Higurashi: When They Cry (2006)

A Japanese anime set in the mountain village of Hinamizawa in June 1983, where every year at the Cotton Drifting Festival one person dies and another disappears, and locals call it the curse of their deity, Oyashiro-sama. The story runs in question and answer arcs that restart the same summer from different angles, so the early episodes can feel like resets until the pattern clicks. Its real subject is how a small village turns on outsiders and on itself. The artwork has dated, and the violence, while not constant, is sharp when it comes.