First things first, this is straight-up exploitation so it's not for everyone. There's violence, foul language, enough panty shots to make a drinking game out of, and even a scene of full-on nudity with women making orgasmic sounds. If this offends you then just steer clear. For everyone else, it's all part of the fun. And that's a major factor in this series: fun.
The story is pretty 'ticklist' of the zombie genre, featuring pretty much everything you would both expect and want from this kind of tale. Things progress at a decent pace and quite a lot happens throughout the 12 episodes. I think my only real problem with the entire show is that episode 4, for some unfathomable reason, contains a lot of flashbacks to events of the first 3 episodes. I have no idea why and it almost makes the entire episode skippable filler if not the fairly important scene in the second half. Perhaps more time could have been spent on certain incidents, like the corrupt teacher trying to weedle his way into groups and take over, but personally I prefer it the way it is. With this particular example, I hate it when obviously evil characters are allowed to be evil whilst the heroes do nothing. In this, those possibilities are just cut short and that's refreshing.
Now let's get onto the good stuff: the characters. This was easily the best part of the series. Every character, though particularly the main cast, is unique, likeable, skilled, relatable, visually attractive, and decently developed over time. Like Kouta, the chubby otaku who seems only like a bit of a whiner until he gets a gun, shows an in-depth knowledge on the tool, shows an evil glint in his eye, then kicks all sorts of ass. Or Saeko, the icy yet good-natured warrior carrying a kendo sword. Little details are revealed about them as the series goes on (like how Kouta is so good with guns, or Saeko's darker side) but the enjoyment comes in discovering these for yourself. And the way in which these characters interact with each other is also brilliantly done (again using Kouta, how he is quite brotherly to a little girl the group rescues). Though I've used the same two characters a few times for examples, I must say I really liked the whole main cast here. Yeah they follow some tropes and stereotypes but this is a zombie flick after all, come with that in mind and enjoy the characters you get.
Presentation-wise I'll begin by saying I was impressed by the English voice cast. I felt like each actor brought a good level of energy to their performance and enjoyed their characters. It all felt part of the characters and the world they were in (if that makes sense). Sometimes I hear swearing in dubs and it just feels awkward. Here, they mean it. And it brings strong emotions with it. The art is pretty decent too with a kinetic feel to it, a varied palette, pretty environmental details, and some silly flashiness (like the infamous 'matrix-boobs' which is a definite highlight). The soundtrack is largely forgettable but enjoyable whilst experiencing it. I feel like it could've done better but the music here pretty much suits the tone it was going for. The opening theme isn't bad, and ending theme seems to change almost every episode which is something I haven't come across in an anime before. Again, none of them are astounding but certainly some are better than others.
Overall I really enjoyed this series, much to my surprise to be honest. As much as I enjoy exploitation, the bottom of the barrel stuff is indisputably terrible if not just boring. Here however, HOTD manages to hit all the expected notes of the zombie genre whilst offering up an engaging cast and a fast-paced story, all whilst being incredibly fun. Sure there's some missed potential with the rather pointless flashbacks of episode 4, but really the major disappointment is just the fact that a season 2 probably won't happen. Which is a huge shame when there's so much potential for the series to grow and the characters to continue developing. Still, if you can appreciate this for what it is, then I think it's a surprisingly good and watch a go.
