Sometimes a cover of a book or a poster of a movie draws your attention. At times you can’t even explain why or find a reason for it. It just holds power over you in some mysterious way. This does not always mean that because a book has a cool cover, or a movie has a neat poster, that the book or movie itself are good. You do know you can’t judge a book by it’s cover right? Why am I even talking about this you ask? Well, when browsing for a new Anime I came across the picture that I put above this review. For some reason it drew my attention….and boy am I glad it did. Because Another has been one of the best animated shows I have ever seen. Not only that, it also featured one of the most intriguing stories I have ever come across, in either live action or anime.

It is 1998 when the 15 year old boy, Kouichi Sakakibara returns to his hometown of Yomiyama. His father has to work abroad, so he now lives with his grandparents. Before going to school, he unfortunately has to spend a whole month in the hospital. A few of his new classmates of the 9 th grade class 3 eventually come to visit him, but they act very strangely. When Kouichi finally has recovered enough to go to school, he is beginning to experience some very weird things. He meets a mysterious girl with an eyepatch, called Mei Misaki. But why is it that at times it seems only Kouichi can see her? When people in his class begin to die, it is beginning to dawn on Sakakibara that there is a terrible curse on class 3. A curse that apparently no one in class 3 can escape from….

Now I know there are some people out there who might not even try to watch this. It is animated, and so it must be for kids right? Wrong….this is definitely not for kids. It is one of the best horror/mystery shows I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Another is based on the novel of the same name by author, Yukito Ayatsuji. (A novel I have now immediately ordered online after concluding this series). The best way to describe it is a mix between one of the best Agatha Christie novels and the Final Destination horror movie series. It draws you in with the first episode, and keeps you in suspense right up until the end. Everything about this 12 part series is simply put: awesome. The animation is spot on, the music is fantastic, and the voice acting is superb. This has been one of the best things I have seen all year, and yes it is animated but it almost doesn’t feel like you are watching an Anime. It really is that good. Now please don’t take my word for it, but just give it a try. I dare you not to get drawn in right away and try to figure out what is going on. Be careful not to get caught up in the curse though…

I give Another a 10 out of 10 score.