Another - Anime Review

I usually don't watch horror movies. I'm the kind who averts her eyes when a scary scene is about to come up and the film's soundtrack starts to escalate. So being the weak-willed person that I am with horror movies, I was a little reluctant to start watching Another. 

I should not have been. 

Another is a well-done psychological horror anime. It's bloody, macabre and scary, but it also has an interesting story, a beautiful animation, and wonderful characters.

The whole story follows Kouichi Sakakibara after his transfer to a new high school. As he begins to adapt to his new environment, he notices a mysterious girl in his class named Mei Misaki. 

Mei for some reason was ostracized by the rest of the class, so Kouichi, being a nice and friendly guy, starts talking to him and befriends her. Once strange accidents and calamities begin to occur around their classmates. 

Kouichi takes the initiative to discover what is happening.

The story is good but given with such a premise, it could have been much better. The first five episodes were really good. It's a mystery, suspense, and terror, and it's done well. After that, the plot begins to crawl. 

The great mystery is unveiled and all the suspense panned out. However, towards the finale, it picks itself back up again. They did an incredible job of leaving its audience to wonder what will happen in the next episode. 

Each episode grips you and the story moves to a whole new level during the second half of the series.

The whole high school cast is quite typical. We have best friend number one, best friend number two, the shy girl and the strong girl. Their personalities are not much deeper than that. The secondary characters aren't anything you haven't seen before, but each one has their own secrets. 

They seemed pretty bland and lacking in genuine humanity. People die tragically in front of the main male protagonist, Kouichi Sakakibara and he doesn't seem to be bothered in the least.

Some of the characters lack the sympathy over the deaths of their own highschool friends and family, seemingly brushing it off to move on to the next scene. 

The real strength in the characters, however, lies in Misaki Mei, a very fascinating character. 

The air of mystery around her is the backbone of the entire anime series. Kouichi Sakakibara is another strong character who is the type of person who does things well and is interesting to watch.

Another's art/animation is really beautiful and it's what got me to watch the series for the first time. Each scene and backdrop is meticulously detailed and captures the dark atmosphere of the series - the rusting in the guard rails, flickering lights, and the thin layer of dust which positively adds to the creepy and mysterious atmosphere of the series. 

Art and animation look good and are consistent throughout the entire series, which really matters. I couldn't find any awkward animation in the series.

Another is really not that scary but... the music is. It will startle you. It's dark, lugubrious and scary, and it's brilliant. The opening theme perfectly matches the theme of this series. The ending theme was fair.

Overall, Another is a great anime to watch. If you like the psychological, gore, horror/mystery genre but you're not looking for something to over-analyze, then this one is for you.