While its heyday has passed somewhat, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni captivated the anime community for a time by being incredibly bizarre, featuring non-linear storytelling that required a fair bit of puzzling together, and also by being shockingly brutal to its very moe characters.
While originally based on a series of visual novels, Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni has now become a story that you can experience in many forms, but are those forms all giving you the full story?
Alternative Titles:
- Higurashi: When They Cry
- When Cicadas Cry
- ひぐらしのなく頃に
Year Anime Premiered: 2006
Animation Studio: Studio Deen
Number of Seasons: 4 + 10 OVAs
Source Material Country of Origin: Japan
Source Material Available: Visual Novel, Manga
Is It Officially Licensed Past Where The Anime Ends?: Yes
Is It Fan Translated Past Where The Anime Ends?: Yes
Entry Last Updated: November 26th, 2024
Is the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Anime Like The Visual Novel?
If you watch the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni anime long enough, the story starts to come together and it makes sense by the end. A key element of the story is actually how the story is told non-linearly since time looping starts to come into play.
That said, if you don’t know the original story from the games, you won’t necessary care, or even sometimes notice, the holes that the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni anime left open in the story. So while Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is actually adapting the visual novel story pretty well, comparatively to so many awful visual novel anime adaptations, the Higurashi anime isn’t a perfect anime adaptation either.
Please note that the confusing storytelling of the Higurashi anime is by design, and the visual novel and manga will tell it the same, non-linear sort of way. While you could watch/read the arcs chronologically, it is not recommended for someone enjoying the series for the first time.
Exploring Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni in Various Mediums
The nice thing about Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is that you can really experience the story in visual novel, manga, and anime forms. In terms of quality of the story, the visual novels reign supreme, but the manga is considered better than the anime in the amount of details it includes.
If you wish to consume Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni in any form, really all you need to know is the name of the arcs and the order to watch/read them.
If you watched the anime and wanted to get into the visual novels, the order to play them is actually quite easy as they are all numbered by chapters.
The play order of the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni visual novel is as such:
- Ch.1 Onikakushi-hen (Abducted by Demons Arc)
- Ch.2 Watanagash-hen (Cotton Drifting Arc)
- Ch.3 Tatarigorosh-hen (Curse Killing Arc)
- Ch.4 Himatsubushi-hen (Time Killing Arc)
- Ch. 5 Meakashi (Eye Opening Arc)
- Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi (Atonement Arc)
- Ch. 7 Minagotoshi (Massacre Arc)
- Ch. 8 Matsuribayashi (Festival Accompanying Arc)
- Rei (Saikoroshi-hen, Batsukoishi-hen, Hirukowashi-hen)
- Hou (Hinamizawa Bus Stop, Outbreak, Kamikashimashi-hen, Mehagashi-hen)
For a more visual guide of overlap between the Higurashi visual novel, anime, and manga:
| Anime | Visual Novel | Manga |
|---|---|---|
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni 2006 | VN 1 Onikakushi-hen, VN 2 Watanagashi-hen, VN 3 Tatarigoroshi-hen, VN 4 Himatsubushi-hen, VN 5 Meakashi-hen, VN 6 Tsumihoroboshi-hen | Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, Tatarigoroshi-hen, Himatsubushi-hen, Meakashi-hen, Tsumihoroboshi-hen |
| Yoigoshi-hen – Side story manga about an alternate ending to Tsumihoroboshi-hen | ||
| Utsutsukowashi-hen – Prequel manga to Meakashi-hen following Shion at St. Lucia. Canceled after 3 chapters. | ||
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai | VN 7 Minagoroshi-hen, VN 8 Matsuribayashi-hen | Minagoroshi-hen, Matsuribayashi-hen |
| Kokoro Iyashi-hen – An epilogue following Matsuribayashi-hen about them recovering after everything on summer vacation. | ||
| Higurash no Naku Koro ni Rei | Saikoroshi-hen, Hirukowashi-hen, Hajisarashi-hen | Saikoroshi-hen, Hirukowashi-hen |
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kira | Batsukoishi-hen | Batsukoishi-hen |
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku: Outbreak | Outbreak | |
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gou | Gou (Onidamashi-hen, Watadamashi-hen, Tataridamashi-hen, Nekodamashi-hen) | |
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Sotsu | Meguri (Satokowashi-hen, Oniakashi-hen, Watakashi-hen, Tatariakashi-hen, Akarigurashi-hen) | |
| Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Oni – Prequel manga about Oryou set in 1923 | ||
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei (‘Rei’ as in ‘Reiwa’, Different from Rei VN/Anime) (Oniokoshi-hen, Hoshiwatashi-hen, Irotoushi-hen) – Takes place 35 years after the main story with new characters | ||
| Onisarashi-hen – Side story about a family falling apart after the Great Hinamizawa Disaster | ||
| Kataribanashi-hen – Fan-sumbitted stories that were compiled in a three light novels, then adapted to manga. | ||
| Hirukowashi-hen – Tied into the Higurashi Daybreak fighting game story and not really applicable to anything else. | ||
| Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Jan – Tsubamegaeshi-hen – Manga based on the Higurashi mahjong PSP game story. |
Please note that anything outside of the main 8 visual novel arcs is just “extra” to the characters and the world of Higurashi. Rei, Gou, and Sotsu are all worth watching/reading for what they add. Kira and Outbreak, less so.
What Are Gou and Sotsu?
After Chapter 8 of the visual novel, the main story of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni was complete. Everything after that is extra. You get more character moments and little tidbits that add clarity to the main story.
However, the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Gou anime and its sequel Sotsu do continue the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni main story in a fairly interesting way. Furthermore, by the end, you see both of these anime series tie the Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni universe more firmly to Higurashi’s sibling series, Umineko no Naku Koro Ni.
Gou and Sotsu are worth watching (or reading in manga form) if invested in the story, though they do not have visual novels.
How are Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Umineko no Naku Koro ni Connected?
Higurashi and Umineko are both visual novel series that were written by Ryukishi07. Higurashi was released first, and following its popularity, Umineko was released.
As they share a similar title, there are many who wonder how these two series are connected.
Umineko is not a sequel to Higurashi. It isn’t even set in the same world. However, both Higurashi and Umineko have supernatural aspects that transcend the physical world, and those are the real ties that these two series share.
Essentially, if you played the Higurashi visual novels, you will see tons of very small, very subtle hints hints about how it is connected to Umineko in the Umineko visual novels. However, if you played Umineko, since Higurashi was created first, you don’t get as many references to Higurashi and Umineko being connected UNLESS you watch the Higurashi Gou and Higurashi Sotsu anime.
Higurashi Gou and Higurashi Sotsu were anime-original sequels to the original Higurashi visual novel story oversaw by Ryukishi07. Those two series, particularly Sotsu, make more firm connections between Higurashi and Umineko.
