Another - Episode 11

Seeing that bloody butcher knife made me cringe...

Another never fails to deliver. And with a chaotic episode like this that kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time, I can't help but praise it as being one of the best shows this season. Essentially, the whole episode tells of how the virtually all the students were bent on killing Mei after Takako accused her of being the fake one. On Takako's part, her reason for suspecting Mei is justified though; she must have mistaken Misaki for Mei given that the two are twin sisters, noting that the difference in left eyes is what signifies a incomplete reincarnation. However, the lesson to be learned here is that jumping to conclusions too quickly can result in severe consequences - one of which may be death.

The episode also highlights how easily human beings are manipulated in times of chaos. Normally, logic allows once to discern between truth and falsehood. But when facing a crisis, it's unfortunate that the desire to survive turns everyone into selfish monsters that are capable of murder. As dark and depressing as this may be, it is just how humans are. Luckily for Mei, she is saved (for now) by the general anime rule of "the main character(s) usually survive". Even after the flurry of deaths in this episode, the identity of the extra student, of whom Mei is aware, has yet to be revealed. In a way, this bothers me slightly as Mei could easily trigger the end of everything by pointing out who the real "extra" is.

While I was preparing to rage, especially at the end of the episode, I'm glad that Izumi gets to live for another episode. There were quite a few times throughout where I thought it was the end of the line for her. And although there's only one episode left until the end, I'm not willing to bet that no one else dies, as much as I would like for that to happen. At the end of the series, I wouldn't be surprised if it was only Kōichi and Mei who survive. And if that were the case, the deaths in the next episode won't be as insignificant as the ones in this one. If characters like Teshigawara, Yuuya and Izumi (T-T) end up becoming victims of the curse, the impact will undoubtedly be stronger among viewers.

As for whom the extra is, I've narrowed it down to Kōichi, Mei or Izumi. However, I won't be surprised if I end up being wrong since this series has recently been unpredictable. The reason I suspect Kōichi is simply because it'd make for an epic plot twist. Mei, being the mysterious girl that she is, definitely attracts suspicion. And even though I want to be wrong about this one, the fact that Izumi is the one who has interacted with Kōichi the most (including the possibility of knowing him the longest), is something to take note of. Moving to the point of who actually kills the "extra", that'd probably be Kōichi since the main characters always end up "saving the day", so to speak. All in all a great episode that will be hard to beat. Despite this, I have faith in finales as they are generally mind-blowing for a series of this genre.