Awesome Music / When They Cry

This series has its roots in sound novels, which is a subset of visual novels that puts extra focus on the music, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that they have a lot of great music. Here's some of the top stuff.

Higurashi: When They Cry / When They Cry 1 & 2

Higurashi: When They Cry

• The defining song of the series would have to be You ~Destructive~. For added awesomeness, watch Akasaka's fight scene with this music.
  • As well as the original "You," one of the most heartbreaking songs in the series.
  • The instrumental version is just as powerful.
• Of the Dear You character song remixes, Dear You ~Kizuna~ really stands out as the most beautiful and moving. Runner up is Kokoro Musubi for most emotional, especially Shion's part at the end.
• Assault Operations is Awesome Music for Akasaka and Kasai, but Funny Music for Tomitake.
• The reason some of the scenes in Tsumihoroboshi were so powerful was because of Birth and Death. It got an equally heartbreaking remix in Umineko as My Dear. That, Uro and LIVE from Minagoroshi are otherwise known as TearJerking Music. (And yes, Uro was in the fanmade Onikakushi video.)
• Naraku no Hana is one of the most powerful and epic Anime Theme Songs ever.
• Taishō a, one of the best Anime Ending Themes ever.
• Samayoi no Kotoba wa Ten ni Michibikare is an intense piece that plays during the climax of the Tsumihoroboshi VN when Keiichi and friends finally take the upper hand in Rena's hostage situation.
• Zero, which played at the end of Tsumihoroboshi's VN. A cheerful pop-punk track that lets you know you finally finished an arc that doesn't end in a Downer Ending (until you read the final TIP).
• Two of the most touching pieces in the soundtrack - Tsugunai no Kotoba and Hitori.
• Fearlessness lives up to its title.
• Incredibly badass music titled Cross-Examination? It seems Umineko isn't the only part of the series that's been playing too much Ace Attorney.
• The first opening, appropriately titled Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, shows exactly what the mood of the first season is like. It was iconic enough that it capped the premiere episode of Gou, playing when Keiichi finds the newspaper articles in the dump and continuing through the credits.
• Kizuna's "Angelic bright" and Matsuri's "Complex Image".
  • Matsuri's "Nageki no Mori".
  • Also from the Kizuna series, we've got "Tsuisou no Despair", "Place of Period", and "Hikari no Sora no Qualia".
• "Fascism" from Watanagashi-hen and Tatarigoroshi-hen. Even though the version used suffers from unintentionally severe Loudness War, the composition is still capable of evoking the dread Keiichi feels during the scenes where it plays with its creepy violin melody that slowly becomes more intense. If the issues with the music are too much for you, here is a version that doesn't have them, so you can hear the tune the way it was meant to be.
• Rainy Days (for the feeling of "something's fishy here" done very, very well)
• Orange-Colored Time is perfectly representative of the peaceful, happy days at the start of the Question Arcs, and makes you regret that they can't last any longer.
• Demonic Institute really gets intense terror across.
• "Dancers7". You can really feel your mind running at the speed of light along with with Keiichi's, when it plays during his planning of Teppei's murder in Tatarigoroshi.It is surprisingly cold and dark, with a hint of fury, as a murderer needs to be.
• Saigo No Cycle^note The last cycle from Matsuribayashi is pretty epic.
• Shukusai from the nail-ripping scene in the Visual Novel is ear-gratingly awesome.
• Utu helped make already creepy scenes that extra touch to really scare the players.
• Mienai Nanika ni Obieru Yoru is a rocking tune that first plays during the water gun fight at the start of Tsumihoroboshi. However, it is at its most awesome when it plays during the fight between Keiichi and Rena on the school's rooftop at the end of that same arc. The action, excitement, and hint of fun it conveys perfectly fits how the "fun" Rena has fighting with Keiichi manages to restore her sanity.
• Many of the image songs are also Awesome Music material, like Rika Furude's Mugen Kairou between the cute beginning and end ^note As for the lyrics... Not so sugar sweet now, is it?. Bon Karma is the Big Bad's Image song ^note It should go without saying to watch Kai before this, and also qualifies. Rena and Hanyuu's songs are perhaps more cute than awesome.
• Matsuribayashi's Being Shows Hanyuu's determination to fight fate and Takano in the final world, while Festival is the theme of the Watanagashi festival that arc.
• From Matsuri, "Free" is a HUGE Tear Jerker when it's played. "Hitori" is cute, but is just depressing when played in the Matsuri-only Taraimawashi-hen when Mion becomes a Comatose Canary, and in the end of Tatarigoroshi-hen.
• Shirokiri no Itadaki -Blanc Pur- (White Mist Peak -Pure White-) is cold, ominous, and incredibly fitting for the Yamainu's attack in Minagoroshi-hen.
• "Solitude from Meakashi-hen" gives off exactly the described feeling.
• "Confession" stands out as one of the most tear-jerking songs to incorporate You into it.
• And then there's "Conviction", which has the most beautiful and tear jerking piano opening ever.
• Depressive Paranoia gives you a hint of what it feels like to be in a dark room filled with torture tools, listening to the gruesome stories of a Nightmare Fetishist Psychopathic Womanchild. A background music in all its glory: it's discreet but it doubles the tension.
• In the MangaGamer version, Track 15 (replacing Dancers 7) and Track 16 (replacing Lies Lies Lies) do their job extremely well. The former as a cold-blooded, fast and furious murder theme, the latter as a downright depressing funeral song. They arguably work better than the original musics in their respective contexts.
• Ode to the Moon, a truly epic piano piece playing during Takano's A God Am I speech in Episode 7.
• Mienu Mirai, an intense rock track with Japanese flute that plays during the breakout at the start of Meakashi and perfectly captures Shion's determination to escape the school.
• For Rei, there's the OP "Super scription of data". Ties in to Rika's desires to find a world where she can beat fate.
• For Gou, we now have the OP "I Believe What You Said". While it returns to the slightly creepy feeling of past openings, it keeps the rock ballad style to tie in with Rika, who had previously escaped her fate, once again being forced to fight for her life. Additionally, with the second half of Gou, it masterfully tells the story of the falling out between Satoko and Rika when they attended St. Lucia Academy together. The opening, in that sense, can be interpreted as Satoko directing the song to Rika about how she had seemingly forgotten of the promise they made.
• Gou's ending, "God's Syndrome," is an epic and mournful number about the helplessness and exhaustion Rika has come to feel on this endless journey she has gone through for all these years, with gorgeously rendered pastel illustrations depicting the joys and miseries of Hinamizawa in time with the music.
• Gou's second ending theme "Irregular Entropy" perfectly conveys the mental deterioration of Satoko once she is revealed to be the second looper in episode 17. With its upbeat punk, it also serves as a bridge between Higurashi and Umineko once Featherine Augustus Aurora makes her arrival.

