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「All DEAD’S attack.」
As memory failed me last time, it seems that last episode’s EMP shots actually became the plot shifting point of this episode. The EMP blast has disabled all electronic devices, one of which is Shido’s bus (I felt so bad for the guy with the pacemaker). The bus crashes into a barrier set up not too far away from the mansion, creating an opening for “them” to get through. Soon enough, “they” make their way to the mansion, easily bringing down the iron gates. Since the mansion is no longer a safe place, all plans hit the fan. Soichiro decides to take on “them”, as there’s really not much else to do, and tells Takagi to leave with her friends. Takagi finally realizes their love as parents (but gets an honestly unnecessary slap from her mom, more forced actions), and Nurse Boin finally realizes her place in the story (which made me laugh pretty hard). The group leaves, have a rather odd “everything’s going to be okay” scene, and soon end up at the mall. End season one. All in all, a rather faithful episode, besides the fact that because the Saeko and Takashi arc was originally after this, they now have their old Humvee instead of the small all terrain vehicle. That doesn’t matter anyways, since they crash it not too long before they get there.
Final Impressions:
So what’s the verdict? What started out as seemingly incredible, fizzed a little and lost a lot of seriousness along the way due to a couple of odd scene directions. I believe you have to keep some level of seriousness in a SURVIVAL show, because without it, how can you possibly care about what happens on screen? Although, knowing that none of the characters weren’t going to die didn’t really help either, so that definitely gives me some unfair bias. Besides the character and plot issues (which I won’t even bother getting into, but that’s the source material’s fault), the other big element of zombie shows is of course the killing of said zombies. However, the action was only good for the first few episodes, and slowly diminished to uninspired shooting and whacking by the season’s finale. The gore in the manga was what made each death special, and kept the ongoing conflicts fresh. Since HOTD didn’t show any of that, every fight became somewhat of a RPG game, where all you see is boring hits and misses. The most interesting kill by far was Saya’s drill, and that was way back in episode two (and censored at that). From a highly critical point of view, comparing to top series, HOTD offers nothing new except animated zombies. For the people with high ideals and adore well written shows looking for some serious apocalyptic zombie realism, go read “The Walking Dead”, or watch the live action series premiering on AMC this fall. For the casual viewer looking for some harmless entertainment to pass the time, then it gets a little tricky.
And so, HOTD basically comes down to this. Like anyone who reads the manga before an adaptation, the show might feel a little stale throughout, finishing with a rather lackluster finale. Of course, seeing as how they decided to follow the manga till the end, a more exciting finale couldn’t have been possible, so a season two is very likely (if not greenlit already) and would continue the story through the mall arc and beyond. However, based on what I’ve read of the series so far, the story never really “ramps” up to anything really amazing. You’ll get more of your typical zombie cliches inserted, except with a slight twist of the show being “loljapanese”. Obviously, season two would be more entertaining if you haven’t read it, but if you’ve liked the adaptation so far, then by all means, keep on watching. For me, I might watch it for obligatory reasons, but I highly doubt I’ll be blogging this show again.
On the other hand, people who have not read HOTD, might have found this series to be quite entertaining. If watched with no expectations whatsoever, one could possibly find themselves thinking that HOTD is the best show of the season. Sadly, I wasn’t one of those people, but for those that haven’t seen the source material, HOTD just might be an interesting venture. Ignorance is bliss, and this show is a prime example of that, in more ways than one.
ED12 Sequence
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ED12: 「The Eternal Song」 by 黒崎真音 (Kurosaki Maon)
Watch the 12th ED!: Download, Streaming ▼
I can’t believe I squealed like a little girl when this started. I’d pick this up again just so I can get it off my mind.
What was awesome in the beginning became a sexually awkward mess by the end. Thankfully, this episode managed to remain pretty faithful to the manga, but that doesn’t excuse the creepy and overdone ecchi scenes from the majority of the other episodes.
Why was the manga put on halt, anyway? It seems like it just stopped after chapter 26.
Chapter 27 is actually out. Not much really happens though…
“What started out as seemingly incredible, fizzed a little and lost a lot of seriousness along the way due to a couple of odd scene directions.”
Yeah same here. Started off well, the scene with the 2 on a bike rescuing the others was nice. The teacher was built up enough to be labelled irritating. The excessive bouncing breasts after the little girl’s father got whacked, killed the scene. The scene of the little girl handing fatty the ammo also got killed by the vibrating breast fats. That the wave like flow was reminicent of other anime scenes with character with really fat waists really killed any erotism of the scene.
