Story and Plot:
Story:
Zombie apocalypse. Enough Said.Basically, one day there is a massive outbreak of a disease that makes people turn into zombies upon death. The stories follows a group of students trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.
Score: 3.6/5
Plot:
This show actually has a pretty strong plot. Though, it is basically escaping the zombie hordes, I found it to be managed and well paced. It is definitely not anything special, but it is good enough to support the show. Honestly, the plot doesn't really have to be too developed. IT's a zombie apocalypse, the plot should just be running away from the zombies and surviving.This show however, does present a few notable flaws keeping it from being a great series.
The first and most glaring flaw is the introduction of the ecchi concept. Personally, I wasn't expecting it to have that degree of ecchi, but it ended up going all out. There are a lot of shows these days that have a ton of fanservice. In HOTD, some of the fanservice is completely unneccessary. One prime example is when the gang finds a suitable house to hide out in for a while. The girls take a bath together and the camera shifts into the bathroom. We proceed to see basically all the oversized breasts and vulnerable poses in the world. The show takes a huge shift from zombie apocalypse to ecchi mania. I felt like, HOTD could have had a lot of success without having to introduce such themes of ecchi into the mix. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate fanservice. I actually like fanservice in an anime; I feel like the industry has shifted in a way that fanservice is a must in almost any anime. And honestly, I don't mind it. It's just that in this series the fanservice blocked out the plot and awsome characters from shining through. (Though I can't help but think that without all the exagerrated fanservice, it wouldn't be as popular as it is now.)
Another flaw, is the length. The show is only 12 episodes (plus a OVA episode that is solely meant for fanservice and is in no way related to anything in the plot. I felt it was okay, for a 15 minute special.) The story surprisingly brought some interesting characters to the mix. Some characters were somewhat well developed for the time they had, but others like Rei were completely ignored. I am glad that a season 2 for the show has been confirmed (I think) for this fall or early next year. It was a fun ride and definitely needs a sequel to patch up some holes.
Overall: A fun, interesting adventure with too much ecchi and fanservice for my liking.
Score: 10.5/15
Sound and Animation
Animation:
What can I say. Another fantastic job by Madhouse Studios.The animation quality is really good and might explain this shows immense popularity. (Currently 19th in popularity on myanimelist.net) This show is just really well animated and I guess it had to be, for all the fanservice they put in. I might have not enjoyed the big boobs and repeated panty shots to their fullest potential, but they were definitely a sight to behold. As mentioned before, Madhouse Studios is great at animation and has been good for a while. If complaints of character design can go here, I would say that the boob size was definitely too big for comfort. I meam, Shizuka's boobs are litreally the size of small bowling balls. And the other characters don't fare much better either with their exagerrated looks. One thing I do appreciate is the lack of a character with a completely flatt chest. It is one of the things that kind of annoys me when watching anime. Having a flat chest, so flat that it is in line with your stomach is just weird. It is way unatural. I'm not trying to be mean at all, but the way the industry portrays this problem is way too crazy. Literally being able a flat chest, as in 100% flat. Likewise, breasts that are severely overdone and put out of proportion, annoy me too. Once again they bring a sort of unnatural order to the world. But, I guess anime isn't that natural to begin with. Rant aside, this was a very clean and sharply animated anime.Overall: Very well animated by Madhouse Studios. With great animation combined with the jiggling boobs, ravaging panty shots, and hot-ass anime girls in the show, it is no wonder why this show is so popular.
Score: 9.3/10
Sound:
What do you know, we have arrived at that point of the reveiw again. Sound. Once again, if you didn't already know, this department is most definitely my weakest out of the bunch. Anyways, having said that, I don't think there is much to say about the shows music and sound. I found the voice acting to be good for all the characters. Also the opening and ending tracks were to my liking. I didn't notice any standout insert songs, but I felt that most of it was just exciting and suspense songs.Overall: A decent soundtrack that fits the show.
