Anime: Gakuen Mokushiroku: High School of the Dead

If you are an ecchi fan, you'll definitely like it :D But, if you are here for a well grounded history, plot and/or character development, please just keep looking... It's just an anime full of non-sense dialogue development, ilogical action scenes (spolier ahead)

...And cut-scenes that left you "WTF? What happened next? Why the scene just ended like this? Did they kissed or what?"
So if you don't have anyother anime to see rigth now and have plenty of time, you can give it a try hehe

Personal over-all score: 4/10
Thanks for reading!

WARNING: The following review contains Strong Language, if that is
not your cup of tea, I suggest you do not continue. Thought I'd warn
you.



Critic's Log - Earthdate: December 24, 2012. Review #27: Highschool of the Dead



On November 30, 2012. I went and saw the new James Bond movie Skyfall
with a friend, and after the movie was over, we went to the library and
I checked out some anime because my friend usually suggests animes that
I haven't watched yet that were available at this library. She had me
check out Gun x Sword (which I previously reviewed) and another anime
called "Highschool Of The Dead". I remember my brother telling me that
the show is full of "tits and ass" and I told my friend that and I asked
her if she'd seen it and she told me that she hasn't seen it yet but
she insisted that I watch it. Well, I've held back quite a while and
since Christmas is tomorrow, I'm in a holly jolly mood and I can't wait
to BITCHSLAP this anime for this review! This anime is obviously going
on the naughty list. So... Let's shoot the fuck out of Highschool Of The
Dead!





Takashi Komuro is just an average high
school boy, that is until an infection breaks that turns people into
zombie-like creatures. Alongside his friends and a school nurse, they
fight their way out and continue their journey to find out what exactly
is going on with the world.



There! That is the basic gist of the plot of this bloody mess.



To be technical, this is a Madhouse
production and to my surprise. The animation actually looks really good
in this show. In fact, it's probably the only good feature in Highschool
Of The Dead (or H.O.T.D. for short) Madhouse is known for their really
good production quality from back then as well as today and the
animation is mostly good while having a few problems. One is that the
zombies could've looked a little better but they still look alright to a
degree. The big problem I have with the animation department is them
throwing in fanservice in the middle of a damn action scene. Not only
that but there are many scenes with lots and boobies and plenty of panty
shots. Expect to see a few scenes of nudity too. I wouldn't mind the
fanservice if it wasn't thrown in from scene to scene from time to time.
That's my major bone to pick with H.O.T.D.



The music by Takafumi Wada is not that
memorable to me, but there are some worthy mentions in the music
department for Highschool Of The Dead. The closing credits feature 12
songs with one song for each episode. It's kind of nice, but there are
some songs that really feel a little out of place. When it comes to the
opening, I just have a few things to say about it. The opening theme
kicks ass, the visuals are pretty cool for the most part, and it's a
song that is stuck in my head for a while. The highlight on the music is
definitely the opening.



When it comes to Voice Acting, The Japanese
Cast is decent but it's not really an all-star cast. Junichi Suwabe
plays Komuro just fine for the most part. Marina Inoue (the seiyu of
Yoko from Gurren Lagann) is fine as Rei Miyamoto, Eri Kitamura is okay
as Saya. Junko Takeuchi (The seiyu of Naruto from...Naruto) sounds
nothing like Naruto and yet plays her role just fine. Miyuki Sawashiro
plays Saeko pretty well for the most part. Nobuyuki Hiyama is pretty
good as Kota Hirano *Record Scratch* Kota...Hirano...? You mean that
this character was named after Kouta Hirano, the manga artist and
creator of Hellsing.











Ok, there's no coincidence. The Kota Hirano you see in H.O.T.D. was
modeled after the real-life Kouta Hirano. You know what? I liked Hirano
throughout the series, he was alright.



