In their latest article on their website “Higurashi no March”, Siren Visual have announced that their release of Part 1 for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai has unfortunately been delayed until May 2012 from its initial March 2012 date. While there are no specifics on why, they mentioned that they want this title to do well (After all, it will be the only official English release of the second season anywhere outside of Japan) and therefore needed a bit more time to pull it across the finish line. Pre-orders for it will be open in a few weeks, but expect it to hit store shelves and their online store on the 24th May 2012. But hey, considering how many years fans have been waiting for an English release, I think another two months won’t hurt.
The release will be English subtitled only and currently only announced for distribution within Australia / New Zealand.