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Having previously watched the Air animé, I was expecting what is generally done with franchises which are both available as animé and as Manga. Usually, both the animé and the Manga follow the same story, but the Manga is the one to go into further depth. In Air, it is the opposite.

The Air Manga becomes extremely disappointing instantly, due to the fact that only the bare bones of a coherent storyline is present, and no depth, or reasoning behind what happens in the story is shown at all.

Due to the lack of the story being covered in depth, the characters are also not covered ... in depth, most of which seem to be 'tacked on' in the Manga, unlike the developed characters they were in the animé. The entire pacing of the introductions, and the story developments feels hap-handedly done, as if the writer had just planned to throw in all the important story developments, and hope that if they were stuck together in the right order, they'd form an interesting, coherent story. Unfortunately, this astronomical flaw in lack of planning and depth also crushes any possible chance of likeability for the characters, making it extremely 'meh' to read.

The art also leaves me wanting, as it seems rather undetailed at times. Of course, its passable, but its not of the high standard that I'd generally expect.

Despite all of this, I still found myself enjoying the Air Manga, due to the fact that it has an indescribable charm, hence the high 'Enjoyment' rating.

I feel that the Air Manga would have been improved greatly had it been longer, by maybe another Volume or so. It would have given an extra few chapters to maybe add another character arc in, rather than just concentrating on Misuzu, or to delve further into Misuzu and Yukito's past. In my opinion, watch the animé, because its a LOT better than this.

Now, to get things straight before touching the Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Abducted by Demons Arc, you have to realise that, even in completing the manga, almost no questions are solved whatsoever, and if reading the manga in order, none are going to be solved for a fairly long time to come.

Starting off just as the Higurashi animé did, 'new kid in town', Keiichi Maebara, is plunged into a world of darkness in the idyllic village of Hinamizawa. The story in the Manga takes a lot longer than the animé does to get into its stride (The first Volume, or 3 Chapters is ... basically an introduction to the town and characters, and a mood-setting of the main story).
However, once the Manga hits its stride, it delivers an intriguing thrill ride of survival, emotions and loneliness, and a brilliant ending which would make a vast percentage of readers unable to wait for the next Arc :P.

I love the art in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Onikakushi-hen, showing great use of high detail character drawings, which focus on the eyes and facial expressions. Beautiful work, which is fun to just look at, due to the constant change in style and the graphic intensity.

The old saying 'Never judge a book by its cover' was seemingly practically written for Higurashi. Depending on the circumstances, characters shift flawlessly between sanity and insanity, creating a constant sense of unease for us as a reader. While not especially deep initially, the characters in Higurashi are diverse, interesting, and mysterious in various senses.

Overall, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Abducted by Demons Arc is a great introduction to the franchise, offering a large wealth in questions to be eventually solved in later arcs, and a great deal of enjoyment. It excels in being a Manga which is such a delight to read, and even reread multiple times.