First and foremost, for the viewers who have yet to watch this series, avoid any form of spoiler, may it be Youtube comments or forum debates or even your troll friend who wants to spoil the thrill. Because this show's main focus is on the "Another", the spine of this show. In any case, if the identity is known before the show starts, you would go " Pft, nice try" , " Oooh, good diversion" , "Obviously to confuse viewers".....
It will be even more fun to watch it with a group of friends. Debating the possibilities, characters and mystery in this show bringing out your inner Sherlock.
Story(8)
It's been quite a while since an anime caught my utmost attention, required my full concentration on every single word uttered, and waiting patiently(who am I kidding) for the next episode to be screened. As a mystery Anime, do not be fooled by it's slow and dull pilot episode, give it time to breathe, and as episodes by episodes progresses, the plot will start to form, the tension will start to rise and questions will start to fill your head.
The story picks up momentum in the later episodes and ends in a full-blown scale. The pacing is overall good but sometimes the information chunked in an episode may take a great toll on the brain. The ending of each episode may be somewhat of a cliche, For instance, " the character is just about to reveal an important point and poof, in comes the ending song. It creates a sense of " I need to watch the next episode now!" and at the same time might irritate you too.
Art(9)
Beautiful scenery and very detailed settings, one might wonder, does a mystery anime get this much of attention in terms of art...well, Yes is the answer for this. Emotions of the characters play a very important role in this anime. Each and every facial expression is brought out excellently, although most of them look like they attend a funeral everyday, it matters when required. The gore is over-the top Japanese style, definitely not for the faint-hearted. The deaths portrayed in this anime are downright eerie, gory and painful to watch, you might cringe a lot during this show. The art brings out a creepy atmosphere and dullness that sets in quietly , and the feel of ever-lingering danger surrounding the characters. Each and every character are given emphasis, main cast and the supporting cast, not to mention even those extras in the class.
Sound(9)
On a side note, the OP of the anime is your classic horror movie musical score and the ED song is a haunting melody that reminds you of Jigoku Shoujo's ED.
What I want to focus on is the sound effects of the little things in this show such as the creaking of the wooden floor, strong gust of wind, heavy rain accompanied by lightning. This may sound(pun intended) very trivial in general but these are the sound effects that will never escape your attention and raise your hearbeat in an alarming rate. What horror show is without it's shock factor, "Another" avoids the cheesy mirror in the face type scares and goes with something more unexpected and that made me jump a few times.
A deadly silence looms through out this anime and those "little sounds" take advantage of it impressively. The soundtracks in this anime sets the mood and changes accordingly to the situation required, but when the question of is it memorable enough, I found it effective while watching the show only.
Character(8)
As I mentioned before, in the duration of the show, majority of the characters feel soulless and only emote when a particular scene requires them to. But don't get me wrong, with death looming in every corner, laughter and joy would seem out of place and to that, such characters fit into the surrounding trying to be themselves whenever possible. The characters usually interact with each other in a sequence of questions and answers. Thus, creating a robotic feel to the characters.
Not all characters in this show have character development, they are who they are, and their characters are interesting as such and stand out by adding small elements to them. What bugs me is after experiencing a horrifying death right in front them, the main characters don't really seem traumatized and have the unbelievable will to continue without going into a fit. The extras or supporting characters on the other hand tend to response logically to these situations.
Overall(8)
For the mystery and horror lovers, "Another" is worth your time and undying attention. It will get your thinking cap on without any doubt. As you watch this show some factors like "the color of death" or the failure of the character to voice out who the "Another" is earlier to end the calamity may not rest well with you but it's understandable.
I enjoyed this show(obviously) but...yup....but the ending, when the "Another" is finally revealed, I didn't feel the shock(my guess was wrong), I felt rather emotionless and went "Oh so that's the "Another"...oh, well okay". The flashbacks of proving the point for that character to be the "Another" was not really convincing enough and felt off. Regardless, I guess you could say the journey of following the anime is what really mattered. A good one at that too.
