Review of School Days
School Days is a Slice of Life, Romantic, Drama about a sordid love triangle between friends Makoto (guy), Kotonoha (girl) and Sekai (girl). This is anime is an adaptation of a visual novel, notorious for its tragic endings and this anime retains that reputation. As the story begins it seems very average, with the typical storyline that this type of anime tends to follow however both of the girl's questionable behaviour and feelings do make this romance drama very interesting. Even though it is very short, the story flows well at a satisfying pace, with some major unexpected developments that will keep most unable to stop. Yetthis interesting anime was hugely let down by its characters, the male protagonist in particular. It's a common thing to have a unlucky and average guy as a protagonist however School Days goes overboard by making Makoto a useless, worthless, perverted, the list goes on… To have someone like him act like he's the "top man" gets so annoying that anyone can easily just drop this anime and look for a better one. The supporting characters don't add much to the story either it's really just the two main girls that bring this anime's story to life, which makes it worth watching to the end and also makes you feel sorry for the girls affected by Makoto.
The animation quality of this anime is decent with great character designs, where the girl's body shapes are paid close attention to for fanservice. The animation could have been the great point to this anime but the animators are so lazy that issues with the background characters and static characters become so noticeable that it degrades the quality of the show. At least the music helps at points to bring a certain tone to any situation, nonetheless this anime overall is full of too many silent moments.
On a final note, School Days turned out to be an interesting and somewhat different anime romance drama (based on a visual novel) to watch. Even with the most hated and irritating male protagonist, the girls managed to bring something to the story, including a lot of heartfelt and ecchi moments ($ex). As it began to reach its climax the story became really disturbing and then came the shockingly unexpected ending.
I recommend this anime to those who enjoy watching romance anime however the male protagonist is the biggest issue in this series, so this isn't one to watch if you're easily irritated. ^_^