School Days Review - 49/100
Now that it looks like that the final episode is going to be a DVD-only episode, I decided that I didn’t want to wait for such a long time just to close off this series. After all, it’s not like a bloody ending is going to save this series and heck, we all know what’s going to happen anyway. Shows like Red Garden and Zombie-Loan who also have a few DVD-only episodes have shown me that by the time they’re finished, my memory will have become too fuzzy to write a good review of it. I may edit this post after watching the final episode, but for now I just want to get over with this series.
Okay, let’s get started with this train-wreck now, shall we? School Days is another one of those hentai-game adaptations, but it’s a special one: the original game became notorious for a few of its rather bloody endings. Because of this, it’s become a fan favourite: you can’t go to any on-line anime-community where you won’t find tons of fans rambling about various death treats towards the main character. In the end though, this series became an utter failure.
Let’s start with about the only good point of this series: the male main character, Makoto. I know it’s ironic, but this guy actually finally deviates from some of the clichés that plague all of his colleagues, and most important of all: he’s realistic. It’s a sad thing, but in real life there are tons of idiots who just date girls without caring about any of them. You’ll love to hate this guy, and the things he does to all the poor girls in the series.
I wish I could say the same about the female characters though. The story is just so incredibly fixated on that bloody ending that it turns every single female character into a plot-device to get toward that ending. Actions are forced, characters conveniently run into each other, and most of them are a tad too often in too much angst, preventing them to connect with the viewers.
Still, at the halfway point, I would have actually considered School Days decent enough. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, but the love-triangle that develops was interesting enough to make me keep watching. And then, as the series draws to its end, everything falls apart with some of the most forced and blatantly obvious plot twists I’ve ever seen. I won’t mention them for the sake of spoilers, but you should be able to guess their nature, with School Days being a hentai-game adaptation and all.
And then the setting! Seriously, it nearly looks like Makoto is in a school with only TWO GUYS in it. There is another guy (the so-called “rival” that you see in nearly every hentai-game adaptation) but he’s just good for one minor plot-twist and he just disappears afterwards without leaving any trace.
Seriously, if you were planning to watch this one: don’t. The scriptwriting and plot twists are just too forced and artificial to really form a connection, not to mention that 75% of all the scenes are incredibly annoying to watch, due to the characters being teenagers and all. While I admit that it could have been good, the scriptwriters just ruined it completely.
Around episode 7-9 I realized that the show had jumped the shark–prior to that, like you did, I was trying to take it seriously. After that the plot turns and the behavior of everyone involved got totally ridiculous. The key to my subsequent enjoyment of it was that I stopped taking it seriously and joined in the schadenfreunde!
Your review is more like the review I would write if I was trying to reconcile it with my earlier midpoint review, which wondered if something more complex and rich was going to happen. It didn’t, and just became a lurid soap opera instead. Which has its own pleasures!
Comment by Mike — September 20, 2007 @ 18:11
I agree with most (not all) of your review, given what we’ve seen thus far, but I’m going to wait at least a week before assuming that the final episode will only be on DVD.
Comment by Tamario — September 20, 2007 @ 18:34
Pretty much almost everyone is watching it for the BAD END. I’ll assume that there is actually a very small population who’s watching it for the supposed “romance”.
I agree with your review, but I actually enjoyed all the cringe-worthy scenes and hating Makoto like everyone else (for laughs, of course). It makes it… stand out from the rest of the harem crap. And especially in comparison to KGNE - I feel like this is the next big “romance” anime to break popularity. The show sucks, but it sure was fun!
Comment by Pakxenon — September 21, 2007 @ 4:08
Indeed. I really have found that I enjoyed this series compared to other harems. It’s totally different and plays mind games on you if you have been spoiled about the pc game endings. Which are very very violent.
Comment by Kite — September 21, 2007 @ 18:41
Initially, after watching the first episode, I decided to not watch it because it seemed to be just another anime about a love triangle. Later I’ve read a few short episode reviews and it had evolved into something very different. I found it rather amusing how everyone to hated Makoto and I decided to check it out. I think it helps that I could watch most episodes without having to wait another week. I guess being male helps too. If you don’t take it seriously but rather consider it a parody of the genre, it’s a lot of fun to watch. It’s not really something to recommend but I’d prefer it over the next luke-warm harem anime anytime. In my book, it’s certainly not a train-wreck because it never bored me. Sure, it’s only 12 episodes but apparently it takes some guts and brains to make that decision considering the large amount of dragging, filler-invested 26-episodes shows.
