Anime Explained: Another (Waning Spoilers)

Understanding the Curse

            The disastrous events that occur through Another aren’t caused by any curse or calamity; they are defined by the characters as a phenomenon. This phenomenon occurs when the class roster of Third Year Class 3 goes up by one. When that happens at least one person each month dies until graduation. The disasters start to happen during the month of April and when they start they don’t stop. This phenomenon is caused by an extra student who shouldn’t be there in the class. This extra student is known as the Causality. The Causality is a person who died in the past disasters and had come back from the dead to join Class 3. When a Causality infiltrates the class it is guaranteed that at least one person will die every month.

The Rules for the Phenomenon 

·         The phenomenon always starts in April.

·         The phenomenon only occurs when the class roster goes up by one.

·         When the phenomenon starts it at least one person will die each month.

·         The phenomenon almost ever ends partway through.

·         The causality is someone who is already dead and their death was the result of the “disasters” from the phenomenon. They could be anybody but they have to have had a connection to Class 3. Meaning they had to be a student, head/assistant teacher, a member of the family who died before they made it to their third year.

·         The phenomenon only affects the students/teachers of Class 3 and their families within two degrees, which includes parents, grandparents and siblings. This does not include aunst, uncles, cousins, stepparents and stepsiblings.

·         The phenomenon’s rang is only limited to Yomiyama. You could leave the city to protect yourself but it only works if you can make it out the city alive.

·         Since the Casualty is dead but have been brought back to the living world, all memories and records of their existence of their life before they died get erased or altered. This results in no one remembering that they have died; this also affects the Casualty as well.

·         After graduation the Casualty will disappear and all records and memories will go back to the way they were when they first died. In other words no one will remember who the Casualty was because originally they weren’t a student of the present year; they were students who have died in the past.
 
·         The phenomenon can only stop partway when the Casualty is sent back to death.

How the Phenomenon came to be

            The phenomenon start during the year of 1972 when a popular student by the name of Misaki suddenly died. The entire student body and faculty loved Misaki but Class 3 took it the worst. They didn’t want to accept the fact that their most popular classmate has passed on…So they didn’t accept it. The students of Class 3 pretended that Misaki was still alive. They even saved a seat for Misaki at graduation. But when they took their class photo the class was shocked to see Misaki standing with the class smiling like everyone else. The class didn’t realize that they welcomed death into their class room.

Important facts to know about Class 3 1972:
·         Koichi’s mom (Ritsuko) was in Class 3

·         Mr. Cibiki was the head teacher

Who was Misaki???

            In the anime it was never clear if Misaki was a boy or a girl. In the novel it was confirmed that Misaki was in fact a boy. His full name was Misaki Yomiyama. Misaki died in May of 1972 in a house fire. His entire family died including his little brother who was one year younger.

The Phenomenon of 1973

            In the Class 3 of 1973 everything was normal until they realized that they didn’t have enough desks for the students. The class roster matched the number of desks in the class but the students didn’t. Thinking that it was just an error in the paper work, the class just shrugged it off and added another desk. In April people with a connection to class 3 started to die. No one realized that it was because it was the actions of the class before them. They just thought that the disasters were just unfortunate events.
Important facts about Class 3 1973:
·         Mr. Chibiki was the head teacher
·         The Casualty that year was Misaki’s little brother. He died before he could enter his third year of middle school.

Important facts about the rest of the story

·         Koichi mother’s full name is Ritsuko Mikami.

·         Mei Miskai’s real name is Mei Fujioka.

·         When Reiko (Koichi’s aunt) was in Class 3 of 1983 Ritsuko (Koichi’s mom) died.

·         Mr. Chibiki was the head teacher of Class 3 from 1972 to 1976. After that he took the job as the Librarian of the Secondary library.

·         Mei’s cousin, Misaki, died in April of 1996. This started the phenomenon for that year.
·         Koichi’s grandparents named their bird Ray after their daughter


·         The Numatas (the caretakers for the Sakitani Memorial Hall) were Takabayashi’s grandparents on his mom side. 

Comments

  1. One problem with this is that the anime does, in fact, confirm Misaki as a boy :)

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  2. Why did kouichi forget about the day izumi akazawa hit him with a soda can?

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    1. Most likely due to the fact that around that time he lost his aunt.Her coming back from the dead wiped out all memories relating to her death.One of the memories include the sodacan incident

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    2. who killed his aunt and why



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    3. Obviously because he came from Tokyo to Yomiyama at that time for his Aunt's Funeral, he wouldn't remember anything related to his Aunt's death

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  3. Why did he add "Goodbye Mother" at the end after killing reiko

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    1. You know what? I’m not sure. I haven’t read the book or watched the anime since I wrote this. I should look into that.

