Another: Complete Collection [Blu-ray]

Mei Misaki was cute, athletic and one of the most popular girls in her school. Why should a little thing like death change that? Now, twenty-three years after Mei's mysterious demise, a new transfer student discovers that not only is his school's student body one corpse short of a full roster, but that some secrets never leave high school. And what's more, all of this may somehow be tied to his own family past. What is the secret and how does it all connect? And even if Kouichi does figure it out, will that knowledge help save him? As the school bells toll a deadly dirge and students begin to die, things that were never properly buried come back to haunt the high school of the damned in ANOTHER! The supernatural horror tale Another (2012) is adapted from a novel by Yukito Ayatsuji and illustrated by Noizi Ito. While his professor-father works in India, Kouichi Sasakibara is sent to Yamiyama Junior High, the school his late mother attended. But he's put into Class 3, the "cursed class." Twenty-six years ago, a popular student named Mei Misaki died during the school year, but everyone in Class 3 pretended she was still there and could graduate with her friends. Since then, the class has been haunted by the presence of one extra person who causes the death of other students, usually in bizarre accidents. As they see their classmates die, Kouichi and his traumatized friends feel increasingly helpless: Who will be next? How can they protect themselves? Who is the extra person, "the dead who must be sent back to death"? And who is the mysterious girl with the eye patch--another Mei Misaki, whom everyone else in the class ignores? Director Tsutomo Mizushima skillfully keeps the viewer slightly off-balance with real and false clues and eerie imagery, especially the decaying dolls in the museum where Kouichi and Mei meet. Like Shiki and When They Cry, Another feels genuinely creepy because of what the filmmakers don't show. The violence begins slowly, which gives the terrible climax a punch Hellsing and similar nonstop gore fests can't match. Another is not a series to watch alone late at night, but it's a disturbingly effective one. (Rated TV 14 V: violence, violence against women, grotesque imagery, profanity, tobacco use) --Charles Solomon

(1. Rough Sketch, 2. Blueprint, 3. Bone Work, 4. Put Flesh, 5. Build Limbs, 6. Face to Face, 7. Sphere Joint, 8. Hair Stand, 9. Body Paint, 10. Glass Eye, 11. Makeup, 12. Stand by Oneself)