Of course, anyone who expects a show about romance, love or the typical harem will be disappointed, especially those people who always cheer for the goody-goodies.
Comment by Chris — September 23, 2007 @ 1:49
I actually thought the hate of the main male character (who acts like a semi-real guy for once) was kind of amusing in a way. Harem leads are always calling wussy and when there is finally one who does the deed so to speak, he’s hated. That being said, the show was OKAY at one point. I guess we can all realize when it totally became ridiculous and something to never be taken seriously. At this point the only saving grace IS the bad end.
Comment by anne — September 24, 2007 @ 1:04
The final episode is now available at Tokyotosho. The ending was not broadcast for good reason and even with the edits made, the episode was still very disturbing.
Comment by Chris — September 27, 2007 @ 21:22
I completely disagree with your review. I don’t think the entire anime was just buildup to the ending — I don’t know how you can make that conclusion without actually seeing the ending. The series was amazingly well-crafted, in my opinion. The director seems very aware of clichés, and he allows them, and pokes at them occasionally. This includes chance meetings and incidents that occur in the series. There was a great amount of character development in the series. Things got crazier near the end, but I feel that a good amount of the characterization was realistic. There were things that happened in the series that I connected with and empathized with because I had encountered similar situations or feelings. I would go into more detail (who WOULDN’T connect on some level with a romantic story?), but it’s not possible without spoilers.
The plot progression is smooth, and there’re a number of things that shouldn’t be taken too seriously. In my case, I didn’t take very much seriously at first, since it begins as a romantic anime love triangle. The series is called “School Days”, so the viewer can immediately apply all of the knowledge he/she has of animes that take place in a similar environment (there are a ton).
There was a lot I hated by the time the series ended, but I didn’t hate the series. I think the series was very well done. I hated people, and myself, I think.
Comment by Nettle — October 1, 2007 @ 2:38
I wish I didn’t watch the ending. It was too disturbing for me.
Comment by Rooji — October 6, 2007 @ 17:01
oh men i just wish i didnt watch it at all, i so agree with what you have just said, I just wish I have read your review before I bought the dvd,
“Seriously, if you were planning to watch this one: don’t.”
Im so affected, im disturbed. oh i just hate it. T____T
Comment by sheine — October 7, 2007 @ 16:56
I think the serious was good, for the most part. I liked how the series wasnt like your typical romance anime, it started to build this very dark like something bad is going to happen feeling which was very unique. I think the main male character was done very well and acted like a horny teenager i thought it got a little far out there, when all the girls in his grade started to sleep with him. But some parts with the supporting characters like all the girls besides the two main ones, did bore me and i just fast forward them, it could get really annoying with the voices and things all high pitched but another thing that really stuck out to me was the way the main male character and the main female characters just evolved, one day they would be scared to kiss and then a day later his grabbin her tits so it was very surreal to a point. So the last thing about the series was the ending, i thought it was very different and really good and true to a certain degree it kind of reminded me of Death note how you see the bad side but also feel bad for them like light, yes he was wrong but i didnt want him to die. The only thing here is you didnt expect the ending but thats really a big chance to take with anime, hey some people will hate it and some will like it and i liked it. It was very disturbing but also real, because people will go crazy over the ones they cant let go off, and at the very end on the boat was a good scene but very different or you can say very very disturbing. The point is if you never watched the anime and never heard of the ending watch it, it will blow your mind, you will be sitting there like what the fuck just happened and it will leave a bitter taste in your mouth but will also leave you thinking about it for a few days.
Comment by jack150 — November 10, 2007 @ 9:30
I must say that liked this serie and especially the 12th episode. The character design was great too. But it turns out to be really dramatic and scary at the end. But to understand the serie you have to watch it till the end. I was quite terrified but I must say it’s a good work.
Comment by Tania — November 18, 2007 @ 21:33
yeah im gonna have to say i wish i didnt watch this anime. like most of you have said, the first half of this anime was watchable and even interesting. but when things started to get ridiculous, i watched the rest purely out of my need for closure. and the ending. i watched this anime not knowing what to expect. in the latter half as people started to lose their sanity and all sense of rationale, i was still not prepared for the utter madness that was the ending. this anime left a seriously bad taste in my mouth that after 2 weeks, has still not subsided.
