Review of High School of the Dead

HOTD get's a terrible rap for it's explicit ecchi content. While there is frequent and blatant fan service, there are themes presented that are very identifiable. For starters, HOTD is one of the few high school geared animes that capitalizes on the irony of its protagonists being high school students. This irony is exploited to its fullest in a dramatic fashion that binds itself to the plot. Secondly, the "who will MC-kun choose" conflict is resolved within the first season. The fact that this show chooses a path and sticks to it makes this show stand above any harem comedy/drama/dramaedy I've seen to date. If you wantromantic development, HOTD is the only harem anime that delivers outside of School Days.

Thirdly, the show does not revolve around the protagonist. There are frequent intersections between main and sub plots that leave any viewer guessing as to what will happen on their first viewing.

I could go on for days, but it boils down to this: DO NOT LET THE ECCHI CONTENT AND BAD RAP OF THIS ANIME MAKE YOU THINK IT LACKS DEPTH. It seems that most people who review this anime just jumped on the Hate Train. There is seriously a lot to appreciate here, and that comes from someone who has watched hundred of hours of anime in the same and similar genres.

I cannot believe this show never got the second season it deserved when you have shows like Infinite Stratos becoming best sellers. Seriously, Angel Beats barely manages to develop deeper characters in much more time, and you can't tell me that AB isn't riddled with fan service. That being said, HOTD goes way overboard with the ecchi. It distracts from the good writing in a bad way.