Mei Misaki

Mei Misaki is the female protagonist of Another and a student of Class 3-3 at Yomiyama North Middle School in 1998. She was labeled by her classmates as "the one that does not exist." Mei is a fairly small girl in size, being one of the smallest of her class, she has quite pale skin and intense black hair. Her eyes were originally red, however the reason behind her mismatched irises is that her left eye is prosthetic; a doll's eye which, as Mei describes it and can see things best left unseen. The eye was a gift from her mother, who made her the glass eye after Mei lost her real eye due to disease when she was four; the eyes are a different color because Yukiyo Misaki felt matching eyes were boring. She can be seen wearing the standard female uniform, but throughout the series she has been seen wearing various outfits, especially during her times with her twin sister. She is fascinated by a pair of conjoined dolls in her grandmother's shop, wondering how they can be so calm even though they are attached. When Kouichi Sakakibara suggests that is the reason, Mei claims that that's impossible. She also claims that, in the end, everyone is alone, no matter how many bonds they may have. However, despite telling Kouichi to stay away from her, as time goes on, she becomes accustomed to his presence and doesn't seem to mind having him around. She even seems to develop feelings for him, as she was deeply touched by him standing up for her when Izumi Akazawa blamed her for the Curse, despite both Naoya Teshigawara and Yuya Mochizuki standing up for her as well. This is further implied when it's revealed that she had figured out who the Extra student was some time before the school trip, but kept it a secret because she didn't want Kouichi to be sad, a decision she ultimately comes to regret. Mei's withdrawn and gloomy nature is later revealed to be the result of the death of her cousin Misaki Fujioka, as she discovered in the 5th grade, was actually her twin sister. When Misaki was alive, Mei was much happier, even wearing brighter clothes, though she was still notably shy compared to her sister. Mei and Misaki quickly became inseparable, and the two would often meet up in secret, as her adopted mother/aunt Yukiyo Misaki didn't like them meeting up with fear that Mei would return to her biological family. As a result, Mei was completely devastated by Misaki's death by leukemia (brought upon by the Curse), to the point that she initially didn't want to accept she was gone and even fulfilled her promise to give her a doll she wanted for her birthday. The sheer despair of losing her sister has apparently rendered Mei null to any other trauma, as she doesn't even flinch at Shoji Kubodera killing himself in front of the entire class. Mei dislikes cell phones, saying that it disturbs her to be connected to other people at all times by electromagnetic waves, most likely a by-product of her solitary nature. Nevertheless, she carries one by request of her aunt. Her hobby is drawing, and she is a member of the school's art club, though she states that she doesn't enjoy creating art so much as she enjoys looking at it. Mei is also very insecure about her prosthetic eye, which is why she hides using her eyepatch. When she shows it to Kouichi for the second time, however, he says that it's beautiful and she doesn't need to hide it. Because of her eye, Mei knows that death is not a blessing since when it happens, you are all alone. Although she can be rather creepy at times, Mei is actually a really kind girl; she quickly befriends Kouichi after he becomes a second "sacrifice" for Class 3-3 and willingly opens up to him about the Curse, her family, Class 3-3's history and even the nature of her prosthetic eye. She is also very selfless, which is evident by the fact that she willingly "sacrificed" herself to prevent any more people from falling victim to the Curse, as she couldn't stand to see anyone else die after losing her sister, showing that she really does care despite her seemingly apathetic nature. When asked by Kouichi how she can stand being treated like she doesn't exist, Mei states she thinks it's a better alternative than having to treat someone else like they don't exist, further showing how selfless she is. In contrast to her typically taciturn behavior, Mei also has a surprisingly childish side; when the class are on their school trip, she spends time building a sandcastle and gets scared when an octopus sticks to her hand, leading her to think that it was going to eat her. Another childish side of her is shown when she wore the flower headpiece she found in the box in the old Class 3-3 room and jokingly confirming one of the seven mysteries of the school, namely that one can hear moaning in the auxiliary library. It should be noted that these traits of her personality only appear in the anime, not in the original novel.