< Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni/Characters


The cast of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, and associated tropes. Beware of spoilers.

Protagonists

"Magician of Words" Keiichi Maebara

Voiced by: Soichiro Hoshi (JP), Grant George (EN)

Keiichi Maebara is the main protagonist in the "question" arcs. The son of a famous artist, his family recently moved to Hinamizawa after an unfortunate event involving him in their hometown, where he was the perpetrator of a series of crimes involving shooting young girls with his model gun. His charisma and remarkable talent for speechmaking allow him to easily make new friends and become popular in the village.

Early in the story, in Onikakushi-hen and Tatarigoroshi-hen, he is the one affected by the paranoia and driven to commit murder; however, the inner strength and unshaking belief in his friends he acquires in the other arcs are one of the keys to solving the mystery. Eventually, he is even able to recall some of the events of the past repetitions, which helps inspire Rika to defeat fate.

His arc is "Onikakushi-hen." ("Spirited away by the demon" in the dub)

  • Adaptation Dye Job: Eye variation. The anime and the Mahjong game are the only continuities in the series that display him with purple eyes, though occasionally a manga color will show him with purple.
  • All Men Are Perverts: Strong believer of this and proud of it.
  • Amnesiac Dissonance: "What have I done? I killed Rena and Mion!"
  • Anti-Hero: Type IV in the Curse Killing arc.
  • The Atoner: In Tsumihoroboshi-hen ("Atonement Chapter"), naturally.
  • Bad Liar: Whenever he does anything that will get him in loads of trouble, he will act very guilty and his lies are horrendous, especialy in Watanagashi-Hen and Tatarigoroshi-hen.
    • However, in all other cases, he is an absolute god at getting people to believe crap that he makes up.
  • Batter Up
  • Big Brother Instinct: An incredibly dark twist on it.
  • Big Fancy House: Called "the Maebara Mansion" by the villagers, though about 2/3 of it is taken up by his father's art studio.
  • Bishie Sparkle: Used in liberal amounts.
  • Bishonen: He's noticeably pretty and even sparkles on various occasions.
  • Blue Eyes.
  • Book Dumb: Played with. In the first episode, he's seen helping Rena and Mion to understand their work, and in Tatarigoroshi-hen, it's shown that part of the reason he was teased so much in his hometown was because he was doing too well in school. He just has a different learning style.
  • Break the Cutie: Tends to "snap" rather than "break", though.
  • Broken Ace
  • Butt Monkey: The other members of the club seem to take glee in pulling pranks and embarrassing him even outside their usual punishment games. Especially Satoko who spends hours designing and setting up traps just to humiliate him and Mion whose tabasco sauce/needle filled ohagi convinced him they were trying to kill him. In fairness if your friends treated you like they do and you were suffering from a disease that causes extreme paranoia, you would have probably come to the same conclusion.
  • Buxom Is Better: Averted! In the manga, when Mion boasts before him about her breasts, he tells her they are too big and that he prefers Rena's more average size. Then again, he may say that both to upset Mion and to make Rena blush.
  • The Charmer: Called The Magician of Words for his supreme charisma and talent in bullshitting.
  • Chick Magnet: Though it can also work against him. Shion was attracted to him in Watanagashi/Meakashi and it's one of the things that set her off since she didn't want him to replace Satoshi in her heart. Either way, he has Mion, probably Rena and maybe Satoko based on one of her last lines in Tatarigoroshi as well as general popularity.
  • Chivalrous Pervert
  • Cry Cute
  • Dark and Troubled Past: His family moved to a little town in the middle of nowhere for a reason...
  • Determinator: In sharp contrast to Rika's fatalism.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Has an entire army of loyal fanboys that call him Comrade K because he helped them embrace that All Men Are Perverts.
  • Fan Service: Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, first episode. That's all.
  • The Heart: When he's not a Villain Protagonist. Also, his presence is what gives hope to Rika, since according to her he didn't move to Hinamizawa in two unseen timelines and these were "sad and doomed worlds".
  • The Hero: Takes up the role in Tsumihoroboshi and Minagoroshi. In two of the prior three arcs he's actually a Villain Protagonist.
  • Hot-Blooded
  • Image Song: "Cool ni Nare". Also has a rather humourous rap with Ooishi at least until the end.
  • Inexplicably Identical Individuals: Apart from hair color, he is the spitting image of Satoshi.
  • Intelligence Equals Isolation: In the Tatarigoroshi-hen arc, its revealed in a flashback that he was bullied for being too smart. As a result, he tended to be isolated from the class and even had a dead rat placed on his desk as a result. You know the rest, but this leads him to becoming Book Dumb.
    • Loners Are Freaks: Once, he got bored of studying and decided to shoot down random kids with a BB gun. He stopped and turned himself in because he hit a little girl in the eye.
  • Interrupted Suicide: The full ending of Tatarigoroshi-hen.
  • I Wished You Were Dead: Tatarigoroshi-hen.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: In Tatarigoroshi.
  • Lolicon: In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei, he is revealed to harbor a rather squicky attraction toward Satoko.
    • And he even got a nosebleed at fantasizing at Rika going to a brothel in one of the TIPS.
  • The Messiah: In the later arcs.
  • Murder Is the Best Solution: NO, IT ISN'T!
  • My God, What Have I Done?: The first is that he realized what horrible things he had been doing back in his old life when he was shooting at children with a BB gun. He later confesses this to his friends, which leads him to remember Onikakushi and having an even worse case. Both of these occur in Tsumihoroboshi, or Atonement Chapter.
  • Oblivious to Love: Can't seem to catch on to Mion and (presumably) Rena's attraction to him. Taken Up to Eleven in Musubienishi-hen.
  • Odd Intergenerational Friendship: In Minagoroshi-hen, with Ooishi.
  • Rousing Speech: An expert on these. Mion goes so far as to call him a master of words. Becomes a plot point in Minagoroshi-hen.
  • Smarter Than You Look: He's actually among the most intelligent people in the main cast. Shion in particular doesn't think much of his brains.
  • Supporting Protagonist: The story is really about Rika. However, he is the character that inspires her the most.
  • Sympathetic Murderer: In Tatarigoroshi.
  • Unreliable Narrator: In many of the early arcs, especially Onikakushi-hen.
  • Villain Protagonist: In Onikakushi and Tatarigoroshi. More so in the former than the later.
  • Weapon of Choice: Houjou Satoshi's baseball bat.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: When Rena finds out some things about his past, she calls him on this. Also the catalyst for the Atonement Chapter having the name it has.

