School Days April Fools' Review

So very special...

Greetings Ladies and Gents. It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a brand new anime review. People, I've been watching anime for quite some time. Since I was a child and had no idea that cartoons could come from Japan, I have seen multiple anime, each packing their own unique stories, characters, and themes. But throughout all my years of viewing anime, none of the shows I've seen today have the thought provoking themes, the memorable characters, or the out of this world story like the series I'm about to review today. 

If the picture above is giving you all any indication, you are wrong. The series I'm talking about isn't Neon Genesis Evangelion, the series I'm talking about is the one and only diamond series of an anime: School Days.

Strap yourselves in folks, we're looking at a true masterpiece

Synopsis: School Days is the story of an average boy named Makoto Itou, who has a crush on  

the cutest girl in his school Kotonoha. When a girl in his class Sekai finds out about this, she decides to hook Makoto up with Kotonoha, but when the two get together, Sekai kisses Makoto, ensuing a love triangle.

The Good: While having decent animation (The last episode in particular being the most stand out), the true selling point of this fantastic series is it's engaging story. You'll be on the edge of your seat. The characters are fun to watch. Such as for example the main character.

Trust me, you'll love this guy as the series goes on

I love every action this guy takes in this story, it's so wonderful. The two love interests: Sekai and Kotonoha, are very great characters and the love triangle is done masterfully. This series truly takes harem anime and deconstructs it and...Nope. No, can't do this. Can't do this at all. This was meant to be an April Fools review where I jokingly made School Days out to be a great series but NO! No this series is God Awful. A stinky steamy pile of stink and here's why.

The Bad: One of the common defenses I hear for School Days is that it's a deconstruction of the harem genre of anime.

You guys have no idea how long I've wanted to use this meme in something.

To say that School Days is a deconstruction is to say that the story is smart and is aware of the tropes (Tropes being constantly used story elements/plot devices to those uninformed) of the genre is being placed in and plays with those. You could say that Madoka Magica is a deconstruction because it toys with the idea of what being a magical girl is. Despite what some may feel about the franchise, you could say Evangelion is a deconstruction because it shows what could realistically happen if you put children in giant robots and tell them that it's up to them to save the world.

The point is, to deconstruct, you would have to be clever and have smartly written characters.  After watching this entire series, it is safe to say that not a SINGLE IOTA of Intelligence was put into writing this series. Even in the first episode, the stupid punches you in the face like it was Ivan Drago. 

As the synopsis of this series said. Makoto likes Kotonoha. Sekai does Makoto a solid and hooks him up with her, and when Makoto goes and thanks Sekai for doing so, Sekai kisses him, implying that she has feelings for him. Which begs the question: IF Sekai LIKED Makoto, then why didn't she just try and get with him herself?!?

Yeah, I'm gonna make out with you after I helped you get with this other girl for...reasons...

But some of you may be saying: "Well, that's not so bad. It just builds up to a love triangle." Which, you might be right. But it was the end of episode three where things go down hill when Makoto tells Sekai his relationship with Kotonoha is boring and it's too much work (What he really meant was they weren't having sex, so he wanted to break it off). Sekai helps Makoto by giving him romantic practice (Which is pretty much her letting him get to second base with her).

After that occasion, Makoto decides he wants to be with Sekai because... It'd be a lot easier hitting that (No he doesn't actually say that, but he might as well have). By the end of the fifth episode, they are "together" and are, to quote The Zohan, having The Bang-Boom. I'm sure you all are thinking: "That's kind of messed up, but he at least called it off with Kotonoha right"? 

As a matter of fact, he NEVER breaks it off with her, he keeps going around with Sekai while Kotonoha's heart keeps getting broken. And by the end of the series, she is a sad, psychotic, broken mess. How does this get worse, some may be asking? Well, our good old buddy Makoto doesn't just cheat on Kotonoha with Sekai, he cheats on Sekai with the following:

His Childhood Friend

Sekai's Best friend

ANOTHER one of Sekai's friends

And three other girls whose pictures I couldn't find (All three girls at the same time). Which brings me to another point I have: The girls in this series are all F**KING IDIOTS!! Not only do you have The Sekai example I stated earlier in the review, you have Kotonoha. She hears people constantly say she and Makoto aren't a couple or have broken up, but instead of confronting Makoto about it, she just wallows to herself. Then you have Otome, Makoto's childhood friend who after sleeping with her, more or less tells her: "Yeah, I'm in this pinch with Sekai". Instead of being a reasonable person, she's all: "Yeah, that's cool." Then there's Setsuna, Sekai's best friend, who finds out about Makoto sneaking around and convinces him he shouldn't be sleeping around with other girls behind Sekai's back anymore...by sleeping with him...Then there's Hikari, who tries to get Makoto to go see Sekai who was upset. But that ends up with those two having sex! These girls only stop messing with Makoto when they find out he got a girl pregnant. You will be bashing your skull against a wall with some of the actions these characters take. 

Now, let's talk about the main man himself: Makoto!

The Prime Definition of an Idiot!!

In case the earlier section of the review didn't convince you, let me reiterate here. Half of the problems that Makoto goes through could have easily...EASILY been avoided if he used the upper head for even a second! But instead, he bangs everything with lady parts. The worst part in all of this is that he never takes any responsibility for his actions. He never breaks up with Kotonoha because she'll be mad; or the best example, Like when he finds out Sekai could be pregnant with Makoto's child. You'd think he'd do the right thing and want to do what he can to take care of the child. Dean Ambrose?

Thank you...

Instead what he does is break up with Sekai and crawls back to Kotonoha, further cementing the fact that not just her but EVERY character in this series is a complete moron. This of course leads to the only memorable thing in this entire series: Sekai killing Makoto and Kotonoha finding out then killing Sekai.

Conclusion: I had friends in high school tell me about this series. They spoiled the ending for me, just so I wouldn't see it. But I saw it anyway, I had to see if it was as bad as people made it out to be. Long story short: it is. There's a reason School Days is as Infamous as it is. The notion of common sense seemed to elude every character in this series. As stated earlier, the majority of bad things that happened in this show could have been avoided if the characters took time to actually THINK. Combine that a totally unlikable main character and a story that's only noteworthy thing is its ending and you have one of the worst anime of all time. School days is not a deconstruction series. If anyone tells you that, they're lying to themselves. This is merely a giant melodrama that proves much much stupid into a series. If you're at all curious about this series, just look up the ending on YouTube. You can find it in about ten seconds and it'll save you a lot of time.

Til next time folks I'm the Shaman of Animation saying: Happy April Fools Day (Or Belated considering when I get this posted). Take Care...