Higurashi: When They Cry — Kai ~Season 2~ Blu-ray

The questions raised across Season 1 begin to receive answers. Each arc of the first season showed a different version of the same terrible summer in Hinamizawa — the same characters, the same festival, the same deaths, each one seemingly inevitable. Kai reveals the full truth: the nature of the Watanagashi Festival, the identity behind Oyashiro-sama's curse, the real cause of the deaths, and most importantly — the existence of someone who has been watching all the loops from the inside, accumulating memories across every iteration of June 1983, determined to find the path through all of it where everyone survives. The shift in focus from horror to tragedy to determination makes Kai emotionally distinctive from its predecessor and resolves the franchise's central mystery with considerable power.

Higurashi: When They Cry — Kai is a 24-episode second season produced by Studio Deen, directed by Chiaki Kon, airing on various channels from July 6 to December 17, 2007. The score was once again composed by Kenji Kawai. Sentai Filmworks released Kai in North America — the first time it received an English subtitled home video release — as a subtitle-only Blu-ray. The Season 2 (Kai) Blu-ray was released July 26, 2016 by Sentai Filmworks. A Complete Season 1-3 Collection Blu-ray was released December 12, 2017.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Chiaki Kon (Junjou Romantica, No. 6, Higurashi Season 1)
Original Sound Novel: Ryukishi07 (07th Expansion)
Studio: Studio Deen
Music: Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Patlabor 1 & 2, Jin-Roh, Ninja Scroll, Sorcerer Hunters)

Japanese Cast:
• Satsuki Yukino as Mion / Shion Sonozaki
• Mai Nakahara as Rena Ryūgū
• Yukari Tamura as Rika Furude
• Mika Kanai as Satoko Hōjō
• Soichiro Hoshi as Keiichi Maebara

Blu-ray Features (Sentai Filmworks)

• All 24 Episodes — Complete Season 2
• Subtitle Only — No English Dub on Kai or Rei (dub was only produced for Season 1)
• Clean Opening & Closing Animations
• Sentai Filmworks Previews

Spoken Languages: Japanese Audio Only, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ひぐらしのなく頃に解 (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai / When the Cicadas Cry: Solution)
Runtime: ~600 Minutes (Complete Season 2, 24 Episodes)
Director: Chiaki Kon
Blu-ray Release Year: 2016 (U.S. Release, July 26 — Sentai Filmworks); first English subtitled home video release of Kai; Complete S1-3 Collection December 12, 2017
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): July 6 – December 17, 2007
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Rating: 17+
Region: Region A (North America)
Note: Subtitle only — English dub was only produced for Season 1. First North American subtitled release of Kai. Resolves the mysteries established in Season 1.
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological
Themes: Time Loop Resolution, Rika's Accumulated Memories, Watanagashi Truth Revealed, Sound Novel Adaptation, Emotional Shift from Horror to Hope

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.