Another Anime Review

This is not another anime review, this is an anime review of Another. Was that punny? Another is a horror anime adapted from a popular Japanese novel. I am trying to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible, but some things are going to be needed to be spoiled, such as People die in this anime. Anyway, welcome to my review! The purpose of this review is to promote the popularity of a particular anime or something like that. That being said I guess Another is already pretty damn popular...ummmmm then this is to promote the horror-anime genre in general! That works.

Another is a horror anime adaptation of a popular horror novel of the same name. it follows Sakakibara, and his investigation into the ominous class of 3-3.

Animation-- How to describe the animation, well let's see..okay Half Life three running on Source engine 20 on the PS5000 being played on a theater screen with enough pixels to make Legend of Zelda: The Faces of Evil look good. You think I'm exaggerating, and I totally am, but it's still damn impressive. The whole time i was watching this show i was having eyegasms while still pissing my pants. First off character models look amazing, and every character is paid enough attention so that they don't look like cardboard cutouts, with microphones attached to their mouths. In other words, the world that the anime lives in is living. It's not as though one character is running around in a freaking Fuzetsu. Everything, and I mean everything gets more than enough detail for it to be on the cover of Glamor girl, this is especially true for the dolls. You see the guys who did the animation came up with a brilliant idea:maybe if we constantly switch to random pictures of porcelain dolls, it'll make things scary. In the very least we get to see some pretty dolls, I guess? This is sorta explained latter on, but for the first part of the series I thought I was watching Chucky the anime. Props given to the sky. Can't think of a joke for that, but it looks amazing. The environments are dark enough to invoke that primordial fear of saying 'I'll be right back' at a party, but colorful enough so that it doesn't look darker than black. Each frame of this anime has a ton of detail packed in. The probability of you appreciating it in the few seconds its there is about as likely as D-grayman getting another volume, but its there. The studio responsible is for anime such as Angel beats, Nagi no Asu Kara, so their a pretty well established studio. What haven't I mentioned? Ummmm it's really good? Ah, there's little to no fan-service in this anime, aside from the obligatory beach scene.

Interpret this however you like, but just look at the sky! Look at it!

 Sound--Well first the bad stuff. The opening, while it may be a nice song, kinda ruins the mood. Okay how to get you guys to understand...You're in the middle of a boss battle. You have been fighting this boss for the past week, and continue to fail it each and every time. this time is different. you can feel it. As you step out into the arena, glorious rays of light rain down upon you, seeping through your crimson visor, coloring your vision a bloody hue. Ahead of you it rears it's head bellowing a roar that shakes the very earth itself. Countless times have you laid petrified in fear of the impending massacre, but not this time. The creature lunges, its gigantic form filling the vast expanse of the arena. It brings its hammer down upon you, and death, cavalierly grasps your hand, bringing with it two words, eight letters everyone knows by heart...except this doesn't happen. You know its tricks, you've done this before. You will not lose. You will win. Your battle cry shakes the Earth itself, you sword glimmers with the light of countless hours never to be regained. You heave your sword, this is it, the time is now! Strike! Now your mom tells you dinner is ready. Your immersion is broken, your avatar frozen in mid-swing. That is Another's opening. It's really jarring, and it fits as well as Jar Jar Binks. As for the OST, well think about it this way. It's like this. Think Hannibal Lector. He's an awesome character, and a joy to see on-screen, but let's be honest, no-one wants to invite him over for dinner. Same thing goes with Another's OST. They set the mood perfectly, creating tension, when there seemingly is nothing happening on-screen, and furthering the atmosphere set by both the voice actors and the animation. And yet they aren't really elevator music material. The voice acting in this anime is phenomenal, with each character working well with the atmosphere. They further the mood, giving a melancholic feel to the series. They aren't monotone, but every character sounds like they're putting up a facade, like every clown that ever existed. While i would normally give props for this, the only exception to the stellar voice acting is Misaki. Now before I get pelted with the rotten tomatoes of hardcore another fans, let me explain why. For most of the series she does an amazing job, however, and this is down to animation as well, in the finale, she maintained her monotone voice to the very end. It would be nice for her to show a bit more emotion than a rock with a high-school uniform. 

