List of When They Cry episodes
When They Cry volume one DVD cover by Geneon.
When They Cry is a Japanese anime series. The English titles for the first season are according to the names used by Funimation Entertainment. English titles in the other seasons are not official.
The first season, produced in 2006, was entitled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (ひぐらしのなく頃に). It was produced by the Japanese animation studio Studio Deen and directed by Chiaki Kon. It was released in English by Geneon and then Funimation, under the title When They Cry – Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The series contains 26 episodes which aired between April 4 and September 26 on a number of Japanese television networks including Chiba TV, Kansai TV, and Tokai TV. The story follows a group of five young friends and the strange events that occur in their village of Hinamizawa. A string of unexplained murders have plagued the town for the past three years during the annual Watanagashi Festival in June, and with the next Watanagashi approaching, things start to take a turn for the worse. The series is divided into six chapters which are based on the first six chapters in the original visual novel series. The first chapter is Onikakushi-hen (episodes one to four), followed by Watanagashi-hen (episodes five to eight), and Tatarigoroshi-hen (episodes nine to thirteen). Next is Himatsubushi-hen (episodes fourteen and fifteen), the shortest of the story arcs. The last two chapters are Meakashi-hen (episodes sixteen to twenty-one) and Tsumihoroboshi-hen (episodes twenty-two through twenty-six).
In 2007, the second season began and was entitled When They Cry: Kai (ひぐらしのなく頃に解 Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, lit When The Cicadas Cry: Solution). It was produced by the same team as the first season and contains twenty-four episodes. The series aired in Japan between July 6 and December 17 on several Japanese television networks, such as Sun TV, TV Kanagawa, and TV Saitama. The story is similar to the first season, and what was left unexplained in the first season is explained over the course of three separate story arcs. The first story is an anime-original arc called Yakusamashi-hen, which is followed by the last two arcs from the original visual novel series: Minagoroshi-hen and Matsuribayashi-hen. On September 18, 2007, a sixteen-year-old girl killed her father with an axe in Kyoto, Japan. The similarities between Kai and the incident were too strong. In response, Tokai TV replaced episode twelve on September 21, 2007 with a cooking show.
In 2009, the third season, entitled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, was released as an original video animation series. It consists of two arcs taken from the fan disc of the same name and another arc that was adapted from a light novel released with the PS2 game. An extra episode, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gaiden Nekogoroshi-hen (The Cat Killing Chapter), which was not released in the US, can be viewed alongside season one. A 52-minute OVA titled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak, adapted from Ryukishi07's short story "Higurashi Outbreak",[1] was released in August 2013.
Series overview
| Seasons | Episodes | First airdate | Last airdate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 † | April 4, 2006 | September 26, 2006 † | |
| 2 | 24 | July 6, 2007 | December 17, 2007 | |
| OVA 1 (3) | 5 | February 25, 2009 | August 21, 2009 | |
| OVA 2 (4) | 4 | July 21, 2011 | January 25, 2012 | |
| Outbreak | TV film ‡ | August 15, 2013 | ||
| Total (62) ‡ | April 4, 2006 | August 15, 2013 | ||
† The first season ended with 26 episodes. An additional OVA chapter called Nekogoroshi-hen aired a year later (August 2, 2007) that takes between the first and second season; hence why it is animated in the style of season two, while using the original opening and ending theme from season one.
‡ While there are technically 60 episodes in the series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak is a 52 minute TV film which can also qualify as a two part episode; bringing the overall number to 62.
When They Cry (2006)
| No. | Title[2] | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Beginning (Chapter: Spirited Away by the Demon, Part 1)" "Onikakushi-hen Sono Ichi – Hajimari" (鬼隠し編 其ノ壱 ハジマリ) | April 4, 2006 |
| Keiichi Maebara moves to the rural village of Hinamizawa and befriends four girls—Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. He joins their after-school club. Life is peaceful until Keiichi learns from a man named Tomitake about a murder in Hinamizawa's past. He also learns about a dam construction project which had been proposed by the government five years earlier. The project met with protests and was withdrawn. When Keiichi asks Rena and Mion about any incidents relating to the project, they refuse to speak about it, which makes him suspicious. He gets even more suspicious when he finds a newspaper article about the dam project manager being dismembered. He learns that one of the killers is still at large. | ||
| 2 | "The Secret (Chapter: Spirited Away by the Demon, Part 2)" "Onikakushi-hen Sono Ni – Kakushigoto" (鬼隠し編 其ノ弐 隠しごと) | April 11, 2006 |
| During the annual Watanagashi festival, Keiichi is informed by Tomitake and a mysterious woman, Takano, about "Oyashiro's curse". A series of murders and disappearances has occurred on the night of the festival for the past four years and are all supposedly caused by the curse of Hinamizawa's tutelary deity, Oyashiro. The next day, Keiichi is interrogated by a police detective, Oishi, and learns that Tomitake committed suicide by clawing out his own throat, while Takano has gone missing. He becomes Oishi's informant. Keiichi notices changes in Rena and Mion's behavior and suspects them of hiding something from him. He too is accused of keeping secrets because of his ties to Oishi. Keiichi delves deeper into the history of the curse with Oishi, and learns that one of the victims was Satoshi, a boy who had apparently transferred out of school in Hinamizawa before Keiichi arrived. At that point, Keiichi realizes that Rena has been eavesdropping on him the whole time. | ||
| 3 | "Suspicion (Chapter: Spirited Away by the Demon, Part 3)" "Onikakushi-hen Sono San – Gishin" (鬼隠し編 其ノ参 疑心) | April 18, 2006 |
| Growing increasingly paranoid, Keiichi calls in sick for school to avoid his friends and delve deeper into the mysteries of Hinamizawa. Oishi takes Keiichi to Angel Mort for lunch, and he tells him that all of the victims of Oyashiro's curse are connected to his group of friends. That night, Rena and Mion visit Keiichi and give him a box of ohagi as part of a club activity, which all contain a needle. Keiichi is convinced that Rena and Mion are out to get him. Keiichi arms himself with Satoshi's baseball bat when he returns to school the next day. His friends reveal that Satoshi had displayed similar paranoid behavior before he disappeared. | ||
| 4 | "Disturbance (Chapter: Spirited Away by the Demon, Part 4)" "Onikakushi-hen Sono Yon – Yugami" (鬼隠し編 其ノ四 歪) | April 25, 2006 |
| Rena pays Keiichi a visit, attempting to bring him dinner, and begins acting strangely, intimating that she has been monitoring him inside his home, prompting Keiichi to succumb to his paranoia and slam his front door on her hand. Distressed by Keiichi's behavior, Mion attempts to apologize for keeping so many secrets about Hinamizawa from him, but he coldly rebuffs her. Later, Keiichi is being followed by Rena, carrying a machete. He demands to know who caused all the murders and disappearances; Rena simply replies that it is all the work of Oyashiro. Keiichi escapes from Rena and finds himself being chased by a mysterious group of men, who knock him out. When he awakens in his room, he is attacked by Rena and Mion, who attempt to inject him with a syringe. In self-defense, Keiichi beats Rena and Mion to death with Satoshi's bat. He calls Oishi and tells him the murders were caused by Oyashiro, and then Keiichi, who is sure that Oyashiro is behind him, claws out his own throat. The next day, Keiichi is found dead. The police also find the bodies of Mion and Rena, and they find out that Keiichi was the one who killed them. The syringe that Mion used, which Keiichi attempted to hide in a wall clock, has also been removed. | ||
| 5 | "Jealousy (Chapter: Cotton Drifting, Part 1)" "Watanagashi-hen Sono Ichi – Shitto" (綿流し編 其ノ壱 嫉妬) | May 2, 2006 |
