Highschool of the Dead

Boobs won't save you now.

"But our world as we knew it had already been completely destroyed."

Imagine waking up one day, going to school and then going to the roof to pine over your lost love. Then looking down and seeing a teacher's fingers get bitten off by a trespasser. Then seeing that teacher eat another. Then going to get your ex-love and her boyfriend to save them and fighting "not zombies". You try to call for help, but the lines are busy because of emergencies all over the town. And when you finally get to a television to see what's being done, you learn that it's happening everywhere.

That's the start of High School of the Dead. In a new world of surviving "them", Takashi Komuro and his group of unlikely allies must learn to change to keep living, but will they like what they become? Written by Daisuke Sato and drawn by Shouji Sato, this manga is filled with monsters both living and nonliving, guns and big breasts. Really, nearly every woman who's old enough to have them has them.

The series was licensed and dubbed by The Anime Network in 2011. It premiered there on March 10.

Has a character sheet and a shout out page. Please list character tropes on the character sheet.

With the death of writer Daisuke Satou in 2017, the series was left incomplete, ending with 30 chapters(plus some "x.5" chapters) released through 7 volumes.

Tropes used in Highschool of the Dead include:
  • Abandoned Clinic: Where some of the group go to collect frozen plasma and a blood transfusion kit for the old woman.
  • Action Dress Rip: Happens a couple of times to Shizuka as well as Saeko and Saya's mother.
  • Adults Are Useless: Played pretty straight throughout. With rare exceptions (like Saya's parents) anything an adult does makes the situation immediately worse.
  • After the End
  • Apocalyptic Log: The news report the students watch in one of the classrooms that ends with the broadcast abruptly cut.
  • Apologetic Attacker: The household survivor who tearfully said sorry over and over as he stabbed Alice's father, leaving him for dead and abandoning Alice to the zombies.
  • Artifact Title: Only the first few chapters take place in high school.
  • Asshole Victim: Asshole teacher Shidou, a thug who threatens to rape one of the main characters, and some really stupid protesters who were in denial of the dead coming back to life and refused to cooperate with the police or the ultranationalists.
  • Author Appeal: The older and current work of the original manga artist make his preference for larger breasts pretty clear. The only difference with this work is just how blatant it is. Almost every female on the page past puberty sports at least a D-cup.
    • The rerelease of the manga in full color can be seen as this too, Shouji Sato is known for making many of his works in full color, likewise the colored version of the series is also made by him.
  • Badass: Practically a bare minimum survival requirement.
    • Back-to-Back Badasses: The battles that the students fight eventually become this.
    • Badass Army: The army is shown to actually be very competent in fighting the zombies. The greatest example can be seen in Chapter 24, when Japanese commandos take advantage of their superior tech and helicopter support to rescue the mall survivors.
    • Badass Crew: Komuro's coterie becomes this.
    • Badass Family: The Takagi famly and the Miyamoto family.
  • Barbie Doll Anatomy: Averted. See Bleached Underpants.
    • Played straight in the OVA, when Takeshi hallucinates he's taking off Saeko's bikini top, she has no nipples.
  • Beach Episode: The OVA.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Everybody gets a turn, it seems. Outside of the main cast, the JSDF actually gets one rescuing a trio of side characters.
  • Big Fancy House: The Takagi mansion.
  • Bigger Stick: During the party's raid on the abandoned police station, Takashi is given a Benelli M4 shotgun which is, as clearly stated by Hirano, an all around better weapon than the old Ithaca 37. In an oddly heartwarming twist, Takashi salutes his old gun before leaving it behind.
  • Black and Grey Morality:
    • The kids are forced to drive without a license, use guns, act strongly as individuals, rely on themselves instead of authority figures or the government and steal things to survive. It doesn't seem that bad from an American point of view, until you remember that this story takes place in Japan. Takashi's narration actually makes reference to this several times, usually in the form of "It had been just half a day, and we had already changed this much."
    • Takashi shoots a would-be mugger/rapist, but leaves him alive so he can be bait to draw off any zombies in the area.