This show was good. Too bad there’s no ending to it. Perhaps a next season?
it could have been a really good show..
it was a good show, if not only for the odd fanservice marks (bullet time with boobs running faster than 330 m/s) and character developments (who would forget the shrine?).
although the military applications seen in the anime are glorious. its better to see them moving… and it forced me to research on how the weaponry works.
I do hope they come up with enough material for a second season soon. It shouldn’t end in a whimper as this episode suggests. I guess this means I’ll have to continue reading it since I only read as far as this episode… probably a chapter further in, but I’ll have to find it again to read further.
Anyway, great review, man. Keep it up.
Appreciated.
Definitely open for a second season.
Ah… sad to see that this anime series is coming to a close (hopefully only temporary as the manga goes ahead again). Probably one of the best series I’ve ever encountered. I look forward to the future and what it may bring.
for real?
@caramel_cod There’s a chapter every 2 months.
I had so many expectations for the show(never read the manga). I mean it started off with just about every zombie cliche i’ve ever scene but it could have gone in so many directions with so many different scenarios but all it ended up doing was tripping all over itself. The first couple eps were good but it just went down hill after that which is too bad since it could have been a great show(not counting the boob matrix part).
I have a question for those that have read the manga though. What was the point of the nuke? Was it supposed to explode over japan or actually hit japan? It’s not like the zombies were robots so i don’t see the point of an EMP.
“What was the point of the nuke?”
Show Spoiler ▼
Anyway, this just screams “sequel hook.” But considering how young the manga is (27 chapters at the moment) and there’s not much plot development in the recent chapter, I’m not holding my breath for a season 2 just yet. (TBH, the “find Rei and Takashi’s parents” angle has been dragging for some time now. Will Rei and Takashi find them, or will their parents become “them”?)
Besides, most zombie films end with an uncertain future for the survivors, so if the sequel hook doesn’t generate interest in season 2, at least you got the “uncertain future ending.”
Ah, who am I kidding, I was watching it for Saeko, Hirano and the “gunservice”…
Started off great, but after the first 2-3 episodes it died for me. I only continued to watch it for the fan-service and zombies. :/
The good: they tried to make a history faithful to the manga.
The bad: Too much fanservice, I know little doses here and there is good but there’s a limit to it.
The ugly: “Boob bullet time” that was really out of the chart.
Thanks for keep us informed about the series and great review.
@caramel cod: they stalled the series for almost a year, when the anime was announced the manga run back and is now on chapter 27. (that’s what i know)
I was initially turned off by the excess amount of fan-service in the first episode and thought ill of the show. But I kept watching it because it was popular and “cool”. Toward the end of the season, I picked up another show called Ichiban Ushiro no Daimaou (uncensored & HD woot!). Now THAT was fan-service done right. I came back to this show for the last two episodes and was like, “This ain’t so bad..”. The show just kinda played then. Any attempts to woo me with panty shots and gelatinous boobgasms were just “Meh.” ^^;
p.s. I like the Game Informer setup. Haha~
wow i never actually read the manga so i thought this was a pretty good show for the most part , but i have to agree with the whole over use of wierd sexual tensions and extremely reaching ecchi scenes. that just made it lose touch. plus i might add i didnt even know the last episode was the ending until i read this. it was done very poorly IMO.
So the missile that hit Japan was chinese DF-21…
BMD ships overall have done well but one was out due to zombie infestation
Either virus is damn good at sreading by air (many miles into the sea?) or there was some conspiracy to release the virus in many points of the world – including some ships… or maybe they have tried to rescue a floating person only to find a zombie? or they have rushed out of harbor with someone bitten onboard.
Season 2 please? I am fully aware of the shows deficiencies but Im starving for action shows. Man cannot live on moe alone…
“Man cannot live on moe alone”… lol QFT!
Though this was a really nice ending, I was expecting a little more since the manga has more stuff with it, sadly this was the end. Interesting enough, they didn’t have too much echhi comepared to the last ones.
I think the author should just concentrate with HOTD…..
seeing how awesome it is…
“On the other hand, people who have not read HOTD, might have found this series to be quite entertaining. If watched with no expectations whatsoever, one could possibly find themselves thinking that HOTD is the best show of the season.”
