6.6/10202 votes#1 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 1 - The Beginning
Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 4/5/2006
Keiichi Maebara, a student who recently moved into the village of Hinamizawa, is invited by his new friends at school to join their club. But while searching for treasure at a garbage dump with Rena Ryugu, he discovers the village is not as peaceful as it seems.
Director: Chiaki Kon
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.3/10178 votes#2 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 2 - Secret
Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 4/12/2006
The annual Watanagashi Festival finally starts, and everyone has fun feasting and playing games. However, in the following day, Keiichi is interrogated by chief police officer, Oishi, about a crime that occurred at the night of the festival, and he starts fearing the villagers might be involved in this and other similar incidents, like Oishi suspects.
Director: Yuji Hiraki
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.6/10173 votes#3 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 3 - Suspicion
Season 1 Episode 3 - Aired 4/19/2006
Delving further into the mysteries surrounding the village, Keiichi's paranoia grows after he starts to suspect that someone might be after his life.
Director: Tsuyoshi Yoshimoto
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
8.2/10192 votes#4 - The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 4 - Distortion
Season 1 Episode 4 - Aired 4/26/2006
Keiichi's despair reaches its peak. After being captured and sedated, he wakes up restrained by Mion and Rena, and they attempt to inject him with a mysterious drug. Keiichi murders them before taking his own life by clawing his throat.
Director: Hisakazu Ishikawa
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
6.6/10164 votes#5 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 1 - Jealousy
Season 1 Episode 5 - Aired 5/3/2006
Keiichi meets Mion's twin sister, Shion; the two are so identical that Keiichi can hardly tell the difference between them. It is also revealed that Mion has a crush on him.
Director: Son Seung-hui
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.1/10150 votes#6 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 2 - Takano
Season 1 Episode 6 - Aired 5/10/2006
During Rika's ritual performance at the Watanagashi Festival, Shion whisks Keiichi away to sneak into the forbidden shrine warehouse, where Tomitake and his friend, Miyo Takano, are waiting. However, after learning about the other pair's fate, he starts to worry about his and Shion's safety.
Director: Son Seung-hui
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.3/10153 votes#7 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 3 - Lie
Season 1 Episode 7 - Aired 5/17/2006
Keiichi asks Rika for help, but when she and Satoko disappear, he starts fearing for the worse.
Director: Isao Takayama
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.6/10153 votes#8 - The Floating Cotton Chapter - Part 4 - Wish
Season 1 Episode 8 - Aired 5/24/2006
Keiichi and Rena suspect that Mion might be related to Rika and Satoko's disappearance, and confront her at her house. There, he learns from her about the burden she carries as the heir of the Sonozaki family, and tries to dissuade her to surrender herself without success.
Director: Yuji Hiraki
Writer: Rika Nakase
6.8/10143 votes#9 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 1 - Elder Brother
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 5/31/2006
Keiichi's parents leave for Tokyo for a few days. Helped by Satoko and Rika, who makes dinner for him, Keiichi learns about Satoshi, Satoko's older brother, and his mysterious disappearance on the night of last year's Watanagashi.
Director: Tsuyoshi Yoshimoto
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.0/10144 votes#10 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 2 - Bond
Season 1 Episode 10 - Aired 6/7/2006
Satoko is absent from school for a few days. After discovering that the cause of her absence is Teppei, her abusive uncle, who left Hinamizawa after his wife was murdered on the night of Watanagishi, but recently has returned, Keiichi decides to intervene.
Director: Hisakazu Ishikawa
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.6/10141 votes#11 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 3 - Boundary
Season 1 Episode 11 - Aired 6/14/2006
Keiichi comes to the resolution that he must kill Teppei. After brutally beating him to death with Satoshi's baseball bat, he buries the body, and on his way back home, Keiichi bumps into a suspiciously acting Takano.
Director: Chiaki Kon
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.5/10142 votes#12 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 4 - Something Lost
Season 1 Episode 12 - Aired 6/21/2006
Keiichi's mentality is shaken when his friends tells him that he was actually at the Watanagashi Festival with them and Satoko still bemoans her uncle's abuse, despite being sure about having him dead. His confusion grows when he tries to unsuccessfully find the truth.
Director: Matsuo Asami
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.6/10139 votes#13 - The Cursed Murder Chapter - Part 5 - Apology
Season 1 Episode 13 - Aired 6/28/2006
Keiichi goes over to the Houjou residence to ascertain Teppei's existence and finds Satoko in need of clinical help. At the Furude Shrine, Keiichi discovers Rika's disemboweled body, and Satoko believes that Keiichi is the culprit and flees. After fruitlessly trying to convince her that he is not the murderer, disaster strikes the town of Hinamizawa.
Director: Shigeru Ueda
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.2/10132 votes#14 - The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 1 - Hinamizawa
Season 1 Episode 14 - Aired 7/5/2006
Four years ago, during the dam incident, young police investigator Mamoru Akasaka comes to Hinamizawa to find leads to a child kidnapping. After hearing an enigmatic warning from a younger Rika, Mamoru becomes suspicious of some of the townsfolk.
Director: Yuji Hiraki
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.4/10132 votes#15 - The Time Wasting Chapter - Part 2 - Omen
Season 1 Episode 15 - Aired 7/12/2006
Akasaka and Oishi find the kidnappers' hideout and rescue the boy. After discovering that their efforts were in vain because the perpetrators' demand was already conceded, he realizes the real meaning behind Rika's words to him.
