First Impressions / Gakkou Gurashi!

「おもいで」 (Omoide)
“Memories”

Before you ask anything else – yes they updated the opening sequence ever so slightly to reflect what’s going on. THAT’S DEDICATION I TELL YOU WHAT.

Ebisuzawa Kurumi

Seeing how we got only a few glimpses at her, it makes sense this week’s episode would shift the focus onto our favorite shovel wielding tsundere Kurumi. Besides showing off that cool-beauty side of her personality, she was probably one of the best characters you could have picked to really show the audience just what kind of world our girls have to deal with. Not one to let the zombies just have their way, it was nice to see someone have the urge to actually go out and take out some of the walking dead. While it would have been nice to actually see Kurumi do the deed, you have the admit that the way Lerche did it was pretty classy. Instead of filling the screen with gore, they managed to get the same point across (and more) with a short shot of Kurumi washing the tip of her shovel. If that isn’t creative storytelling, I don’t know what is.

Test of Courage

And when it comes to creative storytelling, you have to love how everything seems to work with Yuki’s view of the world. Under the guise of a simple game, the girls managed to keep Yuki close and in-control while also managing to pick up some sorely needed supplies. Something you’d think would be pretty tough to do especially with Yuki unable to accept the situation they’re all currently in. Which I think is quickly becoming one of the draws for this show – managing the expectations of what you’d expect from a zombie apocalypse while trying to work around Yuki’s condition. Now, if only they’d let Megu-nee do her job!

Show Spoiler ▼

Looking Ahead

Ramping up the action ever so slightly, this second episode quickly got us up to speed with how dire things are. From clearing things up about where Miki came from (apparently Lerche is watching out for the manga readers!) to dropping various hints of what’s to come, I’m sure anyone who had their doubts about the show are quickly feeling more confident about picking up this fantastic show. While it remains to be seen just how far Lerche is planning on taking this, I’m sure it’ll be a fun and exciting ride along the way.

Thanks for reading the post and I hope to catch you around for the rest of the season! On a side note, please refrain from posting spoilers in the comments. Not only are you ruining someone’s experiences, but because this is an adaptation, it’s possible you could be spreading misinformation! So, please abuse that spoiler tag and if you want to talk about anything related to this anime or if you wanted to ask me something specific, shoot me a tweet @rctakaii!

Catch you next week!

 

Preview

45 Comments

  2. After watching episode 1, I caught up with the manga and just OMG the feels.
    This anime is so much better after reading the manga just for it being a bit more joyful.
    So far my favorite show this season, surprisingly.

    Xaephi
    Reply

  3. Oh boy…the OP is getting darker and worse…wonder if this is going to continuously get slightly worse every other episode or only something they’re doing now that episode one is over and the twist was revealed…

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. Each light-hearted part of the OP relates to a reveal, so I’m guessing that that part will change when the reveal happens. This time the classroom and school-yard changed because we now know what they really look like, and I can see at least two other parts that’ll change by the end.

      Doubt the song will ever change, though that would be a nice surprise for the last episode when none of the illusions are left.

      Aex
      Reply

  4. So far, so goood. Read ahead if you’re curious about the current state the manga is in..
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Xaephi
    Reply

      2. About Kurumi:

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Zen
        Reply

      5. About radio broadcaster lady:

        Show Spoiler ▼

        Zen
        Reply

  5. The way the eyes are drawn so naturally fit the ohsh*t expressions.

    I would say that Yuki’s cowering in the library implies that she is aware, at some level, of the dangerous situation they are in. Show Spoiler ▼

    Longhaul
    Reply

  6. Here are some interesting things I dug up about the OP. I’ll spoiler it just in case. It’s actually pretty damn awesome. I swear, if this is intentional, then mad props for the studio and whoever’s in charge for making such a trollish OP.

    Show Spoiler ▼

    And then we have this:

    Show Spoiler ▼

    bakakubi
    Reply

  7. I was watching the ED really closely and at the very end when Yuki wakes up the 3 girls are there, then the next scene they are not there and it ends on “sweet dreams”

    Dwelling
    Reply

  8. A very good review / you pointed out more things about this show which I like already ! I am a manga reader but I will say I like the story in color and motion! Not a spoiler but this get more inteesting ! I hear the writer has a lot of control over the content of the show! Which is good because he might be retelling the story in a new vision!

    Thanks for reviewing this a lot of people were mislead by the lousy synospis ! It can be light but twisted l

    15FAN
    Reply

  9. This is a surprisingly good show. I agree that the studio has done a great job in changing the scenes of the OP bit by bit.

    On the other hand, I wonder why only one of them carries a weapon. Surely, having a full arsenal of tools such as baseball bats, the pruning scissors shown in the episode, etc would help a lot?

