School days Anime review

Warning: Recommended viewers: above 18 years as there are some sexual situations, blood gore violence.

Type: TV

Episodes: 12

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Jul 4, 2007 to Sep 26, 2007

Producers: Avex Entertainment, Marvelous Entertainment, Lantis, TNK

Genres: Drama, Romance, Harem, Seinen

Duration: 25 min. per episode

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

When i first saw the anime titile "School days", it sounded more quite decent anime like first love and happiness right?

Wrong!!!!!!!

Honestly, I'll probably never watch the series again. It might sound harsh, but read further. School Days is a series that depends on how you want to approach it-for those who want a shocker series, it'd probably be more of a pleasant watch than those who look for solidly constructed characters and something different than the norm, and despite what some may say about SD being unique, it's not. I know the predominant argument for SD is that it's not meant to be realistic but entertaining...but where does the line for entertaining merge? Simply by graphic drama. I couldn't wrap my head around or even feel more than some bland sense of pity for the characters, and by the end, it left me feeling disgusted because it threw any sort of tangible tension out of the window.

School Days focuses on three main characters: Makoto, Kotonoha, and Sekai.  Makoto develops a slight crush on Kotonoha while riding the subway one day, and when Sekai notes Makoto's crush, she throws her support in hooking the two together with full support. Yet, she harbors a secret fondness for Makoto in her heart-a factor that becomes the worm that eats its way through the hearts and progression of the series to come.

Makoto, on the other hand, is nothing like a typical leading male character, if not utterly the opposite. He starts out as a nice and generous guy but somehow he abruptly turns into a purely evil guy. I do not think that this can be called character development. It’s more like an unrealistic mutation of character. He is completely consumed by insatiable desire for lust and literally -with every girl that appears on screen. The worst thing is that he does not realize that what he’s doing is bad. There is absolutely no sense of right and wrong in his action. He just do whatever he wants. As a result, his characters is interesting (and disgusting) but not convincing in the slightest.

School Days has generally standard animation quality and original score but certain sequences are masterfully done with perfect editing, camera angle and background music. The best example is probably the ending sequence. 

Then there's the ending, and I think it could strike the viewer in a number of ways.  For me, the ending was only partially expected, but it would have had more impact (i.e. given a greater shock) to me if it didn't feel tacked on and rushed beyond oblivion. The reason I say it's rushed is because there's a lot that happens and it really could have just as well had another ending, but it went the route that most people thought and came off as a display moreso than something you could really feel sentiment toward. My approach with this series might be different than what most may view it, because in entertainment, people may not give this as much weight because it puts on a good show subjectively, but for me who looks for heart, good characterization, and lasting value in a story, this series doesn't excel.

Dark and depressing anime do not provide any good feeling or happiness to the viewers but it’s fine as long as it manages to give the viewers some thing worth their time like innovative ideas or thought provoking messages. Alas, in School Days’ case, all it provides is a bad feeling for the viewers. Conclusion: School Days is a decent anime and is also potentially sickness-inducing. Watch it at your own risk.

Anime opening titiles