Alternative TitlesJapanese: アナザー
Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 12
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Dec 26, 2011 to Mar 27, 2012
Duration:
24 min. per episode Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
L represents licensing company
StatisticsScore: 8.201 (scored by 29075 users)
Ranked: #2662
Popularity: #189
Members: 51,151
Favorites: 974 1 indicates a weighted score
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Synopsis26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honors student who was also good at sports, the charming girl was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Sakakibara Kouichi transfers to the class, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures. |
Related AnimeAdaptation: Another, Another
Prequel: Another OVA
Characters & Voice Actors
Staff
Reviews
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czmp93
328 of 534 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
9 |
| Story |
9 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
10 |
| Character |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
Another was one of those series which had me waiting eagerly for Mondays to arrive and wishing that the weekend would end sooner. For twelve weeks, it was my priority above all else to watch this amazing series, and to be honest, I'm already awaiting the release of the OVA in May. If I had to say what makes it so incredible, I would cite the short series length, the clever plot with a brilliant resolution, and outstanding animation as the main contributing factors, although the promise of blood will probably be enough for most people to decide whether this show is for them or not. Although the violence means that this is not for the faint of heart (or weak of stomach), I would nevertheless wholeheartedly recommend watching it, as it is well worth your time.
Story- 9/10
Have you heard of Tantalus? (No, a knowledge of Greek mythology is not essential to watch Another, I am simply at my wits' end with trying to describe the story without giving anything away). Tantalus was a man condemned by the gods to eternity in the underworld, immersed to the neck in a pool of water which he could not drink from, and underneath a tree laden with fruit which he could not reach, no matter how hard he tried. Now, if this is not too swift and broad a leap, this is how the storyline of Another will make you feel; every time you seem to be tantalisingly close to the answer, a new development occurs, and you have to start all over again. This series never goes where you expect it to, but it manages this without being a particularly complicated story, which is quite an achievement. I've read and watched many mystery stories, and I have found that nothing ruins the story more than confusion caused by an overloaded storyline and a huge ensemble of characters. Here, it is simple: one tightly-written, carefully thought out storyline involving a relatively small number of characters, which proves surprisingly durable as a twelve episode series, having avoided the trap of the same cliff-hanger ending every time; they always manage to throw in a new and interesting variation. The resolution of the storyline was amazing; it managed to bring all the strands of information which we had gleaned and wrap everything up in a style which was paced exactly right; fast, but not hurried or rushed. I certainly didn't see the final twist coming- not many people did- but it was masterful. It was also the most emotional moment of the series; even those of you who have laughed like maniacs throughout the entire series will suddenly become sombre during the final five minutes. Being mindful of the strict limits on what I can actually say about its specifics, I shall merely say that it was a perfect ending to a brilliant series.
Art- 10/10
The art is simply beautiful. This might actually be quite near the top in terms of the best series I have ever seen art-wise. The characters aren't that different from any other series, but the backgrounds are amazingly well defined; they really are just bliss to watch. The art mostly depicts death, lots and lots of death, with some dismemberment and impending doom thrown in. In almost every scene, there's a sense of decay, everything looks decrepit and rusty, the buildings look deserted, and there's gratuitous use of deep, dark reds wherever possible. If it's outdoors, there are crows perched on the roofs, looking hungry. If it's indoors, like the hospital, then the lights are dim and flickering occasionally (and for the provision of information to those who have watched the hospital scenes and noticed the missing fourth floor, it's because four in Japanese is either 'shi' or 'yon', depending on the context, and 'shi' can also mean 'death', so they tend to avoid using four when numbering things, like we do with thirteen. Right, fun fact session over). The use of dolls, often missing limbs, is prevalent (whether they're scary or hilarious just depends on the viewer) and appears to have more significance to the storyline than I originally thought. And every so often, in case you haven't got the message, there's a split-second image of a blood-stained knife which is lying on the floor. I mean, what could possibly happen next? (This was intentionally ironic. For those of you who don't get irony, just assume that this means it was hilarious). To sum up, the art sets up the atmosphere perfectly.
