Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou

Higurashi: When They Cry - New
Promotional image from Kadokawa
ひぐらしのなく頃に業 (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou)
Genre	Mystery, Psychological horror, Supernatural
Anime television series
Music by	Kenji Kawai
Studio	Passione
Licensed by	Funimation (North America) AnimeLab (Australia, NZ) MediaLink Entertainment Ltd (SE Asia)
Original run	October 1, 2020 - ongoing
Episodes	24

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou (ひぐらしのなく頃に業, lit. When the Cicadas Cry Karma), licensed in English as Higurashi: When They Cry - New, is a 2020 sequel to the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni visual novel and 2006 anime created by Studio DEEN. The new project, animated by Passione, began airing on October 1, 2020.

Plot

On one hot summer day in 1983, a transfer student named Maebara Keiichi comes to a peaceful rural village in Hinamizawa. There, he befriends his classmates Rena, Mion, Rika, and Satoko. Accepted as a full-fledged member of the "club," Keiichi and the gang plays all sorts of activities ranging from card and board games to hide-and-seek. But just as Keiichi was beginning to be assimilated in simple rural life, he stumbles upon the dark history of Hinamizawa. As Keiichi dives deeper into the mystery, he finds that his new found friends may not be all what they claim to be.

Characters

Main characters

Keiichi Maebara (前原 圭一, Maebara Keiichi)

The son of a famous artist, his family recently moved to Hinamizawa after a violent incident event involving him in their hometown. His charisma and remarkable talent for rhetoric allow him to easily make new friends and become popular in the village, not to mention win some of the club activities.

Rena Ryuuguu (竜宮 レナ, Ryūgū Rena)

Rena is a girl in the same grade level as Keiichi and the main female protagonist of the question arcs. She is very kind and takes care of Keiichi whenever possible, but is also naïve and is usually subject to light teasing by Keiichi. She is distinguished by her obsession with things she perceives as adorable, calling them kāii (かぁいい, a slurred form of kawaii (かわいい), meaning "cute"), which are usually moekko characters or items she finds while scouring the local dump.

Mion Sonozaki (園崎 魅音, Sonozaki Mion)

Mion is the oldest kid in Keiichi's class. As the elder, she is the class president and everyone looks up to her as the leader. Her social skills are on par with Keiichi, whom she highly respects as a friend and rival (though it is later shown that she is in love with him). She acts like a tomboy, and calls herself oji-san (meaning old man), but has a hidden girlish side. She is next in line to be the head of the Sonozaki household, one of the Three Families which holds tremendous influence in Hinamizawa.

Satoko Houjou (北条 沙都子, Hōjō Satoko)

Satoko is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school. She has a distinctive style of speech, ending all of her sentences with ~wa, and is known for her boastful laugh. In spite of her young age, she seems to have an impressive arm strength and is quite clever in setting up traps, and likes to practice on Keiichi.

Rika Furude (古手 梨花, Furude Rika)

Rika is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school, and is in the same grade level as Satoko. Naturally, she is great friends with her, as they live together in the same house. She is revered by the villagers as the heir of the local shrine, and plays the role of a miko in the annual Watanagashi Festival. She has been the head of the Furude house since her parents died, but rarely attends town meetings due to her young age. Rika occasionally uses nonsense words such as mii (みぃ〜) and nipah (にぱ〜). Having previously overcome the traumas of June 1983, Rika is once again forced into a loop of fragments alongside Hanyuu.

Recurring characters

Kuraudo Ooishi (大石 蔵人, Ōishi Kuraudo)

Kuraudo Ooishi is a veteran police investigator at Okinomiya who has vowed to solve the mystery of the Hinamizawa murders before his retirement, to avenge the first victim who he was friends with. Due to his uncouth tactics and the lengths that he goes to in order to solve the mystery, he is looked upon as a nuisance by the villagers, especially the Sonozaki family.

Jirou Tomitake (富竹 ジロウ, Tomitake Jirō)

Jirou Tomitake is a freelance photographer who occasionally visits Hinamizawa. Despite being only an occasional visitor, he seems to know a fair amount about the darker elements of Hinamizawa's past.

Hanyuu (羽入, Hanyū)

A goddess accompanying Rika's journey through various fragments.

Production

The anime project was announced by 07th Expansion and Kadokawa on January 6, 2020. Akio Watanabe serves as the new character designer and Keiichiro Kawaguchi serves as director. Kenji Kawai is returning as music composer and the original cast from the 2006 anime all reprise their roles. The series was originally slated for release in July 2020 but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. An official trailer was released by Funimation on July 3, 2020, citing a Fall release date. On July 6, 2020, the release date was narrowed to October 2020. On August 21, 2020, a collaborative event promoting the release of Higurashi: When They Cry - New and the mobile game SINoALICE took place. On September 19, 2020, Hong Kong distributor MediaLink Entertainment Limited announced it would simulcast Higurashi: When They Cry - New.