  • Blade on a Stick: Rei's mother wields one.
  • Non Sequitur Episode: The OVA
  • Bleached Underpants: The artist draws Hentai, to no surprise. And by the looks of it, it seems that the artist also placed a character from one of his H-Manga in the story here (The reporter with the lightning-bolt earrings).
  • Bolivian Army Ending: The Takagi household storyline ends with Takagi's parents trying to fight off a massive zombie horde.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy: Shidou used his charms to manipulate the students into his personal sex cult.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • In chapter 9, while trying to drive through a zombie horde, Shizuka cries out "I'm not supposed to be this kind of character!"
    • In chapter 25, Saya acknowledges Takashi's leadership: "We get it, you're the main character."
    • A German localization changed the bathing scenes dialogue:

Saya: Well, the manga's X-rated after all...
Saya: Why do we have to take a bath all together?

Saeko: You should know that Saya. One at a time would've been only half as pleasant for the reader.
—Volume 2, Chapter 6
    • When asked why she is spacing out during a zombie attack, Shizuka breaks the fourth wall.

Saya: Why are you dazing off?
Shizuka: (Apologetic) That's how the author wrote me...
Saya: Yeah, ok. Get in the car!

  • Bullet Time: Happens a lot in the anime whenever guns are involved. Taken to a ridiculous extreme in Episode 8 when Takashi fires various rounds that manage to pass between Saeko's thighs and breasts.
  • But What About the Astronauts?: The crew of the ISS are shown watching the situation below unfold.
  • Car Fu: Zombies get mowed down several times over the course of the series.
  • Car Skiing: Episode 12 of the anime adaptation has the group escaping the overrun mansion in the Humvee. To get past the barricades, the Humvee leans so far over it nearly tips.
  • Chekhov's Gun:
    • Way, way back in the high school, Saya and Hirano snatched a toolbox from one of the workshops. When they finally reach the police station, Saya lends Hirano one of the tools from that toolbox, a hand-powered drill. He uses it to break into the armory.
    • Mad the mechanic in the manga explained that the buggy was capable of water transportation but suggested sticking to the riverbanks or cutting into the nearby park. Takashi and Saeko ended up driving the buggy into the riverbank and ditched it in the park.
  • Cool Bike: The bike that Takashi and Rei find on the highway. That they operate without a license.
  • Cool Car: Rika's Hummer and the prototype buggy.
  • Cool Guns: Most of them belong to Shizuka's friend, a police officer, and get requisitioned by the protagonists.
  • Cosplay: See the "Cosplay of the Dead" subchapter, where Saya, Saeko, and Shizuka dress Rei up in different outfits. Even Zeke takes part!
  • Crapsack World: By virtue of a Zombie Apocalypse.
  • Cruel and Unusual Death: Anyone who gets bitten by a zombie will slowly die and then turn into one themselves. And that's only if the zombies don't kill them first.
  • Dance Battler: Kendo pirouette, anyone?
  • Dangerous Windows: Zombies several times have made surprise entrances from breaking through windows to get to the survivors.
  • Daylight Horror: How the series starts.
  • Did They or Didn't They?: Invoked by episode 9 of the anime. This and episode 8 are where the anime deviated from the original manga. The "Shut Up" Kiss between Takashi and Saeko was not shown in the manga, if it had happened at all.
  • Disaster Democracy
  • Disproportionate Retribution: Rei was martyred academically for her father's attempts at busting political corruption. This makes her so mad she almost executes the man responsible, which itself would be reasonable in her situation.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Driven to Suicide:
    • The old couple in the mall, though it seems more like Better to Die Than Be Killed. The situation did seem hopeless and with the old woman's sickness... It would have been nice if they had been so kind as to do it before Tamaru died getting plasma for her, though.
    • There was also the gym teacher early on, who was actually doing a good job dispatching zombies with his hand-to-hand skills before jumping from the roof, convinced that there was no way it could be real and that all he needed to do was wake up.
    • The police officer at the bridge placed his pistol to his head after the situation gets out of control and he gives the final order to exterminate everyone. Even came complete with a Fatal Family Photo.