Now that I've brought up the subbed version of Highschool Of The
Dead, it's time that I mention the dub. OH...FUCK! Before I mention the
vocal talent, there's something I must mention. Steven Foster is
responsible for writing the Adaptive script as well as being the ADR
director for the dub of this show. If you know what I'm talking about.
It's THAT Steven... Motherfucking...Foster. He's a ADR director that I
assume proudly shows that he doesn't give two fucks about the original
material regardless of what it really is or how people would react to
the dubs he produces. The only dub I think was a good one he did was
Cromartie High School. However since he produced this dub, expect a few
things.

1. Characters swearing up a fucking storm. I don't know how many times the F-Bomb has been dropped.

2. He has a tendency to portray the characters as mean-spirited while
the original Japanese intent of the characters tends to differ.

3. Some rare adaptive script writing that has some awkwardness.

4. Pop culture references that don't make sense in the context of the story.

5. A mixture of over-acting and wooden acting.



What Steven Foster should do is try to re-create the intent of the
original material and maintaining the spirit of the original Japanese
intent instead of making a bastardized juvenile adaptive script that
mocks the material instead of being faithful to it. If other dubs
produced by Steven Foster have the same problem, then this dub has the
same old Foster bullshit from before. When I mentioned the juvenile feel
of the adaptive script, it's a little surprising to admit that it
actually fits the show to some degree. Now that I'm done mentioning
about Steven Foster, I'll actually get right down to the dub. It's not
good at all, it's pretty bad. Leraldo Anzaldua is okay as Komuro but
sounds off at times. Jessica Boone is alright I guess. Maggie Flecknoe
is way off as Saya. Mark X. Laskowski is not all that great as Hirano.
Monica Rial sounds way off as Shizuka (the Nurse). Taylor Hannah is a
bit decent as Saeko, nothing more. Brittney Karbowski (Black*Star from
Soul Eater, Pride from FMA: Brotherhood) plays a little girl and it's
nothing to write home about. Hey! the English voice of Krad (Illich
Guardiola) voices Shido in the dub and he's alright for the most part.
Still, the dub is pretty bad and it is much easier to watch this one
subbed. Thank God that's over and done.

































When it comes to characters, they are poorly written. Especially the
female cast. Komuro is a little uninteresting to me and comes off as a
bit one-dimensional at times. Rei is alright, Saya is a rich bitch
(really, she is), Shizuka is...uh... well... she doesn't really do a
whole damn lot. Saeko is a little interesting. Hirano is fun to watch at
times and a character that I liked for the most part. The characters
are still not written that well and that's another big flaw.







The biggest flaw I see is the story. It's sort of a average story
about high school except that there's an outbreak of zombies swarming
around mixed in with some gun action and bouncing boobies as well as
some panty shots. It's a real fucking mess and I feel as if the show is
confused itself because the school plays little to no part later on
unless you count the students as part of the school setting I guess. I
will say that the weirdest thing is when Arisu is thrown in the mix of
characters. She's just a 7-year old and having the majority of female
characters being labeled as "sexy characters" seems to not mix in too
well, at least there's not any innuendos thrown in during her moments.
As much as I am trying to hate this show. I can't fully hate it for some
reason. The fanservice is a bit fucking annoying, but the action scenes
were sure cool. The animation was a solid effort by Madhouse and I do
label this anime as "brainless entertainment" because this show doesn't
hide from what it really is. This anime doesn't feel rushed or slowed
down either, so that's also a good plus. Wanna know an extreme mindfuck?
Tetsuro Araki is the director of this show and he was very well known
for his direction on Death Note.

HNNNNGGG!!!



This really is a mixed bag kind of anime, but this will be memorable
for a while. The ending isn't all that great but what do you expect
after sitting through 11 episodes of brainless entertainment. If you
have extra time to spare and want to see Zombies getting shot to hell as
well as seeing some nice animation, give this anime a try. Just get
ready to be bombarded with big bouncing boobies as well as panty shots,
Cleavage, and some nudity. In other words, expect a whole lot of
fanservice before you sit down and watch it. It is quite entertaining
either way.







Highschool Of The Dead is available from Sentai Filmworks. The manga
written by Daisuke Sato and illustrated by Shoji Sato is available from
Yen Plus. An OVA called "Drifters of The Dead" has not been released
stateside for some odd reason, which is kind of a shame to say the
least.



