Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Visual Novel

[Cecile Lilien]

Thegames are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released in August 2002, and the eighth and final game in the original PC series, Matsuribayashi-hen, was released in August 2006. While the first four games carried the overall title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and are considered the first entry in the When They Cry franchise, the next four games were produced under the title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and are considered the second entry.

A bonus fan disc called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei was released in December 2006. In addition to the original series, new stories 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. 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 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.

Two anime television series (also known simply as When They Cry prior to 2020) were produced by Studio Deen and directed by Chiaki Kon 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 in 2007, but the license expired in 2011. Sentai Filmworks has since licensed both anime seasons and the 2009 OVAs. A live-action film adaptation of the series, directed and written by Ataru Oikawa, premiered in Japanese theaters in May 2008, with a sequel released in April 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 television series by Passione aired from October 2020 to March 2021, and a sequel aired from July to September 2021.

Higurashi When They Cry is a "sound novel", a variation of visual novel with a focus on sound and atmosphere.[4] The story is conveyed via narration and dialogue presented in on-screen text during its scenes, during which characters are displayed as static two-dimensional sprite images.[5] The versions ported to home consoles additionally feature voice acting provided by professional Japanese voice actors.[6] The narrative is divided into chapters, each of which covers a separate story arc, which become accessible in a sequence strictly established by the developers.[4] The narration is conducted on behalf of various characters.[7] After reading a certain amount of text within a chapter, playback ends. At this point, the user is invited to save their progress, as well as read "tips" that reveal details of the story's setting that were not present in the main narrative. The tips may also encourage the audience to deduce the reasoning behind the narrative's mysterious events.[4]

In June 1983, Keiichi Maebara moves to the village of Hinamizawa (雛見沢) and befriends classmates Mion Sonozaki, her twin sister Shion, Rena Ryūgū, Rika Furude, and Satoko Hōjō. Keiichi soon learns of the village's annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration dedicated to the local deity Oyashiro. Hinamizawa initially seems calm and peaceful, but shortly before the festival, Keiichi learns that for four years in a row, murders and disappearances have been taking place on the day of the festival. This chain of incidents remains unsolved and has come to be known as the "Oyashiro Curse" by the superstitious villagers. The day after this year's festival, police discover the corpse of visiting freelance photographer Jirō Tomitake, who appears to have torn his throat out with his bare hands, and the charred body of Miyo Takano, a nurse in the village clinic. In most chapters of the game, Keiichi or one of his friends attempts to investigate the mysteries of Hinamizawa and the Oyashiro Curse, only to succumb to paranoia and homicidal rage. A few days after the festival, Rika's body is found in the family shrine dedicated to Oyashiro. On the same day, a cataclysm befalls the village and wipes out the population, which is explained by the media as a release of swamp gas.

The answer arcs reveal that each preceding arc is an alternate reality in which Rika tried and failed to save herself and her friends. As a priestess of the Furude Shrine, Rika can communicate with the spirit Hanyū, who served as the basis for Oyashiro and is the ancestress of the Furude clan. Each time Rika died, Hanyū would move her to another reality; however, the very ending of Rika's life is not retained in her memories when she transfers, obstructing her from knowing the cause of her death. In the final two chapters, it is revealed that the village's local clinic is secretly a government institute investigating a mysterious parasite in the village that causes Hinamizawa Syndrome: a disease that induces paranoia, delusion, and homicidal rage in its victims before pushing them to tear out their own throats. This disease is responsible for instigating the characters to commit murders in the previous arcs, and some of the incidents in the earlier years were caused by it. The rest of the incidents were caused by Miyo, who had killed Tomitake and faked her death, using the Oyashiro Curse as a cover. Hinamizawa Syndrome manifests in those experiencing extreme stress or those who move a distance away from the "Infection Queen", who releases a pheromone that prevents the aggravation of the villagers' condition. The women of the Furude clan have all acted as Infection Queens, and Rika is the sole remaining member of the line after the death of her parents in a 1981 incident.

The theory by Miyo's adoptive grandfather, Hifumi Takano, is that if there is no Infection Queen, all villagers will succumb to the syndrome, and a mass outbreak of violence will occur. In some of the realities, Shion, succumbing to Hinamizawa Syndrome, kills Rika. However, life in Hinamizawa goes on, showing that Hifumi's theories have been exaggerated. In most of the realities, Miyo kills Rika, and the threat of the mass outbreak convinces the government to massacre the village, with the release of swamp gas being a cover story. Miyo's motive is to vindicate the work of Hifumi and force his work to be recognized after he was mocked and shamed by the government and scientific community for his thesis about the disease. After several hundred loops, Keiichi becomes either vividly or subconsciously aware of the previous realities, allowing him to avoid several critical points where various characters would be murdered or driven insane. In the final loop, the group asks Hanyū to join them, and the spirit manages to manifest a physical body. With her assistance and all of the knowledge and allies they have formed along the way, they thwart Miyo's plan and go on to live happy lives afterward. In the secret ending, Rika travels back to the past to prevent Miyo's suffering from the traumatic childhood that led her to become who she was.

The series is the first visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion.[12] The game director and scenario writer for the series are Ryukishi07, who also drew all of the character illustrations. Background images were taken from photographs taken by Ryukishi07, his younger brother Yatazakura, and Kameya Mannendō. Programming was worked on by Yatazakura, who worked on the main structure, 4U who worked on the intermission and Tips, and BT who worked on the mini games. The games were designed using the game engine NScripter. The music of Higurashi was provided by various music artists including both professionals and dōjin artists, including Dai, the composer of most of the music found in the answer arcs. Ryukishi07 wrote in 2004 how he was influenced by Key's works during the planning of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.[13] Ryukishi07 played Key's games as a reference, among other visual novels, and analyzed them to figure out the reason why they were found to be so popular. He figured that the secret was due to how the stories would start with ordinary, enjoyable days, but then a sudden occurrence would happen to lead the player to cry due to the shock value. He used a similar model for the basis of Higurashi but instead of leading the player to cry, Ryukishi07 wanted to scare the player with the addition of horror elements. In this way, Ryukishi07 wished to be in some way associated with Key who he described as a "masterpiece maker."[13]

The eight original PC games were released in English by MangaGamer under the title Higurashi: When They Cry starting with the first four games released in December 2009 and the last four released in monthly intervals starting in February 2010.[19] MangaGamer's release of the visual novels does not include several background music tracks and two bonus features specific to the original Japanese version: the music room and a minigame. The eight original PC games were also released in French by Saffran Prod under the title Le sanglot des cigales, starting with the first two games released together in November 2009.[20] The Japanese company Seams has done releases for iOS devices in Japanese and English. The Japanese version includes all eight games.[21] The English version is based on the translation by MangaGamer and as of May 2012 includes the first five games.[22][23] A remastered version of Onikakushi-hen from Higurashi: When They Cry Hō was released by MangaGamer on Steam on May 15, 2015 for Windows, OS X and Linux,[24] with the last part of Hou+ released on November 10, 2023.[25] The updates include a re-translation, previously cut music tracks and content, the original Japanese text,[26] and alternative character art by illustrator Kurosaki.[27]

3a8082e126