Story. 8/10
After only seeing around 7 episodes, you may decide the plot is, well, nonexistent, or that it doesn't make any sense. However, if you keep watching, you'll start to see that where the first "chapter" creates many holes in the plot line, these holes are filled chapter by chapter, leaving you with a sense of "Ah, so that's what happened!" And while it doesn't seem to come to a complete end, keep in mind that it's the prequel to many different Higurashi chapters.
Art. 7/10
The style is pretty unique, with characters not too in depth or distractingly beautiful. Strong emotions such as rage show the quality of the art at its best. The town of Hinamizawa is drawn well, and looks pretty realistic.
Sound. 7/10
The scenes of graphic violence in this series are accompanied by the wonderful grunts, screams, or tortured silence of the victims with almost stunning accuracy. I wonder how they did their research?
Character. 5/10
The biggest flaw in this series is the character design. The main focus of this anime is Hinamizawa and its history. There's a little detail about each character, but just enough. Maybe there's more in the sequel?
Enjoyment. 8/10
Higurashi no naku koro ni is one of those anime that has a lot of "wtf" moments, and you'll probably start off the series being very confused and have suffered mild emotional scarring, but if you keep watching, it all comes together, and you may find that you end up feeling warm and fuzzy inside, after you've put all the pieces together.
Overall. 7/10
For some people the pure violence of Higurashi is enough to make them bow at STUDIO DEEN's feet, and for others the confusion is enough to surpass the gore and make them drop the anime altogether. Lovers of this genre know you've gotta stick it out to the end and it'll all come to a close.
