This is a transcript of a video review posted here: https://youtu.be/W9VkycsiVH0

"That Misaki girl was famous since elementary one. She was good in both studies and sport. Even her personality was outstanding.
As I was saying, after becoming a third year she transferred over to the 3rd class, and died after the incident occurred
That sudden death caused her classmates to cry. Even her form teacher stopped speaking and the class felt haunted.
Then, someone spoke.
Misaki didn’t die, look she’s right there"

I’ve been on somewhat of a psychological binge, recently finishing The Flowers of Evil and starting Boy’s Abyss, regardless these were a while apart and I was going through an anime burnout, that was before I watched Another. With it being one of the more popular anime out there it was a surprise I hadn’t seen it sooner; I’d heard a lot about it and seen Misaki Mei’s face more than once perusing the internet.
Another is often disregarded by a fair few people, but perhaps today I can convince you to watch if you haven’t already, the anime that pulled me out of that burnout- the story of someone no one can see, the story of one too many, Another.

Another certainly isn’t an unknown anime, by any means, if you go to any anime-related forum or discussion on social media you’ll see it quite often. Yet the frequency was at such a level that it was just little enough for me to consider it a show I didn’t need to watch immediately. Thus, like many shows, it went into my plan to watchlist with little to no intention of watching any time soon.

I believe that was a big mistake, Another is an anime best enjoyed casually. It’s a fun rollercoaster that at points is a story you almost certainly don’t need to take seriously. I originally intended to read the manga, after not having consistently watched anime in a while I wanted the convenience of experiencing the story at my leisure and not having to sit down and commit to it. I read its opening 6 pages and immediately changed my mind.

The opening of Another is particularly captivating, it sets up the premise of the story, a mystery about a girl who died somewhere between 2 and 3 decades ago (depending on the version) called Misaki, a student that was meant to be dead somehow being seen as alive. It’s a bizarre mystery and the anime, novel and manga all start in the same poignant way.
We of course move to the present day and are introduced to our main character Kouichi Sakakibara who is moving back to his hometown and the stage is set for a second mystery to occur.

That mystery being the one of Misaki Mei.

This Misaki has a mystery much the polar opposite of the one we’re introduced to at the beginning, only one person can see her, that of course being Kouichi. To the rest of the world, the girl, Misaki Mei may as well not exist at all.

Whilst such a set up isn’t too abnormal from mystery fiction, it does serve to be a genuinely engaging introduction which left me with many questions going forward. That is the part of Another that kept me watching and engaged the whole time, the mystery element of it.

It’s quite often a debate of whether Another belongs to the horror genre, especially considering everyone’s definition of horror isn’t quite the same. Another was not a psychological horror to me just a rather engaging mystery but to someone else it could quite equally be a shoddy mystery and a captivating horror.

At the core of it I enjoyed the psychological elements more than the horror- it explores what it means to be truly alone and the human need to be recognised and perceived. Its opening episodes are truly great for presenting this and particularly the voice acting for Kouichi done by Atsushi Abe and Misaki voiced by Natsumi Takamori created very engaging performances that enhanced the story and dynamic between a girl who seems almost inhuman and a very humanly average boy struggling to find out what’s really happening at his new school.

I believe where the reviews are so divided at least from my own conclusions is how the story progresses from that point, further away from a mystery in an attempt to shock the viewer. However, I have to disagree with this, where many saw a vein and hollow attempt at forcing the audience to be shocked, to me it rang a true feeling of hopelessness and loneliness.
The mystery in Another is beyond what I’d even begin to label as realistic, its characters and premise beyond what I’d even begin to label as believable. But not every story, particularly psychological, has to conform to what we’d expect of the human mind. By betraying these expectations, it instead gives a thrilling and warped view of characters rather than people. When placed in such an unreal and fantastical situation, its not too much of a stretch for there to be an element of sacrificing believability. By doing so, Another builds an atmosphere of isolation, presented all too well by its use of weather and particularly its composition and music. Its no surprise with the music being done by the same composer as Shadow of the Colossus, a game that brings the idea of isolation I keep hearkening back to seeping into its world. Everything about Another is empty, and even when its playing on tropes we’re all familiar with cough cough beach episode, it still manages to maintain the palpable atmosphere the whole time.

“No matter how many connections we have in life, we’re all alone in the end”- Misaki Mei

Another wears its themes on its sleeve like this for its entire runtime, for a mystery it is surprisingly not as obtuse as one might expect and is most certainly not a perfect show by any means, and its not one on any day I could label as a masterpiece, it has its fair share of flaws but I think its qualities aren’t stated nearly enough. Another is a show that’s gonna stick around in my head for a while and for those who haven’t watched it, I have a suspicion it might do the same, its dark world, ambient rain and music, the atmosphere of loneliness and its bleak backgrounds- the story of a girl no one can see, the story of one too many, the story of Another.