Higurashi: When They Cry ~Season 1~ DVD

Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet rural village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983. It is small, close-knit, and idyllic — a group of friends who meet after school, play games, laugh constantly. Then Keiichi begins asking questions about the village's annual festival and the string of deaths and disappearances that have followed it for four consecutive years. His friends' reactions to his questions are wrong in ways he cannot articulate at first. Then they become wrong in ways that are very hard to ignore. The series is structured as a series of arcs — each one covering the same period, the same cast, the same village, but from a different angle and with a different terrible outcome — slowly assembling the full picture of what Hinamizawa actually is, what the Watanagashi Festival commemorates, and what Oyashiro-sama's curse actually means.

Higurashi: When They Cry is a 26-episode horror mystery produced by Studio Deen, directed by Chiaki Kon, and based on Ryukishi07's sound novel — a landmark of the doujin game tradition, originally self-published at Comiket beginning in 2002. The score was composed by Kenji Kawai.

Geneon Entertainment USA originally licensed the series in 2007 under the title When They Cry, releasing three of a planned six DVD volumes before discontinuing all ongoing projects in September 2007 — leaving the series incomplete after Volume 3. In July 2008, FUNimation reached a distribution agreement with Geneon and completed the release. This Complete Box Set collects all six volumes in one package under the Geneon Entertainment banner, released April 13, 2010 by FUNimation. The English dub was produced by Bang Zoom! Entertainment. Sentai Filmworks later re-licensed the franchise for Blu-ray release. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Chiaki Kon
Original Sound Novel: Ryukishi07 (07th Expansion — When They Cry, Umineko When They Cry)
Studio: Studio Deen
Music: Kenji Kawai
Opening Theme: "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" by Eiko Shimamiya
Ending Theme: "Why or Why Not" by Anli Pollicino

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

English Dub Cast (Bang Zoom! Entertainment):
- Grant George as Keiichi Maebara
- Mela Lee as Rena Ryugu
- Megan Hollingshead as Mion Sonozaki
- Zarah Little as Shion Sonozaki
- Rebecca Forstadt as Rika Furude
- Kelli Kassidi as Satoko Hojo
- Kristi Reed as additional cast
- Minx Lee as additional cast

DVD Features (FUNimation / Geneon Complete Box Set, April 13, 2010)

- All 26 Episodes on 6 Discs — 624 Minutes
- English Dolby Digital 2.0 / Japanese Dolby Digital 2.0
- English Subtitles
- Note: Geneon Entertainment USA discontinued release after Vol. 3 in 2007; FUNimation completed distribution in 2008. Sentai Filmworks Blu-ray (Season 1, Kai, Rei) also available.

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni / When the Cicadas Cry)
Original Japanese Broadcast: 2006 (April 4 - September 26, Chiba TV)
Runtime: 624 Minutes (Complete Season 1, 26 Episodes, 6 Discs)
Director: Chiaki Kon
DVD Release Year: 2010 (U.S. Complete Box Set, April 13 — FUNimation / Geneon Entertainment, UPC: 704400086755); original Geneon volumes 2007-2008
Publisher: FUNimation Entertainment / Geneon Entertainment
Rating: 16+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Note: Geneon discontinued release after Vol. 3 in 2007 before FUNimation completed distribution. This box set collects all six volumes. Sentai Filmworks holds current license for Blu-ray releases.
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Psychological
Themes: Groundhog Day Horror, Rural Village Mystery, Oyashiro Curse, Sound Novel Adaptation, Ryukishi07

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.

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