Keiichi Maebara has just moved to the quiet little village of Hinamizawa in the summer of 1983, and quickly becomes inseparable friends with schoolmates Rena Ryuuguu, Mion Sonozaki, Satoko Houjou, and Rika Furude. However, darkness lurks underneath the seemingly idyllic life they lead. As the village prepares for its annual festival, Keiichi learns about the local legends surrounding it. To his horror, he discovers that there have been several murders and disappearances in the village in the recent years, and that they all seem to be connected to the festival and the village's patron god, Oyashiro. Keiichi tries to ask his new friends about these incidents, but they are suspiciously silent and refuse to give him the answers he needs. As more and more bizarre events occur, he wonders just what else his friends might be keeping from him, and if he can even trust them at all. When madness and paranoia begin taking root in Keiichi's heart, he will stumble straight into the mysteries at work in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, a story that is told across multiple arcs. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the small village of Hinamizawa, Rika Furude and her friends live together in relative harmony. Beneath this mask of peace, however, lies a hidden darkness, one that Rika understands all too well. In this eternal summer, she has been witness to unspeakable horrors. Every time the clock resets, Rika must try to find the villain behind these senseless deaths before tragedy strikes again. However, trying to decipher a mystery when only half the clues are present proves time and again to be disastrous, and each time she believes that things will change, she inevitably fails. As the annual festival approaches, Rika begins her descent from hope to despair in her struggle to break the chains of fate entangling them all. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

In the far future, humans abandon a devastated Earth and traveled to outer space. However, due to unknown phenomenon that prevents them from traveling into space, humanity returns to Earth only to find it inhospitable except for Japan. To accommodate the entire human population, pocket dimensions are created around Japan to house in the populace. In order to find a way to return to outer space, the humans began reenacting human history according to the Holy book Testament. But in the year 1413 of the Testament Era, the nations of the pocket dimensions invade and conquer Japan, dividing the territory into feudal fiefdoms and forcing the original inhabitants of Japan to leave. It is now the year 1648 of the Testament Era, the refugees of Japan now live in the city ship Musashi, where it constantly travels around Japan while being watched by the Testament Union, the authority that runs the re-enactment of history. However, rumors of an apocalypse and war begin to spread when the Testament stops revealing what happens next after 1648. Taking advantage of this situation, Toori Aoi, head of Musashi Ariadust Academy's Supreme Federation and President of the student council, leads his fellow classmates to use this opportunity to regain their homeland. (Source: Wikipedia)

As the head of her middle school's science club, it's only fitting that Ueno is also a brilliant inventor. With devices that can convert any liquid into drinkable water, deodorize the most foul smells, or even generate dark matter to be used as a means of concealment, it seems like nothing is beyond Ueno's capabilities. However, she doesn't invent these devices for the advancement of mankind. Rather, the one force that motivates her is love, the only phenomenon she can't quite figure out. Ueno is head over heels for Tanaka, her nonchalant fellow club member. Yet, because she is too nervous to confess her love and he is too oblivious to notice her affection, her love life is completely stagnant. In Ueno's mind, if she could just expose him to perverted situations, then surely he'd get flustered and fall for her, right? Assisted by her stone-faced classmate and dedicated wingwoman Yamashita, Ueno employs her many inventions on Tanaka in a lewd manner in hopes that he may one day understand how she feels. [Written by MAL Rewrite]