When The Cicadas Cry Side Story: Cat Killing Chapter), was released in Japan for the first season on Jas a bonus for purchasing all nine anime DVD volumes. An extra episode based on a short story written by Ryukishi07, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gaiden Nekogoroshi-hen ( ひぐらしのなく頃に外伝猫殺し編, lit. The last two chapters are Meakashi-hen (episodes 16 to 21) and Tsumihoroboshi-hen (episodes 22 through 26). Next is Himatsubushi-hen (episodes 14 and 15), the shortest of the story arcs. The first chapter is Onikakushi-hen (episodes 1 to 4), followed by Watanagashi-hen (episodes 5 to 8), and Tatarigoroshi-hen (episodes 9 to 13). The series is divided into six chapters which are based on the first six chapters in the original visual novel series.

The story follows five friends solving the case about unexplained murders occurred for three years in the village. The first season contains 26 episodes and aired from April 4 to Septemon a number of television networks, including Chiba TV, Kansai TV and Tokai TV.

It was released in English by Geneon and Funimation, under the title When They Cry – Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The series was directed by Chiaki Kon, with Toshifumi Kawase handling series composition, Kyūta Sakai designing the characters and Kenji Kawai composing the music. It was animated by Studio Deen, and produced by Frontier Works, Geneon Entertainment and Sotsu. The first season titled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni ( ひぐらしのなく頃に).

English titles in the other seasons are not official. The English titles for the first season are accorded to the titles used by Funimation. Higurashi When They Cry is a Japanese anime television series based on Ryukishi07's visual novel series. When They Cry volume one DVD cover by Geneon.

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