Impressions: (A)

High School of the Dead seems to be the first good series of the season. Now if only the main focus of the series was the awesomely cool Takashi… but alas, this is a girls beat zombies while having exceedingly large assets jiggle show…. Either way, the first episode has me intrigued. If you give me a good dose of Takashi in each episode, I don’t care if the main character of the show is a girl with purple hair and a wooden sword, I’ll love this show XD

I do want to stress, that I’m not against fan service, or female leads in shows(, although I’d be lying if I said that the recent trend of it happening everywhere is not getting tiresome) but I do feel that this show really doesn’t need it. In fact, in this very first episode the dynamic that’s been setup between Takashi and Rei, is pretty darn interesting. A childhood friend that liked him but later grew to like his best friend. All hell breaks loose and said said best friend, Hisashi, turns into a zombie and is killed. And now, for the first time, Takashi actually gets a chance to hold the girl he likes?

The series is good enough with drama and blood thirsty zombie action and gore, I don’t really see the need for all that boob jiggle or the panty shots, it just doesn’t fit in a show that’s strong and serious enough without all this. I suppose the otaku demographic still needs its fanservice though XD.

I think a large part of what makes me  say that I don’t want a female lead and I don’t feel fanservice is necessary is in the fact that the main guy in this show, is NOT a wuss. He’s a cool, somewhat “no shit” fellow, and I loved the way he just decided to leave when Rei started the whole “you killed him cause you hated him” stuff in her grief. I dunno, maybe its been a while since I saw a cool character like this, but either way, its quite a nice change, and I’d rather the series focused on him, rather than a bunch of girls. That’s just my wish though, and I doubt the series will be a bad one even if it doesn’t do that.

I’m not sure if I’ll blog this series just yet. I do want to focus on getting regular, timely reviews of Fairy Tail done, but if this series continues to give me much more to talk about, then cool. If anything, this and Kuroshitsuhi II seem to be the only series that I’ll probably even be watching this season. I’ll probably give that a try too, but I know I can’t keep up with three series and pump out full series reviews as well (I’ve got 5 in the pipeline, and another 3 after that XD).

If I do blog this though, I’ll edit this post with the summary key points. Either way,its good series. Definitely recommended based on the first episode. The Animation and art is awesome as well, and its just nice seeing a unique Zombie show, it’s surprising that this hasn’t been done before XD

~Previewed/Blogged by Setsuken

• Sweety8587

  *groans as well* If only more focus was on Takashi indeed! *is already a Takashi fangirl* But Hisashi…i woulda liked to have known you better. You seemed kool. IKR?! D: I was like “daymn…thats kinda…epic. In a supremely twisted way” and I feel kinda bad for em both cause i sense doomed relationship. I mean…she lost the guy she loved so shes clearly on the rebound and he’s liked her since they were kids sure but now shes in a vulnerable place and does he really wanna take advantage of that fact? Talk about conundrums

  “I loved the way he just decided to leave when Rei started the whole “you killed him cause you hated him” stuff in her grief. I dunno, maybe its been a while since I saw a cool character like this, but either way, its quite a nice change, ” *claps hands in agreement* OMG YES I was like “Oh Lord slap her again cause God knows she needs it cause a. shes being a bitch and i dont CARE if its the trauma talking and b. shes in shock so she needs to be snapped outta it ASAP before I *emphasis* bite her!” XD

  A good zombie show…I am such a happy fangirl <3 I'll take it with fan service and all ~ But of course this is just the first ep so I may get grouchy at the lack of Takashi coolness :<

• http://??? Sweety8587

  What the frak…I knew I posted a comment on this entry… Where’d it run off too D:

  First off..BY GOD YES *bangs head into table* If only more focus was on Takashi! Of all the times for the focus to not be on the guy XD

  The fanservice thing felt a biiiit over board in the scene with the two ‘best friends’ running away. Oh man that made me wanna throw up. The way the girls were behaving, not the fanservice (lets get that one straight XD) and that red head HAD THAT COMING *nods*

