School Days (Generic Discussion)

[Moonhades]

Originally Posted by Kailu_Lantis

I wish I had joined this discussion earlier. I have been reading most of the posts in this thread and can see pretty much everything concerning Makoto has already been covered. Nevertheless, I would like to share my thougths on this character in hopes of discussing anything that hasn't been boiled down up till now.

Makoto Itou was, what I consider, a normal teenager at the beginning of the story. Being there so many sources for adult material available nowadays, it was no surprise his mind was already filled with images of naked women dancing around him and all sorts of media that stimulate a 15 year old lad's libido. The magazines and tissue box he had under his bed are proof enough.

When he finally saw a girl from his world, a schoolmate, being a step ahead from the rest in the process of becoming a woman, and a very attractive one at that, it was only natural for him to develop an interest in her. Just an interest. He was smart enough to know the difference between a fantasy and his real life. Coupled with his shyness that didn't allow him to even speak to her, Makoto was happy just being a spectator.

Then, one day, he jumped from being a stranger to this girl to becoming her boyfriend. All of this due to Sekai's intervention; a girl he was not really interested in befriending; and who began doing him favors he did not ask for. Was he prepared for this? Evidently not. The mistakes he made on his first and second date were laughable but would it be fair to call him a jerk for that? My answer would be no. Just like Kotonoha, he had no experience dating someone, but most importantly that he was not yet ready to abandon his world of harmless entertainment (the best example is the magazine he was skimming right in front of her in the bookstore.)

When he later realized this fact, Makoto was honest to report it to Sekai by telling her he was stressed and tired of playing the boyfriend role. Perhaps he wasn't able to picture why things weren't working out like he had imagined, but he felt it and complained. All of us have had this feeling before, especially when little, when we decided not to do something because we felt it was wrong or made us uncomfortable rather than understanding why.

This is where I believe Makoto made his first real mistake: allowing Sekai to decide for him. Sekai appeared to be quite a dependable character, always having an answer for everything and giving Makoto advice at every turn. The truth was she was just as inexperienced as Makoto, and I would dare say less mature for not being able to confess her feelings the way he did; creating instead this "game" of hers where she was the master in charge of educating him. The situation obviously got out of control in little time and Sekai stepped down from being the master to become a player herself and leaving no one in charge. It's right here where Makoto should have realized the problem she was going through and put a halt to it. Contrary to this he gave in to his desires, which Sekai helped awaken in him, knowing she was more likely to give him what Kotonoha refused. Sekai's pregnancy was a clear signal of how unprepared those two were...

From that day on, things just began to get worse for everyone, fueled by Makoto's inability to decide on his own. Setsuna barged in next, harassing him to keep Kotonoha away, especially in a time when she needed his support. She always argued it was to help out Sekai, but was it really? She had her own little secret that gave her confidence to act without feeling guilty, thinking it wouldn't make a difference if nobody became aware of it. Or at least she thought so until she watched the school play and opened her eyes. Still, she secretly visited him one more time before leaving Japan, putting her precious friendship on the line. It turned out she wasn't as loyal as everybody believed, although deep in her heart Sekai was more important to her.

The rest of the girls Makoto was involved with were the worst. Hikari betrayed Sekai without giving it much thought then quietly withdrew to avoid being part of the problem. Kumi, Natsumi and the other girl that bullied Kotonoha lost respect for Otome and did their own thing with him. Let's remember these girls even talked about giving it a go with Kumi's boyfriend when Makoto was no longer an ideal candidate. It all proves the lack of principles many of these students had, placing their own interests on top of others, and taking no responsibility.

Makoto's mistakes can be summed up in a single term: passiveness. He was stupid and careless to think his problems weren't such a big deal and would eventually disappear as a result. He was shunned for it at the same time he created a thick layer of tension around himself. Then, just before he was about to collapse, something meaningful happened: Fate. The cellphone charm had been at last fulfilled. Only the image of a mentally deteriorated Kotonoha was strong enough to make him understand what he had done, allowing Kotonoha to come back to her senses in the process. They had saved each other.

Unfortunately, saving Kotonoha was equal to abandoning Sekai, who had also taken a large amount of psychological abuse up to this point. The night she saw her dinner piled up in the garbage was the last straw, she realized she had been defeated and that there was nothing she could possibly do to change it. A simple issue left unresolved quickly snowballed into a relentless problem that claimed his life when it became unbearable for Sekai.

It is clear that Makoto was the main culprit in all of this, but it wouldn't be fair to pour all the hatred on him when everybody else took a hand in. I don't agree with the people who say "he got what he deserved" since he wasn't fully aware of his actions, unlike a womanizer who is just waiting for his next chance to score. His conduct was rebukable, I cannot argue with that, but by no means did it justify someone to slaughter him like an pig.

