Gakkou Gurashi! 04-12 [END]

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If this was all there is to eat, zombies suddenly seem less likely to be my cause of death.

spring15-kyonn I actually didn’t turn out as heartbroken as I thought I would. Until the end. Good thing I had those emergency tissues already prepared. My mug dilemma has also been solved, which is probably the most important thing that’s happened so far. Megu-nee and Taroumaru shared a mug because they’re now both dead. Well, Megu-nee was already dead…they’re dead now, and they had their faces on a mug, boom, solved. Good enough for me. Conveniently forgets that entire paragraph I wrote about the mug.

Miki brings forth the classic conundrum for any common zombie apocalypse scenario. Do I stay where I believe it to be reasonably safe and wait for someone else to possibly find me, or do I go out to where I know it would be dangerous to search myself? Neither are ideal as they don’t go well either way due to the nature of the situation, but it reaches into your tolerance of such a state. Can you be contempt effectively doing nothing but live as you are able to, and survive, or do you feel the compulsion to search for some other way, whether it be a better life, other people to immerse yourself, or any answer there could possibly be. Miki (initially) chose the former, while Kei chose the latter, and neither worked out. Miki didn’t have the long term self-sustainability of the school, and Kei was turned. Miki, however, had to venture out and take that same risk as Kei, and the School Living Club to the mall, but their outcomes fared much better. The whole notion of being able to live complacently during such a time is a trap to begin with though, since the plot tends to throw a wrench into those plans in order to force the characters to leave their haven. The school wouldn’t be able to sustain the School Living Club members indefinitely, but they weren’t in any immediate crisis affiliated with that ability until everything was destroyed. Conversely, when Miki found herself in the basement room so similar in use to the one she had shared with Kei, it was representative of the inevitable. Had Miki stayed in the room at the mall instead of venturing outward, she would have likely be overcome by the zombies as well had she not starved to death first.

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“Ginger Soy Beef!”

I knew Megu-nee was dead! I knew it! I knew it! I wasn’t sure. I knew it! Never before have I second guessed myself to this extent even though all the signs were pointing to this outcome, and it was kind of obvious to begin with. I blame my extreme gullibility. There were so many clues to hint you upon, but it was kept ambiguous enough that if you had any shred of doubt, you were going to doubt. I know I did. It turns out that some of the ambiguity actually ended ended up reinforcing the presentations given to the zombies. The chief example that comes to mind is when Megu-nee is writing at the desk in the basement level. The first time this is shown, the lack of timeline acknowledgement makes it unclear at what point it is that she’s writing. Is it in the past, after the outbreak occurred, but before she died, or is it in the present, and she’s still alive somehow? The second choice is only half correct, as she is writing in the present, but her persisting memories from before she became a zombie compelled her to continue writing in her journal (to the best of her abilities). This action single-handedly characterizes the zombies; they may be mindless, but they retain enough of their previous selves that they can still remember and abide by certain memories or routines.

I’m still partially split on Yuki having delusions. It is not the delusions themselves, but rather, that she’s the one that ended up having them and to that extent. That is to say, there isn’t any definitive amount of trauma that one can experience and be certain to or to not have such a mental breakdown (and you can’t quantify the extent of a traumatic experience anyway due to various reasons), but looking at the other members of the School Living Club, there isn’t anything further than a simple explanation. Kurumi had to kill her crush, Rii was arguably just as close (if not closer, it could’ve been hinted at) to Megu-nee, and Miki’s best friend straight up left her completely alone, but Yuki’s the only one that shows any tangible signs of mental degradation or instability. She just isn’t capable of handling these happenings in the same capacity of the others. I don’t intend to make it sound bad, or that simple is inherently, it just sticks out there and continues to further as the story progresses. It could also be due to my own bias of how severe one trauma is interpreted compared to another; it’s overly complicated to define by normal means. It did seem that Yuki might have overcome her fears, or at least she had temporarily, which is a testament to how she isn’t bound by the shackles of her mental state and that she can be strong when she needs to. While she’s usually found relying on everyone else to protect her, this was her opportunity to prove she’s worth more than merely being the uplifting spirit of the group in a disheartening situation.

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This is not the obligatory swimsuit episode I was lead to expect.

Right when the development starts to feel slow they throw in the curve-ball of a conspiracy. I was curious to see how the existence of zombies was to be brought about. Typically, zombies are given a logical explanation (it’s a disease, biological weapon, etc.), supernatural/religious (magic, etc.), or left so vague there really isn’t one, you just know they exist and the unknowing lends its own unnerving mystery. It was initially introduced without any of that, but it’s been settled on a biological weapon being the cause. There weren’t specifics any further as to what weapon, for what purpose, or similar questions brought up, but it was brought upon us in the last half of the series, and with the other events to soon follow, there really wasn’t any time or a good position any of that could be expounded on. Since the story focuses on the members of the School Living Club, and the zombies are delegated to being scenery most of the time, it may not even not to be explained any further than that. The issue of a biological weapon undoubtedly should be though, and there remains the type of material Gakkou Gurashi! will delve into after this. Since the close ties the four girls had with everyone else introduced were severed, there’s the matter of whether the series will take into account the cruelty of outsiders for one example, betrayal or loss of trust in one another as another. I have no doubt the series can get very dark, but how far it’s willing to go can become an issue if it isn’t played correctly.

