Starting off just as the Higurashi animé did, 'new kid in town', Keiichi Maebara, is plunged into a world of darkness in the idyllic village of Hinamizawa. The story in the Manga takes a lot longer than the animé does to get into its stride (The first Volume, or 3 Chapters is basically an introduction to the town and characters, and a mood-setting of the main story).
However, once the Manga hits its stride, it delivers an intriguing thrill ride of survival, emotions and loneliness, and a brilliant ending which would make a vast percentage of readers unable to wait for the next Arc :P.
I love the art in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Onikakushi-hen, showing great use of high detail character drawings, which focus on the eyes and facial expressions. Beautiful work, which is fun to just look at, due to the constant change in style and the graphic intensity.
The old saying 'Never judge a book by its cover' was seemingly practically written for Higurashi. Depending on the circumstances, characters shift flawlessly between sanity and insanity, creating a constant sense of unease for us as a reader. While not especially deep initially, the characters in Higurashi are diverse, interesting, and mysterious in various senses.
Overall, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Abducted by Demons Arc is a great introduction to the franchise, offering a large wealth in questions to be eventually solved in later arcs, and a great deal of enjoyment. It excels in being a Manga which is such a delight to read, and even reread multiple times.
