Review of School Days
Adolescence is an extremely complex time in one's life. Being surrounded by your peers while each of you are physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially growing into the people you will eventually become can be difficult for the development of any youth. School Days, an anime based on a harem visual novel, takes an interesting dive into these four aspects of adolescent development for each of the three characters in it's main cast. Characters: ---------------------- Makoto Itou is a young teen that we are introduced to as being socially well regarded. Through his interactions with the main cast and later on supporting cast, we begin to develop a clearerpicture of who Makoto is becoming.
Makoto, while being generally liked in the beginning of a series, eventually becomes somewhat of a phenom for his exploitation and manipulation of the women he comes across, only to later on become a pariah for his actions.
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Kotonoha is a female Makoto finds interest in, and through the help of his classmate Sekai, is able to secure a chance to make her aware of this. This leads to them beginning to date and explore the idea of seeing one another. Kotonoha develops feelings for Makoto, and his presence impacts her mental, emotional, and social life greatly.
From being a shy but attractive girl in the beginning of the series, eventually Kotonoha has strained relationships with everyone in her life due to the involvement of Sekai and her friends. With her trust betrayed and her heart broken, we watch as the mental fortitude of a girl is tested against the abhorrence of her peers.
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Sekai is a female that Makoto finds himself sitting next to in class. She agrees to help him meet Kotonoha, ignoring her own feelings for him. This leads to her taking actions that only result in the further disbandment of the three physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Sekai is largely resolute in her actions and her development, the consequences of which affect those around her and eventually herself.
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Development:
We can see that Makoto and his peers grossly misinterpret their hormonal lust for each other as love, and their developments through this misinterpretation are where the strongest character traits are shown.
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Makoto wishes to be more involved with Kotonoha, and through this lack of involvement becomes closer with Sekai. This leads to his misunderstanding of the differences between love and lust as he begins to equate the two.
Makoto grows to be mentally and emotionally manipulative towards the women around him and eventually loses his sense of empathy. As his respect and value for the women he surrounds himself with dwindle, he becomes a jaded person simply using bodies for sexual release.
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Kotonoha doesn't equate love and lust, instead wanting to understand the actions of the two she had grown to call her friends. Her repeated attempts to obtain answers and reach a level of understanding are met with conflicting messages between all parties involved which leads her to believing in Makoto's manipulation. This leads to her mentally collapsing after she is made out to be an awful person by the one she devoted herself to most.
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Sekai begins the series with an emotional connection to Makoto, though she waits until she has already involved Kotonoha to express these emotions. Sekai can be seen as the origin of these developments because through her manipulation of Makoto she warps his perspective further of the differences between love and lust. This eventually leads to her manipulation of her friends and their betrayals of her. Her selfish actions inadvertently change the people around her, while she stays resolute in her desires. When she realizes this outcome isn't at all what she wanted, her emotions consume her.
I believe these characters are well written and their lack of communication and honesty serves as a point to be genuine in your relationships with the people around you. After having watched the series I found myself recalling events that hit too close to home in high school and proceeded to correct any wrongdoings I may have committed. I believe that School Days is a good example of what not to do and what not to value in your search for love, especially in the advent of online dating apps and the myriads of shallow relationships we form through them each day.