Higurashi in general is a pretty damn creepy series. I've never played the visual-novels, but I've seen the anime and read the first four mangas. Both of which are good, but if you're not sure which of the two to pick up, I highly recommend looking into the manga.
Why is it better?:
1) The art. One of the biggest problems with the anime is that the art takes away from the drama and spookiness and turns it into Narm. While the manga still has some Narm, it now takes much of that and turns it into Nightmare Fuel. Particularly the use of the SplashPanels in the fourth book. Now, each arc has a different artist, and so far, both have done an excellent job of portraying both the characters and mood.
2) Character focus. Each arc is divided up into two books. The first focuses a little more on the characters and begins the mystery, the second is where everything goes straight to hell. But can have some nice development as well.
3) The mood. If these books were people, they'd have bipolar disorder. Particularly the second and fourth ones; one of which goes from dramatic, to creepy, to happy for a bit, then back to creepy, then some Tear Jerker, and back to creepy all over again, with some Angst sprinkled in.
4) The dub. Now, I watch my animes subbed, but I read my mangas dubbed. (I personally dislike scanlations, but that's me.) And I was pleasantly surprised to see Yen Press doing the manga dub instead of Tokyo Pop. Poor Higurashi got ripped off once with a dub, but that thankfully didn't happen again. This dub is wonderful, save for a few occasions of Too Long Didnt Dub.
However...
1) It's less narmful than the anime, but it can still be over the top and dramatic at points. Most notably when you're in the whirlwind of the "Cotton Drifting" Arc.
2) If you came in for gore, you're gonna have to wait. Character development comes first. But, this being Higurashi, it will come, and there will be a lot.
3) This can go either way, but, there is a lot of fanservice in the first arc. Now, being a female reading a Seinen series, this is to be expected. But bare in mind, two of the girls are rather young...
I really don't think 400 words can sum this up, so, if you can, shell out the eleven bucks for the books. It's worth it.
Higurashi Manga (Books 1-4)
Higurashi in general is a pretty damn creepy series. I've never played the visual-novels, but I've seen the anime and read the first four mangas. Both of which are good, but if you're not sure which of the two to pick up, I highly recommend looking into the manga.
Why is it better?:
1) The art. One of the biggest problems with the anime is that the art takes away from the drama and spookiness and turns it into Narm. While the manga still has some Narm, it now takes much of that and turns it into Nightmare Fuel. Particularly the use of the SplashPanels in the fourth book. Now, each arc has a different artist, and so far, both have done an excellent job of portraying both the characters and mood.
2) Character focus. Each arc is divided up into two books. The first focuses a little more on the characters and begins the mystery, the second is where everything goes straight to hell. But can have some nice development as well.
3) The mood. If these books were people, they'd have bipolar disorder. Particularly the second and fourth ones; one of which goes from dramatic, to creepy, to happy for a bit, then back to creepy, then some Tear Jerker, and back to creepy all over again, with some Angst sprinkled in.
4) The dub. Now, I watch my animes subbed, but I read my mangas dubbed. (I personally dislike scanlations, but that's me.) And I was pleasantly surprised to see Yen Press doing the manga dub instead of Tokyo Pop. Poor Higurashi got ripped off once with a dub, but that thankfully didn't happen again. This dub is wonderful, save for a few occasions of Too Long Didnt Dub.
However...
1) It's less narmful than the anime, but it can still be over the top and dramatic at points. Most notably when you're in the whirlwind of the "Cotton Drifting" Arc.
2) If you came in for gore, you're gonna have to wait. Character development comes first. But, this being Higurashi, it will come, and there will be a lot.
3) This can go either way, but, there is a lot of fanservice in the first arc. Now, being a female reading a Seinen series, this is to be expected. But bare in mind, two of the girls are rather young...
I really don't think 400 words can sum this up, so, if you can, shell out the eleven bucks for the books. It's worth it.