Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, also known simply as When They Cry prior to 2020, is a Japanese loss of life mystery dōjin soft visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion that comprises the first two entries of the When They Cry franchise.
Production companies Frontier Works, Geneon Entertainment, Studio Deen, and Sotsu collaborated on the first anime series. Kyta Sakai designed the characters, while Kenji Kawai composed the music. Televised in Japan from April 4 to September 26, 2006.
In the summer of 1983, Keiichi Maebara went to Hinamizawa, where he rapidly became inseparable from Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. But there’s a dark side to their perfect lives.
Keiichi hears about the local stories surrounding the village’s annual celebration as it prepares. The celebration and the village’s patron god, Oyashiro, appear to be connected, causing him anxiety. To his surprise, Keiichi’s new buddies are curiously silent and unwilling to answer his questions. Worried about what more his pals are hiding from him, he wonders if he can really trust them.
In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a story told in various arcs, Keiichi’s craziness and paranoia lead him right into the mysteries.
For all you supernatural mystery anime viewers out there, here’s a list of 35 great anime recommendations similar to Higurashi when they cry. If you are looking for something dark, suspenseful, and with a lot of plot twists, then you must check out some of these series. Be warned though – many of them are not for the faint-hearted! So sit back, relax and get ready to be blown away by some of the best anime out there. Let’s get started!
Claymore
The Claymore anime is based on Norihiro Yagi’s manga series of the same name. Hiroyuki Tanaka directs, and Madhouse Studios produces. The first through eleventh manga volumes are adapted in twenty-four episodes. The final two episodes have a unique storyline not seen in Yagi’s manga. This anime has a lot of intense scenes and has an ample amount of mystery elements and strong female characters.
When a shape-shifting monster known as “youma” emerges in Raki’s village, a lone female with silver eyes and a sword enters into town. She is a “Claymore,” a half-human, half-youma creature created to take out monsters. The Claymore saves Raki’s life after his family loses their lives, but he is exiled. Raki finds the Claymore, Clare, and starts following her on her trips.
Clare’s organization and other warriors are revealed as the two travel from town to town, eliminating youma. They are getting closer to the youma, who Clare has been seeking vengeance on since she became a Claymore.
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Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone
“Yosuga no Sora: In Solitude, Where We Are Least Alone” is a CUFFS adult visual novel. A manga adaptation and an anime television series were made of it.
Yosuga no Sora was turned into a 12-episode anime series on October 4, 2010. Each episode has a 22-minute feature and a 3-minute omake. A multi-arc branching plot tells Kazuha, Akira, Nao, and Sora’s stories independently while sharing common episodes.
Haruka and Sora Kasugano lost both their parents in a tragic tragedy. They returned to their childhood home, living in the same rural, picturesque hamlet they did four years earlier.
Returning to such a memorable spot means recalling all of their shared memories, whether they were happy or sad. The story of Haruka and Sora becomes increasingly complicated as their lives are slowly touched by acts of love, friendship, envy, and even desire.
Perfect Blue
Satoshi Kon’s Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese psychological horror anime film. Based on Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s novel Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis, Sadayuki Murai wrote the screenplay.
CHAM! has spent the previous two years delighting supporters. Unfortunately, all good things eventually come to an end, and Mima Kirigoe must quit CHAM! to follow her acting career. Mima hopes her supporters will continue to support her despite the conflicting reactions.
After leaving the gang, Mima’s life changes dramatically. To lose her pop-idol status, she takes on a role in a offense drama series, which increasingly demands more of Mima and her manager, Rumi Hidaka. An infatuated admirer who cannot understand that Mima is no longer an innocent idol begins chasing her; a new unidentified website begins meticulously impersonating her life; and CHAM! looks to be doing well without her. Each frightening event makes Mima more mentally unwell and unable to separate reality from fiction.
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Le Portrait de Petit Cossette
Le Portrait de Petit Cossette is an Aniplex amazing anime series animated by Daume. It has cute characters and a touch of the element of mystery.
