Review of School Days

School Days is a bold anime with a nasty reputation, yet there are those who praise it as a masterpiece. While it is by no means a beautiful work of art by my standards, I believe it deserves more respect for its morbid themes and the delivery of said themes. Story: 7/10 For the most part, the story is a sadly realistic portrayal of certain relationships and their complications. Although it starts off bland, it soon picks up speed and becomes increasingly more disturbing with each episode. The situation continually worsens for the characters, providing enough conflict for an interesting story, despite some of this conflict beingunnecessary. At times, the harem aspect can feel overly exaggerated, and perhaps it is, but for what it is, the story is pretty decent. What really matters, though, is the delivery of the story, which is incredible. By using cinematic techniques that have been practiced by master filmmakers, certain scenes can leave you feeling breathless. I remember episodes 6 and 12 leaving me wide-eyed, because the buildup of tension was so well-done. Admittedly, though, I was a bit underwhelmed by the ending, since I was expecting it to be much more violent from the anime's reputation, but the existing ending is just as momentous as the MAL synopsis claims it to be.

Characters: 6/10
The characters aren't particularly likable. In fact, the protagonist is probably the most detestable main character I've ever seen in an anime so far. More importantly, the characters aren't masterfully written. There is a decent amount of development, but it's a bit rocky. However, the characters are pretty realistic for a good portion of the show. Unfortunately, there are real people who are very similar to Makoto. A few of the harem girls can also feel unnecessary, but they are fairly important to showing Makoto's personality. One of my favorite aspects of the anime is that the flaws of the main characters are their downfall, which is an effective form of storytelling originating from Ancient Greece.

Art: 5/10
The animation style is dated. What else could you expect from an anime made in 2007? Regardless of this, it's still easy on the eyes. There's not much else to say here.

Sound: 7/10
The soundtrack is good, but what makes it even better is how the music melds with the scenes to create an appropriate mood. The experience is definitely heightened because of some of the songs, especially Kioku no Umi and Aoi Kajitsu, both of which fit the story perfectly, but in different ways. Additionally, the sound effects are decent and don't seem out of place.

Enjoyment: 8/10
Despite being an older anime without a dub, I enjoyed School Days much more than I initially expected to. I almost always enjoy a story that makes my heart pound and eyes water. After finishing an episode, I actually wanted to continue to the next one right after, instead of putting it off until tomorrow. Of course, I enjoyed certain episodes far more than others due to spots of fanservice and misplaced comic relief, but it was an overall entertaining experience.

School Days can serve as a cautionary tale, or as dark entertainment for fans of twisted stories. Whichever you prefer, I think it's definitely worth giving a chance, and deserves a higher rating by at least 1.