You know what? Everyone keeps praising Ano Natsu for its down to earth romance, but with this, I think that Another has beaten it. Especially after Ano Natsu came with that awful sixth episode.
A large part of this episode just showed Mei and Kouichi casually talk to each other and about themselves, and surprisingly it felt really natural. There were no cliches like shyness or random fanservice, and for once the creators actually allowed them to talk. And holy crap. I just realized how not often such a thing happens: long conversations between love interests. There were also these small scenes of them looking at each other that were neat touches. The only thing that stood out as weird was that dance scene, but even there: I am so glad that for once the creators went with an original fantasy. Most of the time they just stick to males sparkling, and females undressing.
The second half fleshed out the basic premise of this series more. It’s interesting how there is one guy who pretty much has been with the mystery from the start, and also doesn’t really have anything to hide. Instead, the creators used this artificial amnesia to create most of the mystery after this point: traces of the ghost that it’s trying to hide in order to stay unnoticed. It’s in any case established that the death of Kouichi’s mother was something special. In the meantime though, we have a teacher going crazy.
Rating: ** (Excellent)
This episode deserves a *** rating. Fantastic episode.
Or a **** rating. I’m already anxious for the next episode.
Analyzing this series in terms of writing and storytelling, I’ve been quite impressed with what gets focused on in every scene, and what gets revealed from episode to episode. There’s a level of ingenuity to this series I don’t see often in anime–it’s not just entertaining at a basic level, but it’s also keeping me intrigued at an intellectual and emotional level as well. With each passing episode, there are more puzzle pieces to work with, and more mysteries to take into consideration. And at the same time–there’s both a dilemma of horrific proportions, as well as a gradually building romance that I’m really getting into.
Great stuff. I just hope the second half of the series will deliver on everything it’s done so well to set up.
I still think Ano Natsu>Another, romance-wise.
That last episode of Ano Natsu was just lame. I can understand wanting to drive the romance forward but introducing 2 random side characters with no build up at all was really not the way to do it! It was just plain lazy writing.
But yeah .. loving Another and that ‘dance’ scene was just pure gold. Watching this show you’re on the edge all the time and to have the tension released in such an odd way was just so refreshing.
I’ll agree with you on Ano Natsu’s sixth episode. It jumped straight into the fire with that horribly uninspired setting, but as far as romance goes, I’d say Ano Natu is a pretty good show. Of course, Another surprised me greatly by this change of pace.
I liked this episode for the same reasons. I do need to re-watch the part where they discussed how the curse worked. That was a bit of an info dump and I lost track of what was going on. Other than that I was happy to see Mei and Kouichi’s relationship explored a bit more.
Psgels, it’s not fair to say that another beats Ano Natsu in romance because romance isn’t even part of Another’s goal. With Ano Natsu we have a series focused on it. In Another however we have one episode with a few scenes of romance. I mean hell, one or two scenes at the most.
I do agree that the romance in those scenes is down to earth. But honestly I think you are speaking too soon. We have yet to even know if anything will come out of this. It might amount to simple one sided affection.
And Ano Natsu 6th episode wasn’t that bad. I sighed when I seen it was going to be a beach episode but all things considered I thought it was done quite well.
that’s what i think, if they ignore you in the class, what happens when you are making a fuss, and bam he was imagine dancing in classroom, that’s a good thing
This was a great episode! The one thing that really caught my attention this episode was the phone conversation between Kouichi and his dad. Did his dad just let something slip, or is it just me…?
The dance was awesome. Seriously who wouldn’t want to do that if you were in the same situation?
This was a lovely episode. No killings this week, just two outcasts learning more about each other. I like how Sakakibara is making the best of the situation: so what if no one in class will talk to him…he has Misaki! She also seems to have livened/opened up more.
For a moment I thought the show had jumped the shark (in a good way!) with that dance fantasy, which established that Sakakibara is starting to fall for Misaki. If I were him, I’d cook her some lunches ASAP so that some color will return to her.
The cliffhanger was a little annoying though. There’s clearly weapons in that bag, just get on with it!
Yeah, the dance scene was pretty much a fantasy built upon “Hey, if everyone has to ignore me, I wonder what I can get away with”.
Which is good.
Great episode. I was thinking this might turn into a “Final Destination” rip (which is plot-less drivel to me), but now we’re going into some real story.
My earlt assumptions were *dead* wrong, so here goes a second round.
Reiko gives me serious pause, with her headaches, fatigue, and memory lapses. Those, coupled with the bird’s “Why, Rei?”, and her father’s lamenting about her and Ritsuko, make me think she may be something other than what she seems.
Is the extra (dead) person limited to being a student, or could it be a teacher, as well?
At any rate, this series keeps me checking for new eps days when I know I’m days too early. Must see the next one!