"Cute Mode" Rena Ryugu

Voiced by: Mai Nakahara (JP), Mela Lee (EN)

Rena Ryugu is a girl who returned from Ibaraki to Hinamizawa one year ago, and she is in same grade level as Keiichi. She has an obsession with things she perceives as cute, whether they're actually adorable or butt-ugly. Every now and then, she goes treasure hunting in the town's trash heap, searching for "cute" things to collect, and upon finding something "cute", it's difficult to stop her from taking it home. Despite this disarming trait, Rena is shown to be amazingly observant and perspective about the things around her. According to Mion, while Rena might seem cute herself, people should be careful not to anger her as she becomes quite scary. She is especially sensitive about the topic of Oyashiro-sama, who she fears will curse her for leaving Hinamizawa.

Her arc is ""Tsumihoroboshi-hen." (Atonement in the dub)

"Club Leader" Mion Sonozaki

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (JP), Megan Hollingshead (EN)

Mion Sonozaki is the oldest classmate in Keiichi's class. As the elder, she is the class president and everyone looks up to her as the leader. Her social skills are on par with Keiichi, whom she highly respects as a friend and rival (though it is later shown that she has a crush on him). She acts like a tomboy, but has a hidden girlish side. She is next in line to be the head of the Sonozaki household, one of the Three Families which holds tremendous influence in Hinamizawa. Her position as heir is marked by an oni tattoo on her back.

She's really the younger twin, who was born with the name "Shion", but was forced to trade identities with her sister when she received the oni tattoo by mistake.

Her arc is "Watanagashi-hen." (Cotton Drifting in the dub)

  • Break the Cutie: However, compared to the others, she doesn't have as much of a Dark and Troubled Past, and is one of the more psychologically well-adjusted characters in the cast.
  • Bokukko: To the point of using ojisan ("old man") as a first-person pronoun.
  • Brilliant but Lazy / Book Dumb: Don't think she's stupid because she asks Keiichi for help on her schoolwork despite being in a higher grade.
  • Cain and Abel: The Abel versus Shion. Though not as much as you are lead to believe, since Mion and Shion genuinely love each other. She even had three of her fingernails ripped out because she thought it wasn't fair that only Shion had to suffer.
  • Calling the Old Man Out: Calls Onryu out over her unfair treatment of the Hojo siblings after the "distinguishment incident" offscreen (talked about in the Eye Opening chapter. The incident was the last straw as Mion was comtemplating KILLING HER in a Noble Top Enforcer style rebellion.
  • Chivalrous Pervert: Prevalent in the manga where she does such wholesome things as grope Keiichi's rear in the Cotton Drifting chapters and raunchily stares at his crotch in the Curse Killing chapter.
  • Comatose Canary: In the Playstation 2-only Taraimawashi-hen, the inspiration for Satoko's scene in Yakusamashi-hen.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Empty Shell: See Comatose Canary.
  • Fingore - Similar to Shion below, she pulled off three of her own fingernails (though unlike Shion, she did so off screen) because she felt it was unfair that only Shion got punishments despite them being identical twins.
  • A Friend in Need: The origins of the club.
  • The Gadfly: Really loves cranking Keiichi's chain, in part because she's really bad at expressing how she really feels. Her punishment games do however go into borderline Troll territory (still good spirited).
  • Genki Girl
  • Guile Hero: Very much so, to almost Magnificent Bastard levels in her strategising.
  • Image Song: "Futari no birthday" and "Ienai Kotoba".
  • Lady of War: Becomes this in spades in the alteverse sequel manga, Yoigoshi-hen. This technically applies to her twin sister Shion as well, whose body she is possessing.
  • Large Ham: She can get very hammy during club games.
  • My Greatest Failure: The reason she refuses to talk about Satoshi is because she was unable to save him.
  • Nice Girl: Once you get past her playful competitive side, she's one of the kindest members of the cast. And unlike Rena, who is just as nice, she has no dark backstory and apparently never succumbs to Hinamizawa Syndrome.
  • The Ojou: Heir to a prestigous family, though she doesn't quite act the part.
  • One of the Boys: Mion has trouble not just getting her feelings across to Keiichi but also getting him to really acknowledge her actual gender.
  • Only Sane Man: She's the only one in the cast without a Dark and Troubled Past, and other than Rika, the only one who doesn't suffer from Hinamizawa Syndrome in the series (although it's hinted that she does in other Fragments).
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red Oni to Shion's Blue. But her true personality is Blue; she acts Red because it is expected from the "older twin" role she is forced to play. The archetype is referenced by her blue oni tattoo.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Mion is boyish, openly perverted but secretly shy, generous and calm when not playing games. Shion is much girlier, The Tease instead of perverted and tends towards being selfish and hotblooded. Mion herself states that she's the warm friendly one while Shion is cold.
  • Shorttank
  • Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Revealed to be the reason she likes Keiichi so much during the Eye Opening chapter.
  • Spirited Competitor: Moreso than the rest of the club unless Keiichi or Rena get fired up.
  • The Strategist: "If she had joined Napoleon, Siberia would be French territory by now. If she had joined Hitler, the Third Reich would be all over Europe".
  • Tall, Green-Haired and Bishoujo
  • The Lancer / Team Mom: Was the group leader prior to Keiichi's joining of the club, but directs the groups' activities even now. As the oldest member, she usually coordinates the abilities of everyone to maximum and frightening effect in and out of battle. Thus showing her brilliance despite being the most laid back of the group.
  • The Tease: In the manga especially, she has quite a few moments of this in the beginnings of different arcs.
  • Tsundere: A unique type. She neither acts terribly tsun nor dere, but has the classic signs of denying her attraction or her desire for things. Note that since her "nice side" is the dominant personality, she has slight type B leanings.
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: She's a tomboy, while her twin sister Shion is more feminine. At least it appears as such. As noted under Red Oni, Blue Oni, the two act this way because it is expected from them. Deep down, Mion is quite girly, while Shion is, well, you probably know.
  • Tomboyish Ponytail
  • Twin Switch: Frequently with Shion. As children, they switched permanently.
  • Unreliable Expositor: The Sonozaki family is often implicated in the goings on in the village, meaning that of all the cast she has some of the best reasons to lie. Subverted. More than just about anyone else, you can trust what Mion has to say. However, tricks can be played on the reader such as 'Mion' confessing to all the murderers and talking about the history of the village and really playing up the angst. However, not only is this not Mion, Shion was actually bullshitting throughout the entire thing, meaning that at least half of what she said was a lie.
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight: No one ever comments on the gun she carries around. It's an airsoft gun, but you'd still think it would draw some attention...
    • Then again, she is a Yakuza Princess and heir apparent of the Sonozaki household.
  • Waif Fu: Matsuribayashi reveals that she's excellent in hand to hand combat.
  • Weapon of Choice: None. However, in Higurashi Daybreak, she wields her airsoft gun, and in the manga-only chapter Yoigoroshi-hen, she is convinced that Katanas Are Just Better.
  • Yakuza Princess
  • You Gotta Have Green Hair

