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Old 2006-12-09, 18:20   Link #1
Grimmjow Jaguarjack
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Highschool of the Dead

I'm not advertising or anything. It's just this one Manga that interested me while searching for More "Reborn!". It will surely interest other readers who're fond of Battle Royale meets Dawn of the Dead or other Zombie works. It's called "Highschool of the Dead" or other aliases:


Gakuen Mokushiroku

or

High School of the Dead

serialized in Dragon AGE magazine

And the plot:

"Zombies are running loose in a highschool! Will Hisashi, Takashi, and Rei be able to solve the mystery of where they came from and put an end to this disaster? Not to mention getting out alive! "


It's Horror, Drama, Action and Shounen all in one. I highly recommend this because of the many cameos which I won't reveal ;D. Why not pop by a scanlation site and get this while it's still young? (4 chapters to be precise)

stats: The scanlation group's up looking for Chapter 5 RAW, if you do find any, please hand the RAW over to them. Thanks.
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Old 2006-12-10, 05:39   Link #2
Renegade334
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I kinda like this one but so far there have been a lot of negative comments about how it is a direct rip of Resident Evil and the like. I nevertheless will still keep on reading it.

However, I feel that a few of the characters introduced so far will kick the bucket along the way - because of that bespectacled guy nearly orgasming about being in control of a survivor group.
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Old 2006-12-10, 06:16   Link #3
pinhead
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and wasnt Resident Evil alittle bit of a rip off from Night Of The Living Dead?

this is a great manga wich has captured the feelings etc as those classic Zombie movies out there have. and yeah it reminds me alittlebit of Dawn Of The Dead(original not shitty remake)
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Old 2006-12-11, 16:23   Link #4
Grimmjow Jaguarjack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Renegade334 View Post
I kinda like this one but so far there have been a lot of negative comments about how it is a direct rip of Resident Evil and the like. I nevertheless will still keep on reading it.

However, I feel that a few of the characters introduced so far will kick the bucket along the way - because of that bespectacled guy nearly orgasming about being in control of a survivor group.
I've seen very few negative comments on this series. Majority rules out it's alot better. Let's hope the RAWs are out by now (Chapter 5 to be exact). That bespectacled guy really annoys me, makes me want to throw him with the zombies at the school lol. But don't give up on the nurse, nerd babe, samurai girl and the fatty. LoL, doubt they'd get killed in a few.
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Old 2007-01-03, 02:10   Link #5
myopius
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Just finished the scanslations of the first five chapters that've been released so far. By the way, I want to call this Gakuen Mokushiroku, since the "Highschool" / "high school" interchangeability confuses me.

To those who are a bit curious about the science. Zombies have super strength, walk slowly but not too slowly, are visibly corpses, and attack humans as food by grabbing onto and biting them. It's communicated as a virus, where the victim dies fully and then revives almost immediately as undead. Of course, you need to smash their heads in. In terms of plot, the epidemic broke out all over the world around the same time (another indication that's there's a conspiracy behind all of it), but it's not clear that mankind is lost. The focus of the story in chapter 1 is on three sophomores who are all repeating a year, and their "love triangle". In spite of the title, it appears that it will be heavily set outside their school....

Comparisons of to other film and manga are definitely valid. Like Resident Evil, there's a) a deeper plot / conspiracy that's hinted at / foreshadowed, and b) hardcore cops, albeit from what I've seen not major protagonist material. As in Dawn of the Dead, there's that almost "slice of life"-type interpretation of the genre (and a nailgun). Takashi, the male lead, is Battle Royale's Shuya in that he has a semi-romantic interest (the other lead, female) he wants to protect, but he's way darker; more notably, the art / panel choreography is very similar to BR (there's even text boxes to introduce names of characters). Oh yeah, and major ecchi.

Still, I enjoy it and look forward to it. Why is that? Well, because while the plot is heavily action / supsense, and rife with interpersonal drama as you'd expect, beneath all that it's also a manga, with "traditional" manga characterization. And all those survival horror cliches aren't done exactly like you would expect, either; that is, in a different context, they can refresh you.

For instance,

One of the six or seven apparent main characters from the school, Takagi, is a fairly hot yet nerdy person who comes off a bit socially immature (she's not rude, she just doesn't mind herself, lol) but seems to be reliable and a good person. Her best friend is a definite otaku named Hirano who calls her -san and has a personality that seem, to me, to perhaps resemble the miniature fanatic from Midori no Hibi (but less exuberant; he's able to assert himself, but Takagi usually leads the way).