  • Dub Name Change: Alice's name in the dub is "Arisu", as in "Ar-Ri-Sue" even though her name is written and translated as "Alice" in the manga.
  • Due to the Dead:
    • Takashi takes the time to cover Alice's dead father's face with a shirt from a nearby clothesline before making his daring escape with Alice and Zeke in tow.
    • Upon returning to the home base at the airport, Rika recommends a posthumous promotion for her dead partner Tajima.
  • Dying as Yourself: A major theme in this series that has cost many characters their lives.
    • A student named Kazu Ishii who is protecting Shizuka gets bitten from behind by zombies breaking through the windows, and Saeko offers to kill him before he turns. With a smile on his face, he replies "Please do it."
    • Hiro Tamaru gets one by Asami's hands after getting caught in the hole at the clinic.
  • Dying Like Animals: Many people simply cannot cope with the existence of "them", and many others, like Shidou, take advantage of that.
  • Dysfunction Junction: The team has decent grasp on reality, but the horror of their current situation has made everyone a tad bit unstable, and a few of them have displayed Sociopathic / Ax Crazy tendencies.
  • The End of the World as We Know It: The group is acutely aware of this, especially Takashi when he realizes near the beginning that their moral code is adapting to the circumstances, thereby changing their personal world forever. Saya also knows that those who try to change the world back to what it once was will be doomed.
  • Enemy Mine: The US and Russia seem to launch an all out nuclear attack on China and Korea together, though, not necessarily as allies, as theres no words on who else has launched at whom other then that, if any.
  • Establishing Team Shot:
    • Done as the group prepared to leave the school.
    • Again when the others come to Kohta's defense in keeping their guns from being confiscated by the ultranationalists.
    • Once more as the group prepared to leave the mall.
  • Evolving Credits
  • Facial Horror: Many of the zombies, and very likely some victims.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Considering the nature of death caused by a bite from "them", this trope is difficult but not impossible to achieve in this franchise. Karma seems to determine who gets to die with dignity.
    • Ishii, Officer Tajima, and Asami get rather dignified deaths in the form of assisted suicides.
    • Alice's father dies comforting a traumatized Alice and does not reanimate as a zombie.
    • Averted when Rei is about to execute Shido for what he did to her because of what her father tried to do to his father; he's clearly sweating, and when she decides he's Not Worth Killing he makes enough of a scene to be kicked off the Takagi property even though the very fact that he did such a horrible thing to his own student, thus martyring her academically, already warranted Mr. Takagi's boot at the very least.
  • Fan Disservice:
    • There are even several accounts where female zombies give a Full-Frontal Assault.
    • Shidou turns the protagonist's original escape vehicle into the ORGYBUS, and the survivors remaining into a cult revolving around free love between high schoolers.
    • Panty Shots and huge bouncing breasts on a girl who's being eaten by zombies can seriously mess with your mind.
    • Chapter 29 features a female zombie being shot through the breasts.
    • In the OVA Kohta wears a girls school swimsuit.
  • Fan Service: Loads of it.
    • Chapter 23's extra story seems to exist for no other purpose than to expressly point out that every single girl in the cast is ridiculously hot, and that if her mom is anything to judge by, Alice will be too if she grows up.
    • The Beach Episode OVA has beaten out the Furo Episode for brazenly gratuitous Fanservice and indulgent Author Appeal to the point of Self-Parody.
  • First-Name Basis:
    • Saeko starts calling Takashi by his first name, much to Rei's chagrin.
    • Saya wants Takashi to call her by her first name, but he usually doesn't manage it.
    • During the clinic raid, Asami asked Kohta to call her by her first name.
  • Five-Man Band:
  • Gainaxing: From the artist of the original manga: "The animation studio says they're making the characters' boobs jiggle with no mercy, so the fans should be able to rest easy." Combined with Bullet Time in one scene!
  • Genre Savvy: Everyone is quite aware that they are in the midst of a Zombie Apocalypse, even if they are pointedly Not Using the Z Word, and act accordingly.
  • Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!:
    • After Hirano suffers a Heroic BSOD from having to kill Asami, Shizuka steps up to break him out of it.
    • Saya had also given him a bright slap immediately prior to that which also counts.
    • Saya got a similar one from her mother right before both her parents went to hold off the horde.
    • In the OVA, Takashi gave Saya a bright slap when she not-so-subtly came on to him, but being under the influence of the funky smoke, it only caused her to swoon over him even more.
  • Godiva Hair: See here. To be honest, it seems to be an accident in this Fanservice heavy show.
  • Glass Cannon: Zombies are dangerous. One bite and that's it, but you can push them over without even trying if you are careful.
  • Go Out with a Smile:
    • Alice's father did his best to comfort his traumatized daughter before he expired.
    • Kazu Ishii and Hiro Tamaru managed to smile just before they were mercy killed.
    • The gym teacher at the beginning. Probably didn't die smiling, but the attempted mugger and rapist is smiling as one of "them" and can be seen at chapter end.
    • Asami...oh god, Asami.
  • Gorn: What do you expect from a zombie comic?
  • Gory Discretion Shot: Used in the anime for particularly gory scenes.
  • Gray and Gray Morality: Found among the humans forced into conflict by "Them", such as at the bridge (desperate refugees vs police trying to maintain order) and outside the first hideout (panicked father trying to break the door down vs the already crowded group inside).
  • Gun Nut: Kohta is a self-proclaimed "gun otaku", but as he is a sixteen-year-old in Japan at the start of this series, he doesn't actually own any. He did however go to America and learn how to shoot (at a Militia camp in the translation, by Blackwater in the original and the anime).
  • Gun Porn: There's almost as many focused shots of guns as there are of breasts.
  • Deadly Change-of-Heart: Yamada decides his family's more important than the Orgybus and gets left to the zombies as a direct result. In the anime, Misuzu Ichijou may have regretted killing Toshimi Niki on impulse right before the zombies crush her own head.
  • Hello, Nurse!: Shizuka was the school nurse.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Used to subvert the Adults Are Useless trope - adults can fight just as competently, if not more so, and even sacrifice themselves so that the protagonists can live on. Even the guy who tried to rape Shizuka.
  • High-Pressure Blood: In the anime.
  • Hollywood Silencer: Averted when Hirano hands an MP5 over to Saya, warning that even with a suppressor, any shots will still be audible enough to be heard by "Them".
  • Honor Before Reason:
    • Lampshaded when the team raids a hospital to acquire plasma for a dying old woman. They point out that since the woman needs regular blood transfusions and they can only bring back enough usable plasma for one, they are essentially risking all their lives to buy her an extra week or two at the most. One of them does in fact die during the raid. As if that weren't already messed up, the old couple commits suicide a short time later.
    • Played triumphantly straight when our heroes brave a veritable horde of "them" to save one little girl... and won.
  • Hot Dad: Alice's dad.
  • Hot Mom:
    • Alice's mother is very wholesomely pretty.
    • Yuriko Takagi, Saya's mother.
    • Kiriko Miyamoto, Rei's mother.
  • Hot Teacher: Kyoko Hayashi, the Ping Pong Club's advisor. Her glasses add a Hot Librarian appeal.
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: Some survivors who have been bitten have to be mercy killed by others. Justified - if Hisashi's and Ishii's (nurse's office student) deaths were any indication, the zombie bites would have weakened them enough that they would not be able to kill themselves and would thus need outside help.
  • Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: Replacing a word in a famous title or name with "dead", eg. "The Good, The Bad, And the Dead".
  • I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!: In the OVA, the ladies use this tactic to get Takashi and Kohta to gather food for them.
  • Implausible Hair Color: There is a rather large percentage of blond and brown-hairs in the cast. More so than in Real Life Japan, at any rate. These, at least, are natural hair colors. The same can not be said of pink-haired Saya.
  • Improvised Weapon: A given due to the setting, including but not limited to broom handles, power drills, and drip stands.