| The timeline of the last four episodes has been reset. Keiichi discovers Mion has an identical twin sister named Shion. Keiichi also discovers that Mion has a crush on him, and so does Shion. Keiichi wins a doll in a competitive game, which he gives to Rena, implying to Mion that she's too masculine for it. Mion awkwardly brushes it off, but is visibly upset. | ||
| 6 | "Takano (Chapter: Cotton Drifting, Part 2)" "Watanagashi-hen Sono Ni – Takano" (綿流し編 其ノ弐 タカノ) | May 9, 2006 |
| Keiichi learns about the curse of Oyashiro. During Rika's ritual performance at the Watanagashi festival, Shion whisks Keiichi away to sneak to the ritual tool shed of Oyashiro, where Tomitake and his friend, Miyo Takano, are waiting. Tomitake stands guard while the others look inside. They find dozens of torture tools. Takano explains the significance of the ritual tool shrine and the Watanagashi festival. Her theory is that the villagers of Hinamizawa are continuing an age-old tradition of sacrificing people to Oyashiro. Shion and Keiichi promise not to tell anyone they entered the shrine. Keiichi becomes disturbed when he is questioned both by Mion and Detective Oishi about the whereabouts of Shion, Tomitake, and Takano on the night of the festival. Keiichi learns from Shion that Takano was found burned to death and Tomitake committed suicide by clawing out his throat. Keiichi starts to wonder about Shion's safety as well as his own. | ||
| 7 | "Lies (Chapter: Cotton Drifting, Part 3)" "Watanagashi-hen Sono San – Uso" (綿流し編 其ノ参 嘘) | May 16, 2006 |
| Rika shows knowledge of Keiichi's actions on the night of the festival, and in a metaphorical conversation promises to help the 'little kitty cat who did something bad' on the night of the festival by making the 'big dogs' aware the 'kitty cat' had no bad intentions, and alludes to the fact that Mion is angry with Shion over what happened. She also warns Keiichi that if the same 'dog' who bit the village leader tries to bite him, he should tell her. That night Keiichi learns the village leader has gone missing. Shion tells Keiichi that she confessed to the village leader about what they did. Shion thinks it's her fault that Oyashiro's Curse got him because he had promised to help them. Keiichi believes Rika is also in danger. Keiichi, Rena and Mion go to Rika and Satoko's home to find them, but they have gone missing. Keiichi talks with Detective Oishi. His account of the village leader's activities before disappearing contradict Shion's claim that she confessed. Shion has been missing ever since the festival. Shion calls Keiichi that night, and he confronts her about who she really is. He hears maniacal laughter before she hangs up the phone. | ||
| 8 | "Wish (Chapter: Cotton Drifting, Part 4)" "Watanagashi-hen Sono Yon – Negai" (綿流し編 其ノ四 願い) | May 23, 2006 |
| Keiichi and Rena suspect that Mion is behind Rika's and Satoko's disappearance, and inform detective Oishi. Keiichi and Rena confront Mion at her house because the police don't have enough probable cause for a search warrant. Mion admits that Rika and Satoko came over to her house the night they disappeared. She asks to have a private talk with Keiichi before the police arrest her, and she lures Keiichi to a torture chamber. He sees Shion in the dungeon before Mion knocks him out. Mion prepares to torture Keiichi, but stops after Keiichi, believing Mion to be possessed by the demon Oyashiro, begs Mion to spare Shion and to return Mion's body to her. Mion, baffled, asks whether he wants to be spared as well, which Keiichi says is irrelevant compared to Shion's safety. Mion hears a noise and assumes Rena brought the police and tasers Keiichi unconscious. Keiichi and Shion are rescued from the torture chamber and Mion escapes. Keiichi is visited by Mion who stabs him in the stomach. He is gravely wounded and taken to hospital. Keiichi learns Shion has fallen to her death from her apartment. Oishi asks Keiichi if he was certain it was Mion Sonozaki that attacked him. He confirms it. Oishi reveals Mion's body was found dead at the bottom of the well the same day Keiichi and Shion were rescued. Oishi also reveals Miyo Takano, who was burned to death on the night of the festival, had actually died 24 hours beforehand. After Oishi leaves, Mion appears and presumably kills Keiichi. | ||
| 9 | "Older Brother (Chapter: Curse Killing, Part 1)" "Tatarigoroshi-hen Sono Ichi – Ani" (祟殺し編 其の壱 兄) | May 30, 2006 |
| Once again, the timeline of the last four episodes has been reset. Keiichi's parents leave for Tokyo for a few days. Helped by Satoko and Rika, who make dinner for him, Keiichi learns about Satoshi, Satoko's older brother, and his mysterious disappearance on the night of last year's Watanagashi festival. He decides to act as a surrogate brother to Satoko and investigate Satoshi's disappearance. | ||
| 10 | "Bond (Chapter: Curse Killing, Part 2)" "Tatarigoroshi-hen Sono Ni – Kizuna" (祟殺し編 其の弐 キズナ) | June 6, 2006 |
| When Satoko is absent from school for a few days, Keiichi discovers that it is because of Teppei, her abusive uncle. He left Hinamizawa after his wife was murdered on the night of last year's Watanagashi festival, and has only just returned to town. Keiichi intervenes. | ||
| 11 | "Borderline (Chapter: Curse Killing, Part 3)" "Tatarigoroshi-hen Sono San – Sakaime" (祟殺し編 其の参 境界) | June 13, 2006 |
| Keiichi decides that he must kill Teppei. He asks Mion to take Satoko to the Watanagashi festival. When she asks him why he tells her he has some things to do. Mion mentions that is exactly what Satoshi said and did before he disappeared. Keiichii concludes that Satoshi must have killed his aunt to protect Satoko and that he must do the same. He beats Teppei to death with Satoshi's baseball bat and buries the body. On his way back home, Keiichi bumps into Takano, who appears to know of the murder he committed when she asks him if he buried the body. | ||
| 12 | "Lost Item (Chapter: Curse Killing, Part 4)" "Tatarigoroshi-hen Sono Yon – Nakushimono" (祟殺し編 其の四 失しモノ) | June 20, 2006 |
| Keiichi is shaken when his friends tell him that he was actually at the Watanagashi festival with them. Satoko's uncle is still abusing her, though Keiichi thought he had killed him. He goes to the Doctor's office, where he confesses the murder to Coach Irie. Although Coach Irie promises to help him, he overhears him talking to his assistant with preparations to put sedatives in the tea they were going to give him. Keiichi flees to go check up on the location of the body. Oishi surprises him there and forces him to keep digging the hole, where Keiichi becomes confused when the body is nowhere to be found. | ||
| 13 | "Apology (Chapter: Curse Killing, Part 5)" "Tatarigoroshi-hen Sono Go – Shazai" (祟殺し編 其の伍 謝罪) | June 27, 2006 |
| Keiichi goes to the Houjou residence to ascertain Teppei's status and finds Satoko in the bath and in need of medical help. Keiichi takes Satoko to the clinic, but finds that Coach Irie committed suicide and that Oishi is missing. Satoko requests that she go pick up some clothes from Rika's house since she's only wearing a bath towel from earlier. At the Furude Shrine, Keiichi discovers Rika's disemboweled body. Satoko believes that Keiichi is the culprit and flees, concluding that he is possessed by Oyashiro. Keiichi fruitlessly tries to convince her otherwise, and Satoko pushes him off a bridge. Keiichi wishes that everything in the village dies, and soon after, disaster strikes the village of Hinamizawa: poisonous volcanic gas from the Onigafushi swamp gushed out, murdering the entire populace. Keiichi survives the fall from the bridge and the gas leak, and it is later found out he is the sole survivor of the gas leak. | ||
| 14 | "Hinamizawa (Chapter: Time Wasting, Part 1)" "Himatsubushi-hen Sono Ichi – Hinamizawa" (暇潰し編 其の壱 ヒナミザワ) | July 4, 2006 |
| Four years ago, during the dam incident, young police investigator Mamoru Akasaka comes to Hinamizawa to investigate a kidnapping of the missing child Toshiki Inukai, who is the grandson of the dam's construction project. He meets Oishi who tells him about the Dam Project Opposition Committee and the 3 leading families of Hinzamizawa. He pretends to be a tourist to get a tour of Hinamizawa where he meets the younger Rika Furude. At the Furude Shrine an enigmatic Rika warns him to leave Hinamizawa and go back to Tokyo. She collapses but commences to act normally afterward. A colleague of Oishi gives intel to Akasaka about the Dam Project Opposition Committee, headed by the Sonozaki family leader, Oryō. We learn that they have abducted the missing child and that a novice police investigator was dispatched to Hinzamizawa from Tokyo. She has given orders to "take care" of him if he begins to meddle too much into their affairs. The following day Oishi informs Akasaka that they have found the wallet and other identification items of the missing child in a deserted village called Takatsudo and has agreed to accompany Akasaka there. | ||
