Believe it or not, I actually know quite a lot of people who are completely unwilling to engage in anything remotely Japanese. Living with Joey I hear the phrase "sus Asian shit" more often than I hear the phrase "Supernatural is that rare kind of show that actually does horror and comedy well" (a lot). Which, by the way, it fucking isn't. In the past the whole "what the fuck Japan?" thing was something I didn't completely understand or buy into. Sure Japan had its quirky moments, but I didn't think these were ever deal breakers. But several years and several dozen anime series later I finally understand. There is definately a sliding scale of Japaneseness to any Japanese media or entertainment and for any individual Westerner there is definately a point of said scale where you've gotta throw your hands up in the air and scream "that's all I can stands, I can't stands no more!"
Every anime, even the ones I loved too much to notice it in, has something very Japanese in it that risks alienating a portion of the Western market. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex had the sqeaky, child-voiced robots. Death Note had that annoying goth chick. Bayonetta had...well...Bayonetta.And Highschool of the Dead had massive quantities of, well, titties.
Every anime, even the ones I loved too much to notice it in, has something very Japanese in it that risks alienating a portion of the Western market. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex had the sqeaky, child-voiced robots. Death Note had that annoying goth chick. Bayonetta had...well...Bayonetta.And Highschool of the Dead had massive quantities of, well, titties.
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| Fun fact: It took 7 animators 7 days just to draw those. |
Yes, lots and lots a big ol' titties. Giant, jiggling, trembling masses of mammary. Even all the normal highschool girls are boasting double D's, so they really had to go the extra mile when it came time to design the typical "ditsy blonde girl with massive bouncing breasts". I mean just look at the picture above. That one looks like it's devouring the pink haired girl. Oh and there's also lots of panties, arses, crotch shots and even a few cheeky nipples thrown in there.
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| Because we all know what goes on when girls bathe together. |
But overt and gratuitious sexualisations aside, Highschool of the Dead is a pretty good anime. There's plenty of tension, high emotion and frantic action in this zombie anime, which is really all you could hope for in a slice of zombie entertainment. And at times, although only in the minority of instances, the sexualisations and over the top action work together brilliantly to create a climatic "holy fuck" moment, much in the same way as Bayonetta.
Story is kept pretty brief and basic. One day at school a zombie outbreak starts and as the students escape they discover that the event is much more widespread and disasterous than they had initially thought. From there a few students form a group and make it their mission to seek out remaining family members. There are also a few romantic subplots and love triangles thrown into the mix to create human dramas. Overall it's effective, consistant and works to create good survival drama, horror and action.
The big problem for me is the ending. It doesn't have one. It just decides to stop one random episode without addressing or tying up any of the story threads that have been dangling throughout the series. Dramas, tensions and romances just build and build and build but nothing ever comes of it, leaving you down a few hours with blue balls the size of the blonde girls' knockers. What is the point in creating all these engaging characters and developing them well and cooking up some nice juicy romances if you're never going to serve it on a plate with a nice garnish and an appropriate wine? Being tantalized by heady aromas is only enjoyable if you eventually get to eat what you're smelling, otherwise it's just torture.
I do know that this, like pretty much all anime, is based off a manga. Which might mean that more episodes could happen, although this series is a few years old now so who knows? But setting that massive con aside Highschool of the Dead is definately worth a look-in, even if you aren't normally big into anime. I mean if people can check out Firefly knowing full well it's been cancelled forever then why can't they check out this?
The big problem for me is the ending. It doesn't have one. It just decides to stop one random episode without addressing or tying up any of the story threads that have been dangling throughout the series. Dramas, tensions and romances just build and build and build but nothing ever comes of it, leaving you down a few hours with blue balls the size of the blonde girls' knockers. What is the point in creating all these engaging characters and developing them well and cooking up some nice juicy romances if you're never going to serve it on a plate with a nice garnish and an appropriate wine? Being tantalized by heady aromas is only enjoyable if you eventually get to eat what you're smelling, otherwise it's just torture.
I do know that this, like pretty much all anime, is based off a manga. Which might mean that more episodes could happen, although this series is a few years old now so who knows? But setting that massive con aside Highschool of the Dead is definately worth a look-in, even if you aren't normally big into anime. I mean if people can check out Firefly knowing full well it's been cancelled forever then why can't they check out this?
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