Another - Episode 12 (END) Discussion / Poll
 

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tldr: Sound&music was delicious and I loved this show but... those last two episodes - just "no". I do want to purchase it when it gets released closer to me - I believe it's the first show since Red Garden that I waited for each week with anticipation and actually finished.

I expect the identity of the Another will be as controversial as an announcement that Mari Okada's adapting Kimi no Iru Machi for Zexcs. That's the sort of thing that works in a book (though even there it's a huge cheat) but not a visual medium. I'll admit the anime handled it better than the manga -- the manga just expected us to accept that Mikami and Reiko were the same person, while the anime at least showed Reiko changing into her Mikami guise.

Too bad about Twintails, but that's what you get for mistreating Misaki. Though on the brightside, she could always come back for the sequel.

Heh I knew it!

Always a great feeling when your theories turn out right :P

10/10 ep

Using Sony MD for the new recording was a big mistake tough :D

Haven't seen it yet.
is the ending as sad as the manga's? (kouichi has to kill the another)

Does Takako come back from the dead?

A boss character like her? Now that would be true horror :uhoh:

Poor Akazawa, triggered her death flag the moment she tried to kill Kouichi.


Had 2 questions at the back of my mind.
- Who was the guy who killed Reiko and why? Just a random crazy guy?

- @17:35: Kouichi says "Goodbye Mother". For what reason?

It's basically the same ending only with even more (melo)dramatic events thrown in.

I'll have to let this sink in before I say anything. But for that time, here's the list with everything that was different in the source material.

I like the parallel between Misaki's relationship with her sister (raised as cousins) and Akazawa's relationship with her cousin (raised as siblings). The two characters were markedly different throughout the series, and that reveal was a clever touch. Was that included in the novel? I remember some novel readers here saying that Akazawa's character wasn't that significant in the novel.

9/10. There were some moments that felt really awkward and slow but everything made sense. Pleased.

So did Kouichi

Hm, I guess most of us were right in thinking that the extra was Ms. Mikami. I personally found that Kazami going around murdering people with reckless abandon was more shocking than the big reveal.

As for the actual ending, I liked it, but I feel like it could've been better. I really wanted to see Mei and Sakaki share an intimate moment; I'm not asking for something like a kiss or a confession from either side, them simply holding hands while walking together would've been sufficient for me. I guess Mei allowing Sakaki call her 'sometimes' after she gets a new phone was supposed to fulfill that exact purpose. I feel like the promise at the end of the novel would've felt more satisfactory, though.

Overall, my personal rating for this anime is a 9 or a 10 out of 10. Maybe even an 8.

No, while he did look akin to Kouichi, it wasn't him. It was just some random assailant.

Is it bad that the only thing that upset me about this episode was that Mei and Kouichi didn't kiss? >.> XD

Anywho Fairly good, the Mikami thing was kind of weird considerinig to me at least Ms. Mikami and Reiko looked nothing alike (mostly the hair colour thing) I always suspected Reiko but I never would've guessed Reiko and Ms. Mikami were the same person.

Secondly did Kouchi kill Reiko in the past? becuase that was kind of confusing for me, it looked like him but it was like never touched upon.


EDIT: Lol question answered in ninja post, thanks Aphrah ^^

Holy crap, that was so awesome, despite being cheesy.

Whoa. That was crazy. The big reveal lacked drama but I may have been in shock from losing Izumi, which requires a "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!" since I liked her so much. They could have made that a lot more dramatic by having her watch the glass fall on her. I'm surprised we didn't watch that happen, actually. Maybe the writers decided to be nice or want us to hope she would survive that.

And I can't believe all of the hints and clues as to the Another's identity were in the beginning of the series. Really genius. We're all busy trying to figure out Mei and the clues are dropped on us then. Hell, we knew nothing of the calamity too! That's sneaky, very very sneaky! Plus, we all thought it had to be a student.

Anyone play Batman Arkham City? This reminds me of it since it's like the Joker told Batman, the best away to trick Batman is to put the answer right in front of him. Batman had a better reveal though.

My only real complaints is the fire. You can't make a phone call in the middle of a burning hallway, there would be no oxygen to breathe and therefore speak. Stuff like that.

I thought that too. :heh:

And so it comes to an end, in a fashion that's nearly as spectacular as the previous episode. I'm still not sure how I feel about the students turning in to casual killers overnight, but eh ... what actually bugged me about this episode was the overall pacing and mood. I can't really put my finger down on it, but for some reason, despite the climatic events being portrayed, the atmosphere didn't really suck me in, and I felt more like a pragmatically detached spectator.

