Another 2001

Another #3

by Yukito Ayatsuji, Ngọc Châu (Translator)

Trụy tim, xe tông sập nhà, thang rơi tự do, ngã lầu gãy cổ, họng cắm mũi dù… Đó là vài trong nhiều nguyên nhân dẫn đến cái chết của những người liên quan với lớp 9-3 vào năm 1998.
Yên ả hai năm, hôm khai giảng niên khóa 2001, lớp hụt đi một bộ bàn ghế, cho thấy tai ương đã quay lại và kẻ đã chết đang hồi sinh.
Từ đây, các thiếu nam thiếu nữ ở lứa tuổi rong chơi, chỉ cần biết ăn ngủ biết học hành là đủ, bỗng phải tiếp nhận thử thách lớn nhất đời người: tồn vong.
Từ đây, mưa đá, quạ đuổi, ruồi bay, sương dày, cốc xoay, xe rác, bồn tắm… đều trở thành hung khí khó lường, đẩy những người liên quan vào vòng tay Thần Chết, tạo nên một năm phát sinh nguy hiểm bậc nhất, cũng tạo nên bom tấn bậc nhất trong vũ trụ ANOTHER, từ nguyên nhân tử vong, tần suất tai ương, mức độ thiệt hại… cho đến tư tưởng xã hội, quan điểm tâm linh và kích cỡ của chính cuốn sách.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Light Novel, Thriller, Japan, Fiction, Japanese Literature

612 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2020

About the author

(Japanese: 綾辻 行人)

'Yukito Ayatsuji' is the original creator of Another. He is a famous writer of mystery and Japanese detective fiction. He is also one of the writers that demands restoration of the classic rules of detective fiction and the use of more self reflective elements. He is married to Fuyumi Ono, author of The Twelve Kingdoms and creator of Ghost Hunt, Juuni Kokuki, and the author for a few other manga.

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 3.5 stars.

Note: Another 2001 is the direct sequel to Another, in which the story had taken place 3 years earlier, in the year 1998.

My review for the prequel: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I give this book 3 stars not because I don't like it, but because the author, Yukito Ayatsuji, has plenty of better written books with trickier mysteries than this one.

To be honest, Another 2001 is a novel that runs on nostalgia for its prequel, the anime, the live action movie and the manga adaptations that came before it.

I am happy to see old characters like Misaki Mei etc come back into the story. I am also glad to see the students of the current 3C class try to survive the school year and try to break the death curse that has always haunted their school and the entire town. But...as you can guess things aren't going according to plan. That is always interesting to see how the students struggle to stay alive and fight against the damn curse.

When I read to the ending part, I realized in the end, the book cover spoils the ending for us all!! Hahaha. The ending isn't particularly difficult to guess either, especially because I was watching the anime adaptation of Another when I was also reading this sequel so I have no trouble noticing who the dead person is because she was already dead in Another. The explanation for the mystery is that instead of just one dead person hidden in the school there actually are two dead people, so finding out one dead person doesn't mean the curse is broken.

PS: there are two scenes in the story (the ravens scene and the flies scene) feel very much like they are taken from Dario Argento's surreal horror movies. I love it.

[Rafia Rahman · Rating 5 out of 5]

শেষের টুইস্ট!!!

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 rounded down for some irritants in the style.

This is, above all, a fair play mystery, meaning that all of the clues needed to solve the mystery are right there, in two cases basically staring you in the face. You absolutely need familiarity with the original story (anime version is fine for this, honestly), but it's different enough not to feel like a rehash. I solved the mysteries pretty early on, but I still had a good time reading this while kicking myself for not putting together (in the first novel) that "Yomi" is the Japanese underworld - I got it when the Izana Bridge was a plot point - IZANAmi is the god of the dead.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cover is a stunner, I still can't get over the eerie feeling I get looking at it.

I read the first one as a teenager, and its one I always think back on (along with the anime adaption), so when I seen there was a sequel I jumped at the chance.

Note their is a title between Another, and Another 2001, called Another S/O that I didn't read. However, the events of that novel are referenced but never explained in this book. I felt I had a little gap of knowledge that impacted more on the main character than on the story.

I loved the vibe of this novel. It is the same, but different, from the first novel. If you want the same concept, different year, it's a nice but not necessary sequel. There isn't as much intrigue as the first novel, especially if you've read the first novel and remember the names of the characters. And the big twist at the end is obvious way sooner than the main character clocks onto.

My main problem with this novel was that it was very repetitive. For one, I felt like I read the same explanations and read the same conversations over and over again, with only slight variations in scene and characters involved. For another, the novel constantly reminded us of character names and who they were, and explaining concepts we were already well introduced to. This was okay at first, as there are a lot of characters, but after the halfway point it grew tiresome. I read the afterword and it explained that this was first serialised in different magazine issues then collated into a novel, which explains why the author was constantly catching up the reader, but this should've been trimmed when it was transformed from serialization to full length novel.

Also, they needed to explain better why the students didn't all leave the town en mass, and what was the consequences of telling others about the phenomena. There had to be consequences to both to make students stay in the city. Circumstances for some could explain it away, but I'm sure after a ton of accidents it wouldn't be hard to convince families to move away for six months/a year until the school year was over- or to even send their child to live with family out of town.

Despite these issues, I was gripped until 2/3 of the way in, where the novel slowed down a lot and needed a little more to grab my attention since the twist wasn't a surprise. If this book was 100-200 pages shorter, it could've been a much stronger. However I love the feeling this story gave me, and I can't help but dream of a novel that hits this feeling without the pacing issues.

