This series is what i would call "GENRE BREAKING" Gakkougurashi is to slice of life moe what Puella Magi Madoka Magica was to magical girl anime.
This is a slice of life moe series to be sure with the typical school setting, but what makes it unique is the situation in which these main characters have found themselves. Everything starts off as you'd expect, bright and cheery. But sooner or later you begin to realize something is amiss, and when you do you'll also realize all the quirky and fun activities these girls take part in have a much more important purpose than simply having a fun and youthful school life. They start off fairly subtle with it but by about the mid point of episode 1 most people should begin to catch on to what might be happening with the visual cues. That is if the fact that they live at school and have a dog aren't enough of a clue already.
The art is as you would expect from this genre of show, bright and colorful with fairly a simplistic art style along with some stereotypical character designs.
In terms of writing they also use some fairly common character archetypes of this genre. From the the lead character whose a clumsy playful idiot, to the sporty fighter girl, calm collected and mature for her age motherly girl, the girl whose always worried, to the friendly teacher who really has no leverage as an authority figure, they hit most of the clichés. Oh, and also the trouble making sidekick pet.
The music isn't particularly special but they do hit the right tunes to top off every moment.
All in all it's a refreshing twist on a pretty stale genre. While it does stay bright and cheery for the most part, it gets a little deep and depressing at times. I absolutely recommend you give it a chance even if and especially if you absolutely despise moe.
