Another - Episode 7 Discussion / Poll

[Dengar]

By the way, concerning the teacher's suicide. I think he actually WAS overstressed and he INDEED couldn't take it anymore so he DID honestly crack and commit suicide in front of everyone in the class.


But this doesn't rule out the fact that the calamity caused it?


What I'm trying to say is, can't this be both an honest murder-suicide AND a calamity thing at the same time?

[Pellissier]

Originally Posted by Dengar

What I'm trying to say is, can't this be both an honest murder-suicide AND a calamity thing at the same time?

The fact that his own hands seemed willing to stop right before the stabbing, but then started to move almost "on their own" as if something was pushing them, points towards the option that this event can't be ruled out without associating it to the phenomenon.

I'm not sure he would have committed suicide - even if that was his intention - in "normal" circumstances. Perhaps he would have put the same act in front of the class, but I don't know if he'd been able to go ahead with the second part.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight

I'm 100% positive that no one on this forum has guessed who the Another is.

And I am 100 % positive that you are wrong. In fact, I know you are ._.

Originally Posted by boomerangnizorro

About Akazawa, I think she had a thing for Kouichi when he visited Yomiyama 1.5 years ago. She forgot it when their memories were altered but it's still buried deep within her, hence her desire to study in Tokyo (since they obviously had to part when Kouichi had to return to Tokyo).

And yes, I'm shipping.

I am aboard the ship on both this and Mochizukixneesan ship. Even though I know that both are never gonna be canon lulz. Okay, never say never. But the chances are close to zero.

[warita]

Although I think it would be a nice twist to find out there is no curse and its all just paranoia and bad luck, the chances of it are very low. If 7 people die in one year, you cant call that coincidence anymore.

[Taynis]

I found the teacher's death scene bizarre and a little funny at the same time. And the ones in the front desks were really bad lucky huh

I really tough that Izumi would shout on Misaki and Sakakibara saying that it was their fault or something like that...gladly she didn't.

Mochizuki's sister really looks like Mikami-sensei! I tought it was her and was like "why she has two jobs? "

I really curious to see what's going on with Misaki's doll-eye. Can she see the another? If it is true, why she do not say who is it?

Spoiler for Spoiler just in case:

And in a side note, I was thinking that the ones that are in the opening could be the ones that are going to die (except Mei and Sakakibara of course)...and I just notice that the people who died aren't in the opening anymore and alive students are added. I don't think it is some clue related to the plot,but is an interesting change

[germanturkey]

well, didn't Misaki say her eye can see things that shouldn't be seen? i wouldn't be surprised if it would see the another.

also, the theory has been thrown out there before, but its probably something like the class needs to kill someone to stop the cycle, hence why the guy is so traumatized.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Pellissier

The fact that his own hands seemed willing to stop right before the stabbing, but then started to move almost "on their own" as if something was pushing them, points towards the option that this event can't be ruled out without associating it to the phenomenon.

I thought this was just being realistic. Very few people can willingly injure themselves seriously, especially if they know that they're going to die. That he was sort of waving the knife around and partly evading it seemed to me that he was still steeling his nerves, and perhaps going through some final thoughts about whether he was really going to do it or not.

I felt that this shouldn't be counted as part of the phenomenon, and was slightly disappointed by how quickly the characters attributed it to the phenomenon. The guy cracked; there was no accident or manipulation about it. Yes, he was pushed over the edge by stress from the phenomenon, but that's secondary to the phenomenon itself. This was no freak accident, or unintentional happening.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I felt that this shouldn't be counted as part of the phenomenon, and was slightly disappointed by how quickly the characters attributed it to the phenomenon. The guy cracked; there was no accident or manipulation about it. Yes, he was pushed over the edge by stress from the phenomenon, but that's secondary to the phenomenon itself. This was no freak accident, or unintentional happening.

But for them what else could they blame it on? Everyone in the class minus Kouichi has grown up with this phenomenon happening every year, they even have a Countermeasures club against it. To us, yeah it looks like simply stress but to me it would have seemed OOC for everyone to blame it on something else.

[Hakuromatsu]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I felt that this shouldn't be counted as part of the phenomenon, and was slightly disappointed by how quickly the characters attributed it to the phenomenon. The guy cracked; there was no accident or manipulation about it. Yes, he was pushed over the edge by stress from the phenomenon, but that's secondary to the phenomenon itself. This was no freak accident, or unintentional happening.

