I will say this series is a tough watch, considering it is a zombie apocalypse that is to be expected. However there is a considerable amount of fan service type actions as well, that is true to the manga version quite a bit as well but there are a few stunning extras thrown in as well.
We open with the typical high school, Komuro Takashi being bummed that his once promised girl is now seeing another guy. We get a few glimpses of memories of her making the promise as a very young girl and then present day stress of Rei Miyamoto, a stunner of course (far right) seemingly having school issues. A pretty normal start of a normal day, oh and he is skipping class of course.
In this moment we meet another stunner, the brainy, but highly opinionated, Saya Takagi. Inside of the first 2 minutes she declares how much a genius she is and how stupid Takashi is for moping and cutting class. All seems to be sizing up for harem antics and/or drama.
Then of course zombies crash the party. The school literally goes from normal to zombie mosh pit in the space of an hour. The series does a phenomenal job of portraying reactions and the chaos of panicking student body as the principal is eaten over the loud speaker.
The first few episodes deal with Takashi rushing Rei out of class to safety with Hisashi, her current boyfriend, who in the midst of trying to get to safety of course gets bitten. Takashi is then forced to kill him after he pleads to die as himself. Again the series has an interesting take on the main drama, the zombies.
There is NEVER an explanation, the point is people are trying to survive and they have to deal with that as best they can. The whole series dose this aspect very well. The zombies are always referred to as "Them" and it addresses the psychological reasons for that later in the series.
They bite you and in short order you die rather dramatically, and painfully it would seem as well. Then in less than a minute you are undead. The other unique take is they are completely nerve dead save in mobility and hearing. This is a beautiful distinction to similar genre creatures as it gives a realistic take on a barely functional human body. They do of course have inhuman strength and only destruction of the head stops them completely.
Takagi makes a return at the start of the chaos by snatching a fellow classmate, typical nerd and professed Otaku, Kohta Hirano. A slightly over weight and shy person, until he makes a nail gun into a real weapon. Of all the characters he shows the greatest transformation. His hobby of weapons becomes the basis of a lot of their survival.
The last few characters of Saeko Busujima and Shizuka Marikawa, kendo expert and school nurse, all gather as Takashi and Rei make their way down to the main floor. The core group is our main focus and how they adapt to survive in this terrifying new world.
The series does well with the characters trying to keep their humanity as they have to change their ethics. They confront the erosion of civilization as fear and panic drive the public to do anything to survive.
Takashi is our main focus throughout, and some brilliant voice overs of his internal thoughts make a good counter point to the more nail biting moments. In particular of course are his relationships with Saeko and Rei, the former having to face the darkness she is letting loose in this new world, and the latter trying to overcome grief and heartache about Takashi.
Throughout there is a TON of fan service moments, some for laughs, others for not inexplicable reasons, but over it all is the group binding together and learning not only to survive, but to be a contrast to the darker turns of the wider society we get glimpses of throughout.
They drive themselves to find their families and whatever pieces of normalcy can still be had in this world. Takashi finds he is trusted as a leader when once he had only been happy as a slacker at school. Saeko feared the darkness within she always had is consuming her, but Takashi offers her a place and promise to accept what she it. Rei thought Takashi had lost interest in her and did not care, but finds he is exactly as she once thought, and still loves him, she also finds the will to survive after nearly breaking the first day.
Hirano finds a warrior's courage after hiding most of his life, helping Takashi gather their final member, the young girl Alice Maresato, from a horde of Them after her father is murdered by uncaring humans. His skill with weapons borders on the uncanny. Takagi learns humility and tempers her arrogance with necesity, helping bring into focus the groups goals and plans when panic tries to set in otherwise.
Shizuka....sigh....I want to find who gave this woman a nursing degree and shake them. While I have zero doubt of her status in the anime, her character DOES help the group survive and move forward. She also has surprising driving skills I doubt were recommended in any school. At the end she is still very much the same as she began, but there is a glimmer of iron here and there, never explored further.
I recommend this series highly and hope for a second season as the manga took a good turn I would love to see on my screen one day.
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