#When They Cry – SOTSU To Reveal Its Answers On July 1

Horror-mystery anime Higurashi: When They Cry – Sotsu is set to premiere on July 1, its Twitter page revealed. Additionally, the first two episodes will be aired consecutively in Japan.

Sotsu is the continuation to 2020-2021’s Higurashi: When They Cry – Gou and also serves as its Answer arc. Gou premiered as Higurashi: When They Cry – New, before revealing its actual title to be Gou after the release of the second episode. The anime initially seemed like a remake of the 2006 anime adaptation of the Higurashi When They Cry visual novels but has since introduced new story elements and deviations. 

In a blog post, Funimation explained, “The kanji for SOTSU and GOU together is sotsugyou 卒業, which means ‘Graduation,’ and is a big part of the story in GOU.” 

For Gou, Funimation wrote, “Gou, or 業, is a Japanese kanji that has multiple meanings and usages, but can be used to mean karma, or the fate resulting from one’s actions in past lives, based on Buddhist concepts.”

A trailer and key visual for Sotsu were released in late May, while two previous trailers were released in March and April respectively. The anime was announced in March.

As with Gou, the staff for Sotsu includes Keiichirō Kawaguchi as director, Naoki Hayashi as series composer, Akio Watanabe as character designer, Takashi Ikehata as assistant director, and Kenji Kawai as music composer.

Meanwhile, the cast includes Yukari Tamura as Rika Furude, Mika Kanai as Satoko Honjō, Soichiro Hoshi as Keiichi Maebara, Mai Nakahara as Rena Ryūgū, and Satsuki Yukino as Mion and Shion Sonozaki.

Hulu describes Gou as:

Moving to the quiet village of Hinamizawa, Keiichi easily finds friendship amongst his new classmates. Ready for the largest festival of the year, he’s unable to dismiss a looming sense of dread. What dark secrets lie buried in his new home?