Another - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

[LKK]

For me, the series only had 2 missteps of note. (1) I thought Kouichi's reaction to the possibility that Teshigawara had possibly killed his friend was too off the mark. Kouichi's "let's go check on him" had no more urgency about it than if he was going to check on the weather outside. This odd reaction continued on through his entire circuit through the mansion. (2) The way everyone basically ignored the fire. Yes, TV & movies seldom depict the reality of a burning building. But at least their characters usually react to being inside a burning building. Our students, on the other hand? Barely noticed it at all. They should have first escaped the building and then went on their killing spree. Self-preservation and then murderous intent. Get your priorities straight.

But you know what, despite the missteps of the last 2 episodes, overall the series was a great ride. And since this is the overall series rating thread, I give the show a 9.

[Ledgem]

The premise and setting of the series were fantastic. Thanks to the air of mystery created by the settings and seemingly odd character behaviors, I found myself tense at the end of each episode - but only up until around episode 6. After that, most details of the phenomenon were known. The mystery aspect of the show became cheapened by seemingly needless cliffhangers, and the horror aspect came to be defined more by gore and shock factor (such as Kouichi's dream sequences). In a way, it became predictable. It still created feelings of tension, but the gripping suspense of the earlier episodes just wasn't there. The final episodes fully departed from the graceful mystery of the beginning and went into shock violence and gore, and took things to such an extreme that it began to feel a bit ridiculous. All the same, the ending was satisfying and quite beautiful. For the total experience, I rate this as 8/10.

I haven't watched many psychological suspense/horror anime series. The only one that I can think to compare Another to is Ghost Hound. I think that Another had a much more powerful start, but Ghost Hound was able to maintain the creation of horrifying sequences even well into the series, whereas Another began to fall flat.

I'd recommend this series to those who are curious. Watch it after the sun has set for better effect.

[Dawnstorm]

I must be one of the few people who didn't feel that show went off track in the last two episodes. I thought they set up that sort of chaos from the beginning. I was waiting for the pressure to explode from episode 1; if anything I was surprised it took them that long.

Add to that that Another didn't really grip me with its atmosphere. After episode 1, the impression I got was "trying too hard". And that's a pity, since if they'd taken a step or two back, Another could have been a lot creepier. To be sure, some episodes were better than others in that respect. If you want to see an episode where I thought things went over the top, it would be - I think - episode 4. We start with a close up for a crow and students talking about the curse in ominous voices; there's creepy music when main character and nurse have a not-so-creepy talk... It's like the show doesn't want to let you go. They also overdid the crazy-eyes (eyes wide open, pupils tiny). The first death was very effective (umbrella impaling); but when the guy who was about to tell main character what he knows died from a heartattack I almost laughed. It felt like a Monty Python sketch. Any time now someone's going to be squashed by 16 tons... I do think they did well with the build-up of atmosphere in general; but they didn't know when to stop, or when to play it down. They didn't really give you a breather. And for me that sort of uniform atmosphere (intensity varies, but not mood) translates not to constant tension, but to a sort of ironical distance - thus unitinentional comedy.

I loved the dancing-in-the-classroom fantasy. Sadly, such breaks in the mood were not common.

One of my major peeves is that the show cuts away with maincharacter's axe raised over the aunt. This gives the feeling that the show only kills "expendables", which cheapens the "horror" aspect. Your supposed to want to look away. What's the point if the camera does this to you? The show plays favourites, and that's not something I easily forgive in a horror show.

I love the way the show looks and sounds. I like the pacing, and the way they didn't keep the plot on a straight line. The characters were likable enough. But I can't really get over the above points.

I dithered between 6 and 7, and chose 7 in the end. It is, in the end, a good show.

[Malkuth]

7/10, it good overall...

The storytelling was good until the story reached its resolution phase (post tape discovery), suspense, mystery horror, all these elements were very well built-up, but IMHO there was too much built-up without an equivalent resolution. The finale turned into a comedy with plotholes, ridiculous twists and an underwhelming "another"... still it was fun to watch, but not for its intended purpose

Visuals... well, the character designs took some time to get used to (those homongous heads ), backgrounds, as well as foreground static art was pretty good though, but that's nothing new for the studio, it has quality in this department (unfortunately it picks crappy to mediocre material ), Animation... dunno, not my main interest, but didn't notice anything horrendous as in KyoAni's TV shows or smaller studios that lack resources.

Audio, BGM was extremely good, ED was boring, VAs fitting, and since I love Ali Project, I shouldn't judge the excellent OP

Overall, there are two things I will remember from the show... The superb nightmare midway into the show, and the beach episode. The show should have tried something else for its resolution, up to the nonsense of the school trip it was really good

[FaiEatsRainbows]

I actually quite enjoyed the series.