Score: 7(average), 0.6 (because I liked the opening and closing), 7+0.6= 7.6/10
Characters:
This show's characters are good. They aren't just a bunch of anime stereotypes. They're a unique combo a very cool characters, though I do think they were way way way way way too underdeveloped. Saeko seems to be your standard strong female character, but she really isn't. She is surprisingly kind (not really I guess, the strong female is kind) and also surprisingly light-hearted. She cracks a bunch of jokes and also likes to poke fun at Takashi. If these weren't enough, she also has a past that makes her an even more dynamic and interesting character. Next there is the "male leader" character that we all know and love, Takashi. I really liked his character and he was very well voiced as well. He also was more carefree than your average stereotype. Often enjoying the thought of being trapped with essentially 3 (+Ms. Shizuka, I guess) lovely girls in the zombie apocalypse. He is also very resourceful, once using Rei's boobs to balance an AK-47. Personally, I like the idea of Takashi and Saeko as a couple, but that's just me. I'm not sure if they actually get together, because I've never read the manga, but one can hope. Next on the list is Takagi. She actually also has her story explained pretty well. She is a pretty average tsundere-esque character. There is nothing too special that I can think of for her. I just like her as a character, because I love tsundere characters. (especially tsundere's without a literal flat, flat chest) Moving on. Next we have, Rei. She's just the fighter-girl type. Honestly, I think I should like her, but so far I really don't. She is way underdeveloped for what she should have, and is really just there, most of the time. Hopefully, she gets better developed in the next season. Finally, there is Kouta. He is the otaku-nerd of the series that specializes in guns. He has weird family relations, that are almost not believable, but still make sense in the making of his character. He provides a lot of comic relief and is a overall pretty strong character. The show has a few supporting characters, but I do not wish to discuss all the characters, just know that I don't really like Ms. Shizuka or Shidou. Freakin Shidou is terrible. I loved the characters, they were just not developed enough to be amazing.Character Designs: I personally also like the character designs. Different couloured hair for all the girls is always a plus and kind of a must. Obviously the boobs are there. And overall just a solid animation for all the girls. Just Good.
Favourite Female Character: Saeko
Favourite Male Character: Kouta
Least Favourite Character: Shidou (seriously this man is the worst)
Overall: A lot of potential for the characters, but so far only some of them are interesting and developed. Albeit pretty interesting. Needed more episodes for characters to be properly developed, looking forward to season 2.
Score: 17.7/20 (for the developed characters), -3/20 (lack of character development), 17.7-3=14.7/20
Enjoyment:
This show was definitely highly entertaining. It produced a good story, with great animation, decent sound, and some pretty great characters. It is a combination of action, romance/harem, comedy, and ecchi. The show's action scene's are very well animated and the show always has a light feel to it, despite the omnipresent zombie apocalypse. It was just a solid journey throughout the 12 episode series.The only flaw here, is once again the always present theme of ecchi. Though, the overuse of fanservice itself is not bad(honestly, great animation on these shots), its when and how they it is introduced. Randomly inserting scenes of fanservice for no absolute reason in the middle of the plot is not what I call a fluent plot. I feel like this show could have achieved a lot more if it took the accent off the fanservice and girls and focused more on the characters or plot. This show truly has characters and these characters are overlooked because of their boobs.
Overall: Just watch the show, it is very entertaining. Warning contains ecchi that may distract you from the plot, characters, and the action
Score: 26.6/30
Ending:______________________
This show doesn't actually end in the 12 episodes. I will give the show credit as it doesn't end on a complete cliffhanger, which is good. Anyways, I'm not going to give a review here. Thank goodness there is a second season for this. Hopefully it will be as good as this one.
Total:
Story: 3.6/5
Plot: 10.5/15
Animation: 9.3/10
Sound: 7.6/10
Characters: 14.7/20
Enjoyment: 26.6/30
Total: 72.3/90-----80.66/100
Conclusion:
Great series that I recommend to anyone who doesn't mind the ecchi. I probably won't be watching too many ecchis to come, but season 2 is definitely on that short list.+
-Great Characters that aren't just anime stereotypes.
-Very entertaining action and comedy!
-Very well animated!
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*Little or no development for some characters.
*Short series with an inconclusive ending.
*Ecchi somewhat overtakes the actual story and plot.
Once again, just watch it!
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