For a moment, the endless chase seems to be over for
Takashi and his friends as they arrive at the Takagi Mansion, now turned into a
Fortress against the Undead. But
tensions clash between the Adults and this now battle hardened group of High
School Survivors. And in the blink of an
eye, everything changes as the world is set ablaze. With Armageddon at the Takagi doorstep,
Takashi, Rei, Saeko, Hirano, Takagi, Shizuka and Arisu must make their final
stand and hope they can get out of this one.
The endless war against the Undead is only just beginning.
As we’ve seen with so many Zombie Saga in modern media,
there’s always a risk that it can overstay its welcome and become dull and
boring.
The Walking Dead is still in the
middle of it’s “Final” Season when many feel it should’ve ended years ago.
Even Resident Evil lost its way a bit with
some lackluster games and those terrible Paul W.S. Anderson Movies.
Which brings us to High School of the Dead’s
Finale and, as I predicted, we have another Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
situation and this time, there’s not even a Movie to go along with it, just a
very short and uncessasary OVA that I will talk about.
The finale itself, it’s not bad.
Several characters showcase their growth and
others get unleashed upon the Zombie hordes like never before.
If we’re comparing the two, I think Kabaneri
went bigger with spectacle while HOTD goes for a more personal finale despite
the Zombie carnage.
Guess I should break
it down and bring this fun and sexy ride to a close.
Of the core seven cast members, I feel like three have
gotten the bulk of the character development in HOTD: Takagi, Hirano and
Saeko.
All three get to show their
progress, some in surprising ways, during the finale.
Saeko finally gets some alone time with
Takashi and explains her violent history and how she feels unworthy of love
because of it.
It was nice to see Saeko
be a bit vulnerable and less than invincible for a moment.
And while Takashi narrarated that he needed
to accept Saeko’s violent dark side because it made her a better killer against
the Zombie hordes, I like to think he genuinely does care about her, even like
her.
Pretty sure they kissed while at
the Shrine too.
Besides, theyre my
favorite pairing in the show.
Takashi
and Rei have a lot of history but Rei…honestly she’s been so back and forth
personality wise and I feel like Saeko’s been more quickly supportive of
Takashi, a shoulder to lean on and a voice of wisdom.
Cant say nearly the same of Rei, who does get
a big character moment thanks to the return of Shido but the outcome feels…idk
not very earned.
Maybe if we knew about
Rei’s past with Shido well before hand, it might’ve had an impact.
But if I had to do a ranking, Rei’s had the
second least character development behind Shizuka, who’s just a clumsy, busty
gal and isn’t really ashamed of that.
Tl;dr, Takashi and Saeko are my main couple in this show and are perfect
together and I’m glad they got an episode to themselves.
Takagi has remained an obnoxious would be know it all
throughout HOTD and now we got to see why she is that way.
Her parents are both tremendous bad asses:
her Dad’s a walking Jojo reference and her Mom…well big shock, she’s hot like
every other woman in this show.
Most
importantly, despite Takagi thinking otherwise, they love their daughter a lot
and know she’s in the best hands with Takashi and the others.
Hirano stepped up in particular and proved
his courage to Takagi’s Dad, the man delegating the task of protecting his
daughter to the gun totting Otaku.
Hirano’s attitude towards guns and murder could be cause for concern but
he’s a protector and a fighter at heart and even Takagi had to finally take
notice and find that side of him attractive.
The moment where Takagi lashed out at her father and stood up for Hirano
when he tried to keep his guns from being taken away was probably the moment I
finally started liking Takagi, “I’ve seen his bravery first hand.
He’s been the one protecting me Dad.
He’s doing your job.”
I’m surprised the show had time for this with
all the blood and sexy imagery going on.
The Fall of Takagi Manor, I’m not gonna lie, felt a
little underwhelming.
Even if I didn’t
know this show didn’t have a Second Season, I felt pretty sure Takashi’s crew
was going to get out ok.
And while there
was some decent action, including Saeko getting to cut loose with a brand
spanking new sword, it feels like all of the best HOTD action was in previous
episodes, especially during Takashi and Saeko’s episode when he just let her go
nuts on the horde at the Shrine.
