School Days, based off of a visual novel, tells the story about a normal boy named Itou Makoto who has a crush on a girl called Kotonoha who he rides the bus with. The girl who he sits next by in class, Sekai, discovers this and sets them up together. However, Sekai has a crush on Makoto, and once Makoto gets bored of Kotonoha, they start a relationship behind Kotonoha's back. And so, these simple school days turn out to be more complicated than anyone could imagine.
First off, one of the arguments against School Days is the fact Makoto has sex with all of the girls. This is true, but they never mention that Makoto doesn't have sex with anyone besides Sekai until the end of episode 9. Meaning that, contrary to my mind set going into this show, it was not a story about some sort of evil guy going around having an affair with everyone in the show, but rather, a love triangle.
Instead of going into the plot first like I tend to do, I want to go into my favorite part of this show- The characters. Makoto may be one of the most hated people in all of anime and I cannot for the life of me figure out why- Well, okay, maybe I can figure out why, but still. He starts out the first three episodes as a very likable doof who has absolutely no clue how to handle a relationship with a girl like Kotonoha, taking things way too fast with her. He typically messes around a lot and acts like an idiot. Not an annoying idiot though, a lovable idiot. And even when he begins cheating, you can still tell as it's just because he's a kid who has no clue what he's doing. He's very realistic, and you know what? He's probably one of my favorite characters from the “dull male protagonist archetype” even after his mistakes, as he realizes what he did wrong and then gets punished for it in what might be perhaps the most spoiled anime ending ever (that ending being why most people watch the show, I think). Actually, my theme with this show seemed to be liking the characters that everyone dislikes, as I quickly found myself cheering more for Sekai over Kotonoha. While Kotonoha came off as whiny to me, getting all shy and embarrassed just because Makoto tried to kiss her (she also happens to be an archetype that I really dislike, the dull, shy girl), Sekai's optimism and her attitude quickly won me over. People also complain that she's heartless and doesn't care about what Kotonoha thinks, she says that she feels guilty several times in the show, and she also gets punished in said ending of this show which everyone knows about. And even Kotonoha, who I hated at the beginning, grew on me a bit in the later third of the show as she became more sympathetic as she slowly lost her sanity.
The side characters... The only one that stood out to me really was Setsuna, a small, quiet girl who deeply cares for Sekai and is her best friend. I also found her cute, which is always a plus, but she's still the most fleshed out of a rather dull side cast, who include Makoto's childhood friend who likes him for some reason, the perverted male best friend of Makoto, the girl who likes said perverted male friend for some reason, and a trio of girls who are friends with Makoto's childhood friend who all have no personality. While they all do a good job playing their part in the story, as characters alone, they're rather dull and forgettable.
The story is absolutely great. The first three episodes, which don't have as much drama, are great as a comedy and brought a smile on my face. And even when it got dark, it managed to try to be light-hearted for a while. It isn't really until the last third where everything becomes dramatic. And boy does this show do drama great. Several of the scenes in this show are just so memorable. School Days is a show that knows exactly what it's doing, and I applaud it for that. This is one of those anime where I couldn't wait to watch the next episode.
Animation-wise, the show fails a bit... Or a lot. Character designs are generic and dull, with faces that shine for some reason. On how fluid things move, most of the times it's rather lame (it is a school life show though, so not like it matters), it can get really really good when it wants to, like one scene in the final episode is just beautifully animated. Music-wise, this show does hold the award for my favorite insert song, Kanashimi no Mukou e, which plays in the last episode and is an absolutely haunting tune. The music to the rest of the show is nice too, and are either relaxing or haunting pieces that fit whatever mood the show wants to set. However, one thing that did bother me was the voice actors for Makoto and Sekai. The seiyuu they got just don't fit their looks at all, and both of them could've been a little deeper. They did fine in the acting section though, I just wasn't a fan of the voice-casting.
School Days Final Consensus
Story: Beautiful story with more memorable moments than I can count-9.
Characters: Excellent main cast, rather lame side cast-8.
Art: Rather lame but can be good when it wants to be-6.
Sound: Great throughout most of it, not all actors fir their characters-7.5.
School Days is a must-watch anime. Controversial it may be, but it is good in many ways. All in all, I give it a recommend. And an overall score of 9 And the ending is awesome by the way, never did mention that.
