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REVIEW: School-Live! Blu-Ray


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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:13 am Reply with quote
Much as I liked School-Live, at this point all that really sticks with me is remembering the big finale, when mad girl "saves the day" by spoiler[giving an emotional, impassioned speech to the zombies over the PA system (they just wanted someone to send them home!)], was just too dumb for me. I'm sure someone can list all the reasons why it worked on a thematic or emotional level, but for me was just a silly way to end things.
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Angel M Cazares



Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Posts: 5400
Location: Iscandar
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 9:18 am Reply with quote
While I rated School Live! a B+ show, it is in my top 10 for 2015, which offered several great anime series. School Live! was a very pleasant surprise and an easy show to recommend. I was initially fooled by its cute girls facade, but this is a well thought out show with plenty of meat to chew on.
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CatSword



Joined: 01 Jul 2014
Posts: 1489
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:00 am Reply with quote
I loved School-Live. It was a pleasant surprise just how gripping the show was and how it constantly kept you entertained/surprised. Even the simple slice-of-life scenes made hairs stand up on the back of my neck out of that feeling of "something's coming, it has to be".
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:30 am Reply with quote
It's only faintly hinted at in the Anime, but there is a question that could be asked, "What risks would a government take if they thought they could create soldiers that were all but impossible to kill?"

Mark Gosdin
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Key
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:49 am Reply with quote
mgosdin wrote:
It's only faintly hinted at in the Anime, but there is a question that could be asked, "What risks would a government take if they thought they could create soldiers that were all but impossible to kill?"

Mark Gosdin

Although I wouldn't doubt that's the underlying reason behind the existence of the epidemic, it seemed like the zombies in this series actually weren't that hard to kill. (spoiler[The two girls who tried and failed to take down zombies were unable to do it because neither one of them would have been believably physical enough to knock those zombies down had they been regular people, either.]) We had some discussion about this in the episode-by-episode review thread, and I agree with contentions that a single gun in the hands of someone who knew how to use it and a few dozen rounds of ammunition could have kept the school clear of zombies. Same with someone who had an actual sword and knew how to use it, although that would have been riskier.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4064
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 10:55 am Reply with quote
Lemonchest wrote:
Much as I liked School-Live, at this point all that really sticks with me is remembering the big finale, when mad girl "saves the day" by spoiler[giving an emotional, impassioned speech to the zombies over the PA system (they just wanted someone to send them home!)], was just too dumb for me. I'm sure someone can list all the reasons why it worked on a thematic or emotional level, but for me was just a silly way to end things.


Just one: spoiler[While the speech was just by Yuki for her own sake, what the zombie horde was reacting was the bells, those eight sounds you hear in every school anime signifying the end of the school day. It's very much straight out of George Romero's playbook, RIP, at how much people run on instinct at their best, let alone their worst.

The production team just timed it to the speech because why settle for a simple cause and effect ending when you can have *heart* beat zombies?]
Was that a pun? I can't tell anymore.

I have the BD but I already watched the show when it was streamed. It's very good but the show almost chokes on its own sense of smugness at its storytelling tricks... they could have just done regular foreshadowing but no, they had to start in the middle like they were Baccano!. It's kind of like a magician pointing at his hat on a table while smirking but then pulls a rabbit out of his coat pocket. Yes, while we are surprised at the direction, we were already expecting the rabbit because its how these things work.

Quote:
We had some discussion about this in the episode-by-episode review thread, and I agree with contentions that a single gun in the hands of someone who knew how to use it and a few dozen rounds of ammunition could have kept the school clear of zombies. Same with someone who had an actual sword and knew how to use it, although that would have been riskier.


Let's look at the numbers... school with several hundred students... let's say half are zombies, a very low number just by looking at the field because those are just the sports students... put under control with a single handgun and a few dozen rounds of bullets or a magical unbreakable sword that never got dull?

No. Somebody's been watching too much High School of the Dead, not enough Dawn of the Dead. Even swat team police members who only got head shots would run out of bullets before they ran out of targets.

Sure, if you dig into the epidemic on the first day NoTLD style then you'd have a better chance... but then that brings up the noise issue, right?


Last edited by Animegomaniac on Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:13 am; edited 1 time in total
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meiam



Joined: 23 Jun 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:03 am Reply with quote
The show didn't work for me, I was initially down for it and liked the premise but I didn't find that the two tone complimented each others. Main reason being how utterly easy the zombie were to deal with which required just too much suspension of disbelief to keep believing that the world had gone to hell. Not only are they so feeble a girl with a shovel can take them out, they go back to there home every night, meaning you can easily scavenge/move to safety at night and on top of that loud noise paralyze them (of course when the girl decide to scavenge to go during the day for no reason).

