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Rewatch: Gakkou-Gurashi (School-Live) Overall Discussion
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This is to share your overall thoughts with the series. What you liked, what you didn't. Your favorite characters, favorite episode, favorite moments, least favorite etc.
Top Comment: I don't think I've been this invested in an anime story for a long time. GK has been on my watch list for years and I'd avoided pretty much all spoilers for the show aside from there being a horror twist. Even disregarding the twist the anime threw me for a loop up till the very end. Kurumi got bit I was still prepared for the whole series to have been Yuki's delusion if that give any hints for the type of things running through my head. Instead they played it as a pure zombie flick, which is fine. I think the story worked out perfectly fine going down that route. Especially with the path the manga apparently goes down. Sadly the manga's not really for me, I'm satisfied with pulling a Promised Neverland and loving my tight knit initial arc and leaving the rest. One sad part about having a show so heavily focused on atmosphere and mystery is that it makes it difficult to appreciate the sum of the parts. I do feel like some episodes were dragged out a little much but without those long periods of the kids having fun playing dress up or cleaning a pool having the tone shifting to incoming disasters or Yuki having a break down wouldn't hit the same. I think GK is a masterful experience but I could easily imagine that experience getting soured if shown to a more impatient viewer. Character wise... I love the cast but I have to admit that not everyone got quite the same love and attention. Yuuri is of course the primary victim but at the same time it feels like Miki is the one character I consistently adored throughout, and most of her development seems anime only XD I cared for everyone but the highlights were Miki growing into a fine young woman and doing mental analysis on Yuki. Sorry Megu-nee, you're just hard to discuss! This has been something I've wanted to see for years... Thank you for hosting Snarky. Genuinely, thank you for letting me finally experience Gakkou Gurashi. Getting to watch this blind has been an absolute pleasure. Our group has been fairly small, fairly comfy, with a mix of new and old. But honestly I much prefer small groups like this because it means that I can truthfully say to each and every one of you, thanks for being with me. Whether it's in another rewatch, a discussion thread, or even a zombie apocalypse, here's to hoping that we'll meet again. Classes have now ended. All students still on school premises are to return home.
School Live first impression.
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So I just watched episode 1 of Gakkou Gurashi(School Live) because people say it will literally screw you up inside. Honestly, I believed I had seen worse, so I decided to give episode 1 a watch. Going in, it seemed like your typical slice of life comedy-ish cutesy anime. I was thinking, okay, maybe it'll come out unexpectedly. Still, nothing happened. Half way in, and I'm really thinking it was just some false hype. What's so bad about a cutesy anime, right? Then...around the end of the episode, it happens. One minute, mc it's chatting with some girls in a classroom, next minute said classroom is literally torn to shreds, and there's blood all over the floors and walls. Scenes show zombies surrounding the school and stuff. But that wasn't the worst of it. No, the worst of it was the fact that she WASN'T talking to anyone to begin with. Those girls she was talking to were long dead, and basically she's imagining the whole thing. The only real people there are the three friends she's with, and I guess a former teacher? All in all, her friends are clearly distraught about this girl's condition. Honestly, this is the darkest crap I've seen thus far, anime wise.
Top Comment: One of the few anime episodes that should never, ever be spoiled. It is masterful how it was done.
Two Perspectives [School-Live] (contains plot spoiler)
Main Post: Two Perspectives [School-Live] (contains plot spoiler)
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One of the few times that the plot twist actually got me.
Is School-Live any good?
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I’ve been seeing people talk about it lately and all I know is that it’s some weird psychological horror or something.
Top Comment: Yes. It’s a touching series and you come to love the cast a lot. It also really delves into the psychological stuff a lot more than I expected. Even though the anime diverges a bit from the manga, I’d say that some of the changes are for the better. Also, the anime leaves off very nicely and I really didn’t feel the need to continue with the manga. The more blind you go into it, the better. There’s a lot of twists too.
Were you satisfied with the ending of Gakkougurashi (School Live)?
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I just finished School Live and am somewhat peeved with the happy-go-lucky ending.
I went into this anime pretty much blind except for knowing it was set at high-school and there were zombies, and I expected something like HSotD minus so much fanservice. I ended up being totally engrossed in the story, the girls' struggles, Yuki's psychotic break with hallucinations, the way the girls coped with the isolation and constant threat...
What starts off as a wonderful psychological horror anime which constantly juxtaposes moments of levity and joy with hopelessness, terror and horror, wraps up way too quickly with too much melodrama, and some of the most fascinating aspects - like the zombies still having a level of awareness, the biological weapon and designed shelter angle - are simply swept under the rug. Even the potentially horrifying uncertainty of what kind of community the girls might find is brushed aside as "at least we can talk to them".
