Another (Another what?)

So I realize that I have fallen grievously far behind on my anime blogging. I guess I'll just start up again with this peach. (O_O) I would classify this as a horror anime. I enjoyed it, even though I don't usually go for that sort of thing. If you like mystery, creepiness, and blood, well this is a perfect anime to get under your belt. The main plot, for me at least, was a little difficult to understand.

In 1972, a very popular honor student named Misaki died partway through the school year in Yomiyama North Middle School's class 3-3. The rest of the students, devastated by the unexpected loss, decided to carry on as if their classmate were still alive, going so far as to keep the desk in place and bringing it to the graduation ceremony. Yet no one could explain why their classmate, already dead and buried, was present on the graduation photo.Then, in the spring of 1998, a boy named Kouichi Sakakibara transfers to the class, and begins to grow suspicious of the fearful atmosphere permeating the class. In particular, he becomes fascinated with a mysterious, aloof girl with an eye patch who always sits alone, drawing pictures. A girl the rest of the class refuses to acknowledge. A girl named Misaki.

So, yeah, basically there are rules that the students of class 3-3 must follow if they all want to live til after graduation. The rules are simple, but also kind of hard to understand at times. I'll give an example: There would be, say, 30 people registered to be in class 3-3 for the upcoming year. As a result, 30 desks would be placed in the home room for each student. On the first day though, a student would be left standing with no place to sit. There are suddenly 31 students in that homeroom and all of them look like they should have been there from the start. Everyone has records and families, but one does not truly belong. One of them is dead. The problem is, no one knows who. You might think, "oh that's not right, there was just a mix up with the registration and a person got missed." "right?" "WRONG!" If it worked like that there would be much of an anime. The class cannot just accept that there is one extra person, they much choose one among themselves to be treated as if they did not exist. Treated as if they were dead. If they do not follow this rule perfectly, one by one the whole class will die of seemingly natural causes or "accidents."
       This goes on for years until Sakakibara is transferred to that very class. No, he is not the extra person. Since he was a transfer, the class already had the extra person and there was already a person chosen to be ostracized, Misaki Mae. Sakakibara does not know the rules and this sets into motion the inevitable.
       This is a really good mystery, horror anime and will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are unexpected twists and turns throughout the entire thing, with a huge shocker at the end. Who lives? Who dies?