I think what I liked most about the anime was the nostalgic feeling it evoked. Maybe it's just me, but this daydream of "what if I was back in my child's body with all of my current memories/ experiences" is all too familiar. And I think this was executed very well within the first episodes - this "rediscovery" of childhood memories.
The art was very well done, but personally I would say that the soundtrack could have been improved.
Now to the story itself: The two main plot points are (1) identifying mysterious kdinapper/ killer and (2) the rescue of Kayo Hinazuki from her abusive mother.
(1) I don't really know if this was intentional or not, but they showed very clearly who the killer was when he was first introduced within one of the first episodes. I was hoping for this to be a red herring, since it seemed so obvious.
(2) The relationship between Satorou and Kayo was very well executed in my opinion. It felt genuine and was full of emotions. In the end, however, the rescue of Kayo was not due to him or the cooperation with his friends and his mother - it was because of a literal grandma ex machina. That's just lazy writing.
SPOILERS for Higurashi
The combination of these two themes reminded me a lot of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, where there's this recuring arc of a little girl being abused by her uncle and how her friends try to free her from him. And even though they fail numerous times, in the end they are victorious - and they did it all themselves. That's how you write a rewarding victory. And, staying at Higurashi: It's also about finding out the identity of a murderer, and even though there are some clues along the way, it is not revealed until the end.
Finally, I think the writers could have made more use of Satorou's special ability to go back in time and try a new approach.
