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The manga was licensed for release in English in North America by Yen Press under the title Higurashi: When They Cry and the first volume was released in November 2008. A manga series adapted from the games began with eight different manga artists working separately on one to three of the multiple story arcs and were published by Square Enix and Kadokawa Shoten.
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Novelizations of the game series were released by Kodansha between August 2007 and March 2009. Two sets of drama CDs were produced, one by Wayuta and the other by Frontier Works. The original eight PC releases were released in English by MangaGamer between 20.
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In addition to the original series, new story arcs were created in manga form and in video games for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, in order to expand the story. A bonus fan disc called Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei was released on December 31, 2006. While the first four games carried the overall title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and are considered the first entry in the When They Cry franchise, the next four games were produced under the title Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai and are considered the second entry. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released on August 10, 2002, and the eighth and final game in the original PC series, Matsuribayashi-hen, was released on August 13, 2006. The games are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system. The series focuses on a group of young friends living in the fictional rural village of Hinamizawa and the strange events that occur there in 1983. “When the Cicadas Cry”), known simply as When They Cry for the North American release of the anime adaptation before 2020, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the When They Cry franchise. Higurashi When They Cry (Japanese: ひぐらしのなく頃に, Hepburn: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, lit.
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