Review for Another: Collection

Introduction

We’ve had a bit of bad luck with this particular horror anime. It was initially planned for MVM to release this on Blu-ray as well as DVD. With the UK market as it is, the decision was taken to go halves on production with Australia’s Hanabee Entertainment. We’re both Region B, so the discs will work in either country, and splitting the costs means less risk. It’s a good idea; it’s a great idea, which is no doubt why Hanabee have decided to go halves with Sentai in the US for Blu-rays, getting Region AB discs to shelves even more quickly with lower risk. You’d think that a three-way split would benefit everyone, but Sentai need to get their releases onto shelves very quick, and I doubt they would be inclined to wait for BBFC certification, or having the ratings logo plastered onto the disc. This is why the UK release of Another on Blu-ray has long since vanished from the pre-release schedules. It’s a shame really, as after watching just one episode, it’s clear that this is a show that would benefit greatly from an HD presentation.


It’s important to know the rules when you start school, especially as each school has its own rules. Unfortunately Kouichi Sakakibara missed the start of the school year when he was hospitalised, and when he did start, the class representative that was supposed to tell him about class 9-3’s little foibles was absent. He wound up asking the wrong questions, talking to the wrong people. 26 years previously, a girl died in Class 9-3, but rather than deal with loss of a popular and friendly schoolmate, the other students decided to behave as if she never died. The teachers and the headmaster even went along with the ruse, and at the end of the year, the dead girl ‘graduated’ along with everyone else. But now because of that, Class 9-3 is cursed, and Kouichi really shouldn’t have talked to the introverted and isolated girl with the eye-patch. Because now people have started dying again...


Twelve episodes of Another are presented across two discs from MVM.

Disc 1
1. Rough Sketch
2. Blueprint
3. Bone Work
4. Put Flesh
5. Build Limbs
6. Face to Face

Disc 2
7. Sphere Joint
8. Hair Stand
9. Body Paint
10. Glass Eye
11. Makeup
12. Stand by Oneself

Picture

Another gets a 1.78:1 anamorphic and native PAL transfer on these discs, with the 4% speedup that implies. It’s an excellent transfer for the most part, clear and sharp throughout, with the minimum of aliasing and artefacts. It certainly does the show justice, with strong and vibrant colours, and gorgeous, detailed animation. It’s a show that needs an HD presentation, but with the DVD transfer sourced from an HD master, this is almost as good, and it up-scales a treat to larger screens. The only complaint I might have is with a smidge of compression during the end credits to episode 6. Otherwise, in a show that is dark, moody, and atmospheric as a horror should be, there’s no loss of detail and no lack of clarity.

Sound

You have the choice between DD 2.0 Stereo English and Japanese, with optional translated subtitles and a signs only track. I sampled the English dub to verify that it exists, and note that Greg Ayres plays another teen male lead. That’s enough to get me to pass on the dub. The original audio is effective enough, and the show gets a sympathetic mix that heightens the tension when required, sounds suitably eerie and unsettling, and does all the right thing in getting the mood right. That, coupled with some excellent voice actor performances means that Another really doesn’t put a foot wrong. Well, maybe with the opening credit theme, another barely controlled cacophony from Ali Project, wheeling out the same song yet again after sending the notes through a randomiser. It’s like being hit with a mallet in the face at the start of each episode, “Oi, there some spooky s*** coming up. Prepare to be scared!” about as subtle as a cartoon anvil! The subtitles are free of typographical error and are accurately timed.


There is one problem with the English dub, and proof that the video for this release was sourced from the HD master, not up-scaled from the US DVD master. In episode 12 between timestamps 17:06 and 17:20, one character’s English dialogue is missing completely, the same problem that appeared on Sentai’s Blu-ray release in the US.

Extras

This Sentai show has been localised for PAL regions by Australia’s Hanabee Entertainment, and they present the show with static menus and in a new for Hanabee discs, jacket pictures too. As per Sentai convention, the show maintains the original language credit reel, and adds a translated English language scroll after each episode.