Shion Sonozaki

Voiced by: Satsuki Yukino (JP), Megan Hollingshead (EN)

Shion Sonozaki is Mion's identical twin sister, who currently resides in Okinomiya. In spite of their different personalities, she and Mion often switch places, and it can be difficult to distinguish between them. She was sent by the Sonozaki family to a private boarding school, but escaped and returned to live near her hometown, where she lives with Kasai. She was in love with Satoshi, and blames the Three Families of Hinamizawa for his disappearance. She works as a waitress at the Angel Mort restaurant and is the manager's assistant for the Hinamizawa Fighters little league team.

She's really the older twin, who was born with the name "Mion", but was forced to trade identities with her sister when she didn't receive the oni tattoo by mistake.

Her arc is "Meakashi-hen." (Eye Opening in the dub) Legendary for its infamy. You Have Been Warned.

  • Attempted Rape: No, she's not the recipient. When she is getting ready to torture Keichii in Meakashi-hen/Watanagashi-hen but decides she might spare his life instead, it's implied this is going to happen. Rena and Oishi show up before she tries anything however.
    • Note that in the VN version of Meakashi-hen, this was never implied, nor did it ever happen. She already knew she was cornered, and just tased Keiichi and went off switch with Mion one last time.
  • The Atoner: After realizing what she did in the Eye Opening Arc, she becomes especially aggressive in protecting Satako in later arcs.
  • The Bad Guy Wins: How Meakashi-hen ends. Despite the regret and shame she feels in the end, she still managed to successfully take revenge on all the intended targets.
  • Breakout Villain: If a "villain" or antagonist for this series ever gets referenced, it's most likely to be Shion.
  • Break the Cutie: Warnings about tormenting cute things apply. She doesn't simply break or snap, she explodes.
  • Cain and Abel: The Cain versus Mion. Though not as much as you are led to believe, since Mion and Shion genuinely love each other.
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: Her MO. Ironically, she was the victim of it herself.
  • Cool Big Sis: To Satoko, as a promise she made to Satoshi. And horribly screwed with in arcs where she goes insane.
  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Disney Villain Death: In the Cotton Drifting and Eye Opening chapters.
  • Does Not Like Spam: She hates canned foods because her father traumatized her into thinking that human meat gets packed inside.
  • Driven to Suicide: In Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen, excluding the anime.
  • Fan Service with a Smile: Her job at Angel Mort.
  • Fingore: Forced to pull out three nails in order to protect people she had endangered.
  • Foreshadowing: From Frederica Bernkastel's poem in Meakashi-hen: "How many years will pass before she wonders if she really dropped them?"
  • Future Badass: In the manga- only arc Yoigoshi-hen. However, She was being possessed by Mion, making her the true badass despite the staggering disadvantage of being dead.
  • The Gadfly: Very much like her sister, though bordering on Troll far more often, particularly when in crazy mode.
  • Go Out with a Smile: Despite her sorrow and remorse over what she's done, she dies pretty happy at the end of Meakashi.
  • Green-Eyed Monster: Normally suppressed, but she has some resentment for Mion because the boy she can still see the boy she likes.
  • Ignored Epiphany: Her reaction to realizing she just crucified Satoko was, number one: wetting herself. Number two: Saying "Oh, what the hell". In the VN, it's expanded upon: She realizes that she forgot her promise to Satoshi, it's just that she felt it was already too late to atone, and she had no choice but to continue what she was doing.
  • Image Song - "Futari no Birthday" and "Ienai Kotoba", along with Mion.
  • I Will Wait for You: Although most of the arcs involve what happens if she forgets.
  • Knight Templar Big Sister: For Satoko after Meakashi arc concludes and she remembers in future arcs that she was asked to protect her.
  • Laughing Mad :In Meakashi and Watanagashi.
  • Love Makes You Crazy And Evil : Meakashi-hen. Enough said.
  • Manipulative Bastard: Also a Magnificent Bastard in Meakashi-hen and Watanagashi-hen.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: After torturing Satoko to death she remembers that Satoshi asked her to take care of his little sister and that while she gave up on Satoshi coming back and went for revenge, Satoko never lost faith. Has a straight example in the Massacre chapter after recalling what she did.
  • Off to Boarding School
  • The Rashomon: Watanagashi-hen was told from Keiichi's point of view, and Shion retells it in Meakashi-hen. Sorta. They actually are different ways of playing out the same sequence, but a few details differ such as who knocked over the bike and had someone come to their rescue.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Blue Oni to Mion's Red. But her true personality is Red; she acts Blue because it is expected from the "younger twin" role she is forced to play.
  • Roaring Rampage of Revenge
  • Serial Killer: Unlike other arcs, her murders occur over the course of days. Visionary type combined with revenge sub-type due to Hinimizawa syndrome.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: Between her and Mion. See Mion's entry for details.
  • Sixth Ranger / Sixth Ranger Traitor in some early arcs.
  • Spanner in the Works: See the trope's page for details.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: Her family is not happy about her being in love with Satoshi. Subverted: Her grandmother long sinced stopped detesting the Houjou family but has to keep up appearances.
  • Start of Darkness: Subverted with the "distinguishment scene". It is so in arcs where she snaps but not in arcs where she doesn't.
  • Tall, Green-Haired and Bishoujo
  • The Chick
  • The Tease
  • Tomboy and Girly Girl: The girly girl. At least it appears as such. See Mion's entry for details.
  • Troll: A particularly malicious example.
  • Twin Switch: Frequently with Mion. As children, they switched permanently.
  • The Unfavorite: As the younger twin, she is denied any family privilege. Especially painful because she is really the older twin, and thus should be the Sonozaki heir. However, it seems that for the most part she doesn't entirely mind because it's not very fun having the responsibilities of the Sonozaki heir.
  • Unreliable Expositor: Like a lot of the cast are at varying points. However, this is specifically referring to almost the entirety of what she says at the end of Watanagashi being bullshit.
  • Villain Protagonist: In Meakashi-hen.
  • Weapon of Choice: A taser, as well as the contents of the Sonozaki family's torture cellar. She also knows how to handle an assault rifle.
  • Violently Protective Girlfriend: GOOD GOD.
  • Yakuza Princess
  • Yandere: During the arcs where she snaps.
  • You Gotta Have Green Hair
  • Yubitsume: What she had to do to gain forgiveness from her grandmother for running away from her boarding school.

