- ASIDE FROM "CORPSE PARTY", THIS IS THE OTHER ANIME SERIES THAT I CAN REALLY SAY TRULY BELONGED UNDER THE CATEGORY 'HORROR' .. YOU SHOULD CHECK IT OUT YOURSELF .. :)
I RATE THIS 9/10 !
Another (アナザー Anazā?) is a Japanese mystery horror novel by Yukito Ayatsuji, published on October 29, 2009 by Kadokawa Shoten. The story focuses on a boy named Kōichi Sakakibara who, upon transferring into Yomiyama Middle School and meeting the curious Mei Misaki, finds himself in a mystery revolving around students and people related to his class falling victim to gruesome, senseless deaths.
A manga adaptation by Hiro Kiyohara was serialized between the May 2010 and January 2012 in the issues of Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace. Both the novel and the manga have been licensed in North America by Yen Press. A 12-episode anime TV series produced by P.A. Works aired in Japan between January 10 and March 27, 2012, with an original video animation released on May 26, 2012, and a live-action film was released in Japanese theatres on August 4, 2012.
PLOT
In 1972, Misaki, a popular student of Yomiyama North Middle School's class 3-3, suddenly died partway through the school year. Devastated by the unexpected loss, the students and teachers behaved like Misaki was still alive, leading to a strange presence on the graduation photo. In Spring 1998, 15-year-old Kōichi Sakakibara transfers into Yomiyama's class 3-3, where he meets Mei Misaki, a strange student whom their classmates and teachers seemingly ignore. The class is soon caught up in a strange phenomenon, in which students and their relatives begin to die in mysterious, gruesome ways. Realizing that these deaths are related to the "Misaki of 1972", it is up to Kōichi and Mei to discover the cause of these mysterious deaths and figure out how to stop it before it kills them.
CHARACTERS
Main characters
- Kōichi Sakakibara (榊原 恒一 Sakakibara Kōichi?)
- A 15-year-old boy who transferred to Yomiyama North Middle's class 3-3 from Tokyo in 1998, but was hospitalized due of a pneumothorax before the school year began. Kōichi stays with his grandparents and aunt Reiko, while his father conducts research in India. He befriends Mei Misaki despite warnings against doing so, and works with his classmates to uncover the truth behind the curse of class 3-3. It is hinted that he has feelings for Mei.
- Mei Misaki (見崎 鳴 Misaki Mei?)
- An unusual girl in Kōichi's class. She wears a white eyepatch over her left eye, a doll's eye crafted by her adoptive mother. She claims it allows her to see the "color of death"—an indicator to signify if a person is dead, or (in the case of class 3-3) is supposed be dead. At first, she is completely ignored by her classmates and sits in an old, scratched desk at the back of the classroom. Kōichi first meets her on the elevator of Yūmigaoka Hospital, as she delivers a doll to her now-dead cousin Misaki, and they gradually become closer. It is hinted that she has feelings for Sakakibara.
Kōichi's relatives
- Yōsuke Sakakibara (榊原 陽介 Sakakibara Yōsuke?)
Kōichi's father. A college professor currently doing research in India. He regularly calls his son to chat and constantly complains about the heat.
Kōichi's late mother, who died 15 years ago right after giving birth to him. She was a student in Yomiyama Middle School's class 3-3 back in 1972, thus being one of Misaki Yomiyama's classmates. She died in 1983, the same year her sister Reiko Mikami was in class 3-3, therefore being a victim of the curse.
Kōichi's aunt from Ritsuko's side, and class 3-3's deputy homeroom teacher.[3] She gives her nephew advice about Yomiyama Middle School through a series of "rules". One of them is to separate their private life from their school life; thus, Kōichi addresses her as Reiko at home and Ms. Mikami at school. She is revealed to be the "dead one" of the calamity in 1998; she originally drowned in 1996 as class 3-3's homeroom teacher.
Mei's relatives
Mei Misaki's adoptive mother. She is also the owner of "The Hollow Blue Eyes of Yomi at Twilight", a ball-jointed doll store/museum. She goes under the pseudonym Kirika (霧果?). She had a stillbirth 12 years ago, which made her obsessed with dolls; this hobby has led to her and Mei treating each other as strangers, which surprises Kōichi.
First introduced as Mei's "other half" and later as her cousin, she was the person whom Mei was delivering a present to at the morgue of Yūmigaoka Hospital. In reality, she is Mei's twin sister, raised separately after birth, though they occasionally met each other. Has a more cheerful personality than Mei. Misaki and Mei's biological mother is named Mitsuyo. Misaki died in the hospital from leukemia in April, thus making her the "Death of April".
Receptionist at the doll shop, and Mei's grandaunt.
Yomiyama North Middle School
Class 3-3 students
- Izumi Akazawa (赤沢 泉美 Akazawa Izumi?)
- A student in charge of countermeasures, she devises and upholds means to deal with the 3-3 calamity. She resents Mei for ignoring the rules, as she feels her actions undermine the countermeasures and cause the deaths to continue.[6] She dies during the summer trip, when she falls off a veranda and breaking her neck while being pursued by Keiko Numata. She is one of the seven "Deaths of August".
- Naoya Teshigawara (敕使河原直哉 Teshigawara Naoya?)
