(image source: Crunchyroll.com)
School-Live! poster.
Hello! Welcome once again to another Katsanslimites' anime review and recommendation!
To start, I would like to ask everyone some question. Do you like cute anime characters and a school setup? Yes? That's good! No? Perhaps you have seen the recent hit movie Train to Busan and the television series The Walking Dead? If a zombie themed story sounds fascinating to you then how does a zombie apocalypse anime pique your interest? I know you are now!
I've really waited for the Halloween season to write about this series because I know this show suits to be posted at this period. So now let's proceed to Katsanslimites' anime of the day—School-Live!
BACKGROUND STORY
(image source: screenshot from the series by Katsanslimites)
Taroumaru and the four girl protagonists of the story.
"Gakkou Gurashi!"(Japanese title) or "School-Live!" in English revolves around the story of four high school female students from Megurigaoka Private High School who had managed to survive after their city was infested by a mysterious incident where people are turning into zombies after being bitten or wounded by a zombie. The girls were trapped inside the school building with very little faith of escaping and getting over their situation. They were quite lucky for their school was well-equipped to sustain their basic needs. Although feeling helpless, together, they managed to think of ways and strengthen one another to survive the zombie apocalypse especially for their friend Yuki who occasionally suffers from a mental breakdown when she remembers the reality there were confined in. To keep their friend sane, Yuuri created a school club named School Living Club which absolutely has no other objective but to live and continue their life like a typical student.
School-Live! is a test of friendship, trust and survival with a twist of zombie dominance. This is not just an ordinary cutesy anime we often see or hear.
(video source: NBCUniversal Anime/Music via Youtube)
Promotional video of School-Live!
The anime was a manga(comics) adaptation written by Norimitsu Kaihou and Sadoru Chiba for the illustrations. The story was animated by the animation studio Lerche and directed by Masaomi Ando. The series ran from July 09, 2015 until September 24, 2015 with a total of twelve episodes.
Looking by the number, the anime only had a few episodes and does not cover the entire story in the manga. Plus, the manga is still ongoing too. And I still haven't heard of any announcements for a second season. If you are a fan of this show, you can visit the official website of School-Live! to get first-hand announcements and fresh updates.
CHARACTERS
▪ Takeya Yuki
(image source: Google.com)
Takeya Yuki.
Takeya Yuki is a third year student from Megurigaoka Private High School. She has a distinctive pink hair and a little childish behavior. Her school getup is completed with a black bonnet with cat ears, a pink bag with cute little white wings on each side, and three hair pins with one having a cute animal design.
"Saiki gakkou ga suki desu!"
(Lately, I just love going to school!)
-Takeya Yuki
Yuki loves and enjoys going to school. When the outbreak of zombies hit their school and city, she became very traumatized at the horrific sight happening around her. This made her delusional and suffered mental breakdowns. To overcome the reality, she created an illusion where everyone at school was still alive. Everyday, she goes to her classroom to attend her classes and talk to her imaginary classmates and teacher like everything was normal. However, there were instances when everything would flashback in her mind giving her a terrible mental and emotional breakdown. Even though perceived as weak, she was able to save her friends just in time by speaking over the school speakers to command the student zombies to return to their homes. Well, despite being turned into zombies, the students still have little memories left when they still humans.
Takeya Yuki was voiced by Minase Inori.
▪ Ebisuzawa Kurumi
(image source: Google.com)
Ebisuzawa Kurumi cleaning the shovel she uses for killing zombies.
When Yuki is the weak in the group, Ebisuzawa Kurumi was the total opposite. She is the force and the zombie-extinguisher of the group. With a shovel always in her hand, she can take on any zombie that gets in the way—even if it was the person she has special feelings with. Recalling the scenario where she killed her crush-turned-zombie makes her suffer a lot emotionally. Kurumi also has some knowledge in driving and volunteered to drive their teacher's car when they went to the mall to replenish their food supplies and other anti-zombie tools.
Volunteering to check the school's basement, she unexpectedly found their teacher Megumi which she failed to kill earning her a wound from their teacher. She went back to the School Living Club room and slowly manifested signs of turning into a zombie. She was chained on a couch battling with the zombie developing within her while her friends looks for a possible antidote to the inexplicable case they were facing. Before the incident, she had secretly made an agreement with Yuuri that she must be killed once she gets infected by a zombie.
Ebisuzawa Kurumi was voiced by Ozawa Ari.
▪ Wakasa Yuuri
(image source: Google.com)
Wakasa Yuuri.
Wakasa Yuuri is the School Living Club's president and the acting big sister among the group. She created the club to protect Yuki from suffering more mental breakdowns. Kurumi and she plays along with the illusions of Yuki, even pretending to be speaking with their teacher Megumi.
She appears very calm and collected, having the last words on most big decisions the group has to make. When Kurumi was inflicted by Megumi who was then a zombie, she was very afraid and unsure if she would proceed to fulfill the agreement she and Kurumi had made before. She stayed next to Kurumi while the others looked for the antidote and get rid of the zombies. Running out of time and seeing her friend's suffering getting worse every second, unwillingly forced her to take out a knife and held it to a position of stabbing Kurumi. She held it long while battling with her inner self and weighing the decision while still keeping her faith with her friends to find the antidote.
Wakasa Yuuri was voiced by M.A.O.
