The manga adaptation of Higurashi When They Cry was supervised by Ryukishi07 and drawn by several artists, who each adapted one or more story arcs in various magazine subsidiaries of Square Enix or Comp Ace by Kadokawa. Besides the arcs adapted from the visual novel, multiple additional story arcs were written by Ryukishi07 and released for the first time in manga form. It is localized in English by Yen Press under the title Higurashi WHEN THEY CRY.
As the English localization of the manga opted to translate the names of the story arcs, story arcs that are licensed in English will have their translated names used in this article.
All eight arcs from the Question Arcs and Kai were serialized in Square Enix magazines. The first three Question Arcs began serialization near concurrently in May and June 2005. As a result of this, the beginning of the second and third arcs have similar character and setting introduction events as the first arc of the visual novel. The original arc Yoigoshi started serialization between the time Himatsubushi and Meakashi did and was later listed between them in Square Enix's official reading order.[1]
The three arcs from Higurashi Rei were adapted and published by SE in different ways: Batsukoishi was included in a limited gift volume released in June 2008; Hirukowashi was serialized on the online magazine Gangan Online in 2009; finally, Saikoroshi was serialized shortly after the end of serialization of Matsuribayashi in 2011 on the same magazine by the same artist to serve as the conclusion to the Higurashi story. Around the same time, a manga adaptation of Hinamizawa Bus Stop, the prototype script of Higurashi, was serialized on Big Gangan.
The English localization of the manga was announced by Yen Press at New York Comic Con 2008[2]. They were first serialized as part of the Yen Plus anthology magazine, and then later released as bound volumes. The last two arcs of Kai were released in an omnibus format, with one English volume containing two Japanese volumes of content. As of now, all nine arcs in the previously mentioned reading order from SE and Saikoroshi, translated as Dice Killing Arc, have been licensed and released in English and share the same global numbering system. The side story Onisarashi, translated as Demon Exposing Arc, was also released in an omnibus format, after previously having been available as two separate volumes.
The manga was jointly translated into English by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley, and the lettering was done by Shelby Peak (Abducted by Demons, Cotton Drifting), John Hunt/Primary Graphix (Massacre Omnibus 3), Abigail Blackman (Festival Accompanying, Dice Killing), Stephanie Lee (Dice Killing), and AndWorld Design (all other volumes).
Gou and Meguri
A new manga was announced alongside the Higurashi: When They Cry - GOU anime series,[3] illustrated by Tomato Akase, that began serialization on October 2, 2020 in Young Ace UP with new chapters bi-weekly. While the new manga has the same title as Gou and at first seemed to be an adaptation, it was determined to be separate altogether with the announcement of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri as the manga's sequel, as opposed to the Gou anime continuing with the Sotsu anime.
Release Information
Main Arcs
This wiki considers the 10 arcs in the Yen Press global numbering system as "main arcs". The arcs that use black covers are considered "question arcs" while the ones with white covers are considered "answer arcs".
Gou and Meguri are also included here for convinience.
Explicitly non-canon manga works that are neither adaptations of VN arcs nor later adapted into the VN format and adaptations of spin-off games are considered spin-off works and not documented on this page.