Why Highschool of the Dead Is Better Than The Walking Dead

I find this character much more intriguing than
that sullen creature on The Walking Dead.

Why Highschool of the Dead Is Better Than The Walking Dead


Off the Top of My Head ...

First, let's get this straight. NEITHER show is treading new ground. IT'S ALL BEEN DONE BEFORE. The recently dead rise, walk the earth and eat the living. DONE TO DEATH AND BEYOND. I really don't understand the popularity of such shows except that perhaps "zombies" are comparitively cheap to portray than other monsters and thus dough is saved in making this krap.

I only have THREE, yes, three such movies/shows in my collection. The original Night of the Living Dead from '68, Return of the Living Dead (Funny AND disturbing and I'm not talking Linnea Quigley!), and High School of the Dead. An ... Uh oh! ... ANIME!

I don't need any more. The rest is garbage ... Including The Walking Dead.

High School of the Dead, yes again, an anime, is the latest I have. You Tubed it before and picked it up on impulse as a used copy at Half Price Books. Certainly wasn't going to pay full price for it. It was the combo of the genres that got to me.

The fan service? Admittedly, that had a part. It's so exagerated and over the top that I'm still deciding wether to take THAT seriously or not. Is it meant to titillate or satorise? Probably both.

As for it being better than The Walking Dead, here goes ...

1. Brevity - HOTD is 12 half hour episodes. That's it. TWD is an hour each, into it's 5th season and never seems to end. Shoot! Tell your dang story and move on!

2. Character development - In HOTD you have just enough of it without getting into a Marvel Comics treatment/analysis. Also the "main" characters stick around and aren't killed off just after you've gotten attatched to them as in TWD.

3. Lack of "message" or agenda - HOTD being a product of a monoracial/monocultural society, reflects that. Unlike TWD, it doesn't have a "polite", PC/diversity driven, pro-feminist undertone in an effort to appeal to the masses of asses.

The problem with most mass media sci-fi/horror made here is that it's nothing more than stories about todays social issues "set in outer space" or whatever fantastical backdrop the show is trying to depict.

4. HOTD doesn't take itself seriously. - Or rather its fans don't. I've run into TWD "believers" who think "theirs" is GOSPEL.

Seriously. Folks who scoffed loud and long at me when I was into the survivalist movement back in the '80s are now giving me "tips" on staying alive ... Tips they got from TWD!

I comment that anyone going around eliminating opponents, undead or otherwise, with a sword or a Black 'n Decker, get what they deserve. If you're close enough to touch someone, they're close enought to touch YOU. If they're within arms length, you have failed to defend yourself. Shoot 'em!

"OH NO!" They chide. "The object is to survive. You must save your ammo."

The time to "save" your ammo is when you're out shopping at the hardware store, NOT when you're fighting for your life. THAT'S the time to "waste" ammo (It's not waste when you make every shot count however.).

"OOOOO! But you can't shoot them! The sound will attract more!"

Now were sorta' kinda' getting in to the realm of "Who would win in a fight? Superman or Mighty Mouse?" Superman of course. He's a real person!

Sigh ... Both HOTD and TWD are FANTASIES. Neither one should be taken seriously. Neither one should be considered a guide to tactical combat or crisis management. As much as we like our shows ... zombies are impossible.

That and anyone taking their tactical ques from movies/shows and utilizing them in an actual street situation are asking for a world of hurt.

5. Honesty - HOTD is a cartoon that doesn't present itself as anything else. TWD is a pretentious load a' bull trying to pass itself off as some kind of existential tour de force.

Being honest with myself, I'll go with the former.

Jus' sayin ...


The Zombie Apocalypse That Never Was here.

Not so HOTD here.

"Trailer" to a nonexistant HOTD season 2 here. Actually a compilation of shots from the show.


Go to Jays' Tee Vee blog main page here. Any articles under this 'un, yer there already.

