Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - doujin game translation - Onikakushi complete

Okay, I'm nearly a fortnight late on this but updates had become few and far between. The fan translation of the "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" (When They Cry) visual novel has come so far that they have completed the whole of the first story in the game! :D

Their website: http://sonozakifutagotachi.blogspot.com/

Hooray for Sonozaki Futago-tachi! ^_^

Now I can happily read this and make myself go O_o aaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! >_<
[tenshi_a hides under a duvet or something]

(well, I will do if they've done it right!)

Higurashi update

Some When they Cry news...



"Sonozaki Futagotachi" have released a patch for up to day 12 of the visual novel translation! Hooray!

The Higurashi movie came out about a fornight ago in cinemas in Japan - I haven't heard if it's any good or not, yet. It covers the first arc of the story, a second film has also been announced.

There's a DS game coming out next month. I've seen preview screenshots, and it features pics of 5 new characters! They are mentioned on the official site but there are no pictures. The game seems voiced as there are seiyuu listed. I have seen a description of what you get with the Ltd Ed of the game, it sounds like getting a bunch of cursed items for free. T_T One thing I noticed is that as it comes with a box to store 4 games, so that suggests this must be the first of 4 games.

Preorders: Regular version, Limited Edition.

Also, related, the two released volumes of 07th Expansion's newer story, "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" has been translated and game patches are being released.

EDIT: Oh yes, I forgot... a new OVA - Higurashi no Naku Koroni Rei (OAV) has been announced, but I have not heard of a release date or further details yet.

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - doujin game translation (2)

Although it was released on the 24th of February, I only just noticed that the "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" doujin translation project has made another release, and the translation now goes up to day 9. You can get it by following this link. ^_^

I'm downloading the new patch now! ^__^

I've started reading it already (using the patch that goes up to day 5), but haven't read very far yet. I'm quite enjoying it, and I think the characters' personalities shine through more strongly than I remember them doing in the anime version. Some of their talents and their quirks are introduced earlier in the story.

The artwork.... I would describe as.... foamy. Everyone looks kind of like they're made out of foam. See:





EDIT: the new patch works fine, but my save files started at different points of the story; I think they got messed up...

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni - doujin game translation

Over the last few weeks I've really been getting into the anime version of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni". It's a really brilliant series, excellently executed in such a way that it's richly layered, unfolding in the most gripping and entertaining way. It's fairly gruesome in a few places, though, so not for the weak-stomached... I'm up to the 23rd episode of the first season so far...

This first season of this series started being released on DVD in the US by Geneon, but they've since stopped releasing DVDs, so that's a pity. It's only possible to legally buy half of the TV series in English.

The series was based on a multi-part doujin visual novel (or, sound novel, the box says - which means it's mostly text, not so visual) by "07th Expansion", and a group of fans are working on translating the text into English. Their work is available here: http://rapidshare.com/users/MQK6IW

So far they've done the first five days of the Onikakushi arc game (the first story in the anime series), both for the free demo version of the game and for the full version of the game. I haven't tried it yet. I've placed an order for what I thought was a copy of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni game, but if the pics on wikipedia are anything to go by, that may just be the Himatsubushi arc game (which is the "time wasting" arc, the last of the "question" arcs in the game and the middle of the TV series). Which, on its own, would be a waste of time. But then, the fan-translators point towards instructions on buying Higurashi online to download and play, and it has the same boxart. So, I'm a bit confused. It mentions on wikipedia that each of the answer arcs contains the previous game, so maybe the final question arc did too? Oh well, I'll see how it goes. I also ordered a CD at the same time so I expect I'll be happy with whatever turns up. I want to finish watching the anime series first, and go onto viewing the second season (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai).

BTW there's a live-action movie coming this year as well. The very idea makes me somewhat afraid.

EDIT - 2008-02-11 20:30: My copy of the Higurashi game arrived today, hooray! It says on the fan translation site that their patch is made for the Himatsubushi-hen version of the game (maybe I didn't notice before), so it'll be the right one. I need to clear up some space to install it. I've listened to the CD - the Yukino Satsuki version of "you" - I really love it. I like this tune, it's so addictive. ^__^