Higurashi: When They Cry Gets a New TV Anime From Studio Deen

A new anime for Hinamizawa

The Higurashi: When They Cry franchise is returning to television. A new TV anime was revealed through a freshly cut promotional video, unveiled during a livestream marking the 20th anniversary of the original series. The official Higurashi anime account confirmed the project, and reporting from Crunchyroll and Anime News Network ties the reveal to a 20th anniversary announcement from Kadokawa.

Animation production returns to Studio Deen, the studio that adapted Ryukishi07 and 07th Expansion's visual novel back in 2006. That makes this something of a homecoming, and the new teaser visual leans into the idea, with a smiling Rena set against the tagline "Welcome home, everyone."

The original cast reprises their roles

The promotional video confirms that the voice cast from the earlier Deen adaptations is coming back. Soichiro Hoshi returns as Keiichi Maebara, Mai Nakahara as Rena Ryugu, and Satsuki Yukino as the twins Mion and Shion Sonozaki. Mika Kanai reprises Satoko Hojo and Yukari Tamura returns as Rika Furude. The teaser also includes newly recorded dialogue from Rena, giving fans a first taste of how the project will sound.

Background

Higurashi began as a 2002 sound novel from 07th Expansion and grew into one of anime's defining psychological horror franchises. Set in the quiet rural village of Hinamizawa, it follows Keiichi and his friends as ordinary school days curdle into paranoia, violence, and a supernatural mystery bound up with a local curse. Studio Deen's original run spanned the first series and its sequel, Higurashi: When They Cry Kai, while the property was more recently rebooted by Studio Passione with Higurashi: When They Cry GOU in 2020 and its follow-up SOTSU in 2021.

What we know so far

For now, the announcement is deliberately spare. There is a PV, a teaser visual, an anniversary logo built around a tear-off calendar motif, and a confirmed studio and cast. What there is not, yet, is a release window. No premiere date has been announced. It is also unclear which part of the Hinamizawa story the new anime will cover, whether it retells the original arcs or pushes into new territory, and the announcement does not say. Given how the 20th anniversary stream framed the reveal, the project reads as a celebration of the television anime's legacy, though the specifics will have to wait for Studio Deen's next update. Until then, the teaser visual and the returning cast are the firmest details fans have.