Gakkougurashi!
School-Live!

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School Live is a psychological horror of cute girls doing cute things while trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.

The story is very basic, the girls are surviving in a zombie apocalypse. Its very standard in terms of the zombie genre but it's the characters that truly make this series shine. The cast is so lovable to the point of dangering your health from worrying about their safety. Yuki is my personal favourite and she's one of my favourite characters ever. She's very complex just like the rest of the main four and that's what I love about this. Kurumi is the lovable tomboy, Yuuri is the kind older sister and Miki the serious kouhai. If I ever had to choose a favourite group it would definitely have to be the School Living Club. They just have so much good chemistry together that makes the series that much more fun and engaging to watch and read. The manga helped develop what I already knew about these complex characters and got me so engaged to the point of tears and heart-pounding worry. The characters are constantly evolving and showing new sides to them that keeps me reading and wanted to see more. By the end of the manga, I genuinely think the main four of this series are some of the best-developed characters I've ever seen. Especially how they handle Yuki is my favourite part of this series. The mangaka really has made a beautiful piece of art here with this cast and story.

One of the best parts of School Live that make it so good is its use of psychological manipulation. This series will mess with your head on so many occasions. Its what originally got me so interested in the series in the first place and after finishing the anime I immediately started researching and learning about all the little details the series does to portray information, especially surrounding Yuki. Honestly, the psychological elements of this series are unmatchable and masterfully done. Its one of the only series to every genuinely trick me into believing one thing, only for the truth to be shocking me to the core.

The art for School Live is AMAZING!! The mangaka really has a skill for doing character expressions as if you simply search a reaction shot of a character from School Live you'll immediately see. Their expressions really give a sense of dread or happiness depending on the situation. The detail the mangaka gives with some of the frames are extraordinarily done and is the best art I've ever seen from a manga.

Now admittedly I feel the anime did a 10x better job on the portion it covered but that's because they probably had an amazing director to make the changes from manga to anime to enhance and improve it. The manga portion was still enjoyable to read and the second you get past the anime section of the manga it really kicks it into high gear of tension, fun and memorable moments till the very end. This story will never leave me and it was an epic journey from start to end.

In conclusion, I HIGHLY recommend anyone who likes horror, CGDCT, Slice of life, or simply find the premise interesting to immediately pick this up and give it a read, you won't regret it.

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So I finally got to reading this thing. I probably chose the worst time, since during depression season, the last thing you need is even more sadness.

A great series exploring themes of "growing up" and "moving on". Has inconsistent pacing and tonality, from juggling between slice of life and horror. This means I often realized a conflict existed when the conflict was already over, but also made every jump-scare or reaction shot that much more effective, since you never knew when something horrible will happen, when another friend will die.

That was the first half. The second half is much weaker, first losing the themes, then losing all risks and fears on 66% of the story. I also hated the pseudo-science sections, they just didn't fit with the series.

A horrible translation may be one of the reasons I had a hard time following the story.

I'd still recommend it with a 7.5/10 score. The first half being so strong, it carries the second half on the shoulders of lingering feelings alone.

TL;DR Great read, terrible timing

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This is one of the few mangas I would buy, if it ever came out to NA. This series is one that is full of moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat and warm your heart at different moments.

The story and characters are what define this series best. What appears to be a simple slice of life series about girls living on campus, is quickly revealed to be much darker.

This is one of the best survival series I've read next to 7 seeds, highly recommended

Gakkou Gurashi! tells the story of three girls and their teacher who make up the School Life Club -- a group that essentially lives at school as part of their club activities. This manga is something of a mixed bag, to say the least. As one of Manga Time Kirara's more unique titles, you should first expect an abundance of cuteness. If you're bothered by the typical moe art style, then this is probably not for you.

Once you cross that hurdle, you're in for one of the most strangely enjoyable experiences out there. Gakkou Gurashi! juggles elements of horror, slice of life, mystery, and comedy and it does a good job of making all of these things work together. My overall impression is a positive one so far, but it's not without its flaws.

You're initially presented with a lighthearted comedy about an earnest and energetic young girl and things quickly become sinister. Gakkou Gurashi!, for better or worse, changes in tone quite frequently. It comes off as your standard gimmicky cute girls schtick, but that couldn't be further from the truth. On the surface lies a charming cast of cheerful, cute girls. Later on, it becomes more apparent that there's an ominous aura that was present right from the start. There's an almost hollow feeling brought about by the characters pretending everything is okay.

Our protagonist is the happy-go-lucky Yuki, a girl who always does her best and cares deeply for her friends. Joining her in the School Life Club is the twin-tailed tough girl Kurumi and the big sister figure Yuuri. Their supervisor, Megu-nee as she's called by the girls, keeps them in check. The characters are seemingly bland and relatively static, although I attribute that primarily to the setting. Yuki herself is more complex than I give her credit for and the only generally uninteresting character is the mature Yuuri. The girls bond through a common goal of survival and we see slow, but meaningful growth in each of them. You come to genuinely care about the well-being of the group. Their struggles become more grim and worrisome as the plot progresses.

The plot itself isn't anything particularly groundbreaking, but the execution more than makes up for that. If you haven't already guessed, an outbreak of a strange disease has ravaged humanity and the School Life Club is composed of a few survivors. This is without a doubt the weakest part of the experience, but by no means is it utterly terrible. It seems like just aimless survival, but there are hints of a larger subplot unfolding. A lot of conflicts are resolved in stupidly convenient ways so don't expect much depth. Additionally, some of the dramatic moments are undermined by recurring gags or art changes.

The art is solid and serves its purpose. Cute when it has to be, gritty and dark otherwise. Expect frequent shifts in style. These changes are generally for comedic effect and include elongated eyes and strangely shaped mouths. A lot of pages give vivid face shots and pay close attention to the details in the hair and eyes. The backgrounds are decent enough.

With all of that being said, this is an all-around good manga and something I'd recommend to anyone that fits into its niche demographic. If you like cute girls and minor horror/mystery, then feel free to give this a read. Thanks for reading, I appreciate your time.

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