You definitely nailed it on the head. I have only read part of the manga to see discrepancies between the two. The loss of serious tone in some episodes really hampers the show sometimes. I’m still one of those people who wouldn’t mind a second season. While far from being the best show of the season, it was still entertaining. I’m just glad it’s, for the most part, consistent with the manga. I’m sort of a purist in that regard.
I watch for Saeko, Kohta’s VA, and the lulz.
there’s an OVA coming out soon. It’ll cover the Mall ARC.
They have enough material for a second season since they’ll likely wait for the OVA release and DVD/BR sales.
First Season = ch.1 to ch.17
OVA = filler
Second Season = ch.18 to ch.27 + omakes + likely events from ch.28 as after credit cliffhanger
We’ll likely get filler of the mall arc thrown to develop each of the new characters to build some form of emotion (positive or negatively) when what happens later in the arc happens.
I don’t really know why people are saying it went downhill. It didn’t. People took it too serious, expecting a straight zombie anime when the PVs showed the fanservice. I expect this from people who knew nothing of the series… not those who had an idea of what it was about.
HOTD keep me watching till the end. At times it was weird but Im kinda use to weird things in anime by now. Going on kind of what you said, I enjoyed HOTD as much as I did cuz I never thought it was going to be the best anime of the season.
I’m a manga reader up-to-date and the show was A-ok for me. I never (anime and manga) tought deeply about the characters, hence why I don’t dislike anyone in the show… well, that cocky bus student and priest Mr. Shido, what a bunch douchebags!
I was not bothered by the fanservice because:
1.- I was forewarned
2.- I’ve watched 100% fanservice shows… ehr…
Good show for me, not rushed and with space for a second season. Thanks for the review.
I don’t know why people still complain about fanservice when the original manga is also full of it… Really, cut it off already.
aw, posted in bad place xD
HOTD: FAIL KIIRAGI totally called it tho.. the definitely screwed this up.. i guess the whole zombie thing doesnt translate well into Shounen.. cuz this was a shitty.. SHITTY adaptation of a zombie story.
I didnt read the manga and have little interest in doing so.. if this was a seinen anime maybe it would have been good.. they would have shown some full on gore, killed off main characters! haha you know one that make you feel hopeless like a zombie movie/series should.
I doubt i would subject myself to a 2nd season.. lol i should’ve stopped watching after ep 5 but i listened to the ppl shout “its gonna pick up after ‘x’ episodes”
About the excessive fanservice… The head of animation said in an interview before the series’ debut that he was crazy about bouncing breasts, hence the chaotic boob-festival in every episode of the series… What a crap!!! The series could have lived without it… xD
About the adaptation… I loved how they went faithful with the original material, I was kinda fearing a possible original ending, but when I’ve gotten the episode and went straight to the last minute just to check, I jump in awe as the mall was the final shot.
About a second season… Not so sure about it… Each episode was lately taking around 2 manga chapters per episode, making it likely that until chapter 26 there would be only around 5/6 episodes max, and that’s short. Also, at the damned speed the author is taking the chapters to come out, not expecting any miracle.
And I’m also not expecting much from the original OAD, since it’s title doesn’t come from any manga chapter “Drifters of the Dead”.
The only hope would be an OAV-based second season, only for the mall arc, that would be a blast, especially for me! XD
All you guys expect way too much for a zombie anime lol, I for me enjoyed what was brought on the screen since being a person who looks for something that would kill time this was one of them. What impressed me about this show was Hirano and the detail to the guns and whatnot. Anyways other than that High School of the Dead was really good. I am very easily impressed and seeing this ending kinda shows it’s not done yet. If it’s done? Well hay it was good while it lasted. If you want to have fun then go make your own story with zombie games like L4D or Dead Rising series.
i do have one question though:
Show Spoiler ▼
With limited amount of ICBMs like China has, and added problem of enemy BMD, it is better to turn off electronics in entire country than nuke one city. And of course it could be damaged warhead, possibly also by BMD missile that was near-miss.
I say Highschool of the dead was great and I had read the Manga. Yes, the Fan-service was over the top but so was the Manga and it really does fit with the tone of the show. They also worked in some elements of horror movies and ideas of how will humans handle the zombie outbreaks.
The first episode was absolutely awesome, what happened?
…
and matrix boobs are NOT the business.
Great covering of the series. It pretty much made continuing to watch worth it. 🙂
Sadly enough this kind of died for me around episode three.
Plenty of amusing points here and there but for someone who didn’t read the manga …
I think it still kind of fell short of what the potential showed in the first episode.