Director: Tsuyoshi Yoshimoto
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.2/10127 votes#16 - The Detective Chapter - Part 1 - First Love
Season 1 Episode 16 - Aired 7/19/2006
The events from Watanagashi-hen are retold from another point of view. Shion takes Mion's place in Hinamizawa and is lovestruck by Satoko's older brother, Satoshi, at their first meeting together. But after discovering about the trouble he spends to protect Satoko, Shion starts to loathe her.
Director: Hisakazu Ishikawa
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.6/10129 votes#17 - The Detective Chapter - Part 2 - Distinction
Season 1 Episode 17 - Aired 7/26/2006
Satoshi apologizes to Shion (still pretending to be Mion), and asks her to care for Satoko during the Watanagashi Festival. That night, his aunt is murdered; in order to cover for Satoshi, Shion reveals that she is actually Mion's twin sister. After the police questions her, she is brought back to the Sonozaki main estate to answer to her grandmother for all the trouble she has caused.
Director: Shunji Yoshida
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.7/10129 votes#18 - The Detective Chapter - Part 3 - Demon's Blood
Season 1 Episode 18 - Aired 8/2/2006
Upon talking with Ōishi, Shion finds out Satoshi has gone missing and decides to investigate further into the mysterious murders over the past four years. One day at the library, Shion meets Takano, who tells her more on the history of Hinamizawa and its dark past. As the story skips one year to the present day, similarities between Keiichi and Satoshi brings back memories of Satoshi to Shion.
Director: Matsuo Asami
Writer: Rika Nakase
8.1/10143 votes#19 - The Detective Chapter - Part 4 - Retaliation
Season 1 Episode 19 - Aired 8/9/2006
Shion believes the Sonozaki family is connected to the acts of "demoning away" people in the village, especially that of Satoshi. She imprisons Mion in the dungeon and unintentionally kills her grandmother. Shion pretends to be Mion the next day and confronts Keiichi about the previous night's encounters, to which Keiichi still denies. Later, she finally discovers the ones responsible for Satoshi's disappearance.
Director: Daisuke Tsukushi
Writer: Rika Nakase
8.2/10145 votes#20 - The Detective Chapter - Part 5 - Cold Hands
Season 1 Episode 20 - Aired 8/16/2006
Shion has captured the village head and gets information about the town involving the previous murders and Satoshi. Later, Shion confronts Rika about the murders, leading to a confrontation between the two. Once night falls, the truth behind Rika and Satoko's disappearance at that night is revealed.
Director: Yuji Hiraki
Writer: Rika Nakase
8.3/10154 votes#21 - The Detective Chapter - Part 6 - Conviction
Season 1 Episode 21 - Aired 8/23/2006
Shion tricks Keiichi in a phone call and later tricks the townsfolk in order to make Keiichi a murder suspect, however she quickly realizes that Oishi suspects her instead. When discovered by Rena and Keiichi, Shion lures Keiichi away and knocks him out in front of Mion. The truth behind the sisters' fate is revealed.
Director: N/A
Writer: Rika Nakase
7.0/10133 votes#22 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 1 - Happiness
Season 1 Episode 22 - Aired 8/30/2006
Rena discover the true character of her father's girlfriend and grows a deep hatred for her.
Director: Daisuke Tsuji
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.7/10132 votes#23 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 2 - A Place to Return to
Season 1 Episode 23 - Aired 9/6/2006
Rena disposes of Rina and her lover Teppei, after discovering their plan to con her father. Discovered by her friends, she ends up getting support by them, and they help her hide the bodies, but during the night of the Watanagashi festival, she is interrogated by Oishi and wonders if he suspects of her.
Director: Tomoko Hiramuki
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.4/10134 votes#24 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 3 - File No. 34
Season 1 Episode 24 - Aired 9/13/2006
While studying Takano's scrapbooks, Rena starts to unveil the the truth behind Oyashiro-sama and Hinamizawa's dark past.
Director: Matsuo Asami
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
7.6/10133 votes#25 - The Atonement Chapter - Part 4 - Earth Invasion
Season 1 Episode 25 - Aired 9/20/2006
Keiichi tries to dissuade Rena, but is confronted by her with his own dark secrets. After confessing his past sin to his friends, he finds that he can recall events from Onikakushi-hen, even though they have no bearing on the current situation.
Director: Yuji Hiraki
Writer: Toshifumi Kawase
The Best Episodes of Higurashi: When They Cry Season 1
Every episode of Higurashi: When They Cry Season 1 ranked from best to worst. Discover the Best Episodes of Higurashi: When They Cry Season 1!
After moving into the quiet town of Hinamizawa, Maebara Keiichi spends his days blissfully in school often playing games with his local friends. However, appearances...
Genres:AnimationDramaMystery
Season 1 Ratings Summary
"The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 1 - The Beginning" is the best rated episode of "Higurashi: When They Cry" season 1. It scored 6.6/10 based on 202 votes. Directed by Chiaki Kon and written by Toshifumi Kawase, it aired on 4/5/2006. This episode is rated 0.7 points higher than the second-best, "The Hidden Demon Chapter - Part 2 - Secret".