title: Dutch Empire

text: Many public buildings still standing and in use in Jakarta, such as the presidential palace, the finance ministry and the performing arts theater, were built in the 19th century in the classicist style. At the turn of the 20th century and partially due to the Dutch Ethical Policy, the number of Dutch people migrating to the colony grew with economic expansion. The increasing number of middle class population led to the development of Garden Suburbs in major city across the Indies, many of the houses were built in various style ranging from the Indies style, Neo-Renaissance to modern Art Deco. Some examples of these residential district include Menteng in Jakarta, Darmo in Surabaya, Polonia in Medan, Kotabaru in Yogyakarta, New Candi in Semarang and as well as most of North Bandung. Indonesia also became an experimental ground for Dutch Art Deco architectural movement such as Nieuwe Zakelijkheid, De Stijl, Nieuw Indische and Amsterdam School. Several famous architect such as Wolff Schoemaker and Henri Maclaine Pont also made an attempt to modernize indigenous architecture, resulting several unique design such as Pohsarang Church and Bandung Institute of Technology. The largest stock of these Art Deco building can be found in the city of Bandung, which "architecturally" can considered the most European city in Indonesia.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Since Indonesia's independence, few governments have shown interest in the conservation of historical buildings. Many architecturally grand buildings have been torn down in the past decades to erect shopping centres or office buildings e.g. Hotel des Indes (Batavia), Harmony Society, Batavia. Presently, however, more Indonesians have become aware of the value of preserving their old buildings.


title: Dutch Empire

text: "A decade ago, most people thought I was crazy when they learned of my efforts to save the old part of Jakarta. A few years later, the negative voices started to disappear, and now many people are starting to think with me: how are we going to save our city. In the past using the negative sentiment towards the colonial era was often used as an excuse to disregard protests against the demolition of historical buildings. An increasing number of people now see the old colonial buildings as part of their city’s overall heritage rather than focusing on its colonial aspect.", leading Indonesian architect and conservationist Budi Lim said.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Beyond Indonesia's art deco architecture also much of the country's rail and road infrastructure as well as its major cities were built during the colonial period. Many of Indonesia's main cities were mere rural townships before colonial industrialization and urban development. Examples on Java include the capital Jakarta and Bandung, outside Java examples include Ambon and Menado city. Most main railroads and rail stations on Java as well as the main road, called Daendels Great Post Road (Dutch: Grote Postweg) after the Governor General commissioning the work, connecting west to east Java were also built during the Dutch East Indies era.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Between 1800 and 1950 Dutch engineers created an infrastructure including of roads, of railways, many large bridges, modern irrigation systems covering 1.4 million hectares (5,400 sq mi) of rice fields, several international harbors, and 140 public drinking water systems. These Dutch constructed public works became the material base of the colonial and postcolonial Indonesian state.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Crops such like coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco and rubber were all introduced by the Dutch. The Dutch were the first to start the spread of the coffee plant in Central and South America, and by the early 19th century Java was the third largest producer in the world. In 1778 the Dutch brought cacao from the Philippines to Indonesia and commenced mass production. Currently Indonesia is the world's second largest producer of natural rubber, a crop that was introduced by the Dutch in the early 20th century. Tobacco was introduced from the Americas and in 1863 the first plantation was established by the Dutch. Today Indonesia is not only the oldest industrial producer of tobacco, but also the second largest consumer of tobacco.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Java Man was discovered by Eugène Dubois in Indonesia in 1891. The Komodo dragon was firstly described by Peter Ouwens in Indonesia in 1912 after an airplane crash in 1911 and rumors about living dinosaurs on Komodo Island in 1910.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Many Suriname-born football players and Dutch-born football players of Surinamese descent, like Gerald Vanenburg, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf, Patrick Kluivert, Aron Winter, Georginio Wijnaldum, Virgil van Dijk and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink have turned out to play for the Dutch national team. In 1999, Humphrey Mijnals, who played for both Suriname and the Netherlands, was elected Surinamese footballer of the century. Another famous player is André Kamperveen, who captained Suriname in the 1940s and was the first Surinamese to play professionally in the Netherlands.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Suriname discourages dual citizenship and Surinamese-Dutch players who have picked up a Netherlands passport – which, crucially, offers legal work status in almost any European league – are barred from selection to the national team. In 2014, inspired by the success of teams with dual nationals, especially Algeria, SVB president John Krishnadath submitted a proposal to the national assembly to allow dual citizenship for athletes with the then-goal of reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup finals. In order to support this project, a team with professional players of Surinamese origin was assembled and played an exhibition match on 26 December 2014 at the Andre Kamperveen Stadion. The project is managed by Nordin Wooter and David Endt, who have set up a presentation and sent invitations to 100 players of Surinamese origin, receiving 85 positive answers. Dean Gorré was named to coach this special selection. FIFA supported the project and granted insurance for the players and clubs despite the match being unofficial. In November 2019, it was announced that a so-called sports passport would allow Dutch professional footballers from the Surinamese diaspora to represent Suriname.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Suriname also has a national korfball team, with korfball being a Dutch sport. Vinkensport is also practised in Suriname, as are popular among the Dutch sports of volleyball and troefcall.


title: Dutch Empire

text: Ajax Cape Town were a professional football team named and owned by Ajax Amsterdam, replicating their crest and colours.


title: Dutch Empire

text: The Dutch sport of korfball is administered by the South African Korfball Federation, who manage the South Africa national korfball team. The 2019 IKF World Korfball Championship was held in August 2019 in Durban, South Africa.


title: Dutch Empire

text: The Indonesian football league started around 1930 in the Dutch colonial era. The Indonesian men's team was the first Asian team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup; in 1938 FIFA World Cup they played as the Dutch East Indies. Association football is now the most popular sport in Indonesia, in terms of annual attendance, participation and revenue and it is played on all levels, from children to middle-aged men.


title: Dutch Empire

text: The Indonesian Tennis Association was also founded during Dutch rule in 1935, and has a long history of fielding its national Fed Cup team and Davis Cup team, although the first participation's in the 60s were not till after independence.


title: Dutch Empire

text: As in the Netherlands, volleyball remains a popular sport, with the Indonesian Volleyball Federation organising both the Men's Pro Liga and women's Pro Liga and administrates the men's and women's national teams.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Assassin's Creed II is a 2009 action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montréal and published by Ubisoft. It is the second major installment in the "Assassin's Creed" series, and the sequel to 2007's "Assassin's Creed". The game was first released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and was later made available on Microsoft Windows in March 2010 and OS X in October 2010. Remastered versions of the game and its two sequels, "" and "", were released as part of "The Ezio Collection" compilation for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on November 15, 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch on February 17, 2022.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The game's plot is set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the millennia-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight to preserve peace and free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control. The framing story is set in the 21st century and follows Desmond Miles as he relives the genetic memories of his ancestor, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, to uncover the mysteries left behind by an ancient race known as the First Civilization in the hope of ending the Assassin-Templar conflict. The main narrative takes place at the height of the Renaissance in Italy from 1476 to 1499, and follows Ezio's journey as an Assassin while seeking revenge against those responsible for the death of his father and brothers. Gameplay focuses on using Ezio's combat, stealth, and parkour abilities to defeat enemies and explore the environment. The game features a large open world comprising several Italian cities, including Florence, Venice, Monteriggioni, San Gimignano, and Forlì, all of which have been accurately recreated to fit the game's historical setting.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Using a newly updated Anvil game engine, "Assassin's Creed II" began development shortly after the release of "Assassin's Creed". As part of the marketing campaign for the game, Ubisoft released a three-part live-action short film, titled "", which serves as a prequel to the main story and stars most of the game's cast. During development, two chapters—titled "The Battle of Forlì" and "Bonfire of the Vanities—"were cut from the game due to time constraints, but were eventually released as downloadable expansion packs on Xbox Live and later to other platforms. Additional in-game bonuses such as missions, outfits, and weapons could be redeemed through Ubisoft's Uplay service—a trend that would continue for most Ubisoft titles going forward.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Upon release, "Assassin's Creed II" received universal critical acclaim from video game publications, with praise for its narrative, characters, world design, and improvements over the first game; however, the PC version was met with some criticism in relation to the digital rights management system, and thus had the always-online DRM permanently removed. Considered one of the best video games ever made, it sold more than nine million copies within six months, and is frequently cited as the game that brought the "Assassin's Creed" series to mainstream popularity. The game spawned two direct sequels: "" (2010) and "" (2011), and a spin-off, "" (2009), all of which expand on Ezio's story while introducing new plotlines, characters, and locations. The next numbered entry in the series, "Assassin's Creed III", was released in 2012.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: "Assassin's Creed II" is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective and set in an open world based on late 15th-century Renaissance Italy. Gameplay is nonlinear, and focuses on hack and slash combat, stealth, and exploration. The Animus 2.0, a new version of the machine of the same name present in "Assassin's Creed", provides in-game context for changes and additions to several game elements. A database is also available, providing extra historical information about key landmarks, characters, and services that the player encounters. The health system has been made more dynamic, with synchronization to the Animus and causing the character to recover only from minor injuries. More grievous injuries require visiting a street-side doctor or use of medicine (which can be purchased from doctors or found on bodies).


