Higurashi: When They Cry - NEW

Keiichi Maebara moves to the quiet village of Hinamizawa and quickly fits in with the local girls at his new school. At first everything seems friendly and ordinary, with the town gearing up for its big annual festival. But small oddities pile up, and a slow-building unease takes hold as Keiichi notices inconsistencies in neighbors, old grudges resurfacing, and rumors that won’t die. The show follows his growing suspicion and the way normal days can shift into something dangerous, using repeated scenes and shifting perspectives to unsettle the viewer without revealing the deeper revelations that follow.

This 2020 anime adapts Ryukishi07’s original visual novel, with Naoki Hayashi credited among the creators. The cast includes Soichiro Hoshi, Mai Nakahara, Satsuki Yukino, Mika Kanai, and Yukari Tamura, bringing the characters’ voices to life.

Critics and fans have given the series mixed to positive reactions, reflected in a 7.408/10 average from 49 votes. Reviewers often point to its focus on paranoia, fractured memory, group dynamics, and how trauma repeats across versions of the same events. The pacing sometimes frustrates viewers, but the mood and mystery are consistent strengths.

Within anime horror circles the series is recognized for its looping narrative structure and eerie rural setting, elements that have kept discussions active online. Scenes of sudden shifts from everyday warmth to violence have become touchstones for fans debating which timeline or perspective is “true.”

The show didn’t claim major mainstream awards, but it reinforced the franchise’s reputation and earned attention from genre enthusiasts. It’s frequently discussed in forums and retrospectives, and it helped introduce new viewers to the larger Higurashi storyline.