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I haven't played the game, nor have I read the visual novel, so I cannot compare and point out about differences or things left out. Thus, this review is about the anime only.

Chaos;Head... I'm going to be honest, and say that Chaos;Head was a real disappointment. The concept is fairly original. I give points for that. If you were like me, I was expecting a fairly elaborate plot with twists and suspense, but Chaos;Head severely lacked that, and thus, it turned out having a really mediocre and a down right uninteresting result. To fit this kind of a story-line, into such a short space of ... time, obviously was not a very good idea, and the result of this is of huge disappointment.

An Otaku called Takumi lives by himself and excludes himself from the rest of the world. One day, he receives a message from a mysterious "Shougun" with a link to a highly disturbing image of a person staked onto a wall. The next day, after walking through Shibuya, he runs into an alleyway, and accidentally stumbles into a man having been staked to a wall, exactly that in which he saw in the image. As it turns out, these are a series of mysterious seemingly supernatural events referred to, as the "New Generation". Eventually, Takumi gets caught-up with the events of "New Generation" and becomes paranoid of things around him and starts having delusions. He becomes troubled as to who he can trust, what aren't delusions, and who is this mysterious "Shougun" who seems to be around him all the time?

The first half of the series was rather strong. It was very well set up, and had a lot of potential in becoming "one of the greats". Elements of being a very well thought out psychological thriller were present, with small bits of science mixed in with the mythology of the story. Slowly released questions and answers: Good! Although, once it hit around the half way mark, the storyline and plot just began to fall apart, and once it hit the final straight, it basically just blew up on itself. Things became way too obvious. Some scenes became almost pointless. Even when things were still mysterious in some sort of way, the answer was just thrown at you. There are too many times where you could say "Why didn't you do that in the first place!?" and "Isn't it obvious?". They seemed way too rushed, and definitely were not very well thought out. The small amount of romance in the story didn't help at all and it really all seemed a little tacky. As far as I could tell, they just made the story lamer than what it had already become. Where were the twists? Where was the unexpected? Where was the "I want more!" feeling?

One guy surrounded by a whole lot of girls? Fine, if you can pull it off well, then sure. I'd have no objections to that. However, each girl did not play a large enough role. A lot of the times, it was as if they were "just there" without much purpose. Takumi was just way too wimpy and cowardly in the beginning. Good ol' brother-sister personalities are fun, and Kozue added a little more fun into the storyline. Overly obnoxious villain? How original... I'll give points to Takumi's and Sena's past as they're history is certainly interesting, along with Shougun's true identity. Although these played a fairly direct role in the plot, really, the characters were all rather dull and not complex enough.

Animation and character design were rather standard. The character's weren't elaborate, but it worked. There were really no inconsistencies in animation, and the sword designs were certainly interesting and nicely detailed. There really isn't anything outstanding in the OP and ED. They didn't quite fit along with the storyline that well either. The musical score seemed to have trouble in deciding how it wants to fit. I mean, the score wasn't bad as such. It just seemed... well... unfitting with the mood and tone of the scene. In some aspects of the story, the soundtrack was fitting, while most of the time, it just didn't help the scene. All the voices seemed to match fairly well with the characters, although there aren't any real standouts, but nothing to complain about either.

To wrap it all up, Chaos;Head really was just a messy, rushed and not very well thought out anime. It just didn't have that suspense, and nor did it have that much complexity. It certainly had huge potential, however the series just couldn't pull it off. Perhaps if the ending weren't as rushed, and things not so obvious and pointless, I'd be able to give it a better score. I feel I'm being a little generous here, and I've given it an overall 6.5 out of 10.

If you have not watched the first season (Higurashi no naku koro ni), this anime is practically useless and the same goes for this review.

Wow! Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai was a great addition to an already very good season one. As I found season one rather interesting and enjoyable, Kai was a must watch for me, in the hope that it would be just as great. With many questions left unanswered, Kai primarily focuses on answering questions and revealing to us the "true" truth. There are a lot less gore and horror elements compared to the first season, as Rika becomes the main ... point of view. The introduction of a new character called Hanyuu was certainly an interesting add into the plot. Her introduction into the story was done smoothly but it is likely that you'll ask "Where on earth did she come from?" at first.