[Elle Mckenzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book dragged on way too long (did not need almost 600 pages) , and the plot is essentially the same as the previous book with different characters. I had so much trouble getting through the middle of the book once all the new characters had been introduced and I realized that they were doing the same storyline. Mei Misaki is in the story again, but she doesn't have as interesting of a role. She is just like a shaman who can see who the casualty is, but doesn't really do it until everyone is dying??? The last part of the book just starts throwing everything at you. Sou then figures everything out and recaps it to you like you did not just read the whole story. It's disappointing.

[LG (A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 2001, and yet another "on" year for Grade 3 Class 3, this time from the POV of Sou, a relative of someone who died due to the previous "calamity" in 1998. After the way things went in 1998, it's decided that the usual preventative method of declaring one person in the class a "non-exister" isn't enough. Instead, there will be two: Sou and Hazumi. Sou is willing and determined to play his part well. Hazumi, on the other hand, is less committed.

As things begin to fall apart, Sou clings to the hope that Misaki Mei, a girl who was a student in the 1998 Grade 3 Class 3, can provide some useful advice and information. Unfortunately, whatever it is about the curse that interferes with people's memories has blurred hers - she no longer remembers how she and Koichi were able to bring the deaths to a halt in 1998.

I recommend not starting the series with this book - either read the first Another book or watch the anime to get an idea about how the curse works and find out what happened in 1998. The way some of the characters in this book act will also make more sense if you know the first story (a good example: the umbrella scene).

I thought this was more fairly written than the first Another book, but maybe a bit too obvious. I caught on to who both of the casualties were a while before the truth was revealed, although I didn't know their full circumstances. The first book was creepier overall, as well, probably because Sou, unlike Koichi, knew exactly what he was getting into.

Still, this was an intriguing read. I wonder if Ayatsuji has any plans to write an entry in this series in which the curse haunting Grade 3 Class 3 is finally broken somehow? I hope so - it'd be a nice way to wrap things up.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

[Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was interesting and when I had my eyes on it I could not pull away from it for a long time. I was dying to find out what happened next but I ended up losing the plot a lot and I lost track of characters and deaths that were mentioned. The book was overall satisfying apart from the moments I was lost at. There were many times where I had no idea who was who but that is also because my memory sucks. I read this throughout a long period of time and it was difficult for me to remember everything. When disaster struck the second time around, the writing genuinely had me anxious for the characters and the gore mentioned made me cringe. For clarification, I cringed because I was able to visualize each death. For many parts, I was confused and it was difficult for me to understand/process the information. The information became repetitive and I felt stupid because I could not figure out the mystery and ended up watching it unravel.


My favorite part was when in the time of need, Sou managed to figure it out that Makise was the key to solving the supernatural incident. I was also pleased with the descriptive parts with Izumi’s death.

[Nana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer : My start and end date are randomized. I read this in 2023.

This novel was an amazing read. I read it in my breaks during work for I believe a whole week and was hooked the whole time. The story follows a 14 year old guy who is in a class where someone has to play the role of a “nobody” in order for deaths to not happen.

Ofc that ends up going south and reading about all the incidents happening through the eyes of mc was beautifully written. Every character is easily differentiated from each other.

Only problem though is that for the dialogue, I couldn’t tell at some parts on who was talking. I kept backtracking to keep up with the pattern.

I’ve never read the other novels or watched the anime prior to this so I can’t compare it, but the novel itself is well done.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 3 out of 5]

One day, Yomiyama North Middle School lost a beloved member of the infamous Class 3-3. The students were so heartbroken by this loss, they carried on pretending as if she were still alive. Unknown to the students, they have unintentionally invited the spirits of the dead into their school by treating the dead as if they were still alive.

Years later, a bizarre curse now looms over the school, where a cursed student enters every odd year. If this cursed student is not discovered and dealt with in a timely manner, mysterious deaths and constant misfortune will visit randomly selected members of the school until the cursed student has been removed. Koichi Sakakibara believes that either he or a mysterious girl he meets at the hospital one night may just be the cursed student this year, or it could potentially be something far more complicated.

Another definitely has an interesting setup. The creepy gothic atmosphere of a cursed school. The classic ghost story vibes. The eerie undertones of old urban legends coming to life. There’s some really cool stuff in here that slowly evolves into an interesting conclusion that can be difficult to solve.

Unfortunately, I think the series is held back by quite a few shortcomings. It has a cast of bland characters that speak in robotic wooden dialogue. The pacing is dragged out far beyond necessary. The cryptic manner in which all the characters talk to each other often feels more awkward, vague and annoying rather than actually being disturbing or unsettling. Much of the logic revolving around the curse also feels made up on the spot which makes the mystery elements feel inconsistent and impossible to solve since they constantly change on the fly.

Another is a fairly good gothic supernatural mystery, but often suffers from its own cryptic nature and inconsistent mythology.

My rating: 2.9/5

[Chelsea Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 Stars: ‘Another 2001’ by Yukito Ayatsuji.
→ Age Range: Young Adult.
→ Genre: Mystery, Contemporary Horror.
→ Book Type: Light Novel.

Favourite Quote: ‘I felt a chill that didn’t belong in an autumn breeze, and it made me shiver - just a little.’

In-depth Rating:
→ Plot: ★★★★★
→ Character Development: ★★★★★
→ Setting: ★★★★★
→ Entertainment Level: ★★★★★
→ Writing: ★★★★★
→ Pace: Slow.

Translation: Yes.
→ Language: Japanese.
→ Translator: Nicole Wilder.

Time Read: Seventeen Days.
→ Audiobook: No.
→ Audiobook Narrator: -

Trigger Warnings:
→ Death (Adult, Animal and Child).
→ Gore.
→ Mental Health (Anxiety, Depression and PTSD).
→ Murder.
→ Suicide (Attempted and Successful).

