007

The day of the Watanagashi Festival comes, and once again Rika fails to warn Tomitake of his imminent death. Later, Satoko is convinced that a mysterious man is following her and Rika around, even though no one else has noticed any such thing. Worried of Rika's safety, she sets traps around the house to alert her of any intruders, and when one is triggered, her fears are confirmed.

EP5 The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 4 - The Great Hinamizawa Disaster Aug 03, 2007

Much to Satoko's surprise, Rika hides her before letting her murderers take her away. After witnessing Rika's demise and the death of the remaining villagers, Satoko fights desperately for her life.

EP6 The Massacre Chapter - Part 1 - Law of the Labyrinth Aug 10, 2007

Rika begins a new world with Hanyū, but is getting tired of seeing her friends commit the same acts that lead them to terrible mistakes, until Keiichi proves to her that people can change their destinies if they want.

EP7 The Massacre Chapter - Part 2 - How to Change Destiny Aug 17, 2007

Influenced by Keiichi's encouragement, and the fact her friends are starting to avoid doing the same mistakes again by remembering glimpses of what they could have done, Rika decides to find a way to prevent her ominous destiny by herself.

EP8 The Massacre Chapter - Part 3 - Fluctuation Aug 24, 2007

Rika's plans are hindered by the appearance of Teppei, who much like in "Tatarigoroshi-hen", begins to abuse Satoko. Keiichi and the rest of the gang decide to find a way to release her from his clutches, but the government is reluctant to cooperate.

EP9 The Massacre Chapter - Part 4 - Negotiation Aug 31, 2007

The fight to save Satoko from her uncle's abuse continues, but they stumble on a dead end because she is reluctant to denounce him, for her own reasons. Rika realizes that despite their, she is the one who must take action.

EP10 The Massacre Chapter - Part 5 - Confrontation Sep 07, 2007

Keiichi's struggle to help Satoko forces him to confront the village elders, even the leader of the Sonozaki family. As the government succumbs to the pressure of Keiichi and his allies', Satoko's condition is also at its limit.

EP11 The Massacre Chapter - Part 6 - A Strong Will Sep 14, 2007

At last, Rika persuades Satoko to ask for help and she is freed from Teppei. However, just when the village seemed to be relieved from its eternal cycle of hatred and death, the real enemies start to act, just like they did in previous worlds.

EP12 The Massacre Chapter - Part 7 - Hinamizawa Syndrome Sep 21, 2007

After getting a clue of the villain's betrayal, Rika tells her friends the truth behind the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and her connection with it. Meanwhile, the enemy moves on with their plan, eliminating any opposition.

EP13 The Massacre Chapter - Part 8 - Finale Sep 28, 2007

One after another, Rika's friends are killed while trying to protect her. Takano dissects Rika, but does so without anesthesia, as requested by the latter in an attempt to carve the identity of the culprit behind all the Hinamizawa murders in her mind and prevent the events from this and past worlds from repeating themselves. The villagers are rounded up at the school and gassed to death, while an ecstatic Takano proclaims her ascension to godhood.

EP14 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 1 - Miyo Oct 05, 2007

Takano's past is revealed in disjointed flashbacks, some of them showing her harsh childhood, while others to the time when she became involved with researchers of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

EP15 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 2 - Wriggling Oct 16, 2007

Takano's story continues, including how she met her foster grandfather, and her determination to continue his work. A few years later, Takano and Hanyū have a very heated confrontation at Oyashiro-sama's shrine.

EP16 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 3 - The Beginning of the End Oct 23, 2007

Hanyū watches silently and hopelessly as the cruel events occur during the dam incident, while she and Rika eagerly await the arrival of the one person who will be the key element to bring an end to the enemy's intentions.

EP17 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 4 - Strategy Oct 30, 2007

In order to save Satoko, who is terminally infected with the Hinamizawa Syndrome, Rika offers herself as a test subject for Irie and Takano's research. More light is shed into the deaths of Satoko and Rika's parents, and its involvement with the legend of Oyashiro-sama's curse.

EP18 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 5 - The Final Piece Nov 06, 2007

More details about Satoshi's past are revealed, including the reason for his disappearance. Rika and Hanyū make their final preparations for the impending struggle against destiny.

EP19 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 6 - Opening Nov 13, 2007

Hanyū is physically introduced into the world as a transfer student to the Hinamizawa school, but forgets her role. After a brief meeting with Takano and Tomitake, she remembers the past worlds and informs Rika about the enemy's intentions.

EP20 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 7 - Trap Nov 20, 2007

Rika gather her allies and start to make plans, while obtaining more information about the enemy and those supporting their ambitions.

EP21 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 8 - 48 Hours Nov 27, 2007

False information regarding Rika is spread by Oishi's group at the precinct, leaving the villain's crew in disarray, and racing against time to prevent their plans from being foiled.

EP22 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 9 - Offense and Defense Dec 04, 2007

Finding that Tomitake is captured, Irie rushes to escape and ends up meeting with Shion and her bodyguard, Kasai, on their way to the Sonozaki Estate. However, by accepting their help, he ends up unintentionally revealing Rika's hideout to the enemy.

