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I recently re-watched school-live, and honestly I enjoyed it just as much as I did the fist time and thought I might as well make a review on it. This is my first review so please bear with me lol, and this review will contain spoilers for the end of episode 1.

Story- 8

Zombie apocalypse is a premise that has been done many times before, but school-live differs from the standard ordeal by presenting itself to just be a cute school slice of life at first. I think that the way this twist was done was very effective, leaving only tiny hints in the majority of ... the first episode to the true nature of the series, before revealing it all at the end. There are several more plot twists throughout the series, and although upon re-watch they are more predictable, the execution of them is fantastic. The show also has very good foreshadowing, which is again more noticeable upon re-watch.
However, there are some parts of the show that may seem filler like to some, for example there's one episode where most of it is just the main cast going swimming. In my opinion, it strengthened the viewers attachment to the characters, making the following episodes more emotional, but overall there were only a few minutes that contributed to the actual plot. There are also some moments that can be seen as plot convenience, especially part of the ending was underwhelming as the solution to the problem at hand was so simple.
I do have a problem with Miki being introduced in the first episode instead of later on, I think it would've been better paced if it started with Yuki, Kurumi, Yuuri and Megumi at first, then introduce Miki in a future episode.

Art/Animation- 7

Although nothing stellar, I believe that cute, "moe" art style worked really well and juxtaposed the dark theme of the show. The character designs are very nice and suited each characters personality. When the show got darker in tone, the art reflected that which was appreciated, and the visuals for the opening gradually got darker which made for a nice touch. There really isn't much to say about the animation, nothing amazing but not bad either, just standard, and fortunately it was consistent.

Sound-9

I really loved the soundtrack for this anime, it had both upbeat but also mellow tunes, used accurately which contributed to the atmosphere the show was going for. Personally, my favourite track was "We took each other's hand". It's a beautiful track that was also used in one of the credits, and was first used during Miki's backstory. The vocals are soothing and the lyrics have a meaning behind them, also relating to some themes of the anime. In contrast to this, you have "Mezame no Waltz", an upbeat track used throughout the series, usually in the more slice-of-life parts. This track to me is a nice change of pace from the overall grim tone of the anime. The soundtrack uses a range of different instruments, played together cohesively to create music I really love.

Characters- 8

At first the main cast seem to be your typical school slice of life characters, such as Yuuri being the mother of the group and Yuki being the cheerful one who is always full of energy. For the most part this is true, but each character goes through their own internal struggle, making them more three dimensional and causing the viewer to feel more attached to the characters. In my opinion, Yuki is the most well written out of the four, with her being too traumatised to realise the reality of the situation, but she has a strong resolve and is incredibly brave, which is what makes her more irable. Their personalities together make a lovable main cast. There's also the side characters; I loved Megumi so much, knowing that she'd always care for the girls and would do anything to keep them safe was really heartwarming. Kei was also great, deciding to take action instead of just sitting back and watch everything unfold. Furthermore, she contributed a lot to Miki's development- they were such a great duo.

Enjoyment- 9

This is honestly such a great anime to watch, having its fair share of both cheerful and grim moments. I was hesitant to watch it at first as I usually don't like horror, but I'm glad I did and episode 1 still remains as one of my favourite episodes out of all of the anime I've watched. I'm invested enough in the story line and characters to want to buy the manga and see how the story ends.

Overall- 8
Overall I believe school-live to be an enjoyable take on the zombie apocalypse genre, and I highly recommend to people who are looking for a twist on cute girls doing cute things, or just someone looking for a good psychological drama in general.