| 15 | "Sign (Chapter: Time Wasting, Part 2)" "Himatsubushi-hen Sono Ni – Kizashi" (暇潰し編 其の弐 兆し) | July 11, 2006 |
| Akasaka and Oishi find the kidnappers' hideout and rescue the kidnapped boy, but Akasaka gets shot in the process. They discover that their efforts were in vain because the perpetrators' demands had already been met. Akasaka tries using the phones at the hospital and out on the streets but all the cords have been cut by someone. At a particular phone booth he finds Rika and asks if she cut the cords. She only replies that he would be upset if were to make a call. She takes him to see the Watanagashi Festival and an ominous Rika describes each death that will annually occur on the evening of Watanagashi starting on Shōwa Year 54 (1979) and that the last death, although the date unknown, will end with her own murder. She also tells him that she does not want to die, but live a happy life. Later it is discovered that Akasaka's wife died the day of Wataganashi, by falling down a flight of stairs, but she had given birth already. A few years later Akasaka visits Oishi, who has retired in the town of his mother's birthplace, and reveals what Rika told him on that night several years ago. Oishi tells him that on the day of the great disaster of Hinamizawa, Rika was found at the Furude shrine naked, and that she was drugged to sleep and her abdominal organs were removed. Akasakawa reveals that he has returned to find the truth about the Shrine God's curse. | ||
| 16 | "First Love (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 1)" "Meakashi-hen Sono Ichi – Hatsukoi" (目明し編 其の壱 初恋) | July 18, 2006 |
| The events from Watanagashi-hen are retold from Shion's point of view. For generations the Sonozaki family has murdered the younger of newborn twins as they are seen as bad luck. When Mion and Shion are born, they decide to send Shion away to boarding school. Shion escapes and returns to Hinamizawa with the help of her caretaker, Kasai. Shion, wanting to live on her own, pretends to be her sister and gets a job at their uncle's shop, with Kasai and Mion supporting the illusion. Shion learns about Oyashiro's curse from Mion and the mysterious deaths. Shion meets Satoshi, a classmate of Mion's, who mistakes her for Mion. Shion takes a liking to Satoshi. Satoshi is a member of the Houjou family, and his parents were victims of Oyashiro's curse for supporting the construction of a dam that would have flooded the town. Satoshi and his younger sister, Satoko, were taken in by their aunt and uncle after their parent's death. Their aunt and uncle resented them because the rest of the village shunned them for their parent's support of the dam. Shion goes to school in Mion's place to try to cheer up Satoshi. When she fails she takes out her anger on Satoko, who she sees as the root of Satoshi's problems and beats her up. Rika and Rena try to stop her until Satoshi finally comes in and shoves Shion out of the way. Shion learns Satoshi despises the Sonozaki family for having persecuted the Houjou family. | ||
| 17 | "Responsibility (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 2)" "Meakashi-hen Sono Ni – Kejime" (目明し編 其の弐 ケジメ) | July 25, 2006 |
| Satoshi apologizes to Shion (still pretending to be Mion), and asks her to care for Satoko during the Watanagashi festival, and presumably murders his aunt the night of the festival for abusing Satoko. Shion is suspicious that he is the culprit, but provides an alibi for him when detective Oishi questions him. In the process she reveals that she isn't Mion, but her twin sister Shion. Shion's family finds her when Oishi checks out her story, and she is taken back to their family estate to answer to her grandmother for the trouble she has caused. There, in the underground torture chamber, she insults the family name by proclaiming her love for Satoshi. Mion orders her to ask for forgiveness for what she has done and that Kasai and their uncle, who reside in the next room, will be spared. Shion submits, and Mion takes out a de-nailing torture device. Shion is forced to de-nail herself for her crimes against the family, but can only de-nail her left pinky nail. Sonozaki henchmen step in and de-nail the rest of her left ring and middle finger nails for her. The following day Oishi meets her at the toy store where she finds out that Satoshi got the toy for Satako, and takes her into the station for question. He explains that the previous day, Satoshi has gone missing and Kasai explains they have caught the aunt's murderer, a cocaine addict. | ||
| 18 | "Oni's Blood Line (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 3)" "Meakashi-hen Sono San – Oni no Ketsumyaku" (目明し編 其の参 鬼の血脈) | August 1, 2006 |
| Shion finds out Satoshi has gone missing and decides to investigate further into the mysterious murders over the past four years. She meets Takano at the library. Takano tells her more about the history of Hinamizawa and its dark past. She explains that Hinamizawa used to be called Onigafuchi and that, according to the Shrine God's Sacrifice Ritual, for each victim sacrificed, there must be an equivalent number of missing people. Takano also mentions that according to the sacrifice ritual, the missing people would have to sink to the bottomless Onigafuchi marsh, which leads Shion to believe Satoshi's body might be there. After Shion's encounter with Takano, she is visited by Mion at her apartment where she learns that Mion de-nailed herself in the same spots Shion had, after she had left, because she didn't want Shion to take all the burden. The story skips ahead one year to the present right before the Wataganashi Festival. Keiichi brings back memories of Satoshi to Shion. The story further skips to forward to where Tomitake, Takano, Keiichi, and Shion enter the shrine. After the festivities, Shion is caught listening to Mion and her grandmother as they discuss the events that have transpired over Takano and police investigations. | ||
| 19 | "Revenge (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 4)" "Meakashi-hen Sono Yon – Shikaeshi" (目明し編 其の四 仕返し) | August 8, 2006 |
| Shion believes the Sonozaki family is connected to the acts of "spiriting away" people in the village, especially in the case of Satoshi. Enraged, she tasers and imprisons Mion in the dungeon and unintentionally kills her grandmother after tasering her as well, dumping her body down a well used for corpse disposal in front of Mion, repeatedly accusing Mion of having been implicit in Satoshi's murder. Shion pretends to be Mion the next day and confronts Keiichi about the previous night's encounters, which Keiichi still denies. Posing as Mion, she attends a village council meeting and lures the village head to the estate, and tasers and captures him after he reveals that her "Distinction" (when she had her fingernails removed) was so she Kasai, her uncle, and Shion herself would not be killed, confirming for Shion that Mion and her grandmother did have Satoshi killed. | ||
| 20 | "Cold Hands (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 5)" "Meakashi-hen Sono Go – Tsumetai Te" (目明し編 其の伍 冷たい手) | August 15, 2006 |
| Shion tortures the village head for information about the previous murders and Satoshi. Shion confronts Rika about the murders, leading to a confrontation between the two after Rika shows up with an empty soy sauce bottle. Rika sprays Shion with pepper spray, but Shion tasers Rika and injects Rika with the syringe that Rika had brought for her. Rika commits suicide by stabbing herself repeatedly in the head after Shion threatens to torture her. Shion invites Satoko to her house. | ||
| 21 | "Condemnation (Chapter: Eye Opening, Part 6)" "Meakashi-hen Sono Roku – Danzai" (目明し編 其の六 断罪) | August 22, 2006 |
