Another (light novel)
| It's been bothering me, but it bewilders me as to how a character like Mei has spawned a whole random of followers, when Mei, both herself and her negligence, is really the antagonist behind the story. She was the standard 'mysterious' character in the beginning with the eye patch and whatnot, but she turned out to be just a normal girl who was chosen to carry the burden of being ostracized to prevent the disaster, I get it, she was the scapegoat, and I felt sympathy towards her character...until I started to find out what she knows. When you take into consideration how she alone knew the answer to the question everyone was asking, and did absolutely nothing, it really does grind my gears. It's like a healer who refuses to cast spells on anyone but themselves, in a raid. Yes, there was the fact that she had feelings for Kouichi and it would have hurt him emotionally if he found out; but what about before all that? Not only does she have the power to see who's dead, but she was also an eye witness to the actual murder of this year's Another. What normal person would stand by and not defend themselves in a situation where they are being accused of a crime they did not commit? But no, Mei idly stands by while the class labels her as what is essentially the village idiot. Her silence ends up costing the life of her sister and 9 bystanders. Give her a medal. And yes, while some may argue that this is fictional mystery and that not everything has to make sense, I totally agree with you. The supernatural element is what made the first 10 episodes of this series engaging and entertaining to watch. (Don't even get me started on the last two episodes) But what I'm talking about isn't the mystery, it's the gaps in basic logic and thinking. This entire disaster could have been completely averted if one girl had the courage to speak up. It's little things like that turn serious stories into laughable jokes. Of course, this would have been totally justified, had it been explained that perhaps Mei choose not to spoke up, as an act of revenge against the class, for ostracizing her; but again, the audience is just left out to dry as we are left questioning the mistakes and decisions that both the characters and directors made. This series had so much promise, what a shame. |
AzureBluesMar 27, 2012 2:35 PM
| i hate that stupid annoying Misaki Mei with a passion!!! eww everytime i saw her ugly face on my screen i always want to punch the screen!! And did anyone notice that in a fight between her and akazawa, when she finally able to escape from akazawa.. she's walking up the stairs, WALKING!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER MIND OH GOSH.... Misaki should be one of the most hated anime character of all time, like Makoto from school days (Randomly remember him after seeing SeraVerte's avatar). |
millo said: i hate that stupid annoying Misaki Mei with a passion!!! eww everytime i saw her ugly face on my screen i always want to punch the screen!! And did anyone notice that in a fight between her and akazawa, when she finally able to escape from akazawa.. she's walking up the stairs, WALKING!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER MIND OH GOSH.... Misaki should be one of the most hated anime character of all time, like Makoto from school days (Randomly remember him after seeing SeraVerte's avatar). Says the guy with some gagged disgusting troll as his avatar. Pleas stop trolling - if you want to troll Misaki or any of the characters and feel heard, go to the goddamn writers twitter or write him/her a goddamn letter. I'm sure they'll be super happy to hear from you. 1. Misaki is adorable 2. Misaki is a breath of fresh air as a character 3. Misaki is a badass. |
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| Well well.. i agree but would there even be a show if she revealed who the dead 1 was before the end... @SeraVerte nice point cuz it could have been because of spite or revenge 2wards the class for ostracizing her and Kouichi's reaction as she stated.. and for me, the show started as super-curious, nosy protagonist with questions no one wanted 2 answer until Misaki. I guess it adds to the suspense.. |
ChadriusMar 27, 2012 2:22 PM