Eiri Kurahashi is a Japanese art student working in an antique shop. Eiri’s friends observe a sudden and worrying change in behavior as he gets more forgetful and his demeanor shifts. They swiftly decide to pin their friend’s problems on a girl.
But Eiri has begun seeing a cute girl trapped within an ancient Venetian glass that his uncle acquired in France. She appears to be in a strange, other universe, totally confined behind this glass, but her vision persists in Eiri’s head. A peculiar little girl has captured his heart, and he has been enamored with her. On learning her name and that her life was taken alongside her family, he is drawn to the intriguing Italian artist Marchello Orlando.
One night, when he closes the business, he hears a voice urging him not to leave. Finally, meeting his obsession, he makes an ambiguous pact.
Zettai Shounen
Directed by Tomomi Mochizuki and written by Kazunori Ito, the series includes character designs by Sunaho Tobe, who also designed the series’ light novel adaptation, which was published in Dengeki Bunko in 2005. The anime television network Animax then showed it in English across Southeast Asia and South Asia.
People are often most susceptible when lonely and unable to connect with others. Isolation is felt more acutely in a crowd, so some seek refuge in the most unlikely of settings. Ayumu Aizawa, a former city kid, now living in Tana’s countryside, and Kisa Tanigawa, a young girl with social anxiety. They both share a sense of life gone awry.
Zettai Shounen recounts unusual occurrences in two different contexts that have no explanation. All we know is that these occurrences tend to be centered on people with conflicted emotions.
Deadman Wonderland
Deadman Wonderland is a Japanese manga series authored by Jinsei Kataoka and drawn by Kazuma Kondou. A cool action anime that dips into gory horror anime and anime with plenty of moe from time to time.
Ganta Igarashi and his classmates were prepared for a class field trip to a prison entertainment park called Deadman Wonderland, where offenders take the life of perilous activities for the amusement of bystanders. Ganta’s world is turned upside down when a mysterious man in red massacres his entire class. Then Ganta would be sent to the very prison he was intended to see.
It is a world of vicious inmates and mysterious powers, with a lethal collar around his neck that can only be slowed by winning the prison’s nightmarish games. In Deadman Wonderland, Ganta must risk his life to survive in a brutal world where he must uncover the enigmatic “Red Man” and clear his record.
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Paranoia Agent
The Shounen Bat (Little Slugger) terrorizes Musashino City. The assailant on rollerblades and wielding a golden baseball bat is impossible to apprehend, let alone comprehend. Tsukiko Sagi, a famous yet shy character designer, is suspected of coordinating the attacks. But, Tsukiko is one of Shounen Bat’s many sufferers.
While Shounen Bat continues to terrorize the town, cops Keiichi Ikari and Mitsuhiro Maniwa start to question the identity of the attacker. However, more attacks occur, and word of the infamous golden bat spreads. Fearful rumors circulate among adults and children equally, causing paranoia.
What lies behind Shounen Bat, or will paranoia get the better of the two detectives?
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From the New World
From the New World is a 2008 Japanese novel by Yusuke Kishi. The novel was adapted into a manga serialized in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine and an anime series by A-1 Pictures.
Saki Watanabe, 12, has just discovered her psychic abilities and is excited to return to Sage Academy, a unique school for psychics, with her friends Satoru Asahina, Mamoru Itou, Maria Akizuki, and Shun Aonuma. Unrest looms as Saki questions the fate of anyone unable to realize their talents, and the kids become entangled in mysterious affairs like the mythical Tainted Cats who allegedly kidnap youngsters.
From the New World follows Saki and her pals as they grow into their positions in the fabled utopia. Accepting these responsibilities may not be easy when confronted with society’s dark and terrible facts and the looming chaos of the new world.