She has a habit of speaking intellectually, and I've actually been very impressed by her deductions (of course, they're usually inductions) and analysis of the politics / psychology / sociology of the post-apocalyptic zombie world; you can tell that the writer has considered this quite a bit. Of course, she (as a character) is the one who's capable of these analyses, she's not just a receptacle for the author; she notices details and analyzes the situation well immediately. But she lost her cool once early on, so she's definitely human. Given her personality, I didn't think I'd like her at first, but I've come to enjoy her presence (same with Hirano).

The presence of her personality, and the small interaction which occurs on this page in ch. 5, is a perfect example of how Gakuen Mokushiroku doesn't, in its role as a survival horror story, stray too far from old enjoyable manga cliches:

Spoiler for Screenshot:

(Note: aside from these types of interactions, the story does remain almost entirely just as somber as BR.)

And there's also aspects of the story which differ from traditional zombie flicks. In these types of stories, usually the people who keep perspective, who don't lose hope, who retain their humanity and their willingness to help and trust others, who are aware of their weaknesses and allow their friends to cover them as they do their friends, are the ones who survive, isn't that correct?

The main character, Komuro Takashi, was already a very somber character before the story started. He was staring out into space on the school roof when he first bore witness to the zombie epidemic. He probably just has a dark personality to start with. At that time, he was pondering bitterly his relationship troubles (a broken promise...). But Takashi's not a heartless person, and acts very heroically at times. Still, later on, there's an incident where he obtains a thrill when he shouldn't, and we see his own retrospective self-narrative marks the gothic significance of his action. Meanwhile, the female main character, Miyamoto Rei, is just troubled. I'm not sure what to make of her. She's clearly upset in many ways, from what happened, and how she feels about Takashi could be (IMO) very mixed-up with her feelings toward Hisashi, how Takashi relates to him, and her need for someone to make her feel safe/sane. But she's not paralyzed with all this, and on many occasions proves very capable of zombie smashing. Still, I would have an aneurysm if I really tried to decipher her exact emotional state.

Unlike the romantic pair in BR, there's no guarantee that the inherent romantic possibility will be fulfilled, and they don't seem like the types who will "save each other" in the traditional sense. Their demons are already very present. But I don't have the sense that I have any idea what will happen to their characters or they themselves in terms of the overall plot.

What I'm trying to say is, while in traditional survival storylines you can immediately intuit what will happen to the characters based on their personalities, it's really not clear-cut at this point. Oh yeah, and as far as the Resident Evil comparisons are concerned: the RE storyline is a masterpiece in zombie fiction, in my opinion (see http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/f..._evil_plot.txt . I read it all, you can too...!), so the more like RE it is, the better, lol. Not that it's very much like RE yet, except for those two details I mentioned earlier. If it does become RE-like, with scenarios RE4, then it just means that the storyline will have broken past the usual limited plot scope of zombie storylines (and unless it's exactly like RE, which I'd seriously bet it won't be, it'd be a refreshing break).

What I don't like about this story is:

"Directing": Everything tends to emphasize action. The need for text boxes to introduce characters (note: only used on the first three main characters of the first chapter) is irregular, and shouldn't ever be favored "artistically" when it would be convenient to just direct the scene in ways that introduces you to the characters naturally. It just seems like they took it from BR without thinking. Also, the habit of cutting to a scene involving new characters in the middle of doing something, without providing any perspective like a backdrop, could be more clearly done.

Then, it's just that it's focused a bit too much on the "drama" of the whole scenario. I hope that was just the first couple chapters as this whole thing was sinking in, however; people definitely seem to have less of a tendency to have random outbursts or reminisces which are repetitive and don't advance the plot. Admittedly it isn't nearly as bad as something like Red Garden (awaiting vegetable projectiles from people who like that series). That, and so far it's been heavily the same types of little events you see in typical zombie movies, with the heavily implied Battle Royale-like spin that they're losing their innocence every time they do something to survive.

But, since it's just the start of the series, and these types of encounters / characterizations are so obviously something writers will fix upon at that period in time, and the decline of these things in recent chapters, I'm seriously hoping this evolve into some kind of gothic plot-oriented reinterpretation of survival horror. Plus, once the initial storyline steadies a bit, the "director" will get away with cutting corners in how he presents the story. As it is, it's still really good.