But what if the phenomenon itself caused him to crack? Why does the phenomenon have to only create freak accidents; why can't it create deaths that are natural -- such as Takabayashi's heart attack, after which it was mentioned he had heart problems -- or logical -- such as Kubodera's stress-induced suicide? In fact, that makes the phenomenon more terrifying. Just because a phenomenon-related death is self-referential, doesn't mean it's not part of the phenomenon. At this point, it seems like the phenomenon has a hold over the lives of every student in Class 3 and every one of their family members -- when someone dies over the course of the year, it's because of the phenomenon.

[Kanon]

Although I think the teacher's death as well as his mother's murder were caused by the phenomenon, I agree the characters shouldn't have been so quick to attribute it to it and remove Mei and Misaki from their ignore list. They should kept ignoring them on the off-chance his suicide wasn't directly influenced by the phenomenon at all. I feel it would have been pretty natural for them to cling to this very small ray of hope too. Now they're screwed no matter what since they have no countermeasures whatsoever in place.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Kanon

They should kept ignoring them on the off-chance his suicide wasn't directly influenced by the phenomenon at all. I feel it would have been pretty natural for them to cling to this very small ray of hope too. Now they're screwed no matter what since they have no countermeasures whatsoever in place.

I dont think so, since the librarian confirmed that ignoring someone in the class worked before and Im sure Miss Countermeasures knows this since we know she talks to him, I think the fact someone else died (whether by phenomenon or not) was enough to rule the ignoring didnt work this time.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

But for them what else could they blame it on? Everyone in the class minus Kouichi has grown up with this phenomenon happening every year, they even have a Countermeasures club against it. To us, yeah it looks like simply stress but to me it would have seemed OOC for everyone to blame it on something else.

Oh, I get why everyone would think that it was related to the phenomenon. There was just something about the way that it was presented that felt out of place to me.

Consider that all of the deaths leading up to that one had people somewhat skeptical that it was really brought about by the phenomenon, although they were freak accidents with eerily placed timing. Mr. Kubodera's death and the death of his mother were not freak accidents, and the timing was fairly random. As far as we the viewers are concerned, the deaths felt out of place with the previous deaths that took place. Yet suddenly the characters are saying that for sure it was the phenomenon at play? As a plot device it goes to show that everyone is really spooked and truly believes that it's happening this year, but it all felt out of place to me.

I would have preferred if, say, the teacher were seriously injured in an accident, and then decided to finish himself off. Just coming out of the blue and killing himself seemed a bit off.

Originally Posted by Hakuromatsu

But what if the phenomenon itself caused him to crack? Why does the phenomenon have to only create freak accidents; why can't it create deaths that are natural -- such as Takabayashi's heart attack, after which it was mentioned he had heart problems -- or logical -- such as Kubodera's stress-induced suicide? In fact, that makes the phenomenon more terrifying. Just because a phenomenon-related death is self-referential, doesn't mean it's not part of the phenomenon. At this point, it seems like the phenomenon has a hold over the lives of every student in Class 3 and every one of their family members -- when someone dies over the course of the year, it's because of the phenomenon.

The thing with Takebayashi's death was that it was still a freak incident. We knew from before that he had a heart condition, and that he occasionally felt discomfort even if he wasn't physically exerting himself. If he just died randomly from a heart attack, his death would have felt out of place to me. Yet the fact that he died right as he was about to tell information to Kouichi is what makes the death meaningful, as it relates to the phenomenon. The timing just seems too convenient to have been a coincidence, don't you think?

By comparison, Mr. Kubodera simply cracked. There was no particularly trigger or significant timing to it - he just woke up one morning, and snapped. It's perfectly understandable and perfectly realistic, but that's part of the problem. The phenomenon isn't realistic, and that's what makes it so horrifying and mysterious. Everyone else died with some sort of significant timing:

1) Mei's sister died when Kouichi was in the hospital (had he just been hospitalized the day that she died? That specific point doesn't really matter, but would further increase the significance of the timing)
2) Yukari's mother died in an accident after Kouichi broke the class rules and started taiking to Mei; Yukari died in an extremely strange manner after running into and arguably recognizing the existence of Mei (and running into Kouichi, too)
3) Sanae died in an accident while looking into details about the phenomenon, and while on the phone with Kouichi
4) As mentioned before, Takabayashi died while talking with Kouichi, right as he was about to reveal information about the phenomenon

Mr. Kubodera's death (and the death of his mother) is incredibly out of place with these. There was no accident, there was nothing specific relating to Kouichi, there wasn't even anything specific relating to the phenomenon.

