High School of the Dead is a prime example of an anime that possessed potential to become something special and memorable for the right reasons; but it was held back by a childish writing team. This series was probably the biggest disappointment for me as a fan of zombie media. My imagination simply goes wild when I think of what this could have been had all the nonsense been left on the cutting room floor.
Now zombie media has been done to death by this point, and outside of the genre's originators with a few small exceptions, you won't see too much in story and plot complexity. Therefore, it can either be a mindless comedic romp or a serious social commentary; but the areas it must succeed in has to be its characters and especially the gore. The kills must be sick and some main characters have to die. High School of the Dead wants to have its cake and eat it too in regards to premise, while at the same time perform poorly in those latter areas.
The series follows a group of students just trying to survive the zombie outbreak and make it from point A to B in one piece, hoping to find some type of rescue along the way. The series begins with a good spark by making great use of its horror element, and paints a great picture on the possible end of humanity as we know it. It's rather unclear initially how far the outbreak has spread and even what caused it. This always works when setting up a zombie takeover and I like it here. The very first group of characters are put through a traumatic experience which definitely helps in their development, and I thought this was a great move to set the mood of the series. The viewers get a good idea on what to expect at first with some brutal action scenes that definitely deliver, along with a creative weapon put together by a class geek to add some variety in the kills.
The motley crew of characters creates a rather interesting team of death dealing destruction. They're made up of a kid whom arms himself with a bat and has unknown leadership potential, a girl whom can use a spear, a female kendo master, and the geek who's a master with any type of firearm. Then you have the brains of the outfit with a serious ego, and the oldest of the group which happens to be the school nurse. These characters are developed enough personality wise and the viewer will get to know them well. I can see plenty of folks falling for this group and they may consider them to be memorable. Personally, I didn't care for all of them, and I found myself waiting impatiently for the horrible demise of several. The so-called genius grated on my nerves quite often, while the "elder" of the group came off as nothing more than an infantile dunce.
The series introduces a very dark and nightmarish setting which carelessly dabbles different genres. The fan service and tonal shifts clashes badly with everything, and I mean everything. It wrecks the action sequences, drama, and romance. It was very annoying for me. There's just something that really bothers me when I'm watching girls in the middle of a fierce battle and there's panty shots in just about every scene. The series comes up with some of the most ridiculous reasons for fan service. I thought Najica Blitz was bad at this, but seriously, the fan service is so distracting and it doesn't stop there either. The annoying school nurse is incredibly big breasted, and to maker matters worse there's this "boing" sound almost whenever she moves around, and her breast separate in different directions. The comedy features the same old unfunny jazz, with geeky boys getting nose bleeds whenever he sees boobs or butts, and the main lead who is completely terrified of the female naked body. It really didn't need this.
The anime takes a stab at the thought provoking by introducing certain themes such as government conspiracies, and questioning who could possibly be the worst threat; man or monster. There are good moments that stand out such as putting mankind's fear of an unexplainable situation on display. Like one predictable scene of a family killing a man they don't know with intentions on only protecting themselves. Underneath the stupidity there are traces of intelligence. Unfortunately, the stupidity heavily outweighs the brilliance, and it highly damages the quality of the series.
The action scenes are definitely the selling point but these are average at best. For the most part it's nothing but flashes of hits and quick shots to the head or whatever. There's no real creativity in the kills, and zombie media's bread and butter is the merciless in your face carnage. Had the series' writers put as much effort into flesh devouring as opposed to pleasures of the flesh then this would have been a great title for everyone.
Production values are solid here and the animation brings out the very best in the fan service. There appears to be a great amount of detail put into the character designs. All the females are very close to busty and engulfed in major sex appeal. I have nothing against this, but it's just handled too much in a childish manner. Outside of the opening J-pop theme I enjoyed the BGM, and most of the ending themes. The soundtrack is something worth listening to, and I enjoyed the English cast which contained quite a bit of profanity here and there; and the only moments I found funny took place in some of the dialogue.
This anime has a lot of things dragging it down. There are even moments of clumsy writing along with plot holes. I will admit that it does have a decent ending and somewhat decent second half, but the nonsense is through the roof to the point where it's impossible for me to enjoy this. If you enjoy heavy fan service in your anime or if you seen Najica Blitz and liked it, then this is for you. If you need plenty of action and don't care how it's delivered then again, this is for you.
Highs: Visuals and soundtrack
Lows: Careless meshing of genres and heavily distracting fan service