gingabishounen said: millo said: i hate that stupid annoying Misaki Mei with a passion!!! eww everytime i saw her ugly face on my screen i always want to punch the screen!! And did anyone notice that in a fight between her and akazawa, when she finally able to escape from akazawa.. she's walking up the stairs, WALKING!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER MIND OH GOSH.... Misaki should be one of the most hated anime character of all time, like Makoto from school days (Randomly remember him after seeing SeraVerte's avatar). Says the guy with some gagged disgusting troll as his avatar. Pleas stop trolling - if you want to troll Misaki or any of the characters and feel heard, go to the goddamn writers twitter or write him/her a goddamn letter. I'm sure they'll be super happy to hear from you. 1. Misaki is adorable 2. Misaki is a breath of fresh air as a character 3. Misaki is a badass. Breath of fresh air? Ehh... no; maybe from a lot of anime and super moe blob, but definitely not all too unique. A lot of the (depressing) 80s anime have ridiculously passive characters. And these same characters have always been critiqued. (Though, sometimes loved, but that's because there's more to back it up) While I agree, she is adorable, she also gives off this horribly two dimensional feeling. And doesn't change (Oh wait, she smiles in the *very* end) In the end, I find her just as annoying as moe fanservice character. They threw her character in to drive the creepiness levels, and it just produced a lackluster character. All of this is my opinion though, just to be clear. |
gingabishounen said: Says the guy with some gagged disgusting troll as his avatar. Pleas stop trolling - if you want to troll Misaki or any of the characters and feel heard, go to the goddamn writers twitter or write him/her a goddamn letter. I'm sure they'll be super happy to hear from you. 1. Misaki is adorable 2. Misaki is a breath of fresh air as a character 3. Misaki is a badass. Well, Misaki mei is the most adorably disgusting character ever! I get it now why the "beautiful-popular-mean girls group" in the class (akazawa,ogura,takako) hate her, she's the quite-sad-ugly-emo-girl with no friend who sits at the back of the class, we all have one in our class...eww And of course she's a breath of fresh air, because up until now we never had a character as stupid and as useless as she is!!!! "omg everyone went crazy and starts killing each other, i can stop it if i tell everyone who the dead one is, but... ummm meow meow meow lets wait until more people died.. nyan nyan....im so weird and creepy moe" And that one scene also annoys me, when Kouichi calls her, she was like "I dont want kouichi to come here and witness this but i'll let him know where i am", and then she was like, "umm do i kill her now... no no no i'll just standing here looking at her for 53464675 minutes... omg Kouichi already here!!! oopssieee my bad.. now he have to witness all this~~ meow~" and don't you ever dare insulting my dearest lovely bishounen Keisuke "Capitalist Pig" Nashimoto-chan |
millo said: Yep, trolls.gingabishounen said: Says the guy with some gagged disgusting troll as his avatar. Pleas stop trolling - if you want to troll Misaki or any of the characters and feel heard, go to the goddamn writers twitter or write him/her a goddamn letter. I'm sure they'll be super happy to hear from you. 1. Misaki is adorable 2. Misaki is a breath of fresh air as a character 3. Misaki is a badass. Well, Misaki mei is the most adorably disgusting character ever! I get it now why the "beautiful-popular-mean girls group" in the class (akazawa,ogura,takako) hate her, she's the quite-sad-ugly-emo-girl with no friend who sits at the back of the class, we all have one in our class...eww And of course she's a breath of fresh air, because up until now we never had a character as stupid and as useless as she is!!!! "omg everyone went crazy and starts killing each other, i can stop it if i tell everyone who the dead one is, but... ummm meow meow meow lets wait until more people died.. nyan nyan....im so weird and creepy moe" And that one scene also annoys me, when Kouichi calls her, she was like "I dont want kouichi to come here and witness this but i'll let him know where i am", and then she was like, "umm do i kill her now... no no no i'll just standing here looking at her for 53464675 minutes... omg Kouichi already here!!! oopssieee my bad.. now he have to witness all this~~ meow~" and don't you ever dare insulting my dearest lovely bishounen Keisuke "Capitalist Pig" Nashimoto-chan |
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| LOOOOL bunch of clowns |
| 「Ｊ＞Ｋ＞Ｗ」 事実。 |
| Well Mei is okay but she's kinda boring. |
| I wonder what you guys are smoking to call him a troll for saying that, tbh. The way he's expressing the point is ridiculing the idea a little too much, I'll give you that, but other than that he's got a point. It was a point that completely disgusted me ever since Mei revealed her secret (which, in itself, was dumb) already. But then she simply allows everyone to get slaughtered while saying absolutely nothing. So yea, what's good about her, other than being moe & mysterious? She basically allowed mindless killing. And I don't even understand why she -suddenly- decided to kill the extra?- lulz.. I think this just gave me a reason to drop the rating of this some more. :I |
 ~ Love knows no boundaries ~ -- Thanks to -Luzifer- for the signature. |
