Review of School Days
I will start with saying that this won't feel like an 8/10 anime for everyone. It's depressing, dark, annoying at times. The plot goes over-the-top in last two episodes and the ending is definitely off-putting. You will hate many of the characters, especially the protagonist, who starts as a misguided teen, but ends up as a completely despicable person, selfish, uncaring and seeing woman as barely anything more than just sexual objects. What I disagree with, in reference to many other reviews, are the claims that this series is poorly written, cheap and all characters are negative/unlikeable. The show uses a bit of similar themes asElfen Lied, exploring the worst parts of human nature, this time in relation to sex, romance and high school environment. It shows negative consequences of peer pressure, bullying and, above anything else, not being able to handle emotions and understand each other in early relationships (here between inexperienced teens).
While the protagonist simply disregards other people's feeling and act only according to his own whims, making him one of the most unlikeable leads out there, I find most of the female characters much more ambivalent and tragic. They take misguided decisions and often act against their own convictions, but mostly because they don't know how to handle their emotions and, unlike the protagonist, they actually feel guilty about it. Both Sekai and Kotonoha are above all victims, even if the former is definitely not without guilt herself. While one can say they act stupidly when it goes to their relations with the protagonist, they're basically kids and it's not that unbelievable at any point.
I also see this anime as a sort of critique of harem fiction. It shows how protagonists engagement with multiple women destroys everyone involved, either psychologically or literally kills them. That's also how it often ends in real life, as behaviours portrayed here aren't completely taken out of nowhere. I find it cathartic after seeing so many kitsch plots where the main character can bang anything that moves without any consequences. Here we're shown how the weakness of character, disregard for other's feelings and inability to create real relationship have deep repercussions.
Like I've said, it's easy to question giving this anime a positive rating. It goes over the top at the end and writers make some questionable decisions. But it also succeeds in what it tries to achieve - create a disturbing, dark story that will leave you scarred if you're not prepared for what's coming. It doesn't show any hope for the characters, doesn't force any kind of happy ending. But that also makes it honest in a way. Unlike some, I didn't find it cheap or exploitative, apart from a few isolated moments. I feel like everything I saw, at least up to a certain point, could happen for real, and while it might be horrible, there is some truth in it, one that is not that often shown in anime (and probably wasn't shown in any other series in this high quality). For that, I give it a full rating and recommendation, if you can stomach the pain of watching rather believable and in some cases likeable characters destroy themselves in a horrible fashion.
As I side note of sorts, I also think it worked really good as an advertisement for the visual novel - it shows the worst possible outcome and made me curious about what other paths the original game might offer. Navigating the maze of School Days HQ and seeing happy endings for Kotonoha and Sekai after experiencing the emotional despair of the anime is just that much more rewarding.