Higurashi When They Cry: Curse Killing Arc (Light Novel) - Recommendations

• OVA (5 eps)
• 2009

Several months have passed since the horrific events in Hinamizawa came to an end. Little by little life returns to normal, with Rika and her friends doing their best to put the past them and mend their old wounds. All seems to be going well until one day tragedy strikes again as Rika is unexpectedly involved in a bloody traffic accident that shatters her short-lived peace. As she wakes, she finds herself thrust back into the nightmare summer of 1983, and sets out to once again correct Hinamizawa's twisted killing cycle. Rika soon realizes, however, that such a task is more difficult than she first imagined; this Hinamizawa is drastically different from all those in the past, and now more than just her own life is at stake...

• OVA (4 eps)
• 2013

One rainy night after a school festival, a group of students from Kisaragi Academy decide to perform the "Sachiko Ever After" charm, which will unite them forever as friends. Once the ritual is done, a sudden earthquake transports them to Heavenly Host, a torn down elementary school. Unbeknownst to Satoshi and his friends, however, is the horrific past behind it which culminated in its demolition. As they look for each other and try to escape from Heavenly Host, they soon find out their lives are at the mercy of those affected by that same bloodied past.

• TV (24 eps)
• 2007

It is the year 1983; and in the village of Hinamizawa, on the night of the cotton drifting festival and in the days following it, a series of deaths occurs. The only hope for the village and its inhabitants is the shrine maiden Furude Rika who, with the help of her invisible partner Hanyuu, is able to travel back in time and alter the events that led to disaster. Unfortunately, regardless of what changes are made, each voyage ultimately ends with the death of Rika and many of her friends. But when Rika’s friends start remembering things that happened to them in previous worlds and take steps to avoid the same outcomes, Rika realizes that their chances of survival have never been better. Can she really challenge and defeat fate itself?

• TV (15 eps)
• 2021

Continuation of Higurashi: When They Cry - Gou.

• DVD Special (2 eps)
• 2011

The hunt for the Shiki is in full swing, and with dawn approaching, the undead are desperately searching for somewhere to hide during the daylight hours. One group has ventured into the unused irrigation pipes at the edge of the village, but as they sleep their whereabouts are discovered. Then, as everyone continues to patrol the streets, Motoko Maeda suffers the consequences of her tragic encounters with the Shiki.

• TV (12 eps)
• 2012

26 years ago, something terrible happened in a middle school’s third year classroom. A popular, talented student named Misaki suddenly died, and the ramifications of that incident have caused each third year class since then to live in fear. It is now 1998, and Kouichi Sakakibara has just transferred into the notorious classroom, curious about the mysterious secret that his peers are hiding from him. He’s drawn to one enigmatic girl named Mei Misaki, a quiet student who wears an eye patch and warns him about getting involved with her, and continues to seek her out against the pleas of his classmates. And that’s when people begin to violently die...

• TV (22 eps)
• 2007 - 2008

Tarou has dreams - distressing dreams, related to the trauma he suffered as a child. His dreams and visions disturb his ease of mind, constantly reminding him of the darkness of his fear at the time he lost his sister all those years ago. He relives the fear, but can't recall any of the details of the time. Now, a new transfer student, Masayuki, takes an interest in Tarou's troubled past, as well as their school mate Makoto's connection to the dark incident. Under his persistence, the three boys end up visiting the site where Tarou was held hostage as a child: a decrepit hospital beyond the dam. The three venture forward to face their pasts and fears, unsuspecting of the bizarre world they are about to enter...

• TV (24 eps)
• 2020 - 2021

New kid Keiichi Maebara is settling into his new home of peaceful Hinamizawa village. Making quick friends with the girls from his school, he's arrived in time for the big festival of the year. But something about this isolated town seems "off," and his feelings of dread continue to grow. With a gnawing fear that he's right, what dark secrets could this small community be hiding?

• TV (12 eps)
• 2010

Kuzumi Hiroshi moves with his crippled sister and his father to the remote city of Jouga, which is famous for its hassaku citrus and the rumors that a species of enormous wolves once lived in the area. While some of the residents are more than friendly, when people begin to vanish suddenly, it becomes apparent that something sinister is afoot...

• TV (26 eps)
• 2009

In the year 1986, eighteen members of the Ushiromiya family head to Rokken Island where Kinzo, the elderly head of the household, will soon choose one of them as his successor. A portrait of the Golden Witch Beatrice greets them as they arrive at the family mansion, along with a disturbing epitaph: she will be resurrected on the ninth twilight after a number of bloody sacrifices. Unfortunately for the group, the statements come true, and soon the carnage begins. Will anybody walk away from the ominous island, or are their destinies due to be forever ruled by Beatrice?