We’ve been following the news of the brand new Higurashi: When They Cry anime series, which is scheduled to premiere in October. Believe me when I say that today’s information dump beats everything that we’ve gotten thus far!
According to the nearly three-minute promotional video seen above, the brand new Higurashi: When They Cry from studio Passione is coming at us fast, with the first half premiering on October 1st. Episode fourteen will premiere on January 7th.
Additionally, if you were paying attention to the video you noticed that we got confirmation that the following characters will be reprised by their original voice actors (character names first):
Kuraudo Ooishi: Chafurin
Jiro Tomitake: Toru Ohkawa
Miyo Takano: Miki Ito
Kyousuke Irie: Toshihiko Seki
Soichiro Hoshi and Mai Nakahara will return to the main roles of Keiichi Maebara and Rena Ryugu. They also confirmed earlier this year that the other main roles of Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Hojo, and Rika Furude will be voiced by their original voice actors as well.
In terms of the crew, this new adaptation will shake things up considerably. Keiichiro Kawaguchi will direct this series at studio Passione. Naoki Hayashi is in charge of series composition, Kenji Kawai will return to compose the background music, and Akio Watanabe will design the characters.
Originally a doujin visual novel released at Comiket in 2002 by creator Ryukishi07, Higurashi: When They Cry was first adapted into a 26 episode anime series in 2006 and then received a 24 episode sequel series in 2007. Geneon originally released the first season in the west before the license was taken over by Funimation. From there, the series remained in limbo for a short time before Sentai Filmworks picked it back up and released the entire original anime series on home video in 2016.
During their virtual industry panel held on Friday, July 3rd, Funimation revealed that they will simulcast the Higurashi: When They Cry reboot anime when it premieres in October. The series was originally set to air in the summer but was delayed due to COVID-19 causing production issues.
Sentai Filmworks describes the Higurashi: When They Cry story as:
Moving to the picturesque town of Hinamizawa is going to be a big adjustment for Keiichi. For all its beauty, it’s also tiny… so small that there’s only one school, one where most of the students have known each other all their lives. Fortunately, he soon meets four girls… Rena, Mion, Satoko, and Rika, who’re willing to let the new guy in town join their afterschool club. And for a while, things seem wonderful. Until Keiichi starts discovering strange things, like the project manager for a controversial dam project being found dismembered five years ago. As he digs deeper, there are whispers and rumors of other murders and disappearances, stories of a town curse, and mysterious rituals. And then people he knows start to die. What secrets have the people of Hinamizawa kept hidden from the rest of the world? And could his new friends somehow be involved?
Source: Mantan Web