| Shion tricks Keiichi in a phone call and later tricks the townsfolk into believing Keiichi a murder suspect. She quickly realizes that Oishi suspects her instead. She brutally murders Satoko, whom she has been holding captive as punishment for Mion. Then she remembers to her horror that one of Satoshi's last requests was to keep Satoko safe. This drives her deeper into madness. The following day, Keiichi and Rena suspect "Mion" to be the Rika and Satoko's killer. Shion then lures Keiichi to the dungeon and prepares to torture him. Keiichi begs Shion, whom he believes is Mion possessed by Oyashiro, to spare Shion and Mion, which drives Shion to tears, and she tasers Keiichi. Shion frees Mion, switches clothes with her and takes her to the body disposal well, telling her that Satoshi's body is down there. Mion tells her that their grandmother approved of her relationship with Satoshi, but Shion refuses to believe her. Shion tases Mion again causing her to fall in the well. She and Keiichi are rescued. Following the incident, Shion starts to hallucinate. She visits Keiichi and gravely wounds him. Shion hastily returns to her apartment by scaling the side of the building, and slips and falls to her death. As she falls, she imagines seeing Satoshi's face in the moon, and apologizes to him before she hits the ground. | ||
| 22 | "Happiness (Chapter: Atonement, Part 1)" "Tsumihoroboshi-hen Sono Ichi – Shiawase" (罪滅し編 其の壱 幸せ) | August 29, 2006 |
| The chapter starts off with a heated water-gun competition between the gang. Keiichi heads off with Mion and headshots her. Being the brilliant strategist that she is, Satoko has sabotaged Rena's hidden water-gun backup, but Rena smashes it against the wall using the water in the handle to splash Satoko. In a one-on-one dual, Rena and Keiichi end up tieing the game, both becoming victors. Mion, Satoko, and Rika must work the day at the Angel Mort Cafe, owned by Mion and Shion's uncle, as their Punishment for losing. There Rena meets her father's girlfriend, Ritsuko, or Rina for short. After the day's end, Rena heads deep inside the landfill to an abandoned and half buried motor-home. She has a flashback of when she was living with both her parents; we learn that she had a conversation with her mother asking her, if they were to split up, which parent would she want to live with. When her mother informs her she plans on leaving her father to marry another man, and that she is pregnant with his child, Rena abhors the very thought and jumps forward to Rena breaking piled furniture and other junk outside her house. Back at home, Rena learns that Rina has helped her dad completely redo the entire living room, throwing out other things, including Kentak-kun. The next day at a cafe, Rena sees Rina together with Houjou Teppei. From overhearing their conversation and the information she gets from Shion and Kasai, she learns that they make their living from the 'Badger Game', a series of blackmailing where a woman gets together with a man. Then the real 'partner' of the woman steps and reveals himself to make the man pay them money. This is what Rina plans on doing to Rena's father and Rena's plan for revenge begins to emerge. | ||
| 23 | "Place to Return (Chapter: Atonement, Part 2)" "Tsumihoroboshi-hen Sono Ni – Kaeru Tokoro" (罪滅し編 其の弐 還る処) | September 5, 2006 |
| Rena returns home and goes through her father's checkbook only to find out that he has recently charged a lot of money on his cards and has withdrawn a lot of money from his accounts. After school, Rena heads home to find Rina there and heads back to the landfill to have Rina follow her. Deep within the landfill at the half-buried motor-home, Rina asks Rena if she likes her because there might be a future for her and her father, and that she is also pregnant. Rena straightforwardly confronts Rina that she knows about her and Teppei's plan. Furious, Rina attempts to strangle Rena to death but Rena finds a shard of glass nearby and slices Rina's stomach open. As Rina hunches over on the floor in agony, she begs for her life before Rena brutally bashes her head in with a large pipe. Rena shoves her corpse into an old fridge and returns home. As she nears her house she sees Teppei savagely beating her father outside their house and tells him he'll be back tomorrow to pick up the money. Rena catches up to him and tells him Rina wants to have a private chat with him, so she leads him to the land fill. When her flashlight goes out, she quickly appears behind Teppei and slices his head in with a giant machete-like weapon that she is seen holding in the intro. Rina dismembers both of their bodies and wraps them up in small gift-like packages only to have the gang find her in the act. Indubitably, they try to console her and accept her for who she is. Keiichi tells her, as friends, they will keep it a secret and help her dump the separated bodies into a small cave in the woods. When Rena leaves, Mion tells the rest of them to not mention this incident so that they'll all eventually forget about it. At the end, they're all at the Watanagashi festival and Oishi is in the background glaring at them all. | ||
| 24 | "Document 34 (Chapter: Atonement, Part 3)" "Tsumihoroboshi-hen Sono San – Sanjūyon-gō Bunsho" (罪滅し編 其の参 34号文書) | September 12, 2006 |
| While studying Takano's scrapbooks, Rena discovers that Oyashiro, who is worshiped by the Three Families that run the village, doesn't actually exist. She discovers that the problem is a virus that causes its victims to go berserk. In addition, since the altitude and temperature are very specific for the survival of the virus, it is explained that this is what causes the victims to feel "homesick" when they leave Hinamizawa. This disease caused all the murders. As a result, she is being hunted down by people who appear to stop at nothing to keep this information a secret. | ||
| 25 | "Earth Invasion (Chapter: Atonement, Part 4)" "Tsumihoroboshi-hen Sono Yon – Chikyuu Shinryaku" (罪滅し編 其の四 地球侵略) | September 19, 2006 |
| Rena learns that Mion moved the bodies from where they originally hid them. Rena's faith in her friends is shattered and she begins to go insane. Keiichi tries to stop Rena, but she confronts him with his own dark secrets. He confesses his past sin to his friends, and finds that he can recall events from Onikakushi-hen, particularly his own paranoia and murder of Rena and Mion, as it is revealed that Mion was planning to draw on Keiichi with a marker, rather than give him an injection, the final event before he killed them. Rika reacts thunderstruck at this, and later tells Keiichi that no one else remembers his murder except her, and she forgives him. This strengthens his understanding of Rena's situation and he resolves to prevent such tragedies from occurring again. He apologizes to Mion, who is understandably uncomfortable and baffled by this. | ||
| 26 | "Retake (Chapter: Atonement, Part 5)" "Tsumihoroboshi-hen Sono Go – Riteiku" (罪滅し編 其の伍 リテイク) | September 26, 2006 |
| With her madness at its peak, Rena holds her friends and schoolmates hostage and threatens to kill them all with a homemade bomb planted on the roof of the school. Working together with the police and his friends, Keiichi defuses the bomb. Keiichi and Rena have a final confrontation on the roof, Keiichi armed with Satoshi's bat and Rena with her cleaver. Rena gradually regains her sanity until she defeats Keiichi, though she is unable to bring herself to kill him. Rena reconciles with her friends. Though tragedy has been averted through Rena's atonement, the constant time loops have yet to lift; however, there is now hope for the future. | ||
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Nekogoroshi-hen (2007)
| No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | "Cat Killing Chapter" | August 2, 2007 |
| After losing a bet, Keichi, Mion, Rena, Satoko and Rika parade around the town in costumes. When they come to a fork in the road, they decide to go to Yagouchi, a nearby abandoned village. Once there Keichii and Rena learn the mystery of a strange haunted quarry as they debate whether or not to check it out. | ||
When They Cry: Kai (2007)
| No. | No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 1 | "Reunion" "Saikai" (サイカイ) | July 6, 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, now in her thirties, survived the disaster because she was detained at the police station during the incident. She shares with them the little knowledge she has about Rika's strange behavior shortly before the supposed "gas leak". Akasaka recalls his meeting with the young Rika. The episode is a direct epilogue of Tsumihoroboshi-hen. | |||
