Interest Stacks

The issue with the first few arcs in Manga form is that the art style doesn't really suit itself with how the Question Arcs present themselves. Onikakushi should feel. In the Anime and Visual Novel it is far more tense and engaging, like how a good horror should be. However, some of the panels make me loose all sense of tension and either just feel really awkward, an example of this is the infamous "USODA!" or "LIES!" scene which usually sets the mood and gets you in the head of Keiichi. This just doesn't translate in the way the manga has been drawn and it feels like a complete cop out.

An improvement from Onikakushi, an I actually prefer this adaptation to it's adaptation in the anime (something that comes to mind is the infamous ladder scene). The art has improved and it fits better with the way that Higurashi should be. However, it doesn't mean that it is without issue, like in most adaptations Shion and Mion can only really be differentiated with their way of speaking (whether they are impersonating or not), which is not necessarily good especially on re-reads. This is because once you figure out that Mion / Shion are in fact different people, it becomes frustrating to find out who the hell is actually talking, which I know is specifically made to troll the audience but it is still a point of criticism.
However, a HUGE warning is the sexualisation of Mion this chapter, for whatever reason the person responsible for this adaptation had changed some lines for this purpose, it comes out quite literally the first chapter of the manga and is quite off putting.

Probably the most forgettable arc, both the Anime and Manga do pretty bad jobs at getting adapting the original work. As it mostly just seems like Sotoko is annoying and whiny, most people who I ask who haven't read the VN also forget this arc, which leads me to be very frustrated with the way it was adapted. Please, if you take ANYTHING away from this, PLEASE READ THE VN!!! You will not regret it.

Short and sweet, actually my favorite of the pre-Kai adaptations (I do prefer Tatarigoroshi and Watanagashi's visual novels and anime adaptations), and I do kind of prefer the Manga version over both the Visual Novel and Anime. No weird or immersion breaking panels, and it's nice to see Hinamizawa prior the the 1980s and outside of Keiichi's head (Thank god). Akasaka is pretty cool character and out of all the main characters of all the Higurashi arcs is probably the most underrated and deserves more screen time.

The first of the "Answer Arcs" or "Kai Arcs", it is actually pretty decent as a substitute for the Visual Novel. And if you don't want to subject yourself to the Visual Novel then it is definitely in competition with the Anime for my suggestion for what you should read. This rights the wrongs of Watanagashi and actually helps you figure out who the hell was speaking/acting as Mion in that arc. Shion's inner monologue is definitely the best part of the Visual Novel, but isn't adapted badly in this adaption. And actually gets you in the head of Shion (compared to the Anime where she just substitutes her thoughts for facial expressions).

While this arc is still good, it does miss a lot from what I found the best out of the Anime and Visual Novel. It still has its cheesy but sweet "friend's above all else" message, but Rena's fall into insanity feels pretty hollow and is way too fast (which is an issue I do have with the anime adaptation). The ending is in my opinion less immersive than both the anime and visual novel due to the lack of sound effects and the somehow amazing animations in the 2006 Anime. Don't take it way that I didn't like the manga adaptation though, it works decent if you don't have the time to burn and definitely isn't anything to scoff at.

This is the only arc which I found had been creeped / grossed out by the panels, I cannot describe how much better and far better than these panels are in this arc compared to the Onikakushi/Watanagashi/Tatarigoroshi panels. Especially the maggots/blood and when Rena finds out that Mion/Keiichi had "betrayed her".

The faces the Ooishi, Mion and Keiichi have been drawn in is definitely a highlight of this arc, and is what I think the first 3 arcs had tried to do (and failed) with their faces trying to look scary.

Minagoroshi or Everybody-Killing Arc / Massacre Arc is perhaps my favorite arc out of the first 8, at least in terms of it's original Visual Novel (which you can probably assume due to how much I have to say, at least compared to the last few arcs). Which means I was intrigued at to how they could've adapted this arc, as despite how good Kai is, didn't really leave as big of an impact as the visual novel did. Which I am aware is a high bar to set. But in terms of Visual Novel to Manga adaptation I can't say I was disappointed, however I was definitely surprised. I'm not sure how much this says about me as a person but the way that I interpreted the Visual Novel. The panels are far more dramatic than what I noticed in the VN, which is dramatic don't get me wrong, but particularly with this arc feels cranked up to 11.

However I feel my point is particularly highlighted with Ooishi, who I never saw in the light that the Manga portrays him, with his confrontational attitude for Keiichi right before the meeting with the ex-Hinamizawa Fighters or Onigafuchi Guardians, which felt far more detached from his more cautionary warning to Keiichi with continuing to protest the Child Protective Services.

The art in this arc is noticeably different from the last 6 arcs, this is due to the artists constantly shifting per arc. I would say that this one particularly has the best art out of all the arcs, the spreads look amazing and aren't as strange or awkward as the previous arcs (Onikakushi and Tatarigoroshi are prime examples of this).
One that really stands out to me, is when Rika is trying to remember the face of the person who had killed her during the previous arc (Tsumihoroboshi/Atonement), and recalled getting kidnapped on her way home during the Watanagashi Festival. The panels between this and the 'beginning' of the arc are pretty haunting and the art captures that horror Rika had felt after she believed she may have found the 'true' fragment.

So overall, I still would highly recommend reading the Visual Novel as it just goes far deeper with it's less time-restricted run-time, however, I wouldn't particularly write off this adaptation due to the fairly accurate portrayal of the story. For an example, Keiichi and Oryou Sonozaki's "conversation" is still as entertaining and gripping as it is in the VN, with the addition of being able to see her as well as Mion's father.

The Festival-Accompanying Arc is a very good send off to this story and concludes it in a pretty outstanding way. However, with both the anime adaptation and the manga adaptations, the linear way that the fragments (the backstories behind major characters like Irie, Satoko and Tanako along with minor characters like Keiichi's dad or Rika's mother) are told really benefits their specific adaptations as I was not a fan of clicking through the multiple options and hoping that you found the right fragment to go to next. Which left me pretty mift when I was reading it, along with this I also found Takano's childhood and life with her adopted father is significantly more intriguing in both the manga and the anime. This is quite a significant upside for the manga and anime due to the fact that she is a very pivotal character in not just the fragments section, but the latter half of the arc as well.

Ooishi in particular I think really benefits from the story being visual rather than just text paired with music. His scenes come off as I feel they are intended and his relationship with his 'rival' detective comes across really funny and I think that is for the best, don't take that as I said before where I said Ooishi's facial expressions felt goofy in the first few arcs, I think that the way that the illistraitor has drawn this scene and scenes like it is pretty outstanding. There was a scene close to crossing that threshold with Okonogi but thankfully it didn't come across as tonedeaf and fit pretty well dispite and otherwise stupid looking face.

Otherwise, in terms of this adaptation I would say it is better than the Anime but on-par with the Visual Novel. I can completely see why someone would prefer to read a 36 chapter Manga than a ~16ish hour visual novel. But ultimately it depends on person to person, I think they are pretty similar with very little in favour of one or the other, particularly Akasaka I feel is handled worse in the Manga but this isn't a big critique overall.