Episodes

No.	Title	Original air date
1	"Demon-Deceiving Chapter, Part 1" "Onidamashi-hen, Part 1" (鬼騙し編其ノ壱)	October 1, 2020
Keiichi Maebara and his friends, Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude, enjoy their life in rural Hinamizawa. While Keiichi and Rena are spending time together at the dam construction site, Keiichi meets Jirou Tomitake, a traveling photographer who is visiting Hinamizawa. In response to a joke Keiichi tells, Tomitake offhandedly mentions a gruesome death that had recently taken place. Keiichi attempts to find out more information about this but finds his friends are unwilling to reveal anything about it. Later, Keiichi discovers a news magazine detailing a violent dismemberment that took place some time prior.
2	"Demon-Deceiving Chapter, Part 2" "Onidamashi-hen, Part 2" (鬼騙し編其ノ弐)	October 8, 2020
Rika awakens in the Sea of Fragments and learns that she will, once again, be made to endure the cyclical events of June 1983. Keiichi expresses his doubts about Tomitake, though Mion insists that his suspicious nature is due to his attempts to attract women. On June 19, the day of the Watanagashi Festival, Keiichi and his friends watch Rika's ceremonial performance while Tomitake leaves the festival to meet with Miyo Takano.
3	"Demon-Deceiving Chapter, Part 3" "Onidamashi-hen, Part 3" (鬼騙し編其ノ参)	October 15, 2020
Keiichi Maebara spends time at the Watanagashi Festival with his friends, though he eventually winds up alone. While walking, he briefly sees Jirou Tomitake and Miyo Takano in private conversation. The next day, detective Kuraudo Ooishi confronts Keiichi at school and asks if he knows either Tomitake or Takano. Ooishi informs him that both Tomitake and Takano have been missing since the night of the festival and asks that Keiichi keep their meeting a secret. Later, Keiichi asks Rena if she's hiding anything from him. Rena asks him the same question and becomes angered when he lies. Rena reveals that she knows about Keiichi's meeting with Ooishi and claims both of them have secrets they are keeping. That night, Ooishi calls Keiichi and reveals Rena's troubled past in Ibaraki. Keiichi's father brings him tea and informs Keiichi that he had sent Rena up to his room. Keiichi realizes that Rena overheard his conversation with Ooishi.
4	"Demon-Deceiving Chapter, Part 4" "Onidamashi-hen, Part 4" (鬼騙し編其ノ四)	October 22, 2020
On June 23, 1983, an unwell Keiichi Maebara goes to the Irie Clinic but finds it under extensive renovation. While at school, he tells his friends about his fever. Rika pulls Keiichi aside and asks if there is anything bothering him. He confesses to being scared of Rena, though Rika tries to convince him of Rena's innocence. When Keiichi arrives home, he learns that his parents had to suddenly leave for Tokyo and won't return until the following night. Rena shows up at Keiichi's house soon after with a large dinner. Initially fearful, Keiichi agrees to let her inside. While Keiichi watches TV, Rena opens her dinner, revealing a litany of torture implements. Keiichi enters the kitchen and finds Rena clawing at her neck. Rena attacks him with a knife and Keiichi defends himself with a clock. Keiichi awakens in the hospital two days later. Mion informs him that Rena died from her injuries. Furthermore, Rika and Satoko were found dead in their home the day after Rena and Keiichi's fight.
5	"Cotton-Deceiving Chapter, Part 5" "Onidamashi-hen, Part 5" (綿騙し編其ノ四)	October 29, 2020
On June 6, 1983, Keiichi Maebara and the other members of the club attend a competition at Da Vinci, a shop owned by the Sonozaki family. The store owner gives everyone except Mion Sonozaki a doll. Keiichi, not thinking he'll find a use for his, gives his doll to Mion. Later, at Angel Mort, Keiichi meets Shion Sonozaki, Mion's twin sister, though he believes that Shion is actually Mion pretending to be effeminate. That night, Shion visits Keiichi with a prepared dinner box as thanks for the doll he gave Mion. The next day, Keiichi gives the empty box to Mion and thanks her for the food. Later, in Okinomiya, Keiichi accidentally knocks over a series of motorcycles belonging to a group of delinquents. Shion intervenes and scares the delinquents off with the help of several other bystanders.