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Boogiepop Phantom
A TV anime series created by Madhouse based on Kouhei Kadono’s Boogiepop light book series. In addition to Takashi Watanabe’s direction, the series features character designs by light novel designer Kouji Ogata and sound design by Yota Tsuruoka.
Five years ago, a succession of losses of life shook the city, and now the rumors returned. Meet Boogiepop one dark night, and you’re taken. Everyone laughs and tells the stories: no one believes she could exist in this day and age. Strange things are still happening, and the darkness is taking different shapes. Something exists. Is it safe?
Bokurano
Bokurano is an anime adaptation of a sci-fi manga by Mohiro Kitoh that ran in Monthly Ikki from 2003 to 2009. One of the few sci-fi psychological thrillers disguised as a fun mecha anime.
15 kids (8 males, 7 girls) are at a summer camp when they find a grotto near the sea. They uncover a chamber full of computers and Kokopelli, who presents himself as the proprietor. He says to be working on a game where a huge robot defends Earth from 15 different extraterrestrial invasions. Kokopelli can’t test the game yet, so he convinces everyone but one of the kids to join up for a fun excursion.
However, things start to go downhill fast after the contracts are signed. In Bokurano, the kids must now control the huge robot Zearth one by one, hoping to defeat all adversaries. But Kokopelli omitted one vital detail: the enormous robot Zearth’s energy source.
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Tokko
Shindou Ranmaru has recently graduated from the police academy and has been posted in Tokko: Special Mobile Investigation Force. He meets the female he has seen in his dreams on the day of his graduation. Her name is Rokujo Sakura, and she works for Tokki’s secret squad, Tokko: Special Public Safety Task Force. Shindou eventually joins Tokko in order to revenge his parents’ s and investigate the intriguing mystery of a mass loss of life in his hometown of Machida. Meanwhile, bottomless pits sprout all over Japan, and strange animals emerge from them. Could these occurrences be linked to the Machida Massacre?
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Neon Genesis Evangelion
Well, anime people, everyone already knows this psychological thriller disguised as a mecha anime, right?
15 years after the Second Impact, a new menace emerges: terrible celestial beings known as “Angels” invade Tokyo-3 one by one. Even with the most modern weapons and military strategies, mankind cannot defeat the Angels. NERV, a mysterious organization directed by the frigid Gendou Ikari, holds the sole hope for human salvation. NERV uses huge humanoid robots called “Evangelions” to battle the Angels with superior weapons and Absolute Terror Fields.
Shinji Ikari, Gendou’s 14-year-old son, arrives in Tokyo-3. Shinji is always battling his deep-seated pain caused by his mother’s and his father‘s emotional neglect. Shinji’s life changes dramatically when he meets 29-year-old Misato Katsuragi, a high-ranking NERV agent who gives him a free-spirited mother tenderness he’s never known.
Gendou discloses his genuine motivation for calling his son back to Tokyo-3: In Evangelion Unit-01, Shinji is the only child who can control the robot using his biometrics. Shinji protects Tokyo-3 against the heavenly menace, blind to his father’s sinister ambitions.
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The Lost Village
A bus full of oddballs is heading to the mythical Nanaki Village, where one can reportedly start over and live a beautiful life. While many have different theories about why the hamlet isn’t on any maps or why even the cops can’t find it, they are all excited about their new life and what awaits them once they arrive.
After a few misadventures, they finally reach Nanaki Village, only to find it deserted. The level of deterioration indicates it has been abandoned for a year. In the midst of the chaos, they discover bloody scratch marks in the woods. Will they ever be able to uncover the mystery of this lost village?
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RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne
A six-part Japanese anime series by Xebec and Genco, RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne. The animation was made to celebrate the AT-X network’s tenth anniversary. This anime is packed full of intense themes… Long story short, it’s rated R+.
Many people aspire to immortality. But would it be so sought if it meant countless attacks? So it is with Rin Asougi, an immortal private detective who has many enemies. She’s been took the life of numerous times over the years, but she always comes back to life.
