When They Cry

- Season 1

(2006)

Keiichi adapts to rural life in Hinamizawa by befriending cute classmates Rena, Mion, Satoko, and Rika - but he's appalled to learn of a gruesome murder in the village's past.

The police ask Keiichi to be an informant after an acquaintance of his is found dead. When Keiichi accuses Rena of withholding information, she cryptically tells him that everyone has secrets to hide.

Keiichi learns his classmates knew of his secret meeting with Oishi and discovers disturbing information about Rena's past. As his paranoia escalates, it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill him!

Unnerved by Rena and Mion's menacing behavior, Keiichi begins to distance himself from his former friends - but it might be too late. On the way home from school, Keiichi is attacked!

Keiichi meets a pretty waitress who introduces herself as Shion - the younger twin sister of Mion. He's definitely skeptical and believes it's a trick, but Keiichi plays along.

After sneaking into a sacred shrine with Keiichi and Shion, Tomitake and Takano are reported dead. Could it be that Keiichi and Shion will be the next victims of Oyashiro-sama's curse?

Keiichi indirectly confesses to Rika about sneaking into the forbidden shrine, and his admission may have put Rika and Satako's lives in danger. Soon after, the girls go missing.

After Rena and Keiichi confront Mion about Rika and Satoko, chilling revelations shed light on the dark origins of Hinamizawa - origins that include cursed blood lines and demonic possessions.

Keiichi hears the odd circumstances surrounding Satoko's older brother, Satoshi. It seems he simply left the village, but when Keiichi mentions Satoshi to Shion and Rena, each reacts in an unusual manner.

Satoko's violent uncle Teppei is back in town, and she's been missing class. Keiichi witnesses the physical abuse inflicted upon Satoko - and her damaged psyche may have reached the breaking point.

In the aftermath of Satoko's traumatic breakdown, Keiichi decides extreme measures are needed to save her from the abuse of her uncle. On the night of the town festival, he lures Teppei out of his house.

After strange encounters with Takano, Dr. Irie, and Inspector Oishi, Keiichi is tormented and questioning whether a particular incident actually occurred. Is he losing his grip on reality?

Has everything been an illusion? When Keiichi heads to Teppei's house and finds Satoko in need of medical help, he becomes convinced: the curse of Oyashiro-sama is causing these misfortunes.

The grandson of an official on the Hinamizawa dam project is abducted, and Akasaka arrives to investigate. Rika offers him a warning: leave the village immediately or soon face regret.

Rika has a rather disturbing conversation with Akasaka, which he relates to Oishi a few years later.

Time rewinds to episode five but from Shion's point of view, offering a look into the intricacies of the Sonozaki family.

When Shion is discovered to be living as Mion, she is taken to her family estate. After confessing a family insulting secret, Shion is forced to torture herself.

Shion learns that Satoshi has disappeared and looks deeper into the murders that span the last four years.

Shion is convinced that her own family is responsible in some way for the numerous disappearances plaguing the village. With that in mind, she takes action.

Torturing the village leader for information regarding Satoshi only leads Shion to confronting Rika about the murders.

Shion's madness reaches its peak and she falls deeper into its clutches despite Keiichi's heartfelt wish to save both her and Mion.

At school, Rena's attitude brings smiles to everyone around her - but things are different at home. Her mother left the family for another man, and she worries her father's new girlfriend is only after his money.

After Rena learns of Rina's plot to extort money from her father, a confrontation at a deserted landfill triggers another disastrous chain of events.

When Rena confides her tragic past to Takano, who seems to know the cause behind her strange behavior, he hands her a scrapbook containing the evil conspiracy theories behind Oyashiro-sama's curse.

Rena tells Oishi that aliens are behind the mysterious murders - and they're planning a massive biological attack on Hinamizawa. Has she gone mad, or does Rena have an evil agenda of her own?

Rena takes the school hostage using a homemade bomb and demands the police investigate the Sonozaki family's connection to Oyashiro-sama's curse. Can Keiichi save his classmates from being burned alive?