    Actus
    Reply

    1. You see, what great Pain it cause on her? If there would be not the emotional backup of the others, she would break or snap in killing Peoples, that “perhaps remember of their past”. The pain is well written, my deep respect

      WorldwideDepp
      Reply

  10. Unless you aren’t paying attention at all you’ll have some real questions after this episode, like how Megu-nee somehow got ahead of them and was already outside the barricade, and how she keeps disappearing then reappearing. Show Spoiler ▼

    I appreciated what they did with Miki, and my guess is that they’ll actually have the same series of events, except when they get to the mall it’ll show what happened the first time they were there as a flashback.

    So far, really impressed with this show!

    Aex
    Reply

    1. Not a manga reader but you can also notice that Yuki (pink hair) is the only one having conversation with her. The others acknowledge her only when Yuki mentions her.

      At this point I’m not entirely sure myself if she’s real or not but it just shows that the script is pretty damn good.

      Char
      Reply

    2. Also, after the twist, it made me pay more attention to the details of the scenes. During the last seconds of the ED, you see Yuki waking up and sees the 3 girls smiling at her. Then it pans to the side where she is all alone…

      I am so scared of the future man…Please…Don’t go there….

      *sobs*

      Char
      Reply

    1. Your friend has good taste. (No, really.)

      Maybe because Kurumi’s a twin-tailed tsundere like KinMoza‘s Aya Komichi (or–to some extent–her GochiUsa counterpart, Rize Tedeza). Or maybe because she shares the same first name as Date A Live‘s best spirit (IMO)–who is incidentally also twin-tailed in her spirit form, albeit asymmetrical. LOL.

      Goddamnit, I can’t believe I’m adding another show to watch this season (besides Prison School)… It’s no I Am a Hero, but this show will have to do in the absence of anime that fall under the “zombie apocalypse” genre (although juxtapositioning it with high school slice of life is one hell of a mind screw).

      Also, those who tire of “cute girls doing cute things” (or moe in general) may get a kick out of cute girls getting infected/zombiefied.

      Incognito
      Reply

  12. This show is getting more interesting every episode. There’s a lot of things I like about it; the subtlety when dealing with its horror-elements, the constant contrast between Yuki’s superhappy world and the harsh reality as well as the fact that it can switch between atmospheres so well. Add to that well-paced storytelling (without infodumps) and plenty of room for speculation, and you’ve got a show that I’m already excited for to follow every week. The fact that it reminds me of Sora no Woto in a lot of ways helps as well (cause I really liked that anime).

    If this show keeps impressing me, it’ll be the sleeper hit of the season.

    I hope they keep changing that OP too, would be a nice touch.

    Dvalinn
    Reply

  14. So much symbolism! I’ve never been happier as an obsessive English student. And not only that, but so much Shovel Knight this week too! The show is perfectly letting me into two of the cast’s heads – Yuki’s while Megu-not-with-us-anymore is around, and Kurumi’s while zombies bite the dust with the best use of censorship I’ve seen this year (sucks to be you, Prison School).

    More of my thoughts here: https://unnecessaryexclamationmark.wordpress.com/2015/07/17/gakkou-gurashi-02/

    Even Shovel Knight has a powerful reason for having a shovel. No shallow gimmicks in this show! Now, what’s the deep meaning behind Taroumaru’s rejection of Miki?

    JekoJeko
    Reply

    1. ONLY problem with the manga’s pacing is that we probably won’t get to the full answer of your Megu-nee question… unless this is 2-cour. Is this 2-cour? Someone tell me this is 2-cour!!

      Damn, it isn’t…

      Aex
      Reply

  17. I don’t know about you guys, but I sort of noticed something this episode..
    Yuki is the only one who has active conversations with Megu-sensei,
    while the only moments that the rest of the girls (Kurumi, Rii-san & Miki) interact with the sensei,
    they seem to be talking to Megu-sensei instead of talking with Megu-sensei..

    This anime has much subtlety..

    Techim
    Reply

  18. Oh my god, this show is actually really friggin’ awesome. I truly hope the rest of the series is as fantastic as these first two episodes have been. Was not expecting this to the the show of all shows to catch my interest.

    Darkesper
    Reply

  22. I’m so afraid of watching this show. I put off watching the first episode for almost a full week and have yet to watch this episode.

    When I started reading the manga way back the first thing that came to my mind was “why is this not an anime yet and why am I not watching it right now” and now that it’s actually happening all I can think of is if they’ll radically change anything or go for an anime original ending or how it could all go wrong…

    qwert
    Reply

    1. Doubt it. They’re only going at the pace of one chapter to one episode right now. Probably more like it’ll end with Show Spoiler ▼

      Aex
      Reply

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