Story: 2.
Maybe it's just me, but I never found harems to be that great story wise. From what I've seen (which hasn't been a lot, so bear with me) they're all generally the same. 3, or more girls fall for the most uninteresting male lead, and calamity ensues. Usually these girls can have any guy they want, but they all go for the very lack lustre lead. Why? I don't fucking know. So, School Days is no exception. But what makes this anime's story WORSE than other anime (yes, even you, Tokimeki Memorial), is that there's literally barely any story at all. The main, Makoto, falls for this girl who he sees on the train. To his surprise, she likes him too, and they begin to go out thanks to his classmate, Sekai's, help. After a day of dating, and her not giving it up right away, he's suddenly uninterested, and that's when the story seriously goes to shit. Let me tell you, it's the second fucking episode. If you can watch after this point, then you deserve a medal. I don't want to spoil what happens after he realizes his feelings, but lets just say the story turns into a giant cluster fuck. Pun intended.
Art: 6.
Some people who hate the anime even praise the art. I won't actually praise it , but I'll note that it's leagues better than everything else in the anime. The main issue for me was the character designs. I hated the way every character in this anime looked. Every God damn one. I'm not a fan of characters with eyes the size of half of their faces, imo they look like they're in middle school and not high school, and whenever I see a profile of ANY of the characters, I cringe at the lack of attention to detail. Don't let me even start on Makoto's hair. Or Sekai's. Because trust me, I'll go on forever. Besides the characters though, the backgrounds are nicely done. The quality seems to take a dive towards the middle of the series, and only gets actually pretty good on the last episode.
Sound: 6.
Oh look. Another thing I didn't completely hate. Don't get me wrong, I skipped the OP's and ED's, but they weren't bad. In fact, I have heard A LOT worse. The in anime score was handled very respectably. I don't really have much to add about the sound, but lets just say that the sound and the art are the 2 things that this anime has going for it, if anything at all.
Characters: 1.
Oh my God, I don't think I've ever disliked an ensemble of characters SO much. Maybe when I watch an anime, there's one or two characters I don't like, but I literally hated every character in this series. They're a mess. Let's start with our main: Makoto. At the beginning of the anime, Makoto's portrayed as this fun loving, kind of awkward guy. But by the end of the series, he's just a fucking dickhead. A remorseless, soulless human. Mind you, it only takes 12 episodes to completely change this characters persona COMPLETELY. By the end of the series, he literally has no redeeming qualities. But don't think he's alone. Sekai, his classmate, is also fucking insane. At first she comes off as this fun, hyper, helpful girl, but by the 3rd or 4th fucking episode, you should know she's a bitch. A conniving little devil. Then you have Katsura: your typical shy, but attractive female. She might seem likeable, buuuut she's batshit crazy. I don't know why the creator of this show thought that it was a good idea to have ALL unlikeable characters with the most awful development I've ever witnessed. There's literally no one to root for in this anime. At least if the characters were portrayed well, I could hate them, but still respect them. But noooo. Take Death Note: by the end of the series I didn't particularly like Light, but I could still respect his character because he was well done. But the leads and secondary characters in this anime were allllllllllllll, as in every single fucking one, BAD. How am I supposed to like an anime when I hate all of the characters? Please, just tell me how.
Enjoyment: 3.
Ok, I'd give my overall enjoyment lower if it wasn't for the "wtf" ending. Not going to lie, but that made watching this anime worth while. It's still a piss poor show, but the ending is just so lulzy, and off pace with the beginning of the show, that I couldn't help but love it.
Overall: 4.
What makes me laugh the most is how some people consider this anime to be a great psychological ride. Wtf? Did you and I not watch the same anime? Because, what the creator made was FAR from a good psychological. Honestly, all they did was ride on the out-of-ordinary ending, and hoped that it would redeem the rest of the series. I'm sorry, but that 22 minutes of pure lol didn't make up for that 11 episode hell I went through before hand. I never thought I'd see the day when I'd dislike a show more than Tokimeki (not inc. Mars of Destruction, ofc) but it's happened! And I would have given it an overall 3, but the ending. Dat ending.
Just a shit anime. Watch at your own digression.