On the ecchi. There's the equivalent BR's Sugimura, but female and a bit cold; the extremely large-breasted school nurse who wears a ripped Prada dress which shows ample leg; the meganekko I showed you earlier; and the female protagonist who is getting about a million panty shots:

Spoiler:


I've been waiting a long time for a zombie manga. It didn't have to be a survival storyline, just a manga where the only zombies aren't just vampiric slaves. And by "zombie" I mean just an undead creature which was formerly human and feeds on humans. The idea of "zombie" is one which I'm disappointed the Japanese culture hasn't yet seemed to reinterpret in refreshing ways like so many other things. So, I definitely await chapter six. Edit: I hear Stubbs the Zombie, or whatever it was called, helped expand the idea of zombie, but it's still a ways away from what it could be.
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Old 2007-04-18, 19:46   Link #6
Maids! Maids! Maids!
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Just a little Highschool of the Dead fan art.

Spoiler for work and zombie unsafe. Not quite naked apron:
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Old 2007-04-27, 08:04   Link #7
Simplex
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Hmm...I wonder why there's such little popularity of this manga over here. This is actually a really good manga and a lot of people been reading this. So much so, that the author actually acknowledged the English readers in one of the chapters with this:



Here's official art work from HotD:

Spoiler for NSFW of all the girls:
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Old 2007-04-27, 10:11   Link #8
Question
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Ive read the first few chapters and to me its REALLY boring.

All the fanservice by the ex h-artist feels like a cheap method to get people to read the manga.

There was next to no plot, just ZOMG ZOMBIES! then you can get the cast of characters running here and there killing zombies as they escape, and the obligatory asshole character that you KNOW will end up dying horribly later on. Then a couple of scenes of humanity acting really really retarded.

It was like page after page of just zombie killing or fanservice that just felt like it didnt fit.....add in page after page of running around...

It felt like the author was trying to think of a theme for his manga that would sell, and then went "wait...ZOMBIES! thats always popular!" and then he started thinking of what ELSE was popular and went "FANSERVICE! thats it! a zombie manga with FANSERVICE!!!".

Action scenes were meh. Walking target boards getting gunned down or stabbed or hacked to pieces = yawnz. Theres no danger to the main characters at all. Theres no "will they make it out alive?!?!?" suspense, because you know with 100% certaintity that they cant possibly get killed.
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Old 2007-04-27, 10:58   Link #9
Xellos-_^
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Question View Post
Ive read the first few chapters and to me its REALLY boring.

All the fanservice by the ex h-artist feels like a cheap method to get people to read the manga.

There was next to no plot, just ZOMG ZOMBIES! then you can get the cast of characters running here and there killing zombies as they escape, and the obligatory asshole character that you KNOW will end up dying horribly later on. Then a couple of scenes of humanity acting really really retarded.

It was like page after page of just zombie killing or fanservice that just felt like it didnt fit.....add in page after page of running around...

It felt like the author was trying to think of a theme for his manga that would sell, and then went "wait...ZOMBIES! thats always popular!" and then he started thinking of what ELSE was popular and went "FANSERVICE! thats it! a zombie manga with FANSERVICE!!!".

Action scenes were meh. Walking target boards getting gunned down or stabbed or hacked to pieces = yawnz. Theres no danger to the main characters at all. Theres no "will they make it out alive?!?!?" suspense, because you know with 100% certaintity that they cant possibly get killed.

I would think the title alone would have warn off on what type of manga this is I don't think anyone is reading it for the story
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Old 2007-04-27, 17:12   Link #10
Question
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Its not just the complete lack of a plot, its that the action is boring. The zombies are walking targets. The "Action" is crap...i might as well draw page after page of some guy at the firing range and try to sell it as a action manga.

Then the other thing left is the fanservice, which is just WTF as it seems(IMHO) completely out of place.
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Old 2007-04-27, 21:08   Link #11
myopius
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Yeah, very true stuff. The ecchi is out of place (I don't read it for that), plus I don't like the "roundness" of everything (same way I don't enjoy Code Geass ecchi, lol), and the action isn't interesting of course, it's typical zombie fights where there's moments of random heroism and a feeling of desperation accompanied by resourceful resolution but it's not at all gripping or enthusing. When you break it down HSotD is in fact a typical zombie story, featuring the chronicles of the desparate endeavors of a group of people, with some characters more central than others, as they struggle against an enemy whose greatest threat is its ability to turn mankind and the human individual, against himself.