Sound- 10/10
Of course, we can't leave out the sound, as this is key (bad musical pun; I apologise) to the aforementioned atmosphere. From the start, the music creates a sense of eeriness, from simple melodies to electronic effects and string sections. As difficult as it is to describe, I would like you to imagine a full orchestra having a psychedelic freakout (think of that section of A Day in the Life) with a hair-raising selection of electronic hums and whines added, and then multiply that by about ten. That's about what it's like (or as best as I can put it into words). The music never quite goes away, unlike in other, lighter series; it drops right down to a few notes on a piano, but still gives you the sense that something's always just about to happen. The opening has some weird and unsettling vocal melodies going on, creating tension, stress, and suspense. But after a few episodes, I'll express a preference for the ending theme; it proves that strong vocals and a few chords on a piano are more effective than the aural blitzkrieg which we are usually subjected to, and it brings a sense of peace and serenity to the end of the episode. Basically, the soundtrack works perfectly with what's on screen.
Characters- 8/10
Now, the characters; obviously, we know very little about any of them right up until the end, otherwise it wouldn't be a mystery, would it? They're all quite weird and unusual, and they're all either ruthlessly blunt or very obviously trying to avoid certain topics of conversation. As you can imagine, this makes the dialogue quite awkward. Kouichi Sakakibara, our horror story loving main character, seems to have more than half a clue what's going on, which makes a nice change from the average clueless/in denial character in the horror genre. Although it cannot be denied that he is of that genus most favoured by scriptwriters lacking inspiration, the transfer student, he does actually get some background to why he transferred. Mei Misaki develops a bit from the 'weird loner' presented in the first episode to someone who is frustrated by their situation and yet cannot change it. While near-silent and emotionless girls seem to be very common at the moment, I can promise that there is more to Mei than being a mere tribute to consumer demand. If you have watched only a few episodes, she might seem a bizarre person, but she becomes more understandable as the series progresses. Izumi Akazawa, the class representative, is blunt to the point of being rude, but is quite the deceiver and manipulator behind the scenes, as it later turns out. Reiko, who was at first glance a stereotypical 'ridiculously youthful, kind and caring female relative', turns out to have quite a temper, and appears to have a few secrets. In a sentence: don't judge them too soon.
Overall- 9/10
If you are still with me (and it's quite likely if you are indeed reading this sentence), I recommend you go and watch Another now. It's only a few hours out of your spare time and you really have nothing to lose except a night's sleep if you are easily scared. If you are going to watch it, I can recommend watching it at midnight, it's surprisingly good fun (if your idea of 'fun' is the same as mine, that is). Personally, I reckon that from a fairly dull season, Another will come to shine as easily the best new release this season, and possibly one of the better of the year.
(Author's note: I started writing reviews because decently written reviews with no spelling or grammatical errors are almost non-existent on MAL, as very few people can be bothered with such trivialities these days, and this desperately needs redressing. While many people aren't with me on this, I believe that a review is not worth reading unless it is well written, and so I have put quite a lot of effort into writing this without making it too formal or verbose, whilst avoiding flippancy, in order to inform and entertain the people in the audience who are on my wavelength. My apologies if you are not one of those people. If you do have some constructive criticism to make, PM me or just post a comment, I'm quite happy to take it under consideration when editing this. And on that note, good night!).
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VictimOfFate
55 of 118 people found this review helpful
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12 of 12 episodes seen
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| Overall |
6 |
| Story |
6 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
9 |
| Character |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
When I was getting ready to play the first episode of Another, I wasn't holding any positive expectations for it. Not only did the premise sound awfully boring and generic, I'm generally reserved towards the idea combining supernatural horror and mystery. Yet there I was, completely into the anime after only one episode. It didn't even need to rely on anything flashy like a shocking twist or a controversial theme, I was won over by sheer atmosphere.
The mood isn't built on big decisions, but careful micromanagement. It's not just how dark and pale the overall color scheme is; beyond simple choices of colors or intensity of shading, all surfaces are covered in dents, scratches, rust and stains. Character designs are gloomy and the obvious reservation shown by everyone fills the air with strong tension. Supporting all that, the soundtrack is generally eerie and desolate, but doesn't forget to shock me by collapsing into cacophonic noise at just the right time. All components are seamlessly connected and succesfully fulfill their life's goal of provoking a sense of thrilling discomfort inside me
Put together, those form an atmosphere where everyday environments have become dangerous. The places are the same old and routines remain unchanged, but emphasis on the unsightly details makes it impossible to ignore the fact nothing is safe anymore. The atmosphere had already motivated me to clear the cloud of anxiety, and that's before I even learned anything about the mystery itself. Could there even be a better starting point?
