School Days: A Train Crush Turns Into Toxic Chaos!

A quiet train crush should not end with a body count, but School Days never plays by the usual romance anime rules. I’m JB, and I’m joined by Mira Jane to finally talk through the show we can’t stop thinking about, even when we want to. What starts as Makoto Ito nervously pursuing the shy Kotonoha turns into a toxic web the moment Sekai steps in as the “helpful friend” and starts steering the relationship with kisses, “practice,” and constant interference.

We get into the messy middle where the slow burn suddenly snaps into a cheating spiral, a growing love square, and choices that feel painfully plausible. We argue about who deserves the blame, why Sekai reads as calculated, and why Makoto’s indecision and hormones don’t excuse the damage he causes. We also talk about the uncomfortable parts: enabling friends, crossed boundaries, and how quickly accountability disappears once everyone’s chasing what they want.

Then we tackle the infamous School Days ending, why it lands as horror more than romance, and why the series still feels relevant in a world full of relationship scandals, true crime headlines, and “loyalty test” content. Even with a slow start and missed opportunities to sell the sweet phase, we both land on a surprising rating and explain exactly why.

If you like anime reviews, psychological drama, and brutally honest takes on toxic relationships, press play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves chaos, and leave a review with your verdict: love it, hate it, or both?

Transcript

Intro And Why It’s Romance

SPEAKER_09 0:16

I want to say beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

It's a great love story. It's amazing. It's so romantic. You know?

SPEAKER_09 0:27

Man, what?

SPEAKER_01 0:32

What up, gang? This is on podcast back at it again with another review. Uh, today's topic is school days.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Romance.

Plot Setup And First Kiss

SPEAKER_01 0:47

It's your host, JB, and joining me for this is Mira Jane making a um reappearance again on the podcast. Let's go ahead and get into it. Uh, school days. Dang it, I just have my nose pulled. Okay, here we go. Uh, school days is about a shy, insecure teenager, uh, Makoto Ito, who's resigned to stealing glances at a cute girl as they ride the same train each morning on the way to high school, at least until uh Sakai Sayonji surprises Makoto and Sakai.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Sek eye. I'm sorry. I interrupted.

Makoto’s Lust And Bad Decisions

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Sek eye. Uh surprises Makoto and Shanza peek at a photo snap of the beautiful Katsura Konoha uh Konosua. Uh, excuse me, uh uh Kototo. Kotonoha. I'm sorry, I I can't pronounce his names today, apparently, uh on his cell phone. And after evili teasing Makoto about his hopeless crush, uh, Sekai offers to support him on his romance. And after many Makoto pep talks and a lot of scheming, the three become close friends, close enough that Makoto craves asking Kostra out on a date. And she agrees. Later that day, Makoto finds a quiet moment to express his thanks for all the support that Sakai has offered him and makes clear his intent on finding a way to repay her kindness, but he is totally unprepared and very surprised at the reward that Sakai has chosen. Sakai steals a kiss, a long kiss from his lips before breaking away to run for the train. Uh Sakai turns and wishes Makoto well on the state. So here's my thoughts. It starts off like an awkward teenage romance, which is fairly accurate because you know sometimes some teenage romances are awkward. I mean, look at uh Ocaroon and Momo from uh Dan-Dan. Kind of awkward, but hey, you know what? It feels like a realistic relationship, so I fuck with it. Uh Makoto, he came across the type of protagonist that I wouldn't like at first, mainly because he's dense and overly eager and moving the relationship along too fast. But the more I watched this anime, the more I'm convinced that he just wanted the smash. And he led Sakai in his head too much to a point where he was getting caught up, and his downfall was led by his own libido and lack of decisiveness.

SPEAKER_10 3:40

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 3:48

Sorry. I love school days. I I love, I absolutely have been obsessed with school days for a long, long time. Every time I try to give someone to watch this, they never make it through. They usually quit halfway.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

See, that's why I'm like kind of pissed off at you because I'm like reviewing this. I'm I have to finish it. Doesn't matter if I like it or I hate it. We gotta finish it.

