Review of High School of the Dead
I might be a little biased when writing this being the anime that got me into the whole otaku business. To start off though, this was the first fully fledged anime I watched when it was first released in 2010 around September. I was 10 years old. You might think that it’s messed up to watch an anime like this at the age of then but I think otherwise. This was one the best experiences of my life watching this show. Being regarded as one of the most perverted shows of all time is an understatement. This went above and beyond. The amount of fan-service inthis show is overly done which I don't like. It did make the show majorly popular which was the whole point of it being there in the first place.
Art: 10: Despite being one of the most perverted anime if not THE most perverted, the amount of detail is astonishing. The animation and art style is amazing. it`s just plain beautiful. The two guys who made this anime and manga might be huge pervs but they are geniuses to art and animation.
Sound: 7: Besides and whole zombie apocalypse concept and great art style, Maon Kurosaki became famous for her album made for all the ending songs of the show. Her voice is just amazing. It’s very unique and beautiful and all the songs in the end are different which gives much to enjoy. If I have to say, this anime has to have one of the best soundtracks of all time. Not only that but all the lyrics actually correspond to each episode it was part of and they actually have good meaning to them. But there is one problem; the English dubbed version was horrible. The voice overs were really annoying and didn't fit. Even if they did fit they pissed me off with their high pitched voices. For one, in the Japanese version, Takashi says the F-bomb one in the beginning, correct? Maybe some minor language throughout that right? In the English dub he says the F-bomb at-least 20 times throughout the series which I didn't see was necessary Some might like it but in my opinion it was unnecessary and the Japanese voices were far better.
Characters: 6: After years of watching the show over and over again, I now notice that the only good character was Hirano, Alice and Shizuka. Takashi has literally no good traits about him. I hate Tsunderes like Takagi but she`s slightly better than the rest. I guess it’s her character design and her family. Saeko is one of those female characters that are all powerful. She is a bit overpowered than the rest. Alice and Zeke go along with Hirano; they are the only ones that are good. She’s cute and helpful. Rei is that annoying clingy female character and Shizuka is a dumb blonde which actually gives personality to the group surprisingly. Hirano finally comes in, the otaku, geek, nerd who actually has a good personality and shows character development throughout the story. He`s the only character that most of us actually love. i wouldnt care if the others died just keep Hirano, Alice, Shizuka and Zeke.
Enjoyment: 10: I’ve been doing research for 4 years and this is still the only anime in existence that involves the zombie apocalypse concept. Maybe because the concept is so farfetched that it isn’t attempted by any except the Sato brothers who as we’ve seen, are either crazy or geniuses or both. This being the first anime I actually watched (besides Bakugan, Yu-Gi-Oh and the other crap that used to show) I took major enjoyment in it. But now as I watched it today I still get that geeky feeling every time Hirano comes up or when the Humvee pops out. Being the only Zombie anime, it’s a must see if you done mind watching some really perverted scenes.
Story: 7: It’s very realistic in terms of what is going to happen in the apocalypse. The government falling and how humans are the problem and not the walkers, and the whole society falling apart thing. My problem with it was that the creators focused more on fan-service instead of the story. It should’ve been more like The Walking Dead depicting how the humans are scarier than the walkers themselves. If the creators had put more of that, and maybe still have the excessive fan-service, it would’ve been near perfect.
Conclusion: The anime was great if you’ve seen it and as you’ve seen I`m still a little biased towards it. It’s a much watch if you don’t mind excessive fan-service and nudity. With the supposed season two coming in Fall of 2014, after 4 goddamn years, it will make even more money and become even more popular than it is now. Those who have been waiting as much as me cross your fingers and wait to go full nerd as the next 12 episode come soon.