  Interesting dynamic indeed between Rei and Takashi! I think its the first time I’ve read that two childhood sweet hearts have a fall out cause the GIRL got over him and the guys’ still pining for her. And she loves his best friend. Talk about your double ‘yowtch’. But what was up with her cryptic ‘but you didn’t feel the same way’? D: A misunderstanding perhaps? *is intrigued*

  Me no likely that err…what was her name…Takagi? I dont like girls who are that pushy D: 5 outta 7 says that she likes Takashi..make that 6 outta 7 actually. And I didn’t like Rei either. I know I KNOW that it was the stress of the situation and I’d probably go into shock as well if I saw the guy i loved die like that in front of me but oh come off it really. If Rei knew that Hisashi was Takashi’s best friend and still says shit like that then she deserves a bat to the head! HOME RUN~~~ I adored the way Takashi just walked away and said that he’d go bash the zombie’s out instead of staying with her. I was like “Oh yes she deserved THAT mental kick in the stomach for the selfish and self righteous bull shit she just sprouted” and that was when I realized “Crap im already a Takashi fangirl!” XD

  TELL ME im the only one who keeps thinking “AMAR!” whenever they showed Hisano? XD PLEASE O PLEASE~~~

  It is surprising no D: With all the different shows out there but not a zombie one. It IS an interesting point to ponder~ AH GIMME Ep 2 already please

  • http://www.anime-evo.net/ Setsuken

    Epic Double Comment. The reason your first comment didn’t show was because it needed to get approved if it was under a different name.

    Nuff said, we are in agreement on most stuff, ESPECIALLY the Amar thing. Very nice catch, I didn’t think of it that way XD

• Nero

  Alright, so I finally had some downtime with the first episode, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s pretty fan-friggin-tastic!

  There’s a lot that compliments this show. First off, it puts you right in the middle of a survival-horror story that brings about some highly entertaining pieces. There’s action alright, and the show also has its fare share of jiggle acts to keep all those ecchi viewers reeled in (I mean, seriously, almost all the girls I saw in here had a giant rack… it’s like the female version of overcompensating! xD), but what really has me interested is parts like when those two girls run down the corridor hand in hand claiming that they’ll take care of each other because their friends, and then one poisonously turning on the other because she was grabbed by a zombie. That’s the beauty of this show – it brings out that dark side of human nature that we associate with survival instincts, where the person on-screen comes off as extremely despicable, yet not completely devoid of logic. That’s something I haven’t really seen in an anime yet, and it was great to observe it the first time!

  As it is only the first episode, I really can’t judge many of the characters that have appeared, especially when most of the airtime was only given to Takashi, Rei and Hisashi. From what I can gather, Takashi’s the lead who is pretty much a pussy now but shapes up to be one of the coolest and strongest built characters in the series. Rei just came off as a prissy little bitch who was proven to be more of a surrealist and just doesn’t come off as the compassionate one right now. In fact, by the end of it, when she scorns Takashi for killing her boyfriend, going so far as to accuse him of being jealous and hating Hisashi, and then becoming this little crybaby when he decided to leave her alone for a while and go kill some zombie ass, all I thought was, “God.. what a fucking whore!” To be fair, that really was something only a complete bitch could have pulled off, and that’s what Rei came off as. Finally, I really admire Hisashi for taking the lead and being headstrong throughout their escape attempt (all the while thinking why he was leading them to the roof where there’s no fucking exit to begin with!). I kinda think his last attempts at getting himself killed were a little unbecoming though. It’s not what he said, its how he said it.

  The only other character that really stood out other than these three was the pink-haired Takagi, who came off as a hard-boiled, no-nonsense type girl. Naturally, with that kind of personality, you’d have pretty much bet good money she’d be one of the survivors at the high school. She’s bossy, pissed off and seems like the type that isn’t going to take crap sitting down, which makes her another one of the awesome characters in the show.