SPEAKER_03 4:18

You have to, you can't stop. You have to finish it. I I'm probably gonna sound like as the universal term, a pick me. I sound like a pick me. I'm gonna sound like a pick me. Because I hate Sekai. I absolutely despise her as a character. I actually have empathy for Makoto.

SPEAKER_01 4:42

To be honest with you, that's kind of a cold take. But I don't feel bad for Makoto. In fact, I would say the only character I feel bad for is Katsura, up until, you know.

SPEAKER_11 4:55

Which one's Katsura?

SPEAKER_01 4:57

The uh the cute shy girl.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Oh, the Tanaha.

SPEAKER_01 5:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Oh, yeah. The the one he's actually dating, or the Lord or the little Lolita girl.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

No, the girl that he was actually dating.

Why Sekai Feels Like A Setup

SPEAKER_03 5:10

Okay. Okay. Can I I'm gonna explain to you why I do not like Zekai, okay?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

Go ahead.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

I don't like Zekai because she staged everything. They have been friends since they were childhood.

SPEAKER_01 5:26

I mean, I feel that. In fact, let me go ahead and uh talk about what I gotta say. My only thing with uh Kosara, honestly, that's uh new. I'm not pronouncing her last now. I just got stuck on that. I just prefer to call Kosara. Uh Sakai is Makoto's girlfriend, or girl who is a friend, uh friend who is a girl that tried to help Makoto with his relationship with Kosara. But ever since she snuck that kiss from him, uh I've been suspecting her ever since. You know how that one friend who's a girl who was initially claimed that she's not interested in the guy, but as soon as she gets the girlfriend, suddenly she's very involved in the relationship. Uh-uh, uh-uh. I don't like that coincidence of that.

SPEAKER_03 6:17

She wants to hang out around him more all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_01 6:20

Uh oh, even though she was trying to help, her way of helping is giving home record by time. Oh, we're just practicing.

SPEAKER_03 6:27

We're just practicing kissing, we're just practicing making out, we're just practicing having sex. Come on, bro.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

You need to learn how to un um do a broad, Makoto. Like, I'm trying to help you out here.

SPEAKER_03 6:41

I I hate I hate to trash her so bad because this is the o I only have empathy truly for Katonaha. That is the person I have the most empathy for. But you think about it, right? She's naive apparently to everything. She's the naive character, supposedly. And I say supposedly because there's a sequel.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

What?

SPEAKER_03 7:10

I didn't want to tell you, JB. I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to, I wanted you to finish this one.

SPEAKER_00 7:16

What do you mean it's a sequel?

SPEAKER_03 7:27

It makes you hate her so much more. Even more. Even more. Are you okay? Maybe no.

SPEAKER_10 7:45

Why?

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Oh no, no, no, no, don't get me wrong. It's so the sequel is called Cross Days. It is technically a prequel in a sense. It's a I don't it goes alongside the story at the same time. Okay.

SPEAKER_09 8:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

So there's a third person who is watching everything that is happening, but we get to see what he's seeing. And let me tell you, you don't hate the talk. You hate Sekai. You hate, you just start to hate. It's great. It's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

Mm-hmm. Uh yeah. But okay.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

No, no, Sekai just she just did so many horrible things to Makoto. Like, at some point, you keep throwing your I feel like this, and maybe I'm wrong, but at some point you keep throwing yourself at a guy, he's gonna say yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

I mean, that was the thing. It was like Consera, she just wanted to play safe because you know she was like, shy, she just didn't want to rush anything. You know, you don't, you know, kind of girls where they just don't want to come off easy. But uh what do you expect when it seemed like, okay, my actual girlfriend's not putting out, but my uh friend who is a girl is, so I'm like, eh, let me go with the girl that I'm asking against some action with.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

Let's go with the fact that she ended up like suggesting to him to take off her bra. How we gotta practice? How do you why was that the first thought from Sekai as like a way to help? You know what I mean? You obviously already like him.