Those dolls

Plot--So here is the first flaw in the series: IT NEVER EXPLAINS WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! As intriguing as the plot was, there was no conclusion. It never explains why the events that happened, happened. Overall, this does little to hurt the series, but it still feels like either sequel baiting or shoddy writing. While the plot wasn't as good as it could've been, it was intriguing. I always wanted to know more, and the anime did a good job of making me want to know more. This made the ending all the more frustrating. Something else is that the anime seems to have a good amount of differences from the source material. This is especially aparant during the episode where they go to the beach, becasue it is only there for the fanservice. This was not in the novel at all. One thing this anime does have is pacing. Each episode left me wanting for more, and though yes this is due to a large amount of cliff-hangers, it was also just because the plot was so intriguing and well paced.

Characters--The cast of Another is large to say the least. Though this can mean that some characters are more detailed than others it also gives the writers a lot more people to kill. Oh and for some reason, the main character of this anime looks like Yuuta from Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! and Misaki looks like Rikka from the same series. I haven't read the novels, but in the anime, there seems to be a tad of romance between Misaki and Sakakibara. Is this just for the fans? Who knows, but from someone who loves the romance genre, it's much appreciated. I don't want to get into the characters, becasue of spoilers, but there pretty solid all around. Here comes the second flaw with the series: the death. Deaths in this anime are well done, but the reactions to them are not. Characters seem to get over the fact that people are dying around them really damn fast. in one scene, Sakakibara views someone dying right in front of him, and then proceeds to shake someone's shoulder the next day asking what is wrong. I wish it showed a little more psychological breakdown on the part of Sakakibara as everyone around him is dying. As such there isn't really any character development throughout the series. There is relationship development, especially between Misaki and Sakakibara, but no character development.
 

No, this is just a coincidence, there's nothing implied here at all...

Characters--The cast of Another is large to say the least. Though this can mean that some characters are more detailed than others it also gives the writers a lot more people to kill. Oh and for some reason, the main character of this anime looks like Yuuta from Chūnibyō Demo Koi ga Shitai! and Misaki looks like Rikka from the same series. I haven't read the novels, but in the anime, there seems to be a tad of romance between Misaki and Sakakibara. Is this just for the fans? Who knows, but from someone who loves the romance genre, it's much appreciated. I don't want to get into the characters, becasue of spoilers, but there pretty solid all around. Here comes the second flaw with the series: the death. Deaths in this anime are well done, but the reactions to them are not. Characters seem to get over the fact that people are dying around them really damn fast. in one scene, Sakakibara views someone dying right in front of him, and then proceeds to shake someone's shoulder the next day asking what is wrong. I wish it showed a little more psychological breakdown on the part of Sakakibara as everyone around him is dying. As such there isn't really any character development throughout the series. There is relationship development, especially between Misaki and Sakakibara, but no character development.

Horror--The final item, and the most important, the horror aspect though I think I've already said a lot on the topic. Well as horror anime it's really good, as i think you've gotten from what I've said so far. Everything reflects the idea that everything is not what it seems. From the environment, to the soundtrack, to the voice acting. It immerses you in a creepy world. However I was never truly terrified in this anime, just creeped out. Maybe I've developed a tolerance for these things, but Another never truly scared me. 


Overall I really enjoyed my time with Another, regardless of some of the flaws it had. In truth this anime is really really good. The OST fills its role very well, the amin characters are interesting, the plot is intruiging, animation is spot on and the atmosphere is impressive. This recieves a strong reccomendation from me. 



Thanks for reading, and sorry for the delay in writing. I had a lot of stuff this week, and was sick on top of it. Anyhow if you enjoyed this, please drop a like, a follow or a recommendation. Oh and comment! Please comment!