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The player may now swim in water, and Eagle Vision—the ability to identify specific people and landmarks—can now be used in third-person view and while moving. A young Leonardo da Vinci is present in the game, aiding the player by creating new weapons from translated "Codex pages" that Altaïr, the original game's main character, left behind for future Assassins' analysis and insight. Leonardo's flying machine (based on real-life plans) can also be used during one mission. Other means of transport available in the game include horses, which can only be ridden outside of the major cities; gondolas, found most prominently in Venice; and a carriage, which is also ridden during a mission involving Leonardo. Each of the places the player can visit is more detailed compared to "Assassin's Creed", and NPCs have a more human-like behavior; for example, civilians can sometimes be caught coughing or sneezing. Additionally, the player can hire groups of mercenaries, courtesans, or thieves to fight, distract, or lure guards, respectively. A day and night cycle has been added to the game, giving the game more of a sense of time, in addition to setting missions and events at certain times of the day.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: There are many ways to interact with NPCs. Money can be thrown to the ground, or a corpse carried and then deposited on the ground, may also serve as a distraction for both guards and peasants. There are also several different types of enemies, some more agile or stronger than others, and some of whom will actively search hiding places where Ezio was last seen. The player can also mock an enemy during combat.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The combat system is more complex than that of its predecessor, with the ability to disarm opponents using counter-attacks while unarmed. If the player steals an enemy's weapon, it is possible to follow up with an attack that instantly kills the enemy. Leonardo provides the player with specialized weaponry, such as dual hidden blades, poison blades, and the hidden gun (a miniature wheellock firearm), which are all based on schematics found in Altaïr's Codex pages. Generic swords, cutlasses, maces, axes, and daggers can all be purchased from vendors in each city. The player can also pick up any weapon on the ground or use improvised weapons, such as brooms or halves of a spear. In addition, players are able to purchase artwork for their villa, obtain new armor as the game progresses, and even dye Ezio's clothing with a number of different colors. Other equipment includes larger pouches to carry more throwing knives and medicine. Six additional weapons can be unlocked in the PlayStation 3 version of the game by connecting the console to a PlayStation Portable which contains a copy of "".


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The Auditore family's countryside villa, located in Monteriggioni, acts as Ezio's personal headquarters. The surrounding property, which includes vendors selling items such as medicine, weapons, and clothing dyes, can be upgraded with earned florins, granting Ezio discounts at the shops and increasing the passive income that is generated by the villa over time. This income is deposited in a chest inside the villa, and must be collected regularly. Purchasing upgrades for Ezio and paintings also increases the villa's overall worth.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: There is now a broader array of methods for hiding or blending in the area. One can dive underwater to break guards' line of sight, and blending may be performed with any group of people, rather than only a specific type (as in the first "Assassin's Creed"). The game features a notoriety system, with guards more alert to Ezio's presence depending on his behavior, location, and current mission. This infamy can be reduced through bribery, removing wanted posters, or assassinating corrupt officials.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The missions in the game now have an expanded variety, with different structuring. For example, a mission may have the objective to escort someone but may change to a chase and assassination. An investigation is less explicit, and instead, missions may follow people and/or a narrative. There are roughly 200 missions in the game; about half are part of the main storyline, while the rest are optional side quests. Cities also contain hidden locations such as catacombs and caves (the design of which have been compared by the developers to the "Prince of Persia" series), where the objective is to navigate the area. Exploring these locations eventually rewards the player with an Assassin's Seal; the collection of all six Seals allows the player to unlock the Armor of Altaïr, which is stored in a concealed section of the Villa.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Like "Assassin's Creed", characters based on historical figures are present in the game, including Leonardo da Vinci, Niccolò Machiavelli, Caterina Sforza, Bartolomeo d'Alviano, the Medici family, the Pazzi family, the Barbarigo family and Pope Alexander VI. Locations in the game include the Tuscany region (Florence, Monteriggioni and San Gimignano), the Apennine Mountains, the Romagna region (Forlì), Venice, and the Vatican (only available during the final mission of the game). Specific landmarks include St Mark's Basilica, the Grand Canal, the Little Canal, the Rialto Bridge, Santa Maria del Fiore, the Sistine Chapel, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and Santa Maria Novella.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: After the events of the first game, Desmond Miles (Nolan North) is rescued from Abstergo by undercover Assassin Lucy Stillman (Kristen Bell) and taken to a safehouse, where he meets her team, consisting of historian and analyst Shaun Hastings (Danny Wallace) and technician Rebecca Crane (Eliza Schneider). They have constructed their own Animus, which they intend to use to train Desmond as an Assassin through the "bleeding effect," which allows the user to learn their ancestor's skills at a rapid pace. Desmond is instructed to relive the memories of Ezio Auditore da Firenze (Roger Craig Smith), born into a wealthy Florentine family in 1459, during the Italian Renaissance.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: By 1476, Ezio has grown into a charismatic but reckless young man. After his father Giovanni (Romano Orzari) and brothers Federico (Elias Toufexis) and Petruccio are framed for treason and executed by corrupt magistrate Uberto Alberti (Michel Perron), Ezio retrieves his father's Assassin equipment and murders Uberto in revenge. Ezio and his remaining family—his mother Maria (Ellen David) and sister Claudia (Angela Galuppo)—flee Florence and head to their ancestral home in Monteriggioni. There, Ezio's uncle Mario (Fred Tatasciore) explains their family's role as members of the Assassin Brotherhood, and trains Ezio to become an Assassin.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: For the next ten years, Ezio hunts down the men responsible for his family members' death, all of whom are aligned to the Pazzi or Barbarigo families and members of the Templar Order, the Assassins' historical enemies. During his journey, Ezio also makes several allies, such as statesman Lorenzo de' Medici (Alex Ivanovici), after foiling the Pazzi's attempt on his life, inventor Leonardo da Vinci (Carlos Ferro), who provides him with equipment based on information left by the Assassin Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad, and Caterina Sforza (Cristina Rosato), the Countess of Forlì. Eventually, Ezio uncovers the identity of the Templar Grand Master, Rodrigo Borgia (Manuel Tadros), who has been plotting to secure control of Italy by unifying influential families under his leadership. In 1488, Ezio disguises himself as a soldier transporting an Apple of Eden and confronts Rodrigo, who reveals his intention to unlock "the Vault", which he believes to contain God. Rodrigo almost overpowers Ezio, but is forced to flee and abandon the Apple when the latter's allies arrive to help. As a reward for Ezio's service, Mario, along with other Assassins, formally induct him into the Brotherhood.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In the present, Desmond suffers side-effects from the bleeding effect, experiencing a memory of Altaïr. Inside the Animus, he finds glyphs similar to the drawings he found in his cell at Abstergo, which, when deciphered, reveal a video file of two human slaves stealing an Apple. The video ends with the ASCII codes for "EDEN". The team theorizes the two humans are Adam and Eve, the first man and woman.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: With several memory sequences too corrupted to access (later made available as DLC), the team sends Desmond to the final memory in 1499. After discovering the Vault is located underneath the Papal Palace, Ezio infiltrates the Vatican and battles Rodrigo, now Pope Alexander VI, who is empowered by the Papal Staff—another Piece of Eden. Ezio defeats Rodrigo, but spares his life, having overcome his desire for revenge. He then unlocks the Vault using the Apple and the Staff, and is contacted by the hologram of Minerva (Margaret Easley). Aware that Desmond is listening, Minerva explains how her people, the First Civilization, created humanity to serve them, but were destroyed by a catastrophe. The survivors joined forces with humanity, building a network of vaults to preserve their technology and prevent a future disaster. Before vanishing, she tells Desmond that only he has the power to fulfill the "prophecy", leaving Desmond and Ezio confused.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In the present, Abstergo agents led by Warren Vidic (Philip Proctor) attack the hideout, forcing the team to evacuate. As they head to a new location, Lucy informs Desmond that the Assassins have detected strange occurrences in the Earth's magnetic field; a solar flare is scheduled to occur in a few months, which will likely trigger the same event that ended the First Civilization. Desmond prepares to reenter the Animus, leading into the events of "".


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In 1488, shortly after recovering the Apple of Eden from Rodrigo, Ezio meets with Mario, Leonardo, and the Assassin Niccolò Machiavelli (Shawn Baichoo) to discuss what to do in order to protect the artifact, ultimately deciding to send it to Caterina Sforza in Forlì. However, when Ezio and Machiavelli arrive in the city, they find it under siege by an army of mercenaries led by Checco and Ludovico Orsi, who have been hired by Rodrigo to obtain a map made by Caterina's late husband showing the locations of Altaïr's Codex pages, which in turn lead to the Vault. The Orsi brothers kidnap Caterina's children to force her to surrender the map, but Ezio is able to assassinate Ludovico and rescue the children. However, he learns that the kidnappings were merely distractions to allow Checco to steal the Apple, which Ezio left with Caterina. Although Ezio ultimately kills Checco and retrieves the Apple, he is stabbed and collapses as an unknown black-robed individual walks up and steals the Apple. After being nursed back to health by Caterina, Ezio obtains the map from her and sets out to recover the Apple. Suspecting that the thief is a friar, he travels to a nearby monastery and questions the local abbot, who reveals that the man who stole the Apple is Girolamo Savonarola.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In 1497, after searching for Savonarola and the Apple for nearly a decade, Ezio tracks them down to Florence, where Savonarola has effectively taken over the city following the Medici's expulsion and fall from power, using the Apple to keep the citizens in line. After meeting with Machiavelli, Ezio devises a plan to bring Savonarola out of hiding by assassinating his nine lieutenants, who preach in the city during the bonfire of the vanities. After killing all the lieutenants, the people become furious and form a mob, prompting Savonarola to come out and preach to them. When this fails to dissuade the angry crowd, he tries to use the Apple on them, but Ezio disarms him with a throwing knife and recovers the artifact, while Savonarola is taken away by the mob to be judged. In 1498, Savonarola is sentenced to death and set to be burnt at the stake in Piazza della Signoria. However, Ezio, believing no one deserves such a painful fate, quickly ends the friar's life by stabbing him in the neck with his hidden blade. He then stands before the confused crowd and declares that all should follow their own path, as he was taught by his mentors.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot officially confirmed that "Assassin's Creed II" was in development on November 26, 2008, during the company's financial performance report. This was followed by Michael Pachter speculating in GameTrailers' "Bonus Round" that the game would change its setting to the events of the French Revolution, which turned out to be false. A promotional video was released by Ubisoft on April 6 showing a skull, some hidden blade designs, and Leonardo da Vinci's flying machine on a scroll. On April 16, "Game Informer" released details of the game, including pictures of the protagonist Ezio, a new teaser trailer was released, and the game was "officially" announced by Ubisoft. In an interview in May 2009, Sebastien Puel stated that the development team working on "Assassin's Creed II" had increased to 450 members, and the development team's size had tripled since the first game.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: On June 1, 2009, Ubisoft released a new four-minute cinematic "Assassin's Creed II" trailer at E3. On June 2, 2009, Ubisoft revealed the first live gameplay demo, lasting 6 minutes, at the Sony Press Conference. GameTrailers featured an exclusive developer walkthrough from E3 2009. In an interview with GameTrailers Ubisoft Montreal creative director Patrice Desilets stated Desmond would be doing more than walking around and discovering clues.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: It was announced at the "Assassin's Creed" panel at Comic-Con 2009 that a live-action mini-series, consisting of three episodes and titled "", would be released showing the events leading up to the game and the history of Ezio and his father Giovanni. It was also revealed that the humorist Danny Wallace would be voicing a new character in "Assassin's Creed II": Shaun Hastings, a sarcastic historian assisting Desmond. The character's face would also be modeled after him. Actress Kristen Bell was also announced to be reprising her role as Lucy Stillman.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The game was originally due to be released at the same time on all three platforms, but Ubisoft announced on September 24, 2009, that the PC version would be delayed to the first quarter of 2010 in order to have "a bit more time for the dev team to deliver the best quality game."