Umineko: When They Cry / When They Cry 3 & 4

Opening and Ending Themes

This wouldn't be a proper listing of all the awesome music in Umineko without getting into its epic opening and ending themes.

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• The anime adaptation intro, Katayoku no Tori, features impressive Japanese and Italian vocals, lyrics that effectively match the imagery of the series^note the title means "one-winged bird," a reference to the Ushiromiya crest and an overall catchy tune.
• Umineko no Naku Koro Ni, pure epicness (full version).
• Episodes 5 and 6's opening: Occultics no Majou (Occultics Witch). Now here's the full version in all of its awesomeness.
• Kiri no Pitosu (Pithos in the Fog), opening for Episodes 7 and 8, and the full version.
• The ending themes in the Visual Novel:
  • Bring the Fate (main story ending) and Prison STRIP (Tea Party ending) from Episode 1.
  • The ending of Episode 2, Senritsu ~ shirabe. A slow, mysterious and enchanting song, quite in contrast with the endings after that.
  • The ending song of Episode 3, activepain is pretty cool and catchy.
  • Discode, the ending from Episode 4, is oddly catchy.
  • Tsubasa, version Hope from Episode 5.
  • Suspicious Aroma from Episode 6.
  • The ending theme of EP7: Namae no Nai Uta (The Song Without A Name). There's also its full version from the Noblesse Oblige album. Try also the piano version of this song.
  • And the grand ending theme, ''Byakumu no Mayu -Ricordando il passato-'' (Cocoon of White Dreams ~remembering the past~), a very beautiful and touching song that perfectly captures the Bittersweet Ending.
• The opening of the fighting game, Ougon Musou Kyoku ~ Konjiki no Chi ni Somaru Mae ni (Dyed with Golden Blood). The full version. Amazingly, the full instrumental version works very well as a final boss battle music.
• Ougon Musou Kyoku X's opening theme, Ougon no Kiseki wo Kanaeru Made (Fulfill the Golden Miracle), and its full version from the Dear Golden Witch album is just as epic as the opening of the PC version. Its instrumental version also serves as Black Battler's boss theme.
• And now we have the opening theme, Inanna no Mita Yume (Inanna's Dream), to the Chiru PS3 remake, Nocturne of Truth and Illusions. Its full version and the instrumental version from CROSS are equally awesome as well.
• Ougon's CROSS Expansion introduces It's Golden Showtime!, a song many would say is even better than its two predecessors. The instrumental version is just as good.

