Review of High School of the Dead
There's enough reviews out there and enough information to debate over as to if Highschool of the Dead is a masterpiece or an abomination. This review is not about trying to convince you that one side is right, I'm just laying down the facts as I saw them. Story: 7/10 To put things into perspective, I want you to review in your mind, all the zombie media you have ever seen - maybe it's none (maybe you're a veteran). That being said, as far as zombie media goes, the story behind HOTD is not awful. A virus hits the world, an infectious one, that spreads on contactfrom host to host. Introduce a cast of whimsical characters whose problems are limited to being outcasts in the lunchroom, here we have the typical zombie-pocalypse plot meets anime. Could the premise of running around Japan beating the already dead once over with baseballs bats and katanas be better? Sure, but if you want to watch Highschool of the Dead, that's what it's about.
Takashi is a depressed high school student when a random zombie walks onto his school campus and everything starts from there. He and his classmates end up trying to escape said 'Highschool of the Dead' and end up running around Japan trying to survive the zombie infested nightmare by any means. That about sums up the overall plot of HOTD.
It's excessively violent, it's excessively suggestive, it's excessively dramatic, and for the most part the anime exists to fulfill it's fans with guns, sex, and everything else your inner-preteen-male desires. It does not deserve to be held high as a triumph of the industry nor does it sink low as being the worst invention of mankind. If you enjoy top quality action scenes then hey, you've stumbled upon a great anime!
Some disappointments in the storyboard would be in the episode four "half episode" recap of the first three episodes. Another big problem would most likely be the ending, which although fulfilling, it is indeed a non-end. Seeing as the manga is still publishing and a HOTD OVA has recently been announced I'm sure a follow up to the story will come soon enough.
Art: 9/10
Me oh my, the backgrounds are delectable, the costuming is mouth-watering, the CGI is marvelous, and the action scenes are intense! Madhouse delivers.
Character designs are debatable (some people love them, some people hate them), but I didn't have a real problem with any of them - even the nurse whose character design is /her whole character/, I'll touch on that in a moment.
Sound: 10/10
The Akeboshi Rockets perform "HIGHSCHOOL OF THE DEAD" and it's one of the best openings I've ever had the fortune of listening to. Even if you don't end up watch HOTD, I recommend giving it a listen - it's really great! It brings all the tension and action right to your eyes, and the visuals that accompany it in the anime really just make you want to watch HOTD. Numerous insert songs throughout (all played at such perfect times) and even a rendition of "Row row row your boat" ("Shoot shoot kill them all") pops up in the anime. The BGM is scary. Hellsa scary - and it just simply works. Of course there are cutesy tracks too (for the fanservice episodes and "laughter moments") but that music is chump change in comparison to the rock tracks used during the battle scenes. The voice acting is also really good - the voice of Archer (from F/SN) is Takashi and Kitmura Eri as the tsun~tsun~ Takagi. Sawashiro Miyuki (the voice of Celty from DRRR!!, Perrine from Strike Witches, and Shinku from Rozen Maiden to name a few) voices Busujima and does an excellent job. We also have some TTGL going on in this anime - Inoue Marina (Yoko) voices Rei, and Hiyama Noyubuki (Viral) voices Hirano. The voice acting rivals the soundtrack and is just as superb.
Character: 6/10
Yeah yeah yeah. Everyone knows. If you're watching HOTD, you're not watching for the character development. Takashi is bland, Rei is bland, the nurse is roleless, and the loli barely has two lines.
But on the opposite end of the spectrum we have the dynamic and exciting Busujima who crosses the line between murderer and defender of justice. Busujima, accompanied by Hirano, the military expertise who creates much humor with his dual personality that changes from meek geek to powerful slayer.
The very worst part about the characters would be the nurse. I often forget about her existence due to the fact that she has no character development at all. She is stupid beyond imagination (even as far as anime stupidity goes in ecchi anime, she may take the cake), and should have been the very first person killed when the zombie breakout occurs. On the other hand, her assets are great, so apparently we can just write that off as a logical reason for her survival.
Enjoyment: 9/10
I truly enjoyed HOTD. I wasn't particularly fond of the over-the-top fanservice sequences, but I definitely had fun watching it. There were indeed moments where I cared about the characters, as flawed and stupid as some of them may be. Highschool of the Dead is a fine show and no it is not intelligent. But I don't want to give the illusion that if HOTD were intelligent or scripted to be so that it would be good. It would be a trainwreck and it was never meant to be anything more than super violent show about bashing zombies and making love to beautiful girls.
Overall: 8/10
There's no serious question posed at the end of this anime. HOTD does not ask you to continue thinking about how we should live our lives or how we take what we have for granted. It's not made to be deep, it's made to be fun. It's very easy to slam HOTD for being all about violence and sex, because it is. There's subjugation of women and the glorification of man too, so if you're offended by such things, I wouldn't get too involved with this series.
All aside, Highschool of the Dead is a success in my opinion. It provides the viewer with enough laughs and adrenaline to keep them watching. Not once did I check the clock for when this anime was over. That's to say that HOTD is not boring. Not boring at all.