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: On October 20, 2009, Ubisoft announced a series of short films, to be broadcast via YouTube, that would provide additional back story and the introduction of some of the characters found in the game. The shorts, collectively called "", came in three parts and were developed by Ubisoft's Hybride Technologies, who previously worked on the films "300" and "Sin City". The series focused on Ezio's father, Giovanni Auditore, and contained live-action and computer-generated imagery. The first of the films was released on October 27, 2009, with the remaining two released on November 13, 2009.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: On November 12, 2009, Ubisoft released "Assassin's Creed II" themed virtual items on PlayStation Home to promote the release of the game, as well as the game "" for PSP. "Assassin's Creed II" virtual items and an Ezio costume were also released on the Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360's avatars. On November 19, 2009, more "Assassin's Creed II" virtual items were released in PlayStation Home, along with a costume for Ezio, which was released on November 26, 2009, in which the player could obtain and roam PlayStation Home in it. On December 3, 2009, more 15th century Italian renaissance themed items were released in Home. Ezio's "Purple Assassin" costume is available to download on "LittleBigPlanet", as of December 8, 2009, on the PlayStation Network.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: "Assassin's Creed II" is the first game to be linked to Ubisoft's Uplay feature. Progression through the game allows Uplay members to acquire points that can be redeemed for bonuses for use in the game, including a new crypt to explore and an Altaïr costume.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: A novel based on the game, "Assassin's Creed: Renaissance" (by Oliver Bowden), was published by Penguin Books in November 2009.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Ubisoft announced a "Play Your Part, Play At Home" campaign during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of this campaign, PC users were able to redeem a free digital copy of "Assassin's Creed II" (among other games) via the Ubisoft website.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: There are several different limited editions of "Assassin's Creed II". The "Black Edition" contains an Ezio figurine garbed in a black outfit and was released in Europe and Australia. Included also are three bonus areas and missions, an art book, a DVD with part of the game's soundtrack, one premium PS3/Xbox 360 theme, behind the scenes videos, and 2 desktop wallpapers. The "White Edition" contains one bonus area/mission and an Ezio figurine in his white outfit. The "Master Assassin's Edition" is the North American limited edition, which contains an Ezio figurine, two bonus areas, an art book and a Blu-ray with music and behind the scenes videos.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: After much complaining from "Assassin's Creed II" fans that they were unable to complete the game due to the need to complete the three Templar Lairs (only available on the "White" or "Black Edition") to earn 100% synchronization, Ubisoft released "The Complete Edition". Included in the package are download codes for the two DLCs, "Battle of Forlì" and "Bonfire of the Vanities" and the three Templar Lairs. Later the "Game of the Year Edition" was released, containing the extra content incorporated on the game disc. Both versions also have the Bonus Skin, however, it needs to be unlocked through the game code.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Eventually a "Deluxe Edition" was also released, containing the three bonus areas & missions and the downloadable content "Battle of Forlì" and "Bonfire of the Vanities". This Edition, however, is only available via Digital Download. The "Deluxe Edition" as of now is available only on the PlayStation 3 through the PlayStation Network and PC through Epic Games Store and Steam. It also has the Bonus Dye for Ezio's outfit, albeit it is unlocked from the very beginning of the game and available for free at Monteriggioni.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The Windows version now requires a one-time online activation, after which the game, its activation key, and the Uplay Account will be bound together and the game can be played offline, even with the Uplay Launcher forced to run in Offline Mode in the Settings Menu. Even in Offline mode, users can log in into Uplay, provided they have already logged in online with a legitimate e-mail account when they started using the software for the first time.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The score to "Assassin's Creed II" was composed by Jesper Kyd. It was recorded at Capitol Records with a 35-piece string ensemble and 13-person choir, with featured vocals by Melissa Kaplan. A soundtrack was released via download on November 16, 2009. 14 tracks of the soundtrack were also released on the game disc available with the special pre-order Black edition of "Assassin's Creed II".


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: On December 1, 2009, Ubisoft announced "The Battle of Forlì", the first of several downloadable content (DLC) expansions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of "Assassin's Creed II". Intended to flesh out Forlì and the character of Caterina Sforza, who had only a minor role in the base game, the DLC was released on January 28, 2010. It was followed by "Bonfire of the Vanities" on February 18, 2010, which sees Ezio returning to Florence to deal with Girolamo Savonarola during the mass burning of sinful objects in the city. The two expansions are presented in-game as Sequences 12 and 13, respectively, and are seamlessly integrated into the main plot, taking place right before the final memory sequence of the game, Sequence 14. This is because the two sequences were originally intended to be included in the base game, but were cut due to time constraints and later released as DLC. The issue was written into the game's story as the Animus corrupting several memory sequences, which Rebecca was later able to fix through a computer patch, allowing Desmond to relive Ezio's missing memories.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In addition to the new story missions, both expansions also include several unique features. For example, "The Battle of Forlì" features a replayable memory (the only one in the entire game) of Ezio piloting Leonardo's flying machine over Forlì, and "Bonfire of the Vanities" adds in Florence's southern district (which is inaccessible in the base game). Subsequent re-releases of "Assassin's Creed II" include both expansions, without the possibility of skipping them.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Ubisoft's Uplay system enables further in-game enhancements which can be redeemed by points that are given when playing the game. The available awards are an "Assassin's Creed II" theme or wallpaper for PC and PlayStation 3, five additional throwing knives, Altaïr's outfit and the Uplay exclusive Auditore Family Crypt map.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: These three dungeons—Palazzo Medici, Basilica di Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari and Arsenale di Venezia—similar to the base game's Assassin Tombs but without special rewards other than treasure, were originally included in the "Black Edition" (European and Australian release) of "Assassin's Creed II", with one included in the "White Edition" and two in the North American "Master Assassin's Edition". Ubisoft subsequently offered them as DLC via PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. They have since been added in the "Game of the Year Edition", "Complete Edition" and "Deluxe Edition" versions of the game.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: This costume dye is unlocked by entering a code obtained after buying the "Assassin's Creed II" 3D mobile game from the Verizon App Store. This bonus skin is also included in the "Game of the Year Edition", "The Complete Edition" and "Deluxe Edition" versions of the game.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Upon release, "Assassin's Creed II" received universal acclaim on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 with generally favourable reviews on PC. Review aggregator site Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version a score of 91 and the Xbox 360 version a 90, making it the highest-rated game in the franchise on the site.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: In an exclusive review by "Official Xbox Magazine", "Assassin's Creed II" scored 9/10. Its second review was a perfect score from the "Official PlayStation Magazine US", while the "Official PlayStation Magazine UK" scored the game a 9/10.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: German magazine "Computer Bild Spiele" reported that the game's publishers offered to provide a pre-release copy of the game if the magazine would guarantee a review score of "very good". The magazine rejected the request and instead opted to delay their review.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: GameSpot which reviewed the PC version of the game, said despite the game being "fun and beautiful" it was hard to justify the higher price point. It was also mentioned that the game was hindered by Ubisoft's DRM and the game "deserved better. For that matter, PC gamers deserved better too."


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: According to pre-official sales estimates, Ubisoft announced that "Assassin's Creed II" sold 1.6 million copies worldwide during its first week of sale, representing a 32 percent increase over the first week retail performance of the original "Assassin's Creed". As of May 2010, the game has sold 9 million copies.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, "Assassin's Creed II" was named Best Action Adventure Game, and IGN named it as the Action Game of the Year for Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 Game of the Year. Game Informer also named it as Xbox 360 Game of the Year. It also received Game of the Year from "GamePro", Eurogamer and "The New York Times".


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: "Assassin's Creed II" has been nominated for the "Outstanding Achievement in Animation", "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction", "Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Story", "Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition", "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design", "Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction", "Adventure Game of the Year" and "Game of the Year" at the Interactive Achievement Awards (now known as the D.I.C.E. Awards) from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The game was also nominated for several Game Developers Choice Awards including "Best Game Design", "Best Visual Art", "Best Technology", and "Game of the Year".


