Review of School Days

"All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances, And one man in his time plays many parts[.]" --Shakespeare: As You Like It - Act II, Scene VII, Lines 1-4. I went into School Days aware of its infamous ending having been shown the clip firsthand years ago by a friend. At the time, it looked like a really generic series with a really messed up ending, and that pretty much holds true; it is through and through a cookie-cutter looking series but with content that is quite atypical. Shrugging it off due to thenotoriety and general widespread notion that the ending was either: "the only good thing about the series" or "only has bizarre joke/novelty value", I let the series slip by for many years until it was announced that North America would be getting a localized home media release. Shortly thereafter, I read the ANN review on the series to humour myself and checked into the discussion only to find several people lauding it. Being the curious mind that I am, I took a chance and ordered the series figuring I could at the very least get a laugh out of it or own it as a piece of anime history. Turns out I find it to be a flat out genius.

Make no mistake, this is quite a divisive series (and rightfully so), as aforementioned, it looks like a mass produced harem rom-com romp, the ending is pure insanity, nearly every character is quite reprehensible one way or another and it plays out a lot of its genres tropes straight with quite subtle winks that you have to be patient and alert for. The end result however, is one of the most intense tragedies, one of the most scathing satires, and one of the most twisted cautionary tales of love you can find.
While I was watching the series (ending in mind), from the first episode alone I was absolutely awestruck when I probed into what was unfolding. That first love encounter when the world slows down and you are entranced and enchained into your own small little Eden, and both your crush's naughty bits and their face are captured in that brief yet magical moment. The nostalgic first steps onto campus for a new school and the path that awaits, where the crowd fades to nothing and you encounter your fated crush again. School Days captures these simple, almost rote moments with inexplicable grace and naturalism - never wallowing in excess of either poetic monologues or ridiculous fanservice like with the first scene mentioned prior, and these seemingly insignificant scenes would later be reinforced over the series' duration and cement some of its core ideas - the conflict of passionate romance and lustful desire. Such grandiose ideas really came to light in a later conversation in that same episode when lead Makoto is on the roof having a chat with new friend Sekai Saionji, who muses that her first name means "world".

As the various characters' interactions unfolded and the sensitive mise en scene kept playing out, Terrence Malick's equally divisive 'To the Wonder' came to mind; that film is also about the sensationalism of love and the nuanced values it means to each of its characters, but contrary to School Days, its narrative is quite oblique and is far more spare with dialogue - streaming through almost empty but blissful scenes like a wistful dream and bearing an understated gravitas for the strong yearning for love and the pain of being unrequited. In that film, its male lead Neil doesn't know how to channel his love - seeking to be a white knight to longing women, but never seeking more than accommodation and remedying their isolation. Makoto is equally as torn, but on the opposite end - he seeks unyielding love and completion of the self akin to Sartre and the complete body, but has trouble meeting the wavelengths of interest Kotonoha Katsura once he begins a relationship with her and feels alienated that he can't form a quick connection as she wants a slow and steady companionship. He is initially quite inept and lost at how to level with her, with their early dates having him either lost in activities he himself enjoys or trying to only meet his desires (the scene at the movie theaters is hilarious and absolutely brilliant). Katsura is akin to the main lover Marina in 'To the Wonder', but like with Makoto and Neil, her resemblance isn't a 1:1 comparison; in the latter half of the series, her pure, almost singular trust and loyalty to the unfaithful Makoto after she alienates him with her restraint manages to give her an ardent drive, but she originally sought love akin to Neil's while Makoto's form of love resembled Marina's and vice-versa. Now where does Sekai come in? She is Neil's fling Alice - a woman who had some independence and was trying to deal with her sole problems by herself while secretly longing for 'human' partnership. Sekai's dialogue in the first half of the series comes off as though she is an otherworldly guide like a cupid or angel of sorts, a messenger of the 'Earth' ("Sekai") who is forefront and helpful, keeps any 'human' problems largely to herself and almost naive to some societal customs or restraints (her "lessons" with Makoto to help him out where she almost nonchalantly gives him her body). Sekai's struggle is with her mortal 'Saionji' self - her trepidation comes in that form of wanting some love herself, and once Makoto begins to seek that part of her while building on their strong friendship, Sekai becomes less impartial to her feelings and finds oneness through Makoto.

