Highschool of the Dead

**Highschool of the Dead** is an an action, adventure, drama, horror, zombie, harem, fanservice anime series.  It's based

    on a manga series written by Disuke Sato, illustrated by Shoji Sato, and published by Fujimi Shobo for volumes 6-7 and Kadokawa Shoten for volumes 1-5 for the magazine Monthly Dragon Age.  It originally ran from September, 2006 to March 22, 2017, when it had to end, presumably, due to the author's death, with 7 volumes in total.  After that came the anime adaptation.  It was directed by Tetsuo Araki, written by Yosuke Kuroda, musically composed by Takafumi Wada, and produced by Mitsutoshi Ogura and Studio Madhouse.  It originally ran from July 5, 2010 to September 10, 2010 for 12 episodes in total.  After the main series ended there was an OVA, titled, Drifters of the Dead, which came out on April 27, 2011.  It was  directed by Tetsuo Araki, written by Yosuke Kuroda, musically composed by Takafumi Wada, and produced by Mitsutoshi Ogura and Studio Madhouse.

## Plot

*Highschool of the Dead* is set in present-day Japan, beginning as the world is struck by a deadly pandemic that turns humans into zombies, euphemistically referred to by the main characters as "Them" (奴ら *Yatsu-ra*). The story follows a group of high school students and the school's nurse as they deal with a worldwide catastrophic event known as the "Outbreak". As the cast tries to survive the zombie apocalypse, they must also face the additional threats of societal collapse, in the form of dangerous fellow survivors, and the possible decay of their own moral codes. Starting from the high school, the students escape into town where they must deal with a corrupt teacher and his students. They check their homes for survivors, and pick up a little girl and a dog. Later, they hold up at a mall, travel through a police station, and eventually make their way to an elementary school that is supposedly a safe zone.

## Why It Rocks

1. Excellent animation, especially during fight scenes, dramatic scenes, or a few scenes when the characters are just running.
2. Very appealing art style and character designs.
3. Good voice acting in both sub and dub.
4. Great fanservice.
5. Creative usage of bullet time in a few select scenes, which helps to emphesize the fanservice.  The bigges tone is in episode 9, with the moment that fans have nicknamed "Matrix Boobs."  This is the most famous moment in the entire series.
6. Amazing directing.  The director of the show, Tetsuo Araki, also known for Attack on Titan, Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress, Death Note, and Black Lagoon, among others, is skilled with decifering the main appeal of the source material, and making it the main point of the adaptation.  In this case, that was the fanservice.
7. Great characters that are likable but flawed, interesting, and get character development.
8. Inredible action scenes.
9. Good comedy.
10. A satisfying romantic sub plot.
11. This is another anime that pushed the boundaries on what could be shown on television with its fanservice.
12. One of the very, very, very few zombie related anime, which there isn't nearly enough of.
13. This is a harem anime that actually has an INTERESTING MAIN CHARACTER!

## Bad Qualities

1. Sadly, like many anime, this one doesn't have an ending.  However, it gets worse here because the manga doesn't have an ending either due to the original author passing away, so the story will likely never be completed.

## Reception

In Japan, the sixth volume of *Highschool of the Dead* reached #5 on the Oricon charts between July 5 and July 11, 2010, selling 92,040 copies,[39] and #13 between July 12 and July 18, 2010, selling 43,714 copies for a total of 135,754 copies.[40] The seventh volume of *Highschool of the Dead* reached #11 on the Oricon charts between May 2 and May 8, 2011, selling 57,016 copies,[41] #2 between May 9 and May 15, 2011, selling 115,154 copies,[42] and #19 between May 16 and May 22, 2011, selling 34,362 copies for a total of 206,532 copies.[43]

In North America, the second volume of the manga reached *The New York Times* Best-Selling Manga List, reaching #4 between April 24 and April 30, 2011,[44] #10 between May 1 and May 7, 2011,[45] and #8 between May 8 and May 14, 2011.[46]

For the anime adaptation, Chris Beveridge from Mania.com comments on the first episode, "There's a lot to like here if you're looking for something beyond the usual high school dramas and comedies of the last few years."[47] Carlo Santos of Anime News Network states that, "Other recent zombie works in Western entertainment have tried to play it ironic, or postmodernist, or just plain silly, but this one goes for straight-up horror—and pulls it off admirably."[48] However, Zac Bertschy, also of Anime News Network, states for this episode that, "It just could've easily been written by a script generator or a horror fan with 19 minutes to kill."[49]

Andy Hanley of the UK Anime Network summaries the first manga volume as: "Nothing ground-breaking here, but a volume of mindless fun that brings all of the gory entertainment of a zombie apocalypse to the printed page."[50] Chris Lanxon of Wired UK praises its production quality despite having no single original element.[51]

At a Comic-Con "Best and Worst Manga of 2011" panel, it was listed among the "Worst Manga" in a series of rapid-fire questions.[52]

In March 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture announced a crackdown on sites hosting overly-violent or sexual anime content, with *Highschool of the Dead* being singled out as an example due to its sexual content; the Ministry described it as "borderline-pornographic".