School Days

A character that is not likable is not the same as a bad character. You wouldn't complain about the characters "doing stupid things" in Othello, would you? That's the point of a tragedy. Othello believed the lies about Desdemona because he was a flawed human being as Makoto cheated because he was a flawed human being. Things are not as simple as detractors make them seem and you can’t expect a cast of deeply flawed characters to make smart decisions, like the detractors of the series supposedly would.

Where did we get this idea that a character must be likable and flawless to be a ... good character? Raskalnikov from Crime and Punishment is one of the greatest characters ever written and most people who read the book simply despise him. Any of you guys read the Flashman Papers? It was some of the best historical fiction ever written, but Flashman a worthless douche and was the epitome of an immoral picaresque protagonist. People don’t hate the School Days characters because they are bad characters; they hate them because they are bad people and that simply makes no sense to me. They are fictional characters, you don't evaluate the quality of a fictional character the same way you would evaluate the moral quality of a human being.


Makoto was guilty of lust, but he was not entirely guilty of ignorance. He knew he was being an awful person, but he simply could not help himself. He was weak and eventually he stopped trying to fight his urges. He may be an awful person, he may be the "worst," as he calls himself on several occasions, but his reactions to his situation were anything but unrealistic. When examining his character it should be kept in mind that all of the women who were awful manipulative people and were responsible for making him a female-impregnating manwhore, turned their collective back on him when he abandoned a pregnant girl. And hell, he's the father, is it that ridiculous for him to want her to have an abortion? Should a high schooler be expected to take that kind of news well? It is possible to have some amount of empathy for him as well, as it should be for any three dimensional and well-written character.

School Days is somewhat dependent on its ending, but most series (particularly tragedies) are. To say that it was just a cliché romance before the last episode, as I have oft heard claimed, is simply absurd. You should have realized that this anime wasn’t a typical rom-com in the first episode where Makoto almost gets violent with Sekai over nothing. The infamous ending was the culmination of the rest of the series that was meticulously built up to, and while it was surprising, it certainly did not come out of nowhere in an otherwise normal anime.

Rather than being drawn out and ending with the couple getting together, like most harems, the relationships are established in episode 1. Most harems have an assumed happy-ever-after ending, but in School Days, just like in real life, things aren't always sunshines and rainbows. School Days deconstructs this idea and other tropes such as the "matchmaker crush." There is also a fuckton of fanservice, like there is in most "innocent" romance anime. It's very impressive and entertaining how School Days gives you a set of things to expect (largely through more subtle means than typically thought) and then proves those expectations to be false, one by one.


School Days is not entirely realistic (which I’ll discuss in a bit), but Makoto’s character is actually relatively believable. If all the girls in school suddenly started coming on to a high school guy, he might just act the way Makoto did. Many other harem protagonists, such as Manaka from Ichigo 100%, are also selfish and generally bad people, but most harems attempt to paint the main character as the good guy. School days harbors no such delusions. Makoto is the protagonist, but we are certainly not rooting for him. In this sense it’s a clever and scathing attack on the (mostly atrocious) harem genre.


That said, it’s not true that Makoto was completely worthless or a blank character. It’s also not true that the girls fell in love with him out of nowhere. One girl fell in love with him because he was the first boy to ever stick up for her against bullies. One girl started sleeping with him because he accepted her when she felt unloved. One girl fell in love with him because he didn’t make her feel self conscious and he wasn’t just after her body like all other men. Three girls slept with him due to his impressive sexual reputation. These things all happen, they are explainable and believable. Every character has their own motives and is three-dimensional.


In most anime having/being a shy and pure girl is a good thing. In School Days, just like in real life, it is not that simple. Kotonoha’s shyness makes her difficult to interact with and her prudishness is largely the reason why Makoto cheats. It’s also the reason that she was too weak to just dump Makoto or confront him, which is why the whole debacle got as far as it did. School days makes it clear that her behavior is not normal or healthy and that it’s a result of bullying and isolation. The fact that Kotonoha is an extreme version of an overused character archetype would normally be a flaw, but in "School Days" it’s used to deconstruct said archetype and darkly explore what would make a character this way.


Another archetype that “School Days” deconstructs is the "bromantic foil." You know, the perverted best friend who’s just there for comic relief, has no development, and despite being a huge pervert, can never ever get laid. Well in school days the bromantic foil commits an unforgivable and undeniably realistic act against another character, in a fit of sexual frustration. “School Days” treats that archetype like a character that actually matters and has feelings, you know, like a real person. You might not like him, but he is a well written character who has a clear purpose and significance beyond comic relief. The alpha bitch bully is also deconstructed and is given clear motivations for her actions. She hooked up with the protagonist, which defeats the usual purpose of the trope, where the bully only exists to get fucked by karma. It's also interesting how she is overthrown as alpha bitch and her posse fucks Makoto behind her back; this could be considered karma for her bitchiness, but they ended up being even bitchier than her.


While “School Days” is intentionally exaggerated and satirical in some aspects, it’s actually darkly realistic in others. People do avoid ending relationships because it’s too painful for them. People do refuse to take responsibility for getting a girl pregnant. People do fake pregnancy. These are things that happen all the time and to label them as “melodramatic” or “unrealistic” is ridiculous. There are no incurable diseases in school days, no ridiculous coincidences, and no melodrama. Believability is stretched intentionally in several elements (a certain someone sleeping with Makoto to get him to stop cheating) of the story for satirical and deconstructive purposes, but the work remains realistic at its core. It balances satire and realism in the same way that great works like Candide do.

“School Days” is a mixture between a clever deconstruction, a stunning tragedy, a realistic harem, and a somewhat comedic work of satire. The change in tone, foreshadowing, and build up to the incredible resolution were simply masterful. Watching all of the characters relations entropically crumble was a spectacle to behold. The characters and plot may not evoke positive emotions, but they do evoke emotion, as was their purpose, all the same. School Days was ultimately a shocking and memorable multifaceted experience that I enjoyed immensely and appreciated on multiple levels. The mediocre audiovisuals keep me from giving this anime a 9, but 8 is still a very good score. If you go in with an open mind I think you’ll like it or, at the very least, appreciate it for what it is.

Watching School days... and enjoying it requires a special type of person. The sort that that can view the suffering of fictional characters like a curious (or evil) scientist who conducts social experiments on a bunch of unknowing test subjects (victims) with intense academic interest (while cackling madly).

The entire anime is essentially a social experiment taken to extremes. What happens if you take a horny teenage guy with little self-restraint, and give him the temptation of almost unlimited sex? What if you add into the mix a group of fangirls, who tend to always regard sleeping with the guy who sleeps with the ... most girls as a sign of social prestige?

School days takes this scenero to its shocking conclusion... and in doing so, has created some of the most despised anime characters ever known. In this goal, School days succeeds brilliantly. The insert songs, ending themes are some of the best in any anime, the story's dark twists will eat at you, and the characters are capable of invoking the most primal emotions of hate and disgust.

That's not say that school days achieves that goal flawlessly. Animations were medicore, relying on more stills that it should. Meanwhile, the second to last episode that portrayed the protogonist final descent to oblivion was rushed. Had the director cut out the 5 wasted minutes devoted to blatant upskirt fanservice per episode and fleshed out the story development, I would have scored the story a 10. Nevertheless, despite the shortcomings, School days achieves what it aimed to do.

If you're the sort of person who wants to throw your notebook off the balcony whenever some guy on TV does something dumb or evil, this ain't the anime for you. However, if you're more the sort that want to watch the downfall of a community with morbid curiosity... then there's really no better anime for you.

