Higurashi When They Cry - Gou

Alternate Title

ひぐらしのなく頃に業
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou

Synopsis

Keiichi Maebara moves from the bustling city to a remote village named Hinamizawa deep in the mountains. There, he makes new friends and lives an ordinary life. But when the annual Watanagashi Festival arrives, a series of tragedies begins...

Background

Higurashi When They Cry is a murder mystery visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that was first released in 2002. The original series spans eight games in total which were released in Japan between 2002 and 2006 and would later be released worldwide. Aside from the games, the series has been adapted into several other media including drama CDs, manga, light novels, live-action dramas, and anime.

The newest anime adaptation, Higurashi When They Cry - Gou, was announced in January 2020 by 07th Expansion and Kadokawa. It is being produced by Passione with Keiichiro Kawaguchi directing, Naoki Hayashi writing the script, Akio Watanabe designing the characters, and Kenji Kawai composing the music. The anime was originally planned to air beginning in July but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It premiered in Japan on Oct. 1 on TV Tokyo, BS11, and Sun TV. It will run for 24 episodes and is available to stream in North America through Funimation.

Characters

Keiichi Maebara (Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese); Grant George (English))
The protagonist of the series, Keiichi recently moved to Hinamizawa from the city and is living with his mother and father, who works as a painter. He is curious and enthusiastic and has a remarkable talent for rhetoric, which has earned him the nickname "Magician of Words.”

Rena Ryugu (Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (Japanese); Mela Lee (English))
Keiichi’s classmate and best friend, Rena has a devoted personality and walks to school together with Keiichi every morning. She loves cute things and has a habit of going into “Cute Mode” and wanting to take things home that she finds are cute.

Mion Sonozaki (Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (English))
Mion is Keiichi and Rena’s upperclassman and Shion’s identical twin sister. She is the leader of the after-school club and is well-liked by others. She acts like a tomboy and refers to herself as an oji-san, but hides a girly side underneath.

Satoko Hojo (Voiced by: Mika Kanai (Japanese); Jennie Kwan (English))
Satoko is Keiichi and Rena’s underclassman and Satoshi’s younger sister. She has a distinctive, refined way of talking and a boisterous laugh. She is highly competitive and has a cheeky side.

Rika Furude (Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese); Rebecca Forstadt (English))
Rika is the only heir of the local Furude Shrine. She is in the same grade as Satoko and lives together with her. In June of every year she plays the role of shrine maiden at the Watanagashi Festival. She has a mysterious atmosphere and calm demeanor and is able to calm those around her.

Shion Sonozaki (Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (Japanese); Megan Hollingshead (English))
Shion is Mion’s identical twin sister who lives in Okinomiya and works part-time as a waitress. Though the polar opposite of her sister in terms of personality, she often switches place with her sister and it can be difficult to tell them apart.

Jiro Tomitake (Voiced by: Toru Okawa (Japanese); Kyle Hebert (English))
Jiro is a freelance photographer who comes to Hinamizawa from Tokyo several times a year. He seems to specialize in bird photography, but it’s a mystery as to why he is interested in Hinamizawa.

Kuraudo Oishi (Voiced by: Chafurin (Japanese); John Snyder (English))
Kuraudo is a veteran detective who follows the series of mysterious deaths that occur in Hanamizawa every year. He is obsessed with solving the case before he retires.

Miyo Takano (Voiced by: Miki Ito (Japanese); Karen Strassman (English))
Miyo is a nurse at the local clinic who has a keen interest in Hinamizawa and is conducting her own research into its history. She seems to know Jiro.

Kyosuke Irie (Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (Japanese); Dave Mallow (English))
Kyosuke is the head doctor of the local clinic. He also coaches the local youth baseball team, Hinamizawa Fighters. He has a calm nature and is well-respected by others, even though he has a severe maid fetish.

Hanyu (Voiced by: Yui Horie)
Hanyu is a mysterious girl with horns growing from her head who wears a shrine maiden outfit.

Music

Opening Theme Song: "I Believe What You Said" by Asaka
Ending Theme Songs:

• "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" by Eiko Shimamiya
• "God Syndrome" by Ayane

International Streaming

Funimation

• Official Site (Japanese)
• Official Twitter (Japanese)

• Original Creator: Ryukishi07, 07th Expansion
• Director: Keiichiro Kawaguchi
• Assistant Director: Takashi Ikehata
• Series Composition: Naoki Hayashi
• Character Design: Akio Watanabe
• Art Director: Kazuhiro Inoue (Kusanagi)
• Background Art Supervision: Saho Yamane (Kusanagi)
• Color Design: Arisa Komatsu
• Director of Photography: Yuichiro Tozawa (Graphinica)
• Editing: Ayako Tan (Graphinica)
• Sound Director: Hiroto Morishita
• Sound Effects: Shota Yaso (Swara Pro)
• Music: Kenji Kawai
• Music Production: Frontier Works
• Producer: Infinite
• Animation Production: Passione