"Trapmaster" Satoko Houjou

Voiced by: Mika Kanai (JP), Minx Lee (EN)

Satoko Houjou is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school. In spite of her young age, she seems to have an impressive arm strength and is quite clever in setting up traps, which she likes to practice on Keiichi. Although her personality is quite energetic and mischievous during the events of the games, Satoko's past was full of trauma; her family were outcasts for supporting the dam project that would have destroyed the village though by the time of the series any real hostility towards the Houjous as long since petered out and their pariah status is entirely the product of social inertia, which Keiichi helps to overcome to save Satoko from her uncle, her parents died in an accident caused by Satoko while under the influence of Hinamizawa Syndrome, she was abused by her foster parents (her aunt and uncle), and her beloved brother Satoshi disappeared. She greatly misses Satoshi, and feels that by being strong, he will return. Satoko suffers from Hinamizawa Syndrome, and receives regular injections at the clinic to keep the symptoms under control. She is unaware of her condition, and believes them to be vitamin shots. She cannot tell the difference between cauliflower and broccoli because she is color blind.

Her arc is "Tatarigoroshi-hen." (Curse Killing in the dub)

"Raccoon" Rika Furude

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (JP), Rebecca Forstadt (EN)

Rika Furude is the main character of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai. She is a younger classmate in Keiichi's school, and is in the same grade level as Satoko. Naturally, she is great friends with her, as they live together in the same house. She is the Miko of the Shrine of Oyashiro-sama, and some of the villagers revere her as a prophet. She has been the head of the Furude family since her parents died, but rarely attends town meetings due to her young age.

She is the only human to retain memories of the Groundhog Day Loop, and is mentally anywhere from a hundred to four thousand years old, but hides this and continues to act like a child so as not to alarm her friends. She is the only one who can see Hanyu, whom everyone else thinks is an Imaginary Friend.

Her arc is "Minagoroshi-hen." (Massacre)

Hanyu/Oyashiro-sama/Hainryun Ieasomuru Jieda

Voiced by: Yui Horie (JP)

Hanyu is the mysterious "transfer student" in Matsuribayashi-hen. She has a pair of dark-colored horns on her head, one which is chipped slightly. In fact, she has appeared to Rika all her life, but only in Matsuribayashi-hen did she gain the power to interact with others. She is very meek and often makes the noise "Au au au¦" when she is nervous or uncomfortable. She dislikes alcohol and kimchi, which Rika uses in large amounts when Hanyu is being particularly annoying (Hanyu's and Rika's senses are linked together).

Hanyu is the basis of the legend of Oyashiro-sama, but the legend has become distorted over hundreds of years, and she is horrified by the actions carried out in her name. She is the one responsible for the eternally repeating June 1983, which she created in order to save Rika's life.

Her arc is "Matsuribayashi-hen." (Festival Music)


Supporting Characters

Satoshi Houjou

Voiced by: Mitsuki Saiga (JP - drama CD), Yuu Kobayashi (JP - anime), Darrel Guilbeau (EN)

Satoshi Houjou is Satoko's older brother, who disappeared a year before the story began. It's eventually revealed that he killed his aunt to protect Satoko, but then succumbed to Hinamizawa Syndrome and was taken to the Irie Clinic's basement, where he remains in a coma.

  • Big Brother Instinct: He was very protective of Satoko.
  • Bishonen: Quite handsome along with Keiichi.
  • Break the Cutie
  • Chekhov's Gunman: His disappearance is a major part of what sets off the killers in three of the four question arcs fueling Keiichi's paranoia (Onikakushi), Shion's grief (Watanagashi and Meakashi) and Keiichi's protectiveness (Tataragoroshi).
  • Convenient Coma: Subverted to an extent. It means he's not dead, but he's still sick at the end of the story. He'll be kept in the coma at least until there's a real cure.
  • Cross-Dressing Voices
  • Foreshadowing: From Frederica Bernkastel's poem in Meakashi-hen: "How many years will pass before she wonders if she really dropped them?"
  • Ill Boy: According to Dr. Irie, he was frail due to a heart condition.
  • Knight Templar Big Brother: He killed his aunt in order to protect Satoko. In large part it was due to Hinamizawa syndrome, though.
  • Posthumous Character: All character development is done through flashback And the OVA despite it being alternate universe.
  • Promotion to Parent: For Satoko.
  • Technicolor Eyes: Pink.

Kuraudo Ooishi

Voiced by: Chafurin (JP)

Kuraudo Ooishi is a veteran police investigator at Okinomiya who has vowed to solve the mystery of the Hinamizawa murders before his retirement, due to personal reasons. Due to his uncouth tactics and the lengths that he goes to in order to solve the mystery, he is looked upon as a nuisance by the villagers. He approaches one of the main characters to become his informant in several arcs, and is sometimes unwittingly responsible for triggering their paranoia.

  • Fan Nickname: Mr. Delicious, since his name sounds like "oishii", the Japanese word for "delicious".
  • Inspector Javert: He's usually right, though, like in Tatarigoroshi-hen and Onisarashi-hen. But he's completely wrong in the most important way in that he thinks the Sonozaki's are behind everything. This keeps him from approaching the only person in the group that never goes insane.
  • It's Personal: The dam construction manager who was the first murder victim was a Mentor to him. Once he finds out he was murdered and suspects the Sonozakis of it, he becomes determined to crack the case. However, as noted, this actually works against him because he starts looking for links between events that just aren't there, which impedes his effectiveness.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: His drawling accent, casual manner and crude humor put people off their guard. Unfortunately, it makes him come off as arrogant and causes distrust in him.
  • Odd Intergenerational Friendship: With Keiichi in Minagoroshi-hen.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: In most of the arcs.
  • Retirony - In the arcs where he is killed, due to the short time limit that he has to solve the case before he retires.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: He doesn't realize it, but his actions frequently wind up just making a given arc worse and making it so that there's really no one sane left for Rika to get help from. Particularly egregious in Onikakushi-hen, where he's arguably the cause of Keiichi going off the deep end, but he also exacerbates Keiichi's and Rena's jumps off the cliff in Tatarigoroshi-hen and Tsumihoroboshi-hen, no matter how much help he might turn into near the end of the latter. And his consistent mistrust of the Sonozakis makes it impossible for anyone to trust the one reliably sane person in the group.

