One anime series that has been generating huge amounts of buzz ever since it was first announced back in January 2020 is Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou. What’s that you say? You thought that the title of the series was Higurashi: When They Cry – New? Yeah, so did the rest of us until the morning of Thursday, October 8th, when Funimation and Kadokawa pulled the rug out from under all of us!
In an announcement posted to their official blog, Funimation revealed the “true” title of the anime, which they say the creators specifically held back on until the premiere of the second episode. For those who aren’t aware, Gou (or 業 as it’s written in kanji) has various meanings, but in this case, it can be read simply as “karma”. What does this mean for the characters moving forward? Your guess is as good as mine.
In addition to this revelation, you might have noticed the above image, which Funimation also revealed to the world. It’s a brand new series key visual which shows one of the major characters, Rika, in two different forms. What does this mean? Again, I have no idea, but I know that I’m going to be watching very closely for the next 24 weeks to find out!
If that weren’t enough, Kadokawa has uploaded a brand new three-minute promotional video to their YouTube channel just to tease fans of the franchise even further. You have to admit, these people really know how to build up the suspense.
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. The new series was originally set to air during the summer of 2020, 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: Funimation, A.I.R.