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The game is included in the 2010 book "1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die". In April 2020, "Game Informer" ranked the game as the fifth best game in the "Assassin's Creed" series to date.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The Windows version of the game uses Ubisoft's Uplay platform, which includes a digital rights management (DRM) system that initially required all users to remain connected to the Internet while playing. In the initial retail version, any progress made subsequent to the last checkpoint was lost if the Internet connection was severed. Ubisoft stated that if the disconnection was temporary, the game would pause. In addition, the company argued that there were numerous checkpoints spread throughout "Assassin's Creed II". The company was also criticized by overseas members of the U.S. Armed Forces, who could not play the game while in locations with sporadic and expensive connections.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Shortly after the release of the Windows version, Ubisoft claimed that a cracked version of the game had not been created, and was confirmed by at least one website. During the following weekend, the DRM servers for "Silent Hunter 5" and "Assassin's Creed II" were, according to Ubisoft, affected by a denial-of-service attack. Ubisoft later stated that "95 per cent of players were not affected, but a small group of players attempting to open a game session did receive denial of service errors." A server emulator to overcome the DRM has been developed. A cracked dynamic-link library bypassing the connection requirement entirely was released in late April.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Following the series of server outages, Ubisoft offered owners of the Windows version all DLC from the "Assassin's Creed II Black Edition" (despite already having the Battle of Forli and Bonfire of the Vanities DLC incorporated into the story mode from the beginning by default), or a free copy of "Heroes Over Europe", "Tom Clancy's EndWar", "Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X", or "Prince of Persia" (2008).


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: The DRM was modified in December 2010. By that time the game no longer required a constant Internet connection while playing. Instead, the player had to be connected to the Internet every time the game was launched. In 2012, Ubisoft announced that they would patch the game to remove internet access as a requirement to play, and would not require internet access for DRM henceforth. The Windows version now requires a one-time online activation, after which the game, its activation key, and the Uplay Account will be bound together and the game can be played offline, even with the Uplay Launcher forced to run in Offline Mode in the Settings Menu. The game can then be activated infinitely on the existing or a new machine if the game is ever reinstalled for some reason, and it can still be played offline. The same rule for "Assassin's Creed II" on PC now applies to any Ubisoft game on PC that once required a persistent online connection. However none of these changes affected the Mac OS X version of the game which still requires a constant Internet connection and players still lose progress if the Internet connection is disrupted.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Discussions about details of "Assassin's Creed III" were already present before the release of "Assassin's Creed II", with the game staff's notion of possibly having a female descendant in England during World War II. However, co-writer Corey May has stated that the series will never take place during that period, as a major goal was to take players to settings normally unvisited in games. Ubisoft's Philippe Bergeron stated that potential settings could include England in the Middle Ages, during the era of King Arthur, and feudal Japan, the latter of which had been a "personal favorite" of many in the staff. However, on March 1, 2012, the setting for "Assassin's Creed III" was revealed to be colonial Boston during the American Revolution, starring a Native American protagonist named Ratonhnaké:ton. This game was released in October 2012.


title: Assassin's Creed II

text: Two "Assassin's Creed" games were released concurrently with "Assassin's Creed II": "" and "". "Discovery" is set during the missing chapters in "II" and features Ezio Auditore. A direct sequel, "" was released on November 16, 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, continuing directly after the events of "Assassin's Creed II". The game once again features Ezio as the primary protagonist, and includes a new online multiplayer mode. The game takes place primarily in Rome, the seat of power for the Borgia family and the Knights Templar. The game's primary antagonist is Cesare Borgia, Rodrigo Borgia's son.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The Clock Towers ( "Towers of the Clock") is a government-owned complex of seven skyscraper hotels in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. These towers are a part of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project that aims to modernize the city in catering to its pilgrims. The central hotel tower, which is the Makkah Clock Royal Tower, is the fourth-tallest building and sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The clock tower contains the Clock Tower Museum that occupies the top four floors of the tower.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The building complex is metres away from the world's largest mosque and Islam's most sacred site, the Great Mosque of Mecca. The developer and contractor of the complex is the Saudi Binladin Group, the Kingdom's largest construction company. It is the world's second most expensive building, with the total cost of construction totalling US$15 billion. The complex was built after the demolition of the Ajyad Fortress, the 18th-century Ottoman citadel on top of a hill overlooking the Grand Mosque. The destruction of the historically significant site in 2002 by the Saudi government sparked an outcry and a strong reaction from Turkey.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The tallest tower in the complex is the tallest building in Saudi Arabia, at 601 meters (1,972 feet) and a total surface area of 32,000 square meters. Currently, it is the sixth-tallest freestanding structure in the world, surpassing the Ping An Finance Centre in Shenzhen, China but shorter than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE, the Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Tokyo Skytree in Tokyo, Japan, the Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China, and the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The site of the complex is located across the piazza to the south from the main entrance (King Abdul-Aziz Gate) to the Masjid al Haram mosque, which houses the Kaaba. To accommodate worshippers visiting the Kaaba. The tallest tower in the complex also contains a five-star hotel, operated by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, to help provide lodging for the millions of pilgrims that travel to Mecca annually to participate in the Hajj.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: In addition, The Clock Towers has a five-story shopping mall (The Clock Towers Shopping Center) and a parking garage capable of holding over a thousand vehicles.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The building was planned to be 734 m (2,408 ft) tall in 2006. In 2009, it was published that the final height would be 601 m (1,972 ft). The complex was built by the Saudi Binladin Group, Saudi Arabia's largest construction company. The façade was constructed by Premiere Composite Technologies, and the clock by German tower clock manufacturer PERROT GmbH & Co. KG Turmuhren und Läuteanlagen. According to the Saudi Ministry of Religious Endowments, the project cost US$15 billion.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The project uses clock faces for each side of the main hotel tower. The total height of the clock is 57 m (187 ft), just below the media displays under the clock faces. At 43 m × 43 m (141 ft × 141 ft), these are the largest in the world. The roof of the clock is 450 m (1,480 ft) above the ground, making it the world's most elevated architectural clock. A spire has been added on top of the clock giving it a total height of 601 m (1,972 ft). Behind the clock faces, there is an astronomy exhibition. In the spire base and the iron-covered floors (The Jewel) there is a scientific center that is used to sight the moon at the beginning of the Islamic months, and to operate an atomic clock that controls the tower clock faces.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The building is topped by a four-faced clock, visible from away. The clock is the highest in the world at over above the ground. The clock faces are the largest in the world, surpassing the Cevahir Mall clock in Istanbul.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: Each of the clock's four faces measures 43 m (141 ft) in diameter and are illuminated by 2 million LED lights, with four oriented edges, just above the clock alongside huge Arabic script reading: "God is [the] greatest" on the north and south faces and on the west and east "There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of God.". Four golden domes on pillars on all the corners are also present. The same as the Saudi Flag, fitted at the top of the clock, flash to signal Islam's five-time daily prayers. On special occasions such as new year, 21,000 green and white xenon bulbs and LED lamps during the call to the five prayers times of the day. On special occasions, 40 beacons lights allow innumerable variations of splendid lighting effects. In. addition, the world’s strongest four show lasers throw their rays 30 kilometers into the sky. The clock's four faces are covered with 98 million pieces of glass mosaics. The Saudi coat of arms is displayed at the center of each clock behind the dials. The minute hand is 23 m (75 ft) long, while the hour hand is 18 m (59 ft) long.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: There were reports that the clock would be set to local Mecca Time, in an attempt to replace the IERS Reference Meridian as the prime meridian for global time keeping, but the clock is set to Arabia Standard Time (UTC+03:00).


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The spire has an eight-story glass-covered base (The Jewel) which belongs to a scientific center having its own small exhibition, another observation deck at 484 m (1,587.93ft) The highest floor in The Jewel is the Control Tower Floor, which was planned to be used for controlling air traffic in the sky above Mecca (mainly helicopters as airplanes are not allowed near Mecca). However, this was skipped for technical reasons and the future usage is not clear yet. Above from The Jewel the spire has only technical installations for sound, light and other infrastructure and eventually the last viewing deck and the crescent above it. The crescent has two regular floors with living areas and a few service floors and rooms.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The crescent was constructed in Dubai by Premier Composite Technologies in April 2011. The crescent is made of fiberglass-backed mosaic gold, and it weighs up to 35 tones. Peugeot Joseph, the company official, said a team of five engineers and a hundred workers carried out the project, which cost 90 million United Arab Emirates dirhams and took three months to build.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The company has also constructed the Mecca Clock. The crescent was divided into 10 parts to move it to Mecca. The crescent was partly assembled on the base of the clock face to reduce it to 5 parts. Those five parts were then lifted and installed above the spire from 20 June to 6 July 2011.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The minaret and its base have loudspeakers which broadcast prayer calls to a distance of 7 km away and across an area of approximately 160 km².


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The Clock Towers complex had two fire incidents during construction. The first fire accident was at Hajar Tower on 28 October 2008. It took 400 firefighters to put out the fire, which burned for 10 hours, consuming nine floors of the tower. According to eyewitness reports, the blaze erupted shortly after midnight, and spread rapidly because of wood used for construction stored in the premises. Soon, the entire building was engulfed in smoke. Hospitals were put on high alert, but no injuries were reported. A civil defence spokesman said the fire started on the 32nd floor of the Hajar Tower.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The second fire struck the Safa Tower on 1 May 2009. No deaths or injuries were reported in the blaze which was quickly contained by Civil Defence. Eyewitnesses said the fire broke out soon after Asr prayer while some workers in the building were welding iron rods on wooden scaffoldings. The fire damaged a large part of the under-construction tower. According to Major General Adel Zamzami, director general of Civil Defence in the Mecca province, the fire broke out at the 14th floor and reached up to the 20th floor.


title: Abraj Al Bait

text: The construction engendered some controversy as the location chosen for the towers was the historic 18th-century Ottoman Ajyad Fortress, which many locals consider to be a symbol of ottoman oppression. The fortress was demolished to make way for the complex. The development has been criticised by "The Guardian" for having "transformed a type of architecture that evolved from a dense urban grain of low-rise courtyards and narrow streets into ... an endlessly repeatable pattern for the decoration of standardised [concrete] slab(s)".