| I also got the "I don't give a shit about you" vibe from her. Although it was probably not intended, in my mind, her reason for not telling anyone who the Another one was, had to do with her simply not caring whether her classmates (with the eventual exception of K) lived or died. Perhaps she actually got some kick out of seeing such extreme event unfold? I probably would have. Well. That assumption however is what makes me love Mei. Only way she could have been even more awesome, is if she had intentionally orchestrated the demise of some of her classmates. Would give her smirk in the final scenes a much more sinister meaning. |
| Whenever you correct someone's grammar just remember that nobody likes you. |
SeraVerte said: It's been bothering me, but it bewilders me as to how a character like Mei has spawned a whole random of followers, when Mei, both herself and her negligence, is really the antagonist behind the story. She was the standard 'mysterious' character in the beginning with the eye patch and whatnot, but she turned out to be just a normal girl who was chosen to carry the burden of being ostracized to prevent the disaster, I get it, she was the scapegoat, and I felt sympathy towards her character...until I started to find out what she knows. When you take into consideration how she alone knew the answer to the question everyone was asking, and did absolutely nothing, it really does grind my gears. It's like a healer who refuses to cast spells on anyone but themselves, in a raid. Yes, there was the fact that she had feelings for Kouichi and it would have hurt him emotionally if he found out; but what about before all that? Not only does she have the power to see who's dead, but she was also an eye witness to the actual murder of this year's Another. What normal person would stand by and not defend themselves in a situation where they are being accused of a crime they did not commit? But no, Mei idly stands by while the class labels her as what is essentially the village idiot. Her silence ends up costing the life of her sister and 9 bystanders. Give her a medal. And yes, while some may argue that this is fictional mystery and that not everything has to make sense, I totally agree with you. The supernatural element is what made the first 10 episodes of this series engaging and entertaining to watch. (Don't even get me started on the last two episodes) But what I'm talking about isn't the mystery, it's the gaps in basic logic and thinking. This entire disaster could have been completely averted if one girl had the courage to speak up. It's little things like that turn serious stories into laughable jokes. Of course, this would have been totally justified, had it been explained that perhaps Mei choose not to spoke up, as an act of revenge against the class, for ostracizing her; but again, the audience is just left out to dry as we are left questioning the mistakes and decisions that both the characters and directors made. This series had so much promise, what a shame. Wow, looks like someone's a WoW player. |
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-Vid said: I called both of them trolls from being unable to think in anything but extremes. "oh no,she's the most disgusting character EVAR but don't call my actually disgusting avatar disgusting because he's the best EVAR and he's funny" is not deserving of being called a troll? Actually, I Hope he was trolling otherwise my opinion of him got lower. He can hate the character, and he has valid reasons, but he's just acting likw a blind fanboy (especailly when defending his own favorite character). The one defending Mei was also being a blind fanboy. I wonder what you guys are smoking to call him a troll for saying that, tbh. The way he's expressing the point is ridiculing the idea a little too much, I'll give you that, but other than that he's got a point. It was a point that completely disgusted me ever since Mei revealed her secret (which, in itself, was dumb) already. But then she simply allows everyone to get slaughtered while saying absolutely nothing. So yea, what's good about her, other than being moe & mysterious? She basically allowed mindless killing. And I don't even understand why she -suddenly- decided to kill the extra?- lulz.. I think this just gave me a reason to drop the rating of this some more. :I Perhaps trolling is not the most accurate word but at the very least their "opinions" just earn a chuckle from me.. |