Comment by jt — November 23, 2007 @ 9:44
call it guilty pleasure if you must, but i kinda like the show. i didn’t see it coming, the ending that is. despite the disturbing ending and the cheap girls in sd (how easily they gave their bodies away :-( ), i think it’s pretty good.
Comment by nahrub — January 15, 2008 @ 15:39
and i’ve read somewhere that you question the police not being there and what not. well, when nobody noticed your death than nobody noticed your death, including the police.
Comment by nahrub — January 15, 2008 @ 15:55
Well, I just finished watching the last episode. (Without the boat thing)
Even though you’re spot on in your review with critique, the ending actually saves the series, ’till a certain extent.
I already knew what would happen in the end… or so I thought, but there’s just a little more drama on top of that, plus 2 more plot twists which make the obscenity of it all complete.
I still can’t help the feeling that this series should’ve been a one-shot movie in the first place. They could’ve easily tossed out, I dunno… half of the characters, since indeed they just disappear after they’ve done their job. The show gets so dull halfway, the bullies are bothering Kotonaha in each damn episode and she replies in the same damn way when Makoto reacts in similar situations the whole damn time… I stopped watching then, and only picked it up again after nearly 2 months.
All in all, I think your score might be a tad too negative, the ending might seem too forced, but it’s the only way it could end to stand out among other love triangle-anime’s.
PS: I actually liked Kotonaha when she’s behaving psychotic in the latter episodes… maybe because it just reminds me of myself at times. I still manage to not do irrational things, though :p
Comment by Saphatorael — February 29, 2008 @ 2:39
i agree with the others who say the whole show was predicated upon the ending. i actually watched the show with no prior knowledge of such ending, so maybe those who watch it for the ending are just biased by all the hype and are let down in the end. despite all the ridiculousness, i went along with it even when it started getting all crazy with all the girls he was sleeping with. i guess i caught onto th e possibility of such a dark ending when they showed kotonoha at the sink and they zoom in on the knives. i was like… uhhhhh, really?
in the end, i was satisfied with the ending. you can’t wrap up all the loose ends created by the madness in previous episodes but i did get some sense of justice even if in a very dark, twisted way.
i don’t think its fair to tell people that a series is not worth watching for the reasons given in the review. i’m glad i watched the show and that the anime departed from typical anime genres. i would recommend it to people without warning of the ending tho so there are no expectations to get in the way. thanks for you review.
Comment by brian — March 28, 2008 @ 9:06
my, my……
for so many anime i’ve watched this is my first time i’ve reacted through…. as in, shocked….
from fantasy to friendship to love to betray to (sex maniac) to psychotic case… wah…
what the hell was the creator thinking at first..
either way, thanks for a wonderful piece of anime.
ps. pls check if your lover like sekai or kotonoha.. hehehe, may we fuck up….
Comment by kira-desu — March 30, 2008 @ 9:25
I for one, seriously loved this series. and easily give it at least 4.25 out of 5
Comment by Hello — March 31, 2008 @ 5:18
This was probably the most fucked up anime I have seen. Ever. And I really have seen many other one’s that are quite messed up. God. I hated Mokoto so fucking much and pretty much alomst all the rest of the girls for just being fucking sluts.
Comment by Alexa — April 24, 2008 @ 10:16
I hate how motoku just bangs all the girls without thinking about the fellings of the last girl he was with. I hated this series for the fact that it was completely about cheating. I was ok with the sex parts, but mokoto was just one really, really, really ef’d up perverted kid. I think he deserved to die and I hope that he goes down to the deapeast part of he’ll.
Comment by yizhi zhou — June 27, 2008 @ 18:38
Like alot of people, what I’ve hated most about this series was the bloody ending..
Yes , it may have been unique but seriously , I’ve seen a number animes that end in a tragedy , but most of them were “beautiful” tragedies , animes like Basilisk , Gungrave and Chrono Crusade, they may not be the same genre as School Days but still they had an obvious message. Now what was the message here?
Your ex.girlfriends might stab you to death?
Comment by Kuro — July 5, 2008 @ 19:02
seriously. the animation was good and there the characters were designed appealingly, etc - kotonoha.
but that ending was munted.