In 1990, Rin met Kouki Maeno, a guy who believes his memories are false. By agreeing to aid him, Rin learns that Kouki is not who he seems to be. This foe knows Rin and her kind well, and she may perish by his hand.
Shiki
Shiki anime is based on Ryu Fujisaki’s Shiki manga, which is based on Fuyumi Ono’s Shiki novel series.
In the tranquil village of Sotoba, fifteen-year-old Megumi Shimizu dies suddenly, triggering an epidemic that turns the scorching summer into a season of blood and dread. Toshio Ozaki, a young doctor, begins to mistrust the disease’s nature and realizes that he must lose his humanity to find the truth. With Megumi’s still fresh in his mind, Natsuno Yuuki, a troubled city teenager, must confront the sorrow of friendship. Toshio and Natsuno create an odd team to stop Sotoba from becoming a vampire ghost town.
Based on Fuyumi Ono’s horror novel, Shiki is not your typical vampire tale (no shiny ones here). It’s a heartbreaking tale of existence in a world where good and evil are muddled. Forgotten by God, the Shiki, as the vampires call themselves, battle the paranoia and mistrust of the people. Shiki explores the line between man and beast.
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Okamikakushi: Masque of the Wolf
Okamikakushi: Masque of the Wolf is a Japanese visual novel created and distributed by Konami for PlayStation Portable. In Japan, it came out on August 20, 2009. AIC’s anime adaption premiered in Japan in 2010.
Hiroshi Kuzumi, 15, and his family relocate to Jouga, a mountain town. Unlike some youths who may struggle to fit in or feel out of place in a new situation, Hiroshi is warmly welcomed by his new peers. He rapidly makes two friends: Isuzu Tsumuhana, his neighbor, and Kaname Asagiri, a newcomer to Jouga. Hiroshi’s new existence appears normal until individuals start disappearing.
Hiroshi is assured the vanished townspeople have just moved away or been reassigned, but he senses something is amiss. Meanwhile, masked individuals headed by a female with a scythe follow their target in the nighttime streets of Jouga. Who are they, and are any of the locals safe?
Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek
Shuhei Morita wrote and directed Kakurenbo: Hide & Seek. It has a dark atmosphere brought by its unique animation style and ample suspense, but the actual theme and the IMPLIED horrific s make it a bit unlikely to be on this list. But the delivery and the aspect of mystery are pretty convincing, too.
Children in fox masks play hide and seek near the ruins of an old Kowloon-inspired city. The kids who play this game vanish, carried away by demons. Kakurenbo portrays Hikora, a boy hoping to find his sister Sorincha and understand its dark secret. This anime aims to convey that Tokyo’s natural beauty, including children’s activities like hide and seek, is being sacrificed for industrial growth, i.e., lighting the metropolis of Tokyo.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo
Denpa Teki na Kanojo is a light novel series by Kentaro Katayama. A two-part OVA adaptation was released in 2009. It’s modeled from the first and third light novels. There are small amounts of mature themes, crazy characters, mysterious s, and a baseball bat, so it’s pretty close.
Delinquent Juu Juuzawa is a lone wolf who just doesn’t value human friendship. So when Ame Ochibana asserts they are connected from prior lifetimes, he is dubious and refuses to speak with her. Stranger still, she longs to be his servant. He attempts to remove himself from Ame, believing she is mentally unwell. When a classmate is slain, Juu chooses to keep the odd girl close. But as the two work together to investigate the loss of life , her brains and talent become vital.
Denpa Teki na Kanojo is a narrative of love, loss, and commitment that shows unexpected allies. It’s not as dark and supernatural as When They Cry, yet with the same blood and mystery.
Ghost Hound
“Ghost Hound” is an anime television series made by Production I.G and Masamune Shirow. Shirow created the concept and design in 1987.
