Review of High School of the Dead

Highschool of the Dead is a good anime that could have been a great anime if only it had taken itself seriously. Its story is solid and well paced, the art is fantastic, and the characters are introduced in a way that makes you care about them although very little background is given (though considering this is only a 12 episode anime thats fine). Story: 7 When I first started watching this anime, based on what I had heard I expected it to be an anime about breasts and panty shots that just so happened to have zombies in it. While the anime does have enough pantyshots and breast bounces to embarrass Dead or Alive Beach Volleyball, the story is all about the zombies. The way the zombies are introduced to the plot is nice. Almost each episode has the characters trying to accomplish a goal in an effort to reach their long-term goal of surviving. The plot is well paced and fits nicely in the 12 episodes of the series. Another thing I appreciated about the story is there are not a lot of plot holes left by the end of the season and much of the story is plausible (once you accept the whole zombie premise).

The main problems with the story is that at times it tries to get deep and you start to take it seriously from a psychological perspective...and then just when you are about to be drawn into a scene the animators go "LOOK BOOBIES!", and the spell is broken.

I wont spoil much about the ending but really I thought they could have done more with some earlier plot points to make the ending more memorable. Suffice it to say the way the show ends basically demands that it get another season or at least an OAV.

Art: 8

One thing I was not expecting from this series was the spectacular art. Computer animation is used really well in some scenes, particularly actions sequences. The scenery is pretty too and really adds to the whole "end of the world" tone of the story. One last note on the art...some of the breast physics really do put Dead or Alive to shame. Not only are most of the camera angles centered around showing of the guns that the women are carrying and those that are attached to their chests, there are some moments where the boobs look like they have themselves achieved sentience and are fleeing the zombies all on their own.

Sound: 6

The sound on the other hand was mostly so-so. The voice actors all did a decent job (including Eri Kitamura as Saya Takagi...what is it with her and characters named Saya). The opening theme had some neat moments but I found myself skipping it most of the time. The music in the show itself was forgetable for the most part. I mean it worked with the action scenes and the sad scenes and what not but there wasnt any time in this anime where the music really blew me away.

Character: 7

Like all good zombie apocalypse stories, each character in High School of the Dead serves a function that aids in the survival of the group:

-We have the main hero who starts out all whiny and emo and then starts to grow and mature towards the end while the others look up to him.

-We have the main heroine who made a promise to the main character when they were kids and then (for reasons that are vaguley hinted at late in the series) ends up with another guy...oh and she can use a spear really well.

-We have the typical mostly stoic but mature and attractive katana wielding high school girl who acts like a big sister by cooking meals (wearing ONLY an apron) and cutting apart zombies when she isnt doing that.

-We have the bitchy genius girl who its hard to like at the beginning but who grows on you by the end of the anime. (as usual Eri Kitamura plays this type of character very well).

-We have the Otaku who is useless in the real world but in the Zombie Apocalypse he is an awesome weapons expert who turns a nail gun into a nail gun gun (no literally, he adds a stock and uses it like a rifle to kill zombies in the second episode).

-We have the little girl who shows up about halfway through the series and whose three primary functions are to look cute, bring ammo to the otaku, and keep the main characters from making out when she is on screen.

-And finally we have the designated driver, in this case a klutzy, borderline retarded nurse who does not actually have breasts but is in fact smuggling a pair of watermelon-sized marshmallows under her shirt. Her functions are to drive cars, provide comic relief, and to be in charge of fan-service...because if there is one thing this anime didnt have enough of, its fan service (heavy sarcasm).

Honestly I found myself liking most of the characters by the end and you do really hope that most of them live through the zombie apocalypse which is absolutely necessary for this kind of story. Also the characters are mostly believable too. Other than the Otaku, none of the other characters are able to pick up a gun and score headshots from the word go. In fact there is a lot of misses and fumbling around with ammo early on to remind you that these are high school kids. Of course then the katana-girl shows up and makes it look easy but I will forgive that because she looks so darn good while doing it.

Enjoyment: 7

This is a fun anime to watch. However its really disappointing that the anime fails to take itself seriously. There was SO much room for psychological twists or character growth but this was all filled in with breasts and panty shots. Now this being an anime, breasts and panty shots sort of go with the territory and to the anime's credit, these common shots do not distract from the story too much...MOST of the time.

One action sequence in particular I have taken to calling "booby-bullet time". The hero has to fire a sniper rifle off the breasts of another character (for a contrived reason that technically works but you know the only reason they did this was to cause the girl to moan every time the weapon fires). As the hero fires the rifle we get a slow motion sequence where the katana girl backflips to the side to dodge the shots. In slow motion we see her breasts flopping in mid flip and the bullet goes in front of the first breast and then behind the second one...that sequence all by itself kept this anime from getting a 8 rating. There is fan service and then there is not even trying.

Overall: 7

Like I said, this is a good anime and I recommend that you watch it if you like this kind of genre but it could have been a great anime if it had only taken itself seriously and toned down the boobies.