Higurashi no Naku Koro ni takes place in June 1983 in a fictional rural village called Hinamizawa, which has a population of approximately 2000. The main character, Keiichi Maebara, moves to Hinamizawa and befriends his new classmates, Rena Ryugu, Mion Sonozaki, Rika Furude, and Satoko Hojo. Keiichi joins their after-school club activities, which mainly consist of card and board games (and punishment games for the loser, usually him). Hinamizawa appears to be an ordinary, peaceful, rural village to Keiichi. However, the peacefulness abruptly ends after the annual Watanagashi Festival, a celebration to express gratitude toward the local god, Oyashiro-sama. Keiichi discovers that on the day of the Watanagashi Festival, for the past four years, one person has been murdered, and another has vanished. Soon, he becomes drawn into the strange events surrounding the Watanagashi Festival and Oyashiro-sama. In each story arc, he or one of his friends becomes paranoid, and a crime is committed. Usually, the crime involves the murder of one of their friends. While it seems impossible to tell their delusions apart from the mystery of Hinamizawa, the truth is gradually revealed throughout the story. [Edited from Wikipedia] Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai is the second set of stories, including the "Answer" arcs.