[Luke Esden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll get my main complaint out the way. I hated this book's translation. This is such a shame, because I think that the first book in the series, Another, is so naturally translated. Another 2001's iffy shift to English was highlighted as a result of it being narrated in first-person. Had this been the translation of a third-person book, it would have been passable, but the total lack of coherence in the narrative voice, and the fact that the book's narrator was supposed to be 14, took me out of the experience. I'm guessing that this is down to the change in translator. Again, it's a major shame, since both Another and Another Episode S / 0 had fantastic translations.

Anyway, that aside, I'll have to rate the book purely on the story if I'm going to be fair. The first Another is one of my ALL-TIME favourite books. The anime adaptation, too, is high up there as a favourite show. I had been antsy to get my hands on Another 2001 since I heard that it was being translated two years ago, and after MANY push backs to the release date, I've finally managed to read it through.

We follow Sou Hiratsuka, who first appeared in Episode: S. After being placed into the cursed Class 3 of North Yomi Middle School, he is forced to work with a survivor of the first book's events, Mei Misaki, to prevent the Final Destination-esque disasters from unfolding throughout the year.

Sou, for me, was a passable protagonist. He didn't have the charm or personality of Koichi from the first book. For the most part, Sou was just bland. His strained relationship with his mother was the highlight of his arc (and I'll admit I got a little teary-eyed during one scene halfway through) but for the most part, he felt just... there. Overall, the characters didn't feel quite so well-rounded as in the first book. This is likely down to Sou's seeming inability to either hold on to, or make friends (in which, this is entirely his own fault). Mei Misaki, as in the first book, was the standout. She feels a lot more fleshed out here, and naturally developed after the events three years ago. I loved her sisterly dynamic with Sou, and her desire to do all she could to help out.

After a slow first third, the pace really begins to pick up. The plot felt a lot more focused here, compared to the first book. That might contribute to why it felt so much shorter, despite being almost seventy pages longer. The mystery that slowly developed past the halfway point had me thoroughly engaged and involved. I loved it! It was more organic compared to the curveball of a forced twist at the end of the original book, though this time around, the story was less of a conventional mystery, and a more straightforward thriller. The deaths, especially, shocked even me. And let's be honest--they're probably the reason you've heard of Another in the first place. In the last third, the bodies just pile up in increasingly grim ways. If this books gets the anime adaptation, there's no doubt that most of the third act will end up censored with those black shadowed screens that plagued the original show. (Ew. Come on.)

When it comes to the atmosphere, however, that was when the book truly glowed. (Despite the shoddy translation.) The constant grey weather downpours, the storms, the moments of silence, the town surrounded by mountains--in the atmosphere department, Another 2001 is at the top of its game. Even with the sloggy start, I flew through the chapters, desperate to soak up the palpable dread and uncover Yomiyama to its fullest.

I found Another 2001 to be a satisfying sequel. Would I say it was better than the first? No. The characterless protagonist, and glaring lack of development with the supporting characters (bar Mei, Izumi, and Yagisawa) hold the book back some. Not to mention the awful translation. But for an atmospheric, gorey time, it's a recommendation from me.

3.5/5

[July · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was once again overly long for no reason, it's obvious that Yukito Ayatsuji is padding his runtime to get his serialization going for as long as possible, and the story suffers for it. It's nearly 600 pages long, when it could really be cut down to about 300 pages, making it a more effective novel. There's a lot of repetition and people speaking in an annoyingly cryptic and vague manner to prolong the suspense. It feels less infuriating in here than in the first "Another," I suspect because the translation here is better. Still, you know how these people speak? One example is, where at the very end, Sou asks Kouichi, the protagonist of the first book, what the name of Mei Misaki 's twin sister was, and how does Kouichi respond? Something to the effect of, "Oh? The twin sister of Mei Misaki who died in April in the hospital? Yes, I do know her name. I remember it quite well." Mind you, I'm just sort of paraphrasing here because I'm not going digging for the exact quote. But you get the gist of how these people waffle on and on instead of being straightforward like normal people. A normal person would answer, "Yes, I remember, her name is xxxxxx," no??? We don't need a freaking soliloquy each time the main character is trying to figure out something. It breaks the tension A LOT. So honestly, this book cannot be classified as horror. It's barely even a mystery.

Anyways, so here the main character and narrator is Sou, the boy Mei met during her summer vacation break during the events of 1998, three years ago. As luck would have it, he ends up moving to Yomiyama and attends the same middle school and is sorted to the cursed Year 3 Class 3. In an attempt to stave off the calamity, the countermeasures officers suggest adding two non-existent people instead of just one, as an insurance policy. Sou volunteers for the first position, due to how closely linked he is to previous disasters through his connections, and a girl who likes him called Hazumi is selected as the second. However, this really messed things up because it skewed the balance and to correct for this, there ends being two casualties instead of one. So there's two resurrected dead people to identify because they were too careful and Hazumi quit one month in. Both of these casualties need to be returned to death, so it makes it trickier... or does it?

Mei Misaki appears again in this book, I think because Ayatsuji knows she's the it-factor girl selling his series, but he must have realized that she's too OP and heavily nerfed her. I was frustrated beyond belief. It was acceptable in the first book because she didn't know how being able to identify the casualty would help with anything, but she has the experience now, and still cannot help out until it's too late and so many people died. The explanation is that Mei forgot everything important from three years ago because of the phenomenon altering her memories blah blah. And she randomly stopped wearing that extremely useful doll eye for no good reason, other than she doesn't want to see the color of death. Like seriously? If you knew this was an on year, put that eye in your eye socket and look at Sou's classmates! Everything could have been prevented, but then we would have no story. It just feels extremely cheap though. Same for Kouichi Sakakibara, who is conveniently out of the country for 99% of the book and cannot be reached until it's convenient. I really despise such forced contrivances, it's not a sign of good storytelling. It feels more like fan service.