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    2. Maybe because Reiko was like a mother to him after his mothers death?

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    3. i think that is because he think he will die after killing reiko?

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    4. It was probably because Reiko was a mom to him that's why he said Goodbye mother at the end

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    5. He says Goodbye Mother since Reiko was like a mother figure to him, not an aunt. Their relationship was really deep.

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    6. I think that in 1998's class it wasn't only his Aunt that got ressurected but his mother aswell, but both of them came back as one person named Mikami Riko (his aunt's name), why do i think that? you can see that the style and hair color of his Aunt changes to something similar to Ritsuko (his mom) in school, the same at the end aswell, the MC doesn't know how his mom look like but he must have felt it

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  4. Well actually, the japanese used was Sionara Senpai xD. I believe this is related to a bigger plot point regarding the fact that spogonof played a big role

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    1. Nope in Japanese he says Sayounara Okaasan. Which means mother.

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    2. Reiko raised him basically so he considers her as his mother.

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  5. Wow I haven’t been on this blog since 2015 and I just now realized that there are comments from 2018. I didn’t think people were still reading this lol

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    1. 2019 here,. you you read this and reply. i came here while watching another eps 6-7 and to find some information. Thanks

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    2. Future here boiiii

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    3. Thats rly weird i just binge watched the series so i was only a day away from the most recent comment

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    4. 2021, Netflix brought me here

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    5. just finished watching the anime and daymn, i really hope there's season 2 of it ㅠㅠ

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    6. Hey there everyone, it's like I'm the last one until now. It's July, 2021 😄

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    7. August of 2021 here, this chain will continue until one comment goes missing and we have a miniature calamity lol

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    8. 2021 here (just finished the anime)

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    9. 2021, came here to clear some misunderstandings

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    10. 2021, I came to clear some misunderstandings

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    11. 2021 here! Just finished the series

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    12. 2022 April guys, it is and just completed an amazing show

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    13. 2022, may, watched this in one sitting

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    14. 06/23/2022 coming in from the great fumigation/Crunchyroll takeover/ merger ;)

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  6. Hello people reading this in 2019 or 2020 or even 2021

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  7. Replies
    1. That depends on what you mean. Misaki Yomiyama, the boy in Class 3-3 in '72 was sort of the causality of the curse. But the Calamity didn't start THAT year.

      Mei Misaki, the girl in the same class as Kouichi, is not the extra person in the class. I'm probably way to late though, and you probably know this by now. Better late than never.

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  8. Who killed Reiko? People are saying that it's Izumi's brother.

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    1. It's never deliberately stated, but it is noted that he died that same year, as he was one of the names on the list for the class of '96, when she died and was the homeroom teacher. Also notable that he was mentally unstable; which plays into the idea of murder-suicide. This is my head canon for sure. He's not shown much in the anime, but the Manga gives him a bit more bio, his name was Kazuma Akazawa if you wanted to take a look.

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  9. how did these dead people even came back to life

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    1. likely because of the classes reaction to the first death, by pretending he was still alive, they ignored death and invited in someone who WAS dead. so now every so often someone else who died can come through.

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  10. so is the curse lifted or it will continue in the coming years???? And the previous batches who did not realize who the dead person was ....... so that dead person continued to live or they died and people forgot them????

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    1. i think the curse will continue in the future and will repeat its cycle because of the last scene in episode 12. i also wonder what happens to the 'extra' who was not recognized in the previous years

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    2. I really wonder what happens to the next years of class 3.3... they said it was all over but the curse is still there for the next student isn't it ?

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    3. Also, the extra in the previous years is forgotten after graduation, I guess. I mean I think nobody can even recall there was another student

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  11. Hi does everyone know what is the cause of death ko Reiko (koichi's aunt) before she was brought to life again?

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    1. She was killed by an unidentified killer

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    2. Actually, she was identified by Mei Misaki because of her eye(s)

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    3. You misunderstood the question mew. She was initially killed by an unknown assailant at the riverwalk. (Likely Izumi's older brother who was mentally unstable and in the '96 class that Reiko was teaching.)

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  12. I have a question that's been bugging up my mind after watching Another and reading analysis everywhere, my question is what if the students in Class 3 weren't able to kill the extra in that year, what will happen to that 'extra' who is supposed to be dead, will it continue living or will die at some point after the students in Class 3 graduated?

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    1. When the class graduated that extra will vanish as well as the memories of his/her with the true ones. Furthermore, when they graduated their memories will be altered again and all they can remember is that the extra is died before he/she can enter Third Year.

