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Visual novel fans have been in love with Higurashi: When They Cry for nearly 25 years. Written by Silent Hill f writer Ryukishi07, it remains highly influential in the years since it was released. Now, the landmark visual novel is getting its second anime adaptation, nearly two decades after the first one aired.

Over the weekend, Kadokawa ran a 20th anniversary special for the original Higurashi: When They Cry anime. As part of that celebration, they made the unexpected announcement that a second anime adaptation had been green-lit. “Welcome back, everyone,” read the tagline on a new visual.

The original Higurashi: When They Cry anime first aired back in 2006 and ran for two seasons and a total of 50 episodes. This new series, which doesn’t have a release window yet, is being produced by Studio DEEN, who did the animation for the original anime as well. In addition to the returning animation studio, several cast members are reprising their roles from the Higurashi: When They Cry anime series. 

The biggest question we’ve got about this new Higurashi anime is how it is going to be different from what has come before. The first anime was a fairly faithful adaptation of the original visual novel, albeit one that was forced to cut content along the way. It leaned more into the horror aspects than the visual novel did, with a greater emphasis on gore and death than fans might have expected. Will Studio DEEN’s new Higurashi anime be more of the same but with more modern animation? We don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out.

Each week, Popverse's resident anime expert Trent Cannon runs down the latest and, dare we say "greatest," in anime and manga in Popverse Jump. Some recent columns have included... 

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