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This was.

Bonus GG

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I knew Taroumaru was going to die, but first he became a zombie and then lead to believe he could recover, only to actually die. Curse you all. This up and down emotional resonance encapsulates Gakkou Gurashi! fairly well. You either tire of the slice of life antics, or you enjoy the context it fills in regards to the situation. You grow complacent yourself until the story turns around and whacks you with Shovel-kun. Gakkou Gurashi! started out as a cresting wave, to slowly relax its energy before being bolstered by another, that firmly places it as one of the best shows this season, however divisive it may be. In fact, the only thing that really bothered me was the CG zombies. When the zombies worked, they worked unbelievably well, when they didn’t…it was because the transition made them lose their eeriness, and didn’t even seem intimidating. It sort of helped when they were at least blurry. There’s still plenty left open to explain, but I know one thing’s for sure: I’m not going to be fooled again by this second dog. I saw what happened to the first one.

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I am a fear of life, I am afraid of life, and I am a fantasm of life, always a flame, always aflame, and always the same.
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26 Responses to “Gakkou Gurashi! 04-12 [END]”

  1. BlackBriar says:

    Overall, this series was so-so to my eyes. My biggest problem was that majority of the run was bogged down by the moe element, which is something I don’t find appealing in a story that involves zombies. It takes away from the sense of urgency when watching, giving a whiplash in the process.

    I heard a handful of people claiming it was great because of the psychological and dramatic elements but seeing things for myself, there wasn’t a lot of it. I don’t know what people saw in this but I wasn’t seeing any of the so-called greatness that makes this series worth talking about.

    If there’s anything of note to say is that Yuki handled herself better than I expected after waking up from her delusion. What made me roll my eyes is the zombies actually listening to her suggestions on the P.A.

    • HannoX says:

      I agree with your assessment. I found the moe parts fairly boring, went on too long and distracted from what could have been a good survival story. I know that the girls are essentially still children and can understand some of their wanting to try and live as normal a life as they can in their situation. It was a method to help keep them (other than Yuki) sane. But there was too much of it.

      I also found Yuki grating. It’s not surprising that one of the characters would retreat into a fantasy world in such a situation. But she still grated on me. It would have been better if she had been toned down. And I wanted to scream at the other girls that indulging her to the extent they did was dangerous to her and themselves. In her illusionary state she could have easily done something that let the zombies in.

      If there is a sequel I’ll give it a try. Now that Yuki has returned to reality and the girls have left the temporary refuge of the school to venture out into a dangerous world there’s the potential for a story I’ll find more interesting and better.

    • Foshizzel says:

      I think the moe elements work really well in the anime to keep things from being depressing, but at the same time I can totally see why some would find it distracting or out of place and those moe elements probably don’t work for the manga because that needs more WTF reactions to certain things! Also the anime censors a lot of the zombies which annoyed me…ah well…

      When was the last time you saw such a psychologically broken character like Yuki? I think Gakkou did an excellent job showing us how a character adapts to a world filled with zombies! Yeah she went nuts mentally seeing Megumi and acting like things were normal, but it all serves a purpose like a defense mechanism to keep her going through the dangerous moments and without that in place Yuki would have died a long time ago.

      True it was a bit silly! Then again I have seen zombie movies using that idea of the dead remember tiny parts of their lives and they go back to jobs or their homes after turning.

      @HannoX: Yeah they will probably get a season two because of the final end credits.

  2. Highway says:

    I thought the show turned out pretty well. Let’s face it: Zombies are old, tired, and boring. BO-RING. And while one can claim that most zombie movies and tv shows are about the survivors, it’s rare that they are to this extent. I liked that the threat of the zombies was relatively minimized: They weren’t an unstoppable force, they were more of a hazard to be mitigated. Yes, it ended up driving a lot of what the characters we followed did, but it wasn’t constant running or fighting, which was good.

    Kicking the can down the road with a little bit of hope is probably the best they can do. As far as I know, the only zombie movie with a different ending is Shaun of the Dead. Otherwise, it’s “everyone dies”. So there’s not really too many places it can go. At least they saved Kurumi.

    Speaking of characters, I kind of like what they did with Yuuri’s character. She had an edge that kind of crept up on you, and that she didn’t really show, but about 3/4 of the way through the show, I realized that Yuki’s distractions may be the only thing keeping Yuuri from snapping and slaughtering everyone (even though, in the end, she wasn’t able to kill Kurumi).

    So the show ended up better than I thought it would and was enjoyable throughout.

    • skylion says:

      Yeah, what they did with Yuuri was slowly built up here and there in the manga, and I was wondering how they would do it without putting an obvious point on it episode to episode. But her subtle shifting in tone and body language sold it.

      I did some rereading a few weeks ago, and I can’t tell why, but it really felt like the zombies were a bigger force in the manga. But as you say, I enjoyed them being minimized in the show.