The mystery itself seemed quite promising for a while. It didn't take long for the concept to start breaking the chains set by its standard outline, starting to shape out into something interesting and unique. Quite a leap from initial scepticism, I was looking forward to what happens next and trying to speculate what significance every small detail has. It was doing an impeccable job at delivering the most important thing I expect from a good mystery: I was interested in solving it and it felt solvable. The flow of information was natural, it was obtained through the lead character's detective work and interpretations of character behavior, a couple of pieces of proof were always missing at just the right places to leave room for imagination to run wild and every detail seemed important.
But suddenly things started getting less intense and interesting. I didn't want to believe or admit it at first, but eventually it became way too obvious to ignore. Another's mystery wasn't as well thought as I had wanted to believe. The first sign of decline was the feeling that there's something very important missing. It took a while to notice, but the flaw can be summed up to this guestion: just what are the characters exactly doing?
The story takes a very long time to give characters any real urgency to try solving the most interesting mystery, the one that the series is named after. While it's necessary to have risks to keep the tension up, this time the danger is so high there's no way anyone would do anything but keep their guard up or hide until they absolutely no other choice. The series doesn't even manage to use the mystery to set up conflict between the big cast of characters until the very end. The story remains predictable without such tension the suspense stays much lower than it should be. And when the final episodes roll in, a lot suddenly happens at once. It is very intense, but more than that messy and pretty much the worst possible finale that was barely saved by the fact I liked the conclusion itself.
At first I was impressed by the natural flow of information and narrative and ready to name it one of the greatest strengths of Another's writing, but unfortunately all that disappeared mysteriously somewhere along the way. Taking its place, we get (in)convenient coincidences postponing conclusive developments in a way that felt extremely artificial. But the most interesting let-down about Another is how it basically quit being a member of the mystery genre after some time despite its good start. The scenario starts out as normal middle school students using their normal middle school student means and capabilities to stand up against an incomprehensible supernatural mystery, but by the end of the series all of that has been forgotten and the solution relies on a terribly convenient plot device. At first I wanted to believe it's just some kind of a clever feint, but in the end things were just like they seemed: magic.
The characters are believable enough and their interactions with each other feel natural. Their relatively down-to-earth approach to the ordeal contributes nicely to the overall atmosphere building. Internal characterization is done only with the main character Kouichi Sakakibara while other characters are portrayed only through their actions. This actually works quite well for most part since it leaves a lot of room for speculation by leaving everyone's their true feelings up to interpretation, and more importantly also lets the audience take the place of Koichi as an outsider who is being kept in the dark.
The downside is that there aren't many characters with very deep characterization. This would not be an issue if the series progressed differently, with more conflict between the characters or if the mystery had been of a bit different nature. But that's enough "if"-ing. After Another decided to abandon mystery, the only thing remaining was a survival setting. If that's the case, it would have required stronger individual motivators to let me care more about what happens to each character. But the way things went, Another's shallow characterization made it fail as a psychological thriller.
But despite their lack of interesting or unique personality, the main character Kouichi Sakakibara and eye-patched mascot girl Mei Misaki really grew on me as the series progressed, and my attachment to them also was a nice incentive to make me want to learn more about the mystery. Like I did with the main characters, everyone seems to find at least one character they feel attached to in one way or another. While there is a decent selection of likeable characters, outside that it's hard to avoid noticing how most characters appear to only serve the purpose of creating atmosphere with the awkwardness of their evasive and blunt behavior and then dying comically gruesome deaths. Character designs themselves are all-around praiseworthy, each important character looks distinct and leaves an impression without relying on exaggerated design elements in any shape or form. Mei's eye-patch is kind of an exception to the rule but it's kind of plot-relevant and most importantly very moe so it's alright.
Art and animation quality really doesn't leave room for complaints, it's too rich to give me any chances to nitpick. The scenery, in particular, is amazing, and while the animation of facial expressions in general is only slightly above average, the artwork of individual frames conveys a lot. There are some uses of camera angles that give hints and further increase suspense with small details. Even if you don't pay attention to them, they are sure to affect you.
