Oh, how did I not write anything on this series? It's only my favorite.
The first season of Higurashi was an extremely jumbled mess. I'll admit it was an interesting jumbled mess but the direction was quite off and the pacing was really erratic. Then again, that season had 6 chapters in it. So basically there was already part of Kai in the first season. As the mood of the story changes greatly from the first to second half, it just didn't really fit. And of course the art was terrible.
Despite all of this, the shock value and confusion was used pretty effectively. It managed to create a story that kept me watching. The complexity of the story left a lot of interesting details and plot threads to explore. And of course, the characters themselves played a huge role; you'd just really feel sorry for what's going on. Because you realize they are all genuinely good people that are being hurt from forces out of their control. So by the end of the series, I was rooting for them to get out of this mess. The impact of the turning point in first season's episode 25 was huge. It marked the ending of despair and a slim glimmer of hope that would start the long uphill battle for victory.That battle would not be without tons of more pain and sacrifice.
So even with the crappy direction, the story was simply too strong to mess up. I would give s1 a 8/10
Kai often gets a lot of flak for not being as suspenseful or as shocking as the first season. Indeed, it must have been misleading. Higurashi, by and far, was not a gore and violence show no matter how you slice it. In fact, even in season one, there aren't really that many extremely graphic scenes. Yes, they are shocking and effective but that's the point. Excessive use of violent scenes would make it less significant. People who expected that kind of shock value from Kai were basically looking for the wrong show. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with wanting that kind of thing, but sometimes you simply can't expect a show to be what it isn't. Personally, if Kai were to duplicate the same thing as the first, I would have found that boring and formulaic as with many other shows that just repeat more of the same.
With that out of the way, Kai is far superior to Ni in terms of storytelling. No longer are we relying on strange gimmicks to confuse us or "oh shit" moments, but we are here to view the crew's struggle and to find out what is happening. And so piece by piece, the mysteries are finally revealed. So now we know that it's all a conspiracy and Takano is the culprit, we can have a happy ending with the cops taking Takano away... "I would have gotten away with it... if it weren't for you meddling kids"
Well, no. That is not enough. Despite their best efforts, they still end up losing one more time because Takano's willpower is just that strong. I find this actually kind of fresh. A lot of series will usually have our protagonists struggling, then they find the answer in the last 5 minutes of the climatic battle and we have an instant resolution. But not here. Just trusting your friends isn't enough. Knowing how to win isn't enough. You aren't winning just because your willpower is strong and you are the good guys. Takano wants to win just as bad. A lot of the stuff is out of the protagonists' control and thus the only thing they can do is take advantage of what is given to them.
Initially, I found Matsuribayashi-hen somewhat anticlimactic. It did seem kind of convenient at places and Takano's minions got insanely stupid, not to mention that they apparently got the Ewoks to help them. But by the end of Minagoroshi-hen, and with Hanyuu's decision to finally assume her role, victory did seem inevitable. It became a matter of not if, but how, and a diablos ex machina would have pretty much ruined anything. And since by this time we are supposed to be rooting for the protagonists, it did seem that all the miracles would occur with enough rolling of the dice. So Rika did cheat to win. But wouldn't you after all this? Everyone is using whatever at their disposal to get what they want. It's only fair that Rika and friends should too.
The note in the last episode about Old Maid was pretty interesting. After all, a lot of the series involved placing blame and that led to tragedy. Also, the constant struggle of "our" happiness vs "their" happiness. But are these things mutually exclusive? Must someone always win or lose or be the one that gets blamed? Because that type of binary thinking has led to many previous tragedies.
In the end I saw a pretty damned epic story that started from the depths of confusion and despair to enlightenment and hope. Where there is distrust (Onikakushi-hen), there will be forgiveness (Tsumihoroboshi-hen). Where there is ignorance (Watanagashi-hen), there will be truth (Meakashi-hen). Where there is isolation (Tatarigoroshi-hen), there will be unity (Minagoroshi-hen), and where there will be inaction (Himatsubushi-hen), there will be action (Matsuribayashi-hen) And ultimately that will be the key to finally escape the endless cycle of tragedy.
So yea, I rate this a 10.