The ending was great, IMHO. I loved how it seemed all calm and like it was over, but it was obvious--at least to me--that it wasn't for the generations to come. So many people died and it was so...bloody and awesome.

The only thing that really irked me about the series was that there were constant cliff hangers at the end of the episodes that always turned out to disappoint. (EX: The eyepatch...ugh.)

Anyways, I'd give the series an 8/10.

[NightMare_Hibari Kyo]

i would simply say i love horror + thriller anime's most !! this takes 9/10 can't explain really but i love horror thriller to the core :-)

[iceyfw]

i truly did enjoy this anime adaptation. P.A. Works comes out with another fantastic work and i am just a sucker for thriller, suspense, and horror genres. my jaw dropped a few times at some of the deaths. it was, uhh, pretty amusing to watch how people got killed left and right after episode 10

everything just worked for me. an anime adaptation has done its job when i marathon the whole thing in a night or two. only problem was the director, Tsutomu Mizushima, has a reputation of messing up the flow of the story with its finale. i know what to watch out for if i ever see this guys name again and what to expect.

i'm not really going to give a score for this, but i can say for SURE this ranks in my top 5 for anyone who likes the genres this anime fits into. also i must say i did get TOTALLY mind****ed a few times trying to figure out everything out as i moved onto another episode. last time that happened was steins;gate. WHY. WHY WOULD YOU KILL MY FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TWIN TAILS

[Eragon]

Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is a Final Destination ripoff(okay maybe ripoff's a bit extreme. how about an anime adaption)
The anime had me interested till the first death. I won't lie, it did take me by surprise. After that though, it was pretty much Final Destination - without the order. Really the rest of the deaths were absurd and just lacked any kind of reasoning that made sense - even in the supernatural things context. I mean it would have been far better if Reiko was the one going around killing people. I mean even Final Destination has a reasonable reason to kill off people - they were supposed to die in the first place.
The only killings that made sense were when the students were killing their fellow classmates. Those killings at least had a semblance of reasoning behind them(they wanted to live at any cost).
So, although it starts of pretty good as a thriller, it degrades even quicker into a bloodbath devoid of reason.

5/10. from me, mostly for the artwork.

[RandySyler]

I liked this anime's atmosphere and thriller elements the most, although it really died off in the last episodes. The rainy/gloomy feel to it was very enjoyable, and was probably the #1 reason why I liked the anime. It fit the original setting quite well. The thriller elements were also good, random deaths, dead people invading a class, all pretty good stuff. However, in the end it all ended.

I really did not like the character build up, half of the people (or more) I didn't even know existed until they died. Only Mei and Akazawa were enjoyable characters.

So overall, though this review is brief for lack of time, this was a fairly average anime.

[HasuMasu]

I really liked this, but at some point near the conclusion I just wasn't feeling it anymore.

Still, I hope to see more like this.

[Dawn]

First and foremost; this is a brilliantly presented anime.

The music is haunting and the sound effects are flawless.
I'm typically not into horror as I usually find it too silly and predictable, and I'm not at all squeamish; but I flinched and swore under my breath when the girl ate the umbrella.
Then there is the art. I was consistently staggered at how detailed and real everything looked. From cracks in the floor to dust on the windows, to reflections in the rain.
Character design was good and the characters themselves were genuine, albeit a little strange. Standouts were Mei and Izumi but maybe that's my tsundere/twintail moe talking.
The story should also be praised for it's originality and the pacing was very well done. 'Ill just try the first ep....oh god what is under the eyepatch?'
Another stabs you repeatedly with quality in terms of art/music, mystery and atmosphere.

Eventually though, it took a descent into the ridiculous. It's as if the Micheal Bay of lame horror walked in on the 11th episode and said 'stand back guys, I'll take it from here'. The last few episodes were a beautifully detailed clusterf***.

I wasn't upset as much as I was in disbelief. 'Is this character named yet? Ah who cares drop a pole on him.'
I found it particularly amusing that Teshigawara was jumping into the ocean to save a classmate, then tries to kill one the next episode

The identity of the 'Other' was, I thought, very clever. I think it would have been more meaningful if they had revealed Mikami-sensei as Reiko earlier on though; so as to generate at least some interest in her character and development.

Overall though it was very good. I haven't seen many good anime that actually end well too so I guess it was too much to ask for

[NoemiChan]

What I love about Another is the way they make the anime look "gloomy". After the first death, I kept my eyes fix on every character like there was something sure bad that would happen anytime at a split second.

....and what made these anime excellent is that..

Spoiler for Ending:

Misaki didn't die and so is our hero. I know many thought Misaki would because of the ED, right? Well, four of them didn't.