| 29 | 2 | "Disaster Awakening Chapter One – Playing Tag" "Yakusamashi-hen Sono Ichi – Onigokko" (厄醒し編 其の壱 鬼ごっこ) | July 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". He understands why his friends hid it from him and doesn't resent them for it. This fails to reassure Rika, and she grows progressively more depressed as the day of the Watanagashi Festival approaches. In addition, Satoko utters a phrase spoken by Keiichi during the final arc (Atonement) of season one, adding to her worry. | |||
| 30 | 3 | "Disaster Awakening Chapter Two – Powerless" "Yakusamashi-hen Sono Ni – Muryoku" (厄醒し編 其の弐 無力) | July 20, 2007 |
| Satoko worries about Rika's depression and tries to help her, but Rika denies that anything is wrong. In the middle of the night, Satoko is woken by Rika arguing with a mysterious voice telling her she will soon be murdered, and that there is nothing that either of them can do. | |||
| 31 | 4 | "Disaster Awakening Chapter Three – Pre-established Harmony" "Yakusamashi-hen Sono San – Yotei Chōwa" (厄醒し編 其の参 予定調和) | July 27, 2007 |
| The day of the Watanagashi Festival comes, and Rika fails to warn Tomitake of his imminent death. Satoko is convinced that a mysterious man is following her and Rika around. Worried of Rika's safety, Satoko sets traps around the house to alert her of any intruders, and when one is triggered, her fears are confirmed. | |||
| 32 | 5 | "Disaster Awakening Chapter Four – The Great Hinamizawa Disaster" "Yakusamashi-hen Sono Yon – Hinamizawa Daisaigai" (厄醒し編 其の四 雛見沢大災害) | August 3, 2007 |
| Much to Satoko's surprise, Rika hides her. Rika is taken away and killed. After witnessing Rika's demise, a scared and barefoot Satoko flees and falls off a bridge. Satoko stumbles back into Hinamizawa in the aftermath of the Great Hinamizawa Disaster. The trauma of witnessing the remaining villagers' deaths drives Satoko into mental shock. In the hospital, Oishi tries to bring Satoko out of her catatonic state to interrogate her. He relays a cryptic message left by Rena that hints at the motive behind Rika's murder. Satoko regains consciousness and realizes the meaning of Rena's message. She is killed by Rika's murderers. | |||
| 33 | 6 | "Massacre Chapter One – Rules of the Labyrinth" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Ichi – Meiro no Hōsoku" (皆殺し編 其の壱 迷路の法則) | August 10, 2007 |
| Rika begins a new world with Hanyū. She is getting tired of seeing her friends commit the same acts that lead them to terrible mistakes. Keiichi proves to her that people can change their fate if they want during the game tournament, by requesting to play a different game other than the card game played in Watanagashi-hen. He gives the doll he won as a prize to Mion instead of Rena, thereby avoiding hurting Mion's feelings and potentially avoiding the tragedy that transpired in Meakashi-hen. Rika thinks that this world may be different and vows to fight one more time. | |||
| 34 | 7 | "Massacre Chapter Two – How to Change Destiny" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Ni – Unmei no Kaekata" (皆殺し編 其の弐 運命の変え方) | August 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 own ominous destiny. Notable changes in this world that Rika notices includes how Rena actually confided in Mion about the situation between her dad and Rina rather than bear the burden of her situation by herself, how Ooishi actually gets along with the main characters, and that Akasaka's wife (and hence Akasaka's newborn) avoided death after Rika had cautioned Akasaka several years back. | |||
| 35 | 8 | "Massacre Chapter Three – Fluctuation" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono San – Yuragi" (皆殺し編 其の参 揺らぎ) | August 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. | |||
| 36 | 9 | "Massacre Chapter Four – Negotiation" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Yon – Kōshō" (皆殺し編 其の四 交渉) | August 31, 2007 |
| The fight to save Satoko from her uncle's abuse continues. Eventually many townspeople protest alongside the main characters to ignite government action in Satoko's case. Satoko is reluctant to denounce her uncle however, since she feels that she and she alone is responsible for Satoshi's disappearance, and her uncle threatens to burn down Satoshi's room if Satoko leaves the house. This continues to place government action at an impasse. Satoko returns to school, but shows evidence of abuse and mental trauma, and is taken to the clinic to have her calm down. After Keiichi visits her at the clinic, he meets Ooishi outside, who advises him to not overextend the issue with the counseling office, and informs Keiichi that the Sonozaki household has been informed of the situation by the Child Counseling Center. During a meeting between supportive townspeople and the Child Counseling Center, Rika realizes that she is the one who must take action. | |||
| 37 | 10 | "Massacre Chapter Five – Showdown" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Go – Taiketsu" (皆殺し編 其の伍 対決) | September 7, 2007 |
| Keiichi's struggle to help Satoko forces him and his allies to confront the village elders. Keiichi is demonstrative in asking assistance from the Oryou-san, the head of the Sonozaki family, but Keiichi ultimately gains her approval for the use of the Hinamizawa neighborhood council and its power to make an appeal for government action. Citizens from Okinomiya and Hinamizawa protest in front of the Counseling Center, calling for action from the director. The government succumbs to the pressure of Keiichi and his allies, and a phone call is made to the Houjou house as Teppei is seen trying to break into Satoshi's room for a bank account book while physically abusing Satoko. | |||
| 38 | 11 | "Massacre Chapter Six – Strong Will" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Roku – Tsuyoi Ishi" (皆殺し編 其の六 強い意志) | September 14, 2007 |
| Satoko talks to Keiichi and Rika on the phone, and Satoko is eventually convinced to reveal her abuse over the phone. Before Teppei can inflict more physical abuse, police storm the house on orders from Ooishi, and Teppei is quickly apprehended. Satoko tearfully reunites with Rika and her friends. Soon after the Watanagashi festival arrives in Hinamizawa. Rika, knowing that Tomitake-san and Takano-san die on this night in all of the other worlds she has been in, enlists the help of Ooishi-san and her friends to protect Tomitake-san and Takano-san for part of the night. Once Tomitake-san and Takano-san arrive safely at the clinic, it is revealed that Takano-san is the actual head of the clinic and the Yamainu security forces, and is the culprit behind Tomitake-san's death and her own feigned death for the purpose of reigniting Oyashiro-sama's curse. Takano-san drugs Tomitake-san, transports his body, and injects him with a liquid that will eventually transform him into a state of psychosis, leading to him clawing his throat out. Police discover his body as well as the burnt remains of Takano-san's corpse, which is revealed to be a fake corpse prepared by Takano-san and her men beforehand. Meanwhile Takano-san reflects on how "everything will fall" soon. | |||
| 39 | 12 | "Massacre Chapter Seven – Hinamizawa Syndrome" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Nana – Hinamizawa Shōkōgun" (皆殺し編 其の七 雛見沢症候群) | September 25, 2007 |
| Rika tells her friends the details of the Hinamizawa Syndrome, regarding how the syndrome is a disease whose symptoms show up when one tries to leave Hinamizawa. Rika reveals that the Irie Clinic, or the Irie Institute, was actually an establishment built to research the disease, or more specifically gather information on how to harness this disease as a biological weapon, sponsored by various bureaucratic connections collectively referred to as "Tokyo". The Yamainu are revealed to be a security force tasked with maintaining the secrecy of such an operation. Dr. Irie is revealed to be innocent in this matter, as he was originally hired as a director of the institute but his actual intentions were to find a cure for the syndrome rather than to develop a biological weapon. Rika also reveals that the Furude lineage has historically been referred to as "Queen Carriers" that have suppressed the onset of symptoms of the syndrome, and thus Rika herself is targeted by the Yamainu. Rika's friends believe her without hesitation. The police are stationed, at Rika's request, around the Furude residence to give her added protection. Meanwhile Ooishi and his assistant come across Yamainu trespassing at a radio tower, and both are murdered when they try to question the Yamainu. | |||
