Forum - View topicREVIEW: Highschool of the Dead episodes 1-6
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iathomps
Posts: 68 |
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Yeah, I do agree that, in a sense, there isn't anything that hasn't already been done before. All the anime-ish stuff has been done before, and all the zombie stuff has been done before too. What makes HOTD special is that it is the first and pretty much only time we get to see Anime tropes and Zombie tropes combined into one. Which can be quite interesting. I always thought of HOTD as the continuation of the Otaku story from World War Z, which describes the zombie apocalypse and how ill equipped Japanese sensibilities are for dealing with zombies. I think this bit from the tvtropes articles puts it the best:
"The kids are forced to drive without a license, use guns, act strongly as individuals, rely on themselves instead of authority figures or the government and steal things to survive. It doesn't seem that bad until you remember that this story takes place in Japan." and yes, it has lots of fanservice, but than again, for zombie fans, the zombies themselves are fanservice; the boobage is just icing on the cake. |
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Annf
Posts: 578 |
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That's one way of putting it. So far HotD has been a scene-driven experience rather than an overarching-story-driven one. I haven't read the comic, and I suppose that could change, but I'm not expecting it to. I find it tense and exciting and the girls sexy. It's in the running for my favorite show of the season. I don't find myself too attached to the characters, though, with the possible exception of Hirano. I'm not sure if that's just due to their personalities, or if it's because screen-time is dominated by horror and action scenes (many of which don't even include the main cast) so there hasn't been a whole lot of dialog beyond tactical discussion of how to handle the current threat.
Yep. It's the first of its kind in animation, so it's going to play by the numbers 'cause the fact that it's animated is already its hook--no need to risk further experimentation on the scenario side of things. If we see more zombie comics/cartoons in the future, they'll probably try to something special to distinguish themselves. |
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Jedi Master
 Posts: 400 |
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For some reason, that statement just makes me want this show even more... |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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It's a statement that's not as far from the truth as it could be; myself, I choose to describe HOTD as "exactly what you'd expect from a zombie anime." For me that's a good thing, and the show hasn't disappointed me thus far--nor do I expect it will. So if you're expectations are not for depth but an experience that is visceral (and soaked in its own viscera at times), you should watch it. Not a show to otherwise be taken very seriously. |
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vashfanatic
 Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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In that case, this person would argue that the manga traded in character development for fanservice. "It's faithful to the manga" isn't an argument in the favor of a show if the manga itself was in some way flawed. Haven't seen it, can't say if the evaluation is correct, but your logic was faulty. |
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Weazul-chan
 Posts: 625 Location: Michigan |
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while I'm not sure I'd call this a show worthy of an A rating I do find it rather fun to watch. I started watching the anime because I heard how the manga for this was a fairly standard zombie story, only in manga form and was hoping for the same in the anime (I haven't read the manga yet, I've been hoping it would get licensed as I really don't like relying on scanlations to read stuff). I found it delivered. the thing is, people who like zombie stories like them typically because they like the typical zombie story formula. sure, sometimes they like a nice little twist thrown in, but they like the typical stuff as well. this series manages to deliver that and deliver some of the standard anime/manga tropes as well, making this almost perfect for someone who loves zombie flicks and anime/manga. and that is why this show is adored by some but considered sub par by others, it depends on why you're watching it and what you're expecting out of it or wanting from it.
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ArsenicSteel
 Posts: 2370 |
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Faulty logic would be expecting more character development than what is standard fare for a product with the phrase "of the dead" in the title. It aint gonna be rocket science folks, check your braaaiiiiins at the door. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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What? Works with zombies can't be intelligent or original or witty? Your brain can never be engaged while watching them? As rebuttal I give you Sean of the Dead. And add 28 Days Later. If you want your zombie piece to stand apart from the undead crowd, you've got to have something more to it. This series, according to the original poster, opted for that "more" to be copious fanservice; he or she would rather it have been interesting characters. There's nothing faulty in that. |
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ArsenicSteel
Posts: 2370 |
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I am not playing word jumble and did not put anything in my post about any particular zombie flick not being intelligent, witty, or original.
Like I said it is faulty logic to expect any more character development than what is already given, one would need to have watched/read the material in order to experience the character development in question. Zombie movies represent gore and that is fan services to the folks that love gore.
