I’ve had Another on my anime watch list for a while now and I was finally ready for something dark and macabre. I’m not gonna lie, I was initially disappointed. The first three episodes just seemed to drag; they were boring, I was confused and the characters were annoying me. But I don’t like to give up on an anime and I was well rewarded at the end of the third episode when shit gets real!
The story follows transfer student Kouichi Sakakibara as he begins attending Yomiyama North Middle School after the term has already started. His classmates are welcoming enough, but seem 
really on edge and suspicious of him. No one really wants to answer any of his questions, especially when they relate to Mei Misaki, a girl in his class that only he can see. When some of his classmates and their family members become victims of gruesome and fatal accidents, the curse of Class 3 is revealed. Kouichi, Mei and their remaining classmates must find a way to stop the curse now that it has been set into motion.
It’s after the third episode that the story really gets going, building exponentially in intensity to the thrilling last episode. Even with the pieces falling into place, I was still kept guessing through the entire series. The deaths--and there are a lot of them--are spectacularly gruesome.
Additionally, I loved the animation. The delicate and doll-like characters made a sharp contrast to the grisly violence. I did, however, get a little annoyed with the images of dolls cut in between scenes that didn’t seem to have anything to do with the story in that moment. Maybe that was some subtext I was missing, but they just didn’t do anything for me. Thankfully they don’t last more than a few episodes.
Overall, I enjoyed Another very much and highly recommend it! The series is only 12 episodes, so it’s not a big time commitment and it wraps up nicely without any cliffhangers. It’s a thrilling ghost story drenched in blood!
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