| 40 | 13 | "Massacre Chapter Eight – Finale" "Minagoroshi-hen Sono Hachi – Shūmatsu" (皆殺し編 其の八 終末) | October 1, 2007 |
| Rika and Satoko's friends leave the house to the officers for the night. As Satoko sleeps, Rika talks with Hanyuu about Rika's fated death. Meanwhile the Yamainu disable the guards at Rika's house and infiltrate the residence, but Rika and Satoko escape. Rika and Satoko are cornered by the Yamainu in the forest at one point, but Mion, Shion, Rena, and Keiichi come to rescue them when Rena had a suspicion that "people" were watching them after they had left Rika's house. The six of them try to make their escape to the Sonozaki household but Keiichi is suddenly shot by Takano-san standing from afar. One by one the members of the group are shot and killed by Takano-san and the Yamainu, leaving Rika for last. Rika asks Takano-san to kill her without anesthesia in an attempt to carve the identity of the culprit behind all the Hinamizawa murders into her mind and thus prevent the events from this and past worlds from repeating themselves. Rika is killed and gutted. The spirits of the group members as well as Hanyuu meet and agree that Hanyuu too must have the will to break the cycle of death. Meanwhile the villagers are rounded up at the school and gassed to death, while an ecstatic Takano proclaims her ascension to godhood. | |||
| 41 | 14 | "Festival Music Chapter One – Miyo" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Ichi – Miyo" (祭囃し編 其の壱 三四) | October 8, 2007 |
| In a series of flashbacks, Takano's past is revealed. Dr. Hifumi Takano (Takano's foster grandfather) and his research piqued her interest in biological parasites when she was young. Prior to this, Takano lost both her parents to a bus accident, and all of her relatives were lost to a war. Takano was transferred to an orphanage where she and her friends suffered from verbal and physical abuse. One night Takano and her friends successfully escape the orphanage and run in separate directions, but Takano is found by the angry headmaster of the orphanage. Takano is physically beaten by the headmaster until she escapes into the forest, bloodied and bruised. During adulthood, Takano continues the research her grandfather established and is soon placed into the Irie Institute as second in command behind Dr. Irie, who is essentially a puppet figure of the bureaucratic interests of "Hinamizawa Syndrome" research. Takano was also introduced to Tomitake-san during this time. In another flashback, a young Takano questions why she is suffering so much and questions god as well as her own life. The flashback ends and Takano wakes up, apparently dreaming this entire time. Takano looks over Hinamizawa and proclaims that her actions will be a continuation of her and her grandfather's legacy. | |||
| 42 | 15 | "Festival Music Chapter Two – Wriggling" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Ni – Ugomeki" (祭囃し編 其の弐 蠢き) | October 15, 2007 |
| Takano's story continues, revealing that Takano managed to contact Dr. Hifuri Takano at a phone booth while escaping from the orphanage, pleading for help before the call ran out of time. Takano was recaptured and returned to the orphanage, but she was soon taken in by Dr. Takano who had looked into her plea. During her time at Dr. Takano's residence, Takano became an assistant for organizing his research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome in preparation for a presentation among peers of a colleague of Dr. Takano's, Koizumi. Dr. Takano's research is rejected and even mocked by the intellectuals during the presentation, fueling young Takano's determination to continue his research and make her grandfather a "god". Takano later graduated with high honors and joined an intellectual society which could financially support her research. A few years later, Takano visits the Oyashiro-sama shrine where she is confronted by Hanyuu, who is determined to challenge the fate of Hinamizawa against the will of Takano's research. | |||
| 43 | 16 | "Festival Music Chapter Three – The Beginning of the End" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono San – Owari no Hajimari" (祭囃し編 其の参 終わりの始まり) | October 22, 2007 |
| The events of the dam incident are shown, including when the Houjou family first antagonized themselves against the Sonozaki family and Hinamizawa residents. It is revealed that the dam construction manager was murdered and dismembered by his own construction workers when he (the manager) caught the men drinking after work and went on a rampage. Meanwhile, Takano and Dr. Irie had been researching the Hinamizawa Syndrome at the institute, but they needed a live specimen to prove the linkage between a parasite and the onset of the syndrome. They eventually utilized one of the construction workers (who had succumbed to a state of psychosis) responsible for the murder of the construction manager as a live specimen. In another flashback, Satoshi talks with Dr. Irie regarding how he wants Satoko to stay at the clinic longer so that Satoko won't fight with her aunt at home, simultaneously lifting a burden off of himself. During all these events, Hanyuu feels helpless and apologetic, but years later Hanyuu and Rika eagerly await the arrival of the one person who will be the key to bringing an end to the enemy's intentions. | |||
| 44 | 17 | "Festival Music Chapter Four – Strategy" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Yon – Bōryaku" (祭囃し編 其の四 謀略) | October 29, 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, since Rika's status as a "Queen Carrier" and its suppression of the syndrome allows possible drugs to be derived from her blood. Takano prepares a plan to cover up the gassing of Hinamizawa residents as a "natural disaster". Meanwhile Ooishi investigates the deaths of Satoko's parents and implies to Dr. Irie that Satoko herself was responsible for their deaths, a consequence of a strained relationship between her and her parents. While Rika was at Irie Institution, Rika's parents objected to the continued use of Rika as a subject, and thus Takano utilized Oyashiro-sama's curse to cover up her murder of Rika's parents that year. Eventually the Irie Institution faces closure since treatments had been developed by Dr. Irie to combat the syndrome, despite Takano's wishes to continue research for the sake of her late grandfather. Takano is soon met by a woman who claims that she can help Takano attain her personal goals. | |||
| 45 | 18 | "Festival Music Chapter Five – The Final Piece" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Go – Saigo no Koma" (祭囃し編 其の伍 最後の駒) | November 5, 2007 |
| Ichirou Maebara is seen overlooking an open plot of land in Hinamizawa in preparation of moving his family into the village, meeting Rika and Hanyuu along the way. Rena's family is also shown moving back into the village, and Rena's mother leaves her and her father behind. Satoshi exhibits stress and concern over Satoko's well-being, and had worked for a while to buy Satoko a giant teddy bear. However, Satoshi succumbs to the Hinamizawa Syndrome as he becomes psychotic over his aunt's death. Satoshi is henceforth taken in for experimentation, seen outwardly as his "disappearance". Meanwhile Mion talks with her grandmother Oryou about the new people in the village. Oryou refers to the newcomers as a "refreshing" presence that she can use as an opportunity to bury the hatchet over old conflicts in the village. Keiichi soon enters the Hinamizawa school as Rika and Hanyuu look on, proclaiming that all the pieces have come together for the impending struggle against destiny. | |||
| 46 | 19 | "Festival Music Chapter Six – Opening" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Roku – Makuake" (祭囃し編 其の六 幕開け) | November 12, 2007 |
| Hanyuu is introduced into the world as a transfer student to the Hinamizawa school. One day Hanyuu recalls Takano's face when she meets her face-to-face, and recalls that Takano and the Yamainu are the culprits behind the eventual downfall of Hinamizawa. Hanyuu tells this to Rika, who has seemingly lost her memories from Minagoroshi-hen. Hanyuu also discloses her own backstory as a former god of the local land. Akasaka-san returns to Hinamizawa to investigate Rika's clairvoyance and her connection to Oyashiro-sama's curse, and recruits Ooishi along the way. Dr. Irie discloses "Emergency Manual #34" to Rika, which states that the sudden death of the "Queen Carrier" (Rika) will lead to the gassing of Hinamizawa citizens before they can quickly succumb to the symptoms of Hinamizawa Syndrome en masse. Rika tries to decode the reason why Takano would try to kill her, and recruits the help of her friends by analogizing her situation to the plot of a manga she is writing. Mion suggests that opposing factions of a secret society may be contending for power. Meanwhile Takagi, the woman who promised to help Takano, tells Takano that a new research facility will be headed by her (Takano), and reveals her plan to defeat Koizumi's faction in Tokyo. | |||
