(Co-Mod Note: Adding a little extra cleared up information to follow up the Twitter announcement.)
The new project will be entitled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku (ひぐらしのなく頃に 拡), and its plot based on Higurashi Outbreak (ひぐらしアウトブレーク), a short story from series author Ryukishi07 that was included in the original soundtrack for the Higurashi Daybreak doujin third-person shooter on the PC.
News of Higurashi no Naki Koro ni Kaku broke minutes ago at an Higurashi 10th Anniversary Fan Meeting (ひぐらし10周年ファンミーティング… it’s been that long already? 10 years?) event held at Tokyo Dome City today.
Several voice actors involved with the Higurashi anime series – Souichiro Hoshi (Keiichi Maebara), Mai Nakahara (Rena Ryugu), Miki Itou (Miyo Takano), and Chafurin/Hirotaka Shimasawa (Kuraudo Oishi) – were present, and the by-invitation-only event (fans had to ballot for entry tickets) was supposed to be just an opportunity for fans to meet the cast and hear them talk about interesting stories from when they were recording the dialogue for the anime.
There were also live musical performances by Rekka Katakiri and anNina, who were responsible for the Higurashi anime ED songs why, or why not and Taishou A (対象a or “Target A”).
According to Twitter user hiro@さすらいのイベリーマン, the surprise announcement came during the event’s ending roll, where they listed the names of all the special guests in attending and thanked everyone. The credits roll eventually culminated in the announcement of the new anime project for 2013, which hiro here described it as Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku Outbreak (ひぐらしのなく頃に 拡アウトブレーク).
Next, Satsuki Yukino, the voice behind twins Mion and Shion Sonozaki, was brought out on stage to perform a live rendition of YOU, which was a BGM in one of the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai visual novels (Meakashi-hen). Yukino was a secret guest, as her appearance was not advertised in the original event listing.
The new Higruashi no Naku Koro ni Kaku anime will adapt the short story “Higurashi Outbreak” by Higurashi no Naku Koro ni creator Ryukishi07 (07th Expansion). Toshifumi Kawase, the series script supervisor of the previous Higurashi anime projects and the director of Higurashi no Naku Koroni Rei, is helming the new anime.
“Higurashi Outbreak” is set in the same Hinamizawa village of the previous stories. The village has been completely sealed off due to a mysterious virus in 1983, and Keiichi Maebara and Rena Ryūgū deal with the outbreak. Souichiro Hoshi and Mai Nakahara, the original voices of these two protagonists, appeared at Saturday’s event before an estimated 700 fans.
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