Jirou Tomitake

Voiced by: Tohru Ookawa (JP), Kyle Hebert (EN)

Jirou Tomitake is a freelance photographer who comes to Hinamizawa occasionally. He gets along well with Miyo Takano because of their similar interests in photography. Despite being only an occasional visitor, he seems to know a fair amount about Hinamizawa's past. Ooishi and the police are suspicious of his identity.

In the first six arcs, he is consistently found dead of suicide on the night of Watanagashi, triggering many of the events that follow. It turns out later, however, that he is actually murdered by Miyo, who gives him a dosage of Hinamizawa Syndrome that results in him clawing his own throat out.

Miyo Takano/Miyoko Tanishi

Voiced by: Miki Ito (JP), Fuyuka Ooura (JP - young), Karen Strassman (EN)

Miyo Takano is a nurse at the village clinic who has a keen interest in Hinamizawa's past and culture, recording all her speculation in notebooks. At times, her storytelling can be very mysterious and chilling she seems to enjoy putting people on edge. In the first six arcs, she consistently disappears on the night of Watanagashi, and an incinerated body thought to be hers is found in the mountains.

It turns out that she is the mastermind of the events taking place in Hinamizawa, and wants to murder Rika and set off Hinamizawa Syndrome in the whole town so she can prove her grandfather's research. Since her will and manipulations are so strong as to affect the people in the village both directly and indirectly, she in fact fakes her death through the first six arcs of the story (the corpse in the barrel being a stolen corpse), and murders Rika in three of the arcs..

  • A God Am I: The end of Minagoroshi-hen.
    • Specifically, it was influenced by a comment her grandfather offhandedly made, saying that if his research proves fruitful his legacy will live forever, like that of a god. Fast-forward to modern day and Miyo raves about how if she proves her grandfather's research is true, and re-inspires fear of Ooyashiro-sama in the process, she will in effect become Ooyashiro-sama and live forever with her grandpa.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Lampshaded in a serious manner. She keeps sending in the Yamainu to attack an entrenched enemy on their territory no matter how many casualties they take nor how demoralized they are. Any sensible commander would have done a tactical retreat to regroup at the very least.
  • Big Bad
  • Blondes Are Evil
  • Break the Cutie
  • The Chessmaster
  • Cute and Psycho
  • Deadly Doctor: Although she's always one of the first two victims of Watanagashi, she isn't quite so helpless as you'd think. Especially since she isn't really a victim. Plus, her weapons of choice in Higurashi Daybreak are syringes.
  • Designated Victim: Subverted.
  • Deus Angst Machina
  • The Determinator
  • Dissonant Serenity: To contrast all other infected ones.
  • Epileptic Trees: A perpetuator of these in-universe. They range from the clearly correct (the prevalence of the "oni" character in the Sonozaki and Kimiyoshi family names), to the plausible but unprovable (the possible alternate spelling of "Oyashiro"), to the clearly insane (Oyashiro was an alien doctor!)
  • Evil Laugh: Gets a truly epic one when she's revealed to be the Big Bad.
  • Expy: Cute Witch Lambdadelta in Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
    • An extra TIPS implies that Lambdadelta helped Miyo achieve her goals. Other than that, they have no other connection. Possibly.
  • Eyes of Gold
  • Faking the Dead
  • Fan Nickname: Droopy-Tan, for her 'droopy' features that make her appear sleepy-eyed.
  • Freudian Excuse: Grew up in a hellish Orphanage of Fear. Almost immediately after the flashback you are loudly reminded that yes, she's still a sociopathic bitch.
  • From Nobody to Nightmare: From sweet kid to Break the Cutie to detached nurse to sociopathic, murderous researcher.
  • Heel Face Turn: But only in the very end of the series.
  • Ironic Echo: Not exactly a quote, but the scene near the end of Matsuribayashi-hen where her bullet misses Hanyu very closely echoes the scene near the beginning of the arc where "God"'s lightning bolt narrowly misses Takano, immediately after she asks God to either give her a better life or kill her. Since she was spared, she took this as a sign that she is meant to live, and as a result, she became something of a Determinator. It can be interpreted that her bullet missing Hanyu is a sign that Rika and Hanyu's determination to live has finally reached the same level as Miyo's will to live on that day.
    • It didn't miss on purpose. Although the anime does not show this, Hanyu stops time and realizes that the bullet won't miss. Then Rika starts moving, despite time being stopped, and grabs the bullet, moving it so that it won't hit anyone.
  • Hello, Nurse!
  • Karma Houdini: Hello, she tries to kill an entire village over and over again, and what does she get? Treatment for a disease that it wasn't well-established she had and a good cry in her lover's arms. While in that chapter she didn't manage to kill anyone, she's still responsible for Rika's parents, the first murderer and generally being a sociopathtic researcher.
  • Lack of Empathy
  • Magnificent Bastard
  • Milkman Conspiracy- Big Bad or not she's still just a nurse when it comes down to it.
  • Nay Theist: Highly disparaging of the local religion. She actually hates God despite appearing to be a Christian.
  • Numerical Theme Naming: The kanji for her name uses the kanji for three (三) and four (四). Just like how her adoptive grandfather's name is written as one (一), two (二), three (三).
  • Nice Hat: Her nurse's cap. Also, her epic special forces beret.
  • Nightmare Fetishist: Over the legends of Oyashiro-sama.
  • Orphanage of Fear: She was sent to one of these after her parents died, witnessing and suffering lots of horrors there. She got so throughly broken that she went INSANE and became the Big Bad with time.
  • Plucky Girl: Enough will to alter fate itself.
  • Smite Me Oh Mighty Smiter: She challenges God to give her a better life or kill her. A subsequent lightning bolt narrowly misses her.
  • Troll: She seems to enjoy scaring and unnerving people with her horror stories.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Whether it's intentional or not, she's partially responsible for causing Rena to go off the deep end by giving her the scrapbook.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The sweet girl who collected flags and loved to go out with Dad and Mom? Yeah, she grew into an horrible bitch after she was tortured in the orphanage.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Started in Matsuribayashi-hen when Rika was falsely reported as dead for 48 hours and it just got worse after she was beaten.
  • Woman in Black: In Minagoroshi-hen, right before she kills Keiichi and the others one by one until she sacrifices Rika.
  • Would Hurt a Child: A woman who disembowels a little girl? After shooting her friends? Holy crap.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: As part of her nurse uniform.