I had pretty much figured who both of the casualties were by the halfway point, although I didn't realize the relationship between the second one with Mei until it was revealed. They had changed her surname so I think this is a repeat act of "Another," where we were never told the surname of Kouichi's aunt, until the end. Pulling the same trick twice gets old real quick.

I can see that Ayatsuji is setting up for another novel in the series, with Kiha Utsui being the new protagonist or new Mei. I would still read it, despite my complaints about the whole "Another" series because they are still interesting reads. We'll see if this sequel ever comes into being...

[Ari's Library || booksandpieces · Rating 5 out of 5]

𝑨𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 :
A fatal game of checks and balances, Another 2001 follows a story which is perhaps the only scenario in the world where insurance is deadly.

𝘞𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴.
𝘞𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵?

Refusal to move on after a classmate's death makes Grade 3, Class 3, a hotspot for a realm glitch : on unfortunate years, one of the casualties 'reincarnate' themselves and insert themselves into the classroom. The roster needs to be constant, so, to accomodate the 'casualty', someone's existence needs to be forsaken.
Any mistake will be deadly. A calamity, even.

The third book in the franchise of Another, the mystery only intensifies and worsens.

𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 : (with spoilers)

📖 Sou's struggle with Izumi's death was exhibited rather beautifully. Izumi had become an important friend and comrade, and having to inflict that end on her must have been sufficiently traumatizing. The protagonist is a sensitive man, even if it doesn't feel like it at first, his responses to the deaths of his closed ones is anything but cold. It draws up the reader's empathy for Sou perfectly.
📖 In general, I liked the depiction of trauma and tragedy in the book. It was artfully done, enough to make the reader feel suffocated and paranoid about all the recurring deaths happening everywhere. It almost feels like you're in the hysteria with them, as you start suspecting everybody, even the narrator and protagonist.
📖 Many loose ends were kept floating in the book, right until the very end. That seems to make sense, given the author's intention to make a sequel, and he admitted that there were things that needed closure. Not all questions were answered, and the suspense prevails, twinged with a sense of foreboding and unease.
📖The book can be read as a standalone except parts of the uncle's background, Izumi's dynamics with Mei, etc. It's definitely more holistic if one follows the order of the Another franchise (which is Another, Another Episode S, Another 2001)
📖 The deaths happen, and my god, they're many, and they're ridiculous (which is the point of it!) Death hovers over Grade 3 Class 3, and it will come in situations that would ideally have a negligible chance of actually happening in real life.
📖 I love, love this book. I'll be reading the other instalments in the series as soon as I can. If you've watched animes like Corpse Party and Yamishibai, and liked them, this horror story is tailor made for you.
📖 I'm eager to explore the dynamics of the casualty. Why did Izumi kill herself? Do they have an epiphany at the end about who they truly are? What whirlwind of emotions do they go through during that realisation? Is it usually resentment that becomes a choosing factor for which casualty gets manifested? Let's hope all this gets answered in the sequel.

[Tuyền · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 sao

Đây là một quyển có nội dung rất hay và gây được sự tò mò kích thích độc giả bởi các tình tiết kinh dị được khai thác thông qua lời nguyền của một lớp học. Sở hữu một nội dung hay song cách phát triển lại gặp nhiều vấn đề từ phần [1] [2] [S/0] và nặng nhất là [2001].

Gần 800 trang, đây là một quyển dày và đáng lẽ nó phải nặng đô hoặc diễn biến nhanh dồn dập, khai thác có tính mới mẻ hấp dẫn để kéo độc giả đến cuối cùng. Nhưng quyển này cá nhân mình thấy nó không làm được.

Hơn 300 trang đầu như intro, yếu tố lời nguyền ít, chủ yếu là thả những chiếc hint nhỏ lẻ để khai mở người không tồn tại ở phần cuối. Nhưng nó có thật sự là cần thiết để lên đến tận hơn 300 trang? Yếu tố kinh dị bị mất gần như hoàn toàn, trinh thám thì lại càng ít. Và cách phát triển nhân vật chính - So, gây cho mình sự khó chịu vì cảm tưởng cậu ấy là một trẻ dưới vị thành niên hơi trẩu.

400 trang sau, nội dung trọng tâm được đẩy mạnh làm nhịp truyện trở nên nhanh hơn mà vốn dĩ nó phải nên sở hữu ngay từ đầu. Tai ương ập đến, tác giả tung hint cuối về người không tồn tại rồi confirm rốp rẻn.

Lối viết của tác giả thật sự ngoằn và lê thê, rất dong dài một cách không cần thiết. Mình cảm nghĩ mình đã phải rất kiên trì để lết hết intro hơn 300 trang của tác giả. Người không tồn tại lần này tương đối dễ đoán, twist tạm, không có hay tại mình đã đoán được rồi. Đó là về phần mạch truyện. Giờ mình sẽ nói đến cách phát triển nhân vật So.

So là nhân vật có tiền án bệnh tâm lí, cụ thể hơn là chứng đa nhân cách. Xuyên suốt câu chuyện tác giả không đề cập gì nhiều để làm rõ mà chỉ đơn thuần gọi nó là sự kiện 3 năm trước, sự kiện bên hồ hay cái chết của cậu Teruya. Thật ra không biết cái này cũng không ảnh hưởng gì đến mạch truyện cả nhưng nếu tác giả có thể đề cập đến dù là sơ bộ để độc giả không đọc S/0 cũng có thể nắm được nhân vật thì mình nghĩ nó tốt hơn. Chứ dù mình đã đọc S/0 rồi thì mình vẫn thấy khó chịu nhân vật So vì lối nghĩ trẩu quá.