SPEAKER_01 9:36

Nah, you know what is giving? Wait, have you watched The Flash? Yes, okay, you remember how uh Barry loved Iris, but Iris wasn't really feeling him, and then next thing you know, he was hooking up with Linda Part, but then Iris was like, oh well, you know, uh, it doesn't matter, like, you know, I'm always gonna be uh the main girl. And I'm sitting there like, bitch, wasn't you think you tell him, like, hey, yo, you need to go see other people? And then as soon as he sees other people, he's like, oh wait, hold on. Like, I don't like all this attention you give him to this girl.

SPEAKER_03 10:18

Yo, okay, you know that now that you mention it, totally.

SPEAKER_01 10:23

That's definitely I don't think she's gonna be right for dang.

SPEAKER_03 10:28

You know, you know the other vibes that it gives me, though. You know, it gives me vibes.

SPEAKER_09 10:36

Uh MJ, hold on.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

I'm sorry. Uh what were you saying?

SPEAKER_02 10:44

I was um saying uh what was I saying?

SPEAKER_03 10:51

Oh, the other vibes that it's giving, right? It's oh man, I don't know if anybody ever had one of these. Have you ever had one of those friends who feels like they can have any man? Yeah, that's the it's like wow, he's actually not that interesting. Like sh that guy seemed like the girl who was fucking everybody around in school.

SPEAKER_11 11:17

Let me just go ahead and say it. I said it.

SPEAKER_01 11:21

I mean, I didn't give that a vibe, but it was more like she wasn't being very blatant about it.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

That guy was very open about who she's had.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

She set um Katonaha up to sleep with uh what's his name? Makoto's best friend.

SPEAKER_09 11:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

Personal opinion. I'm just saying, she set it up. She was like, ooh, because the festival is where they were supposed to, they're supposed to announce who they're dating, right? So it makes it so now mind you that at this point I blame Makoto too because he's making his own choices as well. I blame both of them, but Sakai knew he fucking knew because she knew when the program was gonna be because she's a part of the fucking show, and part of the goddamn this anime has me talking about it like it's a telenovela, and I think that's why I liked it so much.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Nah, see, my main thing was crazy enough as much as I was like, okay, it was like a slow burn at first, and then it just got crazy by episode five, which I'm gonna talk about in just a moment. Uh it felt like some shit that you actually would believe will happen in real life. Like no shit.

SPEAKER_03 12:48

Exactly. It sounds so plausible that it is so it hurts. Watching it happen, I don't know why, but for some reason, watching it happen as an anime hurt me so much more. But then to put it in perspective and to go through life as an adult, oh, it actually really does hurt. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, like this is real, this is happening to people, and there's people out there who are plotting just like this anime, and that's crazy.

SPEAKER_11 13:18

That is crazy, it is absolutely insane.

Episode Five: Cheating Starts

SPEAKER_01 13:25

It's like, okay, the first example I already explained where okay, you know that one friend where oh she wasn't really feeling you until that was someone else. That's that's something that happened a lot, and essentially, uh you'll have a guy where as long as he's getting some from somewhere, it's like he'll just throw his morals out the window. And let me tell you, uh, by episode five, things kick up a notch when Makoto started cheating on Kosara with Sakai. Um I I was like, they were just straight up wrestling, and that was the thing about anime, like crazy enough, outside of hentai, it's like you don't often see characters having a sexual relationship with each other. It's more implied, but it's like never really part to part to plot. Uh and then Cessina, a friend in the mix of this, tries to mitigate the issues going on in the love triangle, but she ends up making it a love square by kissing Makoto. And it's also Osame, a friend of Makoto from middle school, that gets in the mix and has sex with him. Even Akari was on his dick eventually. And I'm pretty sure he had a foresome with three other girls.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

He did. He did.

