Fans of Higurashi: When They Cry are still reeling from the recent end to the anime-exclusive storyline, Higurashi Gou. While the next part of the storyline will be coming this summer with Higurashi Sotsu, fans just recently were informed of an unexpected crossover with the horror series.
Sanrio has crossed over with a variety of franchises, but none have expected a collaboration between Sanrio and Higurashi: When They Cry. Considering that Sanrio is a mostly family friendly franchise with the Higurashi series being infamous for the sheer amount of blood, gore, and human suffering contained within it, the two couldn't be any more different.
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The crossover was announced both on the official Higurashi anime website and the official Sanrio Twitter page. The background behind the crossover states that a Sanrio Puroland theme park is being constructed in Hinamizawa, the village where Higurashi takes place. This of course is an April Fools' prank by both those behind Higurashi and representatives at Sanrio, with the village not being a real place, only based on one.
Even though this is a prank with there not being any kind of anime special about Puroland in the Higurashi anime, plenty of official art was created for this crossover. These pieces can all be currently found on the Higurashi anime website with them all being more focused on the pure Sanrio image than the horrors behind Higurashi.
False information about how the Sanrio characters are doing in Hinamizawa is also being posted on the website. This includes events such as the Sanrio character, Hangyodon, being appointed as a police chief and My Melody performing at the Watanagashi Festival. Clicking these news links however all lead to gifs of Higurashi characters smiling or laughing, showing that the whole thing is an April Fools' joke.
Higurashi: When They Cry Gou is currently available for streaming via Hulu and Funimation.
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Source: Higurashi Anime Official Website