There are a myriad other brilliant cues loaded in each episode and the contrasting character traits among the cast that make the trysts so intricate and elaborate. Katsura being teased and constantly alienated by her big breasts and the jealousy that causes, partially assuming Makoto may have only been drawn to her that way to begin with and Makoto's beginning to lean on his more romantic spurrings by seeking the smaller sized Sekai for more earnest reasons; visual cues with the whole conflict as Makoto's growing indifference to Katsura capping off episode 3 is countered by early panty shots and the only uncensored breasts in the series in the following episode and many more. The series' direction is economic, unassuming and understated to make it all the more brilliant, especially considering how it makes all of that silly sounding stuff become so poignant. Yes, the classic romantic triangle between these 3 crafts an elaborate Shakespearean tragedy in its execution, hinted and epitomized in scenes as early as again, episode 1 and the high school entrance board scene where there's a crowd of unimportant shadowy figures as only Makoto and Katsura are portrayed normally. Shortly thereafter though, we see some other clear figures in the crowd - secondary characters that would try to force their way into the stage, with Sekai the foundation herself in the middle of them as the unassuming bridge of destiny to make the wheels of fate spin even more wildly.

As I passively mentioned earlier, while the series has many twists and turns throughout its span it is very much a theatrical 2-act story (contrary to typical Malick works that are very cinematic and not as rigidly act-based) and the secondary characters share some interactions with the core 3 in the first half while they go about their romantic threads, they act more rebelliously, almost as if aware of their initial hand in the story to work their way into the core cast's lives more personally with more agency and ideology not normally found in "secondary characters". As episode 7 closes, one of the most vital (and naturally handled) twists occurs to shake the foundation of the story; Makoto's inability to flat out break up with the kind-hearted Katsura who had reciprocated his crush but not met his desires to go on and have affairs with Sekai, the one who had forsaken her role as an impartial guide to all of the "humans'" loves only to cater to the one innate to her human self as well is then directly confronted with Katsura, the one whose trust she had betrayed. As a result of this, Katsura's paradoxical doubting faith becomes twisted denial of Makoto's rejection and relentless devotion, Sekai becomes more tormented and begins to have very frivolous and even more "human" (and/or asinine) thoughts and worries, becoming a bit more distanced with Makoto and splitting their 'perfect being' absolution of love, which in turn, causes Makoto to become detached - desperate for a new fixing and union of love through easy sex. In comes the school fair, and with it, opportunities for secondary characters to act on their feelings more.

First is Otome Kato, what would be the "tsundere" archetype for your normal harem (more on that later) who was buddy-buddy with Makoto in middle school but had become alienated by her feelings while constantly berating Katsura and so she finally gets the nerve to act on her true feelings and ask Makoto to go to the fair's special love room and accept her true feelings. Makoto, coming off the heels of feeling betrayed, simultaneously caters to his desires out of spite for Sekai and playing the love doctor for Otome so they both have something to gain out of it. They have sex in the special room at the fair (hint hint: the school is not normal, and that is deliberate) so Makoto now feels gratified with this new potential love interest and seeks to pursue it secretly as well to a degree while bearing with Sekai wanting to cement their relationship through the school bonfire dance (a very "human" or "Katsura-esque" thing to do) much to Makoto's chagrin.

