Well in DirecTV, if you don't have the HD package, you can't tell which channels are HD. When you buy it though, like half of your channels get renamed to append "HD" somewhere in the channel title. All the channels stay the same number and stuff though...just better quality.
The channel it is going to broadcast on is going to show it in native 720p since I have the HD package (and it actually looks really good) *angry face*
Higurashi has mini arcs (they call them chapters) that span like 4 or 5 episodes. Keeps it short, but not too short. Each arc is completely different from other arcs. Pretty good if you like micro series kind of things.