Monday, 30 January 2012

Another - Episode 4

After that incident with the umbrella last week, worries about the "curse" of class three have understandably amplified - even more so considering the fact that Sakuragi's moehter was also killed in an accident on the same day as her daughter.

Our protagonist Kouichi misses the direct aftermath of the incident out of a requirement for a check-up on his lung, although the hospital does seem to be suspiciously busy, leaving nurse Mizuno working overtime as a result.  Still, she finds time after Kouichi's check-up to shoot the breeze about the latest gossip, as they discuss the accident and the odd nature of classmate Mei Misaki, which Mizuno has some interest in given that her brother is also a member of class three.


Mizuno aside, Kouchi finds himself with nobody to speak to about what's going on - a visit to the creep doll store brings him into contact with Mei but offers no further clues, while neither his aunt nor his classmates will fill him in on any further details, with the recent accident making him more of a pariah than ever before as his terrified cohorts try to plan some new "countermeasures" to ensure their safety from the curse.  With Kouichi and a friend narrowly avoiding one nasty accident which the former writes off as a mere coincidence, the sense of foreboding only grows until we reach some more decidedly gruesome scenes come the end of the episode.  I can see myself taking the stairs for the foreseeable future - provided I'm not carrying an umbrella at the time, of course.

Although Another continues to be quite a slow-burner overall it's most certainly beginning to pick up pace, turning its creepy aura into creepier incidents and behaviour via its slickly driven visuals and fantastic use of audio.  My only real worry at this point is that the show is going to spiral into a "violent death of the week" structure - it'll need more to keep itself afloat than lots of mystery with the odd outpouring of blood, so I really hope that the coming instalments shake things up a bit and strike out in different directions.  Only time will tell, but it's time I'm willing to give this darkly gorgeous and fascinating show.

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