Throughout the school festival "arc" is Kiyoura Setsuna (the scarcely emotive loli) trying to serve as Sekai's confidant after the latter comes down to Makoto's level to be in a relationship with him, helping to keep their relationship in tact while keeping Katsura at bay; truly however, she too desires Makoto herself after Makoto came to her aid when she was being bullied while hiding her desires and holding them off for later as she enabled Sekai to befriend him earlier in the year - be it to befriend him and work her cupid magic or actually start a relationship which runs a finely tuned ambiguity. She irrationally kisses Makoto twice under different circumstances, and the second one (when he is conscious) has him come to acknowledge her feelings for him, and as she goes to confront Makoto one last time at his apartment after his second affair with Otome telling him to "commit to Sekai" again, he sees through her ruse and acts on her true desires, having already experienced it in lieu of Sekai, and she embraces him for sex, betraying Sekai in the meantime while rather indifferent to Katsura in the long run.

Next is Hikari Kuroda who was initially interested in another character: Taisuke Sawanaga, Makoto's "friend" who is an overt womanizer who wears his vices on his sleeve as an honest guy while making it out to be an exaggerated outcry of his loneliness; Hikari tried to get Taisuke to notice her feelings earlier on in the pool party episode, but he was typically too naive and jaded to notice, later going on to rape Katsura in an act of unhinged passion and desperation for Makoto betraying Katsura and getting so much sex while he is committed but unlucky. With Taisuke's ignorance of Hikari, affair with Katsura (also vaguely reminiscent of 'To the Wonder' with Marina's love fling) and all of the other events mounting together, Hikari's loneliness as her seeking sexually affluent Makoto to get some love herself. Although the school's awareness of Taisuke's act could be called into question, nonetheless Hikari was getting tired and desperate herself, and while she is probably one of the most morally shallow of the cast with her casual flirtation in Makoto's dangerous affairs (going to Sekai's house shortly after and lying through her teeth), her raw and simple drive can still bring some empathy out of her at the crux of what this series is all about.

While Makoto is aiding all of these women, he is equally caving to more shallow desires with his lack of commitment and it is nurturing the bad qualities of his character creating steady moral decay intricately handled by his dialogue and reactions and the progression and ideologies of his road of sexual partners. Katsura, still aimlessly wandering and holding onto her hope of Makoto's return, is vulnerable to constant abuse from her peers yet again, and to an even greater degree as she breaks down more and more with how the world is completely destroying her. Sekai, whose relationship with Makoto is several shades or notches stronger than Katsura's, is still tormented by her thoughts of his infidelity while not totally on the brink of surreal insanity that Katsura is. The earthly guide has become a very affected individual while the very pure human girl has lost her humanity.
Things reach their boiling point when it is revealed that the "special couple's room" at the fair was being videotaped this whole time; Otome, having just met Sekai, is shown the video in front of a wide audience, and her affair with Makoto is now shown to Sekai who she just met. Sekai confronts Makoto about it in tears and then begins to become more recluse and deal with her feelings.

Makoto now having nearly destroyed 2 great relationships, starts to show signs of duress, malaise and withdrawal, getting more sex out of Hikari for pleasure but feeling less satisfied, only for several of his classmates who saw the affair video and hear about his sexual endeavours wish simply to get in the action themselves, having no real connections to the main 3 prior, so Makoto gets into his most impersonal and nymphomaniac-driven outing yet: a 4-way with 3 random girls from school.

Later, Sekai begins to suffer some morning sickness and misses her period (the latter part could be a lie), and in a fit of surprise and anxiety unwittingly yells to Makoto about it in class, subsequently reaching out as gossip in the school and having all of Makoto's mistresses cut their ties so he can take responsibility and raise a proper family with Sekai. Makoto, tainted by Sekai's earlier bits of dejection and spurred on by the copious amounts of sex he's had, is reluctant to comply to Sekai's wishes and tries contacting all of the other girls to no avail, until he runs into Katsura, still hysterically clinging to her love of Makoto, calls for him and he embraces her again (strengthened by an incredibly clever Chekhovian plot element). The trinity has now reformed and the stage is set for the finale of the grand tragedy as everything comes full circle and is honed, leading to the infamous conclusion which I shan't spoil to give you the treat of witnessing it in full if you haven't already as it is an absolute powerhouse and the perfect ending to all the madness.

