[RR] Highschool of the Dead Review

“Zombies and Boobies. The Fearsome Combination”

Due to a mysterious and lethal disease, a zombie outbreak was let loose worldwide, resulting in an alarming death rate of humanity. In Japan, a few high school students and a school nurse have banded together to escape Fujimi Highschool shortly after it was attacked by zombies. The group now attempts to figure out the cause of this plague, and in the meantime, attempt to survive the present apocalypse.

Interesting right? But sadly, if you are looking for more serious zombie plots, then Highschool of the Dead is not the show for you. Sure, it had some decent level of seriousness at the start but it got sidetracked. Imagine a few girls playing and jiggling each others’ boobs while there are a sea of zombies crawling outside the house, THAT is Highschool of the Dead. 90% of the show is filled with fanservices, providing you with scenes of bras and panties and even more boobies whenever a chance arises. It’s pretty sad since HOTD is show with very high potential. In the first few episodes, the anime had an atmosphere of a classic horror zombie film, which by itself is an unique approach. Everything else is pretty much ruined by the overuse of fanservices. I do like fanservices no doubt, not when it is overused to insane amount, like this show here. I always prefer the more “balanced” types.

Shizuka is indeed the epitome of boobs with her oversized boobs which are probably even larger then a watermelon. I got a hell lot of other things to talk about Shizuka’s boobs but let’s just leave it for now. Let’s talk about the other characters. Well, the nurse aside, we have the spear-using girl who is somewhat self-reliant and stubborn at times, then, we have an egotistical smart-ass tactician, a swordswoman displaying leadership qualities, a military otaku and the typical spiky-haired male lead. They do get some character developments from time to time. However, the fanservices obviously get the better of them and in the end, and ultimately those character developments hardly even matter. The only one character I like is Kouta who played the role of comic relief in this series. Other then just being comic relief, he is also insanely knowledgeable about guns and can shoot them like a professional hitman. If we are talking about badassery, he and Saeko are definitely the top in that department.

I got mixed feelings regarding art and animation. I like most of the action scenes here as they are crisp and smooth. All the zombie whacking scenes are executed really well although sadly, they rely more on guns later on. The sunsets in HOTD are also quite pretty as they made good use of the strong colors to create a vibrant lighting from the sunset. It’s probably one of the prettiest sunsets I had seen though it’s kinda contradicting the zombie theme. My favorite scene in the anime though is when Takashi and Rei came flying into a swarm of zombies in a motorbike bike. Takashi then threw a pistol to Kouta and he shoots it, while the bullet flew in slow motion and 3D. I think it’s not too exaggerating to say that’s my favorite animated scene for the anime. For flaws, well, we can see tons of animated bouncing boobs AGAIN. As if that’s a first eh? I’m not too fond of the character designs and general artwork either. I think some of the girls, to be blunt, look “ugly”, as if their bodies are the only attractive parts. And of cause, for the main protagonist himself, his spiky hair is a niche fashion overused in anime and games already.

Voice acting is great and I haven’t heard a single voice which sounds awkward and unnatural. I like the director’s idea in making Maon Kurosaki vocalize different lyrics for each episode. This results in a different song for all 12 episodes, and the songs suit their respective episodes well. For background music, I think it is quite decent. There are some parts where there’s no music at all and they chose the perfect timing for these too. Usually when it’s silent without any music, it creates an eerie atmosphere and suspense which suits the zombie theme well.

As a fanservice-type anime, Highschool of the Dead delivers well. I even classify HOTD a superior show then most fanservice anime out there because of it’s intriguing theme. HOTD is enjoyable in the least, either for action fans or pervs. For ones who want a more serious zombie theme, better skip this out.

Rating
Story: D
Character: D-
Art: C
Animation: B+
Sound: B-

Final Score
4/10

This review is part of the
Reviews Recollection Project.

Tags: apocalypse, big boobs, ecchi, guns, Kouta, military otaku, panties, Rei, reviews recollection, Saeko, Saya, Shizuka, Sword, Takashi, zombie

This entry was posted by Kai.

• January 10, 2012
• Anime, Review
• 8 Comments