Kyousuke Irie

Voiced by: Toshihiko Seki (JP), Dave Mallow (EN)

Kyousuke Irie is the head doctor of the village clinic. Initially interesting in being a doctor just for the money, he became devoted to the field of psychosurgery after a head injury changed his father's personality. Despite his young age and the fact that he has a severe maid fetish, he is highly respected in the community. He cheerfully makes house calls and seems to truly care about everyone's health. He has (half-jokingly) admitted that he wishes to marry Satoko when she is older, but is not above chasing after Rika when she is wearing one of the uniforms from the restaurant Angel Mort. In addition, he is the manager of the village's baseball little league team, the Hinamizawa Fighters. It is later revealed that he works under Miyo, where he is trying to find a cure for Hinamizawa Syndrome while not knowing of his employer's true desires.

  • Curtains Match the Window
  • Deadly Doctor: He performed psychosurgery on unwilling patients in the past, although he had good intentions. Patient consent wasn't required at the time.
  • Domestic Abuse: Figures a lot in Irie's backstory. After his father suffered a traumatic brain injury, he began to act abusive toward Irie's mother. The two ended up hating each other, a fact that Irie regrets. This serves as a major motivator for, among other things, joining work with Takano on Hinamizawa Syndrome.
  • Fan Nickname: Pedodoctor.
  • Lolicon: Played for laughs.
  • Meido: His fetish.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: He always listens to the main characters' worries about what's going on and helps them if possible. Unfortunately, when he figures out what's going on, it's not always to the benefit of the character telling the story...

Mamoru Akasaka

Voiced by: Takehito Koyasu (JP - drama CD), Daisuke Ono (JP - anime), Patrick Seitz (EN)

Mamoru Akasaka is a young police investigator at the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo. He befriended Rika while investigating a case in Hinamizawa four years ago, all due to a prophecy about his wife which came true; he, however, just brushed it off as coincidence.

In an untold world, Mamoru regrets being unable to save his wife and Rika, learns martial arts to clear his mind, and hopes to relive the time before the Time Wasting Chapter to save them. Through a miracle, Mamoru inherits his martial art skills in Matsuribayashi-hen, and decides to save Rika from her destined death as a payment for saving his wife through her prophecy.

Teppei Houjou

Voiced by: Katsuhisa Hoki (JP), Steve Kramer (EN)

Teppei Houjou is Satoko and Satoshi's uncle/foster father. He and his wife were forced to take care of Satoko and Satoshi after the death of their parents, but they abused them. He left Hinamizawa after Tamae's death, and currently lives in Okinomiya. According to Kasai, he is a pimp and uses his lover Rina to swindle men out of their money.

Oryou Sonozaki

Voiced by: Shizuka Okohira (JP), Barbara Goodson (EN)

Oryou Sonozaki is Mion and Shion's grandmother and head of the Sonozaki household. She appears to be a very harsh old woman and is considered the most powerful person in Hinamizawa. Both Mion and Shion call her "Oni-baba" ("demon granny").

Shion incorrectly suspects that she was the mastermind in Satoshi's disappearance and accidentally kills her while attempting to interrogate her in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen.

  • Abusive Grandparent: Treats Shion like garbage. Best grandmom ever!
  • Cold-Blooded Torture: The "distinguishment" scene.
  • Crack Pairing: Ends up as Keiichi's girlfriend in the end of Musubienishi-hen due to a technicality.
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Motive for the "distinguishment" scene.
  • Evil Matriarch: Her granddaughters call her demon granny, what more do you need to know?
    • In reality, she's not actually evil, just a Jerkass.
  • Fingore: Again, standard punishment among the Sonozakis. First she had that done when young, then she forced Akane to do it when she didn't like her choice in men, and ultimately makes Shion go through it. (And as a bonus, Mion does it on her own.)
  • May–December Romance: See Crack Pairing above.
  • Meaningful Name: "Oryou" contains the character "oni", as do all the names of the Sonozaki heirs. Oryou's daughter Akane (Mion and Shion's mother) used to have an "oni" in her name, but was forced to change the spelling when she was disinherited for marrying an outsider.
  • Never Mess with Granny
  • Pet the Dog: When she gives her support to Keiichi in Minagoroshi-hen, and later in Matsuribayashi-hen when it is revealed that she was pulling the strings on Keiichi, of all people -- she put real estate up for sale for the explicit purpose of having an energetic outsider kid like him move and clear up the village resentment against the Hojou family.
  • Red Herring: She is an Unwitting Instigator of Doom with a Sure, Let's Go with That policy, and the Yakuza background is not helping her case.
  • Slave to PR: She actually does love her daughter and Shion, plus she forgave the Houjou family long ago, but she has to keep up appearances.
  • Sure, Let's Go with That: A policy she has in place. If anything mysterious happens and it's credited to the Sonozaki's, she acts like she is responsible without confirming it. Nastily deconstructed as this causes a lot of problems.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Major offender of this trope; the Sonozaki family's policy of making them look tougher than they really are bites everyone in the ass by causing them to become incredibly suspicious and cause distrust in the Only Sane Man of the club. Onryu's actions are the primary cause of the Cotton Drifting/Eye Opening chapters. Her Sure, Let's Go with That attitude is a cause for Ooishi being one himself, which causes her to be indirectly responsible for the Spirited By the Demon and Atonement chapter. Her stubborness towards not cleaning up resentment towards the Hojou siblings is a contributing factor in their problems with the Hate Plague.
  • Tsundere
  • You Got Spunk: Has this opinion of Keiichi after he threatens to split her head open if she doesn't give her support to rescuing Satoko from Teppei.

Minor Characters

Rumiko Chie

Voiced by: Fumiko Orikasa (JP), Sam Carr (EN)

'Rumiko Chie is the female teacher of Keiichi's class, who is a parody character of Tsukihimes Ciel-senpai (permission for her usage was given by Type-Moon). The seiyu for her character in the anime series is the same as the seiyu of Ciel from the Tsukihime anime. Going along with the parody, her favorite food is curry rice, just like Ciel.