The atmosphere is mostly created with nice subtlety, but that's all the more reason to complain when something related to atmosphere building goes wrong. Next to all carefully thought out small components building up the overall mood, the blatant use of doll motifs to create atmosphere is a clear distraction. It's just not effective. It doesn't serve any purpose outside scenes where dolls are an important element, other than ruining the immersion. In scenes with doll metaphors and philosophy they work pretty well, and are a nice additional spin to the story when it's not being forcefully implemented where it doesn't belong. Thankfully, it becomes less intrusive and frequent after a while.
Ali Project aside, the sound aspect is great. The tracks leave an impression without intruding the dialogue or otherwise breaking the immersion, all factors involving sound have their own hook. During scenes with more action, an intense melody spins from one direction to another, making a great impact. Even relatively carefree scenes don't generally have any upbeat in the tracks accompanying them.
While sound can guide audience's emotions to a certain direction, it simultaneously prepares them mentally for what is going to happen, which can potentially harm the shock factor. Another manages to handle it nicely with an interesting decision where a really intense or creepy track can play during a scene where nothing in particular happens. There are no times when use of sound would have been inappropriate. Instead, it was implemented really well. Aside from music, sound effects are good. The effect of footsteps, collisions and so on is powerful, and the same goes for any sound effects that are there to express something abstract.
Another was overall an interesting experience that impressed me with its attention to detail and memorable conclusion, but in the end the story wasted a lot of potential by focusing on things that it didn't really excel at, at the expense of atmosphere, characterization and flow of the story. read more
Recommendations
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Small towns with big secrets. Horror series that show how terrifying normal school kids can turn out to be when pushed to their limits by the darkest horrors their towns have to offer. Both also have themes of cyclical repetition, with Another's events happening year after year and Higurashi repeating the same summer over and over again.
A normal boy (OR IS HE!?) transfers to a mysterious school in a mysterious town with mysterious and shady secrets. Murder and paranoia ensues!
Both anime show the same theme of mystery and random deaths. However, If you continue to watch "Higurashi", all is explained towards the end of the series. Throughout "Another" the conspicuous deaths and murderers are somewhat explained all together towards the end.
Both have a main character who moves into a town where mysterious deaths occur. In Higurashi, however, the deaths were caused by murder, rather than other circumstances found in Another.
During watching both of them you get the same feeling. The plot is simillar - a boy going to a new school, meet new friends and everything seems great till.. boom, everything is getting creepy, there's a lot of blood and inexplicable deaths. If you enjoyed one of theese you should see the other one.
Both anime are misleading in that everything "looks" normal when they arent. Blood and death is prominent in both series with a mysterious undertone.
Another and Higurashi have lots of similarities
A new boy comes to town;
Mysterious girl(s)
Mysterious murders starts to happen
something about a curse
Another feels like Higurashi compressed into one arc. Dieing people, classmates hiding something, dark feeling overall. One thing Another lacks in comparison to Higurashi is comedy.
Main character's family moves him to a new town with dark secrets. Blood and murder and sinister atmosphere. The classmates of the main character have secrets that they'd rather keep hidden from the main character, and are willing to go to great lengths to do so. They also both start off calm, lulling you into a false sense of security before turning up the horror.
Another takes a more cliche highschool and mature turn, whereas higurashi is funny and cute
Both are suspense/horror dealing with misfortunes that happen to school children.
An ordinary teenage boy moves into a strange rural town where his classmates seem to be keeping a dark secret from him. There's a horror and a mystery atmosphere. Both are set in the past (Higurashi in 1983, Another in 1998).
Both of these anime lean towards a dark aspect with many creepy undertones. However from what I've seen of Another it has much less gore an insanity than Higurashi, so if you want something with more of a creep-out factor than gore, watch Another.
A normal boy moves to a new town. Within the first 3 episodes, we see this boy get involved with many creep factors. Both the series consist of blood, mystery, girls who are more than they seem, and just all out thrillers.
Misterious boy, transfered to a new college, supernatural murders.
Both are horror/mystery with similar settings; both series have that eerie feeling to them before something catastrophic happens. Highly recommended for horror lovers.
both shows take place in remote and pastoral villages which hide dark secrets - both are have an eerie atmosphere of impending doom - both are really scary...
