Highschool of the Dead – First Impressions
Highschool of the Dead is the latest anime from Madhouse based on the manga series of the same name. The first episode just released, and I can say it doesn’t disappoint. It’s full of gore, fan service, fighting, and what seems to be romance.
The basics of the story is that an undead man bit a school staffer, causing him to become a zombie. This lead to the infection spreading throughout the whole school, and most people getting bitten. This creates the scenario the first episode ends in, a select group of people struggling to stay alive within the grounds of the high school.
I’m not a huge zombie fan, let me say that. I’ve played Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising and enjoyed them. I haven’t seen any zombie movies and am not part of the whole zombie craze. However, I remember reading a chapter of the manga online a while ago and seeing the trailer for the anime. I was pretty impressed and it had me excited for the first episode.
It definitely doesn’t disappoint. The animation seemed pretty solid, I like the voice actors, and the music was pretty average. No major issues yet, minus the explanation of what caused the infection.
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- School staff witness the first death
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- Rei. one of the main female leads
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- The gore is plentiful and pretty detailed in H.O.T.D.
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- Takashi, the main male lead
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- Saya, the self-proclaimed genius. She hates dumb people (Takashi *cough cough*)
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- Saeko, she seems to be pretty skilled with that bokken. Can’t wait for more of her character to be revealed
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- Random schoolgirl being abducted
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- Hishashi, Rei’s boyfriend, was bitten and becomes infected
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- Takashi embraces Rei after he smashes Hishashi’s head in to save Rei
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- Saeko, Rei, Saya
Highschool of the Dead OP
Decent OP, the song is pretty average
Highschool of the Dead ED
I’m really digging the ED though, we’ll see how much it sticks
I’ll be sticking with this show as long as it stays consistent with the bar this episode set. It seems solid so far.
Expect some updates in the near future as more episodes air. 
The violence, gore, and animation quality is epic. I hope they can keep it up during the entire series.
From what I’ve been seeing it, it is only 12 episodes long. This should be able to stay high caliber for that long, without the story getting to wacky. Sort of like Elfen Lied was.
He got rid of his rival in the first episode. Lol. How convenient.
Nice start of the show. Don’t stop with panty shots pls. I’d be sad.
I dont think the show could have more than 13 eps but had a good start.
From what I’ve heard there is a second season.