Strange things are happening in Suiten. Spirits have begun to roam in the mountains, and Tarou Komori has weird dreams. Since being kidnapped 11 years back, he has suppressed any memories that could reveal what truly happened. But they come back in his dreams, along with other experiences.
In Shinreigari: Ghost Hound, three children must face their demons and mend the rift between the spiritual and physical worlds.
School-Live!
School-Live! is a manga series created by Nitroplus’ Norimitsu Kaiho. From July to September 2015, Lerche showed an anime version. The anime adaptation premiered on June 21, 2014. Masaomi Ando directed the series at Lerche, with writing by Norimitsu Kaih and character designs by Haruko Iikuza. The title and cute characters on the poster may make it look like a slice of life anime, but trust us, there’s a lot of mature themes.
Yuki Takeya adores her school and never wants to leave! Yuki, a third-year high schooler and member of the School Living Club, loves her life at Megurigaoka Private High School. Members include president Yuuri Wakasa, athletic Kurumi Ebisuzawa, mature junior Miki Naoki, supervisory teacher Megumi Sakura, and club dog Taroumaru. In addition to meeting after school, members must live on campus, from sleeping to eating.
But all is not what it seems. Watch this cast of characters as they face true horror that nobody should go through.
Ga-Rei-Zero
The Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Division (SDCD) protects citizens from invisible creatures in Japan. They can eliminate these monsters quickly and quietly. But now, they face a new challenge: a betrayal.
Since her mother’s several years ago, Kagura Tsuchimiya has been raised by the Isayama family. Tsuchimiya and Yomi Isayama become inseparable and operate as exorcists for the SDCD. With their sacred responsibility weighing on them both, and family politics affecting their relationship, Kagura and Yomi begin to drift apart. One of them develops into her job as an exorcist, while the other goes down a terrible path that may not be redeemed.
Haibane Renmei
A young Haibane—a person with a halo and small gray wings—awakens from a cocoon in the town of Old Home to a world she doesn’t understand because she has no memories of her history. Rakka is named after her dream of falling while inside the cocoon, and she quickly adapts to life in the unusual town. The Haibane, on the other hand, are subject to rigorous laws, such as not leaving the village or going near the walls that surround it. These, combined with strange disappearances of their species on their “Day of Flight,” start to worry Rakka and the others, who know very nothing about their own sort.
Haibane Renmei chronicles not only Rakka’s narrative but also the stories of people around her, as they live their lives with no memory of the past, seeking to break free from their own pain and eventually find salvation.
Another
Misaki, a prominent student of Yomiyama North Middle School’s class 3-3,lost life in 1972. Ever since, the town of Yomiyama has been cloaked in fear due to its dark secrets.
After 26 years, transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara moves into Yomiyama North’s class 3-3 and notices a weird, sad vibe among the classmates. This 15-year-old high school student is drawn to a strange, eyepatch-wearing, enigmatic girl, Mei Misaki, but the rest of the class and teachers seem to ignore her. Despite everyone’s warnings, including Mei’s, Kouichi begins to come closer to both her and the truth behind the horrible phenomenon haunting Yomiyama North’s class 3-3.
Well, this is one of those anime that got popular with its gruesome s and great use of the element of mystery.
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Party Souls
Nine high school students gather late at night to say goodbye. Many high school students undertake a sort of ritual using small paper charms fashioned like dolls to ensure their friendship.
Not knowing that these charms are linked to Heavenly Host elementary school, which was destroyed years ago following a series of losses of life, lies under the foundation of their own Kisaragi Academy. They must now work together to leave an alternate reality populated by malevolent ghosts of the past—or forever join the tormented spirits.
Party Souls – Bougyakusareta Tamashii no Jukyou is a somber look at atonement, sacrifice, and how the past is always close by, sometimes too close.
Requiem from the Darkness
It is based on Natsuhiko Kyogoku’s short story collection The Wicked and the Damned: A Hundred Tales of Karma.