SPEAKER_01 15:07

So it's like another thing where it's like kind of common where you'll have like this one guy running through a whole friend group of girls, like he'll date this one girl, and then next thing you know, because it's it's kind of like a pre-selection. All the girls are pre-selection type thing, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:27

It's so weird. I hate it. I don't think I don't think um people understand how real it is that that happens, and you just if you're a female outside of the bubble of being a female, which sounds crazy, if you're Katonaha, right? You're the female outside of the female, outside of the bubble, right? She's watching all these females be weird in her mind. Like in her mind, they're all weird. Like, and you can see it because it's breaking her down mentally that this should that any of this is even happening.

SPEAKER_01 16:11

Right. Like, like you can see in her eyes too, like he was just gone.

SPEAKER_03 16:17

She was she was like every step of the way, her heart is getting broken, she's confused, she doesn't know what's happening. Like, it is the craziest thing, and honestly, what's even crazier is Sekai knowing that it is breaking her down mentally. Like, Sekai looks at her, like there's moments where she's looking and she's like, Oh, I know this hurts her. I should probably stop. No, never mind. I can't let her be happy, can't do that. Even though I set them up to date.

Love Square And Lines Crossed

SPEAKER_01 16:49

Yeah, like it was really ridiculous. Actually, you know what? Here's something that really made me mad. Now, I was gonna leave Tysukay alone as a male friend character, but I was sickened to my stomach when he took advantage of uh Kosura by assaulting her while she was still in shot watching her man Makoto dance with Sakai. And Kosura just let him get away with it too. Even worse, ultimate, a girl, mind you, convinced Taiske to keep trying, even if she says no a couple of times. And Makoto didn't even care that Taiske wanted Kosura. Both for these guys and Sakai are like total scumbags for that. Like I want to say the girls too, but like it's more like like I said, the whole pre-selection thing. So I'm like, eh, you know, uh it's bad, but I'm like, I I don't, I wasn't expecting much from them. But like it's just worth from these four characters here, uh, between Wakoto, Tyske, uh well, Ultimate 2, uh Sakai. Yeah, no, that was it.

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Like, uh that part, I'll be honest with you, he made me mad too. Like, cause he knew how much he really liked, how much Makoto really liked Katonahov. And this anime is too real, it's too real life, man. It's too real life. It is, it felt too real. The part that gets crazy is Torsey and, but I know we haven't made it there yet. And I do want to kind of go back a little bit because I've been talking about Sekai this whole time, and I apologize, but she makes me angry. And like, kind of go back a little bit and talk about the other friends of Sekai. Birds of a feather flock together is the preaching to the choir on that point.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

I would say that a lot. Where, like, see, okay, I need to uh talk to you a little bit off the record, but like, let's just say I'm seeing examples of these in real time. So you're preaching to the choir when you talk about uh birds of the same feather, because like, bro, like it it didn't make sense to me at first until uh it really sunk in after years later, and I'm like, oh they're all the same, they were the same, they were the exact same in different whatever they came in, you know?

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Like they might have presented the idea a little bit differently, but they were still the same.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Yeah, that's what really threw me off to where it was like, okay, they kind of move in differently to where, like, okay, I want to suspect them at first, but then it's more like you know that saying, uh, let them talk long enough and they'll sniff in themselves.

SPEAKER_10 20:02

For sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:03

Yeah, that's what happened where I'm like, you know, I was just chopping up when I wasn't really suspecting, but all of a sudden it's almost like they just felt comfortable telling you red flag type shit. And I'm like, uh, what did you just say? But yeah, uh, actually, uh, was there anything else you want to add on? Because I was about to uh talk about the ending.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

No, no, go ahead and talk about the ending. That's great.

SPEAKER_01 20:34

Okay, so after all that, things get crazier to a point where Sakai believes he's now pregnant, and everything that happened caused both Kasura and Sakai to go off the deep end. Uh Sakai stabs Makoto to death. Uh Kosura slips Sakai's throat, and then she proceeds to sail off with Makoto's severed head. But oh yeah, also uh after she killed uh Sakai, she uh cut her stomach open just to check to see if she was pregnant. It turns out she wasn't. So it was see, that's another thing that happens in real life to where like lying about being right now, like no no no no no no MJ, listen, listen, listen. You can say lying if you want to, but like, see, that's there's a word for this. Like, there's a word that I normally don't say, but like she made me so mad. I'm like, nah, this is a trifling.

