Thoughts On: High Scool of the Dead Episode 1

In an attempt to go back to my once a week posting, I will be writing my thoughts on an Anime that is currently airing. I actually planned to do this for the spring releases of Anime, but I got lazy. So here we are. The Anime I will be talking about is called High School of the Dead.

If you can't tell from the name, the story revolves around a High School being attacked by zombies. I know I know, zombies... lots of zombies. And I really am sick and tired of Zombies/Vampires/anythingelsethatisbeingrepeatedintheentertainmentindustry but, this is the first Summer anime release I watched, so its only fair that it gets the attention. Also, zombies are attacking stuff... it should be a easy enough for me to write.

Just a quick history lesson. The anime is based on the Manga of the same name. And it has been on a bit of a Hiatus for a while.

But fist let's get you familiarized with this anime with a trailer:

So basically this episode was just a way to start things off. The Zombie attack has just started and everyone is confused. You basically see a bunch of people get eaten and there's blood and guts everywhere. What little story we got was between the two...or three primary characters for this episode.

Seems as if Takashi (left) and Rei (middle) were a childhood couple but Rei eventually broke it off, who is now with Hisashi (right). Hisashi gets bitten, turns zombie and Takashi kills him sending Rei to become all sad and stuff.

The episode was everything a Zombie attack should of been for the first episode. It showcased the direness of it all and made the Zombies a threat. The story could of easily made out these Zombies to look like putties with the leads just destroying them, only to show off some stronger version of the Zombies. But it didn't. And while I am sure that a scenario like that will happen, its good it didn't happen in the first episode.

The only real problem I had with the story was with Rei. She was a real cry baby in the last five minutes or so. She got mad at Takashi for killing zombie Hisashi (who is revealed to also be Takashi's best friend in the last 30 seconds) and started to cry when Takashi thought it be best for him to leave her alone. Sure, she lost her boyfriend and you say stuff when your mad, but it was just a weird turn around to happen so fast. It could of been a interesting story line to play with (though it could still be in play) and see how they would of reacted when they saw each other again.

One other aspect I should cover is that it is also a Ecchi style Anime. Meaning there is a form of T&A with panty shots and big boob cleavage. And my god are these boobs big. So a lot of the time when Zombies ate people, it just so happens to be girls with short skirts on. Which I thought was some sort of metaphor for rape. But a lot of people seemed to love it or hate it. I for one don't really care. But I'll admit, there are some really good Ecchi scenes.... what?

We'll see how this story goes and if it can stay interesting. The set up was good, the characters are fine and everything seems in place for a bigger story to unfold. And to be honest, the Ecchi stuff will probably keep me interested even if the story gets a bit too generic.

Note: I know I got a bit spoily but I mean, its the first episode and not much was going on. Whether or not I'll keep it from being full of spoilers or kinda just hint at stuff is still up in the air.