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Higurashi: When They Cry

TV·2006–2007·2 seasons, 50 episodes·Kansai TV·Animation, Drama, Mystery·24m·7.7

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After moving into the quiet town of Hinamizawa, Maebara Keiichi spends his days blissfully in school often playing games with his local friends. However, appearances can be deceiving. One fateful day, Keiichi stumbles upon news of a murder that had occurred in Hinamizawa. From this point on, horrific events unfold in front of Keiichi, as he soon learns his close friends may not be all that they seem.

Highest-rated episodes all ranked

  1. 01Higurashi: When They Cry S02E10The Massacre Chapter - Part 5 - ConfrontationS02E10 · 9.5Keiichi's struggle to help Satoko forces him to confront the village elders, even the leader of the Sonozaki family. As the government succumbs to the pressure of Keiichi and his allies', Satoko's condition is also at its limit.
  2. 02Higurashi: When They Cry S02E11The Massacre Chapter - Part 6 - A Strong WillS02E11 · 9.5At last, Rika persuades Satoko to ask for help and she is freed from Teppei. However, just when the village seemed to be relieved from its eternal cycle of hatred and death, the real enemies start to act, just like they did in previous worlds.
  3. 03Higurashi: When They Cry S02E13The Massacre Chapter - Part 8 - FinaleS02E13 · 9.5One after another, Rika's friends are killed while trying to protect her. Takano dissects Rika, but does so without anesthesia, as requested by the latter in an attempt to carve the identity of the culprit behind all the Hinamizawa murders in her mind and prevent the events from this and past worlds from repeating themselves. The villagers are rounded up at the school and gassed to death, while an ecstatic Takano proclaims her ascension to godhood.

Cast

Soichiro HoshiSoichiro HoshiKeiichi Maebara (voice)Mai NakaharaMai NakaharaRena Ryuuguu (voice)Satsuki YukinoSatsuki YukinoMion Sonozaki / Shion Sonozaki (voice)Mika KanaiMika KanaiSatoko Houjou (voice)Yukari TamuraYukari TamuraRika Furude (voice)Yui HorieYui HorieHanyu (voice)