Gần 800 trang là con số không hề ít, nhưng tận hơn 300 trang thì lời nguyền mới được khai thác thì dù sau đó tình tiết có hấp dẫn như thế nào thì quyển này cũng trở nên quá dài đối với mình.

Hình như phần sau sẽ là phần cuối vì tác giả đã tung hint cho Koichi - Mei - So gặp mặt.

[Fathnin Alyea · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was awesome.

After finishing the first book, I was glad to know that a new book has been released for the series. This is one of those books that I feel like I will never get tired off. It is so well written. It has that Japanese writing style that I like. While some maybe feel that its kinda lengthy and a bit slow, I feel that everything is necessary as the length and slow pace of it allows readers to really immerse and seep themselves into the settings.

This book sets three years after the first event in 1998. This time the narrator of the story is the boy from Another S/O, Hiratsuka Sou. Due to family matters and the events in the S/O, Sou was to placed under the care of the Akazawa in Yomiyama. He moved in to Yomiyama late 1998 and has been living there for almost 3 years. And due to his acquaintance with Mei, he is well aware of the special case of Grade 3 Class 3 in North Yomi middle school. Unfortunately, he was placed in that exact class. Sou volunteered to be the 'non-existence' of that year alingside another classmate. But even so, members of Class 3 still succumb to the phenomenon and began to die one after one.

It feels like I'm personally there, experiencing the 'calamity' myself. And even while the outcomes are predictable, it's not predictable. Get it? The predictibility was played out so well that makes it so interesting and engaging. Even though I know who the causalty is, I'm stilleager to know how the story will develop. How will it be revealed? How will Sou handle it? And the third part of the story was such a plot twist.

Although I can already guess why it happened almost nearing at the end, it's still so satisfying to hear the explanation of why that year was special. Brilliant! THIS is how one should write a book with crumbs. Ayatsuji gave lots of crumbs, trails of crumbs and clues, and how I love when all of it connected. I was excited and relieved when I reached the end but at the same time I wanted more.

Ayatsuji stated in his afterwords that he will write one more book for the series, but considering his health and age, it might take a long time for the new book to come out.

[lina · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.5 rounded up to four because the authors afterword got to me)

I bought this book not knowing the fact that it was the third volume of a series (so now I am obligated to read the first two) so my review will be from the point of view of a person who hasn't read anything else from this author and has no knowledge about the series ( I only watched the anime four years ago)

It was interesting but... predictable. Honestly yeah. The identity of the first casualty was clear if you had just read the list in the second chapter with the people who died three years ago and I assume since she was a student three years ago she also appeared in the first volume too. The clues about the second casualty were also given straight up and even before the middle of the book one could guess the 'plot twists' that were going to appear later.

The fact that I guessed most things made it so I didn't feel the strongest sense of mystery and that did throw me off but the writing made up for it. I enjoyed the main characters narration and the use of first person pov which is pretty refreshing to read and I think was also helpful for the author to add Easter eggs with this plot. For example the fact that sou mentioned makise a while after the year started but nothing at the beginning.

One more thing I didn't like was the fact that the author decided to use the outward to not only summarize everything that happened but also STRAIGHT UP list every single detail leading to the results in case the readers didn't notice (we did).

Also what about the doctors daughter? Are we never going to find out what is going on with her? In the afterword the author talked about having a last sequel in mind but he's not sure if he will write it... I hope he does and I HOPE WE FIND OUT ABOUT THE CHILD!!

Ps. the way the author wrote about the deaths got to me because I CRIED IN EVERY SINGLE ONE I am still not over shunsuke

[Alex Gale · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, I was VERY excited to read this as I loved the anime for Another. I remember how unique the plot was and how surprised I was at the end. Now I haven’t read the first one that the anime was based on, but I’m assuming it’s roughly the same with maybe some differences in the “accidents” but not the characters.

With that out of the way, I was very let down with this book. I felt the first 200 pages (of this 548 page book) reiterated the plot way too much and found myself about ready to quit. It was like the scale of plot to reiteration was very uneven. Once I got past that I did find myself enjoying it a bit more, though I was still rolling my eyes at beating the dead horse with the plot. This honestly felt more like fan fiction than its own book.

In the anime I found myself really attached to Kouchi and Mei and rooting for them to prevail in the end. For Sou I could really care less. And again, the inclusion of Mei just felt like fan fiction as she didn’t really contribute much. Hazumi really got on my nerves because she had the potential to be a good “side kick”, or even Yagisawa, but they just kinda fell to the wayside and a bit flat.

I felt like the plot twist was really obvious if you’re familiar with the series and were paying attention, and again, it just fell flat. There wasn’t enough moral conflict that I seem to remember from the show (which admittedly I did watch like ten years ago).

I’m also really disappointed that Teruya’s death and things surrounding the Misaki’s and Sou’s families weren’t really explored. It just felt like we should know despite him being new. If the book had cut out about 150 pages of repetition and gave us more of a clear background for Sou it would’ve been much more interesting.

Overall, I just felt let down by this book.

[Sleepy Damsel · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: Death, Trauma, Gore, Sucide, Murder, Animal Death, Child Death.

This is the 3rd book in the Another Series. You should read Book 1 and Episode 0 before this.

I was curious to see if we would see Mei as she isn't at the middle school in this one but pleasantly surprised to see Sou from Episode 0 and see how the events of the past book effected him when faced with the Calamity of Class 3.

Now I felt this book was really long which was a challenge to keep up with especially after getting half way through when I figured out where the book was going.
The book does give you everything you need to solve the calamity of 2001 so I recommend tabbing stuff you find significant if you want to try and solve the mystery yourself!