You’ll see trailers for other Hanabee titles including Kids on the Slope, Bakemonogatari, Nisemonogatari, and Dusk Maiden of Amnesia. MVM have released the first two in the UK, are in the process of releasing Nisemonogatari, and have licensed Dusk Maiden of Amnesia for 2014. You’ll also get the textless credits for the show.

The Another Special lasts 4 minutes, and unfortunately isn’t the prequel OVA which was released two months after the end of the series broadcast in Japan. It is instead a music video featuring an SD Mei Misaki.

Conclusion

Another turned out to be surprisingly entertaining for me, which is the last thing that I was expecting. Horror is the last genre that I turn to when it comes to entertainment, and with each episode heralded by yet another Ali Project dirge, I was never in the right frame of mind to start watching another instalment of Another (Like Saw, it’s a daft title to write about). The first few episodes also lived down to my expectations, kicking off with an unwarranted and imposed Shyamalan level of contrived spookiness. Then the end of the third episode happened, and I was suddenly compelled to one-episode-more my way through to the end of the series.


That start is really off-putting for me. There’s no rhyme or reason to it, nothing has happened yet, but the spooky music is there, the moody lighting, the shadows, and the characters are all Shyamalan whispering their dialogue. Furtive glances abound, and the main character is in creepsville from frame one. The three representatives of the class pay him a visit in hospital, a special visit, but they’re reluctant to tell him why, one girl insists on shaking his hand, but won’t tell him why. Then there’s the creepy eye-patch girl in the hospital corridor, holding the creepy doll, all in the first half of the first episode. There’s no precedent to it, it’s just creepy without reason, and that continues into the second half when Kouichi starts school, and enters the class of the creepy kids. They all tell him that there is something he should know, but everyone refuses to tell him. The eye-patch girl is there too, only it looks as if he’s the only one who can see her.


For me, horror needs a reason to be scary, some sort of narrative behind the unsettling imagery, and there’s none of that here. Gothic dolls are scary, so they throw in a doll shop. Dodgy mobile phone signals that drop when conversations get to the juicy bit are an easy way to raise the suspense. In Another, this opening arc uses such tricks to establish the mood, offer little titbits of back-story, as well as plenty of misdirection as well. Once the series gets going, the opening arc makes sense in retrospect, and the moments of misdirection and red herrings lead to really effective plot twists. It’s just that it makes it hard to get into the show the first time around through the opening episodes.


But once the first death occurs, you’ll be hooked. Another has a really high standard of animation, and it also has a lot of inventive and gruesome deaths. When it comes to the various characters’ demises, the story has an inevitability to them that reminds me a little of Final Destination, with death inescapable no matter what the characters may try. Around this time, the spookiness in the show begins to feel justified, rather than an almost comical contrivance and it becomes a race against time for the characters to find a solution for the curse that afflicts them, as more and more of their number fall victim to that curse. The mystery is really well done, and you definitely want to see the oddness of the character dynamics in the show explained, the nature of the curse revealed, as well as the way out of the trap the characters find themselves in.


It’s a mystery that really does work well, and it kept me hooked through to the end of the series, although in my opinion Another goes a little too far in the penultimate episode going from intriguing mystery to Battle Royale inspired bloodbath. It just overeggs the pudding for my liking, but thankfully it does pull it back for the final episode. I don’t like horror as a rule, but Another really turned out to be an exception to that rule. It’s a compelling mystery, and the story grabs the attention and just doesn’t let go once the fatalities start piling up. If you are a fan of horror, this show will probably become a firm favourite. It’s just a shame that MVM/Hanabee/Sentai couldn’t get the OVA episode. If you want this show looking extra pretty, Sentai and Hanabee went halves on the Blu-ray and it should be Region A/B from the US, and it’s definitely Region B compatible in Australia.