Before, I criticized this show for not having very impressive animation for PA Works’ standards. And then that dream sequence came. Talk about fluid animation here. Overall, it’s clear that after Blood-C, Tsutomu Mizushima really saw the light. Here too the visuals just don’t shy away from the hard-to-animate gore at all, for the scenes where normally the camera would just pan away.
The mystery is also really on track here. On the background, you can really feel the evergrowing presence of that ghost student who keeps picking off dead people. The second half of this series is also going to be very different, now that Misaki is actually no longer ignored by her fellow student, with the plan having failed and all. It’s a good way for the show to evolve.
The challenge for this series was to keep its audience in its atmosphere, even during the building up scenes. For me, it succeeded. I’ve really been caught up in it and even though the start of the show tried a little too hard with the dolls and all, the quiet parts of this series didn’t feel boring at all. This time it’s due to both the interesting characters, and the very solid build-up of atmosphere.
With this, it’ll be up to this series to actually make use of the build-up, and make things come together, and it’s there where the tricky part will start. Bring in enough creative twists that will force the characters to develop themselves, and make the revelation of the real ghost have some real impact. A beach episode isn’t really the right way to do that!
Rating: ** (Excellent)
I recommend that if you can listen to this show with a really good sound system. I have a good woofer for the low end bass and the subtle rumble they add that slowly builds really gets to you. In alot of ways the audio track is very sparse in this show but I love it!
Was I the only one who thought the scene with the teacher in the beginning was a little… Anti-climatic? They made it far too misleading with the previous episode preview and his eccentric actions.
I like how the mystery has become non-predictable. However I still have a issue with this series lacking any normal music. If all the tracks sound eerie it just takes away the suspense. We need something easy going so we can get lured into a false sense of security. Then when the shit hits the fan it would have more impact. Also how can I even guess who the ghost member is if I literately know nothing about any of the members of the class? The series has been focused on Mei and Kouichi so much that I can’t even remember the side characters names.
Either way I feel there is a case of great adaptation decay going on here. I feel PA works is screwing up badly. The source materiel seems to be saving it.
But considering that we’re following Kouchi’s experience, I don’t see how we could have got to know any of his classmates seeing as he was been ignored for the most part. It’s only now that’s over that we’ll be able to get to know more about his classmates.
are there similarities between “Another” and “Higurashi”?
No, 0% similarity
People often draw similarities between the two, but the only similarities are the fact that the story takes place in a rural area and the fact that there are mysterious deaths. And these two things can be found in loads of other shows.
Higurashi is a mystery and Another is horror. So the two are fundamentally very different.
Uh… Another is definitely both a mystery and a horror, and Higurashi is definitely both a horror and a mystery. The plot, characters, pacing and even the tone of both anime are rather different, but to say they are fundamentally very different is a bit of a stretch.
Sorry, I meant that the main focus is very different. Higurashi has horror elements, but it’s main idea is to catch the mastermind. Another is more of a horror in that everyone’s trying to figure out how the curse works. Sure, there’s all the catch the deceased person game included too, but it’s different from a mystery in that we don’t have any clues that a traditional mystery would have.
I guess what I’m saying is, Another is more supernatural than Higurashi and the mystery resolves around a curse whereas Higurashi is more secular and the mystery resolved around the culprit.
I just don’t get why everyone doesn’t get the fuck out of that village if their lives and those of their loved ones are of any value to them. Can someone explain this to me?
I don’t understand why they don’t put a cap on the number of students allowed in third year so they only fill two classes, and send the rest to a different highschool, preferably in a different town altogether.
yeah i agree, and maybe another reason is class 3 don’t talk much about curse with other people, is hard to believe it and maybe is part of the rule
Maybe it’s because moving is too much work and they don’t want to bother.
One of the rules of the charm is that they can’t talk about the curse with other people.
You have to remember, this is only one class at one school in the whole town. It’s not like your average person is going to know about everything going on in the show, except perhaps for a vague rumor that would generally just be passed off as a silly ghost story.
Yeah, but there’re several deaths happening, plus if you count from the years before, don’t you think at least many of the townspeople started to get suspicious of it already.
But why aren’t the graduates talking? They don’t remember…?
No one remembers once they graduate. That’s why Reiko can’t remember stuff when Kouchi asks here about her time in Class 3-3.
I, personally, would welcome a beach episode. I can imagine that a beach episode from this series would end up with everyone being eaten by a giant octopus with two heads.
Why is that short yellow-haired with glasses in the ending credits? She hasn’t spoken a single word. Therefore, I assume she’s the ghost. If it’s the case, that would be very very cheap. Besides that, great episode :)
How is the anime different from the manga? Asking from people who have seen the both.
damn this is crazY, I love shows like this, I always know that there are various hints, as well as red herrings to throw you off. . .and this episode made me go “damn” as I was starting to think that it was koichi when they first introduced the concept of the extra one, I thought that one of the hints was the father mentioning that koichi came to the town a year and a half ago. . .and then suddenly forgot on the phone- I figured it was koichis death thingy that cause the sudden memory change, as what happened frequently with the fathers calls to koichi as well as aunt reiko not remembering stuff when koichi brings it up. . .I figured that was because koichi was dead and was affecting the thoughts of those around him, but I guess reiko, having lived through that class when she was in junior high school is just still in shock like that other guy was who “saved” the class and forgot how he did it-.-. I think that Akazawa is a red herring, with the red symbolism all over her, her name is red pretty much, her pigtails are red, she has an overwhelming somewhat tsundere presence, its pretty much a sign with blinking lights which is why I think she isn’t the one (red is often identified with death in these types of stories. . .look at the sixth sense) I know there are more hints that probably tell the viewer who the dead person is now, of course all I can think of is the bird giving clues when he speaks but because that damn bird is so frickin annoying, I usually tune it out -.- and the grandfather spouting off nonsense about funerals, death and what not, are the only things that stand out in my mind off the top of my head, oh! and the constant reference to the scream painting, and painting/art/art class/club in general, just cant put my finger on what symbols are part of the hints and which are part of the false hints (like the dolls wtf…) Im gonna go back and watch it again, as I figured by this time, there should be a few hints to let us know whats going on.