Story: This aspect of the anime was a lot better than I had expected. I don't want to talk too much about the details, because you're only really getting two hours of entertainment with this anime, and most of the things I can say about the story will end up being spoilers. Basically, a bunch of stupid kids end up going to a cursed school where there are evil spirits that try to brutally murder all of them, and they often succeed in murdering. But the story eventually develops into something more. Sure, it does some stupid and cliche things for the sake of convenience and intrigue, but aside from that, the plot seemed logical enough given the setting, and it seemed like they actually put some thought into developing the mystery and the motives of all of these evil spirits. It's not perfect, but it's good.
Art: I was expecting the art to be very good, considering I watched this anime purely for the graphic gore, but all I can say is that it did its job. I really hate that I have an opinion on animated gore, but I do, and I have to say that this isn't the best or most detailed that I've seen. It does its job, but the gore seems to rely more on shock than the actual animation. Some of the scenes didn't have fantastic animation, but they were sudden and unexpected, and that's enough to give you the impression that there is gore. They also had the typical anime blood, which means that whenever a character is stabbed, their blood will projectile all over the room and continue spewing itself like a fountain for a good ten seconds, because that's realistic. It makes for more laughable scenes than scary ones. Anyway, talking about blood is not my favorite thing to do, so I'll just say that the gore was okay.
My one complaint with this anime is the fanservice. They would show shots of the girls's underwear as they were being brutally murdered, and I found that a little . . . distasteful. I don't like fanservice in general, but I can definitely understand the appeal, so I'm not going to rant about it. But I will just say that the fanservice felt a little out of place. I don't know. I just find it a little gross that someone's face is being dragged across the floor by a demonic spirit, and at the same time, we're supposed to be enjoying some teenage girl's striped panties. I can kind of understand why they would add this in. "The anime's already f**ked up enough, so let's just throw in some panties, right?" But even still, it's a little unappealing.
I don't have much to say for the sound of this anime. It was atmospheric at some parts, the sound of people being stabbed was probably more graphic than the actual art, if that makes any sense. The voice acting was good. And the opening was okay.
THIS IS WHERE THE ANIME FAILS. The characters. I expected bad and boring characters, and that's what I got. I don't really remember their names, and I finished the anime thirty minutes ago. They were all stupid, naturally. Every horror story needs some stupid characters, because without them, nothing interesting happens. You couldn't understand the relations they had with each other, and you're just expected to understand that they've known each other for a long time and they're good friends. They were annoying, and I felt nothing when they died.
IN CASE YOU WERE SKIMMING MY REVIEW TO SEE IF I HAD ANYTHING HELPFUL TO SAY:
-The story was actually pretty good.
-The art was fine. The gore could have been better, and the panty shots were out of place and gross.
-The sound was good, most notably the screams, the sounds of stabbings, and the sound of blood gushing.
-The characters were ANNOYING.
Overall, it was pretty good. I have my complaints, but most of them can be overlooked. It's a good gory anime, and also a great one to just watch with your friends when you're bored. Especially your squeamish friends. They'll love this. Trust me.
I don't recommend that you stop everything and go watch the anime, but if you like horror anime and you get the chance, go ahead and try the first episode and see how you like it.
