Review of High School of the Dead

This was a great premise with good set-pieces, but the ecchi gets in the way of it becoming a great show. The notion of a group of highschoolers being attacked by zombies during classes and needing to fight their way through the town sounds like a real winner. Add in the diverse reactions to this disaster among the named characters, interpersonal drama, and improvised weapons; what could possibly go wrong? As it turns out, the fanservice is where we see the show's pacing and tone fall apart. During several zombie encounters, a girl will be attacked and the camera will focus on her panties/boobs exclusively. It almostfeels like the creators were poorly disguising their fetishes. Although other fanservice scenes can be considered organic, there are far too many such scenes interrupting the action/horror aspect of a zombie show.

Were it more restrained in the fanservice department and focused more on the action/storytelling, it would be worth as much as an 8 or 9 out of 10.