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: Barry Van Dyke (born July 31, 1951) is an American actor and the second son of actor and entertainer Dick Van Dyke and Margie Willett, and nephew of Jerry Van Dyke. He has often worked with his father. He is best known to audiences as Lieutenant Detective Steve Sloan, a homicide detective and the son of (played by Dick Van Dyke) on "". In the show, the characters' relatives were frequently played by real-life family members.


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: Barry Van Dyke was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Dick Van Dyke (born 1925) and his first wife, Margie Willett (1926–2008).


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: Van Dyke's television debut was as Florian, a violin-toting nine-year-old in "The Talented Neighborhood" episode of "The Dick Van Dyke Show" alongside big brother Christian. However, his father advised him to wait before pursuing a show business career. Van Dyke later told a reporter, "He wanted me to have my childhood. He told me that if I still wanted to act after I graduated high school, then it would be OK."


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: Later, he worked as a gofer on his father's television series, "The New Dick Van Dyke Show", which debuted in 1971 and aired until 1974. While working on that show, he secured a part as an extra.


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: He worked with his father again in the short-lived series "The Van Dyke Show" (which was canceled after six episodes in 1988) and then the long-running series "", which aired from 1993 to 2001. In both series, he had major roles. He also wrote and directed several episodes of "Diagnosis: Murder". After "Diagnosis: Murder" ended, Barry appeared in the "Murder 101" television films, again alongside his father.


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: Barry Van Dyke also appeared in many other television shows over the course of his long career. His other television work includes a starring role in "Galactica 1980" as Lieutenant Dillon, and appearances in "Remington Steele", "The Love Boat", "Magnum, P.I.", "The Dukes of Hazzard", as Ace Combat Pilot and former M.I.A. soldier St. John Hawke in the final season of "Airwolf", "The A-Team", "Gun Shy", "Murder, She Wrote", "Mork & Mindy", and "The Redd Foxx Show".


title: Barry Van Dyke

text: In 1974, he married Mary Carey; the couple have four children: Carey (born February 25, 1976), Shane (born August 28, 1979), Wes (born October 22, 1984), and Taryn (born June 1, 1986).


title: Holt McCallany

text: Holt McCallany (born Holt Quinn McAloney; September 3, 1963) is an American actor. He is known for portraying FBI Special Agent Bill Tench on the series "Mindhunter" (2017–2019) and has had several supporting roles in various television series and films, including "Casualties of War", "Alien 3", "Three Kings", "Fight Club", "", "Shot Caller", "Wrath of Man" and "The Ice Road". He also played Les, a young film student graduate in the film "The Search for One-eye Jimmy".


title: Holt McCallany

text: McCallany was born September 3, 1963, in New York City, to theatrical parents. His mother, Julie Wilson (1924–2015), was an American singer and actress, "widely regarded as the queen of cabaret." His father, Michael McAloney (1924–2000), was an Irish actor and producer best known for his Tony Award-winning production of Brendan Behan's "Borstal Boy", an autobiographical play about a young member of the Irish Republican Army, which was the first Irish production to win top honors on Broadway.


title: Holt McCallany

text: Because his father wanted a classical education for his two sons, McCallany and his younger brother were sent to live with another family in Dublin, while his parents stayed in New York City, working. In Ireland, he attended the National School in Howth. However, following his parents' divorce the children moved back to the United States. He attended school first in New Jersey and was later sent to live with his maternal grandparents in Omaha, Nebraska, where he had a troubled childhood and was expelled from Creighton Preparatory School. At the age of 14, he ran away from home and took a Greyhound bus to Los Angeles to pursue his dream of becoming an actor, but ended up with a job in a factory unloading trucks. His parents eventually tracked him down and sent him back to Ireland to a boarding school in County Kildare that his father had attended forty years earlier, Newbridge College.


title: Holt McCallany

text: He soon left Ireland and eventually was allowed to return to Creighton Preparatory School, and graduated in 1981. After high school, he went to France to continue his education, first to study French at the Sorbonne and art at the Paris American Academy, and later theater at L'École Marcel Marceau and L'École Jacques Lecoq. McCallany spent a summer studying Shakespeare at Oxford University and went with a production of "Twelfth Night" to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival before moving to New York City to begin his professional acting career.


title: Holt McCallany

text: His first job in the professional theater was as an apprentice actor at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Cleveland, Ohio, in the same apprenticeship once served by Tom Hanks, among others. Subsequently, he returned to New York City and was cast as an understudy in the Broadway production of "Biloxi Blues".


title: Holt McCallany

text: McCallany landed a series of supporting parts in such films as "Casualties of War", "Alien 3", "Creepshow 2", "The Search for One-eye Jimmy", and "Jade", as well as the TV miniseries "Rough Riders". After playing the legendary boxing trainer Teddy Atlas in the HBO telefilm "Tyson", he became a supporter of the Atlas Foundation Charity, a grassroots organization dedicated to helping children and families with medical and financial hardships.


title: Holt McCallany

text: He continued working in films and television throughout the nineties and 2000s with roles in films such as "Fight Club", "Three Kings", "Men of Honor", and "Below", among others. He played a detective with psychological problems in "" and a soldier with post-traumatic stress disorder on "Criminal Minds".


title: Holt McCallany

text: He appeared in the 2010 Warner Bros. film, "The Losers", based on the graphic novel from DC Comics. McCallany also was the star of the 2011 FX television series, "Lights Out", playing an aging boxer ("Patrick 'Lights' Leary") forced out of retirement and into a comeback bid to regain the heavyweight title, despite having pugilistic dementia.


title: Holt McCallany

text: Since 2017, McCallany co-stars in the Netflix series "Mindhunter" for director David Fincher. He plays Bill Tench, an FBI agent researching serial killers in the late-1970s. His first French language film was released in September, 2019, an adaptation of the George Feydeau comedy "Le Dindon".


