[DesuX2]

Good point, I don't know how to speak Japanese so my assumptions are based on the little kanji I can read and phrases I heard from other anime. Perhaps it's true then that Misaki is male.

Spoiler for Weird thoughts:

But how would one then logically explain Misaki Mei's remark that all references to the Misaki of 26 year ago are erased from memory, history, etc? If there really was a genderbent (actually it makes sense Sakakibara's mother is female after all) romance 26 years ago compared to the present of 1998, what real difference would it make? I would ask who, and why would somebody try to destroy something as beautiful as love, then portray it as a "curse"?

I fear that everyone has read too much into the "mystery" side of things, and left out all the little clues that the anime scatters in everyday events. I think that the key to solving the central mystery of the "curse" lies in the main theme. So I went back to analyze every philosophical tidbit the anime offered and looked closely at Mei and Kouichi's conversations again.

The key is this:

Misaki Mei is a weird girl who likes to speak in metaphors.

So my updated theory after such a long post is this:

Spoiler for Updated Theory on Crack and Love (WITHOUT LOVE IT CANNOT BE SEEN! KIHIHIHIHIHIHI):

Misaki Mei exists. She and Sakakibara are descendants of relevant people in Class 3-3 26 years ago. Misaki and Sakakibara of 26 years ago had a romance. It was a lesbian relationship. This is "continued" in the present by Mei and Kouichi. Misaki died 26 years ago. This led to Sakakibara having a mental breakdown due to heartbreak and declaring "Misaki" exists. Mysterious Culprit X is attempting to avenge/cherish the memory of Misaki of 26 years ago through the "curse", by both coincidence and murders prepertrated by Mysterious Culprit X himself. Mysterious Culprit X may be Creepy Library Custodian.

Main Theme: Social Isolation as a metaphor for death

I only realized this when watching Episode 5. In Episode 5, the homeroom teacher is giving a lesson on "Figures of Speech, Simile, Metaphor, Personification". So I thought: What if death itself was a metaphor for social isolation?

Spoiler for Main Theme: Social Isolation as a metaphor for death:

If you apply it to Misaki Mei, it all fits. Her classmates treat her as if she didn't exist, so she was really no better off than being "dead". It would also fit in with everything that she has said and done so far. It also fits in with the concept of countermeasures for a curse, ignoring, metaphorically "killing" a classmate so that everyone else can avoid the curse.

I did an episode by episode analysis of Kouichi and Mei's conversation lines with each other. Because I forgot where I put my headphones, I actually viewed them without any sound. Then I realized that if you put eroge game music instead of scary music in their dialog they look like scenes out of a romance novel.

Epi 1

Spoiler for Boiler Room Scene:

When Misaki Mei meets Kouichi, she claims to be meeting her "second half". What this means is that she is paying her last respects to her dead cousin, Fujiwara Misaki.

The reason for her emotional distance from Kouichi is because well, if someone very close to you died, you would be depressed too. Furthermore, from Episode 5, we can guess that her class had already started socially isolating her already. So she doesn't quite trust anyone yet.

Explains her cold and distant initial attitude towards Kouichi.

Spoiler for Rooftop Scene:

The first time Mei encounters Kouichi on the rooftop, she is surprised by someone from her class speaking to her, since by rule, everyone is supposed to shun her. This is also where the line

"They associate your name with death. But not just any death, a cruel, irrational death that took place at this school."

takes place. Hints that Misaki Mei knows much much much much more than she is letting on, even after Episode 5.

This line only makes sense if you take the entire sentence in context. She knows Sakakibara and her own connection to the death of Misaki 26 years ago. She knows something crucial to solving the mystery and is not letting Kouichi know.

"close to death"

The phrase "close to death" is just a metaphor for "lotsa deaths occur in this school". Whether is is because of the curse is debatable. Mei is weird, yes.

"Goodbye, Sa-ka-ki-ba-ra-kun,"

That seems rather flirtatious.

Episode 2

Spoiler for What was Mei looking at from the roof?:

For the second time, we see Mei looking out off a roof. What exactly was she doing? I have two theories. One, she is stalking Kouichi because she likes how he's the only one who reaches out to her. Two, she's attempting to commit suicide. Recall the art room scene when she is drawing a doll, and she says

"I'm going to give her wings."

