Funimation to Simulcast Higurashi: When They Cry Reboot

Funimation is going back to the village of Hinamizawa this October!

During their 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. 

This news is an interesting turn of events for Funimation, as they had previously gone on record saying that, due to poor sales of the original series (which they acquired from Geneon), they would never license Higurashi again nor any title that even vaguely resembled it. What a difference a decade makes, eh?

To recap what we know so far, 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. 

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?