Another

"A rather nightmarish cover, much scarier than the Noizi Ito one."

Author: Yukito Ayatsuji

"Who is the casualty?"

Adaptation decay is a very real phenomenon - I can literally count with my fingers the number of light novel anime adaptations that remained on par with the original, or at least didn't outright suck. Hence when I first watched P.A. Works' adaptation of Another, I felt it was a decent anime but could have used more depth / foreshadowing instead of beating around the bush for a good half of the series.

Fast-forward two years later, I finally picked up a digital copy of Another, figuring I'd give the source material a read and see what P.A. Works skimped on.

Holy Batman, not only was my initial opinion on Another totally off-base, I've gained new respect towards P.A. Works for not only faithfully (... okay let's pretend THAT dance scene never happened) adapting the novel but actually improving on it at points. All the flaws in the anime (pacing, lack of clues, underutilized cast) are entirely the novel's fault.

Another begins with our hero Sakakibara Koichi transferring into a new school in the small village of Yomiyama, due to the nature of his father's profession, as well as a recent medical condition. Upon arriving, he quickly notices an odd classmate of his who wears an eyepatch over her eye. Strangely, his other classmates seem to never interact with her, and at times even tell him to ignore 'things which aren't there'. It isn't long before sinister events start befalling their class, and
Koichi quickly finds himself dragged into the mystery behind his class, an accident 20+ years ago and the enigmatic girl, Misaki Mei.

The above premise sounds interesting enough right? That's because I've conveniently told you the plot for the first half of the novel in one go. Another, on the other hand, seems to enjoy toying with its reader, often giving you information before abruptly cutting off halfway. This might be due to it previously being a serialized story and the author needing to tease readers to come back each week, but for a single novel it can get very infuriating to read at times, and this is coming from a person who already knows the plot of the story thanks to watching the anime beforehand. I can only imagine the frustration of a first-time reader.

If there's one saving grace for the novel, it's that the chapters, being broken frequently into sub-chapters, are very easy to pick up and read, especially during short intervals; I pretty much finished the novel during my lunch breaks at work, reading it on my Note 8.0, and I suspect this is why Yen Press originally released it as a digital download only.

Where to savor:

An old, rarely frequented cafe would be perfect, with just the occasional creaking of the fan or a bike passing by. As a lot of scenes take place during dusk, it would be even better to consume it in the evening before the sun sets.

Most notable quote:
"I look forward to not existing with you tomorrow. Sa. Ka. Ki. Ba. Ra."
- Misaki Mei



Overall thoughts and score:
While by no means a bad novel, after reading it and watching the anime I feel the anime adaptation is vastly superior, as it feels less draggy by giving additional screentime and exposition to side characters who were flat out ignored in the novel (Akuzawa comes to mind). I will still buy the paperback when it's eventually released though, if only to show support for light novel translations, and for that gorgeously horrifying cover.

Overall score:  5 / 10