Higurashi: When They Cry

Keiichi Maebara, a student who recently moved into the village of Hinamizawa, is invited by his new friends at school to join their club. But while searching for treasure at a garbage dump with Rena Ryugu, he discovers the village is not as peaceful as it seems.

The annual Watanagashi Festival finally starts, and everyone has fun feasting and playing games. However, in the following day, Keiichi is interrogated by chief police officer, Oishi, about a crime that occurred at the night of the festival, and he starts fearing the villagers might be involved in this and other similar incidents, like Oishi suspects.

Delving further into the mysteries surrounding the village, Keiichi's paranoia grows after he starts to suspect that someone might be after his life.

Keiichi's despair reaches its peak. After being captured and sedated, he wakes up restrained by Mion and Rena, and they attempt to inject him with a mysterious drug. Keiichi murders them before taking his own life by clawing his throat.

Keiichi meets Mion's twin sister, Shion; the two are so identical that Keiichi can hardly tell the difference between them. It is also revealed that Mion has a crush on him.

During Rika's ritual performance at the Watanagashi Festival, Shion whisks Keiichi away to sneak into the forbidden shrine warehouse, where Tomitake and his friend, Miyo Takano, are waiting. However, after learning about the other pair's fate, he starts to worry about his and Shion's safety.

Mamoru Akasaka, with an assistant, visits the abandoned town of Hinamizawa in the year 2007, and meets with Officer Oishi. They still wonder about the Great Hinamizawa Disaster that decimated the town and the connection to Miyo Takano's File No. 34. Rena shares with them the little knowledge she has about Rika's strange behavior, shortly before the supposed "gas leak", and Akasaka recalls his meeting with the young Rika as well.

Back in June 1983, the club participates in a game of "zombie tag". On their way home, they run into Irie, Tomitake, and Takano, who tell Keiichi about the yearly murders known as "Oyashiro-sama's Curse". However, he understands why his friends hid it from him and doesn't resent them for it. Regardless, this fails to reassure Rika, as she grows progressively depressed as the day of the Watanagashi Festival approaches.

Satoko worries about Rika's depression and tries to confront her about it, but Rika continues to deny anything is wrong. In the middle of the night, Satoko is woken by Rika arguing with a mysterious voice, and telling her she will soon be murdered, and there is nothing that either of them can do.

The day of the Watanagashi Festival comes, and once again Rika fails to warn Tomitake of his imminent death. Later, Satoko is convinced that a mysterious man is following her and Rika around, even though no one else has noticed any such thing. Worried of Rika's safety, she sets traps around the house to alert her of any intruders, and when one is triggered, her fears are confirmed.

Much to Satoko's surprise, Rika hides her before letting her murderers take her away. After witnessing Rika's demise and the death of the remaining villagers, Satoko fights desperately for her life.

Rika begins a new world with Hanyū, but is getting tired of seeing her friends commit the same acts that lead them to terrible mistakes, until Keiichi proves to her that people can change their destinies if they want.