Hey again, guys. I got bored with Economics so I’m taking a little break to review something I just finished today: the first season of High School of the Dead (which may hereafter be referred to as HOTD because I’m a lazy bastard). Now, as I’m assuming I’m one of the later people to jump on the HOTD bandwagon, this review will contain spoilers.

Let me say that again: THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS. If you care about this show whatsoever, I would not read this post unless you have already seen the show. I’m going to try and keep spoilers out where I can, but some will definitely get in here, since there are certain things I want to discuss.

For those not in the know who are still reading, however, High School of the Dead is basically a horror anime made about these high school kids who attempt to survive in a zombie outbreak. I know that might sound kind of obvious, but how often do you see zombie anime? Okay, well, maybe it’s just me, but this is the first zombie anime I’ve seen. It pretty much plays out like a standard zombie horror flick, but with anime characters. And fanservice every minute.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: I enjoy zombie movies, and I enjoy anime, so they seem to work well together. In fact, my watching it kind of coincided with the release of Dead Rising 2, so I’ve been in kind of a zombie mood recently. In other words, I enjoyed HOTD (also Dead Rising 2, though; you should play it sometime). It’s an anime that’s short, violent, dramatic and often ridiculous-in-a-good-way, if the first season says anything.

The first thing I noticed about the anime (again, something obvious incoming) was the slick visuals. Seriously, they are slick. While it obviously doesn’t have the originality of, say, The Tatami Galaxy, that doesn’t mean that the visuals aren’t really awesome, because they definitely are. It’s got ‘shiny new anime’ written all over it. Call me shallow for it, but it’s a really good looking anime.

Which brings me to something not as awesome… the really good looking girls. And the fanservice. Now, don’t get me wrong–I like some fanservice–but the amount in this show is just over the top. Even from the OP, it’s made clear that this is a MAN’S ANIME (insert manly voice here), with lots of blood and guts and convenient camera angles filled with PLOT. I mean, if you’re into that kind of thing, that’s good, but for some reason getting striped panties and physics-defying breasts thrust into my face every cut cheapens the whole thing for me a little bit.

I can get over that, though. I got used to it after awhile, and it just became something to expect, though the more ridiculous moments–a slow-mo bullet going between Saeko’s slow-mo breasts to hit a zombie? Saeko declaring how killing zombies makes her moist (this was actually hilarious)? The camera focusing on Takashi’s hand clutching Saeko’s gigantic breast as he tries to dramatically convince her how cool she is? Really? And these are only scenes involving Saeko–left me wondering when the show was just going to turn into a hentai.

Instead, I was left amused at how the show would pussy out whenever a sex scene came close. With Takashi and Saeko’s, the damn scene faded just as they kiss. Wtf? Not that I mind, since it would inevitably fade no matter what, but just… why? We see the contours of their girl-junk every few seconds anyway, not to mention having been provided that bath scene with all the girls… Sometimes I just can’t figure out what the animators are doing.

But I guess that’s enough of me complaining about the fanservice in the show. Like I said, I LIKED this show, so I suppose I should get back to focusing on that bit. I swear this isn’t just an excuse to rant about the PLOT. Ahem.

Aside from the fancy visuals, I actually have to say I enjoyed the plot, as well. It was dramatic and appropriate, considering the circumstances. The characters take to killing zombies pretty quickly, but usually there’s an excuse–Saeko’s in Kendo, Rei’s in Senjutsu, Hirano’s a gun nerd, and Takashi… well, he’s the protagonist, so we’ll give him a bat. Takagi and the nurse-lady (Shizuka, right? Man I don’t think I even cared about her; you know she was just there for big boobs and so she could have a ‘friend’ with guns and a humvee) don’t even fight, which is appropriate.

Many scenes were tense and dramatic, even with the blatant fanservice and occasional comedic relief scene. I remember being pretty into the gas station scene where Rei is about to get taken away by the nameless punk with the knife, and after a little fruitless conversation Takashi just dives in like a hero and gives the guy a bullet in the shoulder.

The whole ‘societal collapse’ thing involving Mr. Shido and others I thought was pretty well done too. I absolutely hated Shido, and I’m pretty sure that’s what the show wanted us to do. It makes me a little disappointed that he was sort of just dismissed in the second-to-last episode and then MAYBE eaten in the last. I personally expect him to make another appearance in the second season. He’s a jerk like that.

Like I said at the beginning, I think that High School of the Dead is a thrilling anime all-in-all. It’s got tons of pretty action, good drama, interesting survival plot and even more survivor PLOT. I can see it appealing to all sorts of zombie and anime nerds, and people who are fond of guns will probably appreciate Hirano’s excitement in certain episodes. If you like lots of pantie flashes and breasts, this will also certainly appeal.

Certainly, even though I whined a lot about the fanservice, I think the anime is much more than the sum of its breasts, if you will. It’s a surprisingly smartly-handled survival drama, with plenty of exciting action thrown in. It’s not often philosophically stimulating or anything–despite the societal collapse and civil disruption issues mentioned earlier–but it’s greatly entertaining and definitely had plenty of thought put into it.

So:

TL;DR I think HOTD is a great anime even though I spend more time complaining about fanservice than I do talking about how great it is. Should a second season come out, I will definitely be viewing.

(P.S. Thanks to Gene for the invitation to watch Panty and Stocking today; guess I figured I had a lot of work to do [because this is totally work…], and given it will be shown later on, it should all work out!)

If you actually read all of my ranting, thanks for reading, and I hope to see you guys on Wednesday!