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MangaGamer.com Acquires Higurashi: When They Cry Visual Novels (Update 2)
posted on by Egan Loo
The MangaGamer.com company has announced at the Anime Expo convention in Los Angeles this weekend that it has licensed the rights to translate 07th Expansion's Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) suspense horror visual novel franchise. According to the company, the license includes the first eight personal computer games, which 07th Expansion calls "sound novels." MangaGamer.com plans to release the first part of the series at the end of October, followed by next one about two months later.
The game series inspired two television anime series, several video anime projects, two live-action films, and manga adaptations by several artists. Funimation has taken over North American distribution of the first Higurashi television series from Geneon Entertainment, but no announcement has been made yet of future Higurashi anime licenses in the region. Yen Press publishes one of the manga adaptations in North America.
Update: More background information added.
Update 2: MangaGamer.com confirmed its plan to release the first four chapters of the Higurashi: When They Cry (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) franchise at the end of October, followed by the next four chapters about two months later. The chapters will be available as downloads from MangaGamer.com's website.
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