Episodes by season

Season01Episode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode26Episodes2006Aired 6.3Season avg
  1. S01E01Higurashi: When They Cry S01E01The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 1 - The BeginningApril 5, 2006 6.7Keiichi Maebara, a student who recently moved into the village of Hinamizawa, is invited by his new friends at school to join their club. Bu
  2. S01E02Higurashi: When They Cry S01E02Season's bestThe Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 2 - SecretApril 12, 2006 8.5The annual Watanagashi Festival finally starts, and everyone has fun feasting and playing games. However, in the following day, Keiichi is i
  3. S01E03Higurashi: When They Cry S01E03The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 3 - SuspicionApril 19, 2006 8.5Delving further into the mysteries surrounding the village, Keiichi's paranoia grows after he starts to suspect that someone might be after
  4. S01E04Higurashi: When They Cry S01E04The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 4 - DistortionApril 26, 2006 8.0Keiichi's despair reaches its peak. After being captured and sedated, he wakes up restrained by Mion and Rena, and they attempt to inject hi
  5. S01E05Higurashi: When They Cry S01E05The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 1 - JealousyMay 3, 2006 4.0Keiichi meets Mion's twin sister, Shion; the two are so identical that Keiichi can hardly tell the difference between them. It is also revea
  6. S01E06Higurashi: When They Cry S01E06The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 2 - TakanoMay 10, 2006 4.0During Rika's ritual performance at the Watanagashi Festival, Shion whisks Keiichi away to sneak into the forbidden shrine warehouse, where
  7. S01E07Higurashi: When They Cry S01E07The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 3 - LieMay 17, 2006 5.0Keiichi asks Rika for help, but when she and Satoko disappear, he starts fearing for the worse.
  8. S01E08Higurashi: When They Cry S01E08The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 4 - WishMay 24, 2006 6.0Keiichi and Rena suspect that Mion might be related to Rika and Satoko's disappearance, and confront her at her house. There, he learns from
  9. S01E09Higurashi: When They Cry S01E09The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 1 - Elder BrotherMay 31, 2006 6.0Keiichi's parents leave for Tokyo for a few days. Helped by Satoko and Rika, who makes dinner for him, Keiichi learns about Satoshi, Satoko'
  10. S01E10Higurashi: When They Cry S01E10The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 2 - BondJune 7, 2006 6.0Satoko is absent from school for a few days. After discovering that the cause of her absence is Teppei, her abusive uncle, who left Hinamiza
  11. S01E11Higurashi: When They Cry S01E11The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 3 - BoundaryJune 14, 2006 6.0Keiichi comes to the resolution that he must kill Teppei. After brutally beating him to death with Satoshi's baseball bat, he buries the bod
  12. S01E12Higurashi: When They Cry S01E12The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 4 - Something LostJune 21, 2006 6.0Keiichi's mentality is shaken when his friends tells him that he was actually at the Watanagashi Festival with them and Satoko still bemoans
  13. S01E13Higurashi: When They Cry S01E13The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 5 - ApologyJune 28, 2006 6.0Keiichi goes over to the Houjou residence to ascertain Teppei's existence and finds Satoko in need of clinical help. At the Furude Shrine, K
  14. S01E14Higurashi: When They Cry S01E14The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 1 - HinamizawaJuly 5, 2006 4.0Four years ago, during the dam incident, young police investigator Mamoru Akasaka comes to Hinamizawa to find leads to a child kidnapping. A
  15. S01E15Higurashi: When They Cry S01E15The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 2 - OmenJuly 12, 2006 6.0Akasaka and Oishi find the kidnappers' hideout and rescue the boy. After discovering that their efforts were in vain because the perpetrator
  16. S01E16Higurashi: When They Cry S01E16The Detective Chapter - Part 1 - First LoveJuly 19, 2006 7.0The events from Watanagashi-hen are retold from another point of view. Shion takes Mion's place in Hinamizawa and is lovestruck by Satoko's
  17. S01E17Higurashi: When They Cry S01E17The Detective Chapter - Part 2 - DistinctionJuly 26, 2006 7.0Satoshi apologizes to Shion (still pretending to be Mion), and asks her to care for Satoko during the Watanagashi Festival. That night, his
  18. S01E18Higurashi: When They Cry S01E18The Detective Chapter - Part 3 - Demon's BloodAugust 2, 2006 7.0Upon talking with Ōishi, Shion finds out Satoshi has gone missing and decides to investigate further into the mysterious murders over the pa
  19. S01E19Higurashi: When They Cry S01E19The Detective Chapter - Part 4 - RetaliationAugust 9, 2006 7.0Shion believes the Sonozaki family is connected to the acts of "demoning away" people in the village, especially that of Satoshi. She impris
  20. S01E20Higurashi: When They Cry S01E20The Detective Chapter - Part 5 - Cold HandsAugust 16, 2006 6.0Shion has captured the village head and gets information about the town involving the previous murders and Satoshi. Later, Shion confronts R
  21. S01E21Higurashi: When They Cry S01E21The Detective Chapter - Part 6 - ConvictionAugust 23, 2006 7.5Shion tricks Keiichi in a phone call and later tricks the townsfolk in order to make Keiichi a murder suspect, however she quickly realizes
  22. S01E22Higurashi: When They Cry S01E22The Atonement Chapter - Part 1 - HappinessAugust 30, 2006 6.0Rena discover the true character of her father's girlfriend and grows a deep hatred for her.
  23. S01E23Higurashi: When They Cry S01E23The Atonement Chapter - Part 2 - A Place to Return toSeptember 6, 2006 6.0Rena disposes of Rina and her lover Teppei, after discovering their plan to con her father. Discovered by her friends, she ends up getting s
  24. S01E24Higurashi: When They Cry S01E24The Atonement Chapter - Part 3 - File No. 34September 13, 2006 6.0While studying Takano's scrapbooks, Rena starts to unveil the the truth behind Oyashiro-sama and Hinamizawa's dark past.
  25. S01E25Higurashi: When They Cry S01E25The Atonement Chapter - Part 4 - Earth InvasionSeptember 20, 2006 6.0Keiichi tries to dissuade Rena, but is confronted by her with his own dark secrets. After confessing his past sin to his friends, he finds t
  26. S01E26Higurashi: When They Cry S01E26The Atonement Chapter - Part 5 - RetakeSeptember 27, 2006 7.0Rena's madness reaches the peak to the point of taking all the school children hostage. With the police's help and working together with the

