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Highschool of the Dead
Romero by way of anime
By Joseph Luster
Be the first of your friends to like this.
Posted 9/25/2011
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Zombie-related entertainment used to be something I would flock to blindly; all I needed was a hint that the shambling dead would be present and I was ready and rarin'. Sadly, as is the case with most great things—like ninjas, pirates and cats—the Internet has run the whole zombie thing pretty darn ragged. I hate to let this kind of thing get to me, but it's a fact of life online, and it can make getting excited about this stuff in a world saturated with both slow AND fast zombies a somewhat difficult process.
With that out of the way, I should go ahead and say that I'm loving Highschool of the Dead so far. It's as serious about its shambling zombie action as it is the flapping of breasts and flashing of panties, which is to say very. Director Tetsuro Araki (Death Note) knows what both he and you want: boobs and brains. Both are tirelessly thrust in faces and splattered on school uniforms, respectively, making Highschool of the Dead as shameless as it is entertaining.
The premise is simple enough, especially if you're a veteran of the zombie film sub-genre. Students are going about a seemingly normal day of school when one small zombie incident makes its way through the front gates and spreads like wildfire. The outbreak happens fast here, ensuring no time is wasted between setup and payoff; only a few minutes pass without any bloodshed or panties-in-your-face fan service.
I haven't read the original manga—written by Daisuke Sato and illustrated by Shoji Sato—but if the anime is any indication, the creators wear their influences proudly on their sleeves. Highschool of the Dead stays pretty firm within classic zombie guidelines, from the way the outbreak plays out beyond school property to the means of undead disposal. That means lots of thinking-on-the-fly survival, like when the resident fat nerd of the school crafts a nice little pencil sight for his gas-powered nail gun.
 The show also manages to showcase the extreme horror of the situation surprisingly well, despite the juxtaposition of the anime character designs, which are admittedly kind of odd in this context at first. Episode one, for instance, primarily follows Takashi and Rei, two classmates who team up with mutual friend (and Rei's boyfriend) Hisashi to cope with the sudden outburst of madness and gore. Things take a turn for the grim, however, when Hisashi suffers a nasty zombie bite and, well, these things never wrap up nicely, do they?
What follows is dark, and though the constant jiggling and near-orgasmic female screams for help can be kind of jarring, the tone is fairly consistent without being oppressive or sucking all the Dead Rising potential fun out of the premise. It's nice to see the threat handled with the proper "we're screwed" attitude, making way for a desperate lot of students that are gradually finding a way to work together to escape and fight off this undead menace.
As the time of this writing (ed: 7/14/10), the first two episodes of the show are available (see the link below), and they spell a lot of promise for the rest of the series. 13 episodes should be plenty to tell an exciting tale of zombie survival without running it into the ground. With the manga at five volumes and still running in Monthly Dragon Age, though, there's always the possibility of more panty-laden carnage down the line should this prove a success.
©2010 DAISUKE SATO / SHOUJI SATO
©2010 Fujimishobo
Comments:
>> Luke Malinco (Tuesday, December 13, 2011)
@jamse
Yeah, The "Last" Episode Didn't Feel Like A Last Episode. It Didn't Put Any Couples Together And It Didn't Tell What Eventually Happens To The Zombies. AND The Whole Plot Of The Show Was Them Trying To Find Out If They're Parents Were OK, Which They Didn't Do. They Actually Started Looking After Takagi's House Got Overrun So. . . There Better Be Another Season >:D
>> jamse (Monday, December 12, 2011)
is there going to be a 2nd season of Highschool of the Dead and if so when will it be out
>> Apoctriforce (Friday, December 09, 2011)
After seeing this, I can't imagine what will be more epic an anime than this. I'd like to ask people what they think is the scariest, sickest, or very terifying anime they've ever seen. this and Hellsing Ultimate I rank as the top. though I don't know which one to rank #1 since I say they are both tied in my eyes.
>> Japanime Fan (Wednesday, October 05, 2011)
This was definitely one of my favorite animes. The art is perfect. Plenty of gore and boobs to go around as well. Can't complain there! There is an OVA for this series that was pretty good too. Everything seems to point to a second season. Hope it happens.
>> ATG3192 (Tuesday, October 04, 2011)
I remember one day I was looking on my cable provider's "On Demand" service and we get anime on that. I remember one day me and my ex were fooling around in my room when we decided to see what anime there was on demand and I saw "HOT Dead," little did I know that "HOT" was actually an abbreviation for "High School of the." Well we read the info and since we both love zombies, we immediately hit play, and boy were we hit with the artwork, atmosphere, story, character relations, etc. As soon as we finished that first episode, we went into my computer room and went onto my anime viewing site and finished the series that same day, well I did, she had to leave on the last episode. I'm a true, red-blooded man, but sometimes I found the massive boob and panty action a bit overwhelming of the story, but even with all that, it was an awesome, action-packed, sexy, hilarious series. It quickly became one of my all-time favorite anime titles. I don't regret showing it to my friends! XD
>> Arisa (Monday, October 03, 2011)
My dad and his friend watched High School of the Dead all in one night, now I love it too(: My dad said if there wasnt any boobs and pantie shots then the anime would be way to serious. So when it started getting too intense they threw in boobs or panties to make it not so serious.
>> Ivy (Thursday, June 02, 2011)
The anime has gorgeous art, but I find the constant panty-flashing a little annoying. Otherwise the action is amazing, and even my little sister (who hates anime with a fiery passion) loves it. The gore is a nice change from the formulaic zombie thing, and it reminds me somewhat of Silent Hill.
>> LARRY BOYLE (Tuesday, September 21, 2010)
HOTD ended on the 20th of september and hit Anime Storeshelves in Japan on September 22nd. Now Anime Network says tis was the last episode, but I've seen other anime sights that say there is a 13th episode (an OVA perhaps)either way, the word is that there will be another season made to be released next year. Fantastic anime and a nod to George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" at the end of the 12th episode. If you've seen it, you'll know what I mean. Sentai filmworks is releasing the set and Madhouse is supposed to be doing another season. Let's hold our breath...
>> Shuichi (Thursday, August 19, 2010)
Love this anime. I'm going to get the manga when it comes to thed states :)
>> LARRY BOYLE (Sunday, August 08, 2010)
Great Anime! High Schoolers fighting zombies across Tokyo and maybe farther. Drawings are great, cast is heroic and soon, I'm afraid, more cast members will die a zombie death. Can't wait for this to hit DVD. I also hope we have at least one more season. All I can say is Great Job Guys!
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