  Apart from that, the animation I’ll admit was some of the best I’ve seen. This really shows the production value of the first episode, and even big blockbuster flicks like SUMMER WARS can’t match up to what this series has pumped out in its one episode! I’ll admit though that 20 seconds into the intro, I knew there was going to be a lot of boobie-jiggling and panty-flashing here, and sure enough, they made it a point to show off every girl’s crotch that they could possibly fit into one frame. Funny thing though – they only show panties of girls who are NOT zombies… which is a VERY good thing, I might add!

  Yes yes, we’re all excited about Episode 2 coming out, and from what Episode 1 has shown us, there’s good enough reason to be too!

  • http://www.anime-evo.net/ Setsuken

    Wow… I didn’t expect people to love the series this much XD, But I see you loved it quite a bit Nosher XD

    I agree, there’s a lot of unique stuff in this series, and its a breath of fresh air in an otherwise very stale industry lately. At the same time… I’m not a big fan of the excessive fanservice stuff.

    Finally… I have to disagree on the fact that this show’s Animation one-ups a movie like Summer Wars. I have to say that the animation is VERY good (It’s Madhouse afterall) but I also think that the animation in movies is just generally more beautiful and smooth.

    I dunno how to describe it, but a series has animation that feels like its a series animation.

    I hope they maintain this level of animation, as series tend to dip in animation quality in the middle. Eitherway I think we’ll all be watching episode 2 XD

    • Nero

      Haha yea man, it IS MadHouse after all! Ever since they made Death Note, I consider their anime series kickass by default! XD

      On the issue of animation being better in movies than in series, I guess you may be right… bigger budgets do mean bigger production values and more refined animations. Come to think of it, while the animation in HOTD was pretty flashy, SUMMER WARS had a very subtle yet strong polish to it, and I guess that’s where the difference lies. They only had about 20 minutes to dish out all the rad animation that they could to promote the series, and considering others, it was a job done leaps and bounds better than anyone else so far… at least that’s what I imagine it to be!

      Bring on Episode 2!! XD

  • Sweety8587

    Total agreement on the jiggle part XD THAT many big breasted girls in one school? Why not just change the name to “Oppai Gakuen” XD And was the only one who kept thinking “Hmmm Takagi isn’t wearing a bra…thats not a kool way to be on the day the world gets taken over by zombies…”

    “…those two girls run down the corridor hand in hand claiming that they’ll take care of each other because their friends, and then one poisonously turning on the other because she was grabbed by a zombie.” YES! I had the exact same thoughts! EXACT. At the first line i was like “Oh give me a break!” but then when the red head kicks her away i was like “Oh yeah thats more like it! Show me more of the ways humans can be so cruel and selfish in times of severe crisis!” Though can i be slightly disappointed that they blacked out the scene when the teacher falls to the ground when its clearly seen in the trailer? *pouts*

    *gasps* I wouldnt say that Takashi’s a pussy! FAR FROM! A lazy bum sure as hell but pussy? NO WAI! “Rei just came off as a prissy little bitch who was proven to be more of a surrealist and just doesn’t come off as the compassionate one right now.” *shakes his hand off* You win an Internet! Would you like it fried or scrambled?

    “To be fair, that really was something only a complete bitch could have pulled off, and that’s what Rei came off as.” To me it came off more as…”God what an EGO on this girl! The sheer arrogance to think that…okay fine so the guy li..okay LOVES you but for FRAKS SAKE his whole fliping world DOESNT revolve around you. Shock I know but accept it, put your big girl panties on and MOVE ON thank YOU.” Like I said, made me wanna bite her *eye roll* I’d rather she get bitten than Hisashi.

    I agree on the rooftop part. I was like “what the….are you an idiot!? Yer just putting yourself in a corner! YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IN CORNERS?!” D8 I dont think his last moments were unbecoming though. They were just…tragic. I mean, he knew that he was gonna die and become a zombie and the desperation that can take over at that moment can just….its gotta be crippling. So it was just…so sad to see that happening. Rei of course did NOT help. “He won’t change! He’s special.” No honey, YOU’RE the one who’s special..like mental institute special…

    And Nero, check out the full list of stuff that Madhouse has made I am OFFICIALLY a MadHouse junkie <3 When I saw their list, I was like "Hot…damn….I'm a fan for life now!"