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  13. How did they know that there's an extra student in their class?(They treated misaki mei as if she doesn't exist) Does it have specific number of student per class/section?

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    1. They know it with the number of desk in the classroom at the beginning of the year

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  14. What if they all ignore each other lol 😅😂 like they don't exist at all. Then anyone who is extra will be ignored too. 😂 sorry my thinking is too wild !!!

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  15. Why there is no 4rt floor in the hospital elevator?

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    1. 4 is an unlucky number in Japanese culture because it sounds like the word "death" (shi) I think that's why their hospitals don't have them.

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  16. In order to end the curse you must treat one student as a non existent person even he/she actually exist.they call it extra person from the class who actually dead but still existing
    And that person is Koichi.

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    1. Can you tell me why chibiki didn't forget about mami asakura?

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    2. Even if the memories revert at the end of the year, the roster sheet changes back. This is directly from her wiki "Mami Asakura died in the year of 1993, and that she was a student of Class 3-3. However, she came back as the Dead of the year of 1996, as a student of Class 3-3. The name and photo of Mami were erased from the list of students of Class 3-3 of 1993. After the 1996 graduation, Mami disappeared, and her name and photo appeared again at the list of students of Class 3-3 of 1993." So she existed in 1993, was the extra in 1996 causing the memories and records of 93 to be altered, which then reverted at the end of the year. The effects of the phenomena are nebulous as well, it doesnt effect the memories of kouichi's dad nor does it seem to fully effect Mr. Chibiki because he isn't directly involved in class 3-3's roster anymore.

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  17. Why chibiki didn't forget about mami asakura? shouldn't everyone forget about dead person?

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    1. Chibiki isn't part of the class. More or like just an spectator of the game something like that

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  18. Why Kouichi's Grandparents lived with Him and Reiko completly normally, and didn't noticed that Reiko should be dead? Because they for sure knew about her death, in one scene Grandpa says: Poor Reiko, so he still remember about her death, but live with her in one house at the same time.

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    1. Its because they were part of the family and most of their memories were altered.

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    2. the curse fully effects those who are within 2 degrees of genealogical separation. so siblings, children (if u had a kid that young), grandkids (viable but unlikely for the teachers) parents, aunts/uncles and grandparents.

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  19. Can anyone explain me extra student theory??? 🥺 How do they know that there's an extra student or he/she is extra or already dead/non existing person?

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    1. Everything is fine, when one day they figure out that there is not enough desks. Their memories are changed, so they don't know who is add person, firstly probably don't know that there is add person, just mistqke in counting. But when the one person's name is erased and that situation is repeated every year they figured out what is going on. Next they just know that from previous class's experiences.

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  21. If the causality has to have died due to the phenomenon, how was Reiko the causality? She died when she was older (she said it was 15 years since being in the class, but she died only a year and a half ago).

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    1. She was the homeroom teacher 1.5 years ago that's when she died.

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  22. Why does they treat koichi and mei that people who doesn't exist????

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  23. I think that reiko was his real mother. He has forgotten about it, to make him believe that reiko is not dead. There was two interesting clues:
    When Kouichi was talking with his father, firstly he said sth like how is it come back to that town after 1,5 years, implying that he was living there before. Also, Akazava's memory about meeting with Kouichi1,5 years ago imply that.
    So, I think that he was living in this town until his mother died, 1,5 years before following happens.

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    1. Wow thats an interesting way of thinking and it meets all the condition like why koichi called reiko goodbye mother. Thanks it was my wuestion too.

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    2. Actually the reiko who died at the end wasn't reiko it was ritsuko..if u need explaination msg me at ayush_garg_82 at insta we will talk their as it's a long story i can't explain it here

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    3. Wait how is Reiko is his real mother? There's no way. Go and read the manga you'll see why I'm saying this. First Reiko and Ritsuko are 11 years apart. Second, Ritsuko (koichi's mom) had her baby when Reiko was still in class 3-3 that means she was around 14-15 y/o. Does that makes sense to have a baby at that age lol

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    4. Lol, its a nice thought Ayush and comment head, but no.

      Reiko is his Aunt that he considered his mother, because his actual mother died shortly after childbirth. She was just incredibly important and close to him, nothing more and nothing less. He was there 1.5 years ago to visit for Reiko's funeral. Which is when he met Izumi, who was attending a funeral for her brother who died from the curse/phenomena as well around the same time.

      You can pretty easily discern that Reiko and Ritsuko are two separate people by visiting their wiki pages if you didnt catch it in either the anime or manga. Plus it would be kinda lame writing to make this one character a quadruple agent as she's already a triple agent. She's Reiko, Ms. Mikami, and the extra. Making her his mom with weird memories of being his aunt now??? would be kind of a nonsense M. Night Shyamalan twist.