  • Berserk Button: Don't you dare insult curry in front of her. It won't be pretty. Sometimes she can hear an insult even when she's not in the room!
  • Blue Eyes
  • Expy: If the above wasn't enough, in Higurashi Daybreak, many of Rumiko's moves are direct references to some of Ciel's moves from Melty Blood. In the Expansion Pack, one of Rumiko's alternate outfits is Ciel's nun outfit and, if the player uses this costume, she will talk very much like her Tsukihime counterpart.
    • More specifically, she's an Expy of Ciel-Sensei - she even wears the same pendant. Unlike Neko Arc, her status as just Ciel in a teacher's uniform or as a separate character is not quite confirmed. At least one story in Kagetsu Tohya seems to suggest Ciel Sensei is a separate character, which would make Chie an Expy of an Expy.
  • Hot Teacher
  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Unfortunately, there's generally little she can do.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Curry.
  • Two-Teacher School: Justified. It's a pretty small school, though Keiichi is still impressed that she manages to teach a class full of students from different grades.
    • Higher grade students are also expected to teach to lower grade ones during free study periods, effectively raising the number of teachers.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Tatsuyoshi Kasai

Voiced by: Fumihiko Tachiki (JP), Steve Kramer (EN)

Tatsuyoshi Kasai is an employee of the Sonozakis, who looks like a secret agent. He was more active in the past, but has settled down to become Shion's caretaker.

Rina/Ritsuko Mamiya

Voiced by: Kyoko Hikami (JP - drama CD), Misa Watanabe (JP - anime), Jean Smart (EN)

Rina Mamiya is a woman who appears in Rena's life in Tsumihoroboshi-hen. She is the lover of Teppei Houjou, and together they swindle men out of their money through intimidation and blackmail schemes. Her real name is Ritsuko, but she uses Rina as a fake name.

In Tsumihoroboshi-hen, Rena kills her bloodily to protect her father. Also, in Tatarigoroshi-hen and Minagoroshi-hen, she is murdered by members of the Yakuza when she tries to flee Okinomiya, prompting Teppei to move back to Hinamizawa.

Akane Sonozaki

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (JP)

Akane Sonozaki is Mion and Shion's mother. Although one of her daughters is still the family heir, Akane herself was disowned after marrying someone of whom her family disapproved.

Kiichirou Kimiyoshi

Voiced by: Masaaki Tsukada (JP), Kyle Hebert (EN)

Kiichirou Kimiyoshi is the head of one of the Three Families and the official village chief of Hinamizawa. He seems to be a kindly old man, but is vehement in his hatred for Hinamizawa's enemies. As this includes Satoshi and the rest of the Houjou family, he is killed by Shion in Watanagashi-hen and Meakashi-hen. In Minagoroshi it's revealed that he actually has nothing against Satoshi at all but couldn't publicly state it, eventually supporting Keiichi's efforts to protect Satoko.

  • Meaningful Name: The characters for "Kimiyoshi" can be rearranged to form the character "oni".

Other Characters

Nomura

Rie Tanaka (JP )

Nomura is a woman from the organization 'Tokyo'. She first appears after Koizumi dies in 1981 and confronts Takano Miyo about the future of her research on the Hinamizawa Syndrome.Her true motive is to have the Old Koizumi faction in Tokyo fall down due to the Great Hinamizawa Disaster and the research project becoming a mess afterwards along with wanting to see how far they can decieve people with the syndrome, real or not. She is shown to be a skilled manipulator of emotions, using Takano's grief and acting as though she understands in order to gain her trust and become the new backing up of the research institution.

Okonogi

Jurota Kosugi (JP - drama CD, anime), Ken Narita (JP - games)

Beware the Gardeners, for they are Anonymous, and they are Legion! ...They are actually called the Yamainu ("Jackals"), but they look more like janitors than anything else. Headed by Okonogi, they serve as The Men in Black for the majority of the arcs. They are eventually revealed to be a tactical military unit, supposedly for Rika's protection but long ago bought out by Takano.

  • Eviler Than Thou: Okonogi reveals to Takano that she was just being used by Tokyo, then tells her to commit suicide.
  • Government Conspiracy
  • Informed Ability: Okonogi loses to a teen girl in hand to hand combat. Losing to Akasaka can be forgiven, but Mion is stretching it. He's also completely outmaneuvered tactically throughout the chapter.
    • It's stated the Yamainu are actually a surveillance organization above everything else. So there's adequate reason to suspect their supposed "prowess" in other areas (combat, tactics, etc.) is mostly bluster.
  • The Men in Black
  • Theme Naming - Despite being called the Jackals, titles within the organization are bird-themed.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness - Okonogi gives Takano this treatment when he realizes things aren't going their way. Presumably she doesn't fair any better on other sequences. Strangely enough, this surprises her despite the fact that she knew it would happen even if she won.
  • The Worf Effect - They consistently fail in Matsuribayashi. By the end, the entire unit has lost to a bunch of children and Okonogi himself has lost to Mion in a curbstomp battle despite supposedly being an expert in hand to hand combat.
  • Worthy Opponent - To Mion

Oyashiro-sama

Oyashiro-sama is the guardian god of Hinamizawa, a demonic god of torture and bloodshed. The old legends say that Onigafuchi used to be inhabited by demons, until a sacrifice by Oyashiro turned them human, and that the inhabitants of Hinamizawa are descendants of those demons. Oyashiro-sama is honored by a "Cotton-Drifting Festival", which has dark roots in cannibalism and human sacrifice. Five years ago, when a dam endangered Hinamizawa, the residents prayed to Oyashiro-sama for protection. The dam was cancelled, but ever since, on the day of the Cotton-Drifting Festival, one person has died and another has disappeared, all people who supported the dam. This is the Curse of Oyashiro.

Frederica Bernkastel

Frederica Bernkastel is a mysterious figure in the Higurashi universe, author of a series of poems (fan translated version) (official translation) about the series. The most direct information about her comes from "A Message From Frederica Bernkastel", which basically consists of her laughing about the Wild Mass Guessing that she's Rika Furude or Oyashiro-sama. Frederica has exactly one scene in the anime, after the credits of the final episode, and a few appearances in the manga.

She also appears (or does she?) in Umineko no Naku Koro ni, in which she gets a much more visible role.

  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the games, Frederica will directly address the player, a habit she/her Expy carries over to Umineko no Naku Koro ni.
  • Demoted to Extra: The anime only includes one appearance by Frederica, and none of her poems.
    • Even worse, most people thought that was an adult Rika.
    • The animation studio wasn't completely unfaithful. The next episode previews from the original series may have been a homage to Frederica's poems from the game, given their cryptic nature.
    • Rika also mentions her in Rei.
  • Meaningful Name: "Frederica" is more or less "Furude Rika" in katakana with a minor change, and Rika drinks Bernkastel wine. They also strongly resemble each other. Nevertheless, Frederica insists, "Frederica and Rika Furude aren't the same. Shame on you if you thought so."
  • Pet the Dog: In an alternate ending, Frederica prevents the death of Miyo's parents at the end of Matsuribayashi-hen, giving her a happy ending as well. Which means she won't end up screwing up everyone's life in the future...
    • Kick the Dog:...except for the fact that the village is doomed if Miyo never comes. And this may well have been her intent.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Actually, like Rika, she's quit counting her age.

