Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni was such an amazing and uniquely mysterious anime that really does put you into question of what to believe in. Can certain incidents really only be explained with supernatural factors, or is there really just a logical explanation to everything that's happening? Questions like this are definitely what drive the viewer to wanting to figure what the real truth is behind all the mystery at the end of the day.
For the first half of this series, we're introduced to Maebara Keiichi, a young teenage boy who moves to the small village of Hinamizawa. From there he meets many new friends, particularly when joining an afterschool club to get along better with a handful of his new classmates. But even though his first impressions are positive, he soon begins to learn of the dark secrets the village has within the shadows. As he chooses to dig in deeper to these secrets, his sense of paranoia begins to rise further as the days go by, while also realizing his newly made friends may also have secrets of their own.
I love how an anime like this can make you be on your feet with suspense at times when it feels like you're not even meant to. I also love how this anime is very careful with the mysteries surrounding it, as well as when it's a proper time for each of them to come into play. You may not understand everything right away or even halfway, but the greatest thing about this anime is they leave no stone unturned.
The characters are also a very big highlight in this series, as each of them present themselves as a very unique element for when the time comes. A great way they do this is splitting the focus of all these characters into separate arcs, that way you can learn more about the characters and why they are the way they are now. Something I like about these characters to is, as violent as some of them may be, the choices they make throughout the story are pretty realistic and/or understandable depending on the situation. You may even think that the most violent options are sometimes the right options in the end.
I really like how they set up the animation at certain times in the story as well. When necessary, the goofy and fun moments can have the most bizarre styles of animation for some great humor. When necessary, the violent animations can make it seem like they're the creepiest things you've ever seen. At the end of the day, the anime is very good with introducing the proper atmospheres when needed to.
Overall an amazing first season to a show that will definitely leave you wanting more on the search for finding out the truth. I would without a doubt recommend this anime to anyone interested in looking for another mystery anime to follow along with, while also encountering some amazing, caring, but also horrific events to be shown in the summer of 1983.