▪ Naoki Miki
(image source: Google.com)
Naoki Miki.
Naoki Miki is a high school student and a year younger than the three girls. She was rescued by the girls when they went to shop for supplies at the mall. Miki and her friend Kei were trapped in a room inside the mall, but her friend was a bit impatient and left her in their hiding.(Her friend was later seen at the last episode as a zombie.)
Miki is a timid girl often cheered by Yuki which later earned a nickname Mi-kun. When she first learned of Yuki's case, she was completely puzzled. She couldn't understand why Kurumi and Yuuri were riding along their friend's illusions. Yuki was against it, but when she witnessed the terrible mental effects the zombie apocalypse had caused to Yuki, she agreed on playing along with the illusions.
She was also despised by their dog Taroumaru for yelling at him in the past. But in the end, the dog helped her when she went to the basement to take the antidotes.
Naoki Miki was voiced by Takahashi Rie.
▪ Sakura Megumi
(image source: Google.com)
Sakura Megumi.
Sakura Megumi is the girl's homeroom teacher. She is referred by her students as "Megu-nee"(sister Megu) which she often corrects and reminds her students to refer to her as their teacher. Megumi wears a necklace with a cross pendant and has a pink hair just like Yuki(I thought they were sisters in the beginning. Hehe!) She is kind and a loving teacher to her class. At the peak of the zombie outbreak, she sacrificed herself to protect her students from being harmed by the zombies. The girls(probably Kurumi and Yuuri) made a little grave at the school's rooftop in memory of their teacher.
Despite being a zombie, a part of her human memory was still present. She was longing for her remaining surviving students to live. Megumi was seen hiding at the school's basement, probably to avoid hurting the girls. She even had managed to give the girls a clue to where the antidote could be found.
Sakura Megumi was voiced by Kayano Ai.
▪ Taroumaru
(image source: screenshot from the series by Katsanslimites)
Taroumaru resting on a couch.
Taroumaru is a Shiba Inu puppy. Yes, a dog! I'm adding him here because he is an important character too. Taroumaru was originally owned by an elder woman Miki and her friend met at the mall just before the zombies attacked. When Taroumaru's owner became a zombie, Miki's friend Kei took care of him. He doesn't like Miki and won't ever listen to her. When they were saved by Yuki's group, he became very close to Yuki just like how he loves Kei.
During the School Living Club's investigation on the school's basement, Taroumaru sneaked down while everyone was asleep only to be discovered that he was infected by a zombie when they looked for him. Although losing his senses and attacking the girls, in the end, he helped them especially Miki whom he hated most. The girls also gave him the antidote but soon died.
Taroumaru was voiced by Katou Emiri.
A SHOW FILLED WITH DECEPTION!
(image source: screenshot from the series by Katsanslimites)
The four girls with Taroumaru.
Overall, I would say, this anime was different from the rest. In spite of not being the first one to have this cute and dark theme mixed together in a story, School-Live! had still managed and was among the few which succeed in a manner that it had intrigued and captured the audience’s interest—with a sense of being quite an original story over the former similar themed stories people had seen.
It was honestly refreshing for me to have seen this series. Rarely would I see such stories in anime(or have I not seen enough cute/horror themed anime?) Either way, this is a show I would happily recommend to someone who is looking for an extra twist. And I would like to know their feedback and reactions regarding it.
(video source: NBCUnuversal Anime/Music via Youtube)
Opening theme song and animation of School-Live!
If you have played the video above, you may have noticed how joyful the opening song is. If you initially thought this is a joyful show then its normal. I myself had thought the same way as well. I have the anime on my list for a very long time already until one day I came across its theme song while spending some lazy time on Youtube. And there I decided to watch it and give it a try, thinking that the story is about some high school friendship drama. But then, voila! I think I was just as traumatized as the main character Yuki when the characters’ predicament was revealed. It was very unexpected especially that the song was lively and cutesy. Even the song was deceiving!(I think I’m having trust issues now. Kidding!)
Going back, the opening song is entitled “Friend Shitai”(I Want To Be Friends) by the group Gakuen Seikatsubu which is composed of the voice actresses of the four girls Yuki, Kurumi, Miki and Yuuri. Meanwhile, the ending songs are “Harmonize Clover" and "Afterglow" by Kurosaki Maon, and "We Took Each Other's Hand" by Sawada Kaori .
(Trivia: On a later episode, there were some noticeable changes in the opening animation which is more appropriate to the story. Hehe!)
(image source: screenshot from the series by Katsanslimites)
Yuki trying to get into the school's broadcasting room.
For my reaction regarding the characters, I’d say that Yuki creeped me out the most especially that scene when she was inside her wrecked classroom sitting and talking alone to her imaginary classmates. Every time she talks to the imaginary Megumi scares me even though they were drawn really cute. I also find Yuki so much weak, I was hoping to see her bring down even at least one zombie. Aside from that, Megumi who covered for the girls to death was supposed to be the heart-clenching part of the story but then it was the death of Taroumaru that brought me to tears. I guess I do really have a soft spot for dogs. Taroumaru deserves to live!
I’m glad zombies are only real on the screens. If they were actually existing and I got stuck in a building too, I surely will get paranoid and tremble in fear but I would definitely find a way to exterminate them.
How about you? What would you do if you were trapped in a place infested by zombies?
Thanks for reading!
✧ Katsanslimites