Honestly,
the most impactful moments from the finale beyond the character stuff was
seeing that the rest of the world is going to Hell in a hand basket.
Nukes have finally been launched and an EMP
has crippled the region where Takashi and the group are located.
There was the added tension between the
Adults at Takagi Manor and Takashi’s group of High School kids who have done
far more than any of them in the last 72 hours (it’s been about three days
since the start of the show right?).
And
Shido finally returned, with his group of student survivors now a deluded sex
cult as predicted.
Unfortunately, or not
depending on how you look at it, we don’t get to see much of said Cult as Shido
and his group are promptly exiled in no time after Rei and Takagi’s Dad pass
judgement on him.
Like I said, wouldn’t
say “unfortunately” cause it means people still have brains and recognize crazy
trash when they see it and aren’t gonna give Shido a chance to infect others
with his madness.
I guess since I brought it up, I should talk about the
short OVA episode that came out a little more than a year after the HOTD Series
Finale, Drifters of the Dead…it’s a beach minisode.
Yep, Drifters isn’t even a full length
episode, it’s only 15 minutes and is just an excuse to see the girls in skimpy
swimsuits before everyone gets high on hallucinogens and starts making out with
one another.
It’s both harmless fun and
a pointless continuation cause it’s not the start of a Second Season.
There’s nothing meaningful in Drifters of the
Dead that we haven’t gotten throughout the show already.
It’s just an excuse to have some extra, sexy
fun at the temporary expense of everyones sanity and common sense.
Wont lie though, I did like what I assume was
Saeko’s hallucination, where she confessed her feelings for Takashi.
As a guy who ships them, this made me
happy…except it wasn’t real and Saeko was just making out with Rei, aka her
rival for Takashi’s heart, the entire time…hot but still bummer.
And so we end High School of the Dead on an unresolved
cliffhanger (not counting Drifters of the Dead).
As a pause point, it’s fine but there’s so
much a Second Season needs to answer, including: Did Takagi’s parents make it
out?
Is Shido still alive?
Just how the hell did this undead outbreak
begin?
What’s the status of the rest of
the world now that nukes have been unleased?
Are everyone elses parents still alive?
Will Rika meet up with Shizuka and join the group?
And, if we ignore Drifters of the Dead (or push
it to another point in time), what comes next after the Mall that the group
discovers in the Post Credits scene?
The
HOTD Manga wrapped a long time ago, I think, and I cant imagine this show
wasn’t unpopular with the Anime scene.
I
actually remember when HOTD took over the late night, after hours Anime scene
for a bit and built up quite a following.
Maybe it didn’t do so well in Japan?
I don’t know and we’ll probably never see a Season Two.
Then again, if Full Metal Panic can get a 4
th
Season almost 15 years after it’s 3
rd…anything’s possible I guess.
However, in the here and now, at this current paused
point, High School of the Dead is immature and tasteless…but my God it is such
a fun show.
Yes it is full of lewdness
and moments that put it ridiculously close to being a Zombie Survival themed
Hentai but I couldn’t help but enjoy the absurdity of it all.
The cast worked well off one another, even if
everyone remained the same from Episode 1 right til the end.
Characters like Hirano and Saeko were a joy
to watch as they embraced their inner killer/protector side.
Pretty much every action scene was wild,
crazy, well paced and an action junkie dream come true, bringing back memories
of how equally wild and crazy Anime was in the 90s when it was going for a more
hardcore edge with audiences.
It might
not have the refinment of Ninja Scroll and occasionally lost sight of that
balance between Survival Horror and Cheesecake.
But, as I’ve come to realize, High School of the Dead isn’t a deep
Anime: it’s dumb, it’s loud, it’s relentlessly sexy and violent…and just an all
around fun show that is ok to watch with a turned off brain.
Just watch the awesome and relax…this is the
kind of crazy awesome Anime was made for.
Now…about that Season Two?
High School of the Dead gets an 8/10
Next Monday, we trade in slaying Zombie for slaying Metal
Gear sized Samurai?
It’s the futuristic
Anime reimagining of one of the greatest films in Japanese cinema,
Akira
Kurosawa’s Samurai 7, right here at the Gundam Anime Corner, see ya
then.
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