    • Alice is able to use a tire to knock a zombie away from Shizuka
  • Infernal Retaliation: A molotov cocktail proved that fire does not really bother "them", but does make them slightly more dangerous.
  • It Got Worse: Good luck finding many situations that don't start going to crap within 5 pages in the manga.
  • The Jimmy Hart Version: The anime's first episode features a track mimicking "In the house, in a heartbeat" from 28 Days Later. Episode 4 features another track mimicking "Abide by Me" from the same movie.
  • Just a Kid:
    • The group received this treatment from some of the refugees at the Takagi mansion.
    • The remaining mall survivors eventually reversed this view of them.
  • Karmic Death: Misuzu Ichijo. All the noise she was making to be let go earned her a Death by Irony a few seconds later.
  • Knife Nut: Two of the mall survivors.
    • In the OVA Hirano seems to be about as comfortable with knives as with guns.
  • The Last Dance: The Nietzsche Wannabe mall survivor was surrounded by zombies and nursing a stab wound, so he opted in his own words to go out like a badass. He failed. Badly.
  • Laughing Mad: Many are reduced to grinning and/or laughing right before and during their rather undignified deaths.
    • When one of the pro-infected protesters met "them" up close and personal Hilarity Ensued.
    • The survivors in the city who attacked Takashi and Rei. They were a bit off.
    • Two mall survivors descended into mad laughter, with one of them shanking the other.
  • Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Gee Hirano, you sure do look a lot like Link right here. This could probably also qualify as a seiyuu joke.
  • Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Oftentimes some of the characters have claimed that the Zombie Apocalypse feels like it's from a movie or a Manga.
  • Left Hanging: Thanks to the writer's death, the manga ends in chapter 30. The chinese are positioning submarines as Japan is overwhelmed by zombies. Some order is still being kept but the situation is dire. The heroes are last seen shooting zombies. Minami is also coming to land to try to rescue them.
  • Let Us Never Speak of This Again: The results of the Funky Smoke Shizuka and Saya waking up naked on top of each other, Saeko and Rei kissing each other in the nude thinking the other was Takeshi.
  • Love Triangle:
    • Takashi, Rei and Hisashi - until Hisashi got infected and turned.
    • Later volumes seem to suggest a Takashi, Rei and Saeko triangle.
    • There were also none-too-subtle hints of a Kohta, Saya, and Asami triangle until Asami got taken out of the picture.
    • Saya may or may not have a thing for Takashi too, making his situation a Love Quadrilateral, but that could just be a holdover from their childhood friendship.
  • Luminescent Blush: Happens to many of the characters in various situations.
  • Male Gaze: Seriously. This manga is made of this trope. The anime even more so.
  • Megane: Hiro Tamaru, one of the mall residents.
  • Mercy Kill:
    • Takagi's father makes a very public demonstration executing a zombified friend, and justifies it with this trope.
    • Saeko also does this for a bitten classmate.
    • Asami for Hiro Tamaru after he got bitten in the Abandoned Clinic.
    • Hirano does this for Asami.
  • Moment Killer:
    • Usually done by Saya. She lampshades this in chapter 28 where she promises not to ruin the hug between Takashi and Rei upon finding the possibility that Rei's father may still be alive.
    • In the same chapter, Takashi is the one to kill off the moment between Kohta and Saya when Saya briefly lets her deredere side slip to him.
  • Mood Whiplash: Scenes of zombie violence feature constant cuts to pantyshots and gratuitous Gainaxing. The effect swerves between jarring and hilarious. Not to mention sad.
    • Plus episode 6. Jesus Christ. It goes from the girls bathing together to depressing conversations and back again.
  • Ms. Fanservice: Nearly every woman can be this, but Shizuka Marikawa takes the whole freaking Christmas Cake.
  • Mushroom Samba/Love Potion: The gang (minus Alice) inhale some funky smoke in the OVA and have some rather sexy hallucinations. Saya sees her mother (Shizuka), Shizuka sees her best friend Rika (Saya), Rei and Saeko each see Takashi (each other) and Takashi sees Saeko and later the other three girls (a bunch of scantily clad female zombies).