Which is kinda weird, because Another has always been fantastic when it came to setting the mood (both through imagery and soundtrack), but somehow the grand finale failed to truly grip me. Same goes for Izumi's and Reiko's deaths - obviously the crowning moments of the episode, but neither summoned a shred of emotion from me. Ah well :/

As for the identity of Another, I'm not surprised at all, considering I had pegged Reiko as the most likely suspect back around episode 5/6, and it was certainly amusing (and satisfying? :heh:) to see the show bringing up some of the same points that seemed suspicious to me in the first place - the bird constantly chanting "Why, Rei-chan, why", grandpa's "poor Ritsuko ...poor Reiko as well ..." comment, the hints that Koichi had a reason to be in Yomiyama 1.5 years ago, but the phenomenon felt the need to erase his memory of that >completely< ,meaning that the very reason of him being there was threatening to Another's identity. (And some more stuff that I'm too lazy to re-list).

Yeah, there were plenty of hints to suspect Reiko from fairly early, magnified by the fact that no other character was getting similar treatment of having small but suspicious things being presented around them. The foreshadowing of it being Reiko was done pretty well, I think.

I'm much less impressed with how the Reiko = Mikami business was handled though. The show was obviously trying hard to keep this one under wraps (and I guess they largely succeeded in that, heh), but I have a feeling this approach will leave many frustrated, as it feels like information that was deliberately withheld in inorganic fashion.

Looking back on it, there are small breadcrumbs scattered here and there, but I feel they are way too obscure for someone to notice during their first watch-through. More like, they are of the sort that you can look back and say "Ah, so that's what it actually was", but I'm not sure if in a manner that invokes satisfaction. (I guess I'm sort of neutral myself).

Episode 2 for example, when Mochizuki asks Koichi if he finds Mikami attractive, and Koichi says that's a difficult question for him, with no real emotion behind it. Not that strange in itself (him avoiding a potentially embarrassing question ...except he didn't seem too embarrassed), but looking back on it, Koichi avoided it because he essentially got asked if he finds his own aunt hot, something he couldn't elaborate upon due to Reiko's request.

Or him showing a bit of concern for her when she dashed away screaming after the homeroom teacher's suicide.

Or him asking if she feels alright after the asthma kid got taken away, and suggesting perhaps they shouldn't climb the mountain tomorrow. Not that strange in itself, certainly not enough to take special notice of, but in retrospect makes sense he would approach "Mikami" there about her well being and their future plans if she is Reiko.

Then we have Mei's question if Reiko paints home as well, and Koichi confirming it, saying she considers that her real job. What's her "non-real" job then ? To begin with, why would Mei ask about Reiko painting in present time, or even express interest about Reiko to start with ? (Because she is the art club's adviser, which Mei is a part of / art class teacher).

And the biggest clue, which was brought up in Reiko's discussion thread a week ago or so, is that her full name is actually visible on the ancient class rosters that Chibiki was showing to Mei and Koichi, though the scene was only shown for a split second.

So ... yeah, I guess you can say they are "clues" scattered about, but they seem rather insufficient (given how obscure they are and easily dismissible) for a first time watcher to pick up. Personally I prefer my clues in a more workable manner, like the oddities surrounding Reiko, rather than this stuff that feels like purposefully avoided information. Paramount for keeping people guessing till the last minute I guess, but meh ... as far as foreshadowing goes, I don't think it was handled well. Can't really call it foreshadowing if you can only notice it when looking backwards.

Other than that ... not enough Mei x Koichi in the finale! I certainly would have appreciated some more post-calamity stuff, not only regarding Mei and Koichi, but also the perspectives of the other students. Given how batshit crazy some of them went, it would have been interesting to see how they handle the aftermath, especially those who injured others during the whole deal, or those who tried attacking Mei. A shame we never got to see any of that though ... ah well, at least we got to learn that Mei doesn't like ferris wheels (Attempt at romantic situation failed, Koichi :heh:)

Such a waste. Would've made a perfect twist to this story if he IS the one.

Detached spectator. That is exactly how I felt. I wasn't sure if it was me or not, lol. The only big surprise was the glasses guy going nuts, lol.

*scans episode*
*guy runs*
"Uwaa~~h"
*squashed*
:heh:

Ah... Akazawa-san too... It was fun watching her and Misaki's deadly catfight and entertaining to see her go yandere, but sucks that in the end, she wasn't defeated by Misaki or the protagonist, but by the god of death instead.
But now she gets to meet up with Sugiura-san in heaven! Both together, yuri Ultra Happy!

The extra person was fairly expected though. Her strange attitude from the beginning and some other details I can't remember made me suspect her, along with the protagonist for just being the protagonist.

Ending was well, normal, for this type of story. I kind of wish they touched on the rest of the class, but most of the people I cared about died anyways. What's remaining are people on the Nakao-level.