**Warning**
This is one of those shows that sets the viewer up for the ending the entire time. If you drop this before watching the last episode, you'll be wasting your time watching this series.

Story : It doesn't seem like the story was very well thought out at first (horny teenager in high school trying to get as much girls as he can). The main character, Ito Makoto, is guaranteed to be the worst anime character you'll ever meet. He's popular among the girls at his school because he seems/they think he's a nice guy (I have no idea what basis they have ... for thinking this), but he's pretty much the devil in disguise. He'll do everything to make the viewer hate him, from his perverted acts to his childish-like tendency to avoid responsibility. Most of the people that come in contact with him will get screwed up emotionally/psychologically/physically, and the episodes will end with the viewer thinking, "what's that guy going to do to screw up society now" or maybe even "I hope a lightning bolt comes down and strikes him".
Those that hate Makoto and are dropping the series because of him, don't. The desired effect is to have you hate him, because divine retribution will eventually come.

Art : Consistant animation and the artwork is exactly like that of the computer game.

Sound : The bgm's fit very well. This show uses a different ending song every episode, some good some bad. The opening song is mediocre at best.

Characters : Everyone has issues (won't go into it in detail because of the no spoilers rule). You wouldn't expect real high school students to act the way they do...though you wouldn't expect real high school students to be ensnared in a story this twisted.

Enjoyment : There are some scenes that are very hard to watch. Most of them consists of Makoto doing something that's just horribly horribly wrong with the other characters unaware of it. Also there are scenes where they show the effects of Makoto's actions on the female characters with Makoto, again, not taking any responsibility.

Overall : To be frank, you will probably hate this show because of Makoto, since he is the biggest tool I've ever seen. For those who like twisted dramas, this is the show for you. I personally chose to finish this series because I really liked how they set up the cliffhangers, and I felt it was challenging me to continue (again, yes, Makoto's actions do make the show very very hard to watch).

Now for the 95% of the people that watched this show that absolutely hates Makoto, you have to watch the last episode because it's incredibly well done (not for screamish people, parental discretion is advised, blah blah). Depending on the type of person you are, you will either enjoy it (I know I did) or say it's absolutely twisted.

We are used to tragedies happening on the grand scale. Famous Shakespeare plays like Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth, the accounts of Joan of Arc , and Oedipus Rex display this very well. Many times great tragedies are set in the past or fantasy worlds. But what would a tragedy that happens in our modern world be like? One that isn't on a grand scale. A tragedy grounded in reality, set in motion by everyday events, in which the worst crime that sparks it all involves cheating on others and not paying attention to people's feelings. This is what School Days attempts to show ... us. What we get in School Days is not sword play, epic battles, political intrigue, or anything of that sort. But we do have a sequence of events that ends up ruining the lives of all who are involved. We have love, romance, betrayal, and battles over the heart. This isn't much of a spoiler however, as only a few episodes into the series you can easily tell your heading down a dark and terrible path that cannot end happily for all. School Days is most definitely a contemporary school life tragedy if there ever was one.

School Days starts innocently enough, with Makoto Ito interesting in a girl who takes the same train to school every mourning that he does, Kotonoha Katsura. Makoto is a regular high school freshman, to shy to approach the girl he likes, and content enough just secretly admiring her. But when he hears the urban legend that if you take a picture of the girl you like, use it as the wallpaper of your cell phone, and no one notices for three weeks you will be able to go out with that person. He figures he has nothing to lose, so sneaks a picture of the girl and uses it as his wallpaper. But when a female classmate, Sekai Saionji who sits next to him, notices his phone's wallpaper, she realizes he has a crush on Kotonoha, so she plans to become their "matchmaker" and get the two together. Surpringly enough Kotonoha had also has noticed Makoto and developed a bit of a crush on him. So Sekai succeeds in getting the two lovebirds together. But later, when Makoto asks Sekai what he can do to thank her, she steals a kiss from him and says that's payment enough. It seems Sekai may have developed a bit of a crush on Makoto as well. It makes sense since the two were hanging out a lot lately. The real problem here, is perhaps Makoto also has feelings for her. The three become friends, and in due time a love triangle develops. The series involves lots of kissing, making out, and eventually lots of people having lots of sex. In fact I can't remember the last show that displayed this much sex, especially considering the age of these characters (what are they all 15?). Although none of the sex is graphically displayed, this does help give the show a bit of an edge. Top that off with themes of betrayal, revenge, loss of innocence, using others, ignoring others feelings, the meaning of friendship, and love vs lust, and you can see this isn't exactly a show for the kiddies. Actually it's quite a mature show that's much deeper then you would think. Besides brining up the issues of teenage sexuality (and everything that goes along with it), the show shows us exactly what happens when you ignore others feelings, play with people, and use people. It shows us what effects our actions have on others, and what that causes others to eventually do. And it does all this without once letting us hear the inner thoughts of any of these characters.

This series is a depiction of what would really happen if the type of romance often shown in harem anime series were to be brought to the real world. This is the real life verson of a harem, because you can sure bet if a harem were real it would not be all sunshines and rainbows, probally something more like this. In real life the girls would not be happy about their man being interested in another women. And the guy could not be shown in good light, if he's basically cheating on his girlfriend back and forth. He could not be a good person, if he's in a relationship like this. And the series is not afraid to show that. As the story goes on many other girls get involved, and many are practiclly throwing themselves at Makoto. This leaves me wondering where these girls were when I was in high school. And as contrived as it is, it does work. And you will have to be a little forgiving, as this series is attempting to dissect the harem genre. The anime is also a deconstruction piece, attempting to brake down the romance/slice of life/h-game adaptation genres. This is quite a goal, and on the large it does succeed. There are some small contrivances of course that will have to be over looked (a "rest room/lounge" for couples to mess around in during the school festival is pushing it a little), but over all it does not come off as too unrealistic and it is successful on turning the harem genre on it's head, inside out, and corrupting it to hell. This is quite a feat.

As for the characters of this anime, I can imagine there will be many out there who won't be able to stomach them. And for good reason, most of the cast is either annoying, terrible people, or a combination of the two. So why watch it? Well for one the story is really good. It's well written and decently paced, and has more then enough twists for most viewers. It's a really addictive show from start to finish. It's something new that you probably haven't seen before, and fans of the genre of drama will eat this up. It offers a great twist on stories we've all seen, and it's cynical nature is more then fascinating. But this series is truly for those who can appreciate realistic characters. And I for one loved the way this series handled it's characters. None of them are heroes, or unrealistic teenagers always happy go lucky, or something. Instead they are life like characters, many who may hit far to close to home to some. They are all very flawed, and have real life problems, goals, anxieties, feelings, self-doubts, and fears. And a lot of them make some really terrible mistakes. If you don't like watching people make a lot of mistakes the show might not be for you. And over the course of the show a few of the characters will do what seem like truly despicable and stupid things. However we must not judge them too harshly. For they do not have the birds eye view of events that we do. They are caught up in the moment, and unable to see what those around them are thinking and feeling. And the most important reason we should not be to tough on them, is because their mistakes are our mistakes. Sure it's easy to point out when these characters are being jerks, or selfish or stupid when your watching the show. But will you be able to tell when your doing similar things? While many will become aggravated by many of the characters, and truly learn to despise them, by the end of all this I mostly feel sorry for all of them. I'm sure the part of the intent of the series was to make you dislike some characters, and get bothered by them, and it does seem to succede. But when all is said and done, I can't help but feel sorry for everyone involved, even the characters many seem to really hate. Sure I am bothered by them, but in the end they were all truly human. They all have some redeeming qualities, and none are truly monsters. However the same goes for the other side of the equation. Very few if any of the characters are truly innocent, or entirely good people. And that's very interesting. This series is brilliant in it's abilities to evoke such emotions as hate, anger, and disgust. And it will really surprise you at times. Rather then being apathetic about these characters, we care. At least we care one way, or the other. We may not love them, but we have a feeling about them. And that is very important for me while watching a series. If I have no feeling toward any of the characters then I ask what is the point in the end?