Comment by 4101yze — July 19, 2008 @ 15:03
Wow, this may be the most idiotic review I’ve ever read. 49/100? Are you kidding me? We must have been watching different shows. Perhaps you should go watch an anime designed for those with simpler minds…
Comment by fred — August 19, 2008 @ 21:56
I agree with the last comment. You are supposed to despise Makoto, for the way he treats people. In fact it is very realistic in the sense that their are a few people out there who behave like that. And I would not say katsura kotonoha was psyhcotic, she was delusional, her love was so strong, she couldn’t act rationally. The message was that even very good people like Katsura Kotonoha can do bad things if pushed and pushed by bullies and by an unfaithfull boyfriend. It was also about life sometimes not being fair. Why would all the girls go for Makoto? Sometimes it does happen. Going back to Katsura, she had seen many different girls kiss makoto in front of her to hurt her, to use sex as a weapon, so she got her revenge on sekai by doing the same and telling her of her friends betrayal, a very deep and very true message, as I am also a very good person but have cracked under the same sort of intense pressure, truthfully could any of us say that if we had that pressure + a lover who had been unfaithfull+ we had just got them back after they had realised their mistakes, could any of us say we wouldn’t get a revenge killing. Perhaps the overall message was to show the darker side of human nature. It wasn’t true to life in the sense that more good would be shown in real life, but it did reflect well on every ones darker or selfish side. It was also true in that there are periods when the world seems against u, as it was for Katsura. I have to say this is a great anime, I only dislike the over the top sex bits, there should have been more of the elequent things like kissing or the scene under the blankets, the other stuff is a bit dodgy in my opinion.
Comment by Jack Doyle — October 12, 2008 @ 2:10
this is not my most fav anime(which is dragonaut)..bt this is one anime il never ever forget. personally speakin, i was happy that bas**rd died. he was foolin arnd wit every girl n was takin advantage of their feelings n emotion. bt honestly, i hav huge and profound respect for katsura.dat girl stayd tru for the guy n stayd calm even after seein the luv of her life lyin der dead. as for sekai..well..cant blame her…that sex maniac makoto was responsible.
aah….feels good lettin my emotion n anger out for makoto..
anyways, the review :
i think all in all, the series was very poorly directed/sketchd. however, i did understand wot the director was tryin to convey so hats off to him for that…if only he cud express it well…sigh. there r many ways to drive a girl(katsura) insane…..random sex(by makoto) is not the ONLY way.
the ending was amazin, it literally spoke a thousand words. the poor girl finally found sanctuary. ofcors it gave multiple meanings to diff people.
my rating is sadly 2/5 jus cos of the unnecessary sex bits….
Comment by shah — December 19, 2008 @ 0:41
Well, I’m not trying to be different and all but I really loved the ending of School Days. I actually wanted more gore and blood (or Kotonoha *spoil* herself as well). What I didn’t like about the ending though is its irrelevance. What I mean is, from Episode 1 to at least Episode 8 I think, there are no signs of psychological troubles from Kotonoha. That’s utterly disappointing: it gives the anime a feel of incompleteness. That said, I would say that the anime is not blatantly predictable. No one would’ve guessed the ending right if there hadn’t been the hentai-game it came from… or Internet spoilers.
Anyway, about your review, I find it somehow odd that you think Makoto is the only good point. He may have deviated from the cliche but it’s not a good deviation at all. He is an apathetic idiot, a maniac nurtured by the two-guy setting, and his actions and decisions are, for the most part of the series, the main plot devices, not really the girls. Although, I have to say, it’s Sekai who did most of the work here.
Comment by N — December 31, 2008 @ 8:17
the ending was not really disturbing i mean i have seen crap like elfin lied and gantz and thats some heavy stuff i just thought it was wacko crazy lady killing her cheating boyfriend kinda like one of those lame romance novels at 2$ a piece
Comment by Tatertotsman — January 13, 2009 @ 9:13
CRAP CRAP AND MORE CRAP the 1st 5 episodes were good I mean really good. after that it just went berserk I hate this series I hate every character out here except kotonoha she was the only character I wanted to see in the series. actually I dont want to see her after 6-9 and 11
because through out that span shes always suffering and I really think she deserves more
than that however when the series was falling into place when makoto feels like hes gonna change at episode 11 they just had to kill him and leave kotonoha with a head??? its crap man crap excuse me its not crap its A HEAD!!!!!!
