Review of School Days
Ok- while I don't want to rage like so many, I've read the manga and will compare and contrast the two while giving an hon est opinion. First of all- I will only recommend this anime to those who will watch to the very end no matter what. If you don't mind blood and gore, or the psychopathic logic and melodrama and the scary fact that it is a slice of life hence this could happen and has happened to real life people then watch- if not- then this anime is not for you. 1.The story and characters- the two were nothing special. The title itselfgives an easy going appearance to the viewers while hiding the true darkness of the series. While the plot is actually a few life lessons all bundled into one, it comes off as mere betrayal of the main character, idiotic decisions of the fellow cast of characters and the slow descent into madness that came upon the broken and the dejected over the span of the series- characters being forced into a corner and in pure desperation for happiness. The characters in the anime are all 2-dimensional. They have no backgrounds to get attached to with a few minor flashbacks, and all of them have no emotions except ones that could get anyone to become the Incredible Hulk and destroy things.
The girls are all shallow and the only innocent one, Kotonoha,is undeserving of all the crap handed to her while at the same time needed to have the common sense to end it before she lost her mind. It wasn't until the end that people started seeing their mistakes. The fact that it proves that karma comes full circle and that you get what you have done to others (in the case of Sekai and Makoto in the end) Unlike the manga, the anime has a more unexpected twist.
The other point that needed to be pushed in was that there are no parents or adult figures to really step in and take charge or over see the children. For this reason I score low on the anime. That so many adults or on-lookers could ignore the signs or not observe these children better it's like our regular bad high schools and bad parenting.
2.The artwork and sound both get good marks because they are what deceives the viewers. The Opening and Closings are happy and light. They mask the true intentions of the story. The artwork wasn't a big standout compared to other works, but coming from a smaller anime studio it was good and helped emphasize certain scenes (black blood *cough cough*)
Overall-I will not recommend unless again- you can handle anime that will give you a main character that is rotten and the rest of the characters are just as conniving and sickening as the next. The bullying, the rape, and gore are also things to mention, but if you can make it through that and seriously wish to see vengeance at work and life lessons learned in the end then watch it at your own risk. (I would also say to read the manga and play the games if you want to see different versions of how things would turn out)