High School of the Dead is about being over the top. It's over the top in violence, fan service, and plot pacing. However, despite starting in a high school, the series soon leaves that setting behind, so the title I guess refers more to the cast than the eventual setting.
This is a series for those who like thrillers and are okay with excessive, sometimes approaching H-status, fan service. Not for the younger audience, and not a series to eat dinner in front of (for the most part...).
Animation:
Production quality is very good for this series. You get a very good mix of colors, changing drastically with the mood. Character designs are fairly good although proportion-wise the females are obviously designed to attract a certain type of guy... This series has a lot of fighting (with decent but not great choreography) involving both melee with a variety of instruments as well as a full arsenal of firearms for gun enthusiasts. There will be decapitations, amputations, and a lot of other pseudo gore that may make you not so hungry. In addition to action, it appeals to the ecchi crowd with an overabundance of fan service shots including endless panty shots and bouncy body parts (in addition to many partial nudity shots, doesn't help that the girls wear paper clothing). But seriously? Firing a sniper rifle using breasts to absorb the recoil is just plain mean...
Sound:
The OP to this series is very appropriately chaotic while presenting an ominous mood that fits with having to hack through endless hordes; all the while presenting a decent melody (ignoring the overly fan-service based shots). The ED provides some respite from the chaos with a very slow pacing. I like the cinematic fade-in to the ED but sometimes it doesn't fit with the rest of the episode, in some cases it is literally the only break from otherwise non-stop action. BGM is appropriate but is usually droned out by the moans (or groans?) of the zombies. It complements the series well enough but isn't particularly memorable.
VAs do a good job, as expected, but the stand out for me was Marina Inoue as Rei, who I think out of all the characters had the most personality, and I'm not speaking bust. To be honest, the roles aren't terribly bad as many of the lines are just grunting while running, hacking, or performing some more devious acts...
Story:
This story is very frantic, following a group of students as they live through a growing pandemic that soon encapsulates the whole world. It follows their journey out of school and to various locations in an attempt to find their family (to be honest I'd be more worried about my own well being) and somehow escape, whatever that means. It feels almost Left For Deadish as along the way they find certain "safe houses" that, as in games, are somehow surrounded by impossible numbers of zombies for them to cross. You get a few minor side plots, one following a pointlessly political teacher who turns students into faithful slaves, but is otherwise completely tangential to the main plot line.
There are a few break episodes and other moments where the characters take a breather and you get to learn a bit about their personalities through their interactions with each other. However, these aren't very often and the series ends episodes on cliffhangers repeatedly; I'd recommend just chaining it as it isn't terribly long.
The story does a decent job of filling in the background setting by showing additional viewpoints including policemen desperately holding a bridge, an agent at an island airport, and some shots in the US and other locales, giving a completely hopeless picture as there really doesn't seem to be any safe haven.
The manga is still ongoing so you can't really expect the anime to give a proper ending, which was a little frustrating cause all you know is that they've been lucky so far. It will be interesting to see how/if they follow up on this one (the OVA really doesn't count).
Character:
The character development was strong at first, showing how the reality of the situation took time to sink in (hey, I thought 911 was a movie at first too), but then gradually faded away as each character fell into the role of chopping up zombies to make the next "check point". There are definitely some character relationships going on as this eventually turns into a semi-harem as all three girls have a thing for the main male lead. I will admit that Takashi has more balls than a lot of male leads in series these days. However, they never really have time to "solidify" any of these relationships so you can slap a big "pending" onto that category.
The characters are quite varied, you pretty much get a little bit of everything. You get a fat dude with a gun fetish, a bookworm, a sword warrior, the ditzy school nurse, and the girl you wish you had but could never get. However, despite the break scenes where stuff slows down, you never really get a sense of the characters, a chance to relate to them; all you notice is that the girls are a bit too bouncy in certain areas.
Value:
This was a decently entertaining watch, though I could tune out most of the fan service. The plot line was decently engaging though there aren't too many surprises when you're already in a zombie apocalypse. An attempt to throw some base comedy sometimes lightens the mood though I would have preferred them to keep the serious tone, and stick to a more horror-based approach. It's still a fun watch as you follow the group on an uphill battle for survival. Definitely looking forward to the next installment, if it ever comes.