SPEAKER_03 21:36

Oh, he brought out the word trifling.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Fucking trifling ass.

SPEAKER_03 21:44

Like oh my, you ain't wrong. Trifling healthful, no good, trifling as health. You right. You sh oh my god. Okay, okay. I first of all, I don't know how you were able to deliver all of that. In such a matter-of-fact tone, you just such a sunset with his understanding.

SPEAKER_01 22:08

I was sitting on this review for months. I'm sitting like, I can't wait until I talk to Mirajane about this anime. Because I'm like, let me tell you about this trifling ass bitch. You made me watch.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

She was trifling. Set her was the most tri. I'm telling you, she deserves more hate than Sarker. The ending is so um realistic.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

Crazy enough, I hate her more than Rachel from Tower of God.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

You know what? I agree. Actually, I agree. You know what? Rachel, you know what? We gotta we gotta come up with a list.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

Rachel was kind of trifling, but it was more like from a dissociative type of way to where like she was just trying to distance herself from BAM.

SPEAKER_03 22:54

This shit here, no, no, she just wanted what she wants. It is such a good example. So, like, if you want to look at the psychology of these characters, it's really a good thing to die. If you want to understand the psychology of women, watch this. I am so curious, bro.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

The uh the flower allegory Cosarin gave to Sakai. See, you're the type of girls where you will give some a flower, and then as soon as you give away the flower and they try to nurture and all that shit. Oh, you want a flower bath?

SPEAKER_10 23:29

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 23:30

That's ending giver type shit.

Real Crime And Finale Censorship

SPEAKER_03 23:34

And that make but that that is, I'm telling, I am not joking. I remember watching this the first time, and I watched it in college the first time, and then the ending is what sent me overboard into realization that this is that this could happen in real life. Like the end is what actually, you know what's crazy?

SPEAKER_01 23:53

Here's a fun fact on September 17th, 2007, on the eve of the series finale on TV Kanagawa, a 16-year-old girl murdered her father, a 45-year-old police officer, in their Kyoto home with an axe. In response, TV Kanagawa canceled the Tuesday air of the finale for a similarly violent subject matter. And most other stations followed suit with the exception of ATX, who remained indecisive. AT has announced the following week that the network had to elect to air the finale on September 27th of that year and October 1st. So a similar situation happened to her, like, oh yeah, maybe it'll be insensitive to air this episode, knowing that this actually something like this actually happened.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

And I think like because it was so jarring, because fifth episode down, like you get to the fifth episode, it is going down from that for it. There is no stop, it is just off the rails. The train is going so fast it is gonna fall off the rails at this point.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

All right, Andrew. Sorry about that. So make it interruption today. But um yeah. Something like this actually happens. It's crazy.

Christmas Breakdown And Moving In

SPEAKER_03 25:26

Um sorry, I have forgotten. Anyway, it's absolutely insane. Like everything, everything that happened in this, and it's a really good if you wanna I can't stress this enough. It teaches you that it ain't worth it. Yeah, that it's not it's a great example of it's not worth it. Like, I realized that this girl had money, like she was gonna grow up to be fine, like she had enough money to be fine, like she didn't have to, she could have dated anybody, and she was stuck on on Makoto because of the way it happened. Like, I truly think if it if they had just broken up the uh the right way, I think it would have been okay. But I'm going so my brain is rattling so fast. Christmas episode the the the before she goes and kills that guy, right? That part where Makoto finds her and he's wandering around lost and confused because he's fucked all these these women, had sex with all these different types of women. He's just like, I don't know what to do with myself. And his now, or what he is being told, pregnant girlfriend is living in his house, even though he does not want her to live there. She just moved herself in, which by the way is also crazy. Did you peep that?

