I don't know the manga so I am reviewing the movie as a stand alone film.
The plot is interesting, not the best acting since the actresses are a pop band. Not gory at all and definitely not scary.
But the movie has something that hooks you. You don't get bored and you root for the girls. It's an enjoyable movies and suitable for younger audience
5 Reviews
A girl's school life in a zombie outbreak...
paul_haakonsen8 June 2023
Granted, I am not familiar with Anime that this 2019 live action movie adaptation is based on. So how true director Issei Shibata was to the source material with this 2019 movie, I have no idea.
But of course I opted to sit down and watch "Gakkô-Gurashi!" (aka "School Live!"), on account of it being a zombie movie that I hadn't already seen, and a Japanese zombie movie nonetheless, which just helped sweeten the deal. I hadn't heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2023, so I didn't really know what I was in for, nor did I have much of any expectations.
Writers Sadoru Chiba, Norimitsu Kaiho and Issei Shibata put together a fair enough script. I mean, this was a pretty straightforward, albeit a somewhat generic zombie movie at best. And it was aimed at a much younger audience than me, and possibly even also a female audience as well. So I felt somewhat like a sore thumb sticking out, because the movie was sort of a swing and a miss in terms of properly entertaining me.
And watching three Japanese high school girls and their teacher trying to make a normal every day routine of living, cooking and other activities inside the confines of their school, whilst surrounded by the living dead, hardly made for an overly thrilling movie experience.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but it should be noted that the actresses playing the three highschool girls and their teacher, did good jobs in portraying their characters, no doubt about it. I can appreciate acting performances, despite of the script falling short of entertaining me.
I found it difficult to get into the flow with the characters, as they were Japanese school girls and felt rather childish in the face of a zombie apocalypse. And that definitely abstracted me from enjoying the storyline to the fullest extend possible.
Visually then "Gakkô-Gurashi!" was okay. Sure, it was a zombie movie, and you have a fair amount of zombies shambling about. Now, the zombies shambling about and not running, was definitely a plus for me. The zombie make-up in the movie was adequate. I mean, it was essentially just Japanese young adults painted gray and with milky eye contact lenses. Nothing outstanding or memorable, but it was actually fair enough, as it didn't permeate that usual horrible low budget zombie make-up that many movies opt to go for. Don't expect anything gory or ghastly, because you will be sorely disappointed. However, I found it odd that all zombies, and I mean literally all zombies, had dirty clothes, but not a single one of them had blood on their clothing or on their bodies, nor any visible wounds.
"Gakkô-Gurashi!" is a movie for the girls, especially for a Japanese audience. No doubt about it. Director Issei Shibata failed to deliver a movie that appealed to my preference and liking within the zombie genre.
My rating of "Gakkô-Gurashi!" lands on a generous five out of ten stars.
But of course I opted to sit down and watch "Gakkô-Gurashi!" (aka "School Live!"), on account of it being a zombie movie that I hadn't already seen, and a Japanese zombie movie nonetheless, which just helped sweeten the deal. I hadn't heard about the movie prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2023, so I didn't really know what I was in for, nor did I have much of any expectations.
Writers Sadoru Chiba, Norimitsu Kaiho and Issei Shibata put together a fair enough script. I mean, this was a pretty straightforward, albeit a somewhat generic zombie movie at best. And it was aimed at a much younger audience than me, and possibly even also a female audience as well. So I felt somewhat like a sore thumb sticking out, because the movie was sort of a swing and a miss in terms of properly entertaining me.
And watching three Japanese high school girls and their teacher trying to make a normal every day routine of living, cooking and other activities inside the confines of their school, whilst surrounded by the living dead, hardly made for an overly thrilling movie experience.
I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, but it should be noted that the actresses playing the three highschool girls and their teacher, did good jobs in portraying their characters, no doubt about it. I can appreciate acting performances, despite of the script falling short of entertaining me.
I found it difficult to get into the flow with the characters, as they were Japanese school girls and felt rather childish in the face of a zombie apocalypse. And that definitely abstracted me from enjoying the storyline to the fullest extend possible.
Visually then "Gakkô-Gurashi!" was okay. Sure, it was a zombie movie, and you have a fair amount of zombies shambling about. Now, the zombies shambling about and not running, was definitely a plus for me. The zombie make-up in the movie was adequate. I mean, it was essentially just Japanese young adults painted gray and with milky eye contact lenses. Nothing outstanding or memorable, but it was actually fair enough, as it didn't permeate that usual horrible low budget zombie make-up that many movies opt to go for. Don't expect anything gory or ghastly, because you will be sorely disappointed. However, I found it odd that all zombies, and I mean literally all zombies, had dirty clothes, but not a single one of them had blood on their clothing or on their bodies, nor any visible wounds.
"Gakkô-Gurashi!" is a movie for the girls, especially for a Japanese audience. No doubt about it. Director Issei Shibata failed to deliver a movie that appealed to my preference and liking within the zombie genre.
My rating of "Gakkô-Gurashi!" lands on a generous five out of ten stars.
Most Trope Ridden Horror of 2019 - Worldwide
SyoKennex17 December 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Please note: This review comes from an avid horror fan; this film is my first interaction with the School Lives! franchise and my opinion is based off seeing this as it's packaged - a zombie survival action-horror and without any prior knowledge.
I knew upon starting this zombie survival horror that it was going to be a little worse for wear around the edges. The cast are a Japanese idol girl group - already I know that this is going to be cliched and a little cringe-worthy. That's nothing on the girls - it's just how they always end up type-cast a majority of the time. Something to take into consideration whenever you watch idol rookie-actor lead films.
I honestly thought this was a horror-comedy, maybe something satirical that was taking the mick of a lot of tropes within horror movies. The surprise when I checked the page to find that this was being pushed forward as a fully serious film was painful.
