Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni

""Please listen to my pitiful story.""

Marie Moriya is a rather timid girl, who is frequently bullied by her classmates. On top of that, Kanamori, her homeroom teacher who initially defended Marie, has begun to molest her at night in the Old School Building. When some of other students start talking about the seven mysteries of the school and that she may be a Youkai, Marie desperately wishes to become one in order to kill everyone who makes her life a living hell. That wish is about to come true...

Higanbana no Saku Yoru ni, officially translated as "The Unforgiving Flowers Blossom in the Dead of Night" (literally translated as "On the Night the Red Spider Lily Blooms") is a horror manga series, created by the creator of the When They Cry series, Ryukishi07, and drawn by Ichirō Tsunohazu (the actual character designs are by Nishieda, though), that started in 2010. It is published in the Monthly Dragon Age magazine from Yen Press, who also published the manga adaption of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.

Ryukishi07 has adapted the manga as a two-part Visual Novel series, with each game being released on August 13 and December 31 of 2011, respectively. Unlike When They Cry, each game is a Genre Anthology and contains up to seven self-contained short stories. Each of these stories follows a different protagonist, though Marie and her youkai companion Higanbana always show up as the central characters of the series.

A fan translation of the first sound novel has been complete.


 * Adaptation Distillation: The manga goes into detail while showing us the cruel bullying Marie has to put up with, Kanamori's perverted obsession with Marie, and the Mind Rape Higanbana puts Marie through to strengthen her resolve in becoming a youkai. This is all downplayed in the VN adaptation; Marie and Kanamori's backstories are merely mentioned and hardly shown, and Higanbana's interactions with Marie are much more restrained yet still effectively creepy.
 * All of the Other Reindeer
 * Alpha Bitch: Marie's classmate Mio.
 * And Now for Someone Completely Different: Each story follows a different protagonist, though Marie and Higanbana show up multiple times to prove that they're the main characters.
 * Bishonen: Kanamori, despite the fact that he's a sick, sick, man
 * Blackmail: Kanamori tapes Marie while molesting her, and threatens to expose it if she tries to tell anyone about it. Marie later tries to reverse it, saying that all she has to do is say that Kanamori was the one who taped her..
 * Break the Cutie: Somewhat subverted, as Marie is already broken when the manga starts.
 * Corrupt the Cutie: Part of Kanamori's backstory; he was a decent and fairly cheerful young chap by the time he started work as a homeroom teacher. However, the unbearable stress of work, as well as his unhealthy fetish towards Marie, quickly warped his mind into something far more sinister.
 * Creepy Doll: Higanbana often takes this form.
 * Darker and Edgier: According to Word of God, in comparison to his earlier works. And considering how dark they were, that's saying something.
 * Death by Origin Story:.
 * Expy: Sakunoshin is literally a carbon copy of Sakutaro from Umineko no Naku Koro ni, right down to the Verbal Tic "uryu~". They only differ by name, origin, and the fact that there's no badge on Sakunoshin's muffler.
 * Fan Disservice: In the first chapter we get a picture of a naked Marie after she got abused by her teacher.
 * More images of a naked, or nearly-naked, Marie show up as well. Considering that all of them show her being abused...
 * Groundhog Day Loop/Peggy Sue: Averted. This is a series that, unlike the other two, if anyone dies, that person STAYS DEAD!
 * Hot Mom: Episode 2 reveals that Marie has one.
 * Kids Are Cruel: It's easier to list the names of students who aren't heartless bullies. And most of those students are the protagonists.
 * Lolicon: In the worst ways.
 * Meganekko: Marie herself. Also the school nurse. Takeshi Nonomiya is a male example.
 * Meaningful Name: "Meso meso" is the sound one makes while sobbing and crying, which is what Marie does quite often.
 * Off With Her Head: As part of a hallucination(?) of Marie. Also the cover-page of chapter three.
 * Rape as Drama
 * Sadist Teacher: Kanamori, who abuses Marie to relieve his daily stress.
 * Scare Dare
 * Schmuck Bait: The page quote? Listening to it is not a problem.
 * Hook, line, and sinker.
 * The Seven Mysteries: And the creation of an eighth...
 * Shout-Out: The story of "Mesomeso-san" is similar to the story of Hanako of the Toilet.
 * The Visual Novel contains blatant, unapologetic references to Umineko no Naku Koro ni. First there are kids who are talking about a manga and anime series called "Sea Cats," then there's a school play entitled "Rokkenjima." Then there's the character Sakunoshin, a carbon copy of Umineko's Sakutaro.
 * In the character information, Michiru is revealed to buy clothes from a brand called Auntie Rosa
 * Stabbed Herself With A Pencil During Work-Time
 * Youkai
 * The Visual Novel contains blatant, unapologetic references to Umineko no Naku Koro ni. First there are kids who are talking about a manga and anime series called "Sea Cats," then there's a school play entitled "Rokkenjima." Then there's the character Sakunoshin, a carbon copy of Umineko's Sakutaro.
 * In the character information, Michiru is revealed to buy clothes from a brand called Auntie Rosa
 * Stabbed Herself With A Pencil During Work-Time
 * Youkai