Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (ひぐらしのなく頃に, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni literally When Cicadas Cry), known as When They Cry–Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni in the English version of the anime, is a Japanese murder mystery dōjin soft visual novel series based on the NScripter engine, produced by 07th Expansion. The series is focused on a group of young friends and the strange events that occur in the village that they live in. The first game in the series, Onikakushi-hen, was released on August 10, 2002 and the eighth and final game in the original PC series, Matsuribayashi-hen, was released on August 13, 2006. In addition to the original series, new arcs have been created in manga form and in video games for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS in order to expand upon the story further.

The series became very popular and was later made into a set of drama CDs; the first, based on the Onikakushi-hen part of the story, was released on May 27, 2005. Later, a manga series adapted from the games began serialization in March 2006 in the Japanese manga magazine Gangan Powered, illustrated by Japanese artist Karin Suzuragi. Following the manga’s release, an anime series by the Japanese animation studio Studio Deen aired in Japan weekly, starting on April 4, 2006, and adapted six of the original eight chapters. The second anime series, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, began airing in Japan on July 6, 2007; it was animated again by Studio Deen. A live action movie adaptation of the series, to be directed by Ataru Oikawa, has been announced for 2008. A third anime adaptation has been confirmed for 2008.

The title has a double meaning. Firstly, the word higurashi can be translated to “cicada” (蜩, "cicada") or “day-to-day life” (日暮し, “day-to-day life”). naku can mean “to make sound” (鳴く, “to make sound”), specifically referring to those sounds made by non-human organisms, or “to weep” (泣く, “to weep”). It so happens that the English verb “to cry” carries the same double meaning as naku. naku has the third meaning, “none” (無く, "none"). According to the original creator, Ryukishi07, the red Na (な) in the logo is an official part of the title.. The whole title can be translated to “when cicadas cry” or “when there is no day-to-day life”.