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The games are built on the NScripter game engine and the Microsoft Windows operating system. 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. While the first four games carried the overall title "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" and are considered the first entry in the "When They Cry" franchise, the next four games were produced under the title "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai" and are considered the second entry. A bonus fan disc called "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei" was released on December 31, 2006. In addition to the original series, new story arcs were created in manga form and in video games for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS, in order to expand the story. The original eight PC releases were released in English by MangaGamer between 2009 and 2010.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Two sets of drama CDs were produced, one by Wayuta and the other by Frontier Works. Novelizations of the game series were released by Kodansha between August 2007 and March 2009. A manga series adapted from the games began with eight different manga artists working separately on one to three of the multiple story arcs and were published by Square Enix and Kadokawa Shoten. The manga was licensed for release in English in North America by Yen Press under the title "Higurashi: When They Cry" and the first volume was released in November 2008. Following the manga's release in Japan, two anime television series (also known simply as When They Cry prior to 2020) were produced by Studio Deen and directed by Chiaki Kon in 2006 and 2007; a third anime adaptation was released as an original video animation (OVA) series in 2009. The first anime series was licensed by Geneon Entertainment in English in 2007, but the license expired in 2011. Sentai Filmworks has since licensed both anime seasons and the 2009 OVAs. A live-action film adaptation of the series, directed and written by Ataru Oikawa, premiered in Japanese theaters on May 10, 2008, with a sequel released on April 16, 2009. A six-episode live-action television series adaptation premiered in Japan on May 20, 2016, and a four-episode sequel premiered on November 25, 2016. A new anime television series by Passione aired from October 2020 to March 2021, and a sequel aired from July to September 2021.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: "Higurashi When They Cry" is a "sound novel", a variation of visual novel with a focus on sound and atmosphere. Gameplay is restricted to reading individual scenes, during which characters are displayed as static two-dimensional sprites. The versions of the game ported to home consoles additionally feature voice acting provided by professional voice actors. The narrative of the game is divided into separate story arcs, named "chapters", which become accessible in a sequence strictly established by the developers. The narration is conducted on behalf of various characters. After reading a certain amount of text within a chapter, playback ends. At this point, the player is invited to save the game, as well as read "tips" that reveal details of the game's setting that were not present in the main story. The tips may also encourage the player to deduce the reasoning behind the narrative's mysterious events. The chapters of the game are divided into two categories – "question arcs" and "answer arcs". Each question arc is a self-contained story taking place in an alternate reality, while each answer arc is based on the same scenario as a certain question arc and helps the player formulate a more accurate vision of the events of the pertaining question arc. Each chapter is assigned a "difficulty rating" that indicates the complexity of the mystery. After completing a chapter, all previously opened tips and images of individual scenes in the form of a gallery become available to the player from the main menu. In addition, the player can access a feature entitled the "Staff Room", in which writer Ryukishi07 discusses and examines the chapter, or the "All-Cast Review Session", in which the characters break the fourth wall and debate about the events of the chapter.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: In June 1983, Keiichi Maebara moves to the village of and befriends classmates Mion Sonozaki, her twin sister Shion, Rena Ryūgū, Rika Furude, and Satoko Hōjō. Keiichi soon learns of the village's annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration dedicated to the local deity "Oyashiro". Hinamizawa initially seems calm and peaceful, but shortly before the festival, Keiichi learns that for four years in a row, murders and disappearances have been taking place on the day of the festival. This chain of incidents remains unsolved and has come to be known as the "Oyashiro Curse" by the superstitious villagers. The day after this year's festival, police discover the corpse of visiting freelance photographer Jirō Tomitake, who appears to have torn his throat out with his bare hands, and the charred body of Miyo Takano, a nurse in the village clinic. In most chapters of the game, Keiichi or one of his friends attempts to investigate the mysteries of Hinamizawa and the Oyashiro Curse, only to succumb to paranoia and homicidal rage. A few days after the festival, Rika's body is found in the family shrine dedicated to Oyashiro. On the same day, a cataclysm befalls the village and wipes out the population, which is explained by the media as a release of swamp gas.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The answer arcs reveal that each preceding arc is an alternate reality in which Rika tried and failed to save herself and her friends. As a priestess of the Furude Shrine, Rika can communicate with the spirit Hanyū, who served as the basis for Oyashiro and is the ancestress of the Furude clan. Each time Rika died, Hanyū would move her to another reality; however, the very ending of Rika's life is not retained in her memories when she transfers, obstructing her from knowing the cause of her death. In the final two chapters, it is revealed that the village's local clinic is secretly a government institute investigating a mysterious parasite in the village that causes Hinamizawa Syndrome; a disease that induces paranoia, delusion, and homicidal rage in its victims before pushing them to tear out their own throats. This disease is responsible for instigating the characters to commit murders in the previous arcs, and some of the incidents in the earlier years were caused by it. The rest of the incidents were caused by Miyo, who had killed Tomitake and faked her death, using the Oyashiro Curse as a cover. Hinamizawa Syndrome manifests in those experiencing extreme stress or those who move a distance away from the "Infection Queen", who releases a pheromone that prevents the aggravation of the villagers' condition. The women of the Furude clan have all acted as Infection Queens, and Rika is the sole remaining member of the line after the death of her parents in the 1981's incident.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The theory by Miyo's adoptive grandfather, Hifumi Takano, is that if there is no Infection Queen, all villagers will succumb to the syndrome, and a mass outbreak of violence will occur. In some of the realities, Shion, succumbing to Hinamizawa Syndrome, kills Rika; however, life in Hinamizawa goes on, showing that Hifumi's theories have been exaggerated. In most of the realities, Miyo kills Rika, and the threat of the mass outbreak convinces the government to massacre the village, with the release of swamp gas being a cover story. Miyo's motive is to vindicate the work of Hifumi and force his work to be recognized after he was mocked and shamed by the government and scientific community for his thesis about the disease.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: After several hundred loops, Keiichi becomes either vividly or subconsciously aware of the previous realities, allowing him to avoid several critical points where various characters would be murdered or driven insane. In the final loop, the group asks Hanyū to join them, and the spirit manages to manifest a physical body. With her assistance and all of the knowledge and allies they have formed along the way, they thwart Miyo's plan and go on to live happy lives afterward. In the secret ending, Rika travels back to the past to prevent Miyo's suffering from the traumatic childhood that led her to become who she was.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The series is the first visual novel series produced by 07th Expansion. The game director and scenario writer for the series are Ryukishi07, who also drew all of the character illustrations. Background images were taken from photographs taken by Ryukishi07, his younger brother Yatazakura, and Kameya Mannendō. Programming was worked on by Yatazakura, who worked on the main structure, 4U who worked on the intermission and Tips, and BT who worked on the mini games. The games were designed using the game engine NScripter. The music of "Higurashi" was provided by various music artists including both professionals and "dōjin" artists, including Dai, the composer of most of the music found in the answer arcs.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Ryukishi07 wrote in 2004 how he was influenced by Key's works during the planning of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni". Ryukishi07 played Key's games as a reference, among other visual novels, and analyzed them to figure out the reason why they were found to be so popular. He figured that the secret was due to how the stories would start with ordinary, enjoyable days, but then a sudden occurrence would happen to lead the player to cry due to the shock value. He used a similar model for the basis of "Higurashi" but instead of leading the player to cry, Ryukishi07 wanted to scare the player with the addition of horror elements. In this way, Ryukishi07 wished to be in some way associated with Key who he described as a "masterpiece maker."


