Manga

Highschool Of the Dead Probably more useful information than the silliness Max Brooks creates lol Its more about how to learn what works instead of telling you info that may get you killed and dealing with people who can't handle it or are out to harm or con A funny critical look at what could happen which can be found here: http://www.onemanga.com/Highschool_of_the_Dead/1/

This is an interesting manga I have found. It tells the story of five high school students in Japan, along with their school nurse and a little girl they picked up along the way, as they try to find their families in the middle of a zombie outbreak.

The opening deals with three survivors, Takashi, Rei and Hisashi, running for cover on the roof of their school. Upon reaching the roof, the see most of the city they live in up in flames. Hisashi has been wounded, and only later do we learn it was a bite. Other survivors are Kohta, Saya, Saeko and Nurse Shizuka. Saeko is a kendo student, Shizuka has base medical training, Kohta is a firearms expert, and Saya is a genius. Primarily, the opening chapters show the initial panic that would undoubtedly take hold during a zombie outbreak. Takashi, being a bit of a delinquent, skips part of class and witnesses the first attack, where a "homless bum" attacks a group of teachers at the school's gate. Soon, due to panic, the entire school is infected, with only scattered pockets of survivors here and there. Eventually, Hisashi succumbs and is killed. Meanwhile, Kohta rigs an interesting weapon from a gas-powered nail gun. Soon, all of them meet in the teachers lounge, where a news report states that the world is being overrun, Washington D.C. is in flames, and that most of the Japanese police and Defense Force are woefully inadequite at dealin with the problem.

The second part deals with joining other survivors. The first group they meet are willing to work to escape, but a zombie fashion no-no is pointed out. One of the new survivors had a towel around his neck, which was almost instantly grabbed by the zombies. Soon, another one of the girls runs back for him, and also gets eaten. Finally, there is Shido-sensei, who is leading a group of students to a parking lot, where Takashi and the others planned on commandering a microbus. Shido's nature is first revealed when he leaves a student with a broken ankle to the horde. Rei quickly tries to tell Takashi that he should be left behind, but Takashi tries to be kind. After this, he tries to become leader of the whole group, brainwashing his students with fast talk and empty promises. Eventually, after a quick reference to a famous british zombie comedy, Rei hops off the bus, Takashi trying to talk sense into her. However, a bus comes barreling through, filled with infected. After hitting a wreck and exploding, Takashi and Rei decide to go a seperate way from the others through the city. This opens with a zombie wearing a motorcycle helmet trying to bite Takashi, and failing.

Part 3 has the first few glimpses of a city during an outbreak. The outskirts are almost barren, but further in, zombies start gathering in increasing numbers. Also shown is the first insane survivor. After stealing helmet zombies bike, they find two dead police officers and their gun. After, they get gas, and meet a man who is dressed "gangsta", trying to rape Rei. Eventuallly, Takashi has to shoot the man, who realizes the zombies have heard the comotion. Begging for their help, Takashi and Rei leave the man to die. Meanwhile, Saeko and the others on the bus are growing tired of Shido. They also decide to leave, though Shido claims he needs Shizuka. Almost instantly, Kohta fires a nail that clips the teacher, saying that Shido would stand by and laugh while Kohta was beaten up. Leaving the bus with Shido, the teacher puts his happy face back on and says, "Well, we're finally rid of that problem". Takashi and Rei finally get to a pair of bridges, but freeze when they see what is happening. The bridges are filled with infected, and the police, fire departments, and even construction workers are trying to keep them clear. Then, they meet up with the others, who also headed towards the bridge. Shizuka then remembers this was near her friends house, and leads the group to it.

The fourth part opens on Tokyo's airport, focusing on an SAT sniper team clearing one of the runways to let a plane through. Through this, we find out that at least three other airports in Japan have started taking pasengers again, which is where most of the remaining survivors at the airport are trying to go. After that, the scene goes to the bridges again, where the infected have arrived in full force, along with protesters claiming the outbreak was the work of the US government. Takashi and the others watch from Shizuka's friend's house, commenting on the stupidity of the protesters for causing trouble instead of working for a solution. Meanwhile, other survivors are busy trying to get to the bridges. One man goes on a shooting rampage, but his shotgun only holds two rounds, and he is quickly overwhelmed. Others either try to barricade themselves, run, or are trapped. At the bridges, the police are barely holding back the waves of protesters and undead, while a news crew on-scene captures everything. At one point, a woman runs at the barricades, carrying what is possible her daughter. Then, the daughter eats her mouther, in full view of the camera, police, and stirring the protesters into a frenzy. Trying to quell the growing situation, the head officer on-scene shoots the leader of the protest. At the same time, Rei and the other girls are bathing, Takashi and Kohta listening intently at the bathroom door. After a few seconds, the pair start on opening a gun cabinet, and find a Springfield, a Knight SR, and a Ithica shotgun. Soon, all the girls are drunk, and only Kohta, Takashi and Saeko to watch over the yard. Eventually, they decide to not fire their weapons, and keep all unessential lights off. A problem occurs, though, when a father and daughter are going from house to house for a hiding place. Sadly, when they actually find other humans, they stab the father and leave the daughter to die. Deciding that the girl needed to be saved, Takashi grabs the motorcycle and a crowbar and rushes to save the girl, while to others get ready to leave. Soon, they save the girl, named Alice, and wind up picking up a stray dog that had decided to protect Alice. Within minutes, Alice is saved, and they are once more on their way.

MAJOR THEMES

Infection-Up to the current point in the story, infection is still shown as direct fluidic transfer. The cause is still unknown, though viral tranmission is a likely candidate.

Survivor Psychology-As can be expected, various people are reacting in various and often extremely different manners. At first, we see glimpses of survivors going mad, randomly attacking both Z's and humans. Others try to pin the incident on both the Japanese and US governments. To take it one step further, a group of people hiding in the Takagi estate try to create a utopia, believing the infected are still alive despite all evidence otherwise.

Zombie Physiology- The Z's are currently decaying, though the rate at which is still unknown. Like many Z's, if they are missing limbs or muscle, they are severly disadvantaged.

Government Response- Due to the mass panic, the JSDF is quickly mobilized, and mass sections of the Tokyo PD are overrun or restricted to guard specific areas like bridges. The Japanese police meet with varying levels of success, the least successful being the beat officers equiped with simple S&W .38 revolvers. SAT members at Tokyo airport are slightly better off, though the loss of power has put them all on a similar footing.

Girls- The creators went for the delicious kind. You'll see multiple exposing views and others.