Another(アナザー) Episode S/0 Novel Thoughts

   This will be my second post talking about a book. I'm excited since I never really got to talk about books that I read on my youtube channel. It wasn't the same as actually writing about my thoughts anyway.

    The novel that has the spotlight today is titled Another Episode S/0. Please note that this is the North America release so i'm not sure if people outside of the United States and Japan had the chance to read this novel. I'm not even sure if the format is the same. The North American version has a manga chapter in the back of the book containing the lost episode of the main character's Aunt and the events that happened to her, his mother, and others. I know that in Japan, This was a separate manga but America got the novel and manga together which is a great selling method.

  I will tell you a little bit about the series Another, since some of you readers may not be familiar with the series. The story focuses on a curse that was activated when a student in a class died in a sudden accident. He was loved by everyone and the class could not except that he had died so they started to pretend that he was still alive. Soon the teachers even started to play along as the class talked and laughed with their dead student, Misaki like he was still alive. This causes a curse to fall upon any of the students that were assigned to the class 3-A. There would be on and off years. If it was an on year, anyone associated with the class would die each month. I could be a student or family members were even fair game. Think Final Destination only with a classroom and middle school students. One class of students found away to stop the curse by picking a person to "not exist" in order to even out the number of the person added to the class. Oh yes, A person is added to the class during an on year and the class doesn't know who that person could be. Sakakibara Koichi transfers to the town of Yomiyama right into class 3-A during an on year and while our second main character Misaki Mei is voted as the student assigned as "not there"by the class. A person who is put in the middle of a cursed class without knowing the rules. You know this can't end well. This is a part of the main story but this novel is a spin off about  Mei helping a spirit find his body after dead.

  The novel was written by prominent Japanese mystery author Ayatsuji Yukito(綾辻 行人) as well as the main story's novel adaptation. The first thing I noticed was..... can you guess?? wait for it.... WAIT FOR IT!!! ........ CORRECT!!! The cover art was the first thing I noticed when spotting the book of the self at my local bookstore.  The art has a white background with crow feathers fluttering downwad from above and Masaki Mei looking monotone holding a light blue notebook with a red lotus flower barely peaking out from the right side of the cover. The image looks more mature and majestic than the series manga counterpart but this fact is also very noticeable with the other novel. They way the drawing presents itself in raw detail will catch people's eyes while browsing the manga section.

   The plot of Episode S/0 is narrated by Mei herself as she tells her story to Koichi of the stage events that happened that summer. One thing you will learn about getting involved "Another" is that it plays a lot with what is not seen more so than what is seen. The book is written to keep you guessing and leading you away from the truth. You get little clues here and there but a lot of us are not smart enough to pick up on these clues and when you do pick up on them, the book has already spelled it out to you. Yukio does the fans of the series a great service by leading us around in circles and connecting the dots to the main story. You kind of feel blind sided thought especially if you have read the manga and watched the anime(which is all types of crazy good.) Readers who know the series well will be thinking that they have this book all figured out but the book isn't caught that easily. The deranged writing in detail of the surrounding and characters will also have you shaking in fear as your mind makes you invision every moment that you read. Some sentences as printed in bold letters to not only give the reader clues but it also is reference to the main story.

 Mei's character isn't the most sociable person in the word either. She's always close to death and has a personality that screams"DON'T GET TOO CLOSE" but at the same time she is confident and knows what needs to be done in the mist of the cursed killings. She's very cold toward most people but she and Koichi get along well enough. Most of the other parts of the story are told from the spirit's point of view with him struggling to find his memories, pieces of how he died, and the family he left behind. Of course, the curse plays a part in this ordeal too but your going to have to read the book for yourself.

    I'm a huge fan of Another and have seen and read all the things created from the series. The movie wasn't bad and had things I liked about it and then things I didn't care for. The novels and Manga are amazing but that anime is just a work of art in its own right. I recommend you read the manga first, then watch the anime, and then read the novels. The live action movie is a see it or miss it but I will leave that up to you to decide.