Yes, I'm going there
So, I finished watching School Days a couple of days ago... I'd avoided watching it until this late for glaringly obvious reasons, and despite knowing this, it's still put me off leaving the house since I saw it. Naturally, after the ending of the final episode, I lay face down on my bed for several hours due to the drainingly depressing nature of the anime; but is it really as bad as it seems? I mean, naturally, it has the reputation for being the worst anime in existence for a reason. The entire series is fuelled by hate, jealousy, deception and manipulation, and is not necessarily 'entertaining' to watch, especially if you naively anticipated everything working out towards a happy ending with Makoto learning his lesson in a less shocking and far-fetched way. Another weak point for me, personally, was the anime's music; it was very narrow and unilateral, and speaking as a musician I found it quite irritating towards the end of the series.
However, School Days in my opinion does have some merits. As an experiment, try watching the first episode of School Days, and follow immediately by watching the final episode. The first thing you're likely to notice is the vast difference between the characters that ensues. If watching the series chronologically, there is a tendency to forget the way the characters were in the beginning due to the anger, frustration and hatred directed at them as the series progresses. For the characters to go under such a vast transformation that it can only really be truly appreciated in retrospect, and the difference we have in attitude towards each of the characters changing so hugely is very effective, and so the series should be given some merit in the way that was crafted.
Another way in which the series does in fact shine is with the way the characters internally interact with one another, and how this changes in each episode. There is a very gradual progression from order to chaos, and watching the anime without context, one might expect it to be a classic, light-hearted slice-of-life high school anime. However, the way the series progresses and the way this prompts each of the characters to interact differently with one another is somewhat impressive.
The last thing I'd like to say regarding School Days is the fact that at the end of each and every episode, I found myself saying "Awww, sheeeit" at my computer screen with a grin of anticipation on my face. Whether that's just me being sadistic, or the general consensus of the anime's viewership, I think it's an impressive feat to accomplish this at the end of every single episode.
I'm not the hugest anime fan in the world, I watch it quite casually, and maybe I'm just being incredibly shallow in the way I viewed this anime. But, I guess that's just me. Either way, I gave it a 6 on my anime list, mostly because of the features I have discussed above somewhat redeeming the series for what it is.
Feel free to leave your thoughts below! :)
↧