As you can see, School Days is a series with which its characters provide a lot of the meat of the story, it takes the tired and true romantic triangle and tragedy story and takes it to explosive new heights. There is such a tempered, natural and poetic direction in its execution that never misses a beat, creating a masterclass work of fiction that is sprawling in its ambitions but deceptively unassuming in its intelligence that it can only be considered a near-godsend creation devoid of pretension but unfathomable in its power. With the constant mention of Terrence Malick, School Days again crafts an odyssey that has such smooth lyricism in its seemingly simple delivery, that it goes down so easily but with such an inexplicable majesty in each and every little scene that--as others have said of Malick--only come off as pretentious when you try to quantify them with just the right words, but I feel with such a magnificent Frankenstein's monster such as this, I must feebly attempt to do some justice.

The series tries to be both a meticulous satire and a flat out intense drama as I mentioned earlier that it has to be very careful that it doesn't become an absolute trainwreck, and I think it absolutely succeeds, but almost inherently in playing with such contrary ends, it is understandable that a lot of people would have a problem with it. The cast is filled to the brim with characters that are simultaneously total wretches and distorted plays on harem archetypes and achingly mortal individuals undergoing so much pathos that you don't get a truly clear feeling for them, but School Days doesn't hold your hand and look for easy answers. Makoto is your every-man - he's the blank slate, typically dorky and stupid male insert that wants to get laid and gets his wishes fulfilled fairly easily and in large doses, but on the other hand, he's a lost guy, looking for satisfaction and success in love, especially since he was rewarded a first and reciprocated one, but his mortal coils that trap him in trying to work with so many romance protocols to form a middle ground with your partner is so challenging when you plea so heavily for the complete end that he gets put off by Katsura's mixed signals and gets impatient with her restraint. It is akin to the social commentary in the episode of Kino's Journey where the whole town can constantly read each others true thoughts and isolate themselves as to not harm others and have privacy, meanwhile Makoto, despite struggling with his adolescent male libido, wanted a fantastic union with Katsura but was frustrated that they couldn't understand each other. Katsura in the long run is fully on board but takes her feminine agency and leash on Makoto so steadfastly while burdened with what might be Makoto's superficial desires for her large breasts to her character that she doesn't know how to keep his interest while she pines for the same end result. Sekai--as I've divulged earlier--is torn between the satisfaction she gets from the stability of everyone else in her world (the Sekai side) and her desires as a human woman (her Saionji side) which begins to root her more and more in the latter and ends up being her downfall. Whether Sekai's indecisiveness in itself, her attachment to her other friends to segue their involvement into the core tryst or simply her role on Earth caused things to take even wilder turns is another thought-provoking idea on just how much nature and spiritual forces coupled with morality could have a hand in making things take the route they did. As for their archetypes, Katsura is the central, faithful and sincere girl whose torment and betrayal twists her into a psychotic devotee (a shift to yandere tendencies as well) while Sekai is the best pal outsider who then becomes the center of attention and becomes deprived of her new joy to become a genuinely hurt young woman.

The satire elements play out incredibly well through the visuals and plot as well, as normative events found in harem stories become outlets to explore darker outlets of these scenarios almost a la a deconstruction nature.
Most obviously for one is the classic pool/beach episode, in which Makoto's dwindling attraction to Katsura, increased feelings for Sekai coupled with the battle between the erotic desires and the romantic - utilizing Freudian psychology with precision and subtlety. Simple quick glances between cleavage and faces (character) again show stunning directorial deftness to elevate the ideas to something more profound. "If it's not constantly and exaggeratedly highlighting the breasts, ecchi and fanservice can't be the highlight, yet the main character doesn't have long-winded faux-intellectual monologues, so it can't be some sappy romance, right?" Right. This is something much more refined.