Season 1 ranked & reviewed

Season02Best seasonEpisode ratings across the season — the gold bar is its best episode24Episodes2007Aired 8.6Season avg
  1. S02E01Higurashi: When They Cry S02E01ReunionJuly 6, 2007 9.0Mamoru Akasaka, with an assistant, visits the abandoned town of Hinamizawa in the year 2007, and meets with Officer Oishi. They still wonder
  2. S02E02Higurashi: When They Cry S02E02The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 1 - TagJuly 13, 2007 8.0Back in June 1983, the club participates in a game of "zombie tag". On their way home, they run into Irie, Tomitake, and Takano, who tell Ke
  3. S02E03Higurashi: When They Cry S02E03The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 2 - PowerlessnessJuly 20, 2007 8.0Satoko worries about Rika's depression and tries to confront her about it, but Rika continues to deny anything is wrong. In the middle of th
  4. S02E04Higurashi: When They Cry S02E04The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 3 - Pre-established HarmonyJuly 27, 2007 8.0The day of the Watanagashi Festival comes, and once again Rika fails to warn Tomitake of his imminent death. Later, Satoko is convinced that
  5. S02E05Higurashi: When They Cry S02E05The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 4 - The Great Hinamizawa DisasterAugust 3, 2007 8.0Much to Satoko's surprise, Rika hides her before letting her murderers take her away. After witnessing Rika's demise and the death of the re
  6. S02E06Higurashi: When They Cry S02E06The Massacre Chapter - Part 1 - Law of the LabyrinthAugust 10, 2007 9.0Rika begins a new world with Hanyū, but is getting tired of seeing her friends commit the same acts that lead them to terrible mistakes, unt
  7. S02E07Higurashi: When They Cry S02E07The Massacre Chapter - Part 2 - How to Change DestinyAugust 17, 2007 9.0Influenced by Keiichi's encouragement, and the fact her friends are starting to avoid doing the same mistakes again by remembering glimpses
  8. S02E08Higurashi: When They Cry S02E08The Massacre Chapter - Part 3 - FluctuationAugust 24, 2007 9.0Rika's plans are hindered by the appearance of Teppei, who much like in "Tatarigoroshi-hen", begins to abuse Satoko. Keiichi and the rest of
  9. S02E09Higurashi: When They Cry S02E09The Massacre Chapter - Part 4 - NegotiationAugust 31, 2007 8.0The fight to save Satoko from her uncle's abuse continues, but they stumble on a dead end because she is reluctant to denounce him, for her
  10. S02E10Higurashi: When They Cry S02E10Season's bestThe Massacre Chapter - Part 5 - ConfrontationSeptember 7, 2007 9.5Keiichi's struggle to help Satoko forces him to confront the village elders, even the leader of the Sonozaki family. As the government succu
  11. S02E11Higurashi: When They Cry S02E11The Massacre Chapter - Part 6 - A Strong WillSeptember 14, 2007 9.5At last, Rika persuades Satoko to ask for help and she is freed from Teppei. However, just when the village seemed to be relieved from its e
  12. S02E12Higurashi: When They Cry S02E12The Massacre Chapter - Part 7 - Hinamizawa SyndromeSeptember 21, 2007 8.0After getting a clue of the villain's betrayal, Rika tells her friends the truth behind the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and her connection with it.
  13. S02E13Higurashi: When They Cry S02E13The Massacre Chapter - Part 8 - FinaleSeptember 28, 2007 9.5One after another, Rika's friends are killed while trying to protect her. Takano dissects Rika, but does so without anesthesia, as requested
  14. S02E14Higurashi: When They Cry S02E14The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 1 - MiyoOctober 5, 2007 8.0Takano's past is revealed in disjointed flashbacks, some of them showing her harsh childhood, while others to the time when she became invol
  15. S02E15Higurashi: When They Cry S02E15The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 2 - WrigglingOctober 16, 2007 8.0Takano's story continues, including how she met her foster grandfather, and her determination to continue his work. A few years later, Takan
  16. S02E16Higurashi: When They Cry S02E16The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 3 - The Beginning of the EndOctober 23, 2007 8.0Hanyū watches silently and hopelessly as the cruel events occur during the dam incident, while she and Rika eagerly await the arrival of the
  17. S02E17Higurashi: When They Cry S02E17The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 4 - StrategyOctober 30, 2007 9.0In order to save Satoko, who is terminally infected with the Hinamizawa Syndrome, Rika offers herself as a test subject for Irie and Takano'
  18. S02E18Higurashi: When They Cry S02E18The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 5 - The Final PieceNovember 6, 2007 9.0More details about Satoshi's past are revealed, including the reason for his disappearance. Rika and Hanyū make their final preparations for
  19. S02E19Higurashi: When They Cry S02E19The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 6 - OpeningNovember 13, 2007 8.0Hanyū is physically introduced into the world as a transfer student to the Hinamizawa school, but forgets her role. After a brief meeting wi
  20. S02E20Higurashi: When They Cry S02E20The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 7 - TrapNovember 20, 2007 9.0Rika gather her allies and start to make plans, while obtaining more information about the enemy and those supporting their ambitions.
  21. S02E21Higurashi: When They Cry S02E21The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 8 - 48 HoursNovember 27, 2007 9.0False information regarding Rika is spread by Oishi's group at the precinct, leaving the villain's crew in disarray, and racing against time
  22. S02E22Higurashi: When They Cry S02E22The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 9 - Offense and DefenseDecember 4, 2007 8.0Finding that Tomitake is captured, Irie rushes to escape and ends up meeting with Shion and her bodyguard, Kasai, on their way to the Sonoza
  23. S02E23Higurashi: When They Cry S02E23The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 10 - Bloody BattleDecember 11, 2007 8.0Irie, Kasai, and Shion head to the clinic to rescue Tomitake. Irie finally unveils to Shion where Satoshi disappeared to and the others deal
  24. S02E24Higurashi: When They Cry S02E24The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 11 - EndDecember 18, 2007 9.5The rest of the Yamainu concede defeat, but Takano is unwilling to surrender. After learning Nomura in Tokyo planned to use her as a scapego

Season 2 ranked & reviewed

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