As Kai is a continuation of the first series, the chain of mysterious deaths continues on from Rika's point of view. The first episode of this season kinda acts as a recap and a look into at the aftermath of season one's last arc. It then moves into another arc, raising some questions but answering many, and by the end of the first arc, I'd say it's almost impossible to not continue watching the rest of Kai. The other two arcs finally give us answers to those questions that remained. The telling of a certain character's past in the beginning of the the third arc really unraveled the mystery and told us the cause and effect. It's what makes Higurashi a great story, how the answers are not force fed to you, but instead rather open for interpretation; whether the judgments the characters make are truly right or wrong. How some of the little things can make huge differences, and change the outcome of the future.

A stellar performance by Tamura Yukari playing Furude Rika! The voice acting by her was just amazing (I just love Rika's scream in episode 8!) and should be highly commended, along with all the other seiyuus! Rena's voice is more consistent this time, and Horie Yui's performance of Hanyuu was cute! I have absolutely no objections to the wonderful musical score by Kawaii Kenji, along with another great opening theme by Shimamiya Eiko, and the closing theme which all were very fitting in both lyrics and music. HUGE improvement in the animation! The faces and characters are not as exaggerated or contorted as the first season. It is much more consistent, detailed and kinda makes the characters a little more prettier...

I do believe that the introduction of Hanyuu was certainly necessary, although whether she had to be that "moe" is a little questionable to me. There were large developments in some of the supporting characters such as Akasaka, Dr. Irie, Takano, Tomitake and Satoshi which were vital to the storyline. The only thing is, the concentration on the development of these characters kinda left the mains Rena, Mion and Shion out for a while...

Higurashi just had to go to my favourites list! To me it was such a great story with amazing music and voice acting and very interesting and complex character personalities and relationships, with touches of humour here and there. Although the ending is a little lame, well for me at least, it still deserves an overall 9.5 out of 10. Definitely enjoyable and an interesting ending scene. I'd certainly recommend this to anyone! I wait in anticipation for Higurashi no naku koro ni Rei and Umineko no naku koro ni in the hopes that the creators can continue to make such amazing stories!

Do note that I am reviewing this season of Higurashi ONLY, and that I am not including the events of Kai into this review.

Okay, so, I'm not one for watching any show or movie that falls under the gore or horror genres. Many of my friends enjoy horror and gore, and since I hadn't really seen any before, I was reluctant to start this. This anime was kinda a stumble upon, and from this anime, I started to watch anime on a more regular basis. When I started watching Higurashi, it was awfully confusing, and it was nowhere near what I had expected in ... what looked like to be a rather simple plot. I could understand why some people may have dropped it, but when I continued watching on, I found it rather rewarding and enjoyable. Just a note that there are a lot of laughing screaming girls around...

It's kinda hard to explain the plot without giving too much away. To say it rather simply, a young boy called Maebara Keiichi and his family move to what seems to be a relaxed and quiet little village called Hinamizawa. After a few days, he becomes known around the village, and rather easily makes friends at his school. One day, he accidentally finds out about a series of murders and disappearances that take place around the village every June during the celebration of The Shrine God. These murders are believed to be a "curse" that falls upon one, when they have angered the Shrine God. The question remains open to you, as to whether the murders and disappearances are caused by human means, or whether it is supernatural. The answers are revealed to you slowly, and the truth may be a little startling.

The story was mainly confusing, as I did not, at first, understand the concept of "arcs". After a while, it became clear that this was more than a simple "who dunnit?" mystery. Each arc presented us with both questions and answers without going so far as to driving our brains into overdrive. The first half of the series told the story from Keiichi's point of view. The unknowns surrounding both him and the audience give us a feeling that we are in the same position as him, and that in order to uncover the truth, we have to decide ourselves what is fact or fiction, who is deceiving us and who are the people we can believe. The second half of Higurashi presented to us many answers. It revealed to us some answers, and the truth that may make you get the feeling that bugs are crawling beneath your skin... Certainly a strong plot, and a rather interesting way of presenting it, it did lack the suspense and tension that are produced by other anime. The plot stays firm, and does not veer off into something else. Everything is related someway or another.

