31 Days of Halloween - High School of the Dead - Episode 7 "Dead Night and the Dead Ruck"

"Dead Ruck?' What is that? Did someone mean "rock"but misspell it? Just one of life's mysteries that will never be answered.

Why does Kohta have fangs? Hmmm...

Picking up where the last episode left off, our heroes are either in a sex shampoo stupor (Saya, Shizuka, Rei), cooking in a thong (Saeko, a potentially dangerous activity if you are frying anything), or on the balcony, watching the zombie horde gather (Takashi, Kohta). Outside, an annoying little dog is barking, drawing the undead. See, yappy dogs are good for nothing, except getting you killed. We also have some random dude running around with a shotgun and...oops, he's dead. Sorry, Mr. Z. Fodder, we hardly knew you.

Saeko gives Takashi a lecture on things he already knows (everything is changed, it's getting worse, people are a danger), but she does so while presenting him with a nice view of her boobs and butt, thanks to twisty anime spine, so he doesn't bother to stop her. Hey, right there with you, bro. Besides, who wants to interrupt a purple-haired killing machine? Not me.

Wow, no one likes the Jehovah's Witnesses/

Back on the balcony, Takashi uses binoculars to check out the surrounding carnage, as survivors are torn apart on the streets. He then spies a father and his young daughter trying to gain entrance to a house. This is our last main character, Alice. Her father is killed by the home owners, who apologize. Little know fact: in Japan, if you apologize after gut-stabbing someone, it's considered "polite disembowelment" (gojira ponzu in the original Japanese) and is completely legal. Try it out and let me know how it works for you.

Takashi and Kohta decide they can't watch a little girl get eaten. With Kohta providing sniper support, Takashi takes the motorcycle and drives through the mob of hungry undead. But, not before Rei expresses concern and Saeko says things like "It's a man's decision" and "Knock 'em dead, cowboy" all while trying to expose as much of her butt cheeks as possible, while also providing side-boob. Saeko is becoming my favorite character. I wonder why? Hmmmmm....

Saeko engages in unsafe, but sexy, roof riding. Kohta doesn't seem to mind.
Oh, and animated camel toe? Really guys?

So, action scene, action scene, action scene, bad hair-metal background music, Takashi rescues the girl and the dog, gets urinated on (by the girl, the dog is better trained), finds himself stuck on a wall, the girls load up the Hummvee and rescue Takashi, Alice and yappy dog. Although reunited and mobile, our heroes still need to find a way across the river. The end.

After the weirdness of last episode, this one is a bit more conventional. The impromptu rescue of Alice shows that our heroes are still, well, heroes. They care about other people and want to help where they can. It's handled without a lot of melodrama, just Kohta saying "I'm not going to watch a little girl get eaten" and Takashi agreeing.

There are the usual tonal oddities. Scenes of fairly serious carnage and drama on the streets are juxtaposed with T & A shots. Not that I'm complaining; because, boobs. It is just that at times, I want to see the more serious side of the story. If there is one complaint about the series as a whole it is that it is most effective when it shows the terror in the streets or the interpersonal drama of the protagonists. After a while, the fan service gets in the way of the story.

Here are some boobs to make me feel better about this.

This is how you sell Obamacare.

There we go. Anyway, the rescue that takes up the final third is well animated and directed. We also learn that Saeko has some interesting gender role ideas. Although she is a kick ass chick (and, apparently, a great cook) she does defer to males when they are decisive. I think that's why, although she is an interesting character, Saya is the one I like the most. She can be a bit of a ball-buster; but, for the most part, she is just very independent and has a "take-charge" personality. Which is what I look for in cartoon characters.

Best Line: Rei looking all hopeful and misty eyed as Takashi heads out to rescue Alice. "I realized that we're still human beings after all."

Best kill: So many in this episode, but I'm going with Kohta sniping a zombie chick which results in a panty shot (see image at right). Hey, that's what I call fan service.

Do spines work this way?

Fan Service: Speaking of fan service, there is a lot of it in this ep. However, I'm going to go with Saeko's sexy apron poses. Something about a girl in an apron and little else that does it for me. And makes me want to have a sandwich. So, until next time, head shots only.

Bonus Video: Turn yourself into a zombie Barbie with this tutorial.