Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
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Translated as 'When the Cicadas Cry', Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni is a murder mystery based on a dating sim. The anime repeats its timeline approximately every four episodes. Each arc contains details which explain previous arcs, but still results in a different ending. The games have both question and answer arcs. The anime does not have such specific correlations between arcs. The basic story revolves around a group of friends, four native girls and one boy who has just moved to the area, as they try to solve the mysterious murders that happen every year in the town.
Contents |
Characters
Keiichi Maebara is typically the main character. A young man who moves to the mysterious town of Hinamizawa, he and his new friends in the school games club get caught up in the bizarre events of the town's past.
Rena Ryugu is the only girl in the town Keiichi's age. She is obsessed with cute things, but has a darker side with secrets of her own.
Mion Sonozaki is the daughter of one of the three main houses of the town. Her family hides many secrets and their adherence to tradition causes many people pain.
Rika Furude is a daughter of another of the three main houses as well as the daughter of the shrine keeper. Rika tends to have a special ability to understand the events around her despite her young age.
Satoko Hojo was orphaned after her parents were killed in one of the many strange events that have occurred in the town.
Oishi is the police man of the town. His drive to solve the mysteries of the town creates a large rift between the friends. His intentions are not always clear.
Plot
Onikakushi
Keiichi tries to unravel the mystery of his new home in the village of Hinamizawa. Every year one person from the town dies and another is 'demoned away'. A police officer named Oishi Kurado seems to think that Keiichi's friends have some knowledge about the murders and tells Keiichi about a boy named Satoshi Hojo who disappeared a year before he moved into the village. Keiichi begins to question his friends' loyalty as well as fear for his own life.
Watanagashi
Mion's actions start to unnerve her friends. They begin to worry for their friend, then for their lives.
Tatarigoroshi
Satoko's uncle returns to Hinamizawa only to abuse Satoko and cause her to skip school. Her friends become worried especially Keiichi who reminds Satoko an awful lot about Satoshi. Keiichi soon cannot stand the torment Satoko is going through and murders her uncle and buries him. Soon after Keiichi believe that Satoko's uncle is gone for good, but finds Satoko in the bathtub counting to 1000 and saying that it was a punishment from her uncle. Soon after, Dr. Irie seems to have suicided and Rika was found by the shrine donation box, murdered. Satoko eventually begins to think that Keiichi is being possessed by 'Oyashiro-sama' and pushes him off a bridge. He survives, but somehow he is the only survivor from the Hinamizawa village.
Himatsubushi
The only flash back arc, the story follows Rika during the events just prior to the first murder.
Meakashi
The solution to the Watanagashi arc. Shion plays a large part in the events that follow.