[Kafriel]

Finally finished watching this, and I have to say it delivers an amazing atmosphere of suspense, mystery and horror for the most part. When answers were starting to come to light, the pace really picked up, and after getting past the initial shock, I thoroughly enjoyed the hotel episode The ending was pretty nice too, although in the end there is still room left for more. Then again, that's what makes a good series so good, right? Making you want more^^

8/10

[Anh_Minh]

Well, that was rather depressing. I watched it because I was told it'd be like Lucky Star, and what did I get?

(Kidding. I knew people would die.)

Still, damn. Two of my favorites, dead. Especially Reiko... Rough deal.

[ahelo]

I finally watched the OVA for Another and I can finally close off this series.

As much as Another is very horrific, I considered this series a mystery first and foremost. Another has scary jump in your chair scenes with lots of tension but the mystery of trying to figure out who the Another is clearly the better one of the two things Another has. I particularly liked the twist towards the end in revealing who it was (I won't spoil) and I was surprisingly satisfied overall, especially after watching the OVA.

It really must also be noted that Another has one of the best couples of 2012. Misaki and Kouichi are just so awesome together in a sense that it really just *clicks* if you know what I mean. + that dancing sequence in one of the episodes. . .

Another isn't perfect but it does a lot of things right so I think an 8/10 is justifiable for a rating.

[Pathfinder4k]

I give this series a 4 out of 10.

The first four episodes were good. I find someone seeing a ghost that no one else can . . . intriguing and mysterious. The steam was let out of episode five but just a little.

Where the series went downhill was the continuous deaths in each episode especially the final two. Lightning, earthquakes, explosions, rocks, umbrellas, boats, the Cook, glass, fire, crazy kids killing each was just plain over the top. With so many deaths even in 1998, there would have been news crews checking out this place. I felt this story could have been considerably condense into 6 to 7 episodes. The gloom demeanor of students ( not all ) throughout the series, reacting to horrible situations, the constant rumblings of the school ( deep bass ) is all a way to express a specific feeling to put the audience on edge ( which worked but became too much of the same thing over and over with each episode especially with the continuous deaths). I also felt the director and the script was forcing the audience to believe beyond logical and emotional breaking points. I think someone would have snapped by either attempting to burn the school room down or shutting down the school completely or something else extreme earlier on and not at the end of the series where everyone went crazy. Plus, the curse wasn't a strong enough antagonist. I thought the sense of urgency to resolve the curse was put on the back burner after finding out that Misaki wasn't a ghost in episode five. The main character and the audience was still figuring out what the curse is about and then slowly over 5 more episodes getting to a solution. The main character was not very direct so when someone either ignored his question or just told him to not ask, he would just give up. Again, very deliberate way of extending out the series which could have been condense in half.

Overall, great animation, death scenes were intense but the deliberate slow pacing of the series did not match the overall intensity of the problems that the protagonist was facing so a 4 out of 10 score.

[zeonchar]

I Rather enjoyed the plot, to be honest it's the first horror anime and manga that really gave you true horror and had you on the edge of your seat the whole time. I rather liked the ending to a point, You could say it "could of been a better ending" But all in all it was a great anime. The character's to the series were great.

[alimoj2]

I thought it would be more interesting but it wasn't.

[Pengu]

Originally Posted by Eragon

Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is a Final Destination ripoff(okay maybe ripoff's a bit extreme. how about an anime adaption)
The anime had me interested till the first death. I won't lie, it did take me by surprise. After that though, it was pretty much Final Destination - without the order. Really the rest of the deaths were absurd and just lacked any kind of reasoning that made sense - even in the supernatural things context. I mean it would have been far better if Reiko was the one going around killing people. I mean even Final Destination has a reasonable reason to kill off people - they were supposed to die in the first place.
The only killings that made sense were when the students were killing their fellow classmates. Those killings at least had a semblance of reasoning behind them(they wanted to live at any cost).
So, although it starts of pretty good as a thriller, it degrades even quicker into a bloodbath devoid of reason.

5/10. from me, mostly for the artwork.

Well, you summed it up pretty much for me. Why did so many have to die and Sakuragi was wonderful person. And then she goes and dies such a meaningless death when she could have had a wonderful life ahead of her. And then it just continued totally going of the rails in the last few episodes. And to top it of we find out Reiko, just a beautiful and wonderful person, was killed before in some senseless violence some time back. I liked quite a few things about this anime but it is overshadowed by this. 3 out of 10.

[Ledgem]

Originally Posted by Pengu

Well, you summed it up pretty much for me. Why did so many have to die and Sakuragi was wonderful person. And then she goes and dies such a meaningless death when she could have had a wonderful life ahead of her. And then it just continued totally going of the rails in the last few episodes. And to top it of we find out Reiko, just a beautiful and wonderful person, was killed before in some senseless violence some time back. I liked quite a few things about this anime but it is overshadowed by this. 3 out of 10.

This is a horror series. Your criticisms make it seem as if you expected this to be a standard love story.