SPEAKER_01 26:56

Yeah, it was like, yeah, she kind of invited herself in, you know, like uh on some bro, like it's like some psycho girlfriend type shit, even though that's not his girlfriend. Well, here's here's the crazy thing is like he so-called, he dumped Kosara and started dating Sakai. So you could say, yeah, they were dating, but once again, she was like moving. Well, damn, that's kind of ironic because uh Makoto was moving too fast with his relationship with Kosara, and now it seemed like uh Sakai was moving way too fast with her relationship with Makoda as well. Uh so it's like the opposite direction now. It's like now he's on the other end of it.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

And now it's like he's experiencing what she was talking about, like this is too much too soon. Like maybe we should just kind of enjoy each other and just take it slow.

SPEAKER_01 27:53

We're yeah, but uh that's a funny thing, is like, oh, uh, now that he found Casara in uh in this uh hollow state, and as soon as he gave her a little bit of hope, it was like, okay, uh, now that um she's willing to, but that's the crazy part too, is like uh she was telling her, like, oh yeah, I'm ready to put out now. And then um he told Sakai, okay, uh, now that my girlfriend decided to play ball, I need to get the hell out of my apartment.

SPEAKER_03 28:27

Bro, bro, he was like, bro, you better be gone by the time I get there, bro.

SPEAKER_01 28:32

It's like that's the crazy part. It's like, even though Sakai set Makoto and Carsara up the whole time, it's like technically, is she a rebound? It's like it's it's like is he she's like a homeworker and a rebound at the same time?

SPEAKER_03 28:50

She's a she's not even a rebound, she is just a she's a sex doll.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Oh, side piece, like, okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:58

She's a side piece. She she made herself the side piece though, and then tried to make herself the main piece. Can we just go back to the fact that this bitch was cooking in this man's house, and he was like, Why the fuck are you cooking?

SPEAKER_10 29:11

Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:13

Nah, see, that's that's like some shit to where, like, uh, okay, okay, uh, I'm kind of not everybody does this, but this reminds me of um one skit Ace Vane did with uh Batman and Batgirl, but that's beside the point. It's to where it's like, uh essentially, imagine you just uh had like this amazing night with this girl, or depending on how you feel about it, uh, I don't know. But then all of a sudden uh she's so stigmatized that all of a sudden she's like trying to uh take your last name, move into your house, and all the type shit, and all you want to do is like, uh, oh well, I thought it was just a one-time thing, you know, and then she's talking about, oh well, that's okay. We're gonna uh I want to meet you at your mama's house for Sunday dinner. I'm like, this what? It's it's like that kind of shit to where uh you fool around with this shit this one time, and all of a sudden it uh it's almost like you can't get rid of her now. And uh it's crazy how often that happens in real life, crazy. Uh what else going on?

SPEAKER_10 30:38

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 30:42

It is crazy that that happens in actual real life. Like, I have so many real life stories at this point that I could tell. I have so many real life stories. I'm I'm not gonna say anything because I feel like it's too revealing. I feel like everyone would know.

SPEAKER_01 30:59

No, you're fine. We can just dang it.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

I want to say it so bad, but it's just I think so. I'm not a huge you know, I don't like romance, you know. I'm like more of a you know the kind of anime I like, right? Yeah, I love my shonens, I love my I I am not a romance girly, I don't like anything cute that much. Right, and this one started off so slow, but by the end of it, I was such a huge fan. I was like, I'm so glad I sat through this, even though this hurts. Can you believe she cut her stomach open?

SPEAKER_01 31:39

See, as that psycho shit where I'm like, okay, like that's the only thing where I'm like, uh, whoa, you gotta be really pause a minute, right?

SPEAKER_03 31:49

I was with you until you started cutting.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Yeah, like I understand revenge, but like, whoa.