| 47 | 20 | "Festival Music Chapter Seven – Trap" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Nana – Torappu" (祭囃し編 其の七 トラップ) | November 19, 2007 |
| Rika, along with Ooishi and Akasaka-san, present Takano as the culprit to Dr. Irie and Tomitake-san, and eventually enlists the help of Tomitake-san to gather incriminating evidence in the shadows. Rika also asserts to Ooishi that the Sonozaki family is not behind the annual murder mysteries. Rika later reveals to her friends the truth of her intended murder, and Rika and her friends manage to boost each other's morale to confront Takano's willpower together. Rika ponders that her experiences in past worlds were not useless after all, as it seems her friends have inherently learned from their past mistakes. Keiichi and Satoko devise a plan to fake Rika's death as an effort to debunk the validity of "Emergency Manual #34" (Takano's plan to kill Rika). Meanwhile Dr. Irie is still skeptical of Takano's intentions, but his suspicions are confirmed when he visits Akasaka-san, who is stationed at Rika's house to appear as if Rika and Satoko are in the residence (Rika and Satoko hide at the Sonozaki residence in the meantime). Rika and her friends attempt to enlist the help of Ooishi to make a police announcement of Rika's death, but Ooishi is hesitant at first. Meanwhile Tomitake-san learns of Takano's connection with Koizumi-san, and her monetary connections with the Yamainu as a result. Dr. Irie and Ooishi are surprised to learn that many of the village elders have laid down past conflicts and now preach peace with the Houjou family. Ooishi enlists the help of his friends to carry out Rika's feigned death. | |||
| 48 | 21 | "Festival Music Chapter Eight – 48 Hours" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Hachi – Yonjū-hachi Jikan" (祭囃し編 其の八 48時間) | November 26, 2007 |
| Takano, oblivious of Tomitake-san and Dr. Irie's betrayals, continues on with her plan. Ooishi confirms with Rika and her friends that the local precinct is on board with the announcement of Rika's death, set to be announced at dawn. The grand plan is named "Operation 48 Hours". Early the next morning the announcement is made, and Takano and the Yamainu are sent into a scramble over the validity of the report. Meanwhile Ooishi and his associates deal with an organizational spy, Ootaka, over the phone, who plans to come and investigate Rika's announced death. The Yamainu led by Okonogi-san eventually realize that they are being attacked by an organized plan. The Yamainu attempt to track down Tomitake-san, who they eventually trace as a source of calls with the Investigation Bureau, to prevent a leakage of the operation. Ootaka arrives at the precinct, claiming to have the backing of Councilor Sonozaki, but Councilor Sonozaki himself is on-site and dispels such a claim. Meanwhile Takano tries to make sense of Rika's supposed death, becoming suspicious of Dr. Irie, and the Yamainu close in on Tomitake-san. | |||
| 49 | 22 | "Festival Music Chapter Nine – Offense and Defense" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Kyū – Koubou" (祭囃し編 其の九 攻防) | December 3, 2007 |
| Tomitake is captured and brought to the clinic. Irie sees this and warns Akasaka-san (hiding in Rika's house) by calling him, and Irie rushes to escape by car. The Yamainu follow Irie and he crashes down an embankment, but he ends up meeting Shion and her bodyguard, Kasai, on their way to the Sonozaki estate. By accepting their help, he ends up unintentionally revealing Rika's hideout to the Yamainu by a transmitter hidden in his lab coat. As Yamainu arrive at the estate, Rika and her friends attempt to escape down the secret tunnel while Shion and Kasai fight the intruders. They pretend to be unconscious so the others will have a chance to strike back. The Yamainu threaten to drop Shion down the tunnel if Rika does not surrender herself. Rika who, by Hanyuu, realizes how to make a miracle, surrenders herself in exchange for her friends' safety. As Okonogi is about to break the deal, she is saved by Akasaka-san, who had escaped and dressed as a Yamainu guard. Akasaka-san beats the Yamainu into a retreat. Rika and everyone else plan to strike back. In the midst of the formation of their counterattack, it is revealed to Shion by Irie that Satoshi is still alive at the clinic. | |||
| 50 | 23 | "Festival Music Chapter Ten – Bloody Battle" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Jū – Kessen" (祭囃し編 其の拾 血戦) | December 10, 2007 |
| Takano interrogates Tomitake-san at the clinic, but is informed of Rika's whereabouts and takes command of the Yamainu to capture her and her friends. The Yamainu move out en masse to the mountains around the Sonozaki estate where Rika and company are located, but various traps have been set around the mountainside. Meanwhile Shion, Irie, Akasaka-san, and Kasai infiltrate the underground clinic to rescue Tomitake-san. Kasai subdues the Yamainu guards and disarms the alarm. Shion rushes to Satoshi's experimental cell with the aid of Irie, but Satoshi is revealed to be in a comatose-like state. Despite his terminal condition, Irie vows to continue his research to eventually return Satoshi back to normal. Irie tells Shion to keep Satoshi's condition a secret from Satoko until then. Shion, Irie, Akasaka-san, and Kasai plot to escape Hinamizawa by force since communications between the village and outside world have been cut. Back on the mountainside, many Yamainu fall prey to traps set by Satoko, Rena, and Keiichi. The remaining Yamainu are sent into a state of disarray when they hear a god-like voice over their radios apparently torturing other Yamainu, revealed to be the impersonating voices of Hanyuu and Keiichi, respectively. Takano approaches a defeated Okonogi and attempts to rally the Yamainu over the radio. Okonogi is informed that the clinic had been infiltrated, and Akasaka-san is shown driving a van toward a blockade as nearby Yamainu prepare to fire. | |||
| 51 | 24 | "Festival Music Chapter Eleven – End" "Matsuribayashi-hen Sono Jūichi – Oshimai" (祭囃し編 其の拾壱 オシマイ) | December 17, 2007 |
| Akasaka and Tomitake break through the road blockade and make it to the city, where they call for the activation of the Benken combat unit to arrest Takano and remaining Yamainu. 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. The Banken come to arrest her. Tomitake pities her when he sees she had been infected with the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and takes her into the Irie Clinic for treatment. Rika and her friends Hanyu, Keiichi, Rena, Satoko, Mion, and Shion, attend the festival. After the credits, Frederica Bernkastel (the aggregate consciousness of all the incarnations of Rika across the "restarts") manages to change Takano's destiny by preventing the death of her parents, thereby giving Takano a happy ending as well. | |||
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei (2009)
| No. | No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 52 | 1 | "Embarrassment Chapter" "Hajisarashi-hen" (羞晒し編) | February 25, 2009 |
| When he realizes he forgot to pack his bathing suit while rushing to meet his friends at the pool, Keiichi borrows a pair of trunks from Mion's uncle, who claims that these trunks have the magical ability to make women attracted to whoever writes their name on them and wears them for three hours. Mion hears from her uncle that he had made a mistake in describing the abilities of the trunks, and that the person whose name is written on the briefs will fall in love with the wearer, meaning Keiichi, who had written his own name on them, will fall in love with himself. The girls try to talk him into taking the trunks off. Keiichi thinks it's a trick so they can force him to wear an embarrassing pair of trunks they provided. The girls rally everyone at the pool to chase him down and retrieve the trunks by force, even going as far as turning Keiichi's only supporters (Tomitake, Oishi, and Irie) against each other to fight over wearing the trunks for themselves. Finally, the trunks are removed before time runs out. The naked Keiichi still refuses to wear the girls' embarrassing trunks. | |||
