Manga/Gakkou Gurashi

To be honest, the more I think about it, the more I'm not sure if I'll be reading the rest of the series. For one thing the entire University arc has been rendered a complete waste of time since not only did not much of value happen in it, but most of the surviving university characters are staying behind instead of, you know, actually contributing anything to the story, being developed properly and having a reason to exist. So yeah the past 20ish chapters just ended up being pure filler. This doesn't give me much hope for the rest of the series, particularly not any newer plotlines or characters that'll be coming up {Especially not any potential new baddies, given how much both Takahito and Ayaka utterly sucked}.

Secondly, I'm really not a fan of how the manga is going in the cliche direction of "Oh no, a big bad evil corporation is causing the Zombie Virus, we gotta stop them!". Seriously this premise has been done to death and there is literally no way to make it interesting anymore. All this conspiracy BS is never what made the series so interesting and unique to begin with. I would have rather had the series be about the characters slowly but surely trying to build a safe-zone and possibly society along with it while also dealing with personal issues and other things. That sort of thing is far more intriguing to me then trying to rip-off Resident Evil {And potentially​ The Last of Us as well, depending on what direction Kurumi's subplot may go in}.

edited 4th Jun '17 9:04:21 PM by marston

I'm mainly curious about exactly what direction the story is even going to go now, and exactly how much the university cast will be involved. I personally hope they don't go too heavily into the backstory about how the virus was released, since that's probably the thing I care least about. Then again, I think they shouldn't have left the school for the university in the first place, so that's just me.

Wasn't the school rendered uninhabitable/unsecure following the events of the helicopter crash?

I think he means that the Helicopter Crash shouldn't have happened to begin with. My opinion though is that with or without the Highschool there were a ton of different directions the series could have went, and instead it's going for the most cliche option possible.

Yeah, my main gripe is that the whole "schoolgirls trying to maintain a sense of normality after a catastrophe" is the unique element of the premise that set it apart from most other zombie media. After that arc ended and they left the school, it lost a lot of that charm and became a lot more similar to other series. They didn't have to stay at the school, specifically, but it would've been nice to try to stick closer to the initial premise, as that's why I got into the series to start with, particularly the disconnect between the reality of the situation and how Yuki views it.

I think this arc had a lot of potential, but it ended up being undercut by flaws that we've discussed before. So I think there's a lot that could be done to fix it. First and foremost would be cutting out Aosoi entirely and keeping the government conspiracy stuff to a minimum. I'm really not interested at all in that stuff and would rather have it only be in the background like the first arc. As for how Takahito and Kougami get infected, it would either be Ayaka poisoning them using zombie-blood {Which she'd get from using needles on zombies} or them still getting infected by the Airborne Virus, but said aerial infection is on it's last legs since realistically there's only so long a virus can last without a host, and those two {As well as possibly the Heilcopter Pilot and the Radio DJ} were just unfortunate enough to be it's last victims. Hika and Sumiko would also be removed, not sure about Aki. If I kept her in though, she would end up sacrificing herself to save Miki from getting shot by Takahito. Ayaka would also be killed off during the climax shortly before Takahito's own death, which would be different without her around to kill him.

As for the actually interesting stuff, I'd have the arc give a much greater focus on the girls mental states then what we got. The MFC would still be around, but they wouldn't be the arc's primary focus like they ended up being in canon {I'd also remove the "Chosen One" aspect of Takahito and Ayaka's characters because that was seriously some cringey shit. Instead they just correctly see themselves as lucky}. I'd also give Kougami some development before his death so that we get to see him and Sino interact more, given that she loves him so much that his death and later their baby ends up motivating her to stay alive. Once the MFC is killed off except for her, the rest of the series would have the surviving cast dealing with personal issues {Like Kurumi dealing with the trauma of both her semi-infected state and killing Takashige, Yuki and Yuuri's mental states, Touko and Rise having to move on from Aki's death if I still kept her in the series, etc}, and long-term problems, such as realizing that they're ​going to run out of food at some point and will have to start growing food before that happens, needing to prepare for Winter, and the whole ordeal with Sino being pregnant. There would still be danger and conflict of course, it's just that there would be No Antagonist after the MFC'S demise unless you count the zombies.

