[Voxxen]

One thing I'm laughing at is, Knox and soo many other writers have broke these same "10 Commanding Rules" or "Golden Rules" so putting much bases on Knox's law is not really the greatest idea.

Unless the writer comes out claiming to base their mystery off Knox's writing style I just cant support his way of writing in this mystery.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
Yukari's death has hints of foul play, namely that the umbrella was opened, and not closed. It was not hard to guess that someone wanting to go out on that day would take their umbrella with them, so the opened umbrella was placed before that.
Her slipping could have been caused by a fluid such as water.

I just re-watched the footage from her death and I must say the umbrella is most defiantly locked in place. (If the animators know how it will end, you would think they would leave a clue in there)

It also shows her slipping on the edge of the stairs, not any puddle. (>.> her glasses broke, i have glasses myself and idk about your's, but myn would have never broke from that hight)

Seems purely accidental, the umbrella is latched in place till it some how opens.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
The blue truth does not require proof to be shown, It's simply a way to explain things from another angle and thus creating a new truth.
Also there is no need for an Unknown drug or hard to explain device, as you have to consider the students age. The possibility of them getting a trauma after a while is not exactly low and we were in fact given the hint that such a trauma has happened when the teacher committed suicide.

That is a lot of if in your statement and trauma in every student for the last twenty six years? Highly unlikely.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
Also The Heart attack is very well explainable by applying a drug, as cyanide does no longer count as 'unknown drug'. We were also given the information that he had heart problems. Again, a detective novel does not forbid deaths other than the actual 'crime' to happen at all. The mentally stronger students could be victim to hypnosis, as some characters behavior is clearly strange.
Hypnosis, is also used in psychological science.

You honestly believe that at the exact moment he was about to give information about the incidents, there was a heart attack? That the pure moment of its effect coincidentally occurs during his confession? I highly doubt this as well.

Although, I have mentioned hypnosis in the past and it is quite a dangerous technique that could be implemented.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
As already said, it's an analogy. Plus we did get the hint of a human culprit, namely Misaki telling Koichi that he is not the dead. This is something only the culprit could know.

Unless Mei is a "Witness", "Accomplice" or "She really does have some kind of (Inner Eye)"

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
There is no evidence that this is even superficially a mystery story.

The mystery is there. Well hidden behind the curtains of death and blood.

What??? You say There is no evidence that this is a mystery, but then you turn around and say the mystery is there and well hidden? Is this not how most mystery's are?

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
Reiko is imho far out of the range as nothing has happened to her or Kouichi (yet).

I wouldn't call that glass incident "nothing", he did "almost" get smashed by the glass. He did somehow escape it, which either means:

1: It had nothing to do with the curse.

2: He can somehow escape this curse.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
I also doubt that the phenomenon is about genes. Your explaination would qualify her to be a victim to the calamity but not its cause.

I agree here.

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
I is also notable that Kouichi was at least close every time something happened, even the one time it got prevented.

The only incident where no one was close was when the nurse died, she however was connected to him through a phone.

I agree it is notable and i also am a little suspicious of the static on the phones. (Call me paranoid from too many horrors >.>)

I know this is a far stretch, but I just thought about his lung? He had a lung transplant correct? Who was it from? (Idk if it would make much difference, just a thought)

Originally Posted by AC-Phoenix
The only death which has happened close to Reiko was the last one, all the others were, as far as we know, out of her sphere.
And again someone was about to tell/remember something when it happened - Definitely not a coincidence.

True... But, we also have to go by the limit range we have been given. Which is a city wide diameter, so it would be possible for the "Force" or "If" Reiko is responsible to effect these outcomes. She has enough face time and theories to be considered the "Another", but only slightly.

Originally Posted by Dengar
As has been mentioned, after the graduation ceremony, the extra disappears from the roster, and reappears where they originally were on the roster accompanied by a red X (meaning they are dead). Why would this year be so different from the norm?

It is peculiar why it has not changed, not to mention there being no X. So does that mean last years "Another" was never found out?

Originally Posted by Hakuromatsu
(remember how sure everyone was that the phenomenon couldn't kill outside of Yomiyama?)

Quite true, so what do we have to base our assumptions on? Twenty-six years of information that could have been altered down to the very core... Myth's... Legends...

I mean take Vampires for instance, legend has it they turn to dust in sunlight, but look at Twilight...

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight
Hypnosis does not work this way. You are proposing science fiction.

There are plenty of science fiction mystery novels. (O.o)

To name some of the top how about:

A Philosophical Investigation by Philip Kerr

The Retrieval Artist novels by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

or

When Gravity Fails by George Alec Effinger

Originally Posted by AuraTwilight
The presence of mystery elements is not sufficient to call it a mystery story. You're embarrassing yourself.

The definition of a mystery novel:

Mystery is a genre of fiction in which a detective, either an amateur or a professional, solves a crime or a series of crimes. Because detective stories rely on logic, supernatural elements rarely come into play. The detective may be a private investigator, a policeman, an elderly widow, or a young girl, but he or she generally has nothing material to gain from solving the crime. Subgenres include the cozy and the hard-boiled detective story.

So tell me, who is the detective and who is the criminal?

The detective could be Reiko or it could be Koichi, you decide on that.

The criminal could be this "Another", "Normal Human (Foul Play)" or (This force)

Just cause we do not have all the elements does not mean we can rule it out as a mystery.

