Kai continues the story of Higurashi, but instead of showing more arcs of everyone going insane and murdering each other, it concentrates more on solving why the mysterious events in Higurashi happen and put an end to them. Minus the first one, the arcs are much longer than they were, and the story has Rika as the main character instead of Keiichi.
The story? I don't know. You see, for me, Higurashi Kai has the worst arc of the show, hands down. The Massacre arc, the second arc after the 4 episode first one (which is probably my second-least favorite) is just terrible. Every episode is compromised of over 5 minutes of the same, dull speeches on how, by working together, you can overcome fate and create a miracle! Not to mention the fact that it's so slowly paced. The show more or less just waltz around not getting anything really accomplished for half of the arc. Fortunately, the final arc picks up the pace. While what happens in it is extremely stupid, it is well-executed enough that I can look beyond that. The background given to the show is very interesting.
However, on the whole, does Kai provide a good ending for the show? Oh no. There's still so many things that have yet to be explained (such as the whole first arc of the series makes little sense still), and there's also several plot holes too. While they are easy to ignore and you might not even notice them if you don't think, if you do realize them, then it really lowers the quality of the show a bit. Also, the last like, 2 minutes of this make no sense whatsoever, but it doesn't really affect the plot, so it's rather easy to ignore.
The characters. Hm... Kai concentrates more on Rika, which is fine and all, she's a good character. However, the other main characters? They don't get much. You see, in normal mood the cast of Higurashi is vaguely pleasant and all, but none really stand out. It's when they go into crazy mood where they become the awesome characters they are, and they never really have a chance to go into crazy mood. They don't really even do much besides give speeches and offer some abilities to help save the day in the end. Rika does do a decent enough job pulling along the show by herself ot make up for it, but it's still a disappointment.
The animation? It is better than the original (not like that's tough to do, though). Everyone actually manages to stay on model for the majority of the show. Well, minus the time they forgot to draw Mion's arm, but still. It's still obviously a low-budget show, just not obviously low-budget. The animation can get rather nice when it wants to, which is typically about once an episode. It's still pretty bad, but not as bad.
The music is the same as last season. Two great opening and endings, great voice actors, and a background track that doesn't stand out, but still adds to the mood.
This is a must-watch if you saw the original Higurashi season. While the first was better, Kai is not only necessary to understand the plot, but does some notable stuff on its own too. Do not watch this without viewing the original Higurashi though. You will be completely lost. I give Higurashi Kai 7 stars and say that you should watch it.
