Comments on: Memorializing Makoto: School Days, one year later

By: Baka-Raptor

Baka-Raptor — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:40:07 +0000

I have an annual winter break tradition of watching some juicy drama:

Three years ago: Suzuka
Two years ago: Strawberry Panic
Last year: School Days

Looking back, it was exactly what I wanted: all drama, all the time. I’m used to seeing dramatic events that get ultimately get resolved in a positive manner. School Days drama just kept spiraling downwards until the “bad end.” Why don’t more shows do this? I’m not saying anyone needs to get killed, but there’s no need for a nice, neat resolution.

By: otou-san

otou-san — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 00:58:11 +0000

School Days certainly isn’t deep and it isn’t a particularly well put together story, but I disagree that it doesn’t have some sort of profound effect on the genre. It definitely made me think differently about harem shows, and it’s tainted every one I’ve seen since.

But aside from all that even, School Days works on a mostly visceral level — it gives you revulsion, cruelty, humiliation, pity, abject horror, and ultimately a giant shock, so who cares if analysis is pointless and the animation is incredibly awful? It was an altogether different experience from any other series even remotely like it.

In the end, most TV anime that we regularly watch goes in one ear and out the other; Kure-nai was good, but it’s not going to be in my head next year. School Days, however, is pretty hard to forget.

By: xXMikotoNakadaiXx

xXMikotoNakadaiXx — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:51:53 +0000

A thought to describe School Days: “bad show, good ending”. Ironically, it was good because it was bad… er, it was unique and memorable due to the fact that it’s one of those only anime where even the nicest of people will grow to hate a lot of the characters in the show (my case, I usually never hate anime characters with a passion unless with a pretty good reason. I rather see the good in the characters, rather than the bad), certainly a nice counterpart to another anime that I will remember as the highlight of 2007, TTGL, which all the characters I grew to love – the exact opposite of what I felt about School Days, yet School Days is pretty damn memorable because of that.

(Off-Topic: Captcha is “some defense”. I’m playing Ace Attorney. LOLZ)

By: MrMayat

MrMayat — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 08:19:45 +0000

One year later, I’ve still yet to watch past the first ep. The knowledge that it was gonna be a wreck was what enticed me, since I knew about the endings before the series aired. Guess I’ll watch it… someday.

By: Kamen no Maid Guy 11 and some gender analysis. I kid you not. » Incredible Nothing!

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 03:45:36 +0000

[...] itsubun/coffee spoons comment really holds the point I think I myself finally see I wanted to address here (as much as I laughed at the setup of this episode – it’s Kamen no freakin Maid Guy! I have to say, something under the surface of me began to bother me), this odd image of the (anime) guy who can openly flap his trap about sex (though they seem more fascinated by specific body parts rather than the act itself, School Days excluded -_-”) despite being lambasted and brutally abused by the other characters of purportably more sense. That and on the other side of the spectrum, the supposed notion of the (anime) girl who really rather be swept off by a Prince Charming to live happily ever after… the thought of said Prince Charming putting it in anywhere never making it on screen (again, School Days excluded)? [...]

By: IKnight

IKnight — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 11:00:28 +0000

@ Teeif: What about Higurashi? What about Shuffle?

By: Baka-Raptor

Baka-Raptor — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:16:28 +0000

I watched it in December, so I’ll post a new comment here in exactly 6 months.

By: Teeif

Teeif — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 17:52:04 +0000

When I first watched School days, the only aspect that kept me going was the rumour of a bad end. The animation was pretty terrible then and it’s really aweful when I rewatch it. The plot makes no logical sense so there’s little wonder why the engineered drama is so shocking. Motoko is like a pantomine villan who was set up for this macabre ending. The Nice Boat meme just another echo of audiance participation.

Yet, despite all these expectations, the ending was refreshingly satisfying!

School days is a one-hit wonder throw away anime but I dissagree with issa-sa and IKnight, School Days HAS definately helped infuse a new trend: that of the Yandere-ko!

By: IKnight

IKnight — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:49:23 +0000

Like issa-sa, I think I view School Days as an evolutionary dead end: interesting, but probably not genre-shaking or trend-setting. I’m not sure I particularly want to re-watch it.

Mind you, it may not have much more than novelty value, but novelty value is still value. And perhaps it does fit into a recent trend of ‘harem’ anime which have refused to play by the rules, like how Kimikiss was absurdly chaste. Though that may just be natural genre development.

By: issa-sa

issa-sa — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 08:45:44 +0000

Thanks to this show, almost every harem-type show that came after has been blasted with rather irrational comments like “Oh noes, XXX is gonna die, this is going to end up like School Days!” whenever one of the characters start showing any signs of distress/jealousy -_-” The irony being that thanks to School Days, I pretty much doubt we’ll ever see such an ending ever in the genre because like you said, it’s a rather one-off gimmick. I’ll be incredibly surprised to find a “Nicer Boat” one day, but even if it happens, it certainly won’t have the ‘profound’ (*snorts*) effect that Itou Makoto set off once upon a time in 2007…