Studio Deen, the animation studio behind the original 2006 television anime, is returning to produce the new anime. The lead cast from the previous anime installments are also reprising their roles.
Cast
Keiichi Maebara: Soichiro Hoshi (Mekakucity Actors)
Rena Ryuuguu: Mai Nakahara (Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita)
Mion Sonozaki: Satsuki Yukino (Babylon)
Shion Sonozaki: Satsuki Yukino (InuYasha)
Satoko Houjou: Mika Kanai (Choujigen Game Neptune The Animation)
Rika Furude: Yukari Tamura (Katanagatari)
The original anime series based on 07th Expansion’s visual novels aired in 26 episodes in Spring 2006. A 24-episode sequel titled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai premiered the following Summer, and the five-episode Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei original video anime (OVA) series debuted in 2009. The Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak OVA was released in 2013.
Passione produced the new Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou. It was scheduled to premiere in Fall 2020, featuring a new story based on the original source material. The 15-episode sequel, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu, premiered in Summer 2021.
Geneon Entertainment USA originally licensed the first anime series in North America and released it on six DVDs before going defunct in 2007. Funimation re-released it on DVD in 2009 and 2010. Sentai Filmworks reacquired the anime series in 2015 and shipped the first and second season, as well as the OVA on home video in 2016. The licensor also released a complete Blu-ray collection of all three installments in December 2017.
07th Expansion released the first chapter of the psychological horror visual novel, Onikakushi-hen (Demoned Away Chapter), in August 2002. The eighth and final chapter in the original series, Matsuribayashi-hen (Festival Accompanying Chapter), was published in August 2006. Three extra chapters were released in a fandisc in December that year. The latest installment in the franchise, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou (When They Cry: Gift), was released in August 2014, compiling all the visual novels from the series and including additional content.
MangaGamer released the original visual novel in English from 2009 to 2010. The publisher subsequently began releasing the updated Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Hou editions individually on PC via Steam and its official website in 2015, concluding the core eight chapters in May 2020. MangaGamer later released the Higurashi When They Cry Hou – Rei expansion in June 2022, followed by the definitive Higurashi When They Cry Hou+ remastered collection in November 2023.
Announcement
Official site: https://higurashianime.com/
Official X: @higu_anime
Source: Press Release
