Review of School Days

School Days MAL review * Shorter thoughts on it/tldr I think School Days is very subversive especially in the anime genre - if anime presents high schoolers too far into the side of pure, this anime presents them too far into the side of impure. But the anime itself is just flat out unenjoyable. All it is is a story of bad people doing bad things. Literally not a single character is a good person. Not a side character, main character, anything. The most is that maybe you can sympathize with some of the stuff they go through but that's the extent and that only lasts forso long.

The only real reason I can see for why people think this is a masterpiece is because it's subversive and because it goes so far into the depravities of people and their lust. But it basically does it for a large part for the shock value and drama. And I highly disagree that just because an anime makes you uncomfortable that it succeded in something. Discomfort alone doesn't make for art. There are a lot of scenes I can think of that make me uncomfortable in anime, and a lot of them I think are great scenes because they feel like they have a point in showing them. In School Days, the point isn't there, which is where it's infuriating.

* Longer reddit review

I watched it because it's infamous and also because it's weirdly considered a masterpiece by some people. One of my friends told me some time ago that it was "realistic." And I was pretty skeptical because I knew how it ended, more or less. However, going through it I think I sort of agree, with it being realistic. I don't think it's realistic in the sense that every relationship will take the trajectory taken in the show, but that some relationships can be like the ones in this anime - filled with lust, passion, mistakes, douchebags and victims. Where I think this anime is off putting for a lot of people is the idea that you have to sympathize with the main character and that that's what the show wants you to do. A lot of times an anime or piece work doesn't want you to necessarily feel straightforward emotions, anti-hero's exist, sometimes the villain is more like-able, etc. The closest comparison I can think of right now as weird as it sounds is the main character of the book/play Streetcar Named Desire. If you had to read that book in high school, know that our MC is sort of like the main characters in that book in the way he deals with women. Also how his actions create destructive consequences.

So some questions and themes the anime addresses:

What are you supposed to do when you have a girlfriend for the first time?

Do you kiss? When? What are the boundaries?


What do you "want" from the other person in the relationship? (Like fulfillment, sexual needs. Do you want to go fast/slow? Do you want options or do you want the person to be you're one and only? [The MC very clearly wants sex and to not be tied down to a relationship though at the beginning he seems to present himself as more pure.] As an example the female love interest talks about how her preferred scenario for love making is after riding on horses in europe and it rains, to do it in some cabin. Very book-like romantic whereas while she is saying this, it shows our MC in his room with a trashcan full of tissues.


How does your relationship with others change when you get a girlfriend? (Bullying, Jealousy, crushes, distance from others, etc. Maybe a feeling that you need to attack as your love interest is getting away.The bullying part plays a role later on and I think is malicious but also somewhat a necessary evil.)


Where does lust and libido play into all of this and just the same where does "love" play into that? (As in how much of the lust is really based on "love" and how much of it is just urges and mostly anyone would do. Episode 3 really kind of sets the stage for these questions when the MC and his childhood friend have a conversation about how to approach his girlfriend. She ends up giving advice that is correct but is otherwise ignored in just a few episodes. "Listen here, girls have modesty... it doesn't mean that anytime, anywhere, anything is okay!" This is completely ignored after just a miniscule attempt by the MC who pretty much has zero patience. Another quote from the same conversation : "When you don't understand the other person's feelings, it's overcoming these frustrating times that makes you feel better when you do understand them. That's what you call 'Lovers"" I think this is how you know our MC isn't really about "love" because after just a small attempt he begins to say that it's "tiring" and basically gives up but still holds on because he has a girlfriend and he's not sure what to do. I think he unconciously finds out his personality is more rotten than he imagined in the beggining. But sadly his girlfriend is the exact opposite (as I said before she's very romantic and someone that thinks long term) and tries to work things out even when she should know to split because again for her this is her first relationship as well and even kinda gets gaslit- it's really sad. Because of her fantastical nature too, she clings on even when it’s obvious what’s happening because she so desperately doesn’t want to get disillusioned and hurt. Later on a character even calls our MC out on his fickle nature, saying "Do you mean because it's easier to deal with Sekai?" basically our character just doesn't want to try in a relationship and just wants the rewards without any trouble or the responsibility that comes with commitment. Really almost all of this would be fine if the character had the decency to just break up clearly with the person instead of stringing them along in his quest for sex. If he did, he would be a playboy but at least the girls would know basically to give up.Eventually he fucks up with Sekai as well, the one he says he “loves” but when she is depressed and shit from his cheating and is asked to at least talk to her it’s “It’s such a bother.”

