Fans will be happy to know that High School of the Dead is getting a complete collection (full series) release on June 28th. Sometimes I feel like they make us wait an unbelievably long time to see all the episodes of a series in one place, but this release only took a few months from its “volume run.” Like many other recent anime imports, it is shortening the release gap that happens between Japan and America (especially since it originally simulcast on the Anime Network while airing in Japan). Directed by Tetsuro Araki of Deathnote and Black Lagoon fame, and based on the original manga by Daisuke Sato, this anime has become fairly popular on the North American anime scene.
The story surrounds a group of high school students who manage to escape when a zombie apocalypse comes crashing through the gates of their Fujimi campus. In the first episode it is made very clear that what the characters refer to as “Them” are meant to be almost-Romero-like zombies (but, in comparison, these are too easy to kill and certainly not capable of giving me nightmares for a week like Dawn of the Dead). It’s also apparent that some of the teens who escape the initial outbreak are a lot more likely to survive this series than others. Now, since I don’t want to give any spoilers away, I’ll just say that I’m sure the writers did this on purpose so you’d be taking bets from moment one as to who’s actually going to last through all twelve episodes (like any zombie thriller).
I can only assume that the writers have included a lot of stereotypical, high-school-drama characters in hopes of making this show somewhat comical for anyone that’s watched a lot of teen drama anime. You’ve got a badass girl who was captain of her Kendo team, a military-fanboy otaku who manages to fashion himself a nail gun to fend off zombies, a fairly average guy and girl who are set up to be the “romantic couple” right from the start, and a wide array of other characters who seem almost too much like ones we’ve seen from other series. Oh, and I forgot to mention the school’s nurse…yet another over the top occasion of fan service in anime. Could they have possibly made her breasts any larger? I don’t think so. Fair warning to all you female watchers out there…there are A LOT of unnecessary panty shots in this show.
As for the horror and action, it’s pretty decent. This series features a few occasions where I wish the characters (especially the more annoying ones) would just stop talking and fight the zombies. After living in Tokyo for some time, I can tell you that a zombie apocalypse there would be pretty terrifying. Possession of firearms is illegal in Japan for those who do not possess a special license (certain hunters, police officers and National Defense Forces can carry certain firearms depending on their situation), and therefore very few people would be armed in the event of a zombie outbreak. (I for one think it would be way more entertaining to see zombies being fought with a variety of Japanese swords, but alas those are generally only found in museums nowadays.) This lack of available firearms makes any uprising’s survival-outlook to be pretty dismal at best. That being said, the series tries to take a stab at depicting zombie chaos in Japan.
Overall, I’d say give this one a watch if you enjoy anything zombie related, but don’t expect it to follow ” Romero zombie cannon” …it breaks the “rules” and I’m okay with that. Definitely give it a watch if you feel like you’ve seen too many high-school anime and need to see some of your favorite (or least favorite) character types fight off zombies! This show has a somewhat satisfying plot and makes for a good 12 episode run.
Check out High School of the Dead on the Anime Network and, if you like it, you can find the pre-order the Blu-Ray Complete Collection for $57.99 on Amazon (or elsewhere at List Price for $69.98).
Enjoy the following clip from Episode 3! (No spoilers contained.)