Now, personally, I don't really think you can call this "horror" though. The plot was very complex but the animation is rather horrible and of very low standard. It is very inconsistent and the position of facial features seem to vary every few episodes, giving a feel that this was a rather low budget anime. Don't get me wrong, the character design is fairly interesting, although a lot of the time, the facial expressions, the character's movements and "camera angles" did not match the expressions of what was being said (most notably, the ladder scene early in the series). Thankfully though, the animation is compensated by an excellent soundtrack and outstanding voice acting. The soundtrack is simply beautiful! It matches the tone and mood of each scene almost perfectly. The opening and closing themes were also excellent (despite the closings bad engrish), although there was room for improvement in the opening, but I think I'd be asking too much for an already very good opening. Exceptional performances by the voice actors, especially from Hoshi Souichirou playing Keiichi and Yukino Satsuki voicing both Mion and Shion. Rena's voice seems to fluctuate a lot, and varies every so often.

Okay, so the animation is fairly terrible, and the plot at the start was a little confusing, although after watching it for the season, the complexity of the plot becomes clearer and what is revealed to be an interesting story, which I found very much enjoyable. Interesting and complex characters, high quality soundtrack and outstanding performances from the voice actors makes me give this anime an overall 8.5 out of 10. For those who have watched this, if you haven't already, I would strongly suggest you watch Higurashi no naku koro ni Kai. Kai has many more answers to the series, and ties the whole thing together, although contains much less blood than this season.

I first came about Death Note when some of my friends started watching it and arguing who was better, Light or L? It got rather annoying, and for some reason, I planned to join in the argument by watching it... And also too see what makes Death Note "this good". Like me, I'm sure a lot people who have watched Death Note watched it because they were curious. Just a few warnings about the anime, there are some “extreme writing” elements in it that would make you think that the characters were training for the sport of writing or something, and that Misa’s voice may ... hurt your ears…

Death Note… Certainly different from your normal plot. Simply put, a notebook that falls from the sky, is found by a student called Light Yagami. Now, just as anyone would think, once he saw the notebook, he instantly thought it was just a prank. But, just as humans would, curiosity got the better of him, and so he begins to see if it really is what it claims to be. What he finds surprises him, and he begins to use the Death Note “for the greater good” and begins using the alias “Kira”. The police start noticing patterns, they call on the legendary “L” to investigate, and find out who is doing these mass killings, and how. Things start to become complicated for both L and Light, when there is someone else also claiming to be “Kira”.

Now, whether or not I have taken a biased approach to “Death Note”, I do not know. Death Note is said to be “one of the best anime ever”, and right now, I believe I can agree with that it is "one of the best". Death Note is an anime with a very well constructed plot, with many twists and turns. The characters and events have been well thought through, with it being difficult to find many holes in the planning. “Death Note” keeps it’s fast moving plot and storyline throughout the series and almost every episode ends with a cliffhanger, making you want more and more! One main thing does seem to disappoint me though. Once it became present that there was a second arc to the series, the tension and the excitement of the plot line seemed to drop (well for me at least) with the events occurring with Yotsuba Group. It seemed as though they may have just wanted to stretch the series for a bit longer, although it did pick up again with the introduction of “Near”. The ending however, I found a little disappointing, and a bit cliche though...

As much is hyped up about Death Note, it is not perfect. Now, the storyline, as I have said before, is very strong. It moves fast, and keeps you wanting more. The animation is exceptional. I do not believe that there is a noticeable slack in standard with the animation. The eyes and hair is detailed, character costumes and body shapes don’t seem to be distorted, facial expressions seem appropriate etc. Sound? This, for me, seems to be it’s only not so good side, although still very good. The soundtrack could have been improved in some areas with it for me starting to get a little repetitive… The "godly singing" gives a nice epic feel to it, however it does seem to feel as if it gets a little overused. The first opening and closings I think could have been improved, as it didn't quite seem to match the plot. The second opening theme songs some people may find a bit offensive, however it does seem to fit the characters and plot line better. Nevertheless, the soundtrack was still very good, and the voice actors fitted the characters pretty much perfectly, with outstanding performances by Miyano Mamoru, Yamaguchi Kappei and Hidaka Noriko, playing Light, L and Near respectively.

Despite the anime’s very good plot, art, sound and character developments and characteristics, I did not seem to enjoy it as much as I thought I would have, which may be due to having over-expectations, however, it still does deserve an overall 9.4 out of 10 and is arguably "one of the best anime" ever. Highly recommendable to those who enjoy crime-fighting with a difference, and also highly recommendable to everyone else! Whether I like L or Light better? Hehe...