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Manga of Horror Novel Another to Bundle Anime Episode 0

The "0th" limited-edition volume of Hiro Kiyohara's manga adaptation of Yukito Ayatsuji's horror novel Another will ship next May with "episode 0" of the anime version.

The bundled anime episode will not be aired and is not part of the television anime series that will premiere this January. It also depicts a part of the story that is not in the original novel. The all-new episode will depict the story of the character Mei Misaki leading up to the main anime series.

The 2009 novel centers around a school class that has a curse, and the string of unavoidable deaths that befall the boys and girls in that class. 26 years ago, in a third-year classroom of a middle school, there was a student named Misaki. As an honors student who was also good at sports, the charming girl was popular with her classmates. When she suddenly died, her classmates decided to carry on as if she was still alive until graduation. Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Kōichi Sakakibara transfers to that classroom, and he grows suspicious of the fearful atmosphere in that classroom. In particular, there is a beautiful, aloof girl named Mei Misaki who wears an eyepatch and is always alone drawing pictures.

Tsutomu Mizushima (Blood-C, xxxHOLiC) will direct the anime at the studio P.A. Works. Ryō Higaki (Moribito - Guardian of the Spirit) is in charge of the scripts, and Yuriko Ishii (Persona -trinity soul-) is adapting the original character designs by Noizi Ito (Haruhi Suzumiya, Shakugan no Shana) for animation. Kô Ôtani (Shakugan no Shana, Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, Hakuōki) is composing the music, and Yoshikazu Iwanami is directing the sound at the production company Lantis. Kiyohara's manga has been running in Kadokawa Shoten's Young Ace magazine since last year.

Source: Comic Natalie

Update: More background information added.

Image © 2012 Yukito Ayatsuji, Kadokawa Shoten/Another Production Committee