Anime Quick Thoughts: Another

Episode 8 - Hair Stand

Summary

Kouichi and the others go with Reiko to the resort where Matsunaga works, but he’s away when they get there. In the meantime, since they’re outside Yomiyama, it’s summer, and the sea’s right there – beach time! By coincidence (totally!), Mei’s summer house is right nearby, so she turns up as well. We learn that her father is rarely in Japan, and these trips are mostly so the family can put up a pretense of normalcy.

After a day of horsing around and having fun, Matsunaga gets Reiko’s message and comes to see them. Kouich, Mei, and Akazawa question him about what he did fifteen years ago, but neither he nor Reiko is able to remember much. They remember that someone died on the mountain, that they went to the shrine, which is apparently rather run-down, and everyone joined hands, but not much else. Then Matusnaga realizes whatever he left behind is actually at the school. The wind suddenly picks up and blows the beach ball out into the water. Nakao (the guy who glared at Kouichi that one time) goes to get it but suddenly loses consciousness in the water. Before the others can get to him he’s killed by a boat propeller. Matusnaga suddenly remembers where he left a clue – it’s in the classroom.

Thoughts

Forget Yomiyama – this curse kills when people start to look too deeply into what’s going on. It’s that or leaving Yomiyama is as much of a crapshoot as making someone nonexistent.

It didn’t help that the whole setup for the episode – everyone having fun at the beach because they’re safe from the curse – was basically a giant neon sign flashing ‘somebody’s gonna bite it at the end!’ And, unsurprisingly, it was one of the two people there who’ve been background characters until now. As usual, I’m not saying that anyone who died deserved it, but in a series where the main source of tension is supposedly worrying about who’s going to die next, having bland characters isn’t going to make the deaths meaningful or shocking.

Really, it’s starting to look like character development is actually a sign that a character is safe. Which is odd, because if the curse really doesn’t want to be stopped you’d think it’d kill those who are showing an active interest in figuring out what’s going on. Akazawa says on the way to the beach that she volunteered to become head of countermeasures specifically to put a stop to the curse, and Kouichi has been showing initiative lately by being the one most actively seeking out additional information. Wouldn’t killing them make more sense? At least it make them more active characters, and Kouichi’s earlier curiosity less of a plot convenience since it’s still in evidence even after he’s been brought up to speed.

Still, neither compares to Mei, who’s easily the most fleshed-out character in the series. She started out as this mysterious and enigmatic girl, but we’ve since gotten some insight into her personal convictions (although being accustomed to isolation may have played more of a role in her acceptance of the non-existence role than I gave credit for), and this episode, especially her sullen expression when the mound of sand she was building got washed away, showed her emotional side. That and freaking out when a tiny octopus bit her hand showed a vulnerability that contrasts with the air of detachment she usually has. All told, I’d say she’s rather stoic about her situation – given her family history she’s clearly used to it – but she still feels lonely, and one can only bear so much of that. More than thinking she was being bullied by the others, that’s why Kouichi’s been reaching out to her; at this point it’s obviously because he likes her, but before that he just wanted to be her friend. She may be a little uncertain how to respond, but she can tell that’s what he’s doing, and I think she appreciates it.