Dai

Dai is the music director for the When They Cry series, so unsurprisingly, several of the awesome tracks in the series also come from them:

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• Happiness of Marionette perfectly captures the wonder of Eva finding the gold and being crowned Golden Witch during episode 3. It also plays during the ensuing murder scene, making sure that the imagery of Rosa and Maria being murdered over and over again in unusual ways will come back to you each time you remember the tune.
• "Umaretekite Kureta Arigatou" ("Thank you for being born"). And as of Episode 6 it has been epically remixed in Rebirth.
• Mortal Stampede - simply epic.
• Tsubasa was mindblowingly awesome. The vocal version is the ending theme for Episode 5, but when you change those vocals to electric guitar you get a different but equally awesome remix.
• Endless Nine aka "Battler gets dangerous". Featuring Microsoft Sam!
• The often forgotten OTHER piece from Episode 3's climax—the one that isn't Tsubasa, but is just as good: Lost Paradise. (Or is that Paradise Lost?)
• Really, all of the songs with little parts of "Hope" are good. More precisely: Tomorrow, Core, White Shadow, and My Dear.
• Umineko is also so good at this that it makes piano-driven pieces into epic CMOA. See Answer (just wait about 40 seconds if you don't hear it) and dir.
  • Answer got EXTENDED by about 40 seconds in the PS3 version.
  • For more piano-y goodness, EP6's "Life".
  • Another really wonderful one from the same game is ALIVE. There's a third track too in this game called "Rebirth." You noticing a pattern here?
• Promise, from Episode 5. Given it's less Awesome Music and more Tearjerking Music, if you know why... The PS3 Version has a new remake of Promise.
• A great (and Tear-jerking) remix of "Happiness of Marionette" (with some "Promise" thrown in) called "Engage of Marionette". It's the last music you hear before the final credits roll.
• Still from Episode 5 is JUSTICE, which notably plays when Battler revives and ascends to the rank of Endless Sorcerer in the the Hidden Tea Party.
• Sakutaro's theme, Sakutarou no Ganbarimonogatari, which incorporates a marimba version of Door to Summer and happiness of marionette for a BGM so adorable that just listening to it will give you diabetes. And to be sure diabetes kill you for good, there is little Ange's theme, Nuigurumi, playing during the quizz mini-game in Episode 8.
• Dai's half of the OST, "Musicbox Blue" and "Musicbox Kiri no Pithos" (shared with Luck Ganriki), have a load of tracks that weren't used in the games yet at the time of its release; several of them have shown up in the games since, so the others may yet be used. Unfortunately, Oku and Black Knight were not among those that get into Twilight of the Golden Witch, but Hishou (Soar) did in Episode 8. Also, Black Knight is used in 07th Expansion's next big work, Rose Guns Days.
  • Similarly, the previously unreleased track Mata Umarekawaru Hi Made (until the day we're reborn), a beautiful mix of Umaretekitekurete Arigatou and happiness of marionette.
  • There are quite a few from "Musicbox Blue," such as The Old Clock, Witch's Room, A World Without Witches, and a few others based on Hope like Heaven's Floor and Roomless.
• A song the title of which may be a thank you to all the readers of Umineko: Thanks of all people.
• From Episode 6 we have the beautiful yet sad Loreley.
• Tomorrow's awesome orchestral arrangement in the Fighting game Ougon Musou Kyoku.

ZTS

The doujin music composer ZTS also makes several tracks in Umineko, and they have the trademark of making at least one incredibly epic piece per episode.

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• goldenslaughterer, the "corpse discovery" theme. The deep synth at the start is the feeling of discovering the corpse of a loved one would sound like made into sound, while the orchestral strings, hard-hitting drum rhythm, and synth captures the feeling of dread that grows into a desire to find the culprit and tear them a new one.
• miragecoordinator from Episode 3 is used for the Climax Boss scene, and later reused in other dramatic fights, mixing the feelings of grandeur, despair, and childish cuteness.
• resurrectedreplayer from Episode 5, a remix of "goldenslaughterer" with some bits of "Far" in the middle, combines synths, harpsichord, violins, and piano to make the perfect background music for a battle of wits.
• Another remix of "goldenslaughterer" is the fantastic the_executioner in EP 7. The beginning sounds like the awakening of a dragon, prompting you to start running for your life. The rest of the song also lets you know the characters are up against a massively powerful being.
• From Episode 3, Far. Starts slow and sweet, then ascends to a really heartwarming violin piece. Its Episode 7 piano remix, Far (Flat), is equally awesome.
• Deadangle, and its breathtakingly pretty remix, Discolor.
• Rain from EP7, a heartbreaking, melancholic song that fits its title.
• Ridicule, a fantastically creepy track from EP7.
• Dive to Emergency from EP4 wouldn't sound out of place in Naruto Shippuden.
• How about orchestral remixes of already fantastic tracks by Glasun-Neko?
• Worldend dominator, an amazingly intense track.