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: In an interview in the December 2008 issue of Yen Press's "Yen Plus" manga anthology, Ryukishi07 stated that "Higurashi" had its origins from an unpublished theater script called he had written a few years before the first "Higurashi" game was released. When he decided to rewrite the script and release it, he wanted to build upon "the contrast between a fun, ordinary life, and something terrifying and out of the ordinary." Ryukishi07 was greatly influenced by the worlds of Seishi Yokomizo when developing the universe of "Higurashi". Ryukishi07 had decided "early on to design the story so that the truth comes to light by looking at several overlapping stories," though he originally planned to release it as a single game due to initially believing he could finish the story in a single year.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The word "higurashi" is the name of a kind of cicada. "Naku" means , specifically referring to those sounds made by non-human organisms. According to Ryukishi07, the red Na (な) in the logo is an official part of the title.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The first game of the "Higurashi: When They Cry" visual novel series, titled "Onikakushi-hen", was released on August 10, 2002. The second game "Watanagashi-hen" was released on December 29, 2002. The third game "Tatarigoroshi-hen" was released on August 15, 2003. The fourth game "Himatsubushi-hen" was released on August 13, 2004. The first four games are part of the question arcs, and the following four games, under the title "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai", are part of the answer arcs. The fifth game "Meakashi-hen" was released on December 30, 2004. The sixth game "Tsumihoroboshi-hen" was released on August 14, 2005. The seventh game "Minagoroshi-hen" was released on December 30, 2005. The eighth game "Matsuribayashi-hen" was released on August 13, 2006. A fan disc titled "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei" was released on December 31, 2006. A second fan disc titled was released on August 17, 2014. In January 2021, 07th Expansion announced a remastered version with new music and upscaled graphics titled "Higurashi: When They Cry Hō +" in development for a Q3 2021 release. It released on January 28, 2022 and featured a new short scenario, "Mehagashi-hen", originally a mini-light novel chapter included with the "Higurashi Gou" BD. It also included a new All-Cast review chapter as a retrospective for the franchise and featured discussion of the "Higurashi Gou" and "Sotsu" anime arcs.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The eight original PC games were released in English by MangaGamer under the title "Higurashi: When They Cry" starting with the first four games released in December 2009 and the last four released in monthly intervals starting in February 2010. MangaGamer's release of the visual novels does not include several background music tracks and two bonus features specific to the original Japanese version: the music room and a minigame. The eight original PC games were also released in French by Saffran Prod under the title "Le sanglot des cigales", starting with the first two games released together in November 2009. The Japanese company Seams has done releases for iOS devices in Japanese and English. The Japanese version includes all eight games. The English version is based on the translation by MangaGamer and as of May 2012 includes the first five games. A remastered version of "Onikakushi-hen" from "Higurashi: When They Cry Hō" was released by MangaGamer on Steam on May 15, 2015 for Windows, OS X and Linux. The updates include a re-translation, previously cut music tracks and content, the original Japanese text, and alternative character art by illustrator Kurosaki.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A dōjin game named "Higurashi Daybreak", based on the "Higurashi" series and featuring an original scenario by Ryukishi07, was developed by Twilight Frontier, the creators of "Immaterial and Missing Power" and "Eternal Fighter Zero". The gameplay is that of a versus third-person shooter, in which most of the characters of the main "Higurashi" series are playable. "Higurashi Daybreak" was first released on August 13, 2006, and an expansion pack followed on April 22, 2007.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A video game console port for the PlayStation 2 was released as by Alchemist on February 22, 2007. "Higurashi" is the third dōjin game to be ported to a video game console; the first was "Hanakisō" by HaccaWorks*, and the second was "Melty Blood" by French-Bread and Ecole. Although "Higurashi" was the first to have a video game console port announced, its long development time made it the third to be released. Due to the popularity of "Matsuri", a second enhanced PlayStation 2 port, known as , was released on December 20, 2007. It was sold as an append disc to the original "Matsuri" and as a standalone game. It contains all of "Matsuri"'s content, in addition to "Matsuribayashi-hen" from the original games and other bonus content.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A series of four games for the Nintendo DS under the collective title with new story arcs are being developed by Alchemist. The first, with the added title , was released on June 26, 2008 containing the first three chapters from the question arcs, and a new chapter entitled "Someutsushi-hen", with its story based on the "Onisarashi-hen" manga series. The second, with the added title , was released in November 2008. The third game in the series, with the added title , was released in March 2009. The final game, subtitled , was released in February 2010.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita port titled and published by Kaga Create was released in Japan on March 12, 2015. This edition features all scenarios from previous versions, in addition to full voice acting, new songs, CGs, minigames and functions. A Nintendo Switch port titled "Higurashi: When They Cry Hō" and published by Entergram was released in Japan on July 26, 2018. It includes the previous content covered by "Sui", in addition to three new scenarios adapted from the Windows version of "Hō". A PlayStation 4 port of "Higurashi: When They Cry Hō" was released by Entergram in Japan on January 24, 2019.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A mobile phone RPG game titled and planned by D-techno, written by Kiichi Kanō and developed by Smile Axe was released on September 3, 2020. The story stars a new protagonist, Kazuho Kimiyoshi, who visits Hinamizawa in the year 1993. After gaining the power to fight monsters called "Tsukuyami" by Tamurahime-no-Mikoto, Kazuho somehow wanders into Hinamizawa of 1983.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Several sets of drama CDs based on the series have been released, mainly distributed by Frontier Works and Wayuta. The latter's releases differ from other media adaptations in that they make extensive use of the source material from the original sound novels, and sometimes include original songs from dai's albums. The main eight sound novel arcs have been adapted into a total of eleven CD releases, published by HOBiRECORDS and distributed by Wayuta and Geneon Entertainment, between May 27, 2005 and March 9, 2012; "Minagoroshi-hen" and "Matsuribayashi-hen" have been split into two and three separate releases respectively. Each chapter is 200–300 minutes long and contains 3-6 discs. The CDs feature remixes of the games' music and sound effects and the voice cast members have been chosen by Ryūkishi07 himself, though some of them have been changed for the anime and PS2 release due to scheduling conflicts. The booklets included with the CDs contained passwords that, if entered on the official site, unlocked downloads to audio files that adapted the TIPS for each of the arcs. In response to fan requests, audio TIPS for the first five arcs later became available on drama CDs named "Append Disc 01", released on December 29, 2005 at Comiket 69, and "Append Disc 02", released on October 26, 2007. HOBiRECORDS has also released three drama CDs that adapted several fan-submitted stories from the "Kataribanashi-hen" novel/manga anthology arc. The first CD was released on April 25, 2007, the second on May 9, 2008, and the third on April 24, 2009. Frontier Works released several CDs, starting with an anthology piece called "Anthology Drama CD 1" on December 22, 2005, followed by a second CD titled "Anthology Drama CD 2" on March 24, 2006, and a third CD titled "Anthology Drama CD Higurashi no Naku Koro ni featuring Umineko no Naku Koro ni" on May 27, 2009. In addition to the anthologies, there have also been numerous character song CDs and DJCDs released during special events such as at Comiket, magazine subscriptions, and anime/film/game pre-order bonuses.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: There are eight main titles in the "Higurashi" manga series, spanning the four question arcs and the four answer arcs. Each question arc manga are compiled into two bound volumes. The first two answer arc manga are compiled into four volumes, meanwhile "Minagoroshi-hen" is compiled into six volumes, and "Matsuribayashi-hen" into eight. The manga uses multiple artists between the various arcs. Karin Suzuragi drew "Onikakushi-hen", "Tsumihoroboshi-hen", and "Matsuribayashi-hen", Yutori Hōjō drew "Watanagashi-hen" and "Meakashi-hen", Jirō Suzuki drew "Tatarigoroshi-hen", Yoshiki Tonogai drew "Himatsubushi-hen", and Hinase Momoyama drew "Minagoroshi-hen". Another manga entitled is drawn by Yuna Kagesaki and began in Kadokawa Shoten's "Comp Ace" on August 26, 2008. The manga series was licensed by Yen Press for English distribution in North America under the title "Higurashi: When They Cry". The manga was initially serialized in Yen Press' "Yen Plus" anthology magazine, the first issue of which went on sale on July 29, 2008. The first English volume of the manga was originally planned to be sold in early 2009, but was released in November 2008.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: There are three side stories related to the main "Higurashi" story, but with new characters. The first, named , is drawn by En Kitō and was serialized between March 2005 and July 2006 in "Comp Ace". The next, entitled , is drawn by Mimori and was serialized between in "GFantasy" between 2006 and 2007. The last side story is known as is also drawn by En Kitō and was serialized in "Comp Ace" between 2006 and 2007.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A manga adaptation of "Higurashi"s precursor "Hinamizawa Teiryūjo" began serialization in the debut issue of Square Enix's "Big Gangan" magazine, sold on October 25, 2011.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A manga spin-off illustrated by Asahi, titled "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Oni", began serialization in Futabasha's "Monthly Action" magazine on February 25, 2022.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: There are four light novels which contain additional illustrations by five different artists, and seventeen novelizations of the separate visual novel arcs. Each novel is written by Ryukishi07. The light novels were all released as limited editions not sold in stores. The first one, "Nekogoroshi-hen", was illustrated by Karin Suzuragi, Yutori Hōjō, and Jirō Suzuki, and was sent out to those who bought the first volume of the manga versions of "Onikakushi-hen", "Watanagashi-hen", and "Tatarigoroshi-hen". One needed to send the cutout stamps in all three of these manga by the deadline to receive this special short story. The second light novel, "Kuradashi-hen", was illustrated by Yoshiki Tonogai, Karin Suzuki, Yutori Hōjō, and Mimori. This novel was sent out to those who bought the second volume of the manga version of "Himatsubushi-hen", and the first volumes of the manga "Tsumihoroboshi-hen", "Meakashi-hen", and "Yoigoshi-hen". One needed to send the cutout stamps in all four of these manga by a certain deadline to receive this special short story. The third light novel, "Hajisarashi-hen", contained illustrations by Rato, and was included with the limited edition of the PlayStation 2 game "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri". The fourth novel, "Kuradashi-hen Zoku" is a sequel to "Kuradashi-hen" and was sent out to those who bought the second volumes of the manga "Tsumihoroboshi-hen", "Meakashi-hen", and "Yoigoshi-hen". One needed to send the cutout stamps in all four of these manga by a certain deadline to receive this special short story. The light novels were published by Square Enix and released in 2006 and 2007.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Kodansha Box released 17 novelizations of the visual novel arcs with illustrations by Tomohi between August 2007 and March 2009, starting with "Onikakushi-hen" and ending with "Saikoroshi-hen". Most of the story arcs are divided into two volumes, except for "Himatsubushi-hen" and "Saikoroshi-hen" which are compiled into one volume each, and "Matsuribayashi-hen" which is compiled into three volumes. In September 2010, editor Katsushi Ōta confirmed on Twitter that the novelizations would be re-released in bunkobon editions. The re-releases were published by Seikaisha with new cover art by Tomohi from January 12, 2011 to June 8, 2012. In 2020, the series received new bunkobon editions illustrated by Sato Yoshimi, published by Futabasha under the Futabasha Junior Bunko label, starting with "Onikakushi-hen" on October 23.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The first anime series was animated by Studio Deen and produced by Frontier Works, Geneon Entertainment and Sotsu. It is directed by Chiaki Kon, with Toshifumi Kawase handling series composition, Kyūta Sakai designing the characters and Kenji Kawai composing the music. The season covers the four question arcs and the first two answer arcs, and aired in Japan between April 4 and September 26, 2006, comprising 26 episodes. Most of the characters were played by the same voice actors as the drama CD series. The series is available on DVD in Japan, France and North America (following Geneon Entertainment's licensing of the series). However, Geneon's U.S. division announced that it discontinued all ongoing anime projects in September 2007, including "Higurashi" on November 6, 2007. Only three of a planned six DVDs of "Higurashi" were released, under the title "When They Cry: Higurashi". On July 3, 2008, Geneon and Funimation announced an agreement to distribute select titles in North America. While Geneon still retained the license, Funimation assumed exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select titles. "Higurashi" was one of the several titles involved in the deal. Funimation released a complete box set of the series in August 2009. However, in August 2011, the rights to the series expired due to low sales. Sentai Filmworks has licensed both anime series.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: People in Japan, who had bought all nine of the DVDs of the first season, had the chance to receive a special anime DVD entitled "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Gaiden Nekogoroshi-hen", based on the short story that was given to those who had bought the manga. Despite being a bonus for the first season (and having the first season's opening and closing sequences), "Nekogoroshi-hen" featured Sakai's updated character designs from the second season.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A continuation of the series produced by the same core staff and based on one new story arc and the final two original answer arcs of the franchise, entitled , aired in Japan between July 6 and December 17, 2007, containing twenty-four episodes. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the second anime series. As the result of a murder case in September 2007 in Japan involving the murder of a police officer by his sixteen-year-old daughter with an axe, as well as the Japanese media relating the case to anime such as "Higurashi", the latest episode screenings of both "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai" and another anime at the time, "School Days", were canceled by a number of stations, due to excessive violence. However, AT-X, TV Saitama and Sun TV announced that they would be airing the episodes as planned. Later, TV Saitama announced that they had ceased broadcasting of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai" from episode thirteen onwards. Additionally, "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai" had its opening altered when it re-aired. Originally, a bloody bill hook cleaver (as used by Rena) was shown halfway through (at timestamp 0:55) the opening; it was replaced with an image of a van from the series' fictional junk yard.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: An original video animation (OVA) series, entitled , was released on February 25, 2009, and is directed and written by Toshifumi Kawase, with Kazuya Kuroda taking over Sakai's role as character designer. The series also started a limited broadcasting in Bandai Channel prior to DVD release. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the "Rei" OVAs. The OVA contains three story arcs, "Hajisarashi-hen", "Saikoroshi-hen" and "Hirukowashi-hen", with "Saikoroshi-hen" concluding in three episodes, and the other two arcs concluding in one episode each. "Hajisarashi-hen" was originally a light novel included with the limited edition of the PlayStation 2 game "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri", and took the place of "Batsukoishi-hen" from the "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Rei" fandisc. Frontier Works announced another original video anime series, in March 2011, to celebrate the tenth anniversary of "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni". It is directed and storyboarded by Hideki Tachibana and written by Kawase, with Tomoyuki Abe taking over Kuroda's role as character designer and Tomoki Kikuya serving as additional music composer. An OVA film titled , adapted from Ryukishi07's short story "Higurashi Outbreak", was announced in December 2012 and was later released in August 2013. Sakai returned as a character designer for "Outbreak".


