Story (7)
What can I say about High School of the Dead's story. While I have found that is pretty unique in the anime world through my research, the story has been done countless times in other media. Because of this, the whole storyline is pretty formulaic to those who have seen any show about a zombie apocalypse in the past. You should know the drill. A somewhat athletic male lead finds out zombies are attacking his city. He gathers up a few of his friends to take on the zombies, one of the friends being a girl he likes or has liked in the past. They meet up with another group and there is a struggle for who should be the group's alpha-male/leader. The anime follows this routine very closely. However, it still works due to several factors. High School of the Dead adds unique anime elements to the age old formula. These elements add more zaniness and less predictability to the familiar. Overall, it's definitely been done before, but it is a solid version of the same old story.
Art (7)
Overall, HSOtD is very well animated. The action scenes where zombies are getting their heads bashed in look gruesome, bloody, and great. Everyone and everything looks pretty fluid. Now, to discuss one of the main themes of the anime: the fanservice. Oh boy, the fanservice. If you enjoy fanservice anime, you should definitely give this one a look. It is everywhere in these short twelve episodes. When I say everywhere, I mean everywhere. All of the four main female characters are animated with gigantic, bouncy breasts, large rear ends, and have their underwear shown off over ten times each throughout the anime. What do I think about all of this fanservice? While I do not mind a little of it normally, I think this anime overkills on it. Fanservice is inserted in about every point possible, which distracts focus from the action and other qualities of the anime. At some points, I got really annoyed to the point of frustration. All in all, the animation quality was good, even if fanservice was overused.
Sound (4)
This is my main disappointment with the anime. In a series marked as a horror anime, I expected much more music that, well, sounded scary. What do all horror movies have in common? A nice, spooky soundtrack. High School of the Dead lacked that. While a few of the action and suspenseful scenes had nice music, others had music which did not match the atmosphere of the situations on screen at all. In addition to that, I was not a fan of the opening theme song. I did not think it matched the feel of the show, and I did not like the song all that much. Besides the sound, the voice acting was pretty solid otherwise. All of the voices matched the characters well. (I watched the dub)
Characters (5)
This was another main flaw of the anime. Most of the characters were pretty stock. None of the main characters were really that well developed. Along with not being very well developed, all of their archetypes have been seen in several different forms in other anime and zombie shows. We have the tough main character, the somewhat jealous girl he likes, the nerdy guy with a rare talent, the snooty pink-haired prep, the badass girl, and the ditzy blonde girl. All are present here. As stated previously, none of them receive much character development either. Despite there being nothing new about these character types, each of them look unique in the world of the zombie storyline. As previously stated, I do not believe there are any other, if many, zombie apocalypse anime. It's pretty cool to see these characters in a new environment. Also, each of them have unique charms that make them all pretty comical. Kouta's gun obsession particularly made me laugh in several situations. The dialogue is also very, very good and fresh. Overall, all of these characters have been seen before, but they are still fun in their own right.
Enjoyment (8)
Enjoyment of this anime all depends on whether you enjoy the main three themes of the shows. I enjoy two of the three a lot, so I found a lot of enjoyment in this anime. My friends and I have mapped out our zombie apocalypse plan several times in real life, and this show has given me some more ideas for the plan. I normally enjoy high school drama and a little romance in my anime, and I enjoyed it here too. Even if I felt the fanservice was overdone, I still liked some of it. The rest was a little too much for my liking. While the show is not the deepest on earth, I had a great time watching it.
Overall (6)
I'd give it a 6.5 if I could. While there is a high entertainment value to be seen, there are several sizable flaws carved throughout this zombie tale. From plot familiarity, to under-developed characters, to mediocre music, and reliance on fanservice, this anime falls a little bit short of where it should. Even with this errors, there is still a lot of fun packed into the hallways of the High School of the Dead.
