Review of School Days

So let me preface this review with a quote and a single statement: ============================================== "You have laid your hands on the flower that everyone wants. No! I only... brushed it once. So tat the seed within my heart can be made a perfect memory! The feelings for that flower, I have put into words. I had not even the speck of intention in hurting this world. (world in Japanese is Sekai) If there is no one there to question you, would that mean you could do anything? Would it change what has come to pass?" Thats about as deep as the show gets with its obscurity and thought provoking rhetoric... SchoolDays is not a good anime on many levels. It doesn't work as a spectacle, it doesn't work on an aural level, and every character in the show (at times) is completely brain dead.

With that out of the way, let me tell you why I think this show is a gem, and hopefully my review will shed light on why I stayed up until 4am watching the show in a single sitting.

[ART]
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The art is downright poor. The only notable scenes are in later episodes, notably Episode 11, and Episode 12 where the artists seemed to pull out every stop and cranked the show's seemingly tight budget to make a lasting impression. There are a TON of still frames throughout, notable lack of key-framing and just poor dimensions on the MC and other characters that make them look wonky at times. All of the females look good, however, as I am sure that was done to up the appeal with the fan service-y segments throughout this anime. Poor is likely just due to a smaller budget, but it really shows and its frankly the worst anime in terms of art direction I have ever watched.

[SOUND]
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The overall soundtrack is "okay" at best and at times downright wrong. Some songs that play in this dont lend themselves to serve the overall tone of the anime, especially in the later, more "plot rich" episodes. The voices are well done, and I cant complain about that, but overall the music is just lacking.

[CHARACTERS]
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So this is where I think the show gets interesting... The main character says a statement later in the show that pretty much hits the nail on the head: "I'm the worst..." He truly is the best fuckboi I have ever seen portrayed in ANY anime. He is lying, manipulative, sociopathic, and just downright cruel to his supposed "friends." That's why I love him. He is not a likable character, but it doesn't mean he is a BAD character. He really is the worst kind of scum and the other main characters aren't a whole ton better, but his shit is on another level. That alone got me hooked, as it kept me watching from episode 3 to the finish.

The characters as whole are cookie-cutter, run-of-the-mill, and just otherwise bland. The 3 main characters, Kotonoha, Itou, and Sekai do get a little more attention to detail with their plot-lines, but overall its a wash. The themes that they portray, however, are well done and really leave the viewer thinking about how they might handle the situations presented here. I dont think that the characters are great, but I do think that they work for what is trying to be conveyed, and for that I gave them a respectable rating.

[ENJOYMENT]
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So this will be divisive for most people. I know this anime is old, as I am reviewing this in Jan. 2017, and some of the tropes it does are tired- like 10 years tired -and yet I thoroughly enjoyed this anime. It's quite a short anime, which definitely works in its favor here. I found myself thinking, yep 12 episodes is perfect, any more and it would just get old, fast.

The ending... wow... the ending is great, and honestly the last two episodes are worth the watch alone, but to get the full effect of them, you need to watch everything and not just skip to them!

Other things that I enjoyed about this show were the ridiculous statements the MC makes to his classmates at times, you'll have to watch and see what I mean.

[OVERALL]
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This anime definitely surprised me by the end, and mostly BY the end. you will enjoy that, I am sure, and the ride there is okay also.

I will leave you with this, if Jerry Springer or Maury were an anime, it would be THIS SHOW.

Also, Kotonoha is best girl. She gets the shaft so much in this show that it really makes you feel terrible for her. I just wanted to go to her and give her a big hug, its really THAT BAD... i mean everyone fucks with her in this.