The anime is very well written, and uses drama and suspense perfectly. The story starts off like any other light hearted romance, but by the end your left just staring at the screen, freaked out by what you have just witnessed. By the end you will be asking the same question Sekai poses in one of the last scenes, "Why?! How did this happen?". How indeed. Because looking back at the first few episodes, it's impossible to see this type of conclusion. Even with the noise about the ending, even with the signs it's taking a dark turn, one could not foresee this ending. And what an ending it is. Perfect in every way. The last few episodes are thrilling, and involve a few twists you will not see coming. And while the ending is very sad, and very screwed up on all levels, it is more then satisfying, and that's good enough for me. This series will have you hooked from the more lighthearted and more innocent beginnings, to the bone chilling conclusion. The series also has some of the best use of comedy relief I've seen in an anime in a long time. Many anime series seem to get this wrong, at least for my tastes anyway. But School Days knows when to have the class president hit a character in the head while sliding down a water slide, or have a funny "class fight" during the school festival that will have you cracking up. While largely a dark drama, the slight use of comedy relief at the right times really helps prevent the series from becoming too bleak.

On the technical side of things we have a mixed bag. On one hand the animation is not up to par with current anime TV series. While not outright terrible, it is mediocre at best. The series uses a lot of stills, pannings, and shortcuts in order to tell it's story. While not exactly distracting, it won't be winning any awards either. Some scenes do not at all flow well, and others have characters all moving at the same time in the same way, giving off a very robot like feeling. This easiest to see when a character enters a room, and all the others turn and face them. They all turn at the same time, and it's all very stiff. There are times when the animation is good, especially in the beginning and the episodes toward the ending. But seeing how this series is mostly talking, walking, making out, and having sex (lots of sex), I think they could have done much better. As far as the art goes however, I thought it was great. The character designs are what drew me to the series in the first place. they have this "rounded" feeling to them, that really makes them look a little different then your regular characters, but not too different as to take away from the main point of dissecting common anime genres. One small problem was how a few of the characters looked a little too much like each other, and in the begining it was a little hard to tell who was who. But after an episode or two I quickly got used to it. The color palette used is another strong point of the series. Lots of blues, pales, greys, and blacks are used, and it all looks quite nice. The series has this distinct look about it that I just love. The backgrounds are all good, but nothing to write home about. Although I did really enjoyed the many of the characters' rooms, the location right outside Makoto's house, and of course the "nice boat" scenery. The music however is in a word, perfect. I wouldn't change a damn thing about it. The opening theme may be a little too happy for some, but just like the opening theme to Shadow Star Narutaru , another deconstruction piece, it works to it's advantage. The multiple ending themes are all really great songs, although if I must pick a favorite it would be the endings of episodes three and eleven which use the song "Waltz", by Kanako Ito. This series also has a handful of excellent insert songs, all which add the mood perfectly. The right song is used to enhance this scene or that one, and some of them really help to add to the drama, or the suspense (towards the end of the series). Perhaps the best insert song is "To the Other Side of Sadness" by Kanako Ito, which I just can't stop listening to. It's used during one of the most important scenes in the series, and it really makes that scene. I have not heard any other series were Kaoru Okubo was in charge of the music, but I sure hope to in the future. Okubo really impressed me with the soundtrack in this, from great background themes, to amazing insert songs, and great openings and endings, nothing is off. I must have more!

There will be many out there who hate this series. And that is perfectly all right. This is not a show for everyone. They will find it's soup-opera-ish plot ridiculous and it's characters despicable, and will be bothered greatly by this show. But for those who can enjoy a good drama, one were the characters are realistic and flawed, this is the show for them. If you can deal with characters that you may dislike or even grow to hate, this is the show for you. Because the plot is so well written, and the show is so good, I think most will enjoy this. I normally would not review a series not licensed, since I usually only watch DVD's anyway. But once in awhile I check out a legal streaming show or two, and this was one of them. I watched the shows entire 12 episodes in two sittings, something I've never done before. I usually take weeks to watch even the shortest of series, so that speaks volumes for how much I enjoyed this series. I am not big on watching a show subtitled, but this show managed to entertain me the entire time. It impressed me so much I just had to review it. So if you think it may make such an impression on you, be sure to check it out. It's currently streaming on Crunchyroll, legally and for free. Now let's hope this great show gets licensed so I can watch it on my big screen TV with a great dub.

- Review copyed from my personal blog
- Original review posted at: http://predeanimereview.blogspot.com/2009/11/school-days.html

a very good cute anime, I just didn't know what was happening with the anime at every second sentence if you like cute anime in which there is no cheating, no trauma, nothing happens, just a happy school story feel free to enjoy this anime :D , the character development was very good i liked the MC the most he is the most loyal and friendlyest men on the earth and the most GENIUS TOO, i loved the love triangle too i think im ins- in love with this anime.
the art style is beautiful i highly recommend it to watch it with closed eyes!!!!
I ... highly recommend it!

AUTHORS NOTE (23/1/14): Near the end of the review, there is a spoiler regarding the final episode. I urge you to watch the series before reading the review or -- if you aren't interested in the series/have dropped it -- read it if you so desire.

Don’t be fooled this anime’s poster: it’s not all happy girls and good times. School Days is the adaption of a visual novel with the same name, infamous for its brutal bad endings. A notably absent genre this should be categorised is psychological – it shows the worst of human desire in a twelve episode, slow-paced fashion which is either ... a make or break depending on taste and overall dedication to observe when the plot actually moves forward. School Days is a satirical take on the harem genre as a whole, taking on the realistic approach when it comes to the genre deciding that the main character will inevitably get every woman he’s ever interacted with. In reality, this is not the case and School Days explicitly shows the consequences of wanting too much and giving next to nothing in return.

And that’s why everyone should watch it.

I’m serious – no other anime can replicate the emotions that School Days is capable of, one of which is mainly pure anger. It’s possible to feel emotionally attached to a number of the characters, though in the end it’s realised that their actions have been brought upon due to lust, a factor that would’ve cementing School Days into pornographic territory if not of the actual plot and character development. It starts off cheerfully and as it goes on, the temper of the audience will rise to the point of smashing their television or computer in disgust due to the characters’ actions. They say school is one of the most beneficially periods in a person’s life: School Days shows the exact opposite.

The plot follows token male harem protagonist Itou Makoto who develops a crush on a girl – Kotonoha – whom he observes on the bus every day with lustful eyes or at least, eyes of affection. It’s Makato’s first year at High School and he’s seated next to Sekai, another girl in which e feels no affection for yet is as outgoing as a celebrity. Sekai finds out that our token protagonist is in love with Kotonoha and decides to become her friend in order to obtain information about her so Makato will actually know something about her and not stare at her body endlessly. Sekai and Kotonoha do legitimately become friends, with Makato later confessing to Kotonoha ending the first episode with them being a couple. Makoto tries to thank Sekai for her effort and there’s only one thing Sekai will take for a reward: a kiss.

That’s all in the first episode – a fast pace never seen again.