Even before finishing this series, I knew that there was something similar between Higurashi and Another. MC arrives into a small town, meets new people, and let the psychological twists begin. Murders and mystery play a central theme as the thriller-like sequences repeats over and over. In both series, a calamity that has not been lifted repeats in a Groundhog Day-like loop.
similarities between the two
-mystery/horror-thriller
-main character comes to a city/school with alot of mysteries
-similar, weird acting female characters
if you liked Another but have not seen Higurashi, fix that situation now.
Both anime are about some curse/a chain of deaths occuring. Also, the story is full of mystery and confusion at the start, and it contains gore.Very similar, yet different.
It gives you the same feeling.. And it is although kind of the same because in the beginning of both animes, Kouichi's classmates seem to hide something dark from him, while in Higurashi, Keichi's friends are also hiding something 'dark' from him. I love both of these anime, they give you a creepy feeling. I highly suggest watching these two.
If you wished Another was longer and more terrifying, definitely check out Higurashi. It really seems like Another drew a lot of inspiration from the series.
Both animes involve a male boy who moves into a new (small) town. Certain dark events have happened before and it starts to repeat itself again. In the two animes, both stories keep blowing your mind; changing everything when the main character finds things out.
We're dealing with the same dark atmosphere and horror situation, coming from a curse that we discover throught the episodes.
They are both horror and mystery and very exciting to watch.
Small town with big secrets, all keep to themselves until something happens, very mysterious characters, you get the same feel from both animes
They both cover the theme of mystery and death mixed together.
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Both give a similar feeling: New guy arrives to a little village, and certain dark events start happening that are somehow related to a young mysterious girl. Slow and creepy atmosphere that makes you want to find out what´s going on. Brilliant ost and VA´s.
Well, both series are Mystery genres..
They give the same scary feeling due to the lots of creepy deaths all over the stories.
Yet, both show the main male character wiling to stop this "supernatural phenomenon".
Also a special mention to the cure of the music, which both serie have.
If you enjoyed one of those, you might probably enjoy the other as well!
The atmosphere is quite similar and so is the supernatural mysterious girl and a myth that's not fully revealed at the beginning of the series.
The difference in shows is that in Another we don't know what is happening and why so it has to be investigated. However, in Shiki we know the cause of the deaths from the start and are simply observing everything from the distance, watching how characters will deal with the issue.
Other than that, shows are very similar. In both shows people suddenly start to die.In Another people from one class die and in Shiki in one of the villages.
In both shows characters try to find the cause and stop it. Both shows start slow but eventually end up in blood bath. Both shows have quiet a lot of under developed characters though in Another it is more eye burning.
Same felling, Similar story
These both feel very alike. People die without anyone knwoing the reason for it, the mystery is slowly revealed.
Also, there are almost no action scenes
Both fall under the horror genre and give off similar vibes by establishing a slow-paced mystery in order to create suspense. Shiki focuses on character and buildup, while Another uses foreshadowing and atmosphere.
Perhaps creepy at times, and shocking at others.
Worthy of mentioning is that the writer for Another is the husband for the writer of Shiki. Truly, the greatest love story ever told.
While Shiki is more of a thriller than a horror, they both take place in a small rural town. Mysterious, supernatural deaths are also something the two series share. The protagonist in each show tries to uncover the truth behind the deaths.
Both series involves events in small village involving deaths surrounded by mystery. Both anime(s) have that thriller like atmosphere that leaves cliffhangers and horror themed conclusions.
A great series for viewers interested in horror fiction and mystery alike.
They have the same setup, which is a small town. Although, Shiki is more about vampires while Another is more about a curse.
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Opening Theme"Kyoumu Densen (凶夢伝染)" by ALI PROJECT
Ending Theme"anamnesis" by Annabel
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Related ClubsOn Goings Club, Another FC, Candy Workshop, Mei Misaki, *AnimeFanClubs*, Pandemic, Neighbours' Club, ★Pictorial Culture Miscellany★, Winter Anime 2011, Another - The best comedic Anime ever., na., Card☆Outlaw, Another, My Anime club , Mutirão Brasil - Ver. Spring Season 2012, Tomb Raider Forums, DARK AND BRUTAL ANIME CLUB, Role Players Unite!
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