Originally Posted by Skyfall

As far as we know, immediately close physical proximity to the Another isn't a requirement. We know the phenomenon has limited range (Roughly the size of Yomiyama city), though we are unsure about the exact specifications, or the actual origin of said sphere of influence - is it the Yomiyama city, or is it the another him/herself?

Death in episode 8 happened outside of Yomiyama city, which basically presents us with these 3 options:
1) The origin of the "phenomenon's sphere of influence" is Yomiyama city, and they simply weren't far enough away from it.
2) The origin of the "phenomenon's sphere of influence" is the another itself, and said sphere's size is roughly that of Yomiyama city (assuming the another never left the city previously, this would have led the librarian to believe that simply moving away from the city is enough to be safe -- and it is, so long as the another stays there). The group didn't move outside of said zone of influence because the another was actually with them, thus bringing the "sphere of influence" along.
3) The death is unrelated to the phenomenon and is a true accident, meant to throw us off track.

With 4 episodes left to the end, I think option 3 would be a little too unproductive at this point, which leaves us with either 1) or 2). Either the librarian had underestimated the phenomenon's range, or he hadn't considered the possibility that the point of origin might follow Another wherever it goes.

Considering I'm leaning pretty strongly towards Reiko being Another, I'll go with option 2), and consider it another clue on top of the slowly building pile hinting towards her.

This goes to further explain what happened during the last classes trip, on their trip someone died in the mountains, but it was also stated there were two deaths. So we still don't know where the second one died, does that mean before this trip is over there will be another death?

Does this exclude the librarian now? Since they are away from the city, or could the man in the boat be the librarian or be an accomplice? We shall see

Originally Posted by Skyfall

I'd be willing to say that outright dismissing the possibility of Another being someone outside of class 3-3 as potentially dismissing a set of clues the show has been presenting, unless they are deliberately building a massive red herring with Reiko, in which case they have me fallen for it. Let's leave class 3 for a bit and return to Koichi's home.

We have established that the phenomenon's range is either that of Yomiyama city centered around the Another, or slightly larger than that and centered around Another itself. In either case, Koichi's father is well beyond the range and outside his influence. Thus he has the unique position among the whole cast of being the sole source of information not susceptible to manipulation.

Considering he calls Koichi, we can rule out Koichi as Another - he wouldn't suddenly develop the urge to call his dead son, unless he has gone nuts

With this in mind, it has been roughly ~1.5 years since Koichi last visited Yomiyama. But Koichi doesn't remember this. Koichi normally lives in Tokyo, yet had a reason to visit Yomiyama 1.5 years ago. This memory got erased altogether. The phenomenon alters people's memories in a way to make sure no one can recognize the Another for the corpse that it actually is. So the question is: why is the deletion of Koichi's memory of him visiting Yomiyama 1.5 years ago necessary for the preservation of Another's identity ? What about said visit puts the identity of Another in danger ? Not just bits or pieces of it, but the whole fact he visited the city altogether?

Izumi does shed some interesting information, if that is true then she knew Koichi before this. Does that mean something happened a year and a half ago that was so important to erase everyone's memory of it? He doesn't remember it, but she does? (A feeling anyways)

Originally Posted by Skyfall

Second bit - a couple of times his father has told Koichi to say hi to grandpa and grandma from him, but he has never mentioned Reiko, who should be living in the same house. Why? Is this a hint, or a harmless oversight ?

Why did the grandpa mutter "Poor Ritsuko ... poor Reiko as well..." ? A hint, or him simply going senile ? (Remember that people apparently can preserve a sense of deja-vu despite their memory alteration ... like Akazawa feeling she has shaken Koichi's hand before, and Reiko's classmate feeling he has seen her recently, while she insists they haven't met for years).

For that matter, why is removing the memory of Reiko's classmate of him having seen her more recently important for preservation of Another's identity?

Why is the bird constantly going "Why, Rei-chan, why?"

Think what you will of Reiko being shown through a distorted glass in episode 8 while talking to Koichi. A harmless, if weird, choice of camera perspective, or alluding to something?

So ... why all of the above ? A big coincidence, a red herring, or a trail of hints left behind as the story moves on?

Assuming the show is being deliberately being misleading here and I have taken the bait like a sucker (which might be the case at the end of it ), and the Another is indeed someone in class 3 ... who do you think it might be ? And why ?

HOLY-BLOND-CHEERLEADER-BATMAN!! I cant believe I've missed some of that in the anime! Thanks for pointing that out Skyfall!

Originally Posted by Skyfall

And why is the countermeasure of ignoring someone in class effective only half the time ? I don't think this part can be merely waved away because it's inconvenient. Rather, it's one of the few pieces of information that we can be certain about, as it isn't based on assumptions.

All of the above might be an elaborate troll indeed, but until that gets proven to be the case, I'm going to consider Reiko the most likely suspect, and I don't really see anyone else being hinted towards. For now, I'd rather believe the show has been slowly feeding us hints (some more obscure than others) all along, rather than Reiko being a massive bait.

Quite the interesting deduction, it is true that Reiko has been having migraines. Maybe it is a sign of something to come? Could there be a connection between them? Also, why do the grandparents never acknowledge Reiko?

As of looking over the beginning episode with the static... I think it has nothing to do with the killings now T_T there goes my ghost theory. The incidents just don't add up...