A live-action film adaptation of the series, directed and written by Ataru Oikawa, premiered in Japanese theaters on May 10, 2008, with a sequel released on April 16, 2009. Sentai Filmworks has since licensed both anime seasons and the 2009 OVAs.

The first anime series was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in English in 2007, but the license expired in 2011. Following the manga's release in Japan, two anime television series were produced by Studio Deen and directed by Chiaki Kon in 20 a third anime adaptation was released as an original video animation (OVA) series in 2009. The manga was licensed for release in English in North America by Yen Press under the title Higurashi: When They Cry and the first volume was released in November 2008. A manga series adapted from the games began with eight different manga artists working separately on one to three of the multiple story arcs and were published by Square Enix and Kadokawa Shoten. Novelizations of the game series were released by Kodansha between August 2007 and March 2009. Two sets of drama CDs were produced, one by Wayuta and the other by Frontier Works. The original eight PC releases were released in English by MangaGamer between 20. In addition to the original series, new story arcs were created in manga form and in video games for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, in order to expand the story. A bonus fan disc called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei was released on December 31, 2006. While the first four games carried the overall title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and are considered the first entry in the When They Cry franchise, the next four games were produced under the title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and are considered the second entry. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released on August 10, 2002, and the eighth and final game in the original PC series, Matsuribayashi-hen, was released on August 13, 2006. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in a fictional village and the strange events that occur there in 1983. 'When the Cicadas Cry'), known simply as When They Cry for the North American release of the anime adaptation before 2020, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the When They Cry franchise. Higurashi When They Cry ( Japanese: ひぐらしのなく頃に, Hepburn: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, lit.

When they cry wiki