Perhaps ‘protagonist’ isn’t a word well-suited for Makoto as his main objective is to bang anything that shows the slightest sense of movement. The main factor that attributes to the anger School Days supplies is the main character. Itou Makoto is not a role model. He’s not someone to aspire to and he’s not someone you’d like to know unless you’d want to have a fleeting orgasm with. He’s a relentless hormonal machine similar to the Terminator – he’d bang everyone until he has a nice glass of brandy before banging the actual target. Itou Makoto is perhaps the perfect definition of “the worse”, a complete knob of a ridiculously high caliber and yet is the basis for any viewer of the male gender who would like nothing else to be the Terminator of sex.

And the side-characters aren’t much better. Sekai is everything that Makoto desires that Kotonoha isn’t or in better terms, won’t perform. Being as horny as a rabbit, Makoto’s quest for seemingly endless sex doesn’t start at Kotonoha, but at Sekai after a couple of episodes in that cement Makoto’s douchebaggery. By the end of the third episode, he finally decides that he’s sick of her due to not being entitled to sex after a period of time. Not taking it steady is Makoto’s bread and butter, as in he just wants to spread his butter all over his seemingly endless bread – wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Perhaps it’s because every other side character has a vagina and the only other character that has a knob doesn’t supply any moral support and would be just horny as our main character. We don’t really get to know the other side characters that the Sexinator bangs very well, which is a shame because they’re all part of an indecisive wanker’s sexual quest of glory. They actually have motives, unlike our lovable cyborg sex maniac so that’s a big plus in their court.

Perhaps something else that brings School Days down is the rather unappealing art style. The characters don’t seem very attractive, especially the female characters. This is an oddity considering the harem genre that School Days deconstructs over the course of the series, however this has lead me to believe that it was entirely on purpose – what does Makoto see in all of the girls over the course of the series? He decides to pound every woman he comes in contact with and even falls in love several times, yet there is seemingly nothing that contributes to his sudden attraction or at least his hormones being set a full throttle. Being based off a visual novel, it’s not really unexpected for School Days’ lacklustre art as it’s practically ripped from the game itself.

Another gripe to be had with the anime is its slow pace. The finale felt like an eternity to reach, as nothing much happens – or at least, that’s what it seems to be with Makoto going back and forth as he’s just as indecisive as any other harem protagonist. It emulates what it’s actually like to be in school: nothing happens for a while and any drama that occurs may pace itself out to the point of wanting to reach the end as fast as possible. However, when it gets to the finale, everyone will scream for joy and it remains as one of the greatest endings in the history of anime.

And it deserves a paragraph of its own. So, spoilers ahead!

In the final episode of School Days, everything goes down – Makoto and Kotonoha reconcile after he’s realised that being a robot only made for having sex with everything in a one centimetre radius isn’t has glorified as it should be, after Sekai reveals that she’s pregnant with his child and every girl he has had sex with in his school – which is nearly all of them – begins to fear him due to this sudden revelation. However, seeing them reconcile in front of her, Sekai murders Makoto when he suggests that she should get an abortion. Kotonoha visits Makoto’s… corpse, in his room and takes matters into her own hand: by killing Sekai on the school rooftop in an admittedly badass fashion. Beforehand, she cut off Makoto’s head and put it in a duffel bag. After she killed Sekai, Kotonoha invalidates her previous claims of pregnancy, which means all of this tragedy has been caused by a lie and most likely cementing everyone’s hate for her as a character and a work of fiction. The final scene depicts Kotonoha and Makoto’s head stranded on a nice boat, thus ending the series.

So, after all of the negative things about it, why did I give it a high score?
School Days – for this viewer – had something that is nearly indescribable that kept me hooked the entire time. I hated the characters, I didn’t particularly like the art style or the music; yet I wanted to see how it ends, I wanted to see how exactly the tragedy plays out. I had heard about people discuss this absolutely hating and even liking it, I can see why it’s hated amongst many people. It absolutely ensnared me the whole time and even if you hate everything about it, you still want to see how it ends. If a series can keep a viewer hooked the whole time even if it’s being despicable and absolutely loathsome, it has achieved something great. That’s why I believe that anyone and everyone should watch School Days.

If you don’t want to, however, my spoiler saved you some time. You’re welcome.

School Days.

Personally, both one of the best and worst anime I've ever seen.

Story: 9

I thought the story was technically excellent. Very interesting and completely not what you expect at first impression.

While I was watching it, I didn't like it, because it made me angry...but then when I stopped to think, I realized, wow, that means it's actually really skillfully done. It makes you feel everything.

Also, the way that they wrapped it up in the end left me speechless. I'm still not even exactly sure how I feel about it, but I think that's how it's supposed to make you feel, and they pull it off ... in a really amazing way.

Art: 8

The art was well done and fitting, and complimented the series well. I'll just say it did its job, since I didn't really think about it while I was watching it. Though something that I did notice was done nicely is the facial expressions.

Sound: 7

The music, to me, was simply okay. Like the art, it fit and did its job. (I must say, the opening song grew on me a little bit, but I don't really even remember anything else.)
But Kanashimi no Mukou he, the song that plays at the ending, gave it such a haunting and melodramatic feel. I thought it was a really nice touch.

Character: 10

I gave this portion a 10, merely because...this is human nature. Everyone has a little bit of good and wickedness in them, and everyone affects each other. And I think they portrayed that beautifully through the characters.

I didn't like any of the characters, but yet they were so well done.

All three of the leads, I believe, started out pretty innocent and average. Makoto, pretty much a normal guy, who was just too shy to approach the girl he had been seeking out.
Sekai, outgoing and sometimes even a bit boisterous, just trying to help out the guy sitting next to her with his love life.
And then Kotonoha, who had that touch of naivety, and was a little on the awkward side.

It seems like they all had good intent at first.

Then when they met each other...Kotonoha's insecurity, Sekai's jealousy and guilt, Makoto's confusion and twisted desires...they affected each other, more so bringing out the bitter evil inside each other due to their conflicts.

Basically, it's hard to side with any of them once you've reached the end of the series, because you realize that all three of them are pretty messed up.

Even though you'll hate them so much, you'll still sort of have an understanding of what brings about their serious flaws.

And that's why the characters are so much like people, and wonderfully developed.

Enjoyment: 7

It's kind of funny, actually, because I enjoyed thinking about how good the story was more than I actually enjoyed watching it.

Personally, I also felt dirty after watching it because of how disgusting Makoto becomes, and that took away from my enjoyment of it as well.

But throughout the whole thing, it's not really so much a matter of enjoying it...it's more that you just get hooked and feel the need to see what happens next.

Overall: 8

This anime made me feel so much hatred and anger...but it's really just meant to do that, isn't it?

Just watching the ending would probably determine how you'd feel about it. It could make you feel disturbed, happy, depressed, confused, indifferent, or just mixed feelings.

Although, if you watched the ending, that'd kind of give you no reason to watch the series...but I don't know if I really recommend it or not. I guess it really just depends on the person.

Everyone seems to have a different opinion about this one.

But me, personally...I think it deserves an 8.

School Days is a Slice of Life, Romantic, Drama about a sordid love triangle between friends Makoto (guy), Kotonoha (girl) and Sekai (girl). This is anime is an adaptation of a visual novel, notorious for its tragic endings and this anime retains that reputation.

As the story begins it seems very average, with the typical storyline that this type of anime tends to follow however both of the girl's questionable behaviour and feelings do make this romance drama very interesting. Even though it is very short, the story flows well at a satisfying pace, with some major unexpected developments that will keep most unable to stop.

