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Ah, High School. I only just graduated a couple of years back; some of you may be in high school as you read this. So imagine you wake up one morning, head over to school, decide to skip a class, and witness the living dead kill a man during that time. Welcome to the High School of the Dead, the (relatively) action-packed, bad-ass, ecchi, fan-service filled (did I say ecchi?) anime about a Zombie Attack in present day Japan.

STORY: 6

I love zombies. Well no, not really, that would be odd, but if the world had to have some kind of catastrophe, a zombie attack would ... be my choice. That being said, and that being the focus of HSOTD for its relatively short length (12 episodes), there's no way I can rate the story too high. Their ultimate goal is to see if their families are okay. Oh yeah, and survive, but that goes without saying. While HSOTD isn't completely to blame for its lack of story because there really isn't much anyone could do during a zombie attack, it hardly delves into anything other than that simple pursuit of family, where as they could done things like pursue the source of the problem, but I digress.

ART: 7

Artistically, I wouldn't call it the best by any means, but it's not bad. My rating of 7 also had nothing to do with the ecchi-nature of the whole thing, either. Everything from the characters, settings, weapons, and zombies themselves are drawn pretty well. Blood is present but at the same time it's not a slaughterhouse, and scenes flow one to the next nicely.

SOUND: 9

It sounds great. Voice acting, while not exactly heart-felt, conveys feelings of insecurity and anxiety very well. Zombies sound like zombies, expressions are vivid and clear, and the few serious conversations are indeed serious in their very nature. What really helped out the sound was the soundtrack. Not only is the OP theme really awesome, the other tunes they threw in during specific moments were perfect; badass and/or horror-inspired as necessary.

CHARACTER: 7

Ever consider who you'd have in your group if the dead suddenly came back to life? This group consists 6 core members, with all of the little traits you'd come to expect. You have the main character, a delinquent (of sorts) who's depressed about life, a hardcore otaku who by simply observing can use any weapon, and four other sets of breasts. Within those are the tsundere, the airhead, the badass (you'll know when you see her), and the attention-seeker. I wouldn't call this an ideal party but they have to make it work. Yet as predictable this setup was to begin with, they made it work. In the short time-span there was a fair amount of character development for 4 of the 6 characters, and it'll make you think how a zombie attack would change you for sure.

ENJOYMENT: 8

This anime goes and it doesn't stop. While there isn't as much action as I thought there would be, it made perfect sense to do so as smashing zombies in the head with a baseball bat, as fun as it sounds, would get old if overused. The group is almost always on the move, fighting their way through their infested hometown, and that's fine. I didn't know what to expect other than zombies after the first episode, but I feel it's safe to say I wasn't disappointed.

OVERALL: 8

While I enjoyed it, they could have done more, and by extension, it could have been longer. That's really my only issue. All things considered, if you're one of those people who have thought of the possibility of a zombie attack, or if you just want a short roller-coaster ride through zombie hell, it's worth the watch.