      Plus we as the audience know as much as the character’s know, which increases the tension. The Randell Corp? I mean, Umbrella must have shuffled their corporate stucture…but that too, was minimized.

      • Foshizzel says:

        @Sky: Except Umbrella was a drug and tech corporation and made crazy ass bio monsters that are OP! I’m really glad that the creators of Gakkou didn’t throw in stuff like that…

        • skylion says:

          …yah, it’s a bit of a throw-a-way line, even in the manga. I thought it was just there to toss the zombie fans a line…

    • Foshizzel says:

      What you feel about zombies is what I feel about vampires in anime! You should check out the Walking Dead because that series doesn’t focus on the zombies as much even though they are the real threat most of the time the other humans are the real danger! I was sorta expecting that from Gakkou.

      True I like this kind of ending vs an end where only like two characters survive and it was more of a “hope” filled final that maybe just maybe things will be alright.

      Yuki was great! Yeah she annoyed most people with her mental issues but they just gotta understand where shes coming from and seeing Megumi was more of a defense mechanism set in place when things go CRAZY.

      It’s still my #1 of the season.

      • skylion says:

        I don’t know if Highway would check out Walking Dead, as it’s pretty awful people being awful to other pretty awful people. I can’t even get him into Westeros…But then, I gave up on Walking Dead one ep into S2…

  3. JPNIgor says:

    Jesus christ, I called this sh*t!!! Remember? The dog dies, the cat dies, they always die! WHYYYY?!

    Well, that aside, Gakkou Gurashi was really great. I really loved how they played mixing the reality with Yuki’s delusions and getting us really confused. The finale, too, was a lot bigger than I could think, with the shelter, the everything falling apart, the desperate feeling at the end.

    Of course, Taroumaru saving Yuki as a zombie was kinda BS, but oh well.

    • Foshizzel says:

      Well from what I understand Taroumaru wasn’t in the manga at all I only read up to the reveal of zombie Megumi and I can’t remember the dog being around, but yeah they killed the dog for emotional reaction or was it their way of saying the anti-virus is only for humans and doesn’t work on animals?

      Yuki is great~

      LOLOL yeah true.

  4. BlackBriar says:

    Of course, Taroumaru saving Yuki as a zombie was kinda BS, but oh well.

    Excluding Yuuki, the other three girls implied the zombies still retained their memories of when they were human. So I guess, for plot convenience, Taroumaru’s memories were temporarily strong enough to help him overcome his newly undead instincts to help Yuuki out.

    The BS for me was the vaccine being able to work on Taroumaru, reversing the effects long after he had been turned. Essentially, the vaccine is meant to stop the victim from crossing the point of no return. Kurumi surviving her predicament being the prime example.

    • skylion says:

      …the vaccine was a plot point, and is meant to facilitate the story and provide the characters moments to work with. In this case it gave Kurumi a new lease on life, and for Taroumaru it gave him just enough to give Miki a sense of closure, not just for the dog but for her abscent friend whom she’s more or less given up for dead. Now they know it won’t work on a case of “point of no return” so you can bet they won’t try that on a human…

    • JPNIgor says:

      It worked but it didn’t. Mostly to make his last appearance more… tear-jerking… I guess…

      I do believe that the zombies have memories as well, as they do keep coming back to school for some reason. But they don’t act friendly with the living, ever. The reason I find that BS is because it’s like Yuuki would have something that Kurumi doesn’t have, that makes him not attack her.

    • Kyon says:

      The vaccine issue is tricky. If it was a normal vaccine then yes, but it was “experimental” so by nature it could literally do anything, and you pretty much have to accept it. I was under the impression that Taroumaru was already so taken that even though he was cured, that was what ultimately caused his death. (Like a parasite/host relationship where you remove the parasite the host dies as well.) Megu-nee’s hand prints were on the case, so for all we know she could have tried taking one after it was too late (or she was just being a mindless zombie touching everything), and it was unsuccessful. I wouldn’t have even been surprised if it didn’t work at all on Kurumi or Taroumaru.

  5. skylion says:

    The adaptations, they are a changing…Show ▼

    • JPNIgor says:

      REALLY?

      I MEAN, REALLY?

      Not reading the manga. Definitely not.

    • IreneSharda says:

      Umm…

      Show ▼

      • skylion says:

        Ahh…

        Show ▼

  6. IreneSharda says:

    I really liked this series, much more than I thought I would. The psychological whiplash between the cute and creepy, the hope and despairing, was just great. I really loved it. It got me to binge read the manga, and I have to say that while there are things and events that I liked better in the manga, there were also things that they did really well in the anime as well. I am happy that I watched it. I don’t think there is enough for a sequel, but if they ever did one, I’d watch it.

  7. Namaewoinai says:

    Well, Like the rest of us there, I do enjoy it even this is some sort of a hybrid of a SoL and Horror, Kinda Reminds me of Re-Kan! But yet far more tragic.

    As for that Dog…Well…yeah..He Died so….XD

    Also i would to give a special stuff for them!!

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