[ Episode 12: School Days ]

School Days has finally ended and Makoto is DEAD. I mean, holy shit, this ending transcends any of the game endings. This episode is so straight to the point that it hardly requires a detailed summary. The events basically play out like this: With Kotonoha now regaining her sanity she and Makoto get back together. Meanwhile, Sekai had finished cooking dinner for Makoto at his place only to find out that he was eating with Kotonoha at some expensive restaurant. Eventually the three meet, Sekai slaps Kotonoha and she tells Sekai about how she betrayed her first and reveals Setsuna’s feelings for Makoto as well. After a devastated Sekai leaves after seeing Kotonoha and Makoto make out everything spirals out of control from there. After receiving a message from Makoto to get an abortion for the baby Sekai goes to meet Makoto at his home. Much silence is present between the two and eventually Makoto gets a message on his cellphone. He’s surprised to see it’s from Sekai and as he turns around, he gets repeatedly stabbed by Sekai to death. I can only imagine how many people are celebrating that! XD

From there Kotonoha discovers the body and immediately goes to meet Sekai. After some words about who was Makoto’s girlfriend and Sekai puking after seeing Makoto’s severed head, the girls start to fight. Kotonoha pulls out her saw while Sekai tries to defend herself with the knife she killed Makoto with but gets it knocked away and Kotonoha ends it all by slices her neck. OH SHI-! Kotonoha then cuts Sekai open and basically says “Just as I thought! There wasn’t any baby in here!”. Best. Line. EVER. And yup, Kotonoha freaking lost it. Cut to a yacht sailing towards the sunset where Kotonoha is Makoto’s head and saying “We’re finally together Makoto-kun!”. Thus ends School Days after some monologue by the now deceased Makoto. Some seriously f*cked up shit, ya?!

So, with seeing this episode I can say that the stations were right in pulling this episode from their schedules. Why? It’s obvious, this episode was just too damn bloody and it would have been inappropriate to air it after the tragic incident last week. About Sekai’s death…I can’t really say she deserved that harsh of a punishment even if she did betray Kotonoha first but who am I to second guess Kotonoha-sama’s judgment? That aside I only have one thing to say for this episode: LOL MAKOTO IS DEAD!

[ Final Thoughts ]

School Days was a rather uncomfortable and, at times, hilarious series to sit down and watch. It did a great job at creating drama. That much is evident because all the characters had some sort of strain on their relationships with each other. Though they did that the majority of the characters weren’t really that likable nor where they developed as much. The only ones that really stood out were Setsuna, Kotonoha, Sekai, and Makoto. Well, it does make sense since they are the main characters of the show but things were only interesting when those four interacted with each other. The one other thing this show excelled at was making you hate the characters. Each person has a character they hate but I’m sure everyone who watched this has one in common. Yes, I’m talking about he who is scum: Makoto. Along with Setsuna, Kotonoha, and Sekai, he is one of the most realistic characters in the show. That is by no means a good thing necessarily. Why? There are many assholes like him in real life who treat girls just as bad if not worse. There are a lot of Kotonoha’s as well who let their friends and boyfriends walk all over them until it becomes too much to bear and eventually breaks down. The Sekai’s out there, while not usually setting up their friends with someone else and then sleeping with them, do betray their friends and while feeling guilty about it they eventually push it aside and fully indulge in their selfish desires. Setsuna…is a rather special case. She did grate on my nerves by interfering with Kotonoha and Makoto, not because I liked them together but really because she had no right in doing so whether it was for Sekai or not and came off as a bitch. Though the main reason is because I didn’t want her to get involved in that love triangle and, well, end up dead. That said, she was and still one of my favorite characters in this show. The other being Kotonoha.

