Review of High School of the Dead

I honestly couldn’t be any happier with this one. It was a great show that I just absolutely had to finish in a day. The need to know what was going to happen next was overwhelming. I didn’t want to stop watching it for a minute, because I was so interested in what would happen. Now true, the story is a very simple one: zombie apocalypse, find your friends who are coincidentally big breasted and love you, get out and find your family. It’s what is expected when there’s a zombie apocalypse, right? But it’s made much more interesting then that when you get tomeet the eccentric and weird characters. Though most other zombie anime made the genre boring, this one was different. It was about blood and gore AND the relationships between the characters (though the latter is less defined). Other zombie anime, sadly, are all about the mushy love/romance that flourishes from the desperation of the situation. Again, it makes the setting seem irrelevant and like it could just as easily be a space centered anime and it could still work perfectly fine. But this, High School of the Dead, was great. Just about everything was important and relevant to the story.

Story:
While zombie and horror anime may not be anything new, it is on the rise. There is a growing demand for these kinds of productions, be they animation or a definitive film (I’m still waiting for 28 Months Later, should it come out). The story in this anime is simple, as I’ve said before. Nothing that you wouldn’t expect out of a zombie apocalypse horror anime. But it’s not that simple. True, most if not the majority of the situations are predictable, and that is a problem, but you’re so focused on the blood and death that may come out of the situation that you don’t stop to realize that there may be a (vague) romantic scene/situation. I will say, however, that the story has some faults of its own, that I will discuss later on.

Art:
The art production value for this anime was THROUGH THE FUCKING ROOF. Not that the characters or people look anything great, but the shots of scenery, and the way they choose to show the surroundings were amazing. The series, as a whole, was not exceptional. But just watch the first episode. You’ll get how much thought and how much work was put into that final scene and throughout the entire episode. I was thoroughly delighted when I saw that. I was assured that the animation values would stay the same throughout, and it did. The zombies look ok, and the characters were all thought out. Their proportions aren’t ridiculous (minus Saeko’s) like in most anime, but I will complain that they used any excuse, ANY excuse to fit in a perverted scene. You’re waiting for some action, and all of a sudden somebody’s shirt is wet and transparent, or they’re jumping out of a truck for dire need to save their life, and you get a very explicit panty shot (and maybe even some garter). The fan service is through the roof also. While I am by no means a fan service fan, it seems as thought the fan service was there just to lighten the mood up a bit. And at a time when all hell breaks loose, sometimes, it’s nice to see some.

Sound:
There wasn’t much I could complain about the sounds. I didn’t particularly like the opening song, and the ending wasn’t much better. Even though I can usually recall the song used in a fight scene from an anime quite well, I don’t even remember there being any. Which is isn’t good. Because that just tells me that the music either didn’t fit the story, wasn’t exciting or at all memorable, or my head is fucked up. Either way, it doesn’t sound good. But, we can look past it.

Characters:
Ahh, the characters. Sure, you’ve got the usual big breasted friends who like the protagonist, a weird otaku, a ditzy over chested teacher, and *SPOILER* a tragic hero *END OF SPOILER*. The teacher is a lovable though childlike teacher. Her mental age is extremely low, and she seems to be very unaware of what’s going on at first. She doesn’t fight – in fact; she’s more of a critic of the fighting. She’s usually just in the background talking. However, she does carry significant information throughout the story. Though, the size of her breast is ridiculous. Too big man. Bigger then the dudes whole head. Even in the real world, its rare for them to be that big. But, the other characters all have their strong points. Saeko is sexy and mature, Rei is adorably helpless just to get attention, Saya is smart in a hot way, and the otaku is just a gun freak lol. The cast compliment each other well, and the relationships that develop between them is evident through out the story – you clearly see who cares for who, and who is accepting of who. But, the story isn’t all about hot babes. The story is about the decisions made in the situations they are put in. Honestly, if you were to be put in these situations, I’m sure you probably would’ve made the same choices they did.
*SPOILER*
What got at me, though, was when it appears that Takagi slept with Saeko. At the end, he says he did it to survive. It’s understandable that to survive, you need all the people in your group to be level headed and stay sane throughout the experience, so that in case you get through it, your friends don’t turn into murderers in it for the thrill of the kill. However, it didn’t sit right with me that he sort of used her. He took advantage of her helplessness, even if he WAS helping her by comfort. Still, I just don’t think it was right of him to say that. But, it’s just a show, so no need to get all worked up over it.

Enjoyment:
I thoroughly enjoyed this anime to the fullest. It always kept my attention, because I was very curious to know how they would react to the deaths of characters they know, or the decisions they would make when they are faced with a heavy situation. They did a good job of not losing the flow of the anime. They didn’t drift episodes that were focused on romance, or gore alone. Every episode had some kind of character development, except maybe that stupid half recap episode.

Overall/Faults:
Overall, it was amazing. The whole story kept me wanting more. And I seriously hope they can get a second season going soon. I think this was a really well received anime that is probably (in my opinion) perhaps the best anime of the 2010 Summer/fall season. My biggest, BIGGEST complaint about this series, however, is that it end SOOOOO open ended that the problem of the story isn’t answered. You know that they are on the way to discover the answer, but you don’t get any more then that. The point was to know if they’re family was ok. You only find the family of a semi-supporting character. Then, when they go to find the rest of the groups families – the anime is over. DONE. Nothing else. What I loved about the ending was the quote. I won’t ruin it for those that haven’t seen it yet, but it is something extremely memorable and fits the show SO perfectly, that had you known the quote, you would have fit it to this show first thing. I’d go so far as to say that this quote DEFINES the show itself. Because though the end of the world is huge, the problems of a group of kids are miniscule. But don’t think for a minute that it’s irrelevant. This show is one for record books.