With all that said, Highschool Of The Dead is a mixed bag with a mess
of a plot, a unmemorable soundtrack, poorly written characters, and a
pretty bad dub. It's action scenes and animation is what saved the show
from being absolutely awful. The fanservice should be viewed as "Take it
or Leave it". It's surprisingly an entertaining show for what it is.
This is an anime that may be hard to hate, but it is hard to like if you
are trying to take it seriously.



I give Highschool Of The Dead a 5.7 out of 10, it is SO-SO!



Feel free to comment below, and Merry Christmas.

Review
Imagine how awesome it would be to have a zombie apocalipse on a japanese high school? Well, maybe it wouldn't be awesome, but at least the idea is very interesting. Surviving against classmates that were infected, grouping with the remaining friends to think of survival tactics, using your classroom to smash some zombie heads, and while at it some ecchiness the japanese are so fond of. That would be nice surely, and that's exactly what High School of the Dead (HSotD) does in the start. It's, as you can imagine, a tale of a zombie outbreak and what the students of a school need to go through to survive this ocurring dreadful event.

---

1. Zombies..
   I'm not a fan of zombies. I can't really see them as the amazing thing as most people, especially north-americans, do. But the concept of a virus or event where everyone who is killed becomes a threat is certainly a nice thing. It's mathematically dangerous when you know that one zombie can kill 10 people and infect 10 people, and each of them would do the same until the world is overrun in despair. Anyway, HSotD tackles with your very typical zombie stuff, so anyone expecting something different, maybe like how Blood+ dealt with the vampire myths, can back away, as this is a pure zombie no-brainer, where survival in the devastated land is the focus of the story... or at least should be.
   
   Boobs!
   Ecchiness was expected here. This is a zombie outbreak with fanservice, that is the essence. The show does a great job in the first set of episodes. Smart and unconvenient tactics, your typical school stereotypes struggling in a zombie world, fanservice here and there, pants, boobs, etc. It's an attracting concept and the job is nicely done for a while, until it forgets about the zombies...
   
   Zombies...?
   After a thrilling escape the characters find a safehouse and then... was this show about zombies? Well, you probably won't remember anymore, because from there on you'll see 90% of your typical ecchi show with tons of mindless and retarded fanservice and only 10% of zombie apocalipse. Bath scenes, cheesy romance, convenient camera angles, paper clothes, etc. Add this to a character design that already fits a hentai show and your combination is yes, just another typical show for horny teenagers.
   
   Not sooooo typical though
   Well, a typical ecchi show doesn't have a zombie outbreak behind the scenes, so that makes HSotD more than your average crap show. It can be more entertaining than most of its competitors out there, but it could certainly be far better if it had sticked to its initial pace, remaining a zombie outbreak with ecchi instead of ecchi with zombie outbreak.
   
   HSotD has a few points that make it stand out from the ocean of stupdity. First is the production value with the pedigree of the Madhouse studio, which is far better than crap shows out there despite the hentai-inspired character design. Second is the decent amount of thrilling moments, especiall in the early episodes. And third is the fact that it does have some smart moments thrown in the middle of the bouncing boobs and tight pants.
   

---

Comments
HSotD is one of those shows that you had to be in the mood to watch. If you're not up to ecchiness you'll probably hate it, especially because it tries to trick you into believing this will be a more serious thing with its first three to four episodes. However, if what you want is just a different fanservice with better production values, you can be pleased here. It's nearly comical to see how all the japanese retarded fanservice goes in a world where people are turning into zombies, and we have some thrilling moments to make you remember this for more time than, let's say, a Queen's Blade.

When I first saw HSotD, I first thought of Left For Dead; in both cases we have a zombie apocalypse with hoards of unimportant victims of zombification and follow a group trying to survive through hacking away. However, differences soon emerge. Unlike the game, contact with a zombie will result in a painful death followed by zombification and unlike the game you don't have a cast of high schoolers, where all the girls seem to be size D+.

