New Anime Series! Another episode 1!

I have been feeling like a lazy bum lately. Which is odd because I think I did a good deal of cleaning today. But I guess the rough start to the new year factored in with being broken is making me feel bleh. While many people are in debt up to their eyeballs and have it worse than me I still feel kinda meh that I won’t have any money until the start of February. X__X I guess I don’t really need anything as it was just Christmas but the idea of being broke for the month on the 3rd is a bit crappy.

But maybe it will be good to get caught up on household bills and what not. More time I can spend organizing this house. Maybe I can turn this New Year around and get rid of/donate things that are taking up space in my house. I am good at cleaning and I love organizing stuff but getting rid of items is hard for me to do. I am a bit of a collector in case that is not completely obviously.

Start looking for clues folks!!!!

So the highlight of my semihousewife day was the start of a new anime. Another. Yes Another. XD Have fun in search engines with that. Another episode 1. WEEE! My first new anime of the Winter Season. It looks like it might be on the dark side folks. Spoilers for a lot of shifty eyes and secrets!

We represent the lollipop guild. Or death class 3. One of the two.

Episode Summary: (ERR I am already at over 1,600 words X__X) An unseen person is telling another unseen person the story about a dead girl Misaki. She was very popular with everyone but had an unfortunate accident. Instead of mourning the girl’s death the class and the teachers pretend like the girl is still alive. This happened 26 years ago. In the year 1998 a young man Kouichi wakes up in the hospital. He has a collapsed lung and his grandmother shows great concern for him. This is unfortunate timing for Kouichi as he just moved to his mother’s home town and was supposed to start school. Momma is dead and Daddy is on a business trip to India so Kouichi is set to live with his grandparents and Aunt. As Kouichi recovers three classmates from his to be class come and visit with him. They pretend they are there to welcome him to town but really it turns into an investigation. They mainly are concerned with whether or not he has ever been in this city before. When he says no crazy looks are exchanged.

A handshake of great importance!

Later that night Kouichi goes to take a walk around the hospital when he runs into a girl with an eye patch on. She says only a few things, that her name is Mei Misaki and that she is going to go visit her other half. Then she walks towards the morgue. Kouichi is released and starts his life in his new home. He has a crazy pet bird and a father who wakes him up early in the morning. Via phone the dad explains that he suffered from collapsed lungs when he was younger but things will be fine. Grandpa doesn’t seem to be in a good mood as he is still mourning the death of his daughter, Kouichi’s mom. The Aunt takes the time to tell Kouichi how he needs to act at his new school. Once Kouichi arrives he is introduced to the rest of his classmates who are very, very quiet. But during break (when the homeroom teacher leaves) everyone excitedly talks to him. Everyone seems to take a turn talking to Kouichi while the other classmates look nervous, sick, and pissed off. Everyone is like oh we got to take Kouichi on a tour of the school…..NOW!

That name belongs to the person we do not speak of!

Kouichi is unable to participate in gym class and sits with another student who claims to have a heart condition. The student goes to the nurse’s office alone even though Kouichi offered to go with him. Another injured student (Yukari from the hospital) hobbles up and asks how Kouichi is doing. He questions why Izumi is absent from school and why Mei who was in class earlier is not in gym class. Yukari is like X__X who is Mei?!?! But Kouichi seems Mei on the roof and runs off to talk to her. Mei says she doesn’t remember meeting Kouichi in the hospital but will tell him a few things. That the rest of the class is scared of him as his name is connected to death and now he is in the death class. She warns him to stay away from her and walks away. THE END

While not much has happened in this episode there was a lot to digest. Let’s talk about this crazy show together shall we?

After viewing the episode I question why it is titled Another. Mainly because it is a pain to look up on the web XD. So many other things pop up instead. I kid I kid. So why is it called Another? Is this Another event, like the one 26 years ago? Or is this Mei “another” Mei as the legend continues on? Or could mean something else, like Kouichi is another person who is about to cause a whole bunch of crazy on this town…or fix the crazy that is already there.

And I think that is a load of crap.

Since this is only episode 1 we can’t really decipher what the title could be about yet. So let’s focus on the first clip of the show. It was someone who sounds like Kouichi telling a schoolmate (or a young girl) the story of Misaki. She was a young, popular girl who died in an “accident”. Now the weird part of this story is her classmates and teachers pretended like she was alive up until graduation. Throughout this little story telling there are random images that pop up seemingly out of order. Some blood, a few broken dolls, and images of the town all rainy and what not.

Not that anyone wants to tell Kouichi the story anyway. They are busy trying to figure out who HE is.

Now after watching the episode one has to question the truthfulness of this story. One it sounds like it is being told by Kouichi. Since Kouichi is “new” to told he has been told this information. From people who may or may not be lying to him. Now a second option might be that Kouichi and the people (probably his classmates) who told him this story are telling what they think is the truth. The truth that they were told. Usually beloved classmates who are popular with the students and teachers don’t randomly die. Because I am not buying the accident story. Someone murdered this girl. And most normal people don’t pretend that dead people are still alive and well. The class was being haunted and forced to go along with this alive Mei story out of fear.

Or at least that is my rambling theory for now. That the story that was told to us at the beginning of the episode should be treated with a grain of salt.