Yet ... this interesting anime was hugely let down by its characters, the male protagonist in particular. It's a common thing to have a unlucky and average guy as a protagonist however School Days goes overboard by making Makoto a useless, worthless, perverted, the list goes on… To have someone like him act like he's the "top man" gets so annoying that anyone can easily just drop this anime and look for a better one. The supporting characters don't add much to the story either it's really just the two main girls that bring this anime's story to life, which makes it worth watching to the end and also makes you feel sorry for the girls affected by Makoto.

The animation quality of this anime is decent with great character designs, where the girl's body shapes are paid close attention to for fanservice. The animation could have been the great point to this anime but the animators are so lazy that issues with the background characters and static characters become so noticeable that it degrades the quality of the show. At least the music helps at points to bring a certain tone to any situation, nonetheless this anime overall is full of too many silent moments.

On a final note, School Days turned out to be an interesting and somewhat different anime romance drama (based on a visual novel) to watch. Even with the most hated and irritating male protagonist, the girls managed to bring something to the story, including a lot of heartfelt and ecchi moments ($ex). As it began to reach its climax the story became really disturbing and then came the shockingly unexpected ending.

I recommend this anime to those who enjoy watching romance anime however the male protagonist is the biggest issue in this series, so this isn't one to watch if you're easily irritated. ^_^

Length: 12 Episodes
Original Airdates: 07/07 - 09/07
Demographic: Seinen
Genres: Drama, Romance, Psychological, (and eventually) Horror
WARNING: Contains scenes of sexuality, and a "Nice Boat" ending

One-sentence summary: "What the f***!?"

Plot Synopsis
Makoto Ito rides the train to and from school every day. However, at the beginning of his second term, he falls in love with a beautiful girl that also rides the train. Unfortunately, she barely knows of his existence. Her name is Kotonoha Katsura, and though they attend the same school, they are not in the same class. In an attempt to catch her eye, Makoto enlists the aid of a close female friend of his: Sekai Saionji. ... She helps him, despite the fact that she--unbeknownst to Makoto--is in love with him. Thus the three are bound in a love triangle of life changing proportions.
(Source: ANN)

Personal Opinion
When everything was done after the 12th episode.... I stared at my computer screen for a good minute. COMPLETLY speechless.
When they said that the ending was messed up.. they weren't joking... This is as messed up as you can get. So what'd I think on the whole?
Watching episode 1 through 6, is much like trying to swallow a box of nails. It's filled with fan-service shots that made me want to puke, characters whom i wanted throw bricks at, and a story that seemed to be written by a middle school girl. But if you can stomach those episodes... you're home free.
Episodes 7 to 11 are a lot more engaging. While not a whole lot better, there was definitely enough in there in which I could keep watching because I felt like it. The character interactions are what shines in this part of the series and some of the previous characters that you learn to hate... come back w/ sympathetic qualities.

But if we're talking about School Days here... It's ALL about the ending. INCREDIBLY controversial... and something more suited for Higurashi. That being said... I loved it. The music created incredible tension and when hell broke lose... my heart was racing. Did it fit this anime? I don't know... but it sure as hell was memorable. That was a NICE BOAT...

So overall...
Episodes 1-6 = 3.5/10
Episodes 7-11 = 7/10
Episode 12 = 10/10

Leaving the final rating of
7/10 (though more 6.5)

Similar To...
- Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni
Only the ending is comparable to Higurashi

To begin with,School days is best to be watched without having any background information of it being a H-game adaptation that is infamous for many things if you want to enjoy this anime to the fullest. With that said,there was so much hype going around School days when it was broadcasted that one had to give it a watch. I did and then realised why all the buzz. Never have I saw an anime coming out from this genre so well-executed,so emotionally-draining.

School days seems like your usual teenage romance drama. Not only does the sypnosis suggests that,it even starts like one. But what you ... don't know is School days is in fact an absolute train-wreck in disguise,and a very sly one at that. By making you believe that school days is your typical cliche,the producers could then proceed to 'surprise' you with some nasty stuffs which will most likely catch you off guard. Before you begin realising the anime's true colours,you are already in the roller-coaster ride that is about to depart ( 2nd half of series ). Now that is where the anime starts getting uncomfortable and disturbing. No longer can kissing or touching satisfy the overwhelming lust of our main lead anime. He wants to experience things at the next level and he'll go for any girl who's willing to offer that. All hell breaks loose. Watch how he bangs and lie his way to the point of no return,hurting one girl after another during the process. How will it end? I'm not going to spoil the last 2 episode in case you have not watched.

The fact that characters in School days do suffer real consequences of their actions is a refreshing sight. If you touch a girl's butt,chances are you'll get slapped and end up in the police station. No,she isn't going to like it or yadda yadda. Actions in school days don't go unpunished. This is what makes this anime so distinct from its peers and deserving of all the hype because very few anime actually relates to the reality so harshly.

Contrary to a bunch who branded this anime as sh!t,I have nothing but glowing praises for school days. The execution of the story was to perfection and the flow of events was basically that of an ephemeral incurable disease. To put it simply,it was a slow,grueling process to watch. It never gets better and gradually,it drags you to your last gasp. Animation was decent and with obvious intent to create a sombre atmosphere using dark colours. I didn't like how the character look though. Soundtracks were great and some of the background music really amplify those dramatic moments. Kotonoha's and Makoto's voice were memorable. Character are mostly bastards and bitches meant for all of us to hate(bar a few) so we can have a show. All in all,it was a solid well-done work. And of course every anime has its fair share of flaws,school days isn't any special exception. However,the pros of this anime outweigh the cons by a big big margin that in my opinion,had made the flaws negligible and not matter that much.

This anime is definitely not for everyone especially to the more sensitive but regardless,I encourage you to give it a try. While I don't believe the exaggerated events in school days happening in our daily life,the anime does teach us some moral values. Episode 12 should serves as a pretty good warning for us viewers to not follow his footsteps. Though not that we really need it but meh,it's something. Had the anime not started so innocently fooling everyone,I'm sure School days would just be passed off as an obscure groundbreaking anime that went on a totally different path from what most harem anime would have taken. But luckily or not,it wasn't the case.

I'm pretty sure there are more hate than love in the School days community. While I firmly believe that the anime is receiving too much unwanted injustice from viewers,I do find myself agreeing some key points that was mentioned. The pace of story is slow but it picks up at the latter half. The premise is misleading but it was of a good cause. The characters are detestable but they have to be. At one point,I did loathe it as well since I'd prefer happy stuffs but that doesn't mean the anime is bad.

Take School days with a grain of salt and you'll be rewarded with a story that offers a great deal of engaging drama and an epic ending that will leave you a lasting impression. No,there won't be a sequel,pretty sure about that.

Miscellaneous
---------------
Best soundtrack : Usotsuki by Coo-rie.
Best character : Setsuna.

Adapted by a H-game that is fully animated,you'd thought why sex have become so random and common in high-school. Now you know why.

I loved this anime in most aspects, it is refreshingly different from the normal cliche school romance, the characters are very interesting and I might say quite realistic, Ill explain why bellow, for now staying in the anime viewer perspective this show is technically decent although nothing special, the development is twisted delicious with incredible cliffhangers at the end of each episode, becoming rather normal at the start but you always feel like watching the next one quickly. The characters develop interestingly and in an original way, far from your usual innocent kids, I can understand why some people must hate the main character, ... specially for girls, but thats part of males personality. This is one of those shows where things can go wrong and will go wrong portraying very well how you can screw up if you don't do whats right and how you can get into hellish situations if communication between the individuals fails.
In my opinion if its controversial then it did something right, and making a character be so hated (although I suspect only by womens) is definitely an ingenious piece of art. I recommend this anime greatly to the mature audience out there, i'm afraid the younger will just hate it or dont find any meaning. Watch it and don't judge the characters like their real persons, its a show!

