The new “Higurashi When They Cry” project was announced on Jan. 6, 2020, and filled the fans with surprise and joy.
However, many people were reminded of how they were affected by past works leading to behaviors that are now their “dark past”. Comments were posted on social media such as “I like Higurashi, but it reminds me of my dark past…” and “Higurashi… my dark past… (I was scolded for drawing a blood pool in the graduation yearbook in 6th grade)”.

“Higurashi When They Cry” is originally a horror mystery novel game by Ryukishi07/07th Expansion. The story is set in the early summer of Showa 58 (1983), a mysterious event happens in a isolated village, Hinamizawa-mura. The 1st season of the TV anime was aired in 2006 followed by a 2nd season, OVA, live-action film, TV series, etc.

The partly horrifying mysterious story with graphic and painful scenes attracted the attention of teenagers. It was quite appealing to the edgy taste of boys and girls in their adolescence.
The announcement of the new project brought surprise and joy to the fans along with their “dark past” affected by past works.

The social media was full of comments of fans looking back at their embarrassing actions such as; “I like Higurashi, but it reminds me of my dark past…”, “Higurashi… my dark past… (I was scolded for drawing a blood pool in the graduation yearbook in 6th grade)”, “I remember entering an essay contest as the school representative just to promote Higurashi.”, “The Higurashi series reminds me of the days me and my nerdy friends quoting lines from the show and sucked the oxygen out of the jocks.”

What kind of story will be woven into the new “Higurashi” project? What effects will it have on the new generation of anime fans who have never seen “Higurashi”? Let's keep our eyes on the long-prevailing anime!

(C)2020 Ryukishi07/Higurashi When They Cry
(C)2006 Ryukishi07/Higurashi When They Cry・Sotsu