Another interesting fact is this story is set in 1998. It is 2012 right now. That means Kouichi COULD HAVE been talking to his child who is about to enter this cursed school for the first time. I just think it is very strange to have an anime dated in such a way. Almost like a survivor is telling the new generation how to survive in this crazy town. Which would mean the curse/mystery isn’t solved or isn’t solvable.

Me thinks you should head for the hills now Kouichi.

Kouichi is the typical transfer student. Only he is a 9th grader, not a typical 7th or 10th grader. Meaning these kids have already been in school with each other for quite a while. Oh and he misses the beginning of the school year because of a collapsed lung. A few details are given about Kouichi’s background. Kouichi’s mother died a while ago, Kouichi’s mother and aunt attended the school Kouichi is heading towards, and Kouichi’s father is overseas in India. We never really see Grandma and Grandpa’s face. And Grandpa is pretty broken up about his daughter’s death even though it was a quite a while ago.

Yes. That sounds like an official class position there folks.

Kouichi’s first encounter with his classmates are pretty weird. I am actually surprised they didn’t come in with knives and guns blazing. They were all very stiff and clearly on a mission. I mean….I think they asked him 4 times if he had ever lived in this area before? And apparently shaking his hand was supposed to signify something. If they were trying to hide the truth from Kouichi…well they failed. XD If they were supposed to make him more suspicious of this town well they succeeded WEE!!!

Are you sure Yuno is not down there? Because she might be less than a half by now. XD

Kouichi’s encounter with Mei in the elevator was weird. Maybe Kouichi was just trying to be friendly but I typically don’t like making small talk with people in hospitals. Usually being in a hospital is a bad thing. And clearly Mei was being creepy with going to see her other half with the naked doll. Kouichi didn’t seem too bothered by what she said or where she was going to so he needs to pick up his game if he is going to survive in this town. Now when Mei said her other half was she talking about a twin, the Mei that died 26 years ago, or something completely different? Hmm folks hmm.

Plenty of scenes of the broken down looking school.

Several important things to note in this episode:


While Mei’s desk did look pretty dang old….the rest of the school was looking pretty rundown. Almost like it hasn’t been a real school for a while….

The number of sick and injured people in the class was pretty high. I am assuming Izumi is out with an injury as well.

The classmates kept exchanging looks with each other if Kouichi was not looking directly at them. Like oh crap has he figured it out yet?

The homeroom teacher could have cared less about…anything and anymore. Kouichi didn’t even get a greeting!

I think the bird might have been an important clue. Is Kouichi’s name really Kouichi? Or is the bird correct in what it was saying?

The Aunt was very strict in making sure Kouichi new the rules for this school. Even though it had been over 10 years since she had attended and the fact that many Japanese schools are similar in structure.

Random heart problem kid wanted to go to the school nurses office alone. Another student (Yukari) showed great concern over this fact.

While it is typical that a new student would be shown around campus the way everyone was so adamant about it raised a red flag.

And of course Yukari’s face when Kouichi asks about Mei. I don’t know how to make that face out of symbols though. #__#

Our eyes shifty to the exact same person is not obvious at all.

Now were the students doing a great job keeping a secret from Kouichi? No they weren’t. They could have done a little better with the shifty eyes and the not so obvious questions. However they are just kids. And maybe the adults are leading the parade in the hiding secrets parade from Kouichi (although it does sound like one student is in charge of the secret keeping). So even though teenagers lie all the time they are not necessarily good at it. And it might be hard to lie when someone is running around and hurting all your classmates.

Hi welcome to our school. Everyone thinks you are connected to a death and they are lying to you. Have a great day. XD

Mei was pretty dang creepy on the roof. Especially after Yukari did her exorcism face. While Mei didn’t give away much (as she is probably the main source of the mystery) she did try and clue Kouichi why everyone was treating him weird. His name is very significant to class 3, a class that has a horrible murder in its past. A name all the classmates fear. And if he knows what is good for him he will stay away from her. Also an interesting point is that Mei did not remember meeting Kouichi in the elevator. I am not sure what that means in terms of…well anything. Since Mei may or may not be the same girl from 26 years ago.

Rei sounds a lot like Mei to me......could Kouichi really be Mei and Mei doesn't really exist? That is why Yukari had a WTF face on because err Kouichi is Mei.

So where do I think this show is going? To crazyville. XD But no seriously I think the entire class is dead. Or Kouichi. The story in the beginning was about someone who was dead but people pretended were alive. The phone kept cutting off with Kouichi was on it, everyone thinks Kouichi has lived here before, and he can “see” Mei where maybe other people can’t. Or the entire town/class is dead due to the poor condition of school and what not. But if they were dead they wouldn’t have injuries or sickness. And if they were all dead who cares if Kouichi was the bringer of death.

Kouichi looks so welcomed....

In conclusion I am not sure what this show is about. But the art is pretty grand and the music (well not the stupid opening theme song) fits the creepy thing. Maybe they students could have tried to hide the MYSTERY a little better but everyone pulled off looking paranoid well. And a show that keeps you guessing is a good show. So I am happy I picked this show as one of my winter picks. XD Now I got two mystery/ WTF shows to watch.

Well.....at least Mei fits in with the other creepy people in class. Also glad I wasn't born in Japan. Names are SUPER important there.