Fair or not, that was the outcome and it didn't stop Kotonoha from being reunited with Makoto. So, were they really meant to be? That's a question left open for the viewer to decide, but I would like to believe so. Maybe if they had met under different circumstances the would've had a brighter future together, but it would not have changed the fact that they were bound to be together. (Please note my opinion is based on the anime and has nothing to do with the PC game.)

Yeah I totally agree there very nice post just another way to look at what really happened^^

[Kailu_Lantis]

Originally Posted by Moonhades

Yeah I totally agree there very nice post just another way to look at what really happened^^

I'm glad you liked it. It took me a long while to put my thoughts in order to write that post. That's the way I managed to see things after watching the show for a second time.

I'd be very much interested in reading comments to see if there's anything I may have missed, or the reason(s) why someone completely disagrees in one or more ways.

[noktown]

Originally Posted by Kailu_Lantis

I'm glad you liked it. It took me a long while to put my thoughts in order to write that post. That's the way I managed to see things after watching the show for a second time.

I'd be very much interested in reading comments to see if there's anything I may have missed, or the reason(s) why someone completely disagrees in one or more ways.

Well i liked your post either,wow you watched it 2 times ?I couldn't even think about watching it for the 2nd time its uneasy to watch it ;d
Besides i didn't even know about the plot when i was starting to watch the anime,and then the sudden turn of events kind of shocked me ;d

First i was blaming it all on Makoto,but then if you think about it,yeah it wasn't his fault alone and thats where i agree with you,but it still it kind of confused me that at one point (the beginning) we see him as a shy person that barely knows how to talk with a girl that he likes,and then before you know it he gets offended about her being upset that he touched her breast.Sekai explained it clearly to him that she is unexperienced with guys and all that stuff,so you can't say that he didn't understand that...

In my opinion he just rushed things with all of them <_<

He was thinking with the wrong place (even though its not funny) ;d.

Even though i think he didn't deserve to die in the end,i felt sad more for Katsura than him :/

[Taler]

Anyone ever seen Romance?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0194314/

I love Catherine Breillat

[Ilpalazzo]

School Days more like f@cked up days seriously i never saw a anime like that before

[Neoelement]

Originally Posted by Ilpalazzo

School Days more like f@cked up days seriously i never saw a anime like that before

Seriously. I just finished watching the series, the whole entire way I was thinking "jeez another typical school romance anime, just a stupid boy that all the girls love, same old same old", then BAM! Very enjoyable. Liked how everything kept adding up. Could tell something bad was going to happen, when none of the conflicts were getting resolved.

[kk2extreme]

i wonder what will happen if this is licensed to america, more people would be shock and all kinds of organization will start protesting even more so than death note. i dont think any company has the guts to liscense this show

[cbatty]

What a fruitloop story!

I started to watch this anime thinking it would be a nice tame school based story. After completing Elfen Lied, I was hoping for a quiet escape. (Note: I loved Elfen Lied - If you haven't seen it, then get to it - but be prepared!)

After about the 7th ep of School Days, I got a little concerned so I snuck a peek at the wiki though I still had to go on watching after getting the idea that it was a down hill slide for poor old Makoto.

Spoiler for School Days, Ep 12:

I agree completely with Kailu_Lantis's in depth analysis of the story. Makoto didn't deserve to be killed - although I can also understand why he was. The school psychologist will get a workout in that aftermath.

I think I need to go and do some research before watching my next random pick story.

Any sugegstions?

[Mega-Japan]

A full of spoilers comment:

Spoiler for everything...:

School Days actually seemed like the most realistic anime when it comes to pairing. First thing I have to say about this anime: Katsura friggin needs to shoot herself, that girl acted beyond stupid through out the entire anime. I didn't like her from the very start, definitely not the type of girl I would ever go out with. On the other hand, Sekai was always my favorite, she was fun, funny, gorgeous and perfect in almost every aspect. Even though her actions at the end were... shocking...

About the other girls: Kyoura was hilarious, I never had anything against her, I found her to be pretty cool, just gotta lover her attitude. Katou was just a damn slut, calling Makoto over and over to do it over and over... seriously.

I do admit however, in the last few episodes Makoto WAS being a dumbASS with capital "ASS". The guy started taking things as a hobby, which was like "wtf?".

When I saw Natsumi and those girls going into Mokoto's house I was like "Ok, this has officially turned into a Hentai anime now". When Sekai was shown to be pregnant, I was in the in true "WTF?" status. At that moment I decided Mokoto really should die... And Hikari too... What in the world is wrong with all these girls? O_o

Well, I was writing notes I as I was watching episode 8 and up. But Makoto had his fun times, he even had 3 girls with him at the same time '>_>. I had respect for the guy in the first few episodes but lost all of it little by little as the episodes went by... In the end, he got what he deserved (well, much more than he deserved...). I still think Kotonoha is extremely stupid, a "O_o" moment when her pitch-black eyes turned to normal.