  • Nietzsche Wannabe: One of the mall survivors.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • No Ending/And the Adventure Continues...: The anime stops abruptly, with the main characters escaping and continuing the search for their parents.
  • Nonuniform Uniform: As the students make their way across the city, some of them only wear part of their school uniform with other clothing. Saeko got the biggest response from the group from her own adaptation.
  • No One Gets Left Behind: A major recurring theme. Some characters die trying to save others, while some kick them to the ground.
    • Subverted with the whole BFF scene.
    • Also subverted with Shidou kicking that guy's face to get him to let go.
    • Takashi telling Shizuka to wait for Shidou and a group of students to get on the bus.
    • The group while rescuing Alice.
    • During their escape, the group took the time to escort one of the mall survivors to the rooftop where the others were.
    • Shizuka's near rapist and Asami split off from the main group trying to save some bratty kid.
    • The JSDF saving the remaining mall survivors, invoking this trope.
    • After Kohta suffered a Heroic BSOD from having to kill Asami, he nearly broke off from the group to suicidally take down as many zombies as he could until Shizuka talked him out of it.
  • Not a Game: Hisashi said this in regards to the zombies at the school.
  • Not Quite the Right Thing: Takashi, Takashi. If only you had listened to Rei and abandoned that monstrous teacher...
  • Not Using the Z Word: "Them" is the word used for the undead in the story. An early character specifically says that they can't call them "zombies" or "the undead" because then it would be too much like, well, a fictional story.
    • Played straight in the dub but there are a few slips.
  • Nuke'Em: Attempted by several nations' governments at once, for reasons that are vaguely-explained at best.
  • Obligatory Swearing: The countries in which the manga received a mature rating, decided to "prove" the rating by having the main characters swear more often, and of course by spewing the strong ones.
  • Oddly Visible Eyebrows
  • Ordinary High School Student: All of the students in the group, as Takashi tells the mall residents upon their departure. When combining their talents, however, they become anything but ordinary which the mall residents then acknowledge to their rescuers.
  • Otaku: Mall survivor Hiro Tamaru showed hints of being a gun otaku like Hirano.
  • Outrun the Fireball: Anime adaptation only. Takashi and Rei rush down a tunnel after an overturned bus that had caught fire exploded, separating them from the others.
  • OVA: "Drifters of the Dead"
  • Paint the Town Red: Things get icky during a zombie invasion.
  • Panty Fighter: No surprise here.
  • Panty Shot: From the living, the dead, and the undead.
  • Papa Wolf: Inverted. Rei almost kills Shidou because he made her father cry.
  • Parental Substitute: Though the whole group has pretty much taken it upon themselves to be the new family of Alice, Hirano and Takagi seem to be the ones she's latched onto as surrogate parents. This was lampshaded and used as Ship Tease in chapter 29.
  • The Power of Friendship:
  • Power Walk: As the group prepared to escape the school.
  • Precision F-Strike: When Takashi does his Steve McQueen imitation in episode 5 (see below), Saeko and Kohta watch in awe then say, in perfect unison, "Holy shit."
  • Ramp Jump: Done a couple times with Takashi on the bike. The first time occurred at the bridge where he and Rei reunited with the others. The second time occurred when he went off to save Alice. Both times involved use of improvised ramps and abuse of Slo-Mo Big Air.
  • Reckless Gun Usage:
    • This occurs somewhat often due to the main characters being perfectly normal high school students (in Japan) during a Zombie Apocalypse. However, since there's a resident gun Otaku, their errors are quickly pointed out and Gun Safety is properly followed... eventually.
    • Except in the anime's infamous "boob dodge" sequence where Takashi repeatedly narrowly avoids gunning down Saeko instead of the zombies.
  • Refuge in Audacity: And how. Episode 8 of the anime actually combines Fan Service and Bullet Time to form what is quite possibly one of the most gratuitous sequences ever animated.
  • Redemption Equals Death: The mall survivor who earlier attempted to rape Shizuka-sensei goes off to try to save the twerp who let the zombies into the mall in the first place. He gets bitten for his trouble.
