Must......resist.......typing........long......ass.......post........

My long post below mostly directed to the newbies of Higurashi world who missed the 1st season before but getting interested now because of the upcoming new season.

To say in a simple term, each scenario in Higurashi is an independent reset of each other (i use this term loosely to avoid spoilers). Think of it like you playing a h-game/dating sim/visual novel (like Kanon and FATE/stay night to name a few). Just like in those game you choose a path to get to the particular girl ending, but in Higurashi you have 4 different linear scenarios which then divided in to Questions and Answers chapters.

There are total of 8 chapters in Higurashi, namely;

Question chapters
1.Onikakushi-hen (Scenario 1)
2.Watanagashi-hen (Scenario 2)
3.Tatarigoroshi-hen (Scenario 3)
4.Himatsubushi-hen (Scenario 4)

Answer chapters
5.Meakashi-hen (Answers for Scenario 2)
6.Tsumihoroboshi-hen (Answers for Scenario 1)
7.Minagoroshi-hen (Answers for Scenario 3 & basically the answers to most of the mysteries in Higurashi)
8.Matsuribayashi-hen (Indirect answer for Scenario 4 & the path for best ending in Higurashi)
The 1st season of anime version of Higurashi already covers the first 6 chapters of Higurashi (Onikakushi until Tsumihoroboshi). The upcoming new season of Higurashi supposedly covers the remaining 2 chapters which are Minagoroshi-hen & Matsuribayashi-hen.

One word of serious advice. NEVER EVER watch the new season of Higurashi without watching the previous season first. Unlike some anime like Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha which you can just start watching Strikers without watching the previous 2 seasons, doing the same thing with Higurashi equals to reading the scene in Conan/Kindaichi manga when the criminal is revealed before reading the mysterious scenes that happened before that.

The best way to enjoy Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni is by.....urm......mastering Japanese language and playing the actual game. After that then go watch the anime & realised how Studio DEEN had bastardised the 1st season anime (but hopefully not the 2nd season).

OK, the 2nd best & more practical way is:
1. watch the 1st season of the anime
2. go to animesuki.com Higurashi forum to dig out more informations regarding the first 6 chapters while trying your best to avoid those last 2 chapters spoilers.
3. watch the 2nd season Higurashi anime when it's out.
4. Go back to animesuki.com Higurashi forum and go read all the spoilers to your heart content.

Trust me, the reason why i STRONGLY suggest to read animesuki forum for those who only watch the Higurashi anime because the anime only show so little aspect of Higurashi game. The anime mostly shows the terror & gore factor while skipping most of the mysteries & thinking factor which is the true charm of Higurashi world which you can only know by playing the game or look out for those informations on the internet.
Phew, i've been away from this forum for a few months and someone just had to dig this thread for me to write a long post in it today .

Okay... alright, *trying to keep my cool*

Apparently, Toukai TV decides to cancel the episode 12 of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, swapping it with some cooking show...
Yup, you read it right, School Days wasn't the only victim. Now, Higurashi isn't spared either.

I'm sure this is old news.....nice boat guro pr0n anyone?

http://www.tma.co.jp/page_top/higurashi/higurashi.html