High School of the Dead is about being over the top. It's over the top in violence, fan service, and plot pacing. However, despite starting in a high school, the series soon leaves that setting behind, so the title I guess refers more to the cast that originated in a high school before the "world ended".

This is a series for those who like thrillers and are okay with excessive, sometimes approaching H-status, fan service. Not for the younger audience, and not a series to eat dinner in front of (for the most part...).

Animation:
Production quality is very good for this series. You get a very good mix of colors, changing drastically with the mood. Character designs are fairly good although proportion-wise the females are obviously designed to attract a certain type of guy... This series has a lot of fighting (with decent but not great choreography) involving both melee with a variety of instruments as well as a full arsenal of firearms for gun enthusiasts. There will be decapitations, amputations, and a lot of other pseudo gore that may make you not so hungry. In addition to action, it appeals to the ecchi crowd with an overabundance of fan service shots including endless panty shots and bouncy body parts (in addition to many partial nudity shots, doesn't help that the girls wear paper clothing).

Sound:
The OP to this series is very appropriately chaotic while presenting an ominous mood that fits with having to hack through endless hordes; all the while presenting a decent melody (ignoring the overly fan-service based shots). The ED provides some respite from the chaos with a very slow pacing. I like the cinematic fade-in to the ED but sometimes it doesn't fit with the rest of the episode, in some cases it is literally the only break from otherwise non-stop action. BGM is appropriate but is usually droned out by the moans (or groans?) of the zombies. It complements the series well enough but isn't particularly memorable.

VAs do a good job, as expected, but the stand out for me was Marina Inoue as Rei, who I think out of all the characters had the most personality, and I'm not speaking bust. To be honest, the roles aren't terribly bad as many of the lines are just grunting while running, hacking, or performing some more devious acts...

Story:
This story is very frantic, following a group of students as they live through a growing pandemic that soon encapsulates the whole world. It follows their journey out of school and to various locations in an attempt to find their family (to be honest I'd be more worried about my own well being) and somehow escape, whatever that means. It feels almost Left For Deadish as along the way they find certain "safe houses" that, as in games, are somehow surrounded by impossible numbers of zombies for them to cross. You get a few minor side plots, one following a pointlessly political teacher who turns students into faithful slaves, but is otherwise completely tangential to the main plot line.

There are a few break episodes and other moments where the characters take a breather and you get to learn a bit about their personalities through their interactions with each other. However, these aren't very often and the series ends episodes on cliffhangers repeatedly; I'd recommend just chaining it as it isn't terribly long.

The story does a decent job of filling in the background setting by showing additional viewpoints including policemen desperately holding a bridge, an agent at an island airport, and some shots in the US and other locales, giving a completely hopeless picture as there really doesn't seem to be any safe haven.

The manga is still ongoing so you can't really expect the anime to give a proper ending, which was a little frustrating cause all you know is that they've been lucky so far. It will be interesting to see how they follow up on this one (the OVA really doesn't count).

Character:
The character development was strong at first, showing how the reality of the situation took time to sink in (hey, I thought 911 was a movie at first too), but then gradually faded away as each character fell into the role of chopping up zombies to make the next "check point". There are definitely some character relationships going on as this eventually turns into a semi-harem as all three girls have a thing for the main male lead. I will admit that Takashi has more balls than a lot of male leads in series these days. However, they never really have time to "solidify" any of these relationships so you can slap a big "pending" onto that category.

The characters are quite varied, you pretty much get a little bit of everything. You get a fat dude with a gun fetish, a bookworm, a sword warrior, the ditzy school nurse, and the girl you wish you had but could never get. However, despite the break scenes where stuff slows down, you never really get a sense of the characters, a chance to relate to them; all you notice is that the girls are a bit too bouncy in certain areas.

Value:
This was a decently entertaining watch, though I could tune out most of the fan service. The plot line was decently engaging though there aren't too many surprises when you're already in a zombie apocalypse. An attempt to throw some base comedy sometimes lightens the mood though I would have preferred them to keep the serious tone, and stick to a more horror-based approach. It's still a fun watch as you follow the group on an uphill battle for survival. Definitely looking forward to the next installment, if it ever comes.

