Highschool of the Dead - Episode 6

The beginning of Highschool of the Dead's sixth episode gives us an intriguing test of our priorities as viewers of this series - Do we focus upon the TV broadcast reporting over two million dead in Japan and the evacuation of even television station personnel to an off-shore location? Or, do we concentrate on the various heroines of this series getting undressed for a bath?

Even if you weren't concentrating on the girls getting naked, you'll soon be able to as we're treated to a bath scene complete with the expected dose of nudity, boob groping, squealing and all of the other stuff you'd expect from a bunch of anime girls taking a bath, even if it is in the middle of some kind of zombie apocalypse. Not that the guys are missing out on their own dose of fun however, as Hirano and Takashi rifle through their teacher's friends home only to find a stash of ammunition and an impressive arsenal of weapons. Hirano in particular is delighted by this, and we learn here that he was actually trained in using live weapons for a month by a Blackwater employee, which is pretty handy it has to be said.


At least it would be if Hirano weren't so easily disabled by a kiss from Marikawa, as it appears that at least some of the girls have been a drop or five of alcohol to relax after a hard day's zombie-splattering, and their subsequent intoxication turns Marikawa into an impossibly flirty individual while Rei turns into an impossibly whiny one... actually she's always like that come to think of, so maybe the alcohol hasn't gone to her head. Still, Rei's current state of mind does eventually change the dynamic of her relationship with Takashi rapidly, from calling him boring and accusing him of not listening to her to being all over the guy who killed her boyfriend barely hours before. Is it the alcohol speaking or not? Either way, it makes for an interesting and potentially problematic development.

Not that this is the only development here, as this episode also keeps an eye on the goings-on at the main bridge crossing nearby, where things escalate out of hand at a frightening pace, from protesters gathering to accuse the current situation as a conspiracy caused by biological weapons through to the police receiving orders to do "whatever is necessary" to maintain order ads the situation worsens. Needless to say, "whatever is necessary" is not only very subjective, but decidedly brutal too as the world goes to Hell in a handbasket.

I have to confess that normally I'd roll my eyes as an episode of any series so dripping in blatant fan service, but to fair to Highschool of the Dead this was an expected development which was also not allowed to dominate the episode entirely as the plot continued to move forwards, even if the bulk of that progress was arguably away from the main group of characters and out in the wider world. Still, with the zombies finding a renewed interest in our heroes and that same bunch of characters now in possession of a ridiculous arsenal of weapons, the next episode has the potential to bring us back to that ridiculously over-the-top yet enjoyable action that has been the hallmark of the show thus far. It's that kind of action that I signed up to this show for, so I shall be awaiting episode seven with renewed anticipation.