I missed having more of Mei throughout the story, you don't get as much of her in this one. It seemed like she was just there for Sou to review everything until the end quarter to confirm the end of that years calamity which was a little disappointing. (To be fair I haven't read the other 2 books in a minute. Just rewatched the anime beforehand)

The other problem with the setting is that it is a class that is involved, that means there are a lot of characters. The book gives the list for the deaths in the previous book but no class list so it made it hard to keep track or feel for any of the deaths that happened. Just that there are a lot of them. However, the deaths are so much more brutal than the previous books.

The end does say that we are due to get one more in the Another series and I will be very excited to see if it ends the curse once and for all. I am a big fan so I will be keeping an eye out and maybe marathoning the series in the future.

[Hieu Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mình đã phải rất cố gắng để có thể đọc hết Another 2001. Tác giả kéo dài mạch truyện một cách lê thê không cần thiết.

Nhân vật chính là SO, hai nhân vật của Another 1998 là Mei và Koichi có xuất hiện, Mei là cố vấn của SO còn Koichi trong phần này mình thấy là người đóng vai trò chỉ lối. Tuy nhiên mình thấy rằng cách triển khai của tác giả không được tốt cho lắm, khi mà logic thông thường là biết Mei và Koichi là 2 người đã ở trong năm mà lời nguyền dừng lại vào giữa năm nhưng So lại không hề có động thái quyết liệt trong việc tìm ra cách dừng lời nguyền lại, phải đến sau khi có rất nhiều người chết thì So mới quyết liệt hỏi Mei cho ra nhẽ, còn trước đó cứ hỏi đến Mei ậm ừ không nói mà So cũng im luôn. Nếu tác giả cho Mei nói luôn là mình không nhớ gì cả thì mình còn thấy hợp lý, nhưng không, tác giả lại để cho Mei ậm ừ kiểu nửa biết nửa không, rồi cứ đang nói thì có việc chen ngang, mà chen ngang xong thì So hay Mei cũng không tiếp tục thảo luận về cách dừng lời nguyền 3 năm trước nữa. Đến cả khi chết người vẫn chỉ biết an ủi nhau kiểu: Có gì thì nhắn nhé, khiến cho cá nhân mình cực kì khó chịu.
Nút thắt được tháo ra khi mà Koichi gọi cho So để chỉ cách phá giải. Tuy nhiên rõ ràng Koichi hoặc So có thể tìm cách liên lạc với nhau sớm hơn mà? Rồi cả khi mà lời nguyền chưa dừng lại, So và Mei bàn với nhau, đã ra được hint rõ ràng là mất cân bằng về số người bị "coi như không tồn tại" và "người đã chết trà trộn vào" nhưng phải mãi về sau tác giả mới vén cái màn đó lên, thông qua việc cho So mê sảng?

Tựu chung lại thì yếu tố siêu nhiên và kinh dị thì tác phẩm này có, nhưng mà cách triển khai và mạch truyện thì mình không được thoả mãn cho lắm.

[Kara Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another 2001 review
“The thing about ‘death’ is that it’s incredibly empty; it’s eternal loneliness.”

5 stars all around obviously

The cover are you kidding why is it that beautiful?
Let me start off this review by saying Another is one of my favorite novels, Manga and anime so when I found out that yukito was coming out with a sequel I immediately added to my want list. This book was gifted to me for Christmas and I’m so glad it was so good. A wonderful sequel and yukito is so wonderful when writing his descriptions. If want a fun little horror book and some deaths like the umbrella deaths this is the book for you. Also using 9/11 as a back drop during a horror and ghost story is a wonderful idea very well executed. Wonderful book highly recommend. What did we learn? Never ever trust dolls and just because you can run with umbrella doesn’t mean you should; your chances of dying by an umbrella impaling you are low but never never. Also never trust the doll like glass blue eye.

“Tough times are tough. Sad times are sad. Scary times are scary. You maintain a healthy balance by feeling these things honestly and recognizing and accepting them for what they are.”

“But now it’s as if all that has been swallowed up by the beauty of the sunset coloring the sky…”

“But lurking deep in the far reaches of my mind was something like a sense of overwhelming dread.”

“There’s no such thing as ghosts. They can’t exist.”

[Tung Lam · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*

Xét về thể loại thì series Another thuộc type trinh thám mang hơi hướng siêu nhiên, phong cách dẫn dắt và đặt hint của tác giả cũng giúp người đọc phần nào lờ mờ đoán ra được kết quả là gì nên không quá bất ngờ nhưng vẫn có đủ sức cuốn. Another 2001 là hậu bản của Another và Another S/O nên nếu muốn đọc thì các bạn hãy đọc 2 quyển kia trước thì sẽ dễ nắm bắt các sự kiện hơn và hiểu được về thế giới mà tác giả muốn xây dựng.

Cảm nhận đầu tiên là quyển này dày hơn hẳn 2 quyển trước, hơn 600 trang. Nửa đầu của truyện diễn biến rất chậm nên đọc sẽ hơi nhàm và sốt ruột với một lối dẫn chuyện thong thả, lê thê. Nhưng đến nửa sau thì mọi thứ bỗng trở nên dồn dập hơn nhiều khiến mình cảm thấy khá tò mò và cố gắng đọc hết nhanh nhất có thể. Các bạn hãy cố lết đến sau trang 300 nhé.

Nhân vật chính ở phần 3 là cậu bé So nhưng gánh team thì vẫn là Mei mà thôi. Có 1 điều khiến mình lấn cấn và khó chịu là dường như các nhân vật thờ ơ v���i tình trạng chết chóc một cách hơi vô lý, không có sự sốt sắng cần thiết. Nhiều lúc mình tự hỏi sao không làm thế sớm hơn đi mà để đến lúc có hậu quả rồi mới làm??? Nhân vật lúc nào cũng kiểu nói nửa chừng thì lại có gì đó xen ngang, hơi ức chế.