EP23 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 10 - Bloody Battle Dec 11, 2007

Irie, Kasai, and Shion head to the clinic to rescue Tomitake. Irie finally unveils to Shion where Satoshi disappeared to and the others deal with the enemy assaulting the mountains on their location

EP24 The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 11 - End Dec 18, 2007

The rest of the Yamainu concede defeat, but Takano is unwilling to surrender. After learning Nomura in Tokyo planned to use her as a scapegoat, she flees into the mountains and has a final confrontation with Rika's group. In the end, the Banken comes to arrest her, but Tomitake, pitying her and seeing how she had been infected with the Hinamizawa Syndrome, takes her into the the Irie Clinic for treatment. At the end, Rika and her friends Hanyū, Keiichi, Rena, Satoko, Mion, and Shion, attend the festival.
7.8| 0h30m| TV-MA| en| More Info
Released: 05 April 2006 Ended
Producted By: Studio Deen
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.oyashirosama.com/web/story/index.htm
Synopsis

After moving into the quiet town of Hinamizawa, Maebara Keiichi spends his days blissfully in school often playing games with his local friends. However, appearances can be deceiving. One fateful day, Keiichi stumbles upon news of a murder that had occurred in Hinamizawa. From this point on, horrific events unfold in front of Keiichi, as he soon learns his close friends may not be all that they seem.

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Reviews

Nymera An anime with adorable character designs... then stuff happens. Creepy stuff. This is not an anime for kids or those who do not like seeing extreme forms of torture gore... Otherwise, it's an amazing mystery anime for you. It's average in that it follows the life of a teenage boy, surrounded by his female schoolmates... but the commonness of it ends there. A horrific tale breaks out at about the halfway point of each arc, revealing a more gritty atmosphere and art style. From start to end, I found myself forming theories in my head as to what is truly going on. As stated before, the art style is not of high quality, but that was never really an issue for me. I find that its unique... "expressions" expressed by some of the characters would not have the desired shocking effect otherwise. The sound is also spot on. Constantly having the cicada chirps fill the otherwise empty soundscape creates a very unique kind of tension. I was actually surprised when I heard this was a visual novel first, given that I can usually tell by cliché elements... but there were next to none that I noticed. Overall, a beautiful show that I highly recommend to any horror/mystery/anime fan.
juan casado y barton In the town of Hinamizawa, a group of young friends violently die shortly after the annual Wataganashi festival. For four episodes, these kids have been your eyes and ears into a World where paranoia and murder lurk just below the surface of a cute and loving exterior. And so the cycle begins again and again. Each time with different results. The story of Hinamizawa begins quite confusingly. As the chapters of each cycle develop, more hints as to what is really going on are dropped and it becomes more of a puzzle in which the audience has to put things into perspective. In almost a David Lynch manner, people are not who they appear to be, bizarre goings on are never fully revealed or solved (perhaps they never even happened) and a seemingly innocent act can descend into a massacre. I found the story to be a bit too kitsch for me in the beginning but it quickly finds its momentum and continues to build strength. When you first encounter the show it's all very scary and hard to understand. However, as it progresses, the edge of the show moves from violent horror to psychological terror. Knowing the fates of each of the young people from the beginning and seeing them struggle to survive or overcome their mistakes becomes increasingly depressing and tough to watch so even though the camera begins to look away when they're being murdered, it hurts even more.Truly disturbing at times and a testament to the strength of storytelling, I'd recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story or just unfiltered gore. Because there is a lot of it. Season One is by far the more violent of the two seasons so viewer discretion is advised. I'd also recommend that you source the second season for it explains fully the mystery of Hinamizawa. Also, watch it with subtitles, the dubbing is really rather poor.
arorashadow_2003 So yes this is a nice harem Anime, oh wait, this is supposed to be a horror? You sure could have fooled me. In terms of horror and suspense Higurashi is a complete and utter failure. Elfen Lied has nothing to fear now, it still probably can top this. Okay seriously I am very disappointed in this series, considering I wanted a good suspense thriller that wasn't based purely on 100% excess and shock-factoring.Higurashi is a story of several different arcs. Each arc is a different version of the same story. In 1983 a young male transfer student comes to a small town. A town with a deadly secret. Apparently after a traditional summer festival one person will be killed and another will disappear. The story repeats in the same fashion through each arc usually ending in a brutal murder or murders of some one or some people, but something.As wonderful as the plot sounds it really isn't. The series had immense potential to create a suspenseful masterpiece, but instead it's like watching a filler arc when something finally happens after 6 episodes. Each episode is as long winded and wordy as the next, until something may just happen only for it to be a classic and clichéd horror blunder trick. Oh but don't get me wrong, eventually something does happen, but when it FINALLY does it provides maybe a few minutes of fright but that's it. So yes this series seriously lack suspense, half the time you feel more like you are watching a slice-of-life comedy instead of a thriller.Until some annoying detective constantly shows up to go over the SAME mystery we heard 5 episodes ago! The series can work up it's suspense and chill level, but fails to keep it long enough for us to get remotely interested. The whole time you are just questioning should I fast-forward or not? Sure I like a talky as much as the next guy maybe even more than the next guy, but excessive dialog simply doesn't usually work well in a thriller. The series tries to build and build but the suspense just keeps falling down again. But there are a few eerie moments, (key word being few) such as the wonderful psychotic laughter from the tiny little ones. (see: http://tinyurl.com/2w5tll) and when it finally does get to the horrifying climax it can give you a few chills, before it abruptly cuts off. Other than that, the series heavily relies on it's dialog and music to give any sense of a creepy atmosphere. And that is all it has going for it.I can't express how dull of a horror this really was. Die hard horror lovers may want to stick to Elfen Lied, as for general suspense lovers (Like me) you may want to avoid this one. Apparently when cicadas cry, this horror dies.
sunabozufan I LOVE this anime. It's my second favorite (After One Piece). The girls are all so cute(Especially Rena and Rika *Ni-pah!*). The story's original, and the characters all have wonderful personalities.However this anime does get very dark at times and may not be suitable for everyone as it DOES contain stuff like murder, child abuse, child torture, beatings, and the story keeps going back which may get on some peoples' nerves. However, aside from all this, it really is a great anime and in my opinion, is a true masterpiece in both story and horror. A must see for any horror fan.BEWARE THE KILLER LOLIS.