This anime came out during the craze of the zombie fad of the 2010s. Many fans were waiting for something to be the Walking Dead of anime and they finally got it (or so they thought) when it came out from Madhouse, back when it wasn’t in the pathetic state it is now. As it turned out, Highschool of the Dead was not much of an alternative to the Walking Dead since it was very short, heavy on fan service, and light on plot. The very title doesn’t make sense after 2 episodes, since the characters left that place and never returned. And even the premise quickly changed its priorities and turned from “zombies with some boobs in the background” to “boobs with some zombies in the background”. The threat of the monsters quickly became unimportant and while more mature zombie flicks would focus on the society and way of living of the survivors, Highschool of the Dead was just about the characters getting naked and drunk in the bathtub. You were watching it for the action and the tits; there was nothing beyond that.

One could of course enjoy the show as nothing more than ecchi with cool fights, and never bother looking into it any further. Something many didn’t since there were ridiculously long essays while it was airing. The Monogatari generation that could fill ten pages about the symbolism of a toothbrush was at full throttle on this one, and a lot of them were taking it more seriously than what it deserved because of the ‘assumed’ sociopolitical overtones. Besides being the usual zombie infestation where people get bitten and friends turn to foes it also showed bits of people trying to organize, survive and increase their odds of making it out alive by not letting others to join them or to leave the city. Such scenes made the setting a bit livelier; even if they were nothing more than a few short skits around people you will never see or hear about ever again. It was nothing but a lame attempt to remind the viewer for a few minutes that there were still zombies somewhere out there before the camera swifts back to its main plot: Retarded fan service.

The supposed sociopolitical stuff didn’t matter in the excuse of a plot this anime had, since those other people didn’t interact with the main group and they didn’t form a lasting community that would allow a bit of theme exploration. Despite all that, at the time the anime was airing there were no decent animated zombie flicks and therefore it was ‘unlike anything we’ve seen before’ in anime. It was also food for thought as those same people would be writing novella-long essays about stuff Highschool of the Dead was barely scratching, thus in the process making a better plot than the anime they were supposed to be talking about. Because the actual anime didn’t do much of anything, and the only thing people remember from it after all these years is the clip of the bullet that passes between a pair of boobs that defy gravity and speed.

And it’s not like the anime didn’t have any hints that could lead to something interesting. It had romance, teen angst, and even dementia scenes here and there. It could have done something interesting with its cast and setting as well. But it didn’t since nothing came out of it. The story was left incomplete and so did the manga. Even the mangaka gave up on it. Thus all you are left with is caricatures that better fit in a hentai and not a horror survival show, since all you remember is the fan service and a few clips of sakuga. I mean, you can still overthink its social messages if you like. That way you might convince yourself you are not watching a mindless softporn and that anyone staring you wearing a Naruto T-shirt and hugging a Tifa Lockhart dakimakura just doesn’t get how smart this anime is.

High school of the dead at first glance looks real good specially if you're a fan of zombie related games but if you're not a fan of them you will find this not very like able first it doesn't really follow a plot of some sort its more of a cinematic from a game rather than an anime itself characters looks good their interaction with each other are mostly comical fight scene is what you expected from an anime although worst some times since its a fight scene so it should not zoom in on some of the female body part I mean come on a female boobs are not exactly the best stablizer of weapons and zooming on someones below while she slicing zombie kills the action instead of saying cool you'll be saying wtf, heck you can even remove some scene in this anime that wouldn't change a thing in the story of the episode. and whats with the glowing effect in some scene when a man groping the girl when some scene there would be none? you already know what his doing so whats with the glow an other part of this anime that really kill the scene. Zombies are really weird in this anime I mean their zombies right how come some of them kept in character like the actress (so the anime says), not being able to see yet they seems to know there is water in their way even though they haven't step on it yet, attracted by a sound and yet they disregard a dogs bark.

All in all I find this anime a good to waste time if you don't have any other anime to watch and not really looking for any story behind anime