Of course, this is just what I would do with that arc and the aftermath. Other people probably have different ideas.

I only watched the anime once, but did it back itself into a corner or am I not remembering things correctly? For example, didn't they give away "Ruu" in the final episode?

I still can't figure out if Ruu is Rii's sister or just a Replacement Goldfish. I think the translation might have screwed that up.

Nope, I don't think they did in the anime.

Take note, the ending of the anime happened at about the same time as the middle of the university arc, so what seems to be SO obvious now was just theories by that time.

Well, everyone and their mom understood what was going on with Ruu right off the bat (and that was probably deliberate too).

So there's a live adatation in the works, apparently.

How the hell they're gonna make it work, I have no idea.

Here "collège" is secondary school and not university level (tertiary)? I was about to say.

"Collège" is middle school, yes. The person who wrote the summary screwed that up. >.>

Live action adaptation? That's quick. It can't be that popular.

I don't want a live-action adaptation. In my opinion, the only anime that work in live action are those that are relatively down to Earth like Bunny Drop. School Live is anything but. Too much wacky anime humor and bright hair colours.

Bright hair colors can work in lie action and if it's being made in Japan the wacky humor wouldn't be a problem.

I'd beg to differ, actually. So many live action adaptations think they can get away with the same techniques and visual gags as anime, but either the effects are poorly done, or the actors don't actually commit to what they're doing, so it looks half-assed and cringey.

The overt humor and comedy were mainly in the anime veesion. The manga is a more mellow slice-of-life, so it might be more fitting for a live action.

I'm picturing a Japanese school setting drama inside the School Life Club combined with The Walking Dead outside.

edited 28th Nov '17 8:37:32 PM by Trivialis

I don't read scanlations anymore so I don't know what's happening too well, but I saw review on chapter 67 and...

Kurumi can't walk and Shiiko's probably turning into a zombie? But Rii says Shiiko was made-up... somehow?

Edited by Pichu-kun on Nov 8th 2018 at 2:53:36 AM

The manga seems to be wrapping up. I fully expected Kurumi to die and maybe Miki later on, but considering how it seems to be ending soon... Maybe they're going for a Kill Em All Downer Ending?

If the manga's wrapping up soon, I may read through it just to see how things go. Even if it's more depressing.

How are the official translations by the way? Haven't read since shortly after they left their school and met those college (? I think they're supposed to be college students.) students but if it's ending soon and the translation is good I might pick the physical editions up.

The manga hit its 7th anniversary recently. Wow, it only feels 2 or 3 years old.

Chapter 73 and 74 are reaching Darkest Hour levels. Kei bit Miki, Kurumi's still dying, and a nuclear bomb is going to strike in two days.

The manga ends in two more chapters.

Well the manga is finally over. The manga ends with a timeskip where we learn thanks to Yuki's message which she reveals there is a cure to the virus; the water at her school, this convinced Randall Corp, where a fight was happening between those who wanted to nuke the city and those who opposed it, which convinced the former to give up their plans and help rescue Yuki and the other survivors. The time skip reveals that society is slowly recovering where Miki travels and helps those still recovering from the outbreak, Kurumi was cured but is stuck in a wheelchair and learning to become a doctor, Yuri is part of a new government agency that is rebuilding the country, the university students still being the same with Shinou now raising her son and Yuki becoming a teacher and teaching children that survive the outbreak at her old school.

All and all, a good ending.

IT LIVES AGAIN!

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-05-23/school-live-manga-gets-sequel-starting-in-june/.159839?

Not all that excited, personally. Not sure how much story there is left to tell, and I felt the original manga had been going steadily downhill since leaving the school