HighSchool Of The Dead: The Waifu Review

HighSchool of the Dead is one of those legendary anime series. Not necessarily because it has an incredible or ground-breaking story, but because of how absurd it was. This is one of those series that I feel like everyone has seen whether it be for the plot or it’s ecchi tendencies. 

Usually when I do these waifu reviews, I don’t lay it out with a particular order except for the girl in the top spot. HighSchool of the Dead, the anime specifically, doesn’t feature too many girls that we really get to know very well outside of the main cast of characters. With that in mind, this review will all be ordered from worst to best.

R.I.P Daisuke Satou

Rei Miyamoto

Rei is the classic trope character that comes paired up with our main character, Takashi. Not only is Rei the childhood friend, but she is also the girl that Takashi made a promise to one day marry. It’s a classic staple amongst any anime series with even the tiniest hint of a harem. 

Backstory-wise it definitely feels like Rei has the best chance at being the top girl. In my opinion though, I thought she was quite possibly the worst of the bunch. Silly childhood promises aside, Rei ditches Takashi and starts dating his best friend, and then suddenly jumps back on Takashi after the zombie apocalypse begins. No matter what she says you begin to doubt what her true feelings are. On top of that, I thought she was pretty damn annoying. 

Shizuka Marikawa

Ahhhh Shizuka, my personal tastes definitely want to place her a little higher, but I understand her purpose in the show so I’ll be holding myself back and placing her here. Shizuka was the nurse at the school the main characters attended. Thanks to her medical background her contributions to the main group are extremely valuable. On top of this she is the only adult amongst them, however she is a rather ditzy character. 

As you might have already guessed, Shizuka is the show’s bottomless source of fanservice. Ditzy, blonde, and extremely stacked, and my lord do the creators of the series make this extremely apparent to us. Still cute though.

Saya Takagi

Every group needs it’s tsundere and in the case of HighSchool of the Dead, it’s Saya Takagi. Similarly to Shizuka, Saya is a seriously valuable member of the main group thanks to her incredible intelligence. Her deductive skills are fantastic, made evident by her ability to help the main cast escape numerous dangerous situations alongside being the one to determine that the zombie’s only respond to sound.

Because of her vast intelligence, she can come across as very stubborn, rude, and stuck-up. Even considering this, it doesn’t really take away from her character and the way she develops. After Alice joins the group, she becomes a much kinder character who takes it upon herself to assume the role of a big sister to Alice. Saya focuses heavily on coming up with ideas to help the rest of the cast. 

Yuriko Takagi

The bombshell that is responsible for Saya’s incredible intelligence, Yuriko Takagi. We don’t get as much time with Yuriko as we do with the rest of the characters on this list, but even in this shorter period of time we learn so much about how capable of a mother and survivor she is. 

Yuriko is extremely strong, shown by her ability to survive through everything that’s going on, plus she’s one hell of a good shot. She’s extremely capable as a business woman prior to the apocalypse, and as a mother evident by Saya’s growth and how proud she is of her daughter. Finally she is a self-sacrificing hero who put her daughter and friends’ safety first by holding back the horde as they tried to break into the Takagi estate. 

Saeko Busujima

I think we all saw this one coming. I don’t think that there is any real competition when it comes to the top 1 spot of best waifu in HighSchool of the Dead. Saeko was a student in her third year before the zombie attack and during her normal life in school, she was the captain of the Kendo club. Saeko is most definitely the strongest and most capable fighter in the main group and she’s a large reason why they have gotten as far as they have.

Saeko is scarily calm and collected, even more so than Shizuka who is the oldest of the group, considering the constant danger they are in. This is due to her familial samurai upbringing, which can be viewed as her following the code of Bushido for her entire life. What’s most interesting about Saeko is her personality here completely contrasts with the personality she tries to keep hidden.

To put it simply, Saeko enjoys inflicting pain. This all stems from an incident in her past when she fought off a molester. What started off as self-defence quickly turned into Saeko enjoying the pain she was inflicting upon another person. Knowing all of this deep down, Saeko believes that she isn’t worthy of love and friendship. Takashi snaps her out of this, letting her know that it’s because of her they have gotten this far, and it’s this aspect of her that will allow them to continue forward. 

All in all Saeko is a much more compelling and interesting character than almost everyone else in the cast. Plus… She’s hot as hell!!

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Conor Evans
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