Another Episode 6 Thoughts Cont.

More notes on episode 6. Continuing my isolation from outside information and discussion. Spoilers through episode 6 present after the break.

I’ve been sitting on this thought for a while now, but avoided writing about it until now. I had been fixated on a possible supernatural-free explanation for the events in Another and decided to outline them in these posts. However, the more I did, the more I realized how futile it is. I started this line of thinking on the off chance that Another could be explained in real-world terms, not knowing knowing anything about the original novel. However, a few points have dissuaded me of this:

• We are at episode 6 and haven’t been presented with much, if any, information that would suggest a realistic explanation.
• Memory and record alteration: I went through this in my previous post. Simply put, we have no reason to disbelieve Chibiki—that it’s supernatural or that it’s real and he’s just lying—and even if we did there’s no simple explanation for what happened.
• Class 3’s monthly deaths: Again, we must believe in what Chibiki and the rumors say, but the fact that so many seemingly coincidental deaths are centered around class 3 have occurred for so long is difficult to pin on a culprit. If there was even a shred of scientific evidence suggesting they weren’t coincidental (or supernatural), you’d think even the densest police could make the connection.
• Phone interference: This usually occurs when Sakakibara is about to receive information regarding the curse. It is too frequent to regard as coincidental and requires too much technical expertise to attribute to a culprit.
• No malice: Once more, we must take Chibiki at his word, but it seems to hold true as all of this years’ deaths are difficult to pin on a human, and even if we could there seems little motive. They do all seem to be connected to Sakakibara, though, but that is a discussion for another time.

When the best real-world explanation for things are “there’s multiple coincidences” or “it’s an elaborate conspiracy executed by persons with multiple fields of technical expertise”, it really makes one skeptical. Sure, they could still asspull something, but composition of the story thus far makes me think that is unlikely.

At this point, it is safe to assume that Another is a supernatural thriller. However, even if we accept the supernatural element, this doesn’t mean we have to disregard the mystery element. Instead of confining our thinking to “explain this in terms of the real world” we instead move on to “explain this in terms of Another’s world”. This line of thinking allows us to move one from concocting complex or borderline irrational explanations, attribute the events to the amorphous but more likely “the supernatural did it” and move on to the all important questions: why? and, if they exist, who and how? To put it more specifically: “who is the dead person, how were they chosen, and why is this occurring?”

I don’t know about you, but the the deaths seemingly revolve around Sakakibara, particularly those that would divulge information about the curse. Since pulling a Sixth Sense and making Sakakibara the dead person would be boring, we then look to those close to him. Reiko’s recent behavior and the why that damn bird reacts seems awfully suspicious, so it could be connected to her. This new line of thinking does not let Chibiki off the hook either. Of course once we learn more—particularly about Mei’s and class 3’s background—we can formulate something more substantial than just a mere suspicion.