In the end though, the charm of this show was most likely seeing how badly things would be messed up among the characters and anticipating who would finally put Makoto out of his misery. That chosen one was Sekai but the chosen one was immediately taken out by Kotonoha who, by the end of the final episode, had already lost her mind. Seriously, her hugging that head is creepy and the music just made it so even more. So, the question now is, would I recommend this to show to others? It depends really. I would if the person wants to see something new, have a good laugh, see the dark sides of humans, and learn to hate a character with a passion (read: Makoto), then yes I would. However, if they are looking for a school romance with relationships that don’t feel forced and with characters that have genuine feelings for each other then I wouldn’t. There are shows out there that are much better and more appropriate like KGNE or I”s Pure. School Days is in a genre of it’s own and, whether you love it or hate it, makes a mark in anime history as one of the most hyped series of its time. I wouldn’t call the series amazing or great but it was very entertaining. The rating I gave this probably wouldn’t have been so high if it wasn’t for Kotonoha delivering the best line anime history or using shunpo on Sekai. So for her sake I bumped it up a little. Honestly, if you take this show too seriously you may end up giving yourself a headache but it still teaches a valuable lesson even if you were like many others who had a good laugh each episode and that is to not f*ck around with more than one girl. Otherwise, karma will bite you in the ass in one way or another. Either way, I’m certainly not going to forget about School Days any time soon.

[Overall series review: 77/100]

[ Episode 11: Everyone's Makoto ]

Any girl who can like Makoto must be really desperate, blind, mentally incompetent, or just plain stupid. Or maybe all.

What the hell? Someone please tell me how and why Hikari and the Otome squad even considered for a moment to sleep with this guy? They know he’s no good so…what the hell? Is it because they’re “just as bad” as him or something? Out of no where he has slept with Hikari. Then, his next appointment is not with one, not two, but three girls. What. The. Fuck? Hello? Karma? Are you there? Well, at least they all finally decided to dump his jive ass (well, except for Sekai anyway).

Oh right, the jackass also tried to dodge responsibility for impregnating Sekai. Come on man, at least be a man and fess up to that. It’s pointless for him to make excuses in that situation. He knows damn straight that that baby is his.

Hmm. Kotonoha was pretty freaky throughout most of the episode. She was speaking into a disconnected phone pretty much all the time and was more or less like a robot. Interesting though, how she was revived at the end of the episode by Makoto. Seems like the idiot realized all that he did to her drove her to the brink of insanity. I have to wonder if he really knows the consequences of what he’s done so far not only to Kotonoha but everyone else. I can’t help but feel that he’s now going out with Kotonoha again because everyone else dumped him and because Sekai is pregnant.

Thank goodness this is ending with the next episode. Though I do wonder what’s going to happen… Is Sekai going to kill him? Or will everything be alright in the end with him taking responsibility for all that he’s done? I guess one should personally choose the ending that makes them laugh the most.

[ Episode 10: Mind and Body ]

Countdown to death or cop-out. Please die, Makoto.

Well, that was one packed episode wasn’t it? So much pathetic displays of human existence and interaction should be accompanied by a suitable score that suggests some kind of BAD END. Almost every character had their time in this episode but the most concerning, of course, is Kotonoha. Baby girl has her lifeless eyes activated after having being dumped by scumking Makoto and brushed off by the once quiet/good girl turned to total bitch Setsuna. Did you see those knives in her home? They probably didn’t zoom in on those just for fun. I think she could probably be going down the violent path because at the end of the episode she looked about ready to slit someone’s throat.

Who’s next…ah! Setsuna, Setsuna. I once liked her because of her quiet demeanor but up to now she’s really been a, well, bitch. Seriously, who is she to dictate the feelings of another person? Advice is one thing but telling someone what, when, and how to do it is another thing. Not to mention, she’s been unnecessarily cruel to Kotonoha on numerous occasions. None of that behavior was called for. Also, did she really and reasonably think that letting Makoto sleep with her would get him to break up with Otome and stay devoted to Sekai? Me thinks she knew exactly what she was doing but yet was feeling bad. My question is, if she was feeling bad about what she was doing: WHY DO IT? *sigh* I have to admit though, she’s a smart one. She escaped Japan before something bad could happen to her.

At this point I don’t know where they’re going with this ending. There were more than a few signs pointing towards a BLOODY END in this episode and at this point I’m ready to welcome it. I mean, who doesn’t want to see this guy die?