The other obvious occasion is the school festival where romantic pledges tend to come out in full as students profess their love and publicly display it in couple's dances and the like. Instead, we have the dance as the back-burner as the student-constructed festival (I don't even think you visually see teachers in the whole series) has a private love room which ends up being recorded on camera to cater to teen voyeurism ultimately (note that the pool episode is also in the first half while the festival is in the latter) as we realize that these generic harem scenarios can take ominous twists and adolescence isn't as straightforward and clean as it can be. The students' behaviour ends destroying one another as Makoto, Otome and others become further victims of scandal and deceit, so no one is safe from the clutches of these crazy yet initially common scenarios, and every small yet dire turn in morality can have overwhelming chain effects.

These broader things are bolstered by lots of minutia and red herrings in the script even from early episodes, there's haunting premonitions buried in some of the more anime-esque gags or slight temperamental reactions and changes of heart that pick things apart at the seams. It is sublimely orchestrated so much so that it again feels like unprecedented skill of writing. The series must be experienced first hand to cover each and every bit, because it is so dense. Notable examples like a line: "What are you doing!? We're in Japan!" Makoto says in response to a strange action at one point. The levels of irony both in Makoto's character saying this along with the very nature of the sentences are mind-boggling. Then there's stuff like Katsura's chat with her little sister Kokoro (meaning "heart") as Kokoro mentions that Makoto will be coming to stay the night some time and that "lots of things can happen" when he stays the night, to which Katsura upstartly retaliates: "It's nothing like that! We're not going to be getting it on!" (paraphrased), meanwhile Kokoro responds: "I meant he will be able to play with us lots and lots!" The characterization and broader implications of even small scenes like this are just astounding.

As far as production values go, this series looks and sounds for the most part REALLY generic (it's also called "School Days"), but I think that only further serves to lure otaku in and get the attention it needs to bait and shatter them. Mamoru Oshii tried his hand at a satire of otakudom and spoon-feeding of mass-produced genre fiction devoid of intelligence and originality, however, the problem with Sky Crawlers is largely in its execution and ultimately leaves it lost and not as important and pronounced as it could be. Oshii made a flat out boring film crammed with so much dead air, esoteric Oshii trappings and generally unexciting content of some clean visuals that it would easily turn away all of the people he's directing his criticism at, leaving only the well-minded individuals to indulge in his oblique rant and meditation on how bleak and crappy things are right now. Preaching to the choir Oshii! School Days meanwhile, is involved, committed, deceptive and broad in its scheme. People who want another harem genre will get bits of that, then get their presumptions and ideologies totally annihilated while keen viewers will get a rise out of the blistering satirical nature and richly nuanced and thought-provoking story of love and its disastrous, world-shattering consequences in its many forms.

School Days is an uncompromisingly brutal antithesis to the harem genre and the people who gluttonously intake it - presenting how standard archetypes would unravel with callous regards to morals and how unrealistic those expectations for women are to begin with as Makoto indulges too much in the dark side of love and gets his just desserts. School Days is also a beautiful examination of the trials and turbulence of love and those mislead by it; Makoto's desire for the ultimate ecstasy and transcendence out of love (partly factored and nurtured by his demographic) is amiable, but he forgets to regard some of the hanging emotions of those he makes love with and allows himself to become corrupt and chaos to unleash because of it.
School Days is a series that has gained a reputation at least, even if it is for some of the wrong reasons, the series is iconic and has a small place in anime culture, but I'm sure with time people will give it another look and warm to it as the wunderkind it truly is. Many may see a sleazy, messed-up and inane harem story with a bunch of unlikable characters. Others, an identity confused mess perhaps. Given the weird nature of the series, all of the stars aligning and points being held positively in such a strange way may be seen as heresy, but I see a masterpiece, call me crazy. I don't think I can cover everything even.

School Days is a mis-appraised modern Shakespearean tragedy, a pertinent and important satire and dark and challenging love story of the highest caliber.