Another

Another is a Japanese manga turned anime that was published in 2009 and aired with twelve episodes from January 10th to March 27th back in 2012.

Plot

Sakakibara Kouichi, a fifteen year old student, transfers to Yomiyama North's Middle School. For the first month, he ends up missing school due to a collapsed lung which he is hospitalized for. Nevertheless, he finds the polite students of Class 3-3 coming to visit him with welcoming words.

Finally heading back to school does he find the atmosphere full of tension, especially when Mei Misaki attends class. Naturally not wanting to attend, Misaki roams the school or tends to her personal affairs, but it seems as if no one has anything to say about her behavior. Of course, when she is present, Kouichi realizes that his teachers and classmates ignore her being.

It's not long for him to question the strange acts the people in Class 3-3 succumb to. Kouichi begins to find bits and pieces of the strange phenomenon and tradition every Class 3-3 member befalls. It was said back in 1972 that a student (also named Misaki) had died in an accident and that there was a curse which surrounded their class almost every year.

Kouichi and Misaki befriend one another and together do they discuss potential ways in breaking the curse that has seized 1998's Class 3-3. While they watch their classmates die through strange occurrences and accidents, it's a rush to find the relation between the 1972 case before everyone perishes mid-year.

Overall

I originally started watching this on Crunchyroll before finding it on Hulu Plus, so I finished relatively quickly due to how short the anime was. When I first started watching it, I was rather confused. My assumptions were that Misaki was actually a ghost and that Kouichi was the only person who could see her. It kind of put me in a 'wow' moment mainly because her classmates and teachers really could ignore her to the point of shunning her existence. That was really something.

I really liked Kouichi to say the least. It's very rare for me to like the male protagonist, but he was very headstrong and had immense character development. While he was seen as a boy that kept to himself and was rather quiet, he stood his ground when need be and believed those that were close to him. Same with Misaki. Not only was she intriguing with her getup (ex: white eye patch), but understanding of why she was placed in such a position by the class.

Overall, I did like Another with a few exceptions. I think it could've been explained much more better than it came out to be, but that's probably because Kouichi missed the first month when things were becoming established within the classroom.

But for all fans of fast-paced horror anime's and psychological thrillers, Another is perfect and will give you the creeps.