| 53 | 2 | "Dice Killing Chapter One" "Saikoroshi-hen Sono Ichi" (賽殺し編 其の壱) | March 25, 2009 |
| Now that she and her friends are finally free from the eternally repeating tragedies of June 1983, Rika has a new lease on life. While biking with her friends, Rika carelessly collides with an oncoming truck and is apparently killed; when she awakens, she finds herself in another Hinamizawa. However, this world is quite different from other worlds in the past: Keiichi, Takano, Irie, and Hanyuu are nowhere to be found; she is no longer close friends with anybody. Satoko is particularly hostile. The dam project that threatens to flood the town is still underway and none of the successive tragedies she witnessed countless times happened at all, meaning Satoshi and her own parents are still around. For the first time in the story, Rika has no idea what to do. | |||
| 54 | 3 | "Dice Killing Chapter Two" "Saikoroshi-hen Sono Ni" (賽殺し編 其の弐) | May 22, 2009 |
| Rika makes contact with Hanyuu, who tells her that for her to return to her old world, she must find and dispose of a piece from her old world that prevents Hanyuu from entering this new world. This is what prevents Rika from reincarnating. If this piece turns out to be a person, for instance, she must kill that person. She is initially eager to find the item and return to her old world, especially when she responds to Satoko's bullying by assaulting her. Shortly afterward, Rika experiences what life with a mother is like, and begins building a new friendship with Mion, Rena, and Satoshi, as well as making peace with Satoko. Rika now feels it's all a matter of deciding which world she would rather like to stay in until she learns that her mother, who is revealed to be the reincarnation of Oyashiro, not Rika, is the item she must dispose of. | |||
| 55 | 4 | "Dice Killing Chapter Three" "Saikoroshi-hen Sono San" (賽殺し編 其の参) | June 16, 2009 |
| Rika becomes torn between remaining in this new world that knows no sin and where everyone is living contently, or killing her mother and returning to her old world. She learns that she does not have much time to act. Rika decides to fight for what she wants to live for. The next thing she knows, she awakens from a coma in her old world and happily reunites with her friends, the other world having apparently been a dream. Rika concludes she must have killed her mother to regain consciousness. Unbeknownst to her, the dream was developed by Hanyuu to teach Rika that people need to work past personal hardships in order to make life worth living. | |||
| 56 | 5 | "Daybreak Chapter" "Hirukowashi-hen" (昼壊し編) | August 21, 2009 |
| During a picnic with Keiichi, Rena accidentally swallows one of the mysterious "Fuwazaru Magatama" which falls from the sky, and begins acting lovesick. Rika explains that the seal on the magatama has been broken, and that whoever possesses the red magatama will fall blindly in love with anyone holding its white counterpart. Everyone reasons that Rena must have swallowed the red magatama and sets out to stop her and find the white magatama. It winds up in the possession of Tomitake, then Takano, and finally Oishi, each of whom gradually come to accept her love under the magatama's curse. Keiichi manages to obtain the magatama after beating Rena and Oishi with Akasaka in a game of mahjong. Oishi fumbles it and Keiichi ends up accidentally swallowing it as well. Rika lifts the curse before Keiichi can fall under its power, and Rena returns to normal. Rena, who is grateful to Keiichi for helping her, expresses her feelings toward him, though she isn't sure if it's part of the magatama's power. Tomitake and Takano still appear to be infatuated with Rena and fight over who gets to keep her. | |||
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira (2011–2012)
| No. | No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 57 | 1 | "Penalty Loving Chapter" "Batsukoishi-hen" (罰恋し編) | July 21, 2011 |
| Keiichi, Tomitake, Irie, and Oishi speculate over punishment games for the girls in Himanizawa after Keiichi's recent string of losses in the games. Keiichi eventually falls asleep, waking up to the girls speculating punishment games for him. He blacks out again, waking up in the clinic, infected with the 'true' Himinizawa syndrome, along with Takano. The girls try to 'save' him, almost ending up killing him after killing Takano. Keiichi blacks out again, waking up to the same situation as before, as Tomitake, Irie, and Oishi infect him with the true Himinizawa syndrome again in a parody of the original series. | |||
| 58 | 2 | "Demon Battling Chapter" "Ayakashisenshi-hen" (妖戦し編) | September 22, 2011 |
| Rika wakes up in an parallel world where she is a magical girl known as Rika Oyashiro. She and Satoko (who becomes another magical girl, Trap Satoko) must fight against the four evil generals of the secret magic society Tokyo Magika (Teppei, Takano, Okanogi, and Takagi) to save their friends and the people of Hinamizawa from a number of demonic ritual tools and a strange fog that causes individuals to become hostile towards those unaffected. | |||
| 59 | 3 | "Affinity Chapter" "Musubienishi-hen" (結縁し編) | November 23, 2011 |
| A love rectangle between Keiichi, Mion, Shion, and Rena ensues, with the girls competing for Keiichi's affection through numerous methods. They decide on using a game of chance to pick who Keiichi will go on a date with, but he accidentally picks Mion and Shion's grandmother. | |||
| 60 | 4 | "Dream Appearing Chapter" "Yumeutsushi-hen" (夢現し編) | January 25, 2012 |
| A young Rika and Hanyu play a game of hide and seek that results in little Rika being thrown into a time paradox, where she finds herself sent into the future Hinamizawa everyone fought for prior to Kira. Hanyu, while out for a walk, finds the scared Rika and offers to help her. Thinking back, she remembers a time when Rika disappeared while playing a game with her. With the help of the rest of the gang, they find a way to send little Rika back to where she belongs. Hanyu is reluctant at first, thinking back at how much suffering Rika has been through. Little Rika tells Hanyu she wants to go back and does so. The episode concludes with Rika and Hanyu running to catch up with their friends after sending little Rika back. | |||
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak (2013)
| No. | No. | Title | Original airdate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61/62 | 1/2 | "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak" "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Autobureiku" (ひぐらしのなく頃に拡 〜アウトブレイク〜) | August 15, 2013 |
| An unknown virus has spread in Himanizawa and in wide regions around it. Officials suspect it to be Oyashiro's curse and force quarantine around these regions. While looking for Rika to announce to the officials that she is safe and that it isn't the curse, her friends find her to be infected with the unknown virus. When security forces cut off food and water from the village the situation gets tense, as locals put the blame on outsiders like Maebara, Rena and their families and try to kill them. Though, at the end Rika is left behind, but the rest promise that they will come back for her. | |||
References
- General
- "Official website listing of TV episodes from When They Cry" (in Japanese). Studio Deen. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- "Official website listing of TV episodes from When They Cry: Kai" (in Japanese). Studio Deen. Retrieved 2007-07-10.
- "Official website listing of OVA episodes from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei" (in Japanese). Studio Deen. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- "Official website listing of OVA episodes from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira" (in Japanese). Studio Deen. Retrieved 2011-12-13.
- "Official website from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku" (in Japanese). Studio Deen. Retrieved 2013-04-29.
- Specific
- ↑ "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku ~Outbreak~ Trailer Posted". Anime News Network. March 5, 2013. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ↑ "When They Cry". FUNimation Productions. Archived from the original on December 16, 2010. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
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