High School of the Dead 12 – Boobs and T. S. Eliot (END) (?)

That T. S. Eliot character has really gone places now — his poetry is being inexplicably quoted in zombie fanservice anime! Probably the only weirder place to see an Eliot quote pop up is in a harem show or something . . . wait, what am I saying, this is pretty much a harem series already, isn’t it? Damn you, High School of the Dead — always one step ahead of me.

Anyway, the series has come to an end, although a second season could be in the cards; it would be a given with any other studio, but Madhouse is fairly notorious for not doing second seasons. The fact that the studio did not conjure up an anime-exclusive ending (I think) is probably a good sign for fans, though. I’d watch a second season. High School of the Dead is an entertaining enough series with a rather, er, unique approach to fanservice. And, hey, I like to see zombies get killed. Sue me.

Final death chart for now, though with a different spin on it . . .

High School of the Dead 11 – Here Come the Nukes!

This is a pretty good set-up episode for a finale that should have a lot of fireworks. I wonder if any of the nukes will be coming Japan’s way (seems so, since the country has to take some measures in the preview)? Before it seemed as if it was just America vs. everyone else when it came to the bomb. Now I guess it’s everyone vs. everyone — a real Dr. Strangelove situation. Then we have Shido squirming away when we all know what’s going to happen later; this pretty much says it all. But, hey, it wouldn’t be anime without the heroes shooting themselves in the collective foot. If there’s one thing, this trope teaches people, it’s that morality is a fucking pain in the ass.

Countdown to death chart: 3, 2, 1 . . .

High School of the Dead 10 – The Tsuntsun Express

Man, every role Jouji Nakata takes seems tailor made for him, doesn’t it? Saya’s dad utters one syllable, and I can immediately buy Nakata as this authoritative, imperialist type figure. If he lets the group head out with his daughter after all this, though, then he’s a lot more understanding than that, haha. Or maybe he just does not want to deal with her shit. Maybe that is more likely. At any rate, looks like it’s time to hit the road again instead of staying in a relatively safe place. Hooray!

Enter death chart.

High School of the Dead 9 – Iron Grip

Not a bad episode this week. It actually moves at a decent pace and gets Saeko and Takashi to Saya’s house in a single episode, which is frankly more than I expected. And even though the plot element of Saeko’s sadism is introduced a bit awkwardly, it ends with Saeko practically orgasming as she slices and dices zombies with her sword upgrade (feel the symbolism!), so that is a win in my book. She is pretty much glowing when she arrives at Saya’s pad with Takashi. No wonder Saya is so upset! Just wait until Rei sees those two. Yikes.

Death chart time~

High School of the Dead 8 – Boob Ripples

Really, what can I write that has not already been pointed out? Madhouse has gone beyond the impossible and kicked reason to the curb with the fanservice in this episode. Can it even be classified as fanservice now? The bullet time panties probably still counts, but the bullet time boobs and boob recoil cushions? That’s just . . . out there, something else entirely. I suppose someone out there must have got a dirty thrill from flopping boobs and boob ripples. My mind is mostly picking up the pieces of itself after being shattered by that scene.

So, uh, death chart?

High School of the Dead 7 – Half-Naked Rescue

Pretty good episode here. The fanservice momentum is rolling along, but it doesn’t really come at the expense of the action — Operation Rescue Little Girl is executed well by our main crew, and now they are finally off to do what they set out to do at the beginning of the series. I doubt many of their family members are alive at this point, but might as well check, right? They should be fine, anyway, what with our heroes leveling up in fighting ability with each episode. Are they Saiyans or something? Damn.

Death chart time!

High School of the Dead 6 – Fanservice of the Dead

Lots and lots of fanservice and Marikawa and Rei getting drunk in this episode! I’m not really one to decry fanservice, but wow, it’s almost sensory overload here. It gets to a point where your brain just shuts down because boobs and ass are everywhere. And I guess the story wants to find a way for Rei to bring up Hisashi more without feeling guilty about it, so she does a bit of offscreen drinking. I thought Takashi might brush it off, just because Rei is so clearly drunk and rambling, but it’s actually understandable this time that it pushes past his explosion point. But, hey, the make-up kissing afterward is great! (Kissing is pretty much the equivalent of furious boning in anime, I guess.)

Oh, and Rika’s place is loaded, damn. Of the options Kouta presents, the third is most likely, or at least the one I hope is most likely. She could totally be a good enough sniper to command outrageous Golgo 13 prices.

Now for the death chart!

High School of the Dead 5 – Reunion Under the Bridge

A tearful reunion! Well, tears of blood, anyway. The reunion comes maybe a bit too quickly and conveniently, but at least Takashi and Rei know how to crash the party with style, so that is easily forgiven. When a bunch of teenagers are pulling off ridiculous fighting maneuvers like Saeko and Takashi’s three-hit zombie combo, then it’s difficult to take the show seriously enough to get angry at bits that are just a bit too convenient, you know? Have to admit I had a good laugh at the delinquents being sprayed off the bridge, and the newcomer, Rika, seems pretty cool, too. (Fun fact: Her seiyuu, Junko Takeuchi, also voices Naruto. MIND BLOWN. BELIEVE IT.)

Now for the post of death.

High School of the Dead 4 – Pumping Gas and Lead

Not a whole lot going on in this episode unless you are a fan of recap. Weird to see so much this early on in the game, though. There isn’t much of substance after that either. The bus crew just hangs around a bit and scowls at Shido because he is being a big, gross Pedobear, and Rei and Takashi have a squabble before gunning down gunning down one of the Yellow Scarves extras. Also, groping.

So there isn’t too much to go on when it comes to the death chart this week, but hey, not having too much more new information never stopped me from posting before, so why should it stop me now?

High School of the Dead 2 – Resident Evil Tactics

Solid episode, still pretty standard as far as zombie stories go. Nice to see everyone taking some initiative and finding the best ways to survive given the available supplies. Violence is a bit more serious business this week, too, particularly the scene where Saya drills the hell out of that one zombie out of desperation. The fanservice just makes me laugh, too. I’ll never not be weirded out by bouncy boobs sound effects. Amusing that Marikawa also apparently has bouncy ass sound effects. She’s a double threat! (Or maybe a triple threat if you consider each of her, er, assets separately.)

Anyway, opinion of episode quality out of the way — let’s get to character survival analysis!