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  24. So why can't they just leave the city again?

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    1. Well they can leave if they want to but that is alive or not is another question.

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    2. They can leave but most of the times they don't leave alive, and if they do leave then they were just lucky

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  25. Theres one question i wanna know so...koichi and mei are acting as the 'extra' so lets take that they couldnt find the casualty and the phenomenon continued so after graduuation what happens to the acting'extras' will they continue a nirmal life??

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    1. if they graduate then there is no reason for everyone to ignore the extra ..because the dead is only stuck with them until graduation. the living can live their life

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    2. Partway through they all gave up on ignoring the extras because of the realization that the phenomena had already been set in motion and it wasn't doing anything to stop it.

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    3. It's more of a pre-emptive measure more than anything.

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  26. How the hell reiko is the casualty she died 1 and half year ago that means she was not connected to the class 3 because she graduated 15 years ago!!!

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    1. Near the end of the 12th episode, Mr. Chibiki says that there were seven deaths two years ago, and we can see Reiko's name next to "Homeroom:" so I'm guessing she was either the head or assistant teacher.

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  27. Here after watching the anime. Wierdest shit after Bunny Girl Senpai! 😂

    But tbh, these twisted, mysterious stories are what I crave for. Loved the anime. ❤️

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  28. I still think its all related to miskai mei i still think she is he sus. And all the eps name are related to doll making thats kinda creepy

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    1. It's not, she is confirmed alive and Kouichi's aunt was the extra all along.

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  29. killing scene dont let me sleep peacefully at night

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  30. So if the original class would have dealt the fact that he died then there wouldn't have been a phenomenon cuz they wouldn't have invited this dead dude back to the class? So basically the dead guy cursed the class of reincarnation of dead people, so shouldn't they get an exorcism? or better yet let him go because they clinged onto him so he can't be freed from the physical world. So he literally trapped and prolly cuz they held on and didn't live with the fact he's gone? And I guess he's sending a clue to let go or be cursed? The ghost dude prolly has a grudge or somethin' cuz but idk thats my thoughts

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    1. Correct, Mei explains the dead and living of class 3-3 as being brought closer to one another because of their grief and inability to let go, causing this whole soul toll final destination-esque shit show to begin. They mentioned exorcism loosely at one point when discussing any countermeasures discovered and that pretty much nothing worked. The original causal force behind the phenomena was the male misaki in class of '72. There isn't any indication of a grudge and is intentionally worded as a phenomena, because it isn't technically a curse. Already stated but Mei Misaki explains it. It's just a weird thing that began to happen, almost like a force of nature in relation to the realm of life and death being drawn closer and closer together due to the initial class of '72 being incapable of letting go. In my own words, once the door has opened between life and death, other souls are allowed to cross, but only by the rules of reality that the phenomena allows.

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  31. Another is still cool as fck even in 2021

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  32. I wonder what will happen to the next class 3.3
    Why do they say it's all over ? It's only for them but not for the next ones, isn't it ?

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  33. how was Mei able to remember Reiko's death? Weren't her memories supposed to be altered?

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    1. The curse was burning out as it killed off a majority of the class, Mei wasn't the only one to begin recovering pieces of memory, Kouchi, Izumi and Mei are just the few that come to mind.

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  34. how reiko came from death.. like didn't she know she is dead or why everyone can see dead ? and why the dead become a part of like living?? so confusion..explain

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    1. Didn't pay attention lol.... it's is a mysterious phenomenon how someone comes back from death... their memories of the casualties death and any interactions of it are altered by some mysterious force.. the class from 26 years ago invited death in and it been coming there for past 25 years

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  35. So does mei memories get altered aswell?
    If not cant she just kill the extra cuz she know who the death person is in the first place.!!

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  36. How did Mr Chibiki put the names of the students who were 'extras' that year.. and write the names as deceased?

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  37. I have a question. Why did Koichi said "goodbye mom " to his aunt when he killed her ?

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    1. Because he respected her as his mother for taking care of him in his childhood

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  38. Aside from the main plot, does anyone consider misaki meis existance a bit odd in a way that she reminds me of a doll? I am aware she is alive and real and we heard a story about her mother and her sister/cousin and aunt, but the fact that she has a doll eye, really calm and cautios-moving and the fact that all the episodes are named after steps of doll making? She also mentioned how dolls are empty on the inside, which made me think, what if she were a doll made by kiriko, the doll maker? as if one of her creations somehow recieved a soul, making her human-ish. What are your opinions?

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