A young writer named Momosuke intends to produce a collection of 100 ghost stories during the Bakumatsu of the Edo era.
He discovers the Ongyou, a strange trio while researching old myths and stories. Detectives who investigate legends to uncover the truth and put those responsible to justice. The Ongyou force Momosuke to confront horrifying facts, combat his own beliefs, and see things he shouldn’t see.
Hell Girl
Hell Girl is a Japanese anime series created by Hiroshi Watanabe and released by SKY Perfect Well Think, Tokyo MX, Wakasa Seikatsu, Fujishoji, Aniplex, and Studio Deen.
Have you ever heard of the nether region Correspondence? It is only possible for those with deep resentments to visit this mysterious website at midnight, where they can type in anyone’s name and have them sent straight to the nether region. The the nether region Girl, Ai Enma, will not assess whether or not the chosen target merits punishment; she will just take revenge on them for you. There isn’t much known about this girl save that she completes the job quickly with the help of three straw dolls. However, there is one catch: as payment for carrying out such a request, the user must damn themselves to an afterlife in the nether region.
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Chaos;HEAd
A string of losses of life called the “New Generation Madness” captivated Shibuya. As these losses of life gained notoriety, they became hotly debated among locals. Takumi Nishijou, a high school otaku who often has illusions and feels constantly monitored, is unconvinced by these “New Gen” losses of life.
Takumi ignores the actual world and spends his time online gaming and watching anime. However, a user named Shogun sends him a frightening photograph of a man staked to a wall. A pink-haired girl covered in blood calls out Takumi’s name after he calms himself at an internet cafe.
Takumi is caught up in the “New Gen” losses of life, fearing the one committing them is out to get him.
Pupa
Utsutsu and Yume Hasegawa, abandoned by their cruel parents, are led astray by lovely red butterflies. Unbeknownst to them, these red-winged heralds signal the birth of a mystery virus known as Pupa.
Yume becomes a hideous beast with an insatiable thirst for flesh after succumbing to Pupa’s full effects, whereas Utsutsu gains incredible regeneration powers instead. Utsutsu is determined to sacrifice everything to always be there for his lovely little sister, reaffirming a vow made years ago.
Pupa is the story of a kind brother trying to save his sister while saving the planet.
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Betterman
Betterman is a Sunrise internal “Studio 7” anime television series. Director Yoshitomo Yonetani and writer Hiroshi Yamaguchi created this spinoff of The King of Braves GaoGaiGar.
Set in the present day, a random series of terrorist acts rattle the world. In Algernon’s attacks, seemingly normal people abruptly experience psychotic breaks and begin taking the life of everyone around them, often in unsettling ways. Surprisingly, suspects in Algernon attacks frequently demonstrate academic or technical abilities considerably beyond their recognized abilities. A private contractor known as Akamatsu Industries is hired to investigate if Algernon is a sickness, an unknown terrorist group, or something even more unusual.
Monster
Elite neurosurgeon Dr. Kenzou Tenma, recently engaged to his hospital director’s daughter, is on the rise. Not until a seemingly insignificant event affects Dr. Tenma’s life. The hospital director tells him to exchange patients and perform life-saving brain surgery on a renowned performer instead. A poor immigrant worker dies due to the switch, causing Dr. Tenma to have a moral dilemma.
For this reason, Dr. Tenma chooses to operate on Johan Liebert rather than the town’s mayor. Dr. Tenma’s social standing is one of the significant consequences of this choice. Dr. Tenma’s job is restored after the strange s of the director and two doctors. No evidence convicting him, he is released and becomes a hospital director.
When Dr. Tenma saves an offender nine years later, his past resurfaces—he meets the monster he operated on. He must now pursue justice for the devastation caused by the one he saved.
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This is a great list of 30 horror anime like Higurashi When They Cry. We’re sure there are plenty more unsettling and downright confusing dark anime out there, so if you have any recommendations to add to the list, please leave them in the comments below!
