Review of School Days

Without spoiling much, my favorite part of the anime was how it explored our base instincts and desires as humans. The main antagonist of the show is the protagonist Makoto Itou's lust. Author (Makoto Uezu) shows Makoto Itou losing his sense of reason in the face of millions of years of evolution. He attempts to overcome this cloud over his head that is imposed upon him as a product of being human. As the anime shows, overcoming your nature is not a battle you fight once. The protagonist seems to manage moments of clarity, where he realizes the truth of his actions and attempts tomake amends. These prove to be fleeting as his biological composition takes his will away from him. I could go into further detail on how this topic explores even what it means to be “in control of your actions” as every action we perform as a living organism in this universe is dictated by random chance and genetics. However, this is a whole paper on it it’s own right.
The characters in the story spiral in and out of lucidity as natural selection controls their actions. The show emphasizes this repeatedly as characters’ desires flow back and forth like a tide. Over each iteration of this endless loop, events get more and more hectic as chaos caused by the previous loop is compounded, eventually leading to an explosive end. This series of events symbolizes the lives of us humans. We are brought into this world unknowing, curious as to what it has to offer. We obtain the things we want, initially something small, like a new toy, symbolized in School days by Itou saying “ I’m fine with just looking at her” before initially meeting Kotonoha Katsura. However, there is no end to this desire, and upon receiving everything we could ever want, something needs to fill that void. This is shown by Itou desiring for more and more lewd acts, such as hugging, kissing, and even holding hands. In the end this relentless desire is what spirals everything out of control. It is apparent in the show that had Ito been content with what he had by episode 2, everyone would’ve been happy. Itou’s greed is what leads to his downfall. This is a great metaphor for what many religions and beliefs around the world are trying to teach. “Desire is suffering” is one of the main messages of the show, along with an in-depth psychoanalysis of the human condition.