NS: The Everlooping World of Cicadas Made Easier

[leahandillyana]

Higurashi ga Naku koro ni (When Cicadas Cry) is a series of visual novels that betray the point of the medium – namely, the plot is not interactive, at least not in the original releases. The series feature a group of friends from a tiny primary school in a climactic but isolated and equally tiny village which holds many secrets. In each installment, the children play together, learn of the mysteries of the setting, become paranoid and start killing each other in gruesome ways. Every new chapter introduces new and exciting ways to go crazy and die, and then slowly reveals the clues as to what exactly is happening and why. Since the series have numerous chapters, it may be difficult to approach, which is a shame since in my opinion it’s a fantastic mystery story and source of inspiration for many stories following it. For the help of potential new readers, I made this guide of key stories presented in order that makes the story most approachable. A fair warning: the series runs on violence against children, and the violence and abuse is very graphic and very gory, which the anime tends to tone down but the manga often exploits to the full potential. The most sexual material is barely suggestive in the story proper (plus one bathroom scene that was censored in English edition), and slightly spicier in extra chapters though.

 

Title: When They Cry: Eye Opening Chapter

Author: Ryukishi07 (story) and Hojo Yutori (art)

Number of volumes: 4

This entry is not the best Cicadas have to offer, but it introduces key concepts and characters: the mysterious and disturbing setting of Hinamizawa, the powerful yakuza-like Sonozaki family and its unsavoury traditions, the separated twins Mion and Shion, as well as the rumour surrounding a series of murders happening in the setting. It also covers a longer period of local history than most of the series. A year before story proper starts, neglected daughter of a wealthy family escapes her boarding school and befriends a troubled local boy. When the boy disappears under mysterious circumstance, she will stop at nothing to find him. It’s a pretty typical yandere horror story with some interesting worldbuilding, with many touching and tear jearking moments.

 

Title: When They Cry: Atonement Chapter

Author:Ryukishi07 (story) and Karin Suzuragi (art)

Number of volumes: 4

This story seems like an alternative version of the events of the previous chapter. Instead of Mion and Shion, the story focuses on Rena, a friendly but strange girl whose single father is really bad with money, especially since he started dating a beautiful and ruthless woman. Experiencing increasingly severe paranoia, Rena eventually turns to murder. What makes it different from the previous arc is that Keiichi, the only boy in the recurring cast, remembers experiencing similar symptoms and commiting crimes that were impossible in his current setting. This arc also sees a significant focus on action scenes and seemingly presents a happy ending to the story… for a few pages.

 

Title: When They Cry: Demon Exposing Chapter

Author:Ryukishi07 (story) and En Kito (art)

Number of volumes:2

This story takes place outside of Hinamizawa, but main character Natsumi’s grandmother originates from the village. After the village is destroyed in the aftermath of the previous chapter, she observes first her grandma and then mother behave in increasingly paranoid and violent ways… seemingly. The twist ending is one of the best of the franchise. Seriously, read this short series even if you do not want to touch anything else Cicada-related. It needs to be noted that the arc features graphic animal abuse and murder.

 

Title: When They Cry: Beyond Midnight Chapter

Author:Ryukishi07 (story) and Mimori (art)

Number of volumes: 2

This story takes place 20 years after Hinamizawa was destroyed, roughly contemporarily to the manga’s publication (main story takes place in 1983). It follows a group of people who trespass the forbidden territory of the once-village for a multitude of reasons. Was it destiny that brought them together? One of the characters is a katana-wielding woman claiming to be Mion Sonozaki – but didn’t the girl die in the original cataclysm? The themes and type of horror in this chapter are very different from usual Cicadas routines, and it was definitely written for more mature readers, discussing some of the ills of modern Japanese society.

 

Title: When They Cry: Reality Breaking Chapter

Author: En Kito (art and story)

Volumes: 1

This is an extra volume tying up the story of the previous two arcs. First three chapters are dedicated to ‘Mion’s’ backstory while two final one show what happened to the cast of Demon Exposing Chapter years after the story. It’s a good conclusion to this miniarc.