DS & Manga-Exclusive Characters

Tomoe Minai

Voiced by: Nana Inoue (JP)

Tomoe Minai is a detective who investigates the curse of Oyashiro and the gas disaster. Initially, she got involved through the case of Rena Ryugu back in 1982. She later on gets deeply involved with Natsumi's problems through her investigations. She is included in only the DS renditions of what was known in the manga as Onisarashi-hen. These became Someutsushi-hen and Kageboushi-hen. She also appears in the DS rendition of Miotsukushi-hen and a DS-only arc called Tokihogoshi-hen.

Natsumi Kimiyoshi

Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (JP)

Natsumi Kimiyoshi is a girl whose family used to live in Hinamizawa. After the Great Hinamizawa Disaster, her grandmother starts acting strange, setting off a horrific chain of murders which Natsumi is actually responsible for.

  • Blood-Splattered Innocents: Happens to Natsumi three times. Subverted, because her bloodiness is eventually used to prove that she's not so innocent after all.
  • Continuity Cameo: In the original (PlayStation 2) Miotsukushi-hen, she pops up briefly as a nod to people who had read Onisarashi-hen.
  • Country Mouse: Okinomiya is a bigger town than Hinamizawa, but this sort of dynamic still plays pretty strongly when she moves to the city.
  • Driven to Suicide: Someutsushi-hen only.
    • Suicide Pact: She tries to force Akira into one of these in Someutsushi-hen. It doesn't go exactly to plan.
    • Never My Fault: She actually spends her last words in Someutsushi-hen blaming Akira, presumably for her own death, although possibly referring to her entire episode of Hinamizawa Syndrome.
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: Miotsukushi-hen in the DS rendition. Also somewhat used in the Onisarashi-hen manga.
  • I Can't Believe a Guy Like You Would Notice Me: Before Akira admits he likes her too, her apparently Unrequited Love was largely full of this dynamic.
  • I Am a Monster: At the end of Someutsushi-hen. Ends about as well as Shion's.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: "Help me... Toudou... he... It was my fault...!"
  • New Transfer Student
  • Odango Hair
  • The Ophelia: In Onisarashi-hen's epilogue. She never gets over the guilt from having killed her parents and attempting to kill Akira. After a failed attempt at living with some other relatives who consider her cursed and a failed attempt at living with Akira, she winds up institutionalized, although Akira comes to visit her regularly.
  • Room Full of Crazy: The room with all of the seals that she's locked into by her relatives during the epilogue, in order to protect to relatives from "Oyashiro-sama's curse"
  • Self-Made Orphan
  • Shout-Out: In the PSP game Higurashi Day Break, her charge move looks alot like what Sekai does to Makoto in the finale of the School Days anime.
  • Shrinking Violet
  • Trauma Conga Line: In the manga too, but it's definitely stepped up in the DS version. The gas disaster and her entire family's murders happen in all versions, but Someutsushi-hen tosses in all sorts of college related trauma - she finds out that even though all of her friends are shooting to go to one university, she's being cut off due to weaker grades - and the murder of her boss at a retirement center where she works part-time that was done by a Hinamizawan guy she had just befriended a few days earlier. Of course, She was the one who murdered her family. Also, her attempted murder of Akira, though at that point, she was already pretty well off the deep end.
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: complete with Fake Memories
  • Unreliable Narrator
  • Yandere: Her entire episode of Hinamizawa Syndrome is triggered when she freaks out about Akira seeing paper cut-outs in front of her house intended to ward off evil.

Akira Toudou

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino (JP)

Akira Toudou is a classmate of Natsumi's who she has has a crush on. He admits to liking her back fairly early on and is quickly drawn into the madness surrounding the Kimiyoshi household. Depending on which version, his intervention leads to either a bittersweet ending or a tragic one.

Chisato Saeki and Tamako Makimura

Voiced by: Eri Kitamura (JP - Chisato), Yukari Fukui (JP - Tamako)

Chisato Saeki and Tamako Makimura are two of Natsumi's friends. Both of them first appeared in the Onisarashi-hen manga and were given expanded roles (especially Chisato) in the DS remakes of that arc, Someutsushi-hen and Kageboshi-hen. In the latter arc, Chisato is attacked and hospitalized by Natsumi. Later, she meets Natsumi in the hospital. Although the two struggle for a bit, Chisato is able to calm Natsumi down.

Akira Otobe

Voiced by: Kouki Miyata (JP)

Akira Otobe is a boy who wanders into Hinamizawa 23 years the events of Tsumihoroboshi-hen occur (with a small twist) He gets separated from the group he was traveling into the village with and runs into someone claiming to be Mion Sonozaki, who confuses him with Satoshi. In his hometown, he ran away from his home and got so deep in debt that he came to Hinamizawa with the group in order to comit suicide, only to ditch them at the last minute.

Ryunosuke Arakawa

Voiced by: Tomoaki Maeno

Ryunosuke Arakawa is a reporter who goes to Hinamizawa in order to investigate some of the rumors of what happened there over 20 years ago.

Yae Towada

Voiced by: Ryoko Shintani (JP)

Yae Towada decided to visit Hinamizawa with her boyfriend, Takumi, where she meets Otobe. She suggested the trip to him in order to murder him there, having been driven to that point by his abusive nature.

Takumi Kurosawa

Voiced by: Akira Ishida

Takumi Kurosawa accompanied his girlfriend, Yae, on an outing to Hinamizawa. Early on, it is established that he is rather abusive to his girlfriend. He tried to use the trip as a way to mark having started over by getting a real job and being able to provide a good life for Yae; unfortunately, Yae had not realized this and murdered him in his sleep.

Miyuki Sorimachi

Voiced by: Miyuki Sawashiro (JP)

Miyuki Sorimachi is a freelance writer who appears in the DS rendition of Yoigoshi-hen, accompanying Otobe and everyone else. It turns out that she's actually Miyuki Akasaka, Mamoru's daughter as an adult, and is actually an undercover police officer.

Nagisa Ozaki

Voiced by: Mayako Nigo (JP)

Nagisa Ozaki is a childhood friend of Rena's from Ibaraki and a relative of one of the boys Rena assaulted. She appears in Tokihogushi-hen. She helps with Tomoe's investigation into Rena's case. She finds out about Tokyo's plan and tries to warn Tomoe and Rena, only to be knocked out and kidnapped. She escapes, only to be run over by a truck in the process.

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