I'm not going to say that this is poor script-writing or poor story telling. It just doesn't jive well with me.

[Hakuromatsu]

My thought is that the phenomenon goes deeper than simply killing one or more people connected to Class 3 each month. We already know that it manipulates peoples' memories; I'm going further and saying that it manipulates peoples' lives: whenever someone connected to Class 3 dies over the course of the year, it's because of the phenomenon -- period. Otherwise, it seems rather arbitrary to separate the phenomenon-caused deaths from the non-phenomenon-caused deaths. Your criteria makes sense, but it doesn't account for Yukari's mother dying in a car crash, which a) had nothing to do with the phenomenon directly (as far as we know, she wasn't researching it, discussing it, acknowledging the existence of Misaki, etc. -- she hypothetically could've been, but a show as well-written as Another probably would've told us so) and b) isn't an abnormal way to die.

So ultimately, I think that the phenomenon is all-encompassing, and that even if a death could've happened outside of the phenomenon with a degree of probability -- like Kubodera's stress-induced suicide -- it doesn't mean it did.

[White Manju Bun]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

Oh, I get why everyone would think that it was related to the phenomenon. There was just something about the way that it was presented that felt out of place to me.

I would have preferred if, say, the teacher were seriously injured in an accident, and then decided to finish himself off. Just coming out of the blue and killing himself seemed a bit off.

I see what youre saying, well I guess plot wise only so far can go with accidents, we've had at least 3 and one health related death. I think it would have worked a bit better if we had seen a bit more build up. I mean we did see him say about the rules of the class and everyone being healthy but nothing really significant before the end of epi 6. I wonder (and Im not asking for spoilers) how this was done in the novel. Maybe there was more too it.

1) Mei's sister died when Kouichi was in the hospital (had he just been hospitalized the day that she died?

Slight correction, it was her cousin who died. Her sister was still-born.

[rakusukira]

there's no doubt that Akazawa has a thing for Koichi.. and yes, i think the guy in the coffee shop accidentally killed the "Another" .. just a guess though

[Xaturas]

So I catched up to recent episode since I left the story.
Eps 4-5-6-7 marathon from 11pm to 1am. And to be frank it wasn't scary at all, I was more concerned about all the background info, like catching that Sakakibara mother was killed because of Reiko (before anime made it clear) and all that stuff.

Teacher suicide was funny at most, he just pierced his neck and then went to cut his artery. Though the blood he was spraying was unnatural, I thought Another was more realistic. As for the suicide itself, wasn't to scary. But maybe because I played enough of Call of Duty games and there was more than enough Silent Knife Neck opening in its missions, that I didn't give a damn, just thought if he cuted off his head or not.

Some nice theories goes there, but I still think that theres 50% chance that Sakakibara is the cause of all that and is another.

As for the series feeling. First death was a shocker, but next feel like pokemon catching, you just sit there and wonder who gets offed with the *Gotta Catch Em All* attitude.
Umbrella- Nice realistic death and twiching and all
Elevator- Nice last breath gurgles over the phone from nurse while she was dying.
Heart Attack- Really O_o dude heh.
Knife Suicide- Lolololol

Btw I wonder when will be the death by construction device with some limbs rip off, as in opening.

[Oyashiro]

Originally Posted by Taynis

Spoiler for Spoiler just in case:

And in a side note, I was thinking that the ones that are in the opening could be the ones that are going to die (except Mei and Sakakibara of course)...and I just notice that the people who died aren't in the opening anymore and alive students are added. I don't think it is some clue related to the plot,but is an interesting change

Spoiler for Oh my:

But if dead characters are progressively taken out and replaced by alive characters, and characters in the opening die, would that mean the death toll for the class of 1998 will end up being a LOT higher than in the past years?

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Taynis

And in a side note, I was thinking that the ones that are in the opening could be the ones that are going to die (except Mei and Sakakibara of course)...and I just notice that the people who died aren't in the opening anymore and alive students are added. I don't think it is some clue related to the plot,but is an interesting change

I don't think this is a spoiler in any sense of the word. It's just your speculation.
But how on earth did I not notice this?

