When They Cry: Difference between revisions

A [[SeriesMedia Franchise]] of linear [[Visual Novel|sound novels]], anime, console games, and manga by 07th Expansion, a doujin group that became famous with the series' first installment, ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]''. ''When They Cry'' is broken up into a series of supernatural murder mysteries, which are further broken up into individual games, or arcs. These arcs are marked by [[Groundhog Day Loop|time starting over from a certain point]] with the dead members of the cast brought back to life for mysterious reasons.

* '''When They Cry: [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]''' (''When The Cicadas Cry''). Hinamizawa, a small village in [[The Eighties]] is plagued by a curse in which, every year, one villager is found murdered and another is never seen again. Keiichi Maebara, the new kid in town, begins to uncover the secrets of the village and is driven further into fear and paranoia as he watches his new friends succumb to madness. This year, it looks as if the whole village is marked for death...

* '''When They Cry 2: [[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]] Kai''' (''When The Cicadas Cry: Solutions''). A direct continuation of the previous, which answers the many questions raised by it. Although some of these arcs appear in the first season of [[The Anime of the Game]], they are considered part of ''Kai'' in the games themselves. Keiichi is replaced by Rika as the main character, but as with ''Himatsubushi-hen'', some arcs are told by other characters.

** ''Meakashi-hen'' ("Eye Opening chapter"). The "Shion arc". Shion relates her life story and why she is the way she is, culminating in a retelling of what really happened during ''Watanagashi-hen'' (although note that while this arc serves as a POV Sequel to ''Watanagashi-hen'', they are technically different--justdifferent—just nearly identical--timelinesidentical—timelines).

*** ''Yoigoshi-hen'' ("Overnight chapter"). A manga-only Alternate Universe to ''Tsumihoroboshi-hen''. Twenty-three years later, a new group--includinggroup—including a woman claiming to be Mion Sonozaki--meetsSonozaki—meets in Hinamizawa. This Chapter is appears in a third Higurashi DS-port game, with a new character added.

** ''Minagoroshi-hen'' ("Massacre chapter"). The "Rika Arc". Rika and Keiichi band together with the rest of the club, all having realized everything about the time loop and what they had done in the past. They do their best to get past the one hurdle that Rika has deemed impossible to beat--Satokobeat—Satoko's abusive uncle Teppei--butTeppei—but are stopped by the real murderer, who is revealed after having been hiding all this time.

* '''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]] light novels'''. Similar to ''Rei'', these are bonus arcs that stand in a group rather than fitting into ''1'' or ''Kai''.

* '''When They Cry 3: [[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]''' (''When The Seagulls Cry''). Unlike ''Higurashi'', ''Umineko'' features a cast of eighteen people on the island of Rokkenjima, and the time loops only last two days, increasing the sense of urgency. An old man living in a mansion is near death, and all the relatives have convened to discuss his will. Battler Ushiromiya, one of these relatives, insists that the legends of a cruel and insane witch are only stories, and is determined to find the real cause of the murders. ''Higurashi'' and ''Umineko'' are mostly unrelated, save for one character which seems to tie the two verses together.

** ''Alliance of the golden witch''. The "Ange Arc." The future of 1998 is explored as the sole survivor of the Ushiromiya family, Ange, explores the nature of magic and witches.

* '''When They Cry 4: Umineko no Naku Koro ni Chiru''' (''When The Seagulls Cry: Breakdown''). A direct continuation of the above, this delves deeper into the mysteries surrounding the family, where rather than outright answers, only subtle hints are given at first.

** ''End of the golden witch''. The "Natsuhi Arc." The game continues with somewhat new players, and the scope of the game changes when someone shipwrecks on the island before the murders. Natsuhi's past is explained and she is a featured character in the game's plotline.

For examples and series-specific notes, please see ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Higurashi no Naku Koro Nini]]'' and ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro Ni (Visual Novel)|Umineko no Naku Koro Nini]]''. Also see ''[[Higanbana no Saku Yoru Ni (Manga)|Higanbana no Saku Yoru Nini]]'', a manga/visual novel penned by Ryukishi07, but so far has no relation to the main series games and ''[[Rose Guns Days (Visual Novel)|Rose Guns Days]]'', an upcoming visual novel by 07th Expansion, but also unrelated to the main series games.

** In Umineko, the arcs are stated by [[Word of God]] to ''not'' be considered "Answer Arcs" and the [[Fan Nickname]] "Core Arcs" has quickly spread.

* [[Doing inIn Thethe Wizard]]

* [[Go Out Withwith a Smile]]

* [[Infant Immortality]] - [[Subverted Trope|Ahahahahaha...no]]. Just because you're a youngster, don't think for a ''second'' that your safety is guaranteed.

*** One thing that still appears to be unresolved are the [[Epileptic Trees]]: {{spoiler|Rika Furude may or may not be Frederica Bernkastel and ''Umineko'' is now being [[Hijacked Byby Ganon|Hijacked By Rika]]}}.

* [[Nice Hat]]: Rena from Higurashi and Kanon from Umineko both have nice berets. [[Shout -Out|And nice cleavers.]]

* [[Parent Withwith New Paramour]]

* [[Self -Made Orphan]]

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]] -

** ''Umineko'' has Maria's "uu-". This isn't just a random noise, however, since {{spoiler|Maria believes that it's a spell for happiness}}. It's also [[Deconstructed Trope|deconstructed]], since the sound of it irritates Rosa to the point that she'll [[Abusive Parents|hit Maria for saying it too much]], and it's one of the reasons why other children bully her.

* [[Yandere]]: {{spoiler|[[Punctuated! forFor! Emphasis!|Shion. Freaking. Sonozaki.]]}} That is all.{{context|reason=MOD: 'That is all' is not a sufficient description of how this trope applies to this character.}}

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