Thoughts on High School of the Dead?

[smearyllama]

So far I've only seen a couple episodes of the show, so if I've just haven't gotten to the point where the exposition is over and the plot actually starts moving, please tell me.

From what I've seen so far, though, the show is kind of meh.
It's got great animation, and the voice acting is alright (I'm watching the dub), but the characters just feel a little cliched.
There's also the slightly creepy amounts of fanservice. Early on, while the characters are still dealing with the shock of, you know, zombies, we're getting a whole lot of panty shots and such. It just seems like a little much for early on in a show that looks like it's trying to be serious.

I might be wrong, and I might just not have seen enough of the show, but are these indicators of a bad series?
I'd like to hear your thoughts.

 

[emeraldrafael]

It seems to be more focused on fanservice, but there's there workings of a functioning anime I supppose.

 

[Josh Horton]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

 

[AtmaPhil]

fan service doesn't stop. Its pretty much just that all the way through (at least to where the manga is right now) with the story moving at a snails pace.

 

[TheBoltman]

My thoughts: The plot is great and the manga is better (if only the creator would stop going on hiatus so darn much). I think the fanservice is easy to forget about once you get into the story.

 

[Marik2]

Well I liked how an anime took on the whole zombie route (I think this is the first anime/series that had zombies as a focusing point, but Im sure Im wrong on that)

I sorta liked it for some of the ethical dilemmas the characters got into, but then they just went crazy with the fanservice and I just stopped caring about the "plot" and started to watch it for the lulz.

Like this scene is hilarious XD

 

[Rylot]

I was reading the manga and stopped after a few issues due to that. It started off promising but just didn't seem to get beyond that. I'm certainly not against sexuality in comics or cartoons, but it felt so forced that it took me out of the show. I could almost hear the creative meeting: "Okay and we then have her fall over here so her legs are spread apart" "Yeah, and then the other girl gets grabbed from behind and they tear off her skirt".

 

[ThePuzzldPirate]

It's is a show that you turn your brain off for, it's about well animated zombies and tits, it gets a little ridiculous but it doesn't lie about what it is so it has its charm. Not exactly something your gonna remember but it is entertaining.

 

[smearyllama]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

That sounds good.
Part of the reason I'm wondering is because some of the reviews on Netflix were less that positive regarding these elements, and after noticing them myself, I started to understand.

 

[Belaam]

I think that the fanservice is excessive.

It really can't seem to decide if it's taking itself seriously. I'm trying to avoid spoiler territory, but likewise early on, you get some pretty terrible stuff happening with a child around the same time of of the girls is fighting in a bikini bottom and an ill fitting apron. Apparently as it was her preferred outfit when given an entire apartment worth of clothing to select.

It has the makings of a good action/horror story with some commentary on the human condition... plus long, lingering panty shots and jiggle physics. It's odd. I'm kinda just watching it because last year, people were raving about it, and now it's on Netflix. But it's more background noise than anything I am really enjoying or would recommend.

 

[MrShadowzs]

It's stupid, perverted, gory, and pretty shallow, but hell I still liked it, just make sure you take it with a big ol' grain of salt.

 

[Spider RedNight]

I'll go ahead and agree with everyone else that there's a lot of fanservice. However, I think that there's only so much you can do with a bunch of girls in a zombie show, so I guess it makes sense that the story's slow and its appeal is hard to resist.

As everyone else says and try to move past the fanservice. The animation CAN be pretty for what it's worth.

 

[Josh Horton]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

That sounds good.
Part of the reason I'm wondering is because some of the reviews on Netflix were less that positive regarding these elements, and after noticing them myself, I started to understand.

That is the things with all of these damn reviews, they watch up until something bothers them about it and stop. They don't review the whole thing, just up til the point where they stopped at. I honestly think it is one of the better animes I've watched this year, I just have gotten to the point where I can pretty much ignore the fan service in most animes and concentrate on the story.

Also a recommendation for anyone who liked HSotD, watch Angel Beats, it is on Netflix, its pretty good with lots of action, comedy, and a really deep story.