  • Removing the Head or Destroying the Brain: The only sure-fire way to kill "them".
  • Rule of Cool: The anime runs on this, often to ridiculous extremes.
  • Sanity Slippage: See Laughing Mad.
  • Schedule Slip: Daisuke and Shouji's regular schedule in Dragon Age Maganize began to slip after the 20th chapter or so, monthly break followed by monthly break, eventually going for a hiatus after chapter 29.
  • Series Hiatus: Chapter 29 marked the longest break the mangaka duo ever took for their series, Kadokawa Shoten accordingly put the series on hiatus, taking their time with rereleasing the first 4 volumes in full color; meanwhile Shouji Sato (artist) is working on his other series (Triage X), and still works on what made him rise to stardom in the first place.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: The raid on the clinic ended with one able-bodied survivor killed and the old woman that they were trying to save committing suicide anyway.
  • Sex Is Violence: For Saeko anyway. "I'm getting wet", anyone?
  • Shipper on Deck: Rei, Saeko, and Shizuka get really sly grins after observing a Ship Tease moment between Takagi and Hirano.
  • Ship Tease:
    • A bit between Hirano and Takagi in recent chapters, especially in chapter 28.
    • Saeko and Takashi in general.
  • Shoot the Dog: Must be done often if anyone wants to survive or does not want to turn into one of "them".
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The scenario of getting medical treatment for the old woman. In the clinic, one of the able-bodied survivors dies. Later, when the zombies get into the mall, the old woman and her husband commit suicide by jumping off the roof anyway, meaning all that came of it was one less survivor and conflict between the characters.
  • Shoot Out the Lock: Averted. Hirano stops Takashi from attempting to shoot out the lock of the police station's armory, worried that the bullets will riccochet and hit one of them.
  • Shown Their Work:
    • The guns are amazingly detailed, and are shown to have actual limitations. Kohta Hirano also makes sure that everyone who even touches one follows strict gun safety, as American gun enthusiasts are generally taught to do.
    • The author shows a decent understanding of how the American government works, although that's a bit more subtle.
  • Sixth Ranger: Takuzo and his party briefly serve as companions to Takashi's party.
  • Skinship Grope: Sure, flesh-eating ghouls are overrunning the earth and civilization is crumbling. No reason not to throw in some scenes of the girls feeling each other up in the bath, right?
    • Made even more ridiculous by the fact that the last broadcast of a radio station is playing over the scene of this going on.
  • Something Else Also Rises: Note the positions of Hirano's gun and Zeke's tail.
  • Spoiler Opening: For those who have not read the manga, they may be confused as to who the little girl in the anime's OP is. She does not appear until episode 7.
  • Strawman Political: the protestors on the bridge and the woman in the Takagi compound who somehow connect the zombie apocalypse with government repression and Japanese repression of the rest of Asia, respectively. They all also think that the zombies can be cured of their disease. It's notable that they all die horrible deaths.
  • Stupid Sacrifice: That one mall survivor didn't need to go out like a badass. As Shizuka pointed out, his stab wound was not even serious.
  • Sweat Drop: Common. It is a rather tense situation.
  • Taking You with Me: After officer Tajima is bitten he stays behind to blow up the fuel tanker taking as many zombies with him as he can.
  • Tempting Fate: On the way to Saya's house, Rei noted that the group hadn't run into any of "them" so far. Guess what was waiting for them as they got closer?
  • That Didn't Happen/Kissing Under the Influence: The gang (minus Takashi) agreed that the hydrangea smoke episode never happened.
  • The Thing That Goes Doink: The Takagi mansion has one, naturally.
  • This Is a Drill: Saya makes like Reno when confronted by one zombie early on.
  • Title of the Dead
  • Too Dumb to Live:
    • The people who were utterly convinced that the dead were just people with a disease looking for help and that everyone else was just bloodthirsty maniacs.
    • At the international level, the US, China and Russia decided that a Zombie Apocalypse would be a great backdrop for open nuclear combat. Against each other, that is, not the zombies. They probably killed a good deal of zombies too, but they ended up paralyzing parts of Japan with an EMP in the process.
