Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Special: Nekogoroshi-hen

Nekogoroshi-hen is fine. If you like Higurashi I don't see any reason to not watch it, its about what you'd expect from a small one-episode special for this series. It follows the general trend of Higurashi's chapters to start relaxed and lighthearted to then turn mysterious and spooky. Some people were a bit confused about the name "Cat Killing Chapter" which I'm pretty sure is a reference to the saying: "curiosity killed the cat." Whether you watch it is completely up to you, I don't feel too strongly about it, watch it if you want to. It has nothing related to anything else in Higurashi, ... so as long as you've at least watched the first season you'll be fine.

I wasn't expecting a whole lot from this. In the series this OVA stems from, each episode has always served as a part to a greater arc. With this single episode, things are a lot more self contained - which is to be expected I guess.

You're not really missing much if you pass on this. It doesn't contribute to the greater story at all, and can basically be viewed as filler.

Mind you, none of this makes it a bad episode at all. It's just 'okay.' I'd only recommend checking it out if you're longing for more content of Higurashi or are otherwise here on your ... journey to 'get the full experience' of the franchise.

What a weird special.

The first five minutes consist of the usual Higurashi club shenanigans and after that it's just 15 minutes of the gang standing around and talking about an urban legend in a location that was never mentioned and it never will be mentioned again in the series. The characters literally don't do anything, they just talk about the legend. The story isn't even particularly interesting and, while there are some implications that very loosely tie it to the plot of Higurashi, it doesn't fit in, anyway.

The art, sound and other technical aspects are all on the level of Higurashi Kai, which is fine.

I ... wouldn't really recommend this to anyone other than the most hardcore Higurashi fans who have watched literally everything else and want to see the characters again. I'm one of those hardcore fans and I did get some enjoyment from seeing the squad again, but I really can't find anything actually interesting about this special. It's pretty much pointless.