Finally, cheating and how cheating effects all parties - the one getting cheated on, the side chick (mistress), and the person cheating. This is probably the most important one and really it's not very comfortable for the people involved nor the viewer. And this anime really makes the cheating as excruciating as possible with a main character and side characters that basically give zero fucks about the one being cheated on, not even giving her any real sense of sympathy (except maybe occasionally though it’s usually short lived and has to do more with wanting our MC to be hers only). The cheating in this show is as selfish as possible, there is very little in excuses you can give to anyone.


ECCHI

In Japan, NTR is one of the most popular genres. NTR if you don't know is cuckolding or hentai with cheating. I think maybe as a hentai this anime could possibly be enjoyable but as it is, it's just sort of awkward. The anime progresses extremely quickly as well, you basically start with a kiss, go on to a full on boob grab, unclothing, crotch rub, and then just straight up sex. All by episode 5. it's really not standard ecchi which is fan service and basically more comical, this is very much suggesting sex and moving up to it. None of it some accidental "oops I fell into your boob" type stuff either.

THE MAIN CHARACTER.

I get that we aren't supposed to like him and I even said in the beginning that there are characters like that in stories, even main characters, but this dude has pretty much zero likable qualities. He's a scumbag, narcissist, sociopath, cheater, and probably future rapist based on some of the clues the anime gives on his character. Even more just adding on to this, I personally hate his voice. It just sounds annoying for some reason.

Getting back to his qualities. In the first episode itself he takes a picture of a girl on a train secretly, and then pushes a girl against the rooftop fence pretty forcefully. Also I’m guessing to show his “pushy” nature one episode ends with him having sex and girl saying “no.”They also showcase it later in an interesting way as well (in episode 11). Now in some cases, the girl does initiate but he always readily accepts regardless of the web of relationships he’s in basically just to have sex even when they pour their heart out for him (and he never properly severs any of the relationships because again, he just sees them as options) .Even more as the story progresses he basically has zero respect for any of the girls, no boundaries and no sense of seeing them as people. He cheats basically with no remorse. And he sees the mistress purely as a side chick and always wants an option to go back. I'm not gonna give the anime the benefit of the doubt here and say that he's some deconstruction of a harem protagonist cause that's just giving excuses. There's not even any sympathy with him feeling bad about cheating because he clearly doesn't. You think I’m exaggerating, FUCK NO. This dude literally just gets worse every single episode even when you don’t think it’s possible.

Now also, none of the characters are like-able. Just I think our MC is the worst of them all.

ENJOYMENT

I just couldn't enjoy the show. I'd cringe or be like these characters suck and this character is just in the middle of these shit characters and this shit situation. It's also as I mentioned basically NTR and that's not very enjoyable to watch personally and even more, there wasn't a particularly big bond between the characters before the cheating even began so it's kind of awkward to watch. I think there are people that like these anime where characters are just scumbags and do horrible shit to others but I'm not really a sadist like that to enjoy this.

The pacing is also not very good. It basically progresses too fast and by the time you get past episode 5, there’s not much else that’s interesting unless you skip around - basically just more of the MC fucking around and the show just reinforcing his scumbaggery. School Days also does the bare minimum in terms of animation and imagery [Though admittedly the last episode it does do a bit more].

I mentioned a lot of the themes but really all of that kind of only matters in elucidating what I think they were trying to go for, or where I think there is some realism to the story. So yeah if someone argued that School Days was realistic or went for X themes, okay yeah I agree to some extent, but it's still not enjoyable.

One highlight, however was the ending. It is cathartic and well deserved, also not so unbelievable, unrealistic or jump-the-shark as people may think. The anger and frustration from being cheated on and from all the psychological stress the girls have been through I imagine isn’t something to take lightly. Some people in real life have killed as well for unfaithfulness, it’s not something that everyone just feels bad about for a little and moves on from. BTW I'm not gonna say who exactly did what because this dude cheated on everyone so take your guess. But honestly no one really won at the end.

Overall I appreciate what the show is going for but ultimately it wasn’t enjoyable in any way except in occasionally bringing up strong disgust towards the MC and I think regardless of intentions you can’t really give an anime a pass if it doesn’t do that much other than that. And even though it seems I revealed a lot, I really haven't. If you're morbidly curious check it out just to find out the events that transpire. But otherwise not something I can recommend.