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School Days was a trip, and I am very conflicted on how to score it myself. But I can recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a little emotional damage.

School Days executes the story of a psychological shit show very well and is clear on the message it wants to send, while invoking some pretty intense emotions. This is certainly not for anyone, as it deals with some rather heavy stuff especially towards the end. It is not overly ecchi, considering the rest of the content, and the low detail of anything ecchi, but it does have scenes that imply some considerably graphic interactions. This ... goes for the gore as well, however it is depicted in a much more ethereal way and there is only one section of the anime that has any.

I hated the way it made me feel, but I didn't hate the anime at all. What it did was inspire visceral feelings of hatred and at one point a despair I haven't felt in years. I think that is the point. The characters were written in a way to make you feel bad for (one of them) them or completely detest (most of) them, but also make you think about them the whole time. All the characters played integral parts of the story, and were well instated. It came across that the writers wanted to show the audience something very specific, but still profoundly broad.

I have seen and been through some shit before, but nothing from a fictional level has brought me to the point where I am shaking with fury, which I have only felt from real world experience. This felt worse than NTR, but it was so damn good. This would best be considered as the telling of a story, as in DO NOT associate with any of the characters and we should just view them through the camera like you're at a zoo, if that makes sense.

The art and animation were fitting for the purpose of the anime, so not over the top but not a slide show of MS paint drawings. The sound was unnoticeable and probably did not need to be noticeable but it would not have hurt.

I cannot say I regret or hated watching School Days, but I am not so sure I would've missed anything if I didn't.

Overall - First of all I'd like to admit to crying 3 times throughout this anime. Maybe I'm just emotional but damn, I did not expect to cry. I went into this thinking it would be your typical run of the mill, slice of life, highschool rom-com anime with the staple tsundere and frustrating love triangles, but I was pleasantly surprised when this was not the case. It turned out to be my favorite anime before I even finished it. I've watched my fair share of seasonal anime, romcom anime, and slice of life anime, each of which repeat the same game winning plot tactics, ... frying my brain to a crisp. But Toradora truly set the bar high for me in many regards.

Story - I was more than pleased with the story line. It was somewhat refreshing, and appealed to my taste, while not being some trashy and tasteless fan service anime that I would be embarrassed to be seen watching. The story was different enough from most to have my heart, while still staying familiar enough to be in my comfort zone and still be refreshing to watch.

Art - I liked the art for the type of anime Toradora is. It wasn't boring and most of the characters had distinguished features, so if I traded their hair styles amongst them they wouldn't all look the same. It also wasn't too bright as if someone was constantly hovering over each seen with a bright ass fluorescent light bulb and it wasn't too bland. However it did have the whole thing where maybe too many scenes were in the classroom or the same place usually, but it made sense in accordance with the plot. Also I'd like to say that I was pleased with the art for the Christmas episodes. I'm always a sucker for Christmas episodes in anime, especially when they remind me of the Christmas look

Sound - I'm not an expert on sound but I think most of the sounds were appropriate and I can say for sure they added onto the vibe whenever there was sound outside of dialogue. I will also venture to say that every intro song made it into my personal top 25 anime intros, being very catchy and fun to listen to overall.

Characters - I loved every character. I felt like their personalities were real, and I was entertained by the fact that each one had a look that, in some way shape or form, was related to their personality. Like Ryuji's mean looking eyes with his kindness, Taiga's height with her temper, Minori's flamboyance and outward appearance of bliss and the embodiment of 'sugar, spice and everything nice' to match her complicated feelings and her hidden caring nature. Every character has a quirk worth mentioning and they all fit together into the story perfectly to bring the whole thing into the final stage of what it is, and make it rise up to S-Tier anime. Also, good waifus ;)

Enjoyment - I enjoyed this so much even though I have watched a decent many other animes. I loved it so much in fact that I was a little depressed and almost cried a 4th time when I finished it. I'm so glad to have been blessed by finding this anime and watching it after so long since my entrance onto the anime scene. It somehow gives me hope at the same time as tearing it away for all the other anime in my 'plan to watch' list

Edit- High rewatch value for sure, really loved watching it a 2nd and 3rd time