Review of High School of the Dead

The title says it all. Highschool of the Dead is an anime about high school(ers) who face off against the undead. By now, pop culture has already done zombies to death, or rather undeath, as it becomes laden with cliche and a cash cow for writers to milk. This is saddening, as the zombie genre still remains ripe for fun, engaging storytelling. Highschool of the Dead is one such example. It is a fun, high octane thriller that is pulled off with finesse and style. Now when it comes to zombies, it is not how the story is told, but how the story is shown andexecuted. Survival is the name of the game after a mysterious virus breaks out and turns the world's population into undead cannibals. We all know this, such a scenario is the tried and tested way of crafting zombie narrative. Highschool of the Dead, expectedly, uses this generic template as well. So the story is clearly not selling the show here, but I feel how this cookie cutter narrative is presented, more than makes up for any shortcomings in the script. Well, for clarity, let me introduce you to this familiar story once more. Takeshi, our male protagonist, bears witness to the start of the zombie outbreak at his high school, and has to find his way to safety. He teams up with a rag tag bunch of survivors from different grades, and take on the harsh realities of zombie-infested Japan. Not exactly award winning narrative, but even as the scenario feels familiar, this 12 episode series still has plenty to offer on its roller coaster ride.

Unfortunately, as a result of the generic narrative, the characters in HotD fall prey to basic and generic archetypes, stereotypes associated with certain types of characters. Pink-haired tsundere, Blonde-haired plot device, Purple-haired yandere and so on, who all yearn for our main character’s manly touch. Hence, the personalities of these girls do not appeal much to me, nor any discerning viewer. I have a sneaking feeling, that these characters are made for viewer-empowerment, where generic Takeshi, with no distinguishing character traits, acts as a blank slate for us viewers to paint ourselves unto, and that his harem is our harem. Also, these four girls, cling to the protagonist when in need, making us feel like masculine rulers in our palace. With a supermodel on each hand, Highschool of the Dead does do a good job of pandering to us nerds' and otakus' innermost fantasies. But seriously, the females are all needy, victimized and do not come across as proactive human beings, leaving me in doubt of their actual "character" as a result. These moving figures on screen, are mere pieces on the board, and play out for our entertainment. There is but one exception, and he is Murano. As the only other lead male character, he is plump, short and unfit, quite the opposite of what males fantasize to be. Inside him hides bloodlust, and being combat-trained, he is certainly a rare sight in anime today, especially for a lead character. This guy is living the dream, in a broken world where he can kill, fight and hang with supermodels and his berserker antics are fun to watch, but other than Murano, there is nothing left to take away from the characters in Highschool of the Dead except presentation.

As I previously mentioned, Highschool of the Dead nails its execution perfectly. What is execution you ask? I refer to execution as the way the show is presented, and this encompasses the art style, animation quality and overall visual design. This, on the whole, is done excellently in HotD. Leave it to studio Madhouse to draw up a gorgeous looking show with top-notch animation to boot. Blood and gore effects are chilling and impactful, environments look run down and desolate, quite fittingly, as cities go to ruin after zombies invade, and even zombies themselves look unique and individual. There is also expert use of filters and lighting effects in Highschool of the Dead, to achieve a gritty, grimy feel to the landscape, which helps adds further depth to the atmosphere we experience. A lot of care was put into making everything look good. Animation, especially the action scenes with knives flailing, motorcycles swerving, guns firing, looks fluid, and have an organic feel to them. We feel as though we were there, in a struggle for our survival, and all the breasts are bouncing right in my face. Well-defined characters in a flurry of movements is sign of competent animation that Highschool of the Dead accomplishes as well. The 2 male characters look fine, their design and silhouettes follow the traditional anime style, and provide sufficient contrast to each other, making them distinguishable, one being tall, skinny, the other being stout and plump. The female characters… all look like supermodels, except the loli character. These gals are male fantasies personified. Their big tits and fat asses stick out quite a lot, and sometimes they arch their backs to help push their posteriors and breasts out even more and so on. Sometimes their clothes come off and stuff. Essentially, the girls of Highschool of the Dead are walking pieces of fan service, even the loli. I tell them apart by their hair colors because they do not look too different aesthetically. Despite lacking diversity in body types, they still do look good, to me, the male reviewer sharing his opinion with you, dear reader. Please do not judge me. The curves, lines all come together nicely with cogency and are easy on the eyes. In all, the presentation of Highschool of the Dead stands a zombie head and above that of normal anime, as expected of Madhouse, and is a worthy example of fantastic execution.

Sound design wise, it sounds like any zombie apocalypse we hear on television. Bones crunching, guns firing, screams of agony and the whole parade. It all sounds fine, and are serviceable for the show. The opening song is sick. Aptly named “Highschool of the Dead”, it starts the show off with a bang at the beginning of each episode. Madhouse assaults you with hard rock and rapidly transitioning visuals, providing audiences with the same disorientation one feels when the world comes to an end. The studio is also not afraid to hide what it is selling, as ass and tits flash on screen, panty-shots and girls with their clothes ripped off flaying about as well. I can certainly respect Madhouse’s shameless, straightforward attitude. The ending song also plays out calmly to remind viewers of the times gone by before the apocalypse began. Not too bad at all. I liked the opening and found the rest of Highschool of the Dead’s soundtrack to be acceptable. Adequately done, Madhouse.

In the end, it was clear the Attack on Titan’s director had to choose between two approaches when directing Highschool of the Dead; a strong narrative focus or a strong visual focus. Clearly, he chose the latter and damned the story. But for all my complaints about the unoriginal plot and lacklustre characters Highschool of the Dead has pushed unto us, the show has also exemplified visual splendour, far and above the standard anime fare we have become used to. I found Highschool of the Dead to be a fun “turn your brain off” kind of anime and enjoyed it when I did. The fights, the tits, the guns were fun while they lasted, and to that end, Highschool of the Dead was worth the watch after all, and made me excited for its sequel. Narrative aside, HotD’s visual flair and competence will be a treat for anyone willing to sit back, relax and let these zombies eat you alive.

P.S. This show has a lot of tits.
I do not score. Disregard all of my ratings.