Quote:
Originally Posted by NinjaRealist
So I guess the main reason I thought this anime was so great is because it's such a potent satire of all the absurd romcom animes that I've grown up with. In this way, I though the absurdity really worked.
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I think you shouldn't confuse this satire with "realism". In fact, I think your whole thread title and summary statement is a bit of a misstatement. There's nothing all that "realistic" about School Days, it's just that it takes a rather-clichéd anime premise (the whole harem scenario) and let's it play out to its most extreme uninhibited consequences. You can think of it as a sort of "what if" -- what if it the protagonist in these sorts of stories took advantage of all the girls that threw themselves at him. If anything, it's more of lesson about why the status quo has to be the way it is -- people complain about the stereotypical harem protagonist, but those sort of emotional blinders and steadfast devotion to some concept of "true love" are necessary so that the protagonist doesn't come across as a womanising jerk.
In the end, I think School Days occupies a useful place in the anime tapestry... but I don't care for it. There's nothing romantic or uplifting or particularly inspiring about the show or its message. It's a cautionary tale of loose morality and the consequences that result from only caring about yourself. And, for my part, I could only see the entire production as almost-endlessly cynical -- like no effort was being made to make us truly care for the characters at all, but we were just supposed to watch the slow trainwreck in progress. I've like lots of anime with bittersweet or sad endings, but I can't really feel anything for this. Indeed, the whole thing is more similar to a horror/slasher film than anything romantic, except that most of the story doesn't revolve around having people die (even if the ending does).
Anyway, we have a
School Days Sub-Forum where many of these sorts of discussions have happened over the years. Your use of the word "realistic" here is quite suspect to me, so I'm not sure this is really a general anime topic. This thread may be closed or merged.