Không biết có phần sau không nhưng nếu có thì 90% nhân vật chính sẽ là cô con gái bác sĩ và chắc So lại lái máy bay rồi, hint nhiều thế cơ mà.

[nd · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

Thông thường, mỗi khi lớp 9-3 trường trung học Bắc Yomi xảy ra tai ương thì lớp sẽ có đối sách chống chọi lại là chọn ra một thành viên từ trước khi học kỳ mới bắt đầu, để cân bằng lại năng lượng với người đã chết sống dậy lẻn vào lớp học. Năm 2001 này là năm phát sinh, người thầy ghi chép các sự kiện diễn ra trong năm phát sinh tự dưng nghỉ ốm, thành ra không có ai đủ tin tưởng để đề xuất đối sách cả. Từ đó dẫn bọn trẻ đi đến một quyết định sai lầm, tự suy nghĩ rồi bầu ra 2 người không tồn tại (cho chắc, vì chúng sợ một người sẽ bỏ dở giữa chừng). Từ ban đầu họ đã quên đi việc cân bằng năng lượng trong năm phát sinh, kết quả là đã có 2 kẻ đã chết sống dậy giả vờ là học sinh lớp 9-3, làm Tai ương khởi động và nhiều người bỏ mạng, chứ không phải là chỉ 1.

Khung cảnh tác giả tạo ra đúng là gây sợ thật, và trong tập này nhiều người phải chết hơn thời Another của Misaki Mei. Có đưa sự kiện 11/9/2001 khủng bố 2 máy bay đâm vào tòa nhà cao tầng ở New York làm một chi tiết trong tai ương năm nay... Nhưng chung quy lại, không hay bằng Another #1 mà chúng ta thường biết đến. Mình đọc tập này là tập #3, có nhắc đến tập #2 nhiều lần nhưng chưa đọc tập đó vẫn có thể hiểu được 2001 này.

Về phần cuối sách, tác giả có lẽ muốn kéo dài thêm cho sequel này, nghe đồn là 2004 thì phải. Hy vọng tác giả vẫn giữ chắc tay để có một kết thúc tốt đẹp cho tác phẩm.

[Lili Evergreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some parts of the story were pretty slow, especially with how information would get repeated ad nauseam, but I think that's just the style of writing Ayatsuji has.

Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and the events that transpired. The first half of the book felt a little bit like a rehash of the first Another book, only for the story to throw in something unexpected that made the rest of the story tense and intriguing. I was able to guess the big reveal partway through, and I feel very giddy and exhilarated that my theories were correct.

I also found Sou to be a more interesting protagonist than Kōichi, what with him having to deal with his PTSD from the events of the interquel/spinoff Another: Episode 0 and the situation with his family, on top of being stuck in a cursed class.

I did overall enjoy this book more than the first book. If Ayatsuji does decide to release another and final novel to this series, I look forward to seeing how he'll conclude the mystery of the Calamity of Class 3-3.

[A’ n h Kate ྀི]

Đợt này lượt học sinh mới sẽ chịu tai ương j đây, vậy là năm nay số người tàng hình thêm một người nữa rồi…

Một phần là do tai ương năm trước anh nam chính phá quá mà làm Mei phải sấp mặt. Tính ra mong cặp đó thành đôi mãi luôn á, mong năm nay sẽ kinh dị hơn đọc cho phấn khích 😗

Phần đầu chậm làm mình hơi buồn ngủ, rút kinh nghiệm đọc truyện nhật từ xưa mình đã học được cách.

Mình đang kỳ vọng gì nhỉ ?? Vào việc tai ương ?? Vào việc sự bùng nổ cảm xúc mới mẻ sau khi đọc hai phần trước ??? Mình không biết nữa haizzz… Nhưng mình mong là mình đã đúng khi chọn đọc cuốn này mặc dù mình không nhớ cuốn trước nội dung gì ( cũng lâu rồi mà) 😅😅

Không làm mình thất vọng là được.

Quên kkkk từ năm trước chứ đâu, phần này Mei lại gánh còng lưng tai ương rồi mệt với So ghê cơ mình đoán là So là người đã chết rồi hừm… 🤨

Rồi luôn có người bỏ cuộc rồi…sực chịu đựng của Hazumi yếu thật sự còn So gánh vác thôi haizzz.

[S · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Edited review from 07/13/2023 to 01/04/2025)

This book review was difficult to write because of how I think the order of the series should be read in... oh well.

Another 2001 centers around one fourteen-year-old boy going by the name Sou. Hiratsuka Sou. Considering a lot of personal family issues, he hates being called 'Hiratsuka.' You'll learn that Sou has a lot to him to his personality to personal issues to trauma and PTSD from past events in his life. He's a very complicated character for being a young boy, but to me, this side of him is very important because for 1. it gives a lot more volume to Sou about how such a young kid can mentally handle it and 2. it shows how well Yukito Ayatsuji does in showing realistic things, such as Sou heading to the hospital for therapy. This is the first book I've read where someone actually gets help regularly for their mental health.

Sou is thrown into Class 3-3. This class is known as a class that is cursed (however, they don't like to use this word 'cursed.' They prefer phenomenon.'). It is known as an "on-year" for this phenomenon when Sou joins that class.

This phenomenon was caused by the class 3-3 in 1972 from when a young boy named Misaki Yomiyama ended up passing away. Unable to accept his death, everyone pretended Misaki was still there, such as leaving his desk empty and calling his name out for attendance. At the end of the year in the class photo, a mysterious figure that looked much like the deceased Misaki Yomiyama was there. Ever since then, every three years, an "unnatural natural phenomenon" will occur in the class 3-3 where it tries to fix itself by killing members of the class through freak accidents.

In short words, someone needs to fill this spot of being Misaki; someone needs to be ignored as if they were dead to fill in for Misaki, lest the world try to fix itself by killing students of the class.