Ok, rant over. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, so please share!
Top Comment:
The manga went farther I'm pretty sure the anime ended around the halfway mark, or even less than that. So that's why the ending is weird.
Why School-Live is a good and bad Anime show (Spoilers)
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So for those who don’t know what School-Live is, it focuses on yet another zombie apocalypse. Except the twist is that we see things through the eyes of a delusional girl. She thinks everything is still fine, and that everyone is going on with their daily life routines. While the others have caught onto this, they simply use it to their advantage. They play along with her delusions as they believe she is the only form of hope and happiness they have left. It is a great idea and just for that alone this show gets points. But it still has its flaws as well. And I’m gonna tell you why I think it’s a great and bad show.
The good:
Most zombie shows focus on physical attributes of people such as their survival skills and how smart they are. But this show focuses more on what a persons mental state would most likely be like in a zombie apocalypse. As the episodes go on, you notice how each characters mood changes for the good or worst based on events that occur. Something bad won’t just happen and then they’ll forget about it the next day. It still affects them even as time goes on. Making it a more realistic zombie show.
The show doesn’t give every character equal value. Truth be told, this show gets how a group would work in a zombie apocalypse right. Not everyone in the show knows how to fight, and not every one of them is smart. They all have a unique trait and value to them that makes them act different in a tight situation. While in the end they all feel the need to fight at some point, it doesn’t just have all of our characters be combat artist like the characters from “High School of The Dead.” So this is good writing if you ask me.
The bad:
Although this show focuses on mental states of people in a zombie apocalypse, it’s also easy for you to forget that it is based on a zombie apocalypse. There are a lot of moments when you completely forget you are watching a zombie show due to the events that are happening. They will have way too much fun, and make a lot of jokes. Making you wonder why they can’t just spend the rest of their lives together like they are now since they have a lot of resources for a long time.
The zombies are also not visibly seen. They show they corpses walking towards our protagonists, but they are surrounded by a aura that doesn’t allow you to see what they look like all that well. This kinda takes away from the creepy zombie vibe as you don’t see what their faces look like to be creeped out by them. The way they walk is creepy alright, but since we can’t see all of their upper body than it takes away the fear.
The final thing is that it can get bland at times. Since it’s a zombie show, you shouldn’t expect much to happen considering you’d want to stay off the streets as much as possible. But our protagonists all reside in a school and have blocked the stairs off with desk. They tend to stay on the top floor so it’s not often that they explore. This leads to it feeling stale at times due to not much change of scenery occurring. Yet when it does occur. It can be pretty intriguing.
Overall this show is a must watch if you ask me, especially if you’re interesting in a zombie show that is different. This one tries not to focus on the combat as much, and focuses more on mental health. Which It does a great job at for the most part. So give it a try if you haven’t seen it and want something to watch.
Top Comment: Although this show focuses on mental states of people in a zombie apocalypse, it’s also easy for you to forget that it is based on a zombie apocalypse. There are a lot of moments when you completely forget you are watching a zombie show due to the events that are happening. They will have way too much fun, and make a lot of jokes. Making you wonder why they can’t just spend the rest of their lives together like they are now since they have a lot of resources for a long time. This is the point though. School-Live is about escapism. The girls all desperately want to not think about the fact that they're in a zombie apocalypse, and they envy Yuki as a person who literally can't experience their fear. They all do activities that they hope will make them forget about the impending doom, they all want to escape from the constant fear through joking around, playing games, and vicariously living through Yuki and their club, it's part of why they go so far to keep her appeased and ignorant. Basically, the show does doesn't keep the zombie stuff in the forefront because the characters try to escape from it through those light jokey activities, and it admonishes that mindset by the end with Yuki breaking from her ignorance and helping them escape. The show is a really clever metaphor when you think about it, especially when you add in it's coming of age narrative on top of the zombies.
[Minor spoilers] So I'm watching School-Live for the first time
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Just holy fuck, I knew about the twist for the first episode but it still got me with just how brutal it was.
I've always loved zombies but I've never found them scary, this anime though, fuck. By far the scariest anime and show I've ever seen. I'm not sure what it is, perhaps the vague zombie designs, the teeth, the contrast between characters and world, I'm not sure it's just so visceral to me.
I'm only on episode 5 Spoilers!
Top Comment: Once you're done with it, I recommend reading the manga from start. There are many changes (for both good and bad) in the adaptation, but the manga is much more focused on the dark atmosphere.
What's in an OP? - The Secrets of School-Live! [Spoilers]
Main Post: What's in an OP? - The Secrets of School-Live! [Spoilers]
Top Comment: God damn, son. That was one that I didn't think had such deep meaning. Great explanation.