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Hakuromatsu

My thought is that the phenomenon goes deeper than simply killing one or more people connected to Class 3 each month. We already know that it manipulates peoples' memories; I'm going further and saying that it manipulates peoples' lives: whenever someone connected to Class 3 dies over the course of the year, it's because of the phenomenon -- period. Otherwise, it seems rather arbitrary to separate the phenomenon-caused deaths from the non-phenomenon-caused deaths. Your criteria makes sense, but it doesn't account for Yukari's mother dying in a car crash, which a) had nothing to do with the phenomenon directly (as far as we know, she wasn't researching it, discussing it, acknowledging the existence of Misaki, etc. -- she hypothetically could've been, but a show as well-written as Another probably would've told us so) and b) isn't an abnormal way to die.

So ultimately, I think that the phenomenon is all-encompassing, and that even if a death could've happened outside of the phenomenon with a degree of probability -- like Kubodera's stress-induced suicide -- it doesn't mean it did.

Yukari's mother's death still fits, because they claimed that people related within two degrees to a class member could still die from the phenomenon. While a car accident isn't necessarily an unusual way to die, the fact remains that it's an accident. We could also speculate that there was something freakish about it - maybe there was some unusual mechanical failure, or maybe she wasn't even in the car: perhaps she was walking along the sidewalk and a car randomly smashed into her. Truthfully it doesn't really matter, though - as I said before, it's the timing of it that makes it significant.

To expand a bit more, the timing of it is significant enough given Kouichi's involvement with Mei (and the ominous changes in the sky and such that usually resulted), but I think it also directly lead to Yukari's death. They don't come out and say it, but my guess is that the reason why a teacher pulled Yukari out of class was because they received word that her mother had been in an accident. And so Yukari, while hurrying to the hospital (or wherever), encounters Kouichi and Mei, and has her own accident... perfect timing. Too perfect.

Kubodera wasn't pushed over the edge by a near-death incident himself, nor because the phenomenon claimed his mother's life. He took her life, and then he took his own. Your ideas that the phenomenon could be more involved than simply killing people in accidents isn't a bad one, but I still feel as if it's more a reflection on how people would react, than the phenomenon itself.

My guess is that this is setting us up for the next part of the series. I think the theory that the phenomenon is stopped by killing the Another is correct, and that we're setting up for a scenario where the classmates become murderous and paranoid of one another. The phenomenon itself will no longer be directly responsible for people's deaths, but desperation and human nature will. That has the potential to be just as frightening (if not more so) than the idea of supernatural forces at work. Maybe Kubodera was supposed to represent that transition point, but I still can't help but feeling put out by it. I'm not the type to over-analyze anime works, as I think that ruins the enjoyment, so I'll stop there. Looking forward to seeing what's next - maybe Kubodera's death will have greater significance and meaning with the coming episodes.

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

I think it would have worked a bit better if we had seen a bit more build up. I mean we did see him say about the rules of the class and everyone being healthy but nothing really significant before the end of epi 6. I wonder (and Im not asking for spoilers) how this was done in the novel. Maybe there was more too it.

I'd agree with this. Perhaps if we saw a bit more about how he was gradually becoming more and more stressed, then his breaking point would have been more meaningful. As it was, he seemed surprisingly calm and cool throughout the earlier episodes. His snapping isn't unrealistic at all, but it seemingly came out of nowhere (which isn't unrealistic, either; it just doesn't work as a plot device). Ah, I won't dwell on it any more

Originally Posted by White Manju Bun

Slight correction, it was her cousin who died. Her sister was still-born.

Absolutely right, not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that Thanks for the correction!

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Originally Posted by Ledgem

I'd agree with this. Perhaps if we saw a bit more about how he was gradually becoming more and more stressed, then his breaking point would have been more meaningful. As it was, he seemed surprisingly calm and cool throughout the earlier episodes. His snapping isn't unrealistic at all, but it seemingly came out of nowhere (which isn't unrealistic, either; it just doesn't work as a plot device). Ah, I won't dwell on it any more !

The teacher isn't even a minor character in the show. The anime obviously can't allocate resources to providing foreshadowing for each and every death - especially if they don't really need foreshadowing (as you admit) in the first place. I liked what they did - the one scene that was foreshadowing his intentions was placed immediately after his deed was done. Pretty sure we have the source material to thank (or blame) for that but still. Nicely done.