Another Episode 6

Face to Face

Alex: Alright, this time of the season against. Inu x Boku SS is hereby dropped. It’s fun, quirky, but there’s nothing to write about each episode. Watch it anyway, though. And after this post, Another is also dropped.

It’s not that this episode is bad, or that this series is bad. But I personally didn’t find the horror effective, and when I solved the mystery of “Who the ghost is” this week, I saw little to no point in keeping up the blogging for this show. I understand why people like it, but for me, it doesn’t work. For me, it tries too hard and relies on a rather shabby mystery to hold the plot together. Take the mystery out, and it’s just a bunch of strange images of dolls and a bunch of kids acting all scared. And a parrot chirping the same thing over and over again.

Next.This episode, the father of Kouchi said “Back after a year and a half”. Amnesia? Twins? Sorry…but that’s just ridiculous. Our main character was in the town before but he forgot all about it? Ever since a certain mystery which features Hachiyo Tohya, amnesia has felt cheap to me in mystery. Yes, it was creepy. But that doesn’t take away the fact that someone in India called the main character and said those exact words. Either he’s wrong, in which case this is just stupid to throw so many red herrings around. Never mind that paragraph, actually. I just put the dates together and I noticed what it all meant. I still don’t like it, though. Feels cheap.

Sure, the visuals are nice, and the strange, gruesome deaths do look good, thanks to Kyo-Ani. But ultimatly, take the mystery away and take the horror away and the whole show collapes in on itself. It’s nice to see that old man in the library offering hints and trying to help our main characters, but it’s too little too late for me. So like I said, dropped. Sorry~

Another Episode 5

Build Limbs

Mimi: Well, we have truly entered the Twilight Zone with this episode. It might not end with another smashing, bizarre death, but it sure offers a freaky exposition. I admit, I was fooled. I never considered Mei being a ghost in the sense that everyone’s just ignoring her. Now it seems obvious after I read the synopsis again, though it’s really quite crafty. Why be redundant/obvious in saying there’s a girl named Misaki who died earlier and that Kouichi met a mysterious girl named Misaki? Well, maybe because they’re actually different people. What a nice little twist though for people who don’t read too much into it. xD

So, the class begins to ignore Kouichi after a student that talked to him recently died of a “heart attack.” He figures they’re just treating Mei the same way, so she really exists. Once the two outcasts get together, she explains: The curse happens when there is somehow an extra student in the class. No one can figure out who it is. But they found a way to stop the deaths, that is, to treat a student as nonexistent to correct the class number. But after Kouichi transferred to the school, the deaths started happening anyway. I guess the class thinks the reason for that is because he acknowledges Mei, so they ultimately choose to ignore him too.

Mei’s theory is that the extra student is a ghost who doesn’t know they’re dead yet, and they’re most likely connected to the class that have died over the years. With that said, Kouichi seems like the highest suspect, since he’s connected to the class through his mother, not to mention people close to him die. I guess Mei is safe because she’s treated like a ghost? Or perhaps there’s another special reason. Anyway…this is getting amazing! And what’s with people’s minds being altered?

I love this show so much…

Another Episode 4

Put Flesh

Alex: See, it was interesting to see PA Works do some gore, but it felt a little too much, in my opinion. And now that Another broke the unwritten rule of how supernatural events shouldn’t happen in front of the main character(Mei is a ghost?), i’m not really sure what I should expect from this episode. For me, this episode would be the one which made or ruined the show for me. And much to my surprise, it did neither. Just put off the agony for another week.

Anyway, everything starts this episode with people talking about a curse, and how the mother of the girl who impaled herself died on the same day. And the curse seems to continue, what with that girl who I don’t remember seeing before almost getting hit by a pane of glass (nice animation and direction, by the way) and then our lead character going back to the weird doll house to meet Mei.

If one good thing came out of this, it’s Mei basically admitting that she isn’t behind the curse, or at least strongly hinting it. The rest…was pretty average, actually. The build-up was nothing bad, but considering that all the buildup could be pretty pointless if there’s some stupid supernatural reason…

That is, it was pointless until that nurse called to ask about Mei…and became Victim #2. That…was VERY well done.

Another Episode 3

Bone Work

Mimi: Alex is away on a much needed break this week, so his posts are gonna be a little late. Well, all except for this one. This episode…wow. Freaking awesome! It provides little but just enough information to reel you in. What’s the continuation to the ghost girl’s story? Why wait a month to tell him the truth? Why a “right” timing? Why exactly is this kid’s ignorance the key to their survival? A connection to his mother, perhaps? And then to top it all off with an unexpected, gruesome death; seemingly accidental, but we all know it isn’t so. Heh, I know Alex is going to like that. I guess a bunch of others are going to die in bizarre ways and see the Ghost Girl as a warning or something. What a great horror this is turning out to be. It may be moving slow, but the suspense is amazing. I want the next episode now?

Oh, and one more thing. I’m skipping over Chihayafuru episode 16, cuz I hear it’s a recap. But Another makes up for it.

Another Episode 2

Blueprint

Alex: Sorry, am I meant to be scared or something? Weird creepy girl tries too hard to be creepy. Weird creepy girl “apparently” died in Episode 1. Weird creepy girl likes weird creepy dolls. Weird creepy girl takes her eyepatch off…so lets make it a cliffhanger!

With horror, if you’re not subtle, you’re dull, boring and not scary. That’s what this episode of Another was like, to be honest. I don’t have anything more to say. Horror isn’t horror when it’s forced down the viewers throat. And it isn’t mystery if she’s a ghost.

First Impression: Another

Another

Mimi: Who hasn’t seen this premise a million times? A poor innocent kid transfers to a new school where strange things are happening. In this case, we’ve got an emotionless ghost girl, over-friendly classmates, and brief shots of creepy dolls staring at you with a demonic glare. And you know what? I like it. Instead of starting out all happy and sunny with the first warning sign finally appearing at the end, we’re immediately lead into the gloom and doom of the main character, who’s sick in the hospital and gets a strange visit from three classmates. As more of them are introduced, it’s obvious that they’re keeping a dark secret. Something about his fate. Something about death. Why don’t they just run the heck out of there if the classroom is that haunted? Especially the teachers? What’s going on? What are they planning? You could come up with so many interesting theories already, and that’s why I like it. Aside from the weirdness, of course.

By the way, it’s nice to hear Ali Project back for another OP song. That combined with all the creepy dolls…I just couldn’t help but think of Rozen Maiden. Oh, don’t tell me that the villain is going to be the doll creator.

Alex: When I found out that the husband of Ono Fuyumi,  the writer behind horror epics such as Ghost Hunt and the king of anime horror, Shiki, I was actually really excited to see what it was going to turn out like.

I question some of it, though. Why in any good sense would any hospital have a morgue open to public access? But anyway…it just  really saddens me  how it seems to be more mystery than horror…a girl everyone’s pretending to be alive, a desk that’s really battered and worn down in the classroom…they’re weird, slightly strange things, but they’re not horror.  The stains which look like blood all over everything are weird and slightly creepy, but since the main character hasn’t shown any attention to them, they’re probably not important and are just rust or something.