Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Watanagashi-hen
Higurashi WHEN THEY CRY: Cotton Drifting Arc

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Rika-chama : Higurashi no Naku Koro ni is NOT Overrated , Nippa!!

When I read the first Chapter "Spirited away by demon" I did think I've found another good mystery manga since I read many detective manga (Conan , Kindaichi , QED)

Bui for "Cotton drifting" Chapter I think this is the best mystery+horror+drama+romance blended manga I've ever seen! How the Character secretly love another one is cute and sad at the same time.

The Plot itself and the Story-telling is perfect! While it keep you busy thinking how this cute and sad puppy love will end the wheel is still turning foreshadowing that there wiil be (literally) ... blood like in previous chapter.

But it's not shallow drama/psychopath horror so what's you think it's true will actually be true , half-true or completely false! , The Drama scene has it's depth and wiil make you cried naturally without forcing. Adding some Nostalgia and personal sympathy if you've ever had the same (or closely) type of relationship as the character had.

Artwork is well-done though it can stiil be improved

Overall this is my favourite Chapter along with "Eye Opening" which is the answer arc for this chapter.

The different arcs for the manga version of Higurashi all have separate entries on MAL. Because of this, I want to review the second arc, just for kicks.

Please note that I still have no familiarity of Higurashi beyond the first three arcs of the manga version.

Story:

Keiichi Maebara and his family have just moved into Hinamizawa . . . wait, this is how the first arc started! It's almost like . . . the world reloaded itself to that point in time . . . anyway, it starts off mostly like the first arc: Keiichi and the girls have fun, and zaniness abounds. I will say, ... there is one part early on with Keiichi and his dad that I thought was funny. Also, we meet a new character, Shion, Mion's identical twin sister.

But of course, after the cotton drifting, people disappear, and the prime suspect is Keiichi's best friend Mion. But how did it come to that? Once again, panic, paranoia, and psychosis overcome the main characters. Personally, I didn't enjoy the plot for this arc as much as the first one. It takes longer for the facade of the comedy to end, and the relationship between Keiichi, Mion, and Shion, well, I'm not a huge fan of teenage love triangles. But the mystery and fear of the first arc are still around. The reader also learns more about Hinamizawa and the Sonozaki clan in this arc. 8/10.

Artwork:

The art in this story arc is splendid. It's almost beautiful at times. The characters look great, and the backgrounds are amazing. I would've really liked it if Yutori Houjou, the artist of second arc, could illustrate the entire Higurashi manga. Even so, at the very least, you get some good eye candy here. 9/10.

Characterization:

The characters are still fascinating. Shion, unlike Mion, is more feminine in behavior, but then again, she may not be so coy after all . . . not only that, we learn more about Mion as well.

This is still early in the series, and there's still a lot I don't know about the characters, but I'm still fascinated by them. 9/10.

Enjoyment:

This arc is slower paced, but again, once the silly antics end, it got my attention really quickly. Why are these deaths happening on the cotton drifting? What exactly happened to the missing people? Was that really Mion . . . or Shion Keiichi was talking to? The mystery still pervades this series, and it's a mystery I want to solve. 8/10.

Between reading this and playing the visual novel version of Umineko, 07Ryukishi quickly became one of my favorite creative writers of all time. I wonder why more people can't write horror as well as he can?

This arc of Higurashi was focused on Mion and Shion. This arc's art are better than the first one's, but it is mainly great on Mion, Shion, and Rena. The art on Rika and Satoko isn't as good, but you will hardly ever see them, sadly.
Anyway, this arc was so confusing, it certainly has the right of being a Question arc, and the question will not come until the Eye Opening.
I did not like this arc as much as the first one, I don't really know why, maybe it's that in the first arc, i had no idea what Higurashi was. Or maybe it was ... creepier.
Since this arc had my favorite character as one of the central characters, I was really happy to learn more about Mion, but it's really hard to know which girl is Mion and which is Shion. The first volume was Shion and Mion screwing with Keiichi, and Rena being her creepy self. But, being Higurashi, it has to end with blood.
The second arc blew my mind, but I still say the first is better, but the Cotton Drifting Arc is worth the read.