SPEAKER_03 32:01

You like, hey, listen, I showed up to be here as a support system. I didn't know that you were planning on really cutting the uterus out.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

That's weird. Hey, you know what's crazy? This I hate to say, I really hate to say this, but it sounds like some Florida woman type shit.

SPEAKER_03 32:22

So I mean Raina Bobbitt came from Florida.

SPEAKER_01 32:25

Yeah, like can you imagine like this, like, oh, you know, like to the listener, you know the Florida man stories, right? And sometimes it's Florida woman, but it's like you hear these crazy stories, uh, these wacky criminal shenanigans, and it's like it's always someone from Florida.

SPEAKER_03 32:49

It I'm listening, it really is. I'm not gonna lie to you. It's like, like, it's some, or you know what you really need to start looking into, JB? Um Texas. You need to start looking for stores.

SPEAKER_01 33:08

Whoa.

SPEAKER_03 33:08

It's some strange shit.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

Well, I'm gonna be honest with you. I'm probably gonna hear about it anyways because I have people from Texas. My younger sister lives in Texas, so I'm like, yeah, I'm probably gonna hear about it anyways.

SPEAKER_03 33:25

Um, you need to, because I'll be c okay. So, first of all, I just we'll talk about it later. I don't, it's a side note. I just ate some ramen recently from here, and I just I'm so sad.

SPEAKER_09 33:40

No, I feel like you knew so sad.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

It was so disappointing. But but now, the do you remember the last scene, right, when Makoto is talking to uh Katonaha right before they go to his apartment? Do you realize how long Katonaha was sitting outside in the snow?

SPEAKER_01 34:06

On Wednesday, she was like out there for hours. Like, I knew it was like hours for sure.

SPEAKER_03 34:11

She had been out there for like almost a full day.

SPEAKER_01 34:15

Wow.

Phone Deletions And Manipulation

SPEAKER_03 34:17

Until he magically, and the craziest part is he stumbles upon her, and then okay, oh my god, all set guy's manipulation was crazy. He was deleting messages out of his phone from uh Kosonaha, and that's manipulation, making it seem like she wasn't really was just like ignoring him and abandoning him in a way, causing strife in a relationship that had just got started, which is crazy. Like this whole anime, I just I need I'll be honest with you, I needed to torture somebody else with it because I've been tortured by her for so long, and no one seen the people who watched it were just like, eh, no, like this is a conversational piece. I don't understand why no one's having it.

SPEAKER_01 35:09

Nah, you reminded me of that one guy, like it's like an obscure character, but I still remember like it was yesterday where the earlier those like the very first few episodes of Family Guy where uh Meg gets uh caught up in a cult, and then the leader of that cult was like, Well, I can't just um I can't just uh you know kill myself on alone. Like they just sound like some kind of nut. Like, somebody gotta die with me. You remind me of that, like, somebody gotta suffer with me.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

You know, but when you say it like that, maybe you had to though. You had to, JB. I'm sorry, you was chosen. I chose you, and I just hope your experiences.

Cross Days Lore And Reading Warning

SPEAKER_01 35:57

I mean, the fascists were just there because but I have the availability, I could have knocked it out in the afternoon, and you know, I had the platform or whatnot, so it just made sense like, okay, at least I check it out, and I'm like, how do you honestly, truly, sincerely feel?

SPEAKER_03 36:16

Honestly, you know what?

SPEAKER_01 36:21

It's one of those shows where I'm you think like, okay, people would normally try to recommend this anime just to troll people, kind of like uh titles like Boku no Pika or Yosuga no uh Sora or whatnot, you know, or uh maybe even Redo Appeal. But um crazy enough, school days, I hate it, but I also love it.

SPEAKER_10 36:54

Okay, okay, that's how I feel.

SPEAKER_01 36:58

See, let me explain. It's like the only real criticism I have for the show, I didn't like how slow it was up to episode five, and then it was like, okay, now the bulls is really starting to kick in, and then that's when I got really invested.

