Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (2006)

1 - Reunion

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 Takanos File No. 34. Rena shares with them the little knowledge she has about Rikas strange behavior, shortly before the supposed gas leak, and Akasaka recalls his meeting with the young Rika as well.

1 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 1 - The Beginning

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.

2 - The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 1 - Tag

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-samas Curse. However, he understands why his friends hid it from him and doesnt resent them for it. Regardless, this fails to reassure Rika, as she grows progressively depressed as the day of the Watanagashi Festival approaches.

2 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 2 - Secret

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.

3 - The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 2 - Powerlessness

Satoko worries about Rikas 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.

3 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 3 - Suspicion

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

4 - The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 3 - Pre-established Harmony

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 Rikas safety, she sets traps around the house to alert her of any intruders, and when one is triggered, her fears are confirmed.

4 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 4 - Distortion

Keiichis 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.

5 - The Disaster Awakening Chapter - Part 4 - The Great Hinamizawa Disaster

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

5 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 1 - Jealousy

Keiichi meets Mions 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.

6 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 1 - Law of the Labyrinth

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.

6 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 2 - Takano

During Rikas 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 pairs fate, he starts to worry about his and Shions safety.

7 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 2 - How to Change Destiny

Influenced by Keiichis encouragement, and the fact her friends are starting to avoid doing the same mistakes again by remembering glimpses of what they could have done, Rika decides to find a way to prevent her ominous destiny by herself.

7 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 3 - Lie

Keiichi asks Rika for help, but when she and Satoko disappear, he starts fearing for the worse.

8 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 3 - Fluctuation

Rikas plans are hindered by the appearance of Teppei, who much like in Tatarigoroshi-hen, begins to abuse Satoko. Keiichi and the rest of the gang decide to find a way to release her from his clutches, but the government is reluctant to cooperate.

8 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 4 - Wish

Keiichi and Rena suspect that Mion might be related to Rika and Satokos disappearance, and confront her at her house. There, he learns from her about the burden she carries as the heir of the Sonozaki family, and tries to dissuade her to surrender herself without success.

9 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 4 - Negotiation

The fight to save Satoko from her uncles abuse continues, but they stumble on a dead end because she is reluctant to denounce him, for her own reasons. Rika realizes that despite their, she is the one who must take action.

9 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 1 - Elder Brother

Keiichis parents leave for Tokyo for a few days. Helped by Satoko and Rika, who makes dinner for him, Keiichi learns about Satoshi, Satokos older brother, and his mysterious disappearance on the night of last years Watanagashi.

10 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 5 - Confrontation

Keiichis struggle to help Satoko forces him to confront the village elders, even the leader of the Sonozaki family. As the government succumbs to the pressure of Keiichi and his allies, Satokos condition is also at its limit.

10 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 2 - Bond

Satoko is absent from school for a few days. After discovering that the cause of her absence is Teppei, her abusive uncle, who left Hinamizawa after his wife was murdered on the night of Watanagishi, but recently has returned, Keiichi decides to intervene.

11 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 6 - A Strong Will

At last, Rika persuades Satoko to ask for help and she is freed from Teppei. However, just when the village seemed to be relieved from its eternal cycle of hatred and death, the real enemies start to act, just like they did in previous worlds.

11 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 3 - Boundary

Keiichi comes to the resolution that he must kill Teppei. After brutally beating him to death with Satoshis baseball bat, he buries the body, and on his way back home, Keiichi bumps into a suspiciously acting Takano.

12 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 7 - Hinamizawa Syndrome

After getting a clue of the villains betrayal, Rika tells her friends the truth behind the Hinamizawa Syndrome, and her connection with it. Meanwhile, the enemy moves on with their plan, eliminating any opposition.

12 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 4 - Something Lost

Keiichis mentality is shaken when his friends tells him that he was actually at the Watanagashi Festival with them and Satoko still bemoans her uncles abuse, despite being sure about having him dead. His confusion grows when he tries to unsuccessfully find the truth.

13 - The Massacre Chapter - Part 8 - Finale

One after another, Rikas friends are killed while trying to protect her. Takano dissects Rika, but does so without anesthesia, as requested by the latter in an attempt to carve the identity of the culprit behind all the Hinamizawa murders in her mind and prevent the events from this and past worlds from repeating themselves. The villagers are rounded up at the school and gassed to death, while an ecstatic Takano proclaims her ascension to godhood.

