Another Episode 9 - Episode Review
The darkness grows strong and the list of casualties is about to grow.
What They Say:
The unrest surrounding class 3 has multiplied since the unexpected accident that happened outside Yomiyama. After hearing Matsunaga murmur “…in the classroom” after the accident, Kouichi decides to search the former class 3 homeroom in the old school building. He only asks for help from Teshigawara and Mochizuki to avoid involving anyone else, but Mei joins
in after finding them in the old building, and the four of them begin their investigation…The unrest surrounding class 3 has multiplied since the unexpected accident that happened outside Yomiyama. After hearing Matsunaga murmur “…in the classroom” after the accident, Kouichi decides to search the former class 3 homeroom in the old school building. He only asks for help from Teshigawara and Mochizuki to avoid involving anyone else, but Mei joins
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the discovery that leaving town doesn’t keep you safe from the curse after a very bloody and brutal death at the beach, everything feels even darker and more sinister than it did before. The episode had done a wonderful job of building up some lightness and moments of simple fun as the kids played on the beach and spent time together. After so many dark episodes where the cast barely spoke to each other, giving them a chance for closeness and familiarity was important. And it was just as important to throw it all in their faces with a quick, brutal and bloody death that shows how impotent they all really are.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the discovery that leaving town doesn’t keep you safe from the curse after a very bloody and brutal death at the beach, everything feels even darker and more sinister than it did before. The episode had done a wonderful job of building up some lightness and moments of simple fun as the kids played on the beach and spent time together. After so many dark episodes where the cast barely spoke to each other, giving them a chance for closeness and familiarity was important. And it was just as important to throw it all in their faces with a quick, brutal and bloody death that shows how impotent they all really are.
While that event has left an impact, there’s some intriguing discussion about what the real cause of his death was beyond the boat itself as it’s revealed that other things were afflicting him on the trip and the body showed signs of other problems that aren’t consistent with the boat accident itself. For Kouichi, it’s problematic to say the least as it has him call into question a lot more. Mei seems to accept it, but she’s also just filing away a lot of information. All of this is getting Kouchi to start investigating things more himself, with some help from a couple of the other guys in class, and the clue he’s working on has them wanting to check out the old class three classroom in the previous building. With that being the starting point of everything it certainly makes sense to go back to the original scene in a sense.
The exploration of the old classroom and the bit of the school is suitably creepy, especially since the first thing they discover is that Mei is there as she had no place else to go and just wanted to hang out and it seemed like the best place. The discovery in there of a cassette tape from a student years ago from the class is definitely intriguing and I love that they gave it the proper amount of background noise and static as it played, giving it a very realistic feeling. The voice from the past offers them some advice to be sure and it’s an interesting approach, one you’re almost surprised hasn’t been tried in the recent past or passed down in more of the lore from what has been said over the years. Getting this bit of history is really intriguing and in the end it just enhances and builds up the mystery even more, driving the atmosphere in mood to a new level.
In Summary:
As Another moves into the final arc of its run, it’s really doing a fantastic job of building the mythos here and creating a great sense of mood and atmosphere. The final act here goes a bit long with the flashback that it wants to do, but it has such great material to it and executes it in such a perfect way that you can’t help but to admire it. There are a few slower and weaker moments towards the start, but it all builds towards a good area and has some time spent with dealing with the fallout from the previous episode. There’s a whole lot to like here and it just makes you want the next episode even faster so you can get further into the mystery and what all may happen next. The series is completely engaging and each new revelation and twist has me wanting to revisit previous episodes to see how much of it was laid out before us.
As Another moves into the final arc of its run, it’s really doing a fantastic job of building the mythos here and creating a great sense of mood and atmosphere. The final act here goes a bit long with the flashback that it wants to do, but it has such great material to it and executes it in such a perfect way that you can’t help but to admire it. There are a few slower and weaker moments towards the start, but it all builds towards a good area and has some time spent with dealing with the fallout from the previous episode. There’s a whole lot to like here and it just makes you want the next episode even faster so you can get further into the mystery and what all may happen next. The series is completely engaging and each new revelation and twist has me wanting to revisit previous episodes to see how much of it was laid out before us.
Thanks for your visit..!
