Story- The story of Higurashi is told in sort of segments or alternate path-lines. It has quite a few alternate story arc's, each of which are only a few episodes long and yet have alot of information put into them. All of these arc's are tied together in one way or another, whether or not the arc's all contribute to something greater i don't wish to say for fear of ruining the ending. Rest assured that their is no filler in Higurashi though so everything has a meaning behind it, or contributes in some way to the story. First thing i would like to say is this anime isn't nothing like i thought it would be. My first impression was that this was going to be a straight-forward horror anime. The reason this anime has so much impact in it's horror segments is that you see all of these characters have normal life's for the most part, playing games, talking, eating out together etc.....basically normal teenager activities, and then you just see them obliterated or killed in some horrible manner that is just gruesome and cruel. They all seem to have their own distinct personalities, and for the most part seem normal and just easy going teens. They give you this concept of being normal and then it gets twisted around and bent to the point of losing your mind. Higurashi is definitely the most disturbing anime that i have ever watched, and i don't think anything can come close to the horror of Higurashi. It's definitely a unique anime out of the thousands that exist. Higurashi is an anime that will mess with both your mind and emotions to a point of you throwing up, which happened quite a bit with me.
Art- The art style in Higurashi was somewhat crazy, cute, and sadistic all at once. It definitely has a unique art-style to it. The animations were done very well and it looked good overall.
Sound- The intro to Higurashi is amazing, it has a really creepy and eerie feel to it that matches the mood of the anime perfectly. The creepy tones and songs that play are all placed precisely, they always set the mood accordingly to what is currently going on.
Character- This is something that Higurashi does excellently, all of the characters in one way or another are crazy, or have some sort of issue going on with them. They all have very distinct personalities and they all seem fine. As stated in the story section none of them are really normal which is why i think this anime might appeal to so many people. The characters are really well done, art wise and in their character development.
Enjoyment- Higurashi is an anime that i will never forget, it was an absolute thrill ride and i don't regret it one bit. There was times when it was so intense that i stopped wanting to watch it, but i kept on despite me getting sick to the point of throwing up over it, nor because it was bad but because it was so good, the horror scenes had a real impact in this anime.
Overall- Overall if you love horror then this is a must watch. Higurashi has a really unique style of delivering it's story to you. They make-up these girls to be cute and innocent when none of them are, they are in-fact far from innocent. Despite all of that you still can't help but feel bad for some of them. This is an anime i will recommend to alot of people for the shear fact that it has such a huge impact of you because of the way the characters are and the way the story is presented. I absolutely loved Higurashi and if this is on your to watch list then make it the next thing you watch because it was just absolutely amazing in every way possible.
