Review of School Days

MINOR SPOILER WARNING What most people don't understand about School Days before watching it is that it is NOT a slice of life anime, it is a psychological evaluation on the effect of cheating on developing minds. Many people watch this show and, by the end, hate pretty much every character in it and regret ever watching it. I do not hold the same opinion, as you will see by this review. Story: 10 A lot of people will say that the story is more enraging than it is entertaining, but I believe that's the point. Nobody is going to end this show witha positive view of Makoto, and the creators know that. In fact, they actively use that hatred throughout the anime as a way to force the viewer to have these emotions that they rarely show towards "harem animes". I put that in quotes because this story revolves around what a real-life attempted harem would look like (okay maybe a little exaggerated). This story is original and grabs the viewer, whether they like it or not.
Art: 6
Okay, this is where the show falls a bit. The art is fair, but it doesn't hold up to today's standards. That's okay though because this show was made almost ten years ago, so it makes sense that the art isn't perfect.
Sound: 8
The music is pretty standard throughout most of the show, but by the end it develops the eeriest quality to it that has the wonderful ability to seriously creep out the viewer. This is especially useful in the last couple of episodes.
Character: 8
I would give all of the main and secondary characters a 10/10, but the tertiary characters fall flat on some points, which is why I am giving this an 8. Many of the girls are only there for the purpose of adding on to Makoto's harem, so the score is reduced for that. However, when it comes to the main three characters, this show knocks it out of the park. They managed to set up three fairly run of the mill students and turn them into SPOILERS crazed, sex addicted murderers. That's actually pretty hard to do well, but they still managed it.
Enjoyment: 10
Okay hear me out here. By enjoyment, I do not mean excitement or happiness or really anything positive because there is nothing positive about how this show turns out (unless you enjoy the thrill of a solid yandere). By enjoyment, I mean that the story pulled me in and didn't let me catch a breath after episode 6 or so. More and more plot was piled on, but not enough to suffocate me (maybe enough to stab me though, hehe). I was yelling at the screen almost entirely throughout episodes 9 through 11, but that rage quickly turned to laughter in the finale. I am not joking, I laughed for the entirety of the second half of episode 12, partly because I was finally getting what I (and the rest of the audience) wanted and partly because it was all so ridiculous that this was the culmination of a LOT of poor decisions.
Overall: 10
Yeah yeah, I know that this isn't the *actual* average of the scores, but this still receives a 10 in my book because it is one of the most memorable animes that I have ever watched. No other show has managed to enrage me for so long, yet have me satisfied by the ending. Overall, this story does a hell of a job at playing on the viewers' emotions, which is what it fully intended to do from the start. Its artwork wasn't great and its sound wasn't amazing, which left the audience entirely focused on the story and its characters. I don't recommend this to everyone, as I know that it will not be everyone's cup of tea, but for those willing to go in knowing to expect something other than a typical slice of life harem, I say good luck.