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prxy said: I want to make a few points and corrections about this show and how you view Mei. 1. The fact that Mei was a "mysterious" yet normal girl was actually a focal point to the story. Another is a suspense anime, and the greatest element to a suspense case is a surprise. The writer wanted you to question Mei, what she was, and her motives throughout the story. It would not have been as thrilling if we knew her power from the beginning. 2. While Mei did in fact witness the murder of Reiko, the point you have missed is that memories are altered due to the curse. No one realizes the fact a dead person is walking among them, hence, the point of this show. It makes perfect sense that Mei would lose memory of the murder when the curse starts. 3. Mei can only see a person's "color" when her eye patch is taken off. As she stated, she does not take it off at school for obvious reasons, so she would not have known Reiko was dead. While at the shrine she did take it off and saw Reiko's "color" and did not plan to tell Kouichi out of fear of him suffering or rejecting that conclusion. And again, this is a suspense anime. There wouldn't be much of a story if everything was solved at the beginning. The plot seems flawless to me if you pay close attention to the dialogue. As for Mei being the antagonist, I would argue the opposite. She spent the entire time protecting Kouichi from the dangers of the curse, and at the end, from suffering emotional distress that Reiko was the extra. So I'd say she deserves more credit. No where do I imply that Mei's identity should have been revealed to us in the beginning. In fact, I compliment the story for making the audience suspect her, only to reveal that she was just a victim (the scapegoat, in this case) adding depth to her character and making the audience sympathize with her. Of course, those feelings soon turn sour. At its essence, Mei can see dead people, plain and simple. Nowhere did she say she didn't take off her eye patch while there were no onlookers.(Her favorite spot, the roof would be a great lookout point) When asked how long she had known the the identity of the another, she simply answers with an ambiguous"for a while," and when asked again she answers with yet another ambiguous "donno." However, due to the fact that the show never explicitly gives us an concrete answer, I feel hesitant to go any deeper into this topic, although I will say it is strongly implied that she knew all along. "There was no way I could have told you, Ms. Mikami was special to you, wasn't she?" Another's plot is as flawless as the Titanic was unsinkable. (centennial coming up, I'm so sorry) A typical mystery will throw in little hints all over the place that point towards the culprit. When done properly, it pleases the audience and increases the show's re watch value, as with repeated (or the first time through if you're sharp) viewings, you pick up on these hints and notice all the clever little things that you ignored the first time around. Another is poor example of this. Aside from the mourning grandpa, the "hints' seemed more like a middle finger to the audience than a clever manipulation of the genre. The dolls which were heavily emphasized in the opening theme and early episodes had no significant nor symbolic meaning. The fact that the another was not a student and that she had two identities was a shameful and distasteful cop out (Why weren't staff members killed monthly?); It felt like a friend was telling you to search a room for a key, while the friend was hiding it in his pocket the whole time. Lastly, an antagonist is the force that goes against the protagonist(s). Unless I was watching the wrong show, what I saw was a story about a group of students in a cursed classroom(that decide not to skip town for some unexplained reason), who try to find out the cause and effects of a curse, stop it, and ultimately live to talk about it. now ask yourself: who was the human roadblock who alone had the power to stop the curse, but chose to see 10 people die before making a move? |
AzureBluesMar 28, 2012 10:21 PM
| Even if they knew who the extra was in the beginning they had no clue how to stop it until they got the tape...they could like lock Reiko somehwere but ppl will still die... |
ShinLore said: Good point, and at the point they do learn how to stop it there's literally only 3 people who trust Mei and only 1 who'd actually buy into the whole "I can see dead people" thing. While yeah, I'm not gonna defend their idiotic reactions to the situation in episode 11 and 12 (either people dropped like flies or they acted as if nothing was wrong, and both felt unreal and the fire took too long to spread) nor how Mei kept her poker face almost through the whole thing, but suggesting she could have told someone without getting a yeah right, don't lie to get off the hook" as an answer is stupid.Even if they knew who the extra was in the beginning they had no clue how to stop it until they got the tape...they could like lock Reiko somehwere but ppl will still die... So, to review, only 3 people didn't blame Mei, and to a lesser extent Kouichi, for the curse's onset. Only 1 readily accepted her "I see dead people" story. And that one person was the nephew of the dead person. Yep, seeing so many options for her here short of killing Mikami-sensei herself. |
