Another Anime Review In Few Words (Mini review)
A boy get transferred to a new school, only to feel something strange in his classmate’s behaviour. And then he meets a girl that doesn’t seem to exist. Another has a horrific settings, full of suspense & blood. So it is not an anime I would recommend to anyone with a feint of heart, even though the anime wasn’t really that scary, more like full creepiness & suspense.
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Good things about Another Anime
- Despite the eerie settings, there is still some humour in the anime.
- Good plot twists.
- Gorgeous art that’s full of details.
Possibly bad things about Another
- You never know what the calamities in the anime really happened. they are just there for the sake of it.
Story
Sakakibara Kouichi transferred into a Yomiyama Middle School in a small town, this could have been like any student changing school & city. But something about the atmosphere in his new school sounds strange. It is like that everyone in his school is hiding something from him. Them he meets Misaki Mei, and a little after that he realises that no one in his class recognises her presence.
It turns out that a girl called Misaki died 26 years ago. I guess that you by now have linked between that Misaki and Misaki that Kouichi met at the beginning of the anime. Could that mean anything? Who know? :D
It turns out that none of Kouichi’s new classmate seems to not recognise Misaki Mei’s presence at all. Like the girl doesn’t exist. And apparently, this has something to do with the other Misaki’s death so long ago.
Honestly, this doesn’t tell you much of the story beyond what you will see in the first episodes, mainly to avoid taking much of the enjoyment of watching this show. Specially with anime with the horror, mystery & suspense genre like Another.
The anime is not scary really, it more about the suspense in the atmosphere, and the question posed on you all the time of what is going to happen. Which is good if you don’t like stories that are easy to guess.
Another is based on Yukito Ayatsuji’s novel with the same name, which was serialised between the August 2006 and May 2009. There is also a manga for it as well.
Characters
Characters of Another Anime
Koichi Sakakibara
The male protagonist of Another, he transferred from Tokyo to Yomiyama North Middle in 1998. Since he is a transfer student, he knows nothing about the secret shared by his classmates. And why Misaki Mei’s presence is not recognised by them.
Koichi’s father worlks in India, so Kouichi lives with his aunt, Reiko.
Mei Misaki
Misaki is the main female protagonist in Another, She wears eye patch, and rarely shows much emotions at all.
At the beginning of the anime, Kouchi meets her on the elevator of the hospital, where Kouichi was hospitalized. At first, she distances herself from Kouichi, telling him to stay away from him, but she befriend him later on.
Izumi Akazawa
The head of countermeasures and the officer of class 3-3 (Kouichi’s class). In the first episode, she visits Kouichi in the hospital, along with Tomohiko & Yukari. Izumi is also a member in the drama club.
Tomohiko Kazami
A class delegate & a honour student, he is among the 3 classmates who visits Kouichi in the hospital.
Yukari Sakuragi
The female class representative of class 3-3, and a friend of Akazawa, and also among the ones who visited Kouchi in the hospital. She has a cute & calm face.
Other characters
Other characters are Reiko, Koichi’s aunt, Naoya Teshigawara, the easy-going guy, Yuuya Mochizuki, member of the art club & Mikami-sensei, the homeroom teacher of class 3-3.
Pacing & Enjoyment
The enjoyment of Another is bad at the beginning, I remember the first time I watched it I set it aside too quickly, it honestly bored me and let me not expect anything from it. But luckily enough, I felt like watching it again after some time. and it turns out it gets better after few episodes, so does the enjoyment.
Word about the art of Another
The art is one of the things where Another shines, the colours are sharp, and with a high contrast. Which helps making you feel horrified a little bit, especially with the dark backgrounds.
There are a lot of details in the art background. for example, you can easily see the little grass in the backyard of he school. The details are also there in the the patterns on the corridors’ walls in both the hospital and the school. The details in the art are even more prominent in the scenes where you see a scenery of the town.
While the characters may seem like they are plastered on the background at the time if you looked carefully, this is not something I think you will be bothered by it. In general, the contrast of the colouring makes the characters look beautiful in it.
Take a look at the following pictures to see how the characters art & backgrounds looks like:-
Extra few things
The ending song
The ending song contrasts with the theme of the anime in a good way, it shows all the characters being happy & content. Which is what would have happened if things where normal in Yomiyama Middle School.
Funny moments
Despite the horrific settings in Another, the anime still had some funny moments in the anime, which is a good thing. :)
Quotes from the anime
“How does it feel to not exist” – Mei Misaki
“If you’re here, can you prove you’re really here?” – Mei Misaki
“It doesn’t do any good to pretend you can’t see what’s going on” – Yuuya Mochizuki
“But if that’s what you want to do, you might as well try. It’s just pathetic to give up on something before you even give it a shot” – Reiko
And finally
Another got mixed responses among anime fans, so if you are interested in this kind of shows, you definitely should watch it & judge it yourself.
I hope you liked my Another review, and I hope to see you soon with other anime reviews.
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Review Sources & Credit
- Some characters information in this review were taken from Another Wikia & Wikipedia another page.
Links
If you liked this review, don’t forget to check out my other anime reviews here.
