Review of School Days

At first, one would think of School Days as another romantic comedy in a high school setting, and it does start off as such. Boy meets girl, boy likes girl, and girl goes to same school. Although he meets a matchmaker with seemingly no reason to help him out, it initially sticks to the cliches of its genre (even showing signs of becoming a harem show early on). As the show goes on, however, the tone changes. It becomes less of a romcom and more the degradation of many characters. By the end of the fifth episode, the main character enters a downward spiral thataffects himself and everyone around him. The transition between romcom and more mature subject matter is actually handled quite well, with the show straining suspension of disbelief only at certain times.
If you can get past the first episode and deal with an overall lack of characterisation for most of the cast, you'll find a series that serves as a respite from the deluge of school comedies out there.