    • The small band of punks who attempted to cross the bridge knowing full well that it was heavily guarded by officers in full riot gear that would open fire on anyone who dared to defy them. They got washed out for their trouble.
    • The Nietzsche Wannabe mall survivor who attempted to knife several zombies but did not even scratch one before getting swarmed and devoured. The dumbest part was that Shizuka pointed out that his knife wound was not even critical, making his actions senseless.
    • A special mention to the would be mugger who tried to rape Rei, OUTSIDE, in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse. You know where the zombies are going to most likely to hear and then eat you. This idea is not only despicable but beyond stupid. Even if Takashi had not been there, the mugger's actions would of gotten both, him and Rei killed. Good thing Takashi rescued her, shot the guy, and left him alive to be zombie bait.
  • Too Hot for TV
  • Took a Level in Badass: Hirano goes from a nerdy, awkward doofus to Rambo once he gets his hands on some guns.
  • Twelve-Episode Anime: Due to the manga's current brevity. Another season will presumably emerge once the buffer's built up again.
    • Including the Drifters of the DEAD OVA episode.
  • Undead Child:
    • The undead children Takashi and Saeko encounter in the park.
    • The kid who zombified its own mother on the bridge.
    • When Takashi says his mother is a teacher at another school we cut to a shot of it and a few zombified children.
  • Updated Rerelease: When the series began with the erratic schedule for its releases, Kodansha decided to have Shouji rerelease the previous volumes in full color, it stopped at the 4th volume after a regular release between each new volume, it's unclear if the project will go further than that.
  • We Need Some Zombie Bait:
    • A morbid example with Takashi wounding a thug at the gas station and leaving him for dead. His screams of pain attracted the zombie horde, allowing Takashi and Rei to escape with little notice.
    • On a less grotesque note, Takashi and Saeko used the prototype buggy to lure some zombies away from the rest of the group and into the river, eventually ditching it in the park's water fountain.
    • In episode 8 of the anime, Takashi and Saeko attempted this by making noise to draw attention away from the others. Unfortunately, they were too far away to distract any of the zombies. Then they get separated from the others and have to find an alternate route to Saya's house.
    • Asami and Alice made excellent use of fireworks.
    • Asami started yelling at Kohta to draw as many zombies to her position as possible, leaving Kohta to finish her off.
  • Wet Sari Scene: Saeko gets soaked twice in episode 9. The first time she's wearing her white uniform shirt, giving a clear view of her lacy purple bra. The second time she's wearing a black tank top, so not so much see-through.
  • Wham! Episode: Chapter 28 - What?! Shidou and his cult are still alive?
  • What You Are in the Dark: The positive and negative aspects of this trope as the zombie apocalypse allows some people to discover the depths of their hidden courage and ability while others show the depths they're willing to sink to just to save their own hides.
  • Wilhelm Scream: In episode 1, as the Outbreak begins and students flee in a panic.
  • Wingding Eyes: Appears to various cast members in various forms.
  • World of Buxom
  • Wrench Whack: The preferred weapon of Mad, the Takagi mansion's mechanic.
  • X Meets Y: Dawn of the Dead meets Lord of the Flies meets School Rumble.
  • Yamato Nadeshiko: Saeko Busujima, emphasis on the 'wild flower' aspect.
  • Zettai Ryouiki: Occasionally Rei, Saeko, and Alice.
  • Zombie Apocalypse: This story seems to follow the Romero rules, but "they" have a very strong grip. Also the zombies start slow, but if they hear a sound nearby they can move quicker. The fact that it's played as realistically as possible is also notable. The protagonists test and figure out that "they" must find things through vibrations. No circulation also means that in Japan's humid weather, the dead will probably decompose to the point of uselessness in a little under a month. Nobody has a clue how the dead are still capable of moving, though.
  • Zombie Infectee: Happens several times off-panel, like how zombies got aboard Air Force One and the "Curtis Wilbur" or how they breached the airport island.

"Blood and guts and boobs and butts, and I just wanna make your head explode"

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