Luck Ganriki

• Organ Short #600 Million in C Minor, Beato's Leitmotif, is a creepy organ fugue with a hint of mischief that perfectly represents her troll personality.
• Smile-less soiree is a musical illustration of the stifling atmosphere on Rokkenjima from Episode 5.
• Deep Blue Jeer (Ao Shoku no Reishou), the leitmotif of the man from 19 years ago in Episode 5. The Ougon Musou remix, Aoiro no Reishou 2011 is also awesome, if even darker than Umineko's main Mind Rape theme.
• Birth of a New Witch from Episode 6. The vocal version of this song. Used to great effect during the final scene of EP 6.
• Beatrice's Image Song, Golden Nocturne is pretty awesome by itself. So why not make it even more awesome by stripping the vocals and turning it into an awesome BGM?
• Usan no Kaori (Suspicious Aroma), and the vocal version used as Episode 6's ending theme.
• And of course, Happy Maria and its infamously incomprehensible lyrics (which, incidentally, has a totally badass rock version. Kihihihihihi!).
• Gray Empty Smile is another Ominous Pipe Organ piece (Umineko sure loves that trope), and probably the most ominous one of them all. The second half switches from in-your-face evilness to a more subdued creepiness.

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• Akai Kutsu Nise (Fake Red Shoes) from the duel between Virgilia and Beatrice in Episode 3. The mix of synth and harpsichord intensifies the awesome fight scene, with the two witches pulling out increasingly powerful spells.
• The Girls' Witch Hunt, Kuina, and the tense yet catchy Tsugihagi Kimera from Episode 5.
• Infant Queen Bee from Episode 6 is equally awesome. The song plays during some of the most tragic situations, when all hope seems lost, and the truth of just how dire things are weight heavily on everyone involved. Notably, it plays right at the end of episode 7 during the tea party, in which the true story of what happened on the island is gleefully revealed to Ange by Bernkastel, who proceeds to gut Clair for good measure.
• Solitary Deep Sea Fish, which plays when Battler utters his catchphrase in EP5 after everyone in the parlor labels Natsuhi as the culprit.

Kitaōji Mizuki

A composer from the Glasun-neko circle. Seems to provide mostly awesome orchestral themes.

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• String Quartet #1 in G Major - I. Allegro from Episode 1's Tea Party, light and joyful.
• Like the Gale, a frantic and chaotic jazz piece that plays when Amakusa comes to rescue Ange.

Xaki

• Among the epic piano music in the Umineko series, special honor goes to The End of the World. There's a vocal version as well that adds awesomeness to awesomeness.
• En-Counse, the slow, sweet, and melancholic piece used for Tohya/ Battler in the eighth game.

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• Surrounding is one of the most badass pieces in the game's music history, as it feels like that moment when the character is going to reveal their true strength and start kicking ass. The piano chord at 1:25 is the best part of the song.
• A Single Moment, Featherine's Leitmotif besides Love Examination.
• Where creates the feeling of wandering through a mystical jungle late at night.

Other composers

• Dread of the Grave and its remixes, Dread of the Grave -more fear-, Dread of the Grave (Rhythm), and Dread of the grave -more fear- (Remix), which sound like the Pursuit theme from an Ace Attorney game.
• By the same composer of Dread of the Grave: Victima Propiciatoria from Episode 4 lures you in with some alluring violin before hitting you in the face with a powerful accordion melody.
• From the very beginning of episode 1, you have the heart-rending stillness of Slow Motion which feels like looking out a sunlit window, and catching sight of a solitary butterfly. Tekuteku Captures the regal, somber air of the Ushiromiya household.
• Kin'iro no Choushou ~Uruwashi no Bansan~. Basically, if Akiko Shikata sings it, it's guaranteed to be awesome.
• Rog-Limitation is a very awesome piece from Episode 6. The remix rog-unlimitation kicks an already awesome piece up.
• Black Liliana from Akiyama Uni, starting in Episode 2. With a impressive fan-made vocal version. And the equally impressive Melancolia version by Akiko Shikata (yes, her again). From the same composer, the tense and hot-blooded Nighteyes.
• Silver Forest's battle field, which plays during Kanon's Moment of Awesome in Episode 6.
• Ryu-Ga's Mystic Forest, a sad and mysterious piano piece that brings to mind images of Ange's suffering.
• Pureco's calm and sinister Minute Darkness.

Nakanai Kimi to Nageki/Aganai no Sekai/Gensou

Doujin, but these music videos' (and their B-tracks') distribution is so commonplace among the fandom that they're somewhere between Fanon and Canon.

• Let's just start with "Genyou no Chou" ("Butterfly of Illusions"), "Synaesthesia," and "Tsuki ga Noboru, Watashi ga Utau" ("The Moon Rises, and I Sing").