Knowing that she likes to speak in metaphor, and that the drawing eerily ressembles herself, "giving herself wings" might mean to fly, and to fly would probably be a metaphor to commit suicide by jumping off a rooftop.

"not the lemon, but the world that is screaming"

Spoiler for ORLY:

Artist boy gives this comment, after Episode 5, we all know it is a metaphor in reference to how everyone is ignoring Misaki Mei, pretending not to see her.

"You don't dislike..."

Spoiler for Where have I heard that...:

Is just Misaki Mei's weird way of saying "like". See Tsundere.

"I wasn't hiding because I wanted to surprise you, you just happened to come while I was here."

Spoiler for phrase again...:

Ok, there it is again. Obscuring the truth through words. Can you get any more flirtatious than that already? We can see that Misaki Mei is starting to like Kouichi.

"Do you want me to show you what's under this eyepatch?"

Spoiler for Dum dee dum da:

Codephrase for "I trust you well enough that you will not freak out when you see my glass eye."

Flirting aside, I think that this conversation is key to solving the mystery:

"only half... maybe less than that."

"It's strange that they can look so peaceful, even though they are attached (in reference to two female dolls joined at the shoulder)"

"Impossible, it would make more sense to be calm if they were separated."

Spoiler for Spoiler for Central Mystery:

Ok, I'm still going by my personal crack theory that

Misaki Mei exists. She and Sakakibara are descendants of relevant people in Class 3-3 26 years ago. Misaki and Sakakibara of 26 years ago had a romance. This is "continued" in the present by Mei and Kouichi. Misaki died 26 years ago. This led to Sakakibara having a mental breakdown due to heartbreak and declaring "Misaki Mei" exists.

The only difference is that I don't think that the person on the Misaki side of the family is a guy. I think it's a girl. Reason? The two dolls joined together.

I think that's a really amazing piece of symbolism right there, and may be hinting at the relationship between the Sakakibara and Misaki family 26 years ago.

It was a lesbian relationship. Shoujo love. The only kind of love I can approve of if you listen to Stephen Colbert. It explains Mei's metaphorical way of saying that "I don't think a lesbian couple can be together and still face the world, Kouichi-kun. How can you say that they can ease their minds if their secret gets out?"

For some currently unexplained reason, Misaki 26 years ago dies, Sakakibara is heartbroken, and pretends that she still is alive. Everyone plays along. Then along comes Mysterious Culprit X, who continues/keeps alive the rumor of a curse through coincidence and his own murders in order to avenge/honor Misaki's memory.

Right now, the prime suspects would be Kouichi (unlikely), Twin Tail Girl (likely to be descendant of Class 3-3), and creepy library custodian (VERY likely because he has been around the longest).

Episode 3

"It can see things that remain unseen, so I keep it covered."

Spoiler for Seriously:

Wakairimasen lol. But there must be something significant in it.

"This might not be a good place for you, since you are not used to it. The dolls... dolls are hollow you see. Completely hollow in body and soul. That void connects them with death. But hollow things seek to fill their emptiness."

Spoiler for Human Misaki Mei Translator:

Translation: Unlike me, you have never been socially isolated before. Have you Kouichi? It is a most dreadful feeling, it makes one feel empty inside, nobody will speak to you, nobody will even acknowledge you exist. Your very existence is a hollow and empty one. I so dearly wish that someone could talk to me, and fill my heart with love.

Very, very very flirtatious.

"I know things about you that even you don't know. That's how we're stuck with each other."

Spoiler for Hmmmm:

Jock and Geekboy lampshading Misaki Mei and Kouichi's relationship with each other. Misaki Mei knows something that happened 26 years ago between the two families.

Possibility of serial killer

Spoiler for Mysterious Culprit X may or may not exist:

AND YES I NOW KNOW HOW TWIN RED TAILS WILL DIE. It's hinted in the OP. I look forward to seeing that mean bullying psycho getting whacked off.

Spoiler for Possible Foreshadowing:

Questions:

HOW did Misaki die 26 years ago?
What happened 15 years ago when Kouichi's aunt was at the school?
What is Mei and Kouichi's true connection to the incident 26 years ago?
What is the use of the "doll" motif in the show?
Who is the creepy custodian of the auxiliary library and what is his connection to the incident 26 years ago?
Is Twin Tail the most gigantic biatch or what?
Who are Kirika and Fujiwara Misaki?