Leon-GunMar 29, 2012 12:08 AM
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gingabishounen said: millo said: i hate that stupid annoying Misaki Mei with a passion!!! eww everytime i saw her ugly face on my screen i always want to punch the screen!! And did anyone notice that in a fight between her and akazawa, when she finally able to escape from akazawa.. she's walking up the stairs, WALKING!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER MIND OH GOSH.... Misaki should be one of the most hated anime character of all time, like Makoto from school days (Randomly remember him after seeing SeraVerte's avatar). Says the guy with some gagged disgusting troll as his avatar. Pleas stop trolling - if you want to troll Misaki or any of the characters and feel heard, go to the goddamn writers twitter or write him/her a goddamn letter. I'm sure they'll be super happy to hear from you. 1. Misaki is adorable 2. Misaki is a breath of fresh air as a character 3. Misaki is a badass. Thank you, thank you. I haven't had a good laugh in the last 20 minutes of my life. Scratch that, another 5 minutes asd.sds.grrg |
| Fan of mature, dark, non-cutesy school uniformed choked fan service BS anime. |
| If you'd be able to see death with one eye, I'm kinda sure you'd use an eyepatch too. |
| Well Misaki Mei is so-so as a character, but I can somewhat relate to her just a little. Probably from her view is like she doesn't care about the classmate or the situation, like me XD, thats irresponsible,I know...but thats her character anyway, she's irresponsible. But she was always a bizarre person to begin with anyway, and if she isn't then this story wouldn't be as interesting. Hooray! ^_^ Irresponsibility! |
| Being chosen as the non-existent student is a great responsibility, but still how would you feel if you're in her shoes? Yes she's also at fault because she didn't just ignore Sakakibara, but i think she's just a normal girl who wants to have a friend. There are lots of reasons to hate her, but for me she is just a victim. So for me, i'd say she's an adorable girl.. :D |
kirziga said: DOn't gnore the fact her sister was the first victim, yet she couldn't tell anyone that because of issues with her mother. Because that was kept hidden she couldn't tell anyone that regardless of whether she talked with Kouichi or not the curse had begun and having a nonexistent student wasn't going to help. She was in a pretty lose-lose situation. I think that may be part of why she was so uncaring about the class as a whole. Plus her family sucks, who wouldn't hold a grudge with that kind of fake family life.Being chosen as the non-existent student is a great responsibility, but still how would you feel if you're in her shoes? Yes she's also at fault because she didn't just ignore Sakakibara, but i think she's just a normal girl who wants to have a friend. There are lots of reasons to hate her, but for me she is just a victim. So for me, i'd say she's an adorable girl.. :D |
Leon-GunMar 29, 2012 4:02 PM
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| Some <non-existent> students before her cracked and broke the agreement, so the deaths started. But then again, she broke it too by talking with Sakakibara |
 "Your sight, my delight. Will you marry me?" |
It's like a healer who refuses to cast spells on anyone but themselves, in a raid. You. Should. Just. Stop. Talking. |
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ZetaZaku said: She didn't, the phenomenom started with Fujioka Misaki's death (the week before Sakakibara started school properly). That was partly why she wasn't actually THAT bothered with evading Kouichi. She mostly just teased him about it. At that point she was pissed at the class in general so she probably talked to him half to see how the others would react. Some <non-existent> students before her cracked and broke the agreement, so the deaths started. But then again, she broke it too by talking with Sakakibara |
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| Mei may have been simply waiting for the competition to be wiped out so that she could claim Kouichi as her own? Izumo got a fair share of attention, Kouichi is a social person and now, after tragic events have bough them closer, he has no family. This is intent to be a joke, but actually, I quite like the sound of this^ - so half joke. ;) |
