Book Review: Highschool of the Dead Vol. #2

Book: Highschool of the Dead Volume #2 by Daisuke Sato with illustrations by Shouji Sato  (chapters 4 -7)

Rating: 4 stars

My Review:

First off the bat, this is not a book for kids or anyone who does not like seeing brief nudity, graphic violence, blood and gore. There is a good story here and the characters are interesting. Despite the mood of the book, it's also has some pretty funny moments.

Volume two focused on the group of survivors as they make their way through the city after escaping from the highschool on the school bus (Vol #1). Chapter four takes place right after Rei Miyamoto left the bus and Takashi Komuro went after her. The whole city was in turmoil and people were going crazy and not to mention the undead were nearly everywhere. There really was no place that was safe.

As for the group on the bus, they were not content sitting on the bus (as it sat in traffic) due to one of the members (Koichi Shido) who appointed himself the official leader of the group. Several of the survivors (Saeko Busujima, Saya Takagi, Kohta Hirano and Shizuka Marikawa) left to see if they could find Takashi and Rei. Once they re-grouped with their two missing members, they were able to take shelter in the apartment of one of Shizuka's friends, whom she was house sitting for. Since the friend was a sniper for the police, they found plenty of supplies and weapons.

There was a lot going on, especially with people trying to get away from the walking dead but I like that the group didn't let it harden them too much because they were able to rescue of a little girl and dog that really needed help. In that scene there was a really touching moment when Takashi took the time to place a cloth or sheet over the little girl's father (who was murdered after trying to find shelter for him and his daughter) and laid a little garden flower on top of it. I thought that was a really lovely little scene.

Not everyone will probably like the Highschool of the Dead books for either the story, the artwork, etc but I enjoyed it and plan on reading the remainder of the volumes.