As a side note explanation I must say the characters are slightly exagerated but its actually a fairly accurate portrait of the modern reality in Japan high schools, if you ever had the chance to travel there and spend some time other than touring around you should understand what I mean, the Japanese society is disturbingly diferent but its not like the lovey dovey animes you see around full of tradition and values, it may be like that in the older populations but the younger Japanese are rotting, values are falling apart and the school system is outdated and inadequate to deal with the present situation. I took my time to explain this because knowing of it you might look at this anime from a different point of view. It may be shocking or hateful for someone who is looking for a fairy tale or a pretty romantic story but humans aren't really like that. All this gives a different dimension to this show and taking into account there are exagerations for entertainment purposes, overall it can be seen as a critic to Japanese modern society so if your interested in this topic, its a must watch.

I've never had a show, or book make me detest itself so much yet still keep me from putting it down.

Although nearly every event portrayed made me cringe, I cannot deny this show provokes you. With its absurdity. Its overly innocent title. Its demented psychotic cast. That feeling of total helplessness(and admittedly mild amusement) as complete idiocy unfolds before you. I have never before wanted to line up a group of fictional people and bitch slap them all so fucking hard. Especially that piece of shit protagonist.

That said, this is what the creators probably wanted. In the end, THATs what made it memorable. It ... made me goddamn confused and sick and audibly WTF and cheer for blood multiple times... BUT it was memorable. Especially the ending.

For the story, I would say watching "school days" is a rollercoaster of disbelief at oddly plausible stupidity. I'm not going to outright join the people calling it realistic (harem or otherwise) but in such a big world, something this(or more) crazy has has to have happened somewhere, right? With "reality is stranger than fiction" in mind and a healthy suspension of disbelief, School Days was my very entertaining peek into a bizarro universe where an unbelievably lucky imp manages to turn off his brain and wake up covered in bitches. Some of whom are insane and [SPOILER REDACTED].

I can't deny the creators took a rather unique take on the cliche high school romance genre, twisting it rather well by combining lots of real-world complications(emotionally vulnerable women, young naivety and inexperience, a senseless and nonchalantly callous lead, teenage angst, jealousy, infidelity and copious amounts of horniness and psychosis) in a simmering mix. I give the story a 6.5(Fair) because despite the enterprising premise, the writing was weak at crucial places, often giving away too easily that the show is intentionally trying to rile you.

The characters are I think done rather well. The lot of them are retarded, true. But they're consistent and believably so. Their actions, judgement, personal disposition and motivations are actually well built up and foreshadowed. At the end, despite my inclination to demur, I could not seriously answer in a way unfavourable to school days these questions: "could an asshat like Makoto actually exist?", "Emotionally co-dependant women like Kotonoha have gotta be a myth, right?", "meangirl sluts like Otome and company? C'mon...", "Could a girl like Sekai really be stupid enough to pull that wingman scheme of hers?".

This is where School Days impresses you, I think. Despite the stretches of imagination at places, it would be unfair not to call it a psychological anime. Its cast is uniquely idiosyncratic, unbalanced and uniformly contemptible... but still so very... interesting. The mind-boggling series of events involving interactions between these anomalous-yet-still-not-quite-unbelievable characters leave so many who watched it affected in some way or another. I think that's a commendable feat and could not have been accomplished had there /not/ been any depth, or could it have been summarily dismissed as beyond the imagination. Despite the heavy misleading fanservice(which I'm convinced was shoehorned to drive home the shock value), these aren't your average porno characters. IMO, They deserve at least a 7(good) but I'll up it to 8 for being memorable.

Sound is actually an area where School Days excels. Whether it was muting the world for some sense of foreboding, or quiet piano pieces in the background, it was used very well. Each of the fade-in songs and the EDs were brilliant and an effective and evocative exit to the trauma you inevitably suffered in each episode. A sort of soothing exit after being mentally raped. Also, at the moments in the episodes themselves where these songs played, I think they were superbly effective at creating atmosphere and really did enhance the impact of whatever was happening at the time. I also noticed that the lyrics of some of the songs were quite poignant and seemed well-written too(something I'm sorry, few songs are after being translated). I did not like the OP nearly as much, but I suppose at some level it too played into the euphemistic way they were trying to present the anime.

The voice acting, I believe was also done rather nicely. Makoto's voice makes me want to punch him, but thats all well and good and perfectly in line with everything else about him. The dramatic and emotional parts of the script were delivered satisfactorily and believably and all of the characters had convincing emotion in their voices at the appropriate places. For sound I give SD an 8.5 that I'll round up to 9(Great).

I don't really have much to say about art. It didn't stand out particularly or had a distinguished style and I never had my attention drawn(heheh, drawn) to anything in particular. The character designs were good overall but somewhat inconsistent(where did Setsuna's boobs suddenly come from in her lewd scene? I could've sworn she was flat-chested everywhere else) for the sake of tasteless sexualization. At the same time, I can't say it was *bad* in any place either so I'll give it a 7(Good).

While I can't say I ENJOYED this anime, I will say that it was interesting and worth watching. School Days wasn't really made to make you ENJOY it(and if you did, well... my sympathies to you...). It was made to make you squirm in your seat. I give it a 8 for that.

Overall, 7(good).

I never actually thought I'd enjoy a harem anime so much until I watched School days. There were so many things I liked and enjoyed so let me get right into it.

The thing that I liked, no loved the most in School days was the story. School days has a very dark and mature story-line, meaning, if you're not an adult or at least in your late teens, or if you haven't at least seen anime similar to this than you probably won't understand most of the story. That aside, the story was an amazing blend of all things drama. Tragedy, love & hate, bonds ... formed and broken, heartbreak, friendship etc. The staff did a very good job writing the story. Something that I noticed, too is that the show has a really slow pacing, so don't expect things to happen right then and there. Although most of the times certain things like sex, or betrayal do happen before the end of an episode.

The characters were not the best or well let me be honest Makoto wasn't. I do strongly believe that this was done on purpose of course because you know, how else are we going to get a good story. It was interesting to see Makoto go from nice guy that every one respected and liked to sex craved idiot & jerk.

In fact, during the point in which Makoto started to betray someone who was close to him, his lover, was the moment that I immedialey lost respect for him, in fact it gets a lot worst however I'd much rather not spoil anything. In my opinion, the writers did a good job on making such a detestable main character.

Aside from the main male, the majority of the women in the cast were like your common female harem archetype. So things you'd normally expect to see, the big boobs, the jealous one with tiny boobs, the mature girl who looks like a loli etc.
You'll read it from me, and you'll most likely see it from the rest, however school days doesn't have the best cast of characters.

The artwork done in this show is terrible, it looks like very little was done in terms of background, crowd settings etc. If you look at things in either Makoto's room or just anywhere really, you'll noticed that they look horribly painted, and a majority of the time the chracters just look like they were just inserted into a some sort of watercolor paint texture.. the character designs are pretty awful too, especially for the anime's release. Overall it's bad, nothing really special.

The soundtrack, was okay, it didn't leave a big impact on how certain events went down in the anime. However I did like opening and ending songs, and some of the songs played before the ending of an episode. Overall the soundtrack was okay not too bad and not too good.