I was also "OMG" when Kotonoha said those things to Saionji in the final episode... damn this anime made my heart beat too much. Then again, Kotonoha doing those things with Makoto in front of Saionji... oh god... And in the end... the murder... the knifes... the bloood... and the really REALLY psycho Kotonoha...

DAMN this was an extreme anime, and to think that it started so beautiful... Gah... End of my essay.

P.S. I agree with this type of abortion but STOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!! I'm obviously not planning to discuss that with anyone so don't even think of quoting it, just a very small thing I wanted to say.

[Tiran86]

School Days was interesting. I actually was spoiled to the ending before hand, although I had no idea how or why it would occur. I probably would have ignored this series otherwise.

The series sets up its cast to be completely unlikable and then we get the nice boat ending. I have to admit, I cheered when the ending started. Justice was served and life is good again, and I've completely let out any anger I had at Makoto's infuriating actions throughout the series. What a great stress reliever.

[sgwc]

The first time ever for me to watch an anime where the main character died in a Love theme anime. "WTF?" while raising my eyebrow when i saw the ending. For the first few episodes I thought that the anime will have a nice ending, but end up with death??? Just hope that Chaos Head will turn out ok in the end. No more nice boat.

[Never Knows Best]

I finally got off my butt and read the manga. Is there a place to discuss it? or is this the place to be? Because I read of wiki

Spoiler for The end of the manga:

Kotonoha dies by the hands of Sekai. I was super blown because back in like 07 I was like crazy about school days and a self proclaimed #1 fan of Kotonoha and after reading the manga I was pretty sad. I kinda felt the anime when into more depth than the manga, which was a surprise to be because it's usually the other way around

[kk2extreme]

it would be funny that all the girls that makoto "touched", otome, hikari, setsuna, and other grils that i dont remember (except for kotonoha (he didnt have a chance to do it ) ends up pregnant.

[othera]

Originally Posted by noktown

Well i liked your post either,wow you watched it 2 times ?I couldn't even think about watching it for the 2nd time its uneasy to watch it ;d
Besides i didn't even know about the plot when i was starting to watch the anime,and then the sudden turn of events kind of shocked me ;d

First i was blaming it all on Makoto,but then if you think about it,yeah it wasn't his fault alone and thats where i agree with you,but it still it kind of confused me that at one point (the beginning) we see him as a shy person that barely knows how to talk with a girl that he likes,and then before you know it he gets offended about her being upset that he touched her breast.Sekai explained it clearly to him that she is unexperienced with guys and all that stuff,so you can't say that he didn't understand that...

In my opinion he just rushed things with all of them <_<

He was thinking with the wrong place (even though its not funny) ;d.

Even though i think he didn't deserve to die in the end,i felt sad more for Katsura than him :/

If katsura didn't go loony i would of been sad for her to, but she did. :/

I agree with you there partly, it wasn't all his fault but it was mostly. i blame mostly him and sekai(Who hooks someone they like up with another girl, then kisses him and so on)s
Mokoto rushed it with the girls, ended up paying for it.
Sekai was a bad person, but i felt sad when she died.
Mokoto was a horrible person, i laughed when he died.

[ashe]

man, they are both loony. hehehe very realistic. reminds me of the child murders of the 90's

[xXReiXx]

It was so cruel when Sekai killed Makoto >.< and it was even scarier when Katsura had that creepy face and after that she killed Sekai nyaaaaaa. . . I couldn't believe it!

[Solafighter]

Originally Posted by xXReiXx

It was so cruel when Sekai killed Makoto >.< and it was even scarier when Katsura had that creepy face and after that she killed Sekai nyaaaaaa. . . I couldn't believe it!

Welcome to "Nice BOAT".

[xXReiXx]

Originally Posted by Solafighter

Welcome to "Nice BOAT".

Thanks! But what does that mean?

[serenade_beta]

Originally Posted by xXReiXx

Thanks! But what does that mean?

It's an idiotic little phrase that got originated from the fact that the last episode of School Days (anime) was delayed and the program that replaced it had a boat. And someone commented somewhere "nice boat" and it spread like that. Also, in the end of the last episode...
It got popular enough that Overflow made real merchandise with it... I couldn't be more disappointed that they did something like that with that crap... Well, insanity is their game, so I guess I should have expected it.
Also, other shows have been shown to use it too, like Linebarrel.

[Solafighter]

:lol: