In an update to the Higurashi: When They Cry mobile gacha game that we’ve been reporting on for the last month, it’s been revealed via the official Twitter account that the game will launch in Japan on Thursday, September 3rd. Still no word on when (or even if) the game will be released in English.
For those who missed it, a brand new promotional video for the game was released two weeks ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFE10z9Q2iU
The game is being produced with complete cooperation from the original creator, Ryukishi07, with an entirely new story written by Kiichi Kanou, and battle music composed by Motoi Sakuraba.
The new cast members are (character names first):
Kazuho Kimiyoshiki: Mayu Sagara
Miyuki Akasaka: Miyuki Sawashiro
Nao Ōtoritani: Rie Takahashi
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?
It’s worth remembering that the game is being released just in time for the brand new Higurashi: When They Cry anime series, which will air in October 2020 and will be simulcast by Funimation.