For Sou, he ends up volunteering to be this "non-exister." He knows that he will be able to survive. This specific year, they attempt to do two "non-existers" as well. So, another young girl is to do it with him.

Sou and a couple close friends battle through the calamity. There is lots of blood, death, angst, and fear. The reactions from characters can be felt through the pages from Yukito Ayatsuji's writing. I find it important when an author is able to correct convey realistic feelings, and I feel like Yukito Ayatsuji managed to do it amazingly. Scenes feel dark and creepy, and it's a perfect eerie feeling that I look for in horror books.

What also makes Another 2001 so good of a horror book is that there are actually no supernatural in this book whatsoever. Not that those books are not scary! but there is no definite certainty that ghosts are real; spells and rituals are things of fiction. So, to me, things that can actually be true and happen in real life are what's most scary, like kidnappers, serial killers, and genuinely disturbed people. Aside from the whole phenomenon itself, it's free of things like spells, rituals, or ghosts. If a figure is seen, it's someone being delusional, which having your own mind turn on you is something horrifying.

However, there is one aspect about Mei Misaki's character that made me groan. But of course, Mei Misaki was in the first book and already had this special aspect about her, so I know that it wasn't thrown in there just because. But still, it felt...too convenient? even in the first book.

As for the characters in this book, they're all loveable. Each one has their own personality that doesn't overlap with another. They all have something quite unique about them as well. Character relationships—you can feel strong connections between characters. For instance, Hiratsuka Sou and Kouda Shunsuke, and Mei Misaki and Koichi Sakakibara. Even the old library teacher Mr. Chibiki—you can tell how much he truly cares for Sou.

I don't want to go too in depth of this book because at some point, it'll be a spoiler. Obviously, their actions to stop the calamity don't work considering the book is a bloody horror novel that is worse than its first part. The ride you join on with Sou and defeating this calamity is quite fun and definitely worth the read.

In my first review, I stated I had not read the first book of the series nor the second one. This was the first one I picked up. (Clueless...) So, I had no way to say if that decision of mine was a good one or not. I'm here to now drop my honest opinion:

Genuinely, I think that reading Another 2001 before Another was a good idea! Wow! Looking back at it now, I don't regret it at all.

I've seen some complaints about Another 2001 with how Yukito Ayatsuji has far too much repetitive information. I would agree with this if I had read Another first. However, the start of Kou's experience with class 3-3 VS Koichi's are very different.

If you read Another first, you're as clueless as Koichi is about the whole phenomenon. Personally, I feel like I would feel stupid reading it and not knowing. What is going on? Why will no one talk to Misaki? Why is everyone around Koichi being weird? I don't think I would have liked not knowing. But knowing, I felt like I could latch onto important information better instead of being distracted in everyone's strange behavior as I tried to figure out the main plot; I felt like I had better eyes on other aspects of the novel I should have been looking at.

I feel as if learning through Sou who knew about the phenomenon first and then jumping back in the past for Koichi's experience is actually a better order to go for, especially since Another 2001 held more detail about it since they knew more. However, that's just my opinion. You can read however you want.

[Joaquin Ramas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hi Megan and Jillian and Fran (another book)

This took me years to finish and it was not that good, there was too much fluff throughout the story and unnecessary detail that really derailed the story. Even in pivotal story moments mei misaki took years to describe her thoughts to the point it got extremely annoying. It took like 5 pages to explain a prt of the phenomenon and the “quotations” “used” “were” “too” “much”

The base story was good and it got batshit crazy at the end
Also i should have known because this took place in 2001 BUT LMAO NOT THE 9/11 REFERENCE HELLO?

I dont really recommend this one. I could cut some slack at the original japanese novel because this was a translation so maybe it’s better reading it in its original language idk

Cheers,
JR

[sarita · Rating 5 out of 5]

10/10 book for me, it was creepy and gory but also quite mellow for a “horror” book. It’s under the genre “horror,” but it didn’t necessarily feel like a horror? To me, personally. It was just quite chilling and eerie at times but also even if you don’t like horror or you get scared easily (me lmao), you can definitely still read this and genuinely enjoy it! Moreover, it seems like a book that you can just read on its own without actually having to read the other books (I think, I don’t know. They only had this book in my local library) but I do wish I could have found the first novel before starting this one.

Also..the cover is GORGEOUS. That’s all.

[Jill Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

After page 160 is when things start to get very interesting. Before that, it's mostly Sou talking about his days and existence. I did feel like Sou's character was very bland and indifferent and during part 3 I thought he was the casualty. Now part 3 is when things really got interesting and more fast paced. I knew Izumi was a casualty from the beginning, but the second one was surprising! I felt that if there weren't so many fillers and useless moments in the book, the book could've been shorter and more fast paced. I did like it! I loved the first book more, though.

[Hugh · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not the target audience for this -- my kid told me to read it so I did.

It's a good story, kind of a Final Destination-style curse with a whole bunch of extra supernatural stuff. It's a strangely complicated setup, and probably 100 pages longer than it needed to be.

The writing is where I got irritated though, and I don't know whether it's the translation as some reviews claim, but the inner monologues of the narrator was repetitive and irritating to the point that I was skipping whole pages.

The last 75 pages were great though, and earned back a lot of goodwill.

[•Kate•/ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giving it fewer stars than its predecessor because it didn't really get good for me until I was 2/3 into the book. Long time to get rolling really. But, boy when it did..

Super spoilers for fkn real.

I actually gasped out loud when I figured out who the second "casualty" was. Granted, I got there before the reveal but, wow. Just, wow.

I just love this series. The creeping dread that builds, the invisible menace of the supernatural natural phenomena. It is a palpable thing. Will hands down be one of my favorite horror series of all time.