Not So HOTD



Photo Credit: Madhouse



                                                                Not So HOTD

                                                                            by

                                                                              Jay Agan

     I've come to dislike the zombie genre. Zombies are "easy", making the movies are"easy", & look it. These flicks get a lot of hype & raves but I don't see much in this genre seemingly starving for a gimmick. The only ones I have in my collection are the original '68 Night of the Living Dead & Return of the Living Dead (A funny, yet very disturbing film. And I'm not referring to Linnea Quigley!)

     It was with some trepidation I took a look at High School of the Dead (Gakuen Mokushiroku or Apocalypse Academy. Produced by Madhouse. Directed by Tetsuro Araki.) Was'nt as bad as I thought though not as good as I'd have liked. As this show is an anime, suspension of disbelief is doubly required, which helped a lot.

     Starts off well enough. First three eps cover the unexplained breakout of the plague & its seemingly instantaneous escalation. The protagonists (angsty guy, his spear/staff wielding occasional girlfriend, dark haired kendo chick (my favorite), military nerd, self proclaimed girl genius, &.....Nurse Bubblehead (not my favorite). ), meet up & bust out of the school.

     Fourth ep is the "budget" chapter. Lotsa rehash & repeat of earlier scenes. Kind of reminiscent of those movie serials from the 40s.

     5th - 7th. It gets dumb. The good guys hole up in Nurse Bubbleheads' apartment (With a full military Humvee parked outside!) & "fortuitous" things happen. Seems the vacant ones' room mate is a special ops type (Who is elsewhere, clearing airport runways as a sniper.) with an easily broken into gunsafe full of goodies. The girls start acting drugged/drunk & compare breast sizes in the bath. Two try coming on to the angsty guy. Kendo chick parades around the kitchen in apron & thong. The excuse being they had to wash their clothes. All that blood.

     As if there weren't enough "fanservice" already. I haven't seen this many bums 'n boobs scince I attended a Three Stooges film fest in the early 90s. It goes back to a "reasonable" (For the series.) level after. This is partially redeemed with the rescue of a little girl & a dog.

     In ep 8, things getting precarious, the band leaves the apartment & fall in with a large group occupying a huge estate, by becoming trapped by a crowd of the undead against a titanium wire fence strung accross a street. Tense moments as the group takes out the the closing horde one by one while seemingly unable to figure out they can easily bend down & step through the fence. In another of those cartoon non-coincidences, their rescuers are led by the group genius' mom.

     Ep 9 & 10. It's not clear how Mr. & Ms. Genius aquired their wealth but it seems "counter cultural" activities & violence may have been involved. Here, the kids rest up & assert their rights to the weapons they "borrowed" earlier when some of the henchmen try to appropriate them (Mr. Genius backs the kids' play.).

     Some of the citizenry squatting on the estate, are in "denial" & want to get back to "democracy" as in right now. Their fantasies are shattered in eps 11& 12: The U.S. president launches nukes, Russia replies in kind. As the worlds militaries are too far gone, few nukes leave their silos thus WWlll is sparse. One does an EMP burst over Japan & communications go dead.

     The zombie horde breaks through the estate gate & the final battle is on. The protagonists make their escape. After the closing credits, our group is last seen crossing a bridge on foot in the hopes of finding family members. T.S. Elliots' quote from The Hollow Men appears: "This is how the world ends. Not with a bang, but a wimper." So does the series.

     I've left quite a bit out of this summary. A vile, manipulative, teacher (Who must have gotten a lot more "face time" in the manga series.). Angsto gets separated from the group twice, with a "girl of his choice". The series also depicts civil unrest/social collapse, breakdown of authority, confrontations with demented survivors, etc. One very brief but disturbing scene in ep 1 has a friend turning on another. Both "get theirs".

     I am less than happy with this series, but it does come accross as "different" from the Romero school. Perhaps it's because the show is an anime that I get that "feel". I doubt I'll buy it but I'd keep it if it was given to me (No. That's not a hint.) If it weren't for all that excessive (& exagerated!) T & A.....

                                                       Article copyright © Jay Agan

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