13 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 5 - Apology

Keiichi goes over to the Houjou residence to ascertain Teppeis existence and finds Satoko in need of clinical help. At the Furude Shrine, Keiichi discovers Rikas disemboweled body, and Satoko believes that Keiichi is the culprit and flees. After fruitlessly trying to convince her that he is not the murderer, disaster strikes the town of Hinamizawa.

14 - The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 1 - Miyo

Takanos past is revealed in disjointed flashbacks, some of them showing her harsh childhood, while others to the time when she became involved with researchers of the Hinamizawa Syndrome.

14 - The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 1 - Hinamizawa

Four years ago, during the dam incident, young police investigator Mamoru Akasaka comes to Hinamizawa to find leads to a child kidnapping. After hearing an enigmatic warning from a younger Rika, Mamoru becomes suspicious of some of the townsfolk.

15 - The Festival Accompanying Chapter - Part 2 - Wriggling

Takanos story continues, including how she met her foster grandfather, and her determination to continue his work. A few years later, Takano and Hanyū have a very heated confrontation at Oyashiro-samas shrine.

15 - The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 2 - Omen

Akasaka and Oishi find the kidnappers hideout and rescue the boy. After discovering that their efforts were in vain because the perpetrators demand was already conceded, he realizes the real meaning behind Rikas words to him.

16 - The Detective Chapter - Part 1 - First Love

The events from Watanagashi-hen are retold from another point of view. Shion takes Mions place in Hinamizawa and is lovestruck by Satokos older brother, Satoshi, at their first meeting together. But after discovering about the trouble he spends to protect Satoko, Shion starts to loathe her.

17 - The Detective Chapter - Part 2 - Distinction

Satoshi apologizes to Shion (still pretending to be Mion), and asks her to care for Satoko during the Watanagashi Festival. That night, his aunt is murdered; in order to cover for Satoshi, Shion reveals that she is actually Mions twin sister. After the police questions her, she is brought back to the Sonozaki main estate to answer to her grandmother for all the trouble she has caused.

18 - The Detective Chapter - Part 3 - Demon;s Blood

Upon talking with Ōishi, Shion finds out Satoshi has gone missing and decides to investigate further into the mysterious murders over the past four years. One day at the library, Shion meets Takano, who tells her more on the history of Hinamizawa and its dark past. As the story skips one year to the present day, similarities between Keiichi and Satoshi brings back memories of Satoshi to Shion.

19 - The Detective Chapter - Part 4 - Retaliation

Shion believes the Sonozaki family is connected to the acts of demoning away people in the village, especially that of Satoshi. She imprisons Mion in the dungeon and unintentionally kills her grandmother. Shion pretends to be Mion the next day and confronts Keiichi about the previous nights encounters, to which Keiichi still denies. Later, she finally discovers the ones responsible for Satoshis disappearance.

20 - The Detective Chapter - Part 5 - Cold Hands

Shion has captured the village head and gets information about the town involving the previous murders and Satoshi. Later, Shion confronts Rika about the murders, leading to a confrontation between the two. Once night falls, the truth behind Rika and Satokos disappearance at that night is revealed.

21 - The Detective Chapter - Part 6 - Conviction

Shion tricks Keiichi in a phone call and later tricks the townsfolk in order to make Keiichi a murder suspect, however she quickly realizes that Oishi suspects her instead. When discovered by Rena and Keiichi, Shion lures Keiichi away and knocks him out in front of Mion. The truth behind the sisters fate is revealed.

22 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 1 - Happiness

Rena discover the true character of her fathers girlfriend and grows a deep hatred for her.

23 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 2 - A Place to Return to

Rena disposes of Rina and her lover Teppei, after discovering their plan to con her father. Discovered by her friends, she ends up getting support by them, and they help her hide the bodies, but during the night of the Watanagashi festival, she is interrogated by Oishi and wonders if he suspects of her.

24 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 3 - File No. 34

While studying Takanos scrapbooks, Rena starts to unveil the the truth behind Oyashiro-sama and Hinamizawas dark past.