The story follows Makoto, a student beginning his second year of high school and slowly feeling the effect of manhood if you know what I mean. He has a secret crush on a girl who rides his train named Kotonoha, and decides to take a picture of her and put it on his phone. Why? An urban legend says that if you can keep it on your phones home screen for three weeks without anyone finding out, your love will be true. However, his classmate Sekai finds out the first day, teasing him for it. Even so, she vows to help him through it and get him the Kotonoha. Sounds innocent right? Well isn't that cute...BUT IT"S WRONG!!!!! I can't say anything else without spoiling some pretty big things, but School Days goes on to be one of the most despicable, depressing, and disturbing anime to ever have been mad. The event that will take place will depress you in a way you've never felt before, and you can count on that. That may be horrible, but if a story can do that, say what you want, its a great story.
The art is good but nothing special. The designs for the characters are normal too, adding a reality element to the whole thing. And with a story like School Days, the art fits well.
The soundtrack is fantastic. The BGMs work great with the mood, the OP keeps the mood happy and confuses the hell out of you, and the changing EDs change with what happened in the story, leaving you to ponder in new ways. Oh, and there's a really good insert, but I can't tell you where it is. Hell, just hinting it would be spoiling it, so I'll say this (remember this,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,goodbye). That's the worst hint ever...anywho, the soundtrack is definatelly one of its strongest elements.
The characters are phenominal in that each character can relate to someone you went to high school with, at least it did for me. The realistic feel to the characters not only keeps you watching, but makes you wonder if people really do things like they do in School Days, and just like the anime, the answers could be disturbing. For this, the characters are by far the best thing about School Days.
Needless to say, because it is one of the most depressing anime out there, the enjoyment factor sucks. And I've said this for Angel Beats and I'll say it again: Haters will hate, and lovers will love. But regardless, School Days leaves an impression that you can't deny. When it comes to drama its not just good, its probably one of the most dramatic anime out there. But in the same breath, too much drama can be overwhelming. If you can handle it, this is a much watch, and I highly recommend it.