 

Title: When They Cry: Massacre Chapter

Author: Ryukishi07 (story) and Hinase Momoyama (art)

Volumes: 6

This is the art that finally explains what exactly is happening in the series. The story focuses on Rika, the little girl priestess who is wise beyond here age for a good reason, as well as Satoko, another little girl whose abusive caretaker returns and takes her back under her roof. Much of the initial part of the story has to do with the friends’ attempts to use legal means to save Satoko from her situation. Notably, nobody falls to the murderous urges in this arc despite the situation presenting murder as apparently easiest solution to their problem. This is my favourite arc due to the amount of social commentary and the criticism of the ‘parental rights’ mindset. The last part of the story reveals true villain behind the series and while once again all the children die, at least next time they will know who they are facing.

 

Title: When They Cry: Festival Accompanying Chapter

Author: Ryukishi07 (story) and Karin Suzuragi (art)

Volumes: 8

This arc has multiple plotlines. The first part presents the backstory, motivation and plan outline of the story’s villain. What follows is Rika trying to assemble a team who could help her fight their enemies and come up with a plan how to do it with limited resources. While I enjoyed the first part, I think that the final ‘battle’ against their tormentors was not realistically portrayed even for the setting’s standards and that the omission of the characters’ personal flaws and holdups makes the supposed finale lose some of its weight.

 

Title: When They Cry: Dice Killing Chapter

Author: Ryukishi07 (story) and Karin Suzuragi (art)

Volumes: 1

Just because the villain is defeated doesn’t mean that the characters get to live happily ever after. Shortly after the end of the previous arc, Rika gets hit by a truck while riding a bike and presumably dies again, only to wake up in a world where supernaturals do not exist, the bonds between her friends are fragile if not nonexistent, the village is about to be flooded by a dam, but her mother is alive. What can she do to return to her hellhole of the original world – and frankly, should she try?

 

Title: When They Cry: Cycle (Higurashi Meguri)

Author: Ryukishi07 (story) and Tomato Akase

Volumes: 5

This arc takes place after a four years’ timeskip, with Rika and Satoko attending a prestigous all-girls boarding school. Satoko, who is all but explicitly stated to be in love with Rika, struggles with studying pressure and loneliness coming from her being away from her environment and presumed abadonment by Rika. After learning the full scope of suffering of Rika from a supernatural and trying out different scenarios only to have the other girl die in all of them, she decides to force her whole group to relive the June of 1983 endlessly. This arc really hits hard emotionally and the story diverges significantly from that of the recent tv sequel series it started as an adaptation of, to the point of its final arc being completely different from the anime, focusing on friendship between the schoolmates rather than rivalry between Satoko and Rika. Surprisingly, the kids end it on a much more positive note.

 

Title: Higurashi Rei (Demon Kindling Chapter, Star Crossing Chapter, Variety Respecting Chapter)

Author: Ryukishu07 (story) and Natsumi Kei and Tokiya Seigo (art)

Volumes: 8

Named the same as the OVA miniseries covering Dice Killing Chapter, this series takes place forty years after the original, focusing on four children of the original friends (notably, the series dismisses every couple from the original series, with Mion, Rena, Keichi and most egregiosly Satoko having married newly introduced characters (whom Mion and Rena have already divorced at the time the story is set)). When the original cast dies at the Cotton Drifting Festival, it’s up to their kids to find out what is going on and how to stop it. This arc is the most recent, with the final volume being realesed this year, and having by far most beautiful art of all the entries. I do not approve of some story direction (Come on, Satoko marrying a dude?! The new kids being basically generation xerox of their parents?!), but I nonetheless recommend it after reading all the previous story arcs, as it spoils basically everything from the get go.

 

Extras

 

There are several other manga series and anthologies that do not develop the main storyline, instead being dedicated to showcasing comedic potential of the cast or their daily lives. Two entries stand out to me: When Cicadas Cry On Rokkenjima, a two volume long fusion with When Seaguls Cry, another supernatural murder-mystery by the same author, and Higurashi Oni, an ongoing manga series by Asahi focused on the youth of Oryo Sonozaki, Mion and Shion’s scary grandmother. There also seems to be an one volume manga adapting original idea of Cicadas with only grownup!Rika and lesbiantomboy!Mion as the protagonists, but I cannot find any info on it online and am beginning to think I hallucinated it. :(

Comments

[blueprintstyles]

This is actually a good watch for a newish anime fan because it takes the expectation that the teen boy is the main character and leads down a rabbit hole with it.

[mastermahan]

I tried getting into this series when I was much younger, because I love me some good mind-bending psychological horror.

[bluapapilio]

I think it was my first foray into horror anime (besides watching/reading Petshop of Horrors), sad to say I got distracted and forgot to come back to it.