- A friend of Kōichi, whom he nicknames "Sakaki". A sports lover with a superficial personality, he was asked to explain the situation to Kōichi but has trouble going through with it.
- Yūya Mochizuki (望月 優矢 Mochizuki Yūya?)
- A member of the Art Club. He along with Teshigawara help Kōichi unravel the 3-3 calamity. He appears to have a crush on Ms. Mikami, often inquiring as to her health and whereabouts.
- Tomohiko Kazami (風見 智彦 Kazami Tomohiko?)
- He's one of the class delegates and an honor student. He is also Teshigawara's childhood friend.
- Yukari Sakuragi (桜木 ゆかり Sakuragi Yukari?)
- One of the class delegates, and friends with Akazawa. She is killed when she trips down the stairs and impales her neck on the sharp end of her umbrella, right after being notified about her mother Mieko's death. She and her mother are the "Deaths of May".
- Ikuo Takabayashi (高林郁夫 Takabayashi Ikuo?)
- He has a weak heart that kept him from attending school regularly, as is usually seen sitting at the sidelines during P.E.. He eventually dies from a heart attack, making him one of the "Deaths of June".
- Takako Sugiura (杉浦多佳子 Sugiura Takako?)
- She is always in Akazawa's group. She died during the summer trip, one of the seven "Deaths of August".
- Yumi Ogura (小椋 由美 Ogura Yumi?)
- She is the sister of hikikomori (social recluse) Atsushi Ogura, who dies after a truck carrying an excavator crashes into his house. Atsushi is one of the "Deaths of July".
- Junta Nakao (中尾 順太 Nakao Junta?)
- He appears to have a crush on Akazawa, which is what drives his decision to participate in the summer trip, during which he died, making him one of the seven "Deaths of August".
- Manabu Maejima (前島 学 Maejima Manabu?)
- A member of the kendo club. He died during the summer trip when he was stabbed by Takabayashi's grandmother from the back, he's one of the seven "Deaths of August".[7]
- Shigeki Yonemura (米村 茂樹 Yonemura Shigeki?)
- He is a ranked A student in class. He died during the summer trip, one of the seven "Deaths of August".[7]
Faculty
- Mr. Kubodera (久保寺 Kubodera?)
- Class 3-3 homeroom teacher. After realizing that the countermeasures to the class 3-3 calamity are not working, he kills his comatose mother by smothering, before stabbing himself in the neck in front of the class. He and his mother are the two "Deaths of July".
- Tatsuji Chibiki (千曳 辰治 Chibiki Tatsuji?)
- Librarian of the auxilary library. He was the teacher for class 3-3 in 1972, the year Misaki Yomiyama died. Some years later, he resigned as a teacher but stayed on as librarian, claiming that he was "running away [from the curse]". Since then, he's kept a record of the phenomena, the deceased and their connections; and shares his findings with Kōichi and Mei.
Others
- Misaki Yomiyama (夜見山 岬 Yomiyama Misaki?)
- The honor student from Yomiyama Middle School's class 3-3 in 1972. He was extremely popular and well-liked by his peers and teacher. He died in a senseless house fire that also claimed the lives of his brother and both his parents.[12] His classmates were so heartbroken by his untimely death and couldn't accept it, that they decided to act a ritual as if he were still alive, which led to a mysterious photo with the supposely dead Misaki in it, and the calamity of class 3-3 began.[13]
- Sanae Mizuno (水野 沙苗 Mizuno Sanae?)
- A nurse at Yūmigaoka Hospital, with a younger brother named Takeru in class 3-3. She tries to assist Kōichi in unraveling the mystery of Yomiyama North by giving him information she gleans from discussions with her colleagues and her brother. She is killed when the elevator she was riding drops down the shaft, with the ceiling crushing her, making her a "Death of June".
- Katsumi Matsunaga (松永 克己 Matsunaga Katsumi?)
- A former Yomiyama North Middle School student from class 3-3 of 1983, and one of Reiko's classmates. During 1983, he managed to successfully stop the calamity in class 3-3, making this the only recorded case of the phenomenon stopping halfway through the year. Afraid he would forget his findings, he recorded his theories and confession on an audio cassette for future students to find. After graduation, he moved to Tokyo to pursue his studies. He became a banker, but quit after a few years, returning to Yomiyama to help with the family business. He is a regular at Inoya Cafė, where Tomoka Inose works.
- Tomoka Inose (猪瀬 知香 Inose Tomoka?)
- Yūya's older half-sister. A waitress at Inoya Cafė, she attended Yomiyama North Middle School during 1983, though she was not part of class 3-3. Although aware of the rumours about said class, she did not believe them until Yūya, fearing for her life, explained the situation to her. Katsumi Matsunaga is a regular at the cafe where she works.
- Keiko Numata (沼田 恵子 Numata Keiko?)
- Ikuo Takabayashi's grandmother. A gentle warm-hearted grandmother, though she proved to be an insane crone murderer due to Ikuo's death. She is responsible for the murder of Manabu Maejima, Izumi Akazawa, Takako Sugiura, Junta Nakao, Shigeki Yonemura, and her husband Kensaku during the summer trip. She then proceeded to commit suicide by biting off her tongue, making her along with her husband one of the seven "Deaths of August".
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