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: On January 6, 2020, 07th Expansion and Kadokawa announced that a new anime project by Passione was in production. Akio Watanabe serves as a character designer, and Infinite serves as a producer. Keiichiro Kawaguchi is directing the series, with Naoki Hayashi handling series composition and Kenji Kawai returning as music composer. The main cast will reprise their roles. The series was set to premiere in July 2020, but was delayed to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The series aired from October 1, 2020 to March 19, 2021. The series, entitled , was acquired by Funimation and streamed on its website in North America and the British Isles, and on AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, Medialink has acquired the series, and are streaming the series on its YouTube channel Ani-One. Before episode 2 aired, the title of the anime was "Higurashi: When They Cry – New" and it was marketed as a remake to the original anime series. When episode 2 aired, the subtitle was changed to and it was revealed that the anime is not actually a direct remake as it was previously marketed to be. The new series ran for 24 episodes.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: After "Gou" finished airing, a sequel, entitled , was announced. The series aired from July 1 to September 30, 2021. Funimation will stream the series. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, Medialink has acquired the series, and are streaming the series on its YouTube channel Ani-One.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A live action film adaptation of the series entitled , directed and written by Ataru Oikawa, premiered in Japanese theaters on May 10, 2008. The film is an adaptation of the first story arc, "Onikakushi-hen". Gōki Maeda plays Keiichi, Airi Matsuyama plays Rena, Rin Asuka plays Mion, Aika plays Rika, and Erena Ono plays Satoko. The film was released in 60 theaters and earned over at the box office.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A sequel, also live action, was released in Japanese theaters on April 18, 2009 and is entitled . The sequel is based on the "Tsumihoroboshi-hen" arc, but it incorporates elements from other arcs and has a slightly different ending. The cast, including Maeda as Keiichi, is almost the same as in the previous film, but the role of Ōishi has been changed from Tetta Sugimoto to Ren Osugi.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A live-action television series adaptation directed by Tōru Ōtsuka and starring Yu Inaba as Keiichi premiered in Japan on May 20, 2016 on cable channel BS SKY PerfecTV!. The cast includes the members of NGT48. A four-episode sequel premiered on November 25, 2016.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Unlike visual novels created by established companies, 07th Expansion did not create the music found in the "Higurashi" games. The music for the question arcs consists of license free songs found on the Internet while the music for the answer arcs was provided by dōjin music artists that were fans of "Higurashi". Later, a CD album called "Thanks/you" was released by the dōjin music artist, Dai; many of his tracks were used in the answer arcs. Fans initially referred to this album as the official soundtrack. However, the actual official soundtrack has since been released for the series, featuring a majority of the songs featured in the answer arcs. This two-disc set is, to date, the most complete collection of songs from the games.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The first season anime's opening theme is "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" sung by Eiko Shimamiya; it went on sale in Japan on May 24, 2006. The ending theme is "Why, or Why Not" sung by Rekka Katakiri; it was released on June 28, 2006. They were released as two original soundtracks. The series is composed by Kenji Kawai and the albums were produced by Frontier Works. Volume 1 was released on July 21, 2006, and volume 2 was released on October 6, 2006, in Japan. Three character song CDs were also released, sung by voice actors from the anime adaptation, between March 28 and July 25, 2007. The second season anime's opening theme is "Naraku no Hana" also sung by Shimamiya. The first season's opening theme includes a hidden message : the unintelligible lyrics at the beginning ("hanni hara hare hi") were generated by reversing the phrase . The second season's opening theme also includes a reversed part at the end ("ie hanann") which was made by playing backwards the reversed bit from the first opening theme. The ending theme is "Taishō a" performed by anNina. The first OVA season's opening theme is "Super scription of data" by Shimamiya, and the ending theme is by anNina. The opening theme for the OVA "Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Kira" is "Happy! Lucky! Dochy!" by Yukari Tamura, Mika Kanai, and Yui Horie—the voice actors for Rika, Satoko, and Hanyū, respectively. The ending theme, , had four separate versions: one by Mai Nakahara, Rena's voice actor and the others are sung by Yukari Tamura and Mika Kanai, Satsuki Yukino, Mion and Shion's voice actor, and Yui Horie. The opening theme for "Gou" is "I Believe What You Said" by Asaka. Except for the first episode that uses "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni" by Shimamiya as its ending theme, the ending themes for "Gou" are "Kamisama no Syndrome" for episodes 2–17 and "Fukisokusei Entropy" for episodes 18–23 by Ayane.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: For the first live-action film, a short version of the film's theme song was released on December 22, 2007, in Japan. Once again, Shimamiya sang the song, entitled . Shimamiya also performed the ending theme entitled .


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Over 100,000 copies of the original games were sold in Japan by 2006, a feat not attained by a dōjin game since Type-Moon released "Tsukihime". Many fans attribute the game's success to the suspense and horror the novel portrays. Fan-based community boards emerged where fans began discussing their own theories. The popularity of the games grew exponentially as many took interest in their well-outlined script and story, which eventually led the game to be showcased in large gaming magazines with positive reviews. With the announcement of the live-action film adaptation of "Onikakushi-hen" came the news that over 500,000 copies of the games had been sold, by August 13, 2007. The enhanced PlayStation 2 port, "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Matsuri", had sold 140,397 copies by October 11, 2007. Later console releases in the series, between December 2007 and January 2019, have sold 408,391 copies in Japan, as of February 2019, bringing total software sales to copies in Japan.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: The PS2 version received a total review score of 31/40 (out of the four individual review scores of 9, 8, 8 and 6) from the Japanese gaming magazine "Famitsu". The game was voted the tenth most interesting bishōjo game by readers of "Dengeki G's Magazine" in an August 2007 survey. Its English-language release also received a positive reception from critics. "Hardcore Gamer" stated that the "writing is incredibly eerie, and amazingly effective" and concluded that "few video games make it anywhere near the skillful story weaving present within the Higurashi series." APGNation stated the "Excellent writing and music make for an evocative reading experience."


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: In Japan, the third volume of the manga adaptation ranked as the 19th weekly best-selling book on January 16, 2008. The first volume ranked as the 18th weekly bestseller on June 10, 2008. The fourth volume ranked as the 19th bestseller on January 14, 2009. In the United States, the first volume was ranked 253rd in the top 300 graphic novels sold in November 2008 and ranked as 25th in the top 25 Manga sold in the first quarter of 2009 release of "ICv2 Retailers Guide to Anime/Manga". The manga sold 8million copies by 2009, and over 10 million copies in circulation by 2020.


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: Debi Aoki of About.com stated that reading the chapters in succession as they were presented in its serialization in "Yen Plus" made the story "easier to follow" and built the suspense better. However, Justin Colussy-Estes of Comic Village disagreed feeling that this structure "backfire[d]". Justin Colussy-Estes of Comic Village praised the setting for hinting at something "much darker". He also praised the structure stating that the "mystery develops slowly" to immerse the reader in the characters and then later force the reader to "confront the possibility that one or more of them may be [the] murderer"; a decision he described as "clever". Critics criticized the manga for using typical characterizations of the harem genre. However, Phil Guie of Popcultureshock expressed disappointment that this characterization "is brushed aside" for the horror as it gave the friendship between characters "real depth" adding to the surprise of the plot twists. "Anime News Network"'s Casey Brienza praised the manga for being an "effective" horror story as it follows an ordinary situation, a harem manga plot, which "becomes terrifying" producing an effect that is "trashy horror at its absolute greatest". However, she expressed being frustrated by the end of the second volume as the central question remains "infuriatingly unanswered" though still felt the manga is "wholly enjoyable and satisfying" nonetheless. Brienza stated that although the artwork is "average", the illustrator "seems to know exactly how to transition between the adorable and the abominable—and does so with dramatic, nightmarish effect." Aoki described the artwork as although "pander[ing] to otaku fetishes" containing "generic" and "awkward" character designs, providing "overbearing cutesiness [that] makes the secrets that the girls are hiding behind their smiles just that much creepier."


title: Higurashi When They Cry

text: A review by "The Escapist" gave the anime television series a highly positive review. James Henley praised the story, saying that each arc is interesting in its own way, but said that watching "Kai" was necessary to fully understand the story. He also praised the cast of characters, and how, despite having only one main male character, it never falls into harem stereotypes, and how each one has a unique back story, revealed in different arcs. He criticized the dub as poor quality, but recommended the anime, mainly subbed, if one "can stomach the brutality." "The Anime Almanac" similarly praised the story, as a unique method of storytelling and the art of the characters, but went to add that the "moe" design on the girls made the scary scenes less threatening. He ultimately recommended the series. Another review, from "THEM Anime Reviews", was less positive, giving it 3 out of 5 stars, praising the story, but panning the sorrow of the characters and the violence, saying ""Higurashi" is a hard show to watch; while it's interesting, each chapter is progressively soul-sucking and depressing, as the characters struggle desperately to avoid grisly fates, often to no avail, multiple times." He finished the review by saying "..."Higurashi" is interesting and visceral enough to be worth viewing by the more adventurous."


title: Peer-to-peer

text: Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network. They are said to form a peer-to-peer network of nodes.


title: Peer-to-peer

text: Peers make a portion of their resources, such as processing power, disk storage or network bandwidth, directly available to other network participants, without the need for central coordination by servers or stable hosts. Peers are both suppliers and consumers of resources, in contrast to the traditional client–server model in which the consumption and supply of resources are divided.


title: Peer-to-peer

text: While P2P systems had previously been used in many application domains, the architecture was popularized by the file sharing system Napster, originally released in 1999. The concept has inspired new structures and philosophies in many areas of human interaction. In such social contexts, peer-to-peer as a meme refers to the egalitarian social networking that has emerged throughout society, enabled by Internet technologies in general.


title: Peer-to-peer

text: While P2P systems had previously been used in many application domains, the concept was popularized by file sharing systems such as the music-sharing application Napster (originally released in 1999). The peer-to-peer movement allowed millions of Internet users to connect "directly, forming groups and collaborating to become user-created search engines, virtual supercomputers, and filesystems." The basic concept of peer-to-peer computing was envisioned in earlier software systems and networking discussions, reaching back to principles stated in the first Request for Comments, RFC 1.