Once you take out the sense of danger your just left with a very mundane SOL which is not particularly interesting.
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Red Fox of Fire



Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Posts: 345
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:18 am Reply with quote
I really loved this show and didn't understand why there were such mixed reactions to it among the fanbase. It was really well-crafted. I've since read the manga, but I honestly prefer the anime.

Lemonchest wrote:
Much as I liked School-Live, at this point all that really sticks with me is remembering the big finale, when mad girl "saves the day" by spoiler[giving an emotional, impassioned speech to the zombies over the PA system (they just wanted someone to send them home!)], was just too dumb for me. I'm sure someone can list all the reasons why it worked on a thematic or emotional level, but for me was just a silly way to end things.

It had already been established that the zombies still stick to their basic routine from when they were alive (they go home at night, come in during rain, etc.), so the ending makes perfect sense in context.
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 11:25 am Reply with quote
While the zombies do their normal ingrained responses (like go home at night), it is not 100% across the board. Assuming all the zombies are gone, is the quickest way to become one yourself.

Venturing out during the day or during the night, each has their own pluses and minuses. It is safer to venture out at night in the school because it is familiar territory and has a low zombie population at night. But outside of school, the day is better because you can see what is coming at you.

I disagree with the reviewer about the fanservice. Only those really sensitive about fanservice would be bothered by what little they have in School Live! For most it will be a non-issue.
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v1cious



Joined: 31 Dec 2002
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:42 pm Reply with quote
Red Fox of Fire wrote:
I really loved this show and didn't understand why there were such mixed reactions to it among the fanbase. It was really well-crafted. I've since read the manga, but I honestly prefer the anime.

Lemonchest wrote:
Much as I liked School-Live, at this point all that really sticks with me is remembering the big finale, when mad girl "saves the day" by spoiler[giving an emotional, impassioned speech to the zombies over the PA system (they just wanted someone to send them home!)], was just too dumb for me. I'm sure someone can list all the reasons why it worked on a thematic or emotional level, but for me was just a silly way to end things.

It had already been established that the zombies still stick to their basic routine from when they were alive (they go home at night, come in during rain, etc.), so the ending makes perfect sense in context.


Fans mostly hated all the changes from manga. spoiler[taking out the helicopter crash] was a big one for me. Not only was it lazy, but it killed a really important story element. Overall I did like this series, I just feel like it could've been better.
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BodaciousSpacePirate
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:53 pm Reply with quote
This series was my second favorite show from 2015 (after Lesbian Bear Storm), but in hindsight I think I'd be really hesitant to recommend the show over the manga. It just leaves so much out - not to mention that it ends right before the manga's most interesting arc!
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 3:02 pm Reply with quote
one of my favorite parts of this series is how it explains the zombie conversion, for everybody that comlpains abuot suspension of disbelief , since it's commonly pointed out that biting is a very inneficient way to cause a zombie apocalypse (think of all the rabbies epidemies we get), so, it'0s severely hinted that spoiler[the zombification process is caused by an airborne virus and any injury can get your in troubleeven if it's not done by zombie]
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TarsTarkas



Joined: 20 Dec 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 5:24 pm Reply with quote
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
This series was my second favorite show from 2015 (after Lesbian Bear Storm), but in hindsight I think I'd be really hesitant to recommend the show over the manga. It just leaves so much out - not to mention that it ends right before the manga's most interesting arc!


It's a given that the anime would have to leave things out. It is the curse of adaptations.

I think they wanted to give the anime an ending, just in case there would be no second season. Still haven't heard definitive information how well School Live! did in Japan.
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TymersRealm



Joined: 05 Jan 2017
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:01 pm Reply with quote
TarsTarkas wrote:
BodaciousSpacePirate wrote:
This series was my second favorite show from 2015 (after Lesbian Bear Storm), but in hindsight I think I'd be really hesitant to recommend the show over the manga. It just leaves so much out - not to mention that it ends right before the manga's most interesting arc!


It's a given that the anime would have to leave things out. It is the curse of adaptations.

I think they wanted to give the anime an ending, just in case there would be no second season. Still haven't heard definitive information how well School Live! did in Japan.


The Graduation and going out is part & parcel of the manga. How the school got to the state the girls had to leave was done differently in the anime.
Considering the Manga is still ongoing, I'd say at least the Manga is going strong.

And to be honest, I'd love to see a second anime series done. There's a lot of interesting stuff that happens.
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Jose Cruz



Joined: 20 Nov 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 21, 2017 6:23 pm Reply with quote
I read the manga up to chapter 45 or so. I found it a pretty good manga but nothing super special. It's basically the walking dead + cute girls. So I am a bit surprised by the show's popularity among critics here, although the animation might be superior to the manga. Although 2015 was a weak anime year for me (my top pick of 2015 is Lesbian Bear Storm), while 2014 had Ping Pong and Shirobako, 2016 had several cool shows as well.
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