 

[Matt Hancox]

I enjoy the show; excellent quality of animation, some genuinely funny humour and a decent attempt at expressing emotion in an air of crisis and dispair.
I don't really mind about the fan service, but it does make me cautious before recommending the show to anyone and is literally impossible to defend. I'm not sure why jiggling boobs in an anime are bad but Megan Foxx co-staring in The Marvelous Adventures of Sam Whitwiky, featuring Optimus Prime is OK (and yes, Megan Fox in that role was just fan service. I mean her replacement for a Victoria Secret model. Presumably if Michel Bay had signed on for a 4th the heroine would have been chosen from the ranks of the red tube community).
I think it's a cultural thing from a culture who still sees animation as a kids thing, in which any reference to the fact that humans can procreate is deemed evil and must be purged, less a mob of misinformed housewives descend upon the unfortunate studio executives.

Only thing I didn't like was the ending; without giving any thing away, nothing is really resolved for the characters and it ends in such a way that screams "We're saving it for the second series", which is right up there with rebooting and using the same name as the first in the francise in a sequel in my list of writers deadly sins.

 

[smearyllama]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

That sounds good.
Part of the reason I'm wondering is because some of the reviews on Netflix were less that positive regarding these elements, and after noticing them myself, I started to understand.

That is the things with all of these damn reviews, they watch up until something bothers them about it and stop. They don't review the whole thing, just up til the point where they stopped at. I honestly think it is one of the better animes I've watched this year, I just have gotten to the point where I can pretty much ignore the fan service in most animes and concentrate on the story.

Also a recommendation for anyone who liked HSotD, watch Angel Beats, it is on Netflix, its pretty good with lots of action, comedy, and a really deep story.

Huh. You've got a point there.

I'm really no expert, since I only just started with anime, and I've only watched a few shows.

 

[Julianking93]

It can pretty much be summed up like this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj_ZOuID8BY]

Seriously though.... well no, that's pretty much it.

I don't like Highschool of the Dead, personally. It's too fanservice focused, too jarring in tone (it expects me to take it seriously right after a girl has a Matrix style scene where bullets fly passed her breasts) and I can't stand unnecessary violence like random people being torn apart for the hell of it. Plus, all the characters seem borderline retarded so it isn't really enjoyable.

Shame too considering the animation and production quality is quite impressive yet the material itself is bloody awful.

 

[Worgen]

Something that has as much fan service as high school of the dead has shouldn't be good but its really damn good, its almost annoyingly good.

 

[Amondren]

I liked it the constant fan service could get annoying (like showing panties when someone is getting eaten alive) but other then that I give it a thumbs up not the biggest thumbs up but a thumbs up none the less.

 

[Josh Horton]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

That sounds good.
Part of the reason I'm wondering is because some of the reviews on Netflix were less that positive regarding these elements, and after noticing them myself, I started to understand.

That is the things with all of these damn reviews, they watch up until something bothers them about it and stop. They don't review the whole thing, just up til the point where they stopped at. I honestly think it is one of the better animes I've watched this year, I just have gotten to the point where I can pretty much ignore the fan service in most animes and concentrate on the story.

Also a recommendation for anyone who liked HSotD, watch Angel Beats, it is on Netflix, its pretty good with lots of action, comedy, and a really deep story.

Huh. You've got a point there.

I'm really no expert, since I only just started with anime, and I've only watched a few shows.

Ah, you are new to anime? Well I'll definitely have to recommend some anime to you if you'd like, have a good list of stuff that doesn't completely destroy you from wanting to continue watching anime lol. Just PM me or anyone else in this thread. They all seem to be avid anime enthusiast.

 

[Politi]

I just ignored the fan service, it stopped after a couple of episodes and got really serious. Just ignore it for now and you'll be good.

Fanservice. Stopping. In High School of the Dead.

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

No but seriously, this is one of the funnier animes out there. I suggest watching it with friends for extra laughs.

Like this scene is hilarious XD

I once heard a comment on the part where the bullet passes between the sword girl's two independently flapping breasts. Basically, the argument was that the girls boobs have to be flapping in opposite vertical directions faster than the speed of a high-powered sniper rifle round, because it passes past one, which moves behind it as part of the breast-flapping pattern and then the other one flicks out of the way.