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| Well, after reading this, time to drop my score for Another down to a 6. I think the whole problem with Mei Misaki is the fact that she was hyped in the beginning to be a wonderful, mysterious character with lots of depth and knowledge towards the calamity and what not. But no. She was just a poorly written kuudere character. Even Yuki Nagato reacted properly towards her surroundings along with defending herself. All Mei did was spout out some spooky words and let herself be accused as the dead one, when she could've easily explained herself. I could name so many other examples of how a kuudere should be. Mei was just bland as a whole. I found her character and actions idiotic and also cliched as well. She had potential, along with this anime, but it all came off so short and the most development she got was smiling. |
| Dont touch me I'm in despair. |
Trav644 said: Only those who died that very night at the hotel. They didn't know the whole "return the dead" deal until they heard the tape. Anime did made it stupid by adding the whole "kill Mei" original material which was as good a spot as any for Mei to reveal who the dead one was. But nope, she just let everyone go on a wild goose chase after her. I believe the novel instead just had the mass-murdering grandmother, and the fact was still that the only one who even believed her crazy "I can see dead people" talk was Kouichi.Well, i guess she was "Mystery" part of this mystery show. Gotta say, she did drop the ball when she said she knew who the dead one was for a while. She could have saved half of her class. lol I guess we can blame half to unnecessary Anime adittions and the other half to Mei. I might also add that Mei never saw, at all, how Rei died. That was also an unnecessary anime adittion that just serves to make Mei look even more stupid. |
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Trav644 said: You don't really set out to "kill" someone just on someone else's words unless you're REALLY desperate, or are a sociopath. The moment they all break was at the hotel, after they were isolated and some people began to get missing (due to killer grandma). Unless one of those students was a killer by nature I don't think any of them would have tried to kill a fellow classmate on the word of a girl they barely talked to.Leon-Gun said: Trav644 said: Only those who died that very night at the hotel. They didn't know the whole "return the dead" deal until they heard the tape. Anime did made it stupid by adding the whole "kill Mei" original material which was as good a spot as any for Mei to reveal who the dead one was. But nope, she just let everyone go on a wild goose chase after her. I believe the novel instead just had the mass-murdering grandmother, and the fact was still that the only one who even believed her crazy "I can see dead people" talk was Kouichi.Well, i guess she was "Mystery" part of this mystery show. Gotta say, she did drop the ball when she said she knew who the dead one was for a while. She could have saved half of her class. lol I guess we can blame half to unnecessary Anime adittions and the other half to Mei. I might also add that Mei never saw, at all, how Rei died. That was also an unnecessary anime adittion that just serves to make Mei look even more stupid. Only those at the hotel? Ah, but she didnt give an exact time as to how long she had known, she may have even been able to save the class from the start. We will never know. lol Oh, and the class actually did know about the dead person, the one that comes back from the dead, they just didnt know the "Kill them" part till after the tape, but maybe, just maybe, if Mei has spoken out or said something originally when she found out this interesting fact then the students may have been able to figure this out quicker, and the story might have taken a different turn. oh well lol. Not really defending her staying quiet, but just feel like the whole "she didn't tell hence it got so bad" is blown out of proportion. Nothing could have been done because no one would have actually dared to think "let's just kill him/her" until that breaking point arrived (which was the night at the hotel). |
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SeraVerte said: Well said.It's like a healer who refuses to cast spells on anyone but themselves, in a raid. Most of the mystery in Another was created by the scriptwriters telling the story in a way in which it would never have actually unfolded. This wasn't made to be a logical series, though. It was good for the constant suspense and great atmosphere. |
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| Yeah, I sort of agree. At the end she says she didn't want to hurt him and asks what good telling him about it would have done but she could have saved a bunch of lives. Then again, if she told him earlier the series wouldn't have been as exciting. |
| My main gripe with the series is Kouichi & co. not involving Akazawa in the tape group, and not telling her about Mei's cousin, especially after they just told those two girls passing by that they were looking for a clue. |
| "I'm a middle schooler bartender!" - Mishima Hitomi |
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