I did, didn’t it. I can’t even think of any character that was my favorite. 🙁
I think people who nitpick every single thing like the bullet time boobs are the ones who find the series unbearable.
I understand everyone has their own tastes but if you come in with very low expectations then you will find yourself enjoying it more. While you’re busy raging over every single detail it deters to your enjoyment of the show.
At any rate, it did have its share of flaws BUT that did not stop me from enjoying the show itself. I’m not going to sit here and lie to myself how it was lame just because of how people over hyped it for themselves or put too high of an expectation.
Overall, I’m sad to see it go and my Sundays will not be the same without my weekly dose of zombie action. With that, I can only hope future manga material become animated once again.
I didn’t list HOTD to be one one of the series to watch this season. But watched the first episode due to the hype at almost everywhere I get my anime preview/impressions fix. My most favorite character (Hisashi) died and that’s it for me.
No. I lied. I kept watching, feeling somewhat awkward in the middle of it, pissed off, annoyed and by the time it’s over I was so relieved! A second season? Idk. I’d say I’m not interested to watch it. But who knows if I’d change my mind.
Yes, thank you for covering the series thus far. I haven’t read the manga so I enjoyed the series for what it was. I have fun listening to all the technobabble over guns and their make. (Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 fan) I also found most action scenes to be entertaining. Mostly ones with Hoshino(sp? Sorry, I’m watching to many shows.. ^^;) and Saeko.
Anyway, this is probably one reason why I don’t read to much manga. I do it backwards. Anime>Specials/OVAs>Manga. Less disappointment that way. So if there’s a second season, I’m down. :]
p.s. That guy with the pacemaker got it the worst.. Dx
Go Kiiragi!
I haven’t read the manga, and you are correct that without any expectations, this is a pretty good watch. The plot holes aren’t too apparent to me (I’m watching this show more for entertainment), but I can see somethings unraveling at the threads. I enjoyed the fire fight and Hirano’s epic “I am the Best” moment.
I’m glad that the sadistic and overly pale teacher finally went away. I don’t like him ._.
Who the hell is that walking past the credits at the end?
It’s foreshadowing. She’s a police officer…
We’ll see her again in the mall arc.
That’s weird i thought Shido’s group is supposed to leave the area but it looks like it’s the other way around.
Couldn’t agree more with you about this being a series that started off looking good and really squandered most of it’s potential. And that’s the worst part about it — seeing the glimmers of real potential made it all the more painful when it just fizzled out instead.
Having just watched Queen’s Blade I really liked how that show knew it was a ludicrous ecchi/action timewaster and it spent the whole show excelling at being just that. HSotD’s problem was that instead of focusing on being damn good at over-the-top ecchi/action it would swing between that and attempting some intense emotional scenes, which just made it come off as extremely tasteless and boring since both extremes detracted from eachother.
I’ve been a fan of the series when I first read the manga, but for the most part this anime really sucked the life out of it.
The anime begun with a huge bang which I enjoyed, but after a few episode later it dimmed down really bad with awkward situation and unnecessary fanservice, this episode did however brought its edge back and I prefer it that way, but the damage is done and it too late for it to be fixed.
Here’s some advice that I would give MadHouse, 1) give the anime some dignity like the manga did, and make sure every single page of the manga gets included without leaving anything out, unlike episode 11: it was shit. 2) Make it your own. If you want to add anything new or make some changes then make sure it follows through or see how it goes.
Example 1: Have the group spotted Alice’s dad earlier so that they would save both Alice and the dad, but will have to sacrifice the neighbours for them (the same ones that stabbed Alice’s Dad). Example 2: Have Show Spoiler ▼
, alive and be a part of the group for a while then kill her off later, which will get Hirano to turn insane, but later snapps out of it.
However despite that the damage is already done and we’ll see how it goes in the second season.
https://randomc.net/image/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2007.jpg – Why won’t this shithead die?
https://randomc.net/image/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2025.jpg – Go you lot
https://randomc.net/image/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD%20-%2012%20-%20Large%2039.jpg – Dawn of the Dead anyone?
https://randomc.net/image/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD/HIGHSCHOOL%20OF%20THE%20DEAD%20-%20ED12%20-%20Large%2003.jpg – We all knew what’s gonna happened to her
WAS GREAT!!! “compared to all the TRASH out this season” why? production values were JUICY! soundtrack was tight! ANIMATION was SWEET “and generous”. and BOTTOM LINE it was different. what the Fu@k are all you people going on about with complaints on story, ending, etc etc.. they pulled this off FROM A SHIT MANGA with ZERO substance whatsoever. its a zombie flick people!!!
