As the World falls apart in the wake of what’s being
dubbed as the “Killing Pandemic”, Takashi and his friends flee into the city,
hoping to find safe haven from the Zombie onslaught. Tensions (and hormones) are high as the
Zombie hordes intensify and grow to massive numbers. And then there’s the human element, or lack
therof, to contend with as rabid survivors devolve into madness amongst the
chaos. Throughout it all, Takashi and
his comrades press on, struggling to find their place in this insanity while
holding onto their humanity. They
survived the High School of the Dead…hopefully they’ll survive the city too.
While I was taking notes on this set of episodes, I had
to stop and really think…think about why I’m trying to think so hard about High
School of the Dead and wondered if I could do a proper review of it.
I began to think that this is a show not
meant to be reviewed because what’s there to delve so deep into.
This isn’t a deep series: it’s big, it’s
loud, it’s heavy on the violence and sexy factor.
One could just write off High School of the Dead
as shallow and disgusting and just leave it at that.
But you know what…I cant disagree that
sometimes the cheesecake is a bit much but dammit, I am having fun watching it
all unfold.
The sophomore set of
episodes expands the scope of the threat terrorizing the world and steps up the
absurd action to new levels of crazy.
This is a show meant for having fun and if youre not by now, you should
have stopped several episodes ago.
Me?
I’m pressing on, let’s get to it.
So yeah…the worlds gone to crap and it’s only getting
worse.
We actually get to see more of
how its affecting others beyond Takashi’s group.
One scene even sees the President of the
United States debating whether or not to launch a massive attack on neighboring
nations after he’s been bitten on Air Force One…yeah hopefully he didn’t do
that but I think we’d know if he did.
Focusing on Japan, the bridge sequences were particularly intense.
Police Officers, cut off from their command,
had to make their own orders and maintain order as best they could.
This results in one Captain executing a manic
Conspiracy Theorist…and then himself because this new reality is dark and
unforgiving.
Some are even embracing the
madness like a Yakuza leading a neighborhood militia, gunning down anyone
living or dead.
And then there’s Shido,
whom Rei hinted was a pretty disgusting dude before the Apocalypse, now acting
like a crazy and lecherous cult leader desperate to score with underage high
school girls.
Suffice to say, HOTD isn’t
all fun and sexy games, when it wants to get dark it gets dark.
Just look at poor Arisu’s Dad being stabbed
by survivors who refuse to rescue him from the Zombie hordes…its nasty out
there.
Which brings us back to Takashi’s group and how theyre
coping with it all.
We’ve seen that most
have embraced their inner killer instincts and Hirano and Busujima especially
look like theyre getting the biggest thrill out of all the violence…well Busujima
for sure, Hirano’s loving all the artillery which he actually has been trained
to use, “The class nerd is a card carrying member of the NRA”, Takashi notes at
one point.
Takagi’s had to learn to
check her own self obsessed privledge to trust in the people she’s with and
Rei’s continued her back and forth of being totally in control of her new
environment to not believing how bad things have gotten.
Takashi…has remained fairly the same but he’s
probably the character with the least amount of depth.
He does have plenty of heart though, enough
to mount a rescue for Arisu and her cute puppy, Zero (HOTD has a mascot
now?).
It’s pretty inspiring…no wonder
every girl in this show wants to sleep with him (especially Busujima, man she
is only just barely hiding her attraction).
That seems like a good segue into my next point.
Episode 6 sees the group end up at the home
of Shizuka’s girlfriend, yes girlfriend, Rika, who we see is a Special Forces
Sniper.
While Takashi and Hirano
inventory the guns…the girls all take a bath and its about what youd expect
from this show…just a few TnA shots away from being an all out Hentai.
Everyone hot, eveyrones horny (Rei and
Shizuka both try to sleep with Takashi at one point)…and Busujima’s making
dinner in an apron and a thong.
Yeah…it’s hot.
But the problem is
we keep cutting back between this and the disasters happening on the
bridges.
The tonal whiplash is immense
and, as I’ve come to say about confusing shifts in tone like this, they needed
to pick a lane.
There’s a time for being
sexy and a time for being serious and dramatic.
There’s also times when sexy, action packed sequences work well
together.
But Episode 6 wasn’t a good
balance.
TnA and tragedy aren’t meant to
mix that way.
The insane action continues to be the highlight of this
show and, like I said earlier, it only gets more insane.
Anything and everything is being used as a
Zombie killing weapon now from Bulldozers to SUVs to Sniper Rifles that can
make impossible shots only the horniest of teens writing a story like this
could come up with.
Seriously, I could
write, right here and now, that Takashi manages to shoot a sniper round that
zooms through Busujima’s flapping boobs while he’s got the rifle against Rei,
who’s moaning with each round fired…but I think that’s just a sequence that has
to be seen to be believed.
Beyond
impossible and borderline insane shots, I love how the crew continues to work
as a unit.
You wouldn’t believe it’s
only been a day or two since the start of the series but the instant gelling of
combat styles that we saw in the beginning is still in play here.
From Hirano being perfect sniper support to
Takashi and Busujima’s near flawless technique as a duo, everyones on their A
Game for the Zombie Wars.
We ended this set with Takashi and Busujima on their own
while the others picked up two newcomers, Arisu and Zero, and reunited with
Takagi’s mother and a small resistance group.
Only 4 episodes remain (and I guess if I can I should look at the bonus
OVA too), so how is this gonna all wrap up?
My guess is we’ll have another Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress situation
where we might not get an actual ending and have another show that’s been
sitting in continuation purgatory for almost a decade now.
I guess as long as I’m enjoying myself at the
end, I might still give High School of the Dead a good score.
Just depends on how the ending…well ends I
guess.
See ya back here Friday for the
Series Finale of High School of the Dead, right here at the Gundam Anime
Corner.
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