For those familiar with Higurashi: When They Cry, being a fan of the franchise can often bring with it a rollercoaster of emotions. From a dizzying main story to arcs that often bring more questions than answers, alongside a healthy dose of emotional whiplash, it can be hard to predict what’ll happen in a franchise that has a more cyclical lifespan than the cicadas it’s named for. Now, to the delight or exasperation of fans, the Higurashi franchise is getting a new manga in February, courtesy of Monthly Action magazine. The first chapter will be available on February 25th and will have a full-color opening page as well as be featured on the magazine’s front page.
Titled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Oni, the story will cover the history of everyone’s favorite sleepy little town Hinamizawa, this time during the Taisho period in 1923. Once again, darkness is settling over this remote little town after a young woman and her friends are involved in a tragedy. The story will also reveal a more intricate backstory for the original series character Oryō Sonozaki. And yes once again, the story is lauded as being a “Higurashi towards the truth”. While that’s a lovely sentiment, trying to figure out the “truth” in any Higurashi arc is a bit like trying to put together a puzzle backward. You won’t know the entire picture until all the pieces are together and you can flip the whole puzzle on its head.
At the very least, most arcs are stand-alone spinoffs, often focusing on singular characters or a potential future for our unlucky characters. Three new manga arcs premiered last year, with Square Enix’s Gangan Online website hosting the Oni Okoshi-hen arc and their Big Gangan Magazine hosting the Hoshi Watashi-hen arc in November 2021. Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri premiered in October 2021 through Young Ace Up. The anime remakes, Higurashi: When They Cry—GOU, and Higurashi: When They Cry—SOTSU are available through anime streaming services.
The main series is a good place to start for beginners, both to get a feel for the main story and to realize exactly how the manga’s arcs work. Whether or not the story ends up being for you, we’ll always know Higurashi’s true fans don’t mind tempting insanity through repetition.
Source: Anime News Network