Every time a zombie shows up, the girls fluster, fall over, freak out, etc and don't seem to have any ability to defend themselves. They way they've survived as long as they have is an utter mystery to me. Not surprising, again, with cute and innocent Japanese idol leads, but disappointing none the less - they could have still done this with grace and professionalism that showed the actresses as cute and sweet, but with some semblance of realism. Some of the girls deal with mental issues that would be common in an apocalypse - PTSD, being unable to accept reality etc, and this is a really interesting part of the film. Of course, this part of the film they barely developed and had pop up a few times and that was it.
With another cliched goodbye scene nearer the end, this film gets a tick for every possible trope they could have used, and ruined themselves with. Cliches are relatively normal in Japanese horror, don't get me wrong - but this is just taking the mick.
I feel like this is meant to be a feel good horror movie, one that blurs the line between realism and imagination within its parameters. However, even coming to this conclusion mid way through the film, I still feel like it missed the mark on that.
Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I was a fan of the franchise, if I even knew what the story was about before going into it, or even if I knew how trope ridden it was going to be. Maybe it's meant to be like this in tone, similar to the anime and manga - not something I would know. I've seen a lot of people say this is very true to the source content. As a horror fan? Someone who was browsing the horror tag and wanted something full of horror to watch? Definitely one I wish I had skipped and not come across. I swear I've only seen 4 good anime/manga adaptations and there'll all by the same director... It's a massive shock and shame that the director of this was the person who directed The Chasing World.
With a cliche hallway scene, everything suddenly going wrong and another emergency to contend to, this film is honestly the most cliched and trope ridden horror I've seen released this year, worldwide. A film that has left me underwhelmed, bored and knowing I should have sprung for a Korean 2019 horror instead.
Also: one small pet peeve is how do these girls have an unlimited supply of bright white unstained uniforms in their exact sizes every day. It's the middle of the zombie apocalypse. How and where are you washing your clothes? When every other person/zombie in this film has disgustingly grey, ripped, and ruined shirts and pants? (Yes, this is how bored I was.... I was scrutinising their clothes come the ending).
I knew upon starting this zombie survival horror that it was going to be a little worse for wear around the edges. The cast are a Japanese idol girl group - already I know that this is going to be cliched and a little cringe-worthy. That's nothing on the girls - it's just how they always end up type-cast a majority of the time. Something to take into consideration whenever you watch idol rookie-actor lead films.
I honestly thought this was a horror-comedy, maybe something satirical that was taking the mick of a lot of tropes within horror movies. The surprise when I checked the page to find that this was being pushed forward as a fully serious film was painful.
Every time a zombie shows up, the girls fluster, fall over, freak out, etc and don't seem to have any ability to defend themselves. They way they've survived as long as they have is an utter mystery to me. Not surprising, again, with cute and innocent Japanese idol leads, but disappointing none the less - they could have still done this with grace and professionalism that showed the actresses as cute and sweet, but with some semblance of realism. Some of the girls deal with mental issues that would be common in an apocalypse - PTSD, being unable to accept reality etc, and this is a really interesting part of the film. Of course, this part of the film they barely developed and had pop up a few times and that was it.
With another cliched goodbye scene nearer the end, this film gets a tick for every possible trope they could have used, and ruined themselves with. Cliches are relatively normal in Japanese horror, don't get me wrong - but this is just taking the mick.
I feel like this is meant to be a feel good horror movie, one that blurs the line between realism and imagination within its parameters. However, even coming to this conclusion mid way through the film, I still feel like it missed the mark on that.
Maybe I would have enjoyed this more if I was a fan of the franchise, if I even knew what the story was about before going into it, or even if I knew how trope ridden it was going to be. Maybe it's meant to be like this in tone, similar to the anime and manga - not something I would know. I've seen a lot of people say this is very true to the source content. As a horror fan? Someone who was browsing the horror tag and wanted something full of horror to watch? Definitely one I wish I had skipped and not come across. I swear I've only seen 4 good anime/manga adaptations and there'll all by the same director... It's a massive shock and shame that the director of this was the person who directed The Chasing World.
With a cliche hallway scene, everything suddenly going wrong and another emergency to contend to, this film is honestly the most cliched and trope ridden horror I've seen released this year, worldwide. A film that has left me underwhelmed, bored and knowing I should have sprung for a Korean 2019 horror instead.
Also: one small pet peeve is how do these girls have an unlimited supply of bright white unstained uniforms in their exact sizes every day. It's the middle of the zombie apocalypse. How and where are you washing your clothes? When every other person/zombie in this film has disgustingly grey, ripped, and ruined shirts and pants? (Yes, this is how bored I was.... I was scrutinising their clothes come the ending).
Watch the anime first
scars-souvenirs26 February 2020
Big fan of the animated version. I was on the edge the whole time. There were a few jumpscares and theyvwere effective. If you are a horror/zombie genre fan who's looking for hardcore scare this is not for you. But if you are an anime fan who wants to see the animated version come to life, then this a good one.
See the Manga first ...
edwardjeria6 August 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The movie shows its premise as in the manga, it is zombie, it is horror and suspense but soft, if you expect strong emotions, blood or jumpscare, do not expect to find so much.
It is quite faithful to the original material, but at the same time, it omits or changes parts to be able to adapt the plot well within its hour with 1 minute.
As for the actors, they are an idol group of music, so the performance is not their greatest virtue, they maintain the original image of the characters in the manga and do not try to show a new facet of this, something that is appreciated.
In summary, if you read the manga, or saw the anime first, the movie may be to your liking, it is not 100% fixed to the story, but it respects and gives us a fairly entertaining footage.
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