Lastly, if you haven’t as yet do take a look at Kabitzin’s post on this episode. The song he used (one of which I’m quite familiar with) is hilarious.

[ Episode 9: After-Evening Festival ]

Behold the examples of male scum! Only in School Days!

I’m not going to be surprised in the least if Kotonoha ends up killing someone (or her jumping to her death). It seemed like her mind and sanity shattered to pieces in this episode after the so-called revelation from Taisuke (who I’m sure took advantage of her in an effort to have his way with her…more male scum). Her lifeless eyes combined with that scene at the very end with her ribbon falling into what seems to be a pool of blood doesn’t make things look any brighter right now.

Also, was it just me or was Uzuki-chan (Kokoro’s friend) just absolutely amazing? She managed to assess the messed up situation going on with Makoto, Sekai, Kotonoha and others within less than 10 seconds. Not only that but I’m sure that she’s been the only person in this entire show so far to act like an adult. Wow. You know you’re pathetic when you’ve been outclassed by a loli in maturity.

Oooh. And, right! Makoto has now slept with Otome. Isn’t that just awesome?

Also, I recently spotted this:

The School Days anime is now officially rated R from episode 9. Up to this point it had no such age restriction set and many viewers and fans of the violent game endings were anxious that this meant no “bad ending”. But maybe School Days is now free to write some new anime history~

Source: Moon Phase

BLOODY ENDING INCOMING!

[ Episode 8: School Festival ]

And so the drama continues. Now Setsuna likes this idiot? Give me a break man.

Yeah, I’m sorry but Makoto is still scum as of this episode. He hasn’t done anything yet to redeem himself for all the dumb stuff he’s done. Him admitting that he was “terrible” was like half a step forward but he managed to take around 10 steps backward. This idiot already knows that Kotonoha is on to him and Sekai and yet he continues to cheat and does nothing about Kotonoha. Does he lack the courage to be a man and just end one of these relationships?

Also, what was Setsuna thinking? Now SHE likes this guy? Just what is it about this idiot that’s so attractive? He definitely doesn’t have any looks, has an annoying voice, personality isn’t anything to speak of…so what is it? Not only that, Setsuna is kissing a sleeping Makoto (lucky bastard got off this time since he didn’t really do anything) who she has been meddling for quite some time to make him Sekai’s boyfriend. Was this memory so precious to her that she’d risk getting caught? Now that she has been caught by Kotonoha, what will happen? Is Kotonoha gonna have to give out some more bitchslaps?

Anyways, as of this episode, if I were Kotonoha I wouldn’t want to be friends with any of these people, especially Makoto and Sekai. They’re the perfect examples of friends that will back-stab when you least expect it. One thing I dread in this episode is seeing Kotonoha attempt to kiss this fool at her side by using her body. That’s only going to hurt her in the long-run. >_<

[ Episode 7: Festival Eve ]

Kotonoha is awesome. Her hand of hers burns with justice!

This show is just great with pulling off drama. All of the characters work to create an edgy atmosphere despite whether I like or dislike/hate them. I kept wondering if Kotonoha was going to pull a Oyashiro-mode during this episode. The amount of teasing and avoidance she was receiving was making me really nervous for her well-being. I can only wonder what she’s going to do now that she has made known to Sekai that she is aware of what she’s doing with Makoto. There’s also the issue with her and Otome.

There was also a lot of meddling that wasn’t right. Setsuna, despite her wanting to help Sekai, was only making things worse since she had no idea of what the truth is between Makoto, Kotonoha, and Sekai. I wonder if she’ll continue interfering? As for Otome and her crew, they continue to bully Kotonoha and are really only showing themselves to look bad. Anyways, it seems as if the next episode will have a good bearing on whether we’re headed towards a good (clean and likely to be lame) end or a bad (really good if Makoto dies) end.

Though, I must say I loved the bitchslap Kotonoha gave Sekai. She had it coming and it was well-deserved. Though does she too deserve pity? I suppose so.