Comment by DADADAM — January 30, 2009 @ 22:16
I loved the end and this series was enjoyable for me, but the end turned out sooo creepy and bloody , it gave me shivers! But whoah, it was great, don’t know why but it was indeed great!!!
Comment by windy — February 23, 2009 @ 23:54
School days… It interested me at first until I started feeling sorry for kotonoha then i just skipped through like episode 6 ~ 12… Personally, not my type of anime, Makoto was just such a ass and perv, like the biggest pervert i’ve ever seen with no common sense…
This anime was different (and bad)…
the only good thing about this anime.. was the music ^^;;…
Comment by Jeff — March 18, 2009 @ 8:30
WOW.
I just finished this anime and I have to say while it was exciting, there is no character development at all, only making it more confusing.
Like, there is usually some sort of backstory explaining why people are the way they are.
What the hell was up with that girl suddenly turning all insane- it just doesn’t make sense.
I don’t think the “lesson” at the end was very good either. I’d like to think people wouldn’t cheat for reasons other than “they’ll get their shit ruined if they do”
Overall, I don’t think it deserves a 49%, because there were some enjoyable moments.
More like a 65%
Comment by Matthew — May 2, 2009 @ 15:43
I also write something in my blog about this series. And looks like many people have same opinion like me.
So do I, after watching some episode, to be more precise it’s at the point those girls lose their sanity and then things become ridiculous like what you said, i can’t help but wish that i never watch this anime in the first place.
True, this is one of many reasons why I hate it. The only “strong” backstory I found is Kiyora’s and Katou’s (even if there’s no scene that showed it, she only said that Itou was a good person when he’s in middle school). I see no reason why Itou can make those other girls have sex with him. Now this is what I means with they lose their sanity, and things really become ridiculous.
At some point, it’s kinda realistic (about a perverted guy who only aim for sex, no more, no less), but at another, it’s really unrealistic (how the girls act and willing to have sex with that bastard for no apparent reason).
For the whole episode (pre-ending) I always wish that bastard to die. I’m glad he really died in the last episode. I don’t play the game, nor read any review about it before. That’s why I’m kinda relieved after watch the ending. Gruesome ?? I prefer said “serve him right !!”
Also “serve her right” for being a slut. It’s all her fault anyway. You may said that she’s the one who trigger the “beast” inside that bastard. Like Katsura said, if only she never did it in the first place, then everything (maybe) wouldn’t happened.
I feel sorry for Katsura, she’s just an innocent girl. Well I can understand why she become a pshyco like that. She’s just roneri.
I agree with 49/100 score IF I hadn’t watch the last episode. Since the last episode really the saviour, I agree with comment above me, I score it around 65/100.
It’s realistic, but at the same time it’s not. If only they polished the girl part a little bit, maybe it would be an excellent series.
Well I guess I can’t expect much from anime that’s adapted from H Game.
Comment by minori — May 4, 2009 @ 6:50
hey, just finished watching school days, guess what, it’s soooo fucking screwed up, first of all, the title was school days, SCHOOL DAYS for crying out loud, i really wasn’t expecting it to be as such. lets just put it dis way, ep 1 to 8 were a bit decent, it wasn’t that bad at all, it slipped at ep 9 and like what makoto was doing in the anime, instead of climbing out of the hole it dropped inro, it just kept digging deeper and deeper to its grave, utter failure isn’t enough to describe the bad taste this has left me, makes me wonder if the people who wrote the story had been on crack, my god, SCHOOL DAYS my ass, call it something more fitting, like the fucker or something. now excuse me while i pour acid on my eyes to wash off this anime.
Comment by glen — May 16, 2009 @ 21:29
I’m sorry but I completely disagree with this blog’s view on the script writing.
How many writers can convincingly start an anime off convincing 99% of viewers that it’s just your typical rom-com, and then totally blow away your mind with its unpredictability?
I fail to see how the girls were just plot devices to move the story along. Each move Makoto made shocked me, and I loathe him. Yet this anime is (apart from the ending) one of the most real I have seen.
I don’t think I will re-watch it, but it’s definately shocked me to the core. Beautiful writing, ecspecially when Katsura is losing her mind. Not artificial atall. If you want artificial, watch your typical rom-com (which by the way I love). I recommend it, if you have a strong capacity to hate.
Comment by kath — May 18, 2009 @ 23:41