School Days: A Real Time Saver!

Bland, generic "protagonist" Mokoto Ito goes from not so lovable doofus to
notorious womanizer to total useless a-hole in less than 12 episodes.

School Days: A Real Time Saver!


As Theodore Sturgeon said:

"90% of everything is crap."

Anime is no exception. And, in the case of anime, this is especially true because 90% of anime is of the high school sub-genre and its' many sub-sub-genres. A type I've never been too hot on.

There are exceptions of course. Mine are (Notice I wrote MINE. Your "exceptions" will be different.) The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Azumanga Daioh and Angel Beats among others. For me to want to watch something it would have to  have some kind of "hook" in it that interests me and these shows have them (Theological, intelligent sci-fi, thought provoking, etc.).

As an aside(s), There are other kinds of anime I generally dislike but some shows of their kinds I do like. I hate giant robot shows but Evangelion and Gunbuster have their attractions for me. The "magical girl" krap I definitely not into but Puella Magi Madoka Magica with its' Evangelion-like plot(s) has me liking it.

As for the high school/schoolgirl crap ... well ...

The usual tropes, stereotypes, situations, lame laughs, bad drama ... The list goes on and on.

But wait!

There is one high school anime that I really do "like" ... In a semi-masochistic sort of way, School Days.

And I like it for the very same reasons I dislike most ALL the others of the same sub-genre.

WHAT!?

That's right. For the same reasons I don't like the others.

Huh?

Okay ... there are the usual aforementioned in School Days. The same plots, same characters, romances and other fixtures.

In one show.

That's right. You don't have to watch a bunch (A LOT!) of shows to attain a working knowledge of this sub-genre. They're all there. In-that-one-show.

Think of all the time and money you'll save by just buying/watching this alone.

School Days runs the whole gamut of the various comedy, drama/psycho-drama, horror, romance, mystery and whateverceteras all those shows have. In just less than the cost in time and money of one season alone (Twelve episodes), you will have seen ALL the high school anime ever made.

Just think ... When some fan of whatever of that type anime waxes loud and long about the latest "flavor of the month", you can easily give a knowing smirk and say you've seen it before.

"Been there ... Done that!"

Why should you care about the titles, production values, artwork, and the characters everyone has bonded too?

None of that matters. With School Days, you'll have literally seen them all!

Really ... School Days is more of a commentary and statement than it is a show.

Even the bland generic title of ... School Days ... should be something of a clue.

I'm getting to wonder if that's what the folks who made the show had in mind when they did it.

Could it be that all those reviewers and watchers of the show got it wrong? Did the bizarre, hard hitting finale (It's as if the producers were "killing" the genre as well as the show!) confuse them ?

Could it be that School Days is not only a statement but also a high kind of subtle satire and nobody "got it"?

Heck! I got it!

School Days ... The "Readers Digest" of anime!

Warning ... Shows' ending is not for the faint of heart.

Wikipedia article on the visual novel and show, School Days here.

Go to Jays' Tee Vee blog main page here. You're already there ifn' ya' sees articles under this 'un.