In June 1983, a young man named Keiichi Maebara moves with his family to the quiet, rural village of Hinamizawa. He quickly befriends his new classmates at the local school: the sweet but occasionally intense Rena Ryugu, the mischievous and tomboyish club leader Mion Sonozaki, the small and wise Rika Furude, and the energetic prankster Satoko Hojo. Keiichi spends his days enjoying a peaceful, idyllic life, playing board games with his new friends as part of their after-school club.

The tranquility shatters when Keiichi learns about the village’s annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to honor the local deity, Oyashiro-sama. He discovers that every year for the past four years, on the night of the festival, one person has been found brutally murdered and another has vanished without a trace. The locals speak in hushed whispers of a curse placed upon those who threaten the village or try to leave it. Keiichi’s curiosity and growing unease lead him to investigate these mysteries, a decision that causes his perception of reality to begin crumbling. He starts to suspect that his closest friends, who were once so warm and welcoming, are hiding dark secrets and may be involved in the killings. Paranoia sets in as he can no longer trust his own eyes, and the story spirals into a terrifying loop of madness and violence. However, the tragedy is not the end. The story resets, showing the same June from a different perspective, or with different choices made, revealing that the curse of Hinamizawa is far more complex than simple murder. The narrative unfolds across multiple arcs, each providing new clues and raising new questions as it slowly pieces together the supernatural and scientific truth behind the village's dark history.

This complex story was adapted into a live-action television series that aired in 2016. The first season consisted of six episodes, dramatizing the first three story arcs: Onikakushi-hen (Spirited Away by the Demon Chapter), Watanagashi-hen (Cotton Drifting Chapter), and Tatarigoroshi-hen (Curse Killing Chapter). The cast featured Yu Inaba as Keiichi Maebara, Minami Kato as Rena Ryugu, Rika Nakai as both Mion and Shion Sonozaki, Reina Seiji as Satoko Hojo, and Hinata Honma as Rika Furude. A sequel series titled Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni Kai premiered later that same year. This four-episode sequel adapted the next two arcs, Meakashi-hen (Eye Opening Chapter) and Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Atonement Chapter), which serve as answer arcs to the earlier mysteries. Prior to the television series, two live-action films were also released. The first film, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, premiered in Japanese theaters in May 2008 and adapted the Onikakushi-hen arc. A sequel film, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Chikai, followed in April 2009, adapting the Tsumihoroboshi-hen arc.