I guess the general consensus has become just as jaded as Americans toward the ZOMBIE FLICK and are trying to elevate the ridiculous genre to the level of serious subject matter…WHICH IS HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHAHAHAHAHAH! whats next!?!?! a serious interview discussing the intricacy’s of FREDDY vs. JASON?? LOL!! sometimes u gotta shut ur brains off folks…pretend ur a zombie
I like my dose of mindless fun but this series didn’t provide that.
To me this series will never recieve a “happy” ending. In manga or anime. The problem is inherent in the fact the genre of Zombie Flicks, that the series borrows from, by definition. Never recieves a happy ending. Much like the romaro’s films the happiness is short lived. Even if they can find a safe place there is not much hope of it lasting (like in the walking dead). So the whole series just pussy foots around hoping we won’t notice(I do think they may pull a 28 days later Translation: humans caused the outbreak). The very fact that none of the “party” has died yet is a dead giveaway that this is going nowere.
Don’t get me wrong I like the manga, but it just sucks when there are absolutly no interesting developments since book one. Thats why Zombie flicks like Shawn and planet terror do so well. Cause they aren’t realistic and they make you laugh.
Can’t believe they cut out hat-san’s moment in the spotlight.
i never read the manga but this show still got really boring…..
Highschool of the dead finished!
Shopping Mall of the dead starts!
Anime don’t have to stick to the source material. I thought this show far exceeded its manga. It was just so over the top, I oculdn’t stop watching. Plus, they had a good feel for rhythm and editing.
I didn’t read the HOTD manga so all of this was new to me. I wasn’t some kind of zombie fanboy and i didn’t liked this kind of zombie stuff (zombie movies/books/mangas/animes ect.) untill i started to watch this show tho. x) Personally i liked this show and i’m eager for season 2,if there will be any of course.
—–
sorry for my bad english
I’ve always seen this series (not just the anime, but the manga as well) as an indicator as to how much I’ve changed as a person. Back when the manga started four years ago, I was really into it. I enjoyed all parts of it quite a bit. However, this year I’ve just found the series rather annoying and not all that interesting.
I actually really liked Highschool of the Dead o.o I agree it started off strong then started to trail off towards the end, but overall I enjoyed it. The anticlimactic ending is slightly frustrating though…I will definitely watch season 2 if they make it. For now, I have the manga.
guy with the pacemaker was lucky, he finally escaped from being near know-it-all psycho lady, and all without turning into a zombie
boob + horror = ??? = screw it.
Like a few others, I thought this had a good chance of becoming…a…decent..show, but like all other stupid piece of crap that’s out there, this one didn’t end up to be any different from other piece of crap that is animu of 2010.
honestly i really enjoy HOTD 😉
In a year of 99% MOESHIT, this was pretty fucking awesome and refreshing.
Haters gonna hate.
I dont understand evryone’s complaint. although most people are just mimicking the original comment, that aside. i guess people are wanting this to be some amazing psychological breakthrough involving zombies. You people should realize that this manga is published monthly, and that the writer has not ventured into much character depth due to the fact that people want action. at the same time then they complain about depth, so you need to choose cuz you can’t have both, THE END.
This is just my opinion here, but I think what most of you guys have missed out on was the fact that what HOTD tries to do is to show a progression of what happens next to these group of kids as things spiral out of control. If you watch other zombie movies you are always left wondering at the end what happens next. Where will the survivors go and do? Will the characters survive? Will the world ever get rid of “them”? Or will the world eventually become Zombieland?
I liked it, but for me there was a lot of fanservice, if I actually wanted to see that much fanservice I’ll just watch a hentai!!! other than that it was an original anime, and for the characters in that world everyyone is evil but them, family and their friend… -_-” Saeko is my favorite and then is takashi they are good characters!!!
Liked it. First anime and I though it was pretty cool. Although I know that this will never happen I think this and all zombie movies in general would benifite from a mute or foreign main/side character. But only if they had a story essential item e.g. a cure or important messages. Just so long as it doesn’t interfere with the bigger universe. It would create some interesting events if the character was in a deire situation where said key item was essential to survival. A lot of interesting thongs could come out of a mute in a zombie apocolopce. I know it will never enter into this anime because it probably completely ignores the original manga but still, there is my food for thought.