But I do disagree with Question's statement "and the obligatory asshole character that you KNOW will end up dying horribly later on". Often when you know it's a zombie story you start trying to think, "Okay, who has a character flaw where they have to die?" because that's the way it usually works, but not here. Nobody we've had more than a brief introduction to has died yet, and I don't get the sense at all they will. This isn't a story where all the characters with character flaws slowly die off due to their character flaw except the one or two main protagonists who don't have any obvious character flaws. You can tell from the characterization that nobody has a "character flaw", they just have their "quirky traits", if you know what I mean. The wall of text I posted earlier was basically to say that the lack of this is in fact the strength of the series, that is, the characters are the strength of the series. They all have unique personalities (in the context of zombie stories--as far as manga is concerned, of course they're somewhat cliched, but the manga characters in a zombie story is what the point is). What we have so far from these characters is pretty unique, and there's also interesting potential in the lead characters like I also mentioned earlier.

Definitely don't read this if you can't stand zombie stories, since fundamentally it is one, but if you do enjoy a good one, this could qualify since it operates untraditionally by having a manga feel to it. Read it for the characters, you should be able to tell by the third or fourth chapter if you'll like the characters, and maybe also for the plot but we don't know much about that yet. IMO.
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Old 2007-04-27, 23:13   Link #12
dfens
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If you don't like it don't read it. Or oh my gosh stop reading it and move on.

Personally I love the series I don't think it's the best ever but I like it and if everyone doen't then who cares. If the series wasn't liked or welcomed it wouldn't be at 2 volumes already and still going. Hell it's so popular that I couldn't even order the raws, in some parts of Japan even it's sold out.

Yes it could be more realistic or not so ecchi so what. Their is other series that I don't like that people I know love like Tenjou Tenge, Air Gear, or say Naruto those ones don't do it for me so I stopped reading where I couldn't stand it anymore or never really started.

Man question why do you think people like the authors write and draw this stuff for, money plain and simple. Not to create the best or greatest story ever. I can think of some other manga's like Inuyasha or Berserk where IMHO they shoud just end it already it's gone on long enough but it sells still so they will keep cranking out chapters and volumes until they milk it to death.
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Old 2007-04-28, 10:16   Link #13
Child_of_Sierra
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read about it in this thread and got curious so I searched for the first 2 volumes. Ecchi scenes do get a bit repetitive but the whole "Zombies are taking over" is a guilty pleasure that I enjoy regardless of the thin plot.

Heck, most Zombie movies tend to resolve so fast that there is little elaboration (aside from the main characters) what happens to other survivors in various situations (and the rest of the world) so the way this is shown and elaborated is probably the strong point of the manga. I do wonder what approach it will take

a) the social commentary route:
show how people deal with the new world order

or

b) the sci-fi route:
explore how "They" were created and how the human race as a whole plans
to destroy/ control them
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Old 2007-04-28, 13:32   Link #14
Village Idiot
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I love HSotD.

I don't expect some grandios plot, or Naruto-style battle scenes.

I read it expecting a typical zombie story, and it excels at that.
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Old 2007-05-02, 20:12   Link #15
goku888
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For me, this manga is awesome. It is up there with Berserk and Gantz. Can't wait for the next chapter to get translated. I don't get why many ppl hate fanservice.
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Old 2007-05-02, 21:50   Link #16
TigerII
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Haha, I love this. I am a big fan of zombie flicks and games. Just finished chapter 1. Hope more than 4 chapters get scanlated.
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Old 2007-05-02, 22:22   Link #17
ImClueless
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Originally Posted by TigerII View Post
Haha, I love this. I am a big fan of zombie flicks and games. Just finished chapter 1. Hope more than 4 chapters get scanlated.
More than 4 chapters have already been scanlated....
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Old 2007-05-02, 22:32   Link #18
TigerII
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Well I can only find 4. I love the mindless slaughter of the undead. I know there are 9 chapters, how many are scanlated?

I wonder what kinda end we will get.

Will it be a everybody dies end like Dawn of the Dead, or a few live and fly away in a helo end like Resident Evil, or a he grabs a chainsaw hacks through them all and nails the chick at the end while smoking and drinking...

I say one of the main characters from the begining dies.
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Old 2007-05-02, 22:32   Link #19
Simplex
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Originally Posted by TigerII View Post
Haha, I love this. I am a big fan of zombie flicks and games. Just finished chapter 1. Hope more than 4 chapters get scanlated.
Vol 1 and 2, chapters 8 and 9.
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Old 2007-05-03, 22:13   Link #20
TigerII
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Yeah, found all the chapters. I really am enjoying this.
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