Another thing that I didn't like and yet admired about School days was the character relationships, like I previously said before, I hated Makoto. I sure by now everyone does, in both the VN and the anime he is just detestable. His relationships with the other characters seemed really forced. It seemed like the staff either got really lazy towards the end of the anime and just said "we don't feel like writing anything else, let's just add lots of sex between the MC and others." Or maybe they were just trying to stick with the shows roots and have him try to get with every other female character that he can. That way it feels like the VN. Either way it was acceptable to me only up until the point where he's banging chicks left and right without even knowing them. Even towards the end of the series things just got a bit ridiculous.

Lastly, "there's no one inside." School days had one of the most infamously well known endings in anime history. There are so many parody's, homage's etc of one of the most shocking finishes to an anime and it's just such a... "joy" or "pleasure" to see.

Overall, although it wouldn't be my first choice, I would recommend it to anyone who loves shocking moments or huge twist in anime. If you're okay with mature dialogues, settings, in a school situation then go for School days.. 9/10 overall for exciting drama and great tragedies.

This anime is very psychological and manipulative, so if you’re not into consistent plot twists and an exuberant array of drama then I highly suggest you don’t watch this anime. To add to my suggestion of choice…If you like stories with happy endings, or nice characters, then you’re going to be horrified. This story has an unexpected ending that may not please everyone, as well as characters who are a truthfully jerks.

Story: The story was magnificent, it was pure genius. I have to admit, happy endings are nice, but they aren’t in line with the truth of reality. People usually don’t get to live ... happily ever with their lover. Not only is half of America’s married people divorced, the other half could be cheating or treating their spouse horribly. Now granted, the story isn’t something that usually happens, or really happens at all, but it still shows the depression, anger, and jealousy that can build in humans. The story is a perfect example of a miserable set of emotions too chained and too reluctant to realize it’s abhorrence.

Art: The stories art was quite magnificent. The quality immediately drew me into the story to an even higher level. For me to watch an anime, no matter how magnificent the story and character may be, the anime has to have good art. And I must say, this anime’s art was beyond my expectations. The characters eyes were beautifully woven and the facial expressions were perfectly intact.

Sound: The sound was good enough for me to comfortably enjoy the show. The reason sound doesn’t have a score quite as high as the other specifics are because I simply can’t remember anything special with it, or bad with it. In fact, I don’t really remember the sound at all. But that states that I didn’t dislike the sound…nor like it. So I give sound an “8”.

Character: The characters were nicely made, and fit the criteria of the story perfectly. If Makoto wasn’t such a jerk then the story couldn’t be done correctly. But even so, some of the characters bugged me to no end. Even though some characters were vexating a lot of the nice ones made up for that, and I know the annoyance of the characters was needed for the amelioration completion of the story.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed this story a lot, and as you can tell by my anime list, not every anime or even a quarter of the anime I’ve seen received a 10. I couldn’t stop watching the series, and all day I would just surmise over the series. I have to say this story exceeded all of my expectations. I never expected for an anime with this kind of presentation to be this good!!

Overall: Overall I loved this anime, loved it enough to put it on my favorites of anime. I would definitely recommend this story to anyone that wants to view a creation of truth.

Ah, School Days. What an experience. It's become such a phenomenon in the anime community (Nice Boat!) that most people have probably already seen it. If you haven't for whatever reason - and especially if you haven't had the ending spoiled - you're missing a diverse little head trip.

First off, you're going to need a good bit of patience. SD likes to tease it's audience, to the point that you could really consider the first 11 episodes as painfully slow buildup to the (admittedly awesome) finale. That tension encompasses a veritable roller-coaster of emotions, styles and themes. You'll see cute awkwardness give way ... to genuine affection, best friends turn on each other and just about every girl in this school find the main character to inexplicably be a sex God. Oh Japan, so silly.

That would be the easiest way to categorize School Days, as a harem anime. It doesn't really come out until about halfway through, but once it does, it doesn't shy away from the taboo. The show shifts genres parallel to a shift in tone from the witty, cheesy cliches that japanimation is famous for into a bleak social commentary so smoothly and naturally that disbelief is never broken.

This is really School Days' biggest strength; being able to contrast perverted grade school humor with stark images of heartbreak. You can easily go into the show just looking for a lighthearted diversion and be satisfied. Similarly, if you're willing to sit through the shtick humor and (at first) angst-ridden melodrama, you'll end up with surprisingly well-developed characters and an extremely gratifying ending.

Artistically, the show isn't perfect. The animation isn't bad, in fact several scenes were quite evocative, if a bit trope-heavy. The voice acting really shines, especially later on, once the characters round out, at least in the Japanese dub. The soundtrack is straight J-pop for better or worse. One nice little facet is that they use a rotating selection of songs for the end credits, keeping the experience fresh. They only add music to a handful of scenes within the show, and while I really liked them all, more music overall would've helped.

School Days ultimately suffers from an unfortunate medium transition. Originally appearing as a harem simulation game with multiple unique endings, the anime directors had the difficult task of picking one ending to a story meant to be dynamic and fluid. Many elements of this carry over; prepare for innuendo more overused than some (perhaps not all) may care for, and anyone who can sit through the first 11 episodes and not want to become a staunch feminist should probably seek a psychiatrist. That said, I was surprised to find the care to storytelling present in what I wrongly assumed would be a shallow perversion. It's no classic, but I enjoyed taking the time to absorb the experience.

And I sure as hell am going to think twice before I go out with two girls at once.

First and foremost, I did not give School Days a 9 because it was a "good" anime. I gave it a nine because this anime has been able to make me feel very strong emotions that no other anime has been able to make me feel - frustration, anger, exasperation, and literally, sick. For an anime to make me feel that way, well, they must be doing something special.

It starts off as a fairly amusing anime. It seems so simple and lighthearted, but you can tell that there's probably going to be some love triangle business. Then about episode 5 or 6, shit starts to ... get real. I won't spoil it, but it starts to get very upsetting.

As most other people have agreed, the main character is simply awful, personality wise. However, he's good at his role (being an asshole). I felt very bad for Katsura, because she has to deal with it through the whole time.

The art and sound were fine. Nothing amazing, nothing awful. I'm pretty sure this anime is only subbed.

I feel that it's much better to watch School Days with friends. We were able to share our frustrations and for the first half, we had a lot of fun. We made fun of the awkward overuse of sideways angles (there are a ton...).

Sorry if my review is kind of choppy and short, but I really think that if you choose to watch it (please don't...I'm definitely not letting my boyfriend watch it), at some point, you have to stand back and be able to appreciate how much this anime can piss you off.

Because seriously, fuck this anime.

Many people say they are uncomfortable after watching School Days. For this kind of people,perhaps they get the School Days Syndrome .

School Days Syndrome
This refers to all abnormal behaviors caused by School Days series(include animes and games). The pathogenesis is extremely complex, the medical community is uncertain about it.

Predisposingfactors
Many of them are bristled with anger because of Itou Makoto's bestiality and then become mad.Their mental stress often causes disorganized thinking and difficulty with planning

Symptoms
At first they may become aggressive,violent and irritable,then thier mind will be cluttered with thoughts,or paralyzed,unable to think with acouasm, visual hallucination,ficial tic,dyspnea,even coma.
Patients will stay sequelae after healed.Their world ... outlook and values will change

High Risk Groups
Anyone who has contact with School Days series

Therapeutic Method
The main symptom will disappear several months later after Itou Makoto's death.But most patients need to have active therapy to treat
1)Collapse therapy
Watch animes like [ Higurashi no Naku Koro ni ] or [ Puella Magi Madoka Magica ] at once after watching SD.This can improve your mental resistance.
side effect:easy to get cold-blood
2)Transfer therapy
Examples： [ KissXsis ]
3)Warmth therapy
Don't watch SD any more,watch [ Clannad ], [ Air ] ,[ KANON ] instead.
This therapy will not have unwanted side effects, you can be treated thoroughly but it will take a long time

After finishing this anime, you're going to be asking yourself one thing, and one thing only. "What did I just see?" Whether it's "What kind of s**t did I just see?" or "What amazing twist did I just experience?", chances are, your jaw will be touching the floor.

Now, a lot of people rate this anime harshly. I feel that this is due to the build up of already harsh reviews. I don't know about you guys, but when I have bad expectations for an anime and start watching it, 9/10 times I won't like the anime. Which is really just a pity. Thankfully, I ... started watching School Days not knowing what to expect, only knowing that there was a huge twist. Really, that's all you need to know. If you start watching schooldays with your mind set in stone that you won't like it, chances are, you won't. Just like almost anything in life, having a bad attitude or already believing you lost, will only decide it for you. This is even more so true in the anime world. If you start watching school days with the expectations that most of the reviews will give you, you're gonna have a bad time.

Honestly, I loved School Days. It's really a hit or miss. Either you're going to admire it for it's courage to sway from normal slice o' life/romance anime, or despise it for being a train-wreck. Usually, it's the latter of the two. I mainly think the reason for this is solely because of the expectations for it. The synopsis really does attract the wrong audience. What a pity. That's all I can say for School Days. If it had been advertised better and put into a different genre, it could have done good. Thankfully, I like romance, thrillers, horror, slice of life, comedy and almost everything else. Really, School days is a great way to ease the boredom felt by watching countless mainstream romance anime. If you haven't already watched School Days, you're either new to the anime crowd or have been put off by the influx of harsh reviews. Either way, give it a try. Hey, even if you have already watched it and didn't like it, you might want to give it another try with a different mind set. I know I'm going to get hated on for writing a good School Days review, but oh well. I hope some of you try School Days due to this review; and maybe even fall in love with it.

'School Days’ is often mistakenly categorized under different genres that it does not really belong to. While the series contains some elements of certain genres such as harem and romance, it doesn’t really belong to either one. It is a harem in the sense that more than one girl likes the male lead and it is a romance because there are romantic encounters and confessions throughout the series. However, in my view, ‘School Days’ can only be categorized as a psychological drama.

The story revolves around the male lead character Itou, Makoto. In the beginning of the series, Itou is living the typical harem male ... lead lifestyle. He is a somewhat perverted, single, high school student who has his eye on Katsura, Kotonoha who attends the same school as he does and often rides the same train as him to and from school where he often watches her from a distance. One day, through mere coincidence, the girl that sits next to Itou in class, Saionji, Sekai, learns about his feelings for Katsura and although it appears that Saionji also has some feelings for Itou, she decides to help Itou get together with Katsura. Just a short time into the story, Itou asks Katsura out and they begin dating. However, everything changes when Itou realizes he now has feelings for Saionji, the very matchmaker that brought him together with his girlfriend. This marks the beginning of disastrous psychological typhoon that wrecks everyone and everything in its path leaving plenty of tears and blood along the way.

This show being a psychological drama makes the characters, their desires, and thought patterns of exceptionally great importance.

The main character of the story, Itou, Makoto is an absolutely detestable pathetic excuse for a human being that I guarantee you will hate with utmost passion. He is a sociopath with absolutely no regard for anything but his own desires and walks all over anyone and everyone to satisfy his own wants and needs. He cheats, lies, and changes his mind often. With the exception of one or two instances in his past, he does not seem to possess any kind of redeeming qualities. Of course, for unknown reasons the girls can’t seem to get enough of him and even those who originally have no interest in him join the party to see what all of the fuss is about.

The two lead female characters, Katsura, Kotonoha and Saionji, Sekai form the other two corners of the original love triangle that the story revolves around. Katsura is beautiful and yet very reserved and has had no experience with boys before Itou. Saionji is also beautiful but very outgoing and energetic. Each girl has her own charms and enough of it to confuse Itou quite a bit.

As for the supporting characters of the series, there is plenty to hold the viewer’s interest. Itou’s former middle-school classmate Kato, Otome who goes out of her way to bully Katsura any chance she gets out of jealousy and Saionji’s best friend Kiyoura, Setsuna who may have a secret crush on Itou, along with several other fantastic characters make this great story into an excellent Anime.

The art and animations are beautiful. I love the way the characters and sceneries are drawn and the animations are smooth and consistent. There is also a healthy level of fan service throughout the series that goes well with the story and feel of the anime as a whole.

The voice acting is fantastic for each and every character. The voices match the characters’ looks and personalities and as always, that greatly helps the viewer become much more absorbed in the story.

The sound is well done but nothing special enough to talk too much about. I am not usually one for opening and ending songs in anime series and I mostly skip them; However, I did enjoy the ending song of this show quite a bit.

ATTENTION: The next paragraph talks about the ending. While I will not include any specifics about what happens at the end of the series, I will talk about the style and quality of the ending. If you feel this might spoil things for you, skip over the next paragraph.

It is kind of difficult to talk about the ending of this particular show without giving away the specifics so I will keep this short and sweet. The ending is very intense and although I somewhat foresaw what was coming, the ending still blew me away. Also, you are likely to experience a great deal of satisfaction with at least one part of the conclusion to this series.

In sum, do not mistake ‘School Days’ for a lighthearted romance or harem Anime series. It is nothing of the sort. The story is intense, and it unfolds with the same level of intensity. This show is most definitely meant for an adult or young adult audience. If you generally enjoy psychological Anime, you will probably love this show, and if you don’t this series might just be what it takes to get you interested in the genre.



NOTE: ‘School Days’ is a twelve-episode series, but there are also two OVAs titled ‘School Days - Magical Heart Kokoro-chan’ and ‘School Days - Valentine Days’. These two OVAs are not in the least bit related to the plot of the ‘School Days’ TV series and frankly they are horrible. If you are planning on watching the ‘School Days’ series along with the OVAs, or if perhaps you have already watched the series and plan to watch the OVAs next, I recommend that you hold off and not watch the OVAs. Watching them will serve no purpose other than to waste your time and annoy you.

Ok... I'll begin by saying this. School Days Starts of as a regular harem type of anime . In the beginning, you expect it to be a typical happy-happy sort of show with lots of girls and a lot of higly suggestive scenes but that ends there. Eventually the show develops into something darker and more sinister. The show eventually focuses on the darker side of love. The show eventually centers around a lot of taboo topics such as casual sex, school bullying, underage pregnancies, insanity and even death.

The story itself is unoriginal. It has the typical love triangle pattern you see in most ... harem shows. What saves the story from getting a lower score is that it suddenly takes a highly unexpected turn and catches the viewers off guard.

The art is fantastic. The art really stays true to the eroge* its based on. The characters are drawn great and they are pleasing to the eye.

School Days should be given credit because of its spectacular array of ending themes. For a short 12 episode anime, it has a hell of a lot of ending themes. From the soothing sounds of "Usotsuki" to the bewildering ballade of "Waltz", the series has songs to suit anyone's tastes and liking.

The character development is really good. The main protagonist and everyone else are presented well. You can easily see how each one one them changes as the story progresses. For instance, from a shy introverted boy, the main protaganist turns into a playboy. For an anime with only 12 episodes, the character development deserves praise.

All in all, I liked School Days. Some people might not agree with me but I myself enjoyed it. I found it very enjoyable.

How does it end? Watch and find out.

*eroge- short for erotic game