Jun 9, 2022
Gakkougurashi (or School-Live) is one of those shows best experienced blind. If you're seeing this review, and considering watching this show, you should absolutely go watch it and come back. You'll see what I mean after just one episode.
As such, it is very hard to discuss this show without majorly spoiling the key premise, so your spoiler warning has been issued.
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Thematically, Gakkougurashi seems to be a love letter to western zombie media. The series plays with a lot of zombie invasion tropes and settings, and is genuinely invested in its premise, giving the audience lots of clue as to the cause and solution to the
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zombie invasion. Lots of scenes in this show appear to directly mirror common zombie movie tropes, such as the shopping centre invasion, the driving sequences, and the character who carries a shovel for self-defence.
Where this show truly shines, though, is how it deconstructs these tropes. Western zombie media has a tendency to lean towards the anarchic side of man - during the apocalypse, society breaks down, and often this is a good thing for our protagonist, who likes to beat people to death with a baseball bat. In Gakkougurashi, our driving force is not anarchy, but hope for a better, more stable future.
This is manifest in our main protagonist, the happy-go-lucky Yuki Takeya, who appears to be completely unaware of the impending end due to her trauma-induced psychosis. Yuki's ability to continue to walk around, find fun, and be carefree in any other show would be a death sentence. The show knows this, the characters know this, and as such the audience knows it. Where Gakkougurashi shines is in its ability to convince you otherwise. The other characters turn to Yuki when they're at their lowest, rely on her to be a beacon of positivity when everything else feels dull and not worth living for. Yuki is not useless - in fact, she's the reason these characters are still going, and still fighting to live despite impossible odds. She represents an idea far greater than her actions without even realising.
The show does not take this lens uncritically. Yuki's positivity is induced by her psychosis, a result of a severe and devastating loss she takes towards the middle of the show (which, by the way, was one of the most shocking mid-season twists I've ever had the pleasure of watching pan out). The characters are aware that Yuki is suffering, and also that with this mentality comes a lot of genuine danger - but the risks, to them, outweigh their need for comfort, and so they let Yuki live in her bubble for the run of the show. The apocalypse is a lose - lose game for everyone, and taking away Yuki's ability to live outside it would be just as cruel and unjust.
Overall, I gave Gakkougurashi an 8. It isn't a perfect show - some episodes grew a little dull, and the overall animation and writing quality kind of dipped up and down. However, it is definitely a must-watch just for its ability to make you care, and make you really put yourself in the place of the characters. All the decisions made by everyone feel justified, and all of the tense moments will genuinely put you on edge. The School-Living club not only survive, but thrive, with each of the members caring deeply about one another.
Also the opening changes in every episode were genuinely delightful.
8/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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