Story 8/10
The story began, to any trained (or even hatch-ling) eye, as a stereotypical romance anime with an immediately recognizable love triangle and actually moved along at a faster-than-normal pace. In my eyes, this was a nice aberration from the normal. From there, the story takes a roller-coaster ride of expected loops, sudden turns, and, to be honest, quite puzzling halts. In the end, despite employing what seemed to be simply ludicrous behavior by some of the support (and main?) characters, the story achieved its emotional goal (however simple it was). I hope you like surprises (even if they make no sense).
Art 8/10
As a precautionary note, I will simply state that I am no connoisseur of art; the intricacies behind what differentiates a masterpiece from a good work of art are most likely beyond me. However, School Days in no way leaves the watcher deprived or bored of what is happening on-screen, which seems to be a fading quality at times. All-in-all, the animation was good enough to bring both the characters and scenery to a level of graphical enjoyment.
Sound 8/10
Again, I am no master of the artistic feeling. The opening and ending were good enough, with a slight and enjoyable ironic twist. The ambiance was done well, with no striking qualities (which is exactly what is wanted, neh?). BGM was also rightfully done and noted. No complaints.
Character 6/10
To be honest, character development reached and did the most that it could. However, it could not make up for the fact that there was, in fact, very little character to play with. The almost total lack of dynamic development on even the main characters was (almost) unbearable. The static personality that each character possessed could be quite... frustrating. Perhaps, given the storyline, this was the most potential that the anime had. However, I definitely felt that this area was lacking.
Enjoyment 10/10
As a precursor to this section, let me define how I find enjoyment. The emotional tension that is built up, the casting of my thoughts and feelings on to the characters, the amount of personal reaction that the anime can pull out of me; these are some of the most vital factors in finding enjoyment. And, to put it simply, School Days accomplished this to a degree of excellence. The tug and pull of the characters (mostly tug) done in a direction not found in many anime was also a nice exploratory experience. Well done.
Overall 9/10
The main attraction of this anime, as stated earlier, is the emotion felt while watching it. If this is not what you enjoy, then this section may as well be a 1/10. However, if one has a heart (Human or Devilukeian), and one enjoys emotional subtleties (about as subtle as a war-hammer), then one will most likely find themselves yelling, "Daisuki!" with a mouthful of bread from the Furukawa Pan Shop.
