Mystery, death and restlessness. These are the first words that come to mind when talking about ANOTHERmanga written by Yukito Ayatsuji and designed by Hiro Kiyohara. A macabre but decidedly engaging story, the most recent of which New Edition edited by Star Comics was released in Italy on November 10, 2021, always made up of two volumes, like the previous edition, dated 2012 (unlike the very first one, made up of four volumes). But let’s take a closer look at the plot of this miniseries with traits horror And psychological which has fascinated and still fascinates many lovers of the genre in question today.
In 1972 a student of the school North Yomiyama named Misaki, popular and well-liked by all, in the eighth grade he died suddenly in an accident; his companions, unable to accept the tragic event, continued to pretend that the boy was still alive, to the point that during the graduation ceremony it seems that Misaki unexpectedly appeared in the group photo of the students. From the following year several members of the third grade, including relatives and teachers, began to die under mysterious circumstances. This is what the new member of that class will discover in 1998, that is Kouichi Sakakibara, just moved from Tokyo. The latter will also realize that one of his companions, Meiis not taken into consideration by the other students, indeed it is treated by everyone just as if it did not exist, therefore Sakakibara will begin to investigate the behavior of the companions and the chilling deaths of Yukari Sakurai and his mother, of Sanae Mizuno, Ikuo Takabayashi, and of the Professor Kubodera… What truth lies behind this whole series of disconcerting events?
- Original title: ア ナ ザ ー Anazā
- English title: Another
- Japanese release: 2010
- Italian release: November 10, 2021
- Number of volumes: 2 (complete)
- Publishing house: Star Comics
- Gender: horror, thriller, supernatural, thriller
- Drawings: Hiro Kiyohara
- History: Yukito Ayatsuji
- Format: 15 × 21, b / ne col., Dust jacket
- Number of pages: 360 by volume
We reviewed Another via the Collector’s Box provided to us by Star Comics.
The mystery of the third C.
Reading this manga we know several characters, almost all students or professors of the Yomiyama North school. The hero male of the story as well narrating voice of the same, is Kouichi Sakakibara, a fifteen-year-old boy who moves to the city of Yomiyama to live with his grandparents and aunt while his father is abroad for work. Unfortunately Sakakibara suffers from health problems, in particular he is hospitalized at the very beginning of the story due to a pneumothorax, that is a laceration of a lung with consequent accumulation of air inside it, caused by an excessive stress. The boy has a gentle soul, is rather reflective and emotional; after a few days of hospitalization he starts attending the Yomiyama Nord school and immediately makes friends with his classmates, although a decidedly tense atmosphere reigns in its class. Of all the girls in his class, she intrigues him right away Mei Misaki, a lonely, reserved, mysterious and in some ways disturbing girl. Mei wears a blindfold on her left eye, defined by herself as “the doll’s eye”, which is directly linked to the fact that her family runs a small antiques shop inside which there is also a laboratory for making dolls.
If from the beginning Mei appears very unfriendly towards Sakakibara, with the following one another, the relationship between the two will tend to consolidate more and more: they will in fact spend more and more time together not only because of the investigations they will undertake to try to understand and stop the disaster that has long affected their class, but also thanks to the similar interests that the two of them cultivate and the family situations that both they find to live. Secondary characters are also assigned a key role, in that one of the strengths of this manga undoubtedly lies in knowing how to create a dense intertwining of various elements and existencesand then here is that among the other students of the third class C stand out Sakurai, Mochizuki, Teshigawara and Akazawa, as well as other people involved in class events, such as Miss Mizuno, Professor Miami, Mr. Chibiki and Professor Kubodera.
Misaki was among the most popular people in his school but, after changing classes, he lost his life in an accident. His companions could not accept his sudden disappearance, and continued to act as if nothing had happened. On the day of the graduation ceremony, however, something strange happened. The fact that Misaki’s face appeared in the class photo was also difficult to explain… Twenty-six years have passed since then.
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A thrilling suspense
As mentioned above, one of the noteworthy features of Another is certainly its ability to literally keep the reader glued to the pages. We have in fact in front of a seinen yellow and in some ways psychological, which it does not contain only one history, but all those of the different characters, wisely linked and intertwined with each other thanks to a common thread. The pace of the story may seem slow, but at the right point, being able to create that much loved one suspense which makes the public eager to reach a turning point, just like the protagonists, and to discover the truth little by little. The issues addressed are many: the meaning that each of us attributes to loss and death, as opposed to that of life; suicide, which also leads to the end of an existence, seen as a liberating but very bloody and painful act. One of the other topics dealt with is then belonging to a social group, in this case a class of students, with all the rules that this cohesion entails; it also talks about values such as family and friendship, the importance of feeling appreciated and considered, as well as the ability to accept others and ourselves as they are / we are.
Regarding the technical aspect of the manga we can note that the large format makes the tables are easily appreciated, which are of considerable visual impact, as they represent a rather suggestive setting, made such by Kiyohara both through a meticulous attention to the natural elements (atmospheric events or landscape views), and to the material and architectural ones (objects, buildings). The backgrounds appear at times detailed, at others just hinted at or completely non-existent; when cured, they show themselves totally in line with the expressiveness and moods of the characters, thus creating a perfect symbiosis between the individual and the surrounding nature. To complete the whole there are some color inserts, made mainly with dark colors and cold tones, as is the case for the glossy dust jackets of both volumes.
Also as regards the value for money Another has all the credentials: each of the two volumes costs € 10.90, so it is possible to get the complete series with just over twenty euros, a fair expense if we examine the manga. also from an aesthetic and editorial point of view, including paper weight. At the end of the second volume we find a post Scriptum by the author of the original work dated 2011, in which Ayatsuji compliments Kiyohara for the quality of his drawings and his technique, extremely fascinating.
Who do we recommend Another to?
For sure Another it is recommended for lovers of the genre horror, therefore to those who are not afraid in front of grim scenes and the sight of blood, because of violent deaths in this manga we see many, perhaps even too many. In any case, we must not think that we are dealing with a story exclusively centered on death, as it deals with, as we have already underlined, various topics, and it does so with a delicacy and at the same time with an unusual depth. I would therefore recommend this manga also to those who are always ready to undertake long and accurate reflections on important issues and to those who are looking for an engaging story from every point of view.
- Perfect harmony between narration, illustration and setting
- Clean and precise strokes
- An engaging and suspenseful thriller
- Backgrounds absent in some tables
Another
An engaging and exciting story
Initially born as graphic novel, and only later adapted in the manga version, Another is able to involve and amaze the public in all its forms, even more so with this new edition, which in just two full-bodied but compact volumes shows us the fruit of the genius of two incredible artists. Ayatsuji and Kiyohara have in fact collaborated giving life to a perfectly structured work, whose incipit it already makes us understand that nothing is never what it seems and that, very often, what appears difficult to accept can actually be explained in a very simple way. This manga therefore contains a breathtaking story, full of twists, mystery and small clues that, if caught by the reader, will automatically lead him to the truth that, without realizing it, he has always had before his eyes. The illustrations are also of excellent quality, impeccable and very rich in pathosincluding those of the dust jackets, much more contextualized than those of the previous edition.
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