This is assuming the creator wanted the piece to be different. It is not the case the creator very clearly stated he wanted the type of bloody and sexy zombie manga he would have bought as a teen. No moral dilemmas. No deeper than average character development. This is not a parody of the genre full of self referential tropes and satire. The people complaining are faulting it using criteria the show never aimed for. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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If a show is unoriginal, lacks moral dilemmas, and has shallow character development without being humorous, then it is, at best, mediocre, regardless of whether that's how the creator intended it to be. All that it means is that the creator was a hack. Again, haven't seen it to judge whether it is any of those things. But once again, the logic is faulty. |
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Bingal
Posts: 95 |
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How does that change anything I'd said? You seem to hide behind the framework of ''If the source material did it, then it's perfectly fine for the adaptation to do it too,'' when that simply makes it an inherent flaw. I don't care how trashy or fanservice-driven something is when it also tries accentuate itself with melodrama, romance, and internal conflict. I'm going to critize those aspects if I find them cheap and trite, especially when they impede my overall enjoyment. |
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ArsenicSteel
Posts: 2370 |
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Again, I am not talking about lacking anything. There is an established story and character development. Really though what kind of moral dilemma can be expressed in the zombie genre. That genre is the most straightforward cases of us versus them out there. You can continue with addresses ifs but HoTD is past the if stage. It does not lack in the departments mentioned. It is as original as a story can be that involves a zombie apocalypse. Humor is not a staple of the zombie genre. Honestly the zombie genre is one of the least humorous genres known to mankind. Simon Peg made a good funny zombie but that was a parody not what intrinsically defines the genre. Expecting more than what is established in the zombie genre is faulty logic. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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Zombieland was a better zombie comedy, but Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead had a bit of satire to them.
I think people put the zombie genre too high on pedestal though. The whole idea now as far as movies and games are concerned is that you get to kill humans without repercussion, it's encouraged. Tons of zombie flicks are low budget exploitation films that love to show off naked women and gratuitous violence. I'd be more pleased with HSOD if both of those aspects were all the show encompassed. Wanting a script like Dawn of the Dead would be unfair, barely any other non-Romero zombie flicks are anything near as good. Hell yeah it's trashy and full of boobs, that's what attracted people to the manga in the first place. Maybe those unfamiliar just had unnecessarily high expectations, but those who did read it knew full well what it was and were happy about an anime adaptation. Or maybe that's just me. |
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vashfanatic
Posts: 3490 Location: Back stateside |
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Again, see 28 Days Later.
I'll take your word on it, as I haven't seen it. Still, from Zac's description of the first episode, it hit every last tired cliche. Maybe it improves later?
Actually, by their own description, Sean of the Dead was not a parody but rather a romantic comedy that happened to have zombies. But my point with the humor angle was that you can make a movie or a series that hits a lot of cliches and has weak characters if the point is to do a wicked satire of the cliches and characters that populate a genre, not to imply that humor is inherent to zombie pictures (though quite a few have had comedic or satirical elements).
Lots of movies have given more than just the bare-bones zombie story, especially in recent years. Hence there is nothing wrong with wanting something more than an average zombie apocalypse story. I'm not making myself clear, perhaps... Look, forget that we're talking about this show here. Let's just say we were talking about any hypothetical show. If you told me it didn't do anything new that hadn't been done by many before it, if it had shallow character development, and that it did all this without being a parody or a comedy, what would you think of it? You'd say it was mediocre. Not bad or awful, but mediocre. That's what I'm hearing you call High School of the Dead. Maybe it does give an extra something with the fanservice, and maybe that is enough for you. But it wasn't for the person to whose initial comment began this. And again, I totally haven't seen this. Maybe it is more original and has good characters or something, I don't know. But criticizing it if it isn't or doesn't is not an illegitimate complaint. Which is all I am saying. |
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ArsenicSteel
Posts: 2370 |
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Cliches or tropes are nothing to be forgiven, they are just similarities within a story, genre, and field. Zombies "die" when you damage their head. That is a cliche but what is wrong with that, nothing. Zombies move slower and tend to be stronger than a living human, cliche again. Yet for the genre there is nothing actually wrong with it.
Well it is not like I can cite the anime or manga for you since you have not experienced it. I said it is about as original as a expected from the zombie genre. You can hear or try and get the mediocre from my explanations on HoTD but I already put in my first post that it is an 'A' for what the anime intends to be. While I was corresponding with you I was finishing up episodes 3-6. This show has strong writing, gore, and boobs. This discussion goes back to an issue someone had with episode 6, fan service, and character development not platitudes and the hypothetical. Episode 6 while the lightest of the episodes still presented the development in two relationships and development to the story outside the central characters. Logically when I look at the genre and themes on ANN, I know what to expect. A story about zombies that is fundamentally a story about human's infectious consumeristic existence...of course that epiphany is saved for epilogues and ending narratives. Until the moment of insight comes I will continue to enjoy the wild zombie gorefest. Feel free to actually obtain an opinion based on the show and not just an opinion on the right to have opinions. |
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