Announced on 20th anniversary of 1st TV anime of horror visual novel franchise
Kadokawa announced during the live-streamed 20th anniversary special for the Higurashi: When They Cry television anime on Sunday that production on a new television anime has been green-lit.
Image courtesy of Kadokawa
©2026竜騎士07/ひぐらしのなく頃に製作委員会
The tagline on the visual above reads, “Welcome back, everyone.”
07th Expansion launched the first chapter of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni visual novel software in 2002 at Comiket. The story revolves around murders that coincide with an annual festival in a quiet rural village. Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion released Higurashi: When They Cry Hou for PC in Japan in 2014 as a “thank you” to series fans (the kanji used for Hō is used in the word Hōnō, “dedication”).
The first Higurashi: When They Cry television anime series aired for 26 episodes in 2006, and the When They Cry II: Solutions (Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai) anime aired for 24 episodes in 2007. Geneon Entertainment Inc. released the first anime on DVD in 2007-2008. Funimation then released the anime on DVD in 2009 and 2010. Sentai Filmworks released both anime on Blu-ray Disc and DVD in 2016.
The Higurashi: When They Cry – GOU television anime premiered in October 2020. Higurashi: When They Cry – SOTSU, the follow-up anime, premiered in July 2021.
Update: Studio DEEN is returning to animate the new television anime, and the returning cast includes:
Source: Press release
