Reasons not to watch Higurashi (or any other anime, movies, books, games)
1. Never Heard of it.
2. Read reviews about it and based it on that
3. Looked at the summary/themes
Reasons to drop the anime
1. Did not like story
2. Did not like atmosphere (characters/animation/setting)
3. Did not like fanservice/comedy (possible)
4. Cannot take in the gore/psychological horror (They did a good job because many people stopped because of this)
Reasons to keep watching
1. Like the story
2. Like the atmosphere
3. Like the gore/psychological horror
4. You want to know the ending and whats going on
Reasons to hate it
1. Reasons to drop the anime
2. You hated the ending and want more and got only Rei
3. Not your cup of tea
Reasons to love it
1. Reasons to keep watching
2. You loved the ending/Rei was just an extra
3. It was for you
This anime is not to be just watched, you have to think. Lots of people do not like episodic shows because they were just watching it for the sake of watching and not to enjoy it, many of them becoming or are narutards (not pointing the finger at anyone, just saying). Some people say that this and even Kara no Kyoukai are meaningless because it makes no sense, well sucks for you, you lose a great story.
Even though I like the anime, I had a hard time going through S1 and Kara no Kyoukai (they needed a rewatch), it's your choice to continue or quit. Also, you don't have to bitch at it or defend it with your life, just move along.