SPEAKER_03 37:18

I okay, I'm not gonna spoil cross days, but I will say it makes sense why the first five episodes were so slow because of what's happening in cross days. Oh god, god, yeah, but crossdays you have to go read, you have to read cross days. It didn't turn it into an anime. I found out about it and I read it, and I'll be honest with you, so much light was shed, so much light, and I just don't know if you want that light. If you don't want the light and you want to keep it where you're at, don't go read cross days. If you want the light, it's gonna fuck you up even more though. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

You're starting to remind me of when I did the prison school review with uh Kokugasu, where like the first the 12 animated episodes that you got, uh huh. Let's let's just say that compared to the manga, that's the best the anime can do. You just stop where it is. Because literally, where the anime leaves off, the manga gets worse from there. Oh, and now I'm thinking how bad it is cross days.

SPEAKER_02 38:35

I'm not gonna vote for you. You gotta read it.

SPEAKER_03 38:38

If you read it, I will reread it. If you read it, I will reread it and twerk for myself again because I actually wiped cross days halfway from my memory because I could not take it. I'm watching it, and so I just was like, if you want the anime, like for me, I will I went back and rewatched the anime and I was like, you know what? I'm gonna just leave it here after after reading Crossdays. I went back rewatching the anime just so I could have a fresh memory of school days and keep it. Crossdays was worse. Crossdays was way worse. It was too much, it was so much happening, and I just didn't know it. It felt too dystopian of a future, and I'll be honest with you, it's actually crazy how much it's describing what's going on in like relationships now. I think crossdays is a good example, which is horrible.

SPEAKER_01 39:31

You know what? I make a deal with you. Oh no, I'm I make a deal with you, Mary J.

SPEAKER_03 39:37

Okay, what's your deal?

SPEAKER_01 39:38

We're gonna do the punch card. Um you gotta jump on 10 more reviews before I'm ready to do cross days.

SPEAKER_03 39:49

Fair. Hey, you know what? I like that.

SPEAKER_01 39:53

Because I'm like thinking, okay, you've been kind of uh in and out. So I'm like, maybe jump back on for like 10 more episodes. I'm like, okay, you know what? You've been a good sport, MJ. I'm gonna go ahead and check out crossdays.

SPEAKER_11 40:10

That's fair, that's fair, that's fair. I think that that works out great.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

But uh continuing what I was saying, my only criticism is that it kind of started up kind of slow to a point where it was kind of boring me the first four episodes, but episode five, okay, you start picking up like here come the messiness. Like, see, I feel like one of them bitches where I'm like in my um bathrobe with the towel tied up, um my hair with um tub of popcorn ice cream. Like I just uh I just got through my unfold.

SPEAKER_03 40:54

Knocking on your door with a face mask. Let's go, let's do this, bro. I was like, mmm, it's getting messy, it was messy, it was so and it just kept getting messier and messier. Like the friends getting involved, but was like, y'all sometimes, y'all know that we're like, man, you all know like that.

SPEAKER_01 41:19

Y'all had some intention, like, see, I see Cessna. Cessina really upset me because see, here's the thing. I thought she was like the main one that was like, hey, yo, like yeah, what y'all doing's kind of fucked up. So not only did she get involved and have sex with the boy, she just fucked off. Like, we we don't know where she went off to by the end of the anime, as far as anime, bro.

SPEAKER_02 41:40

Like, she just bro she just dips.

SPEAKER_03 41:45

Yeah, she's and then it it was so crazy because at one point I low-key started rooting for him and Setsuna. I was like, if he doesn't wind up with Katonaha, at least Setsana, right? At least she realizes that's bullshit happening, and then I was like, Oh, she slept with, oh no, you didn't.

SPEAKER_01 42:01

You sleeping with I thought you were better than that.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Okay, too. I agree. I thought she was better than that, and I and they did a good job of making me think that way, and then in I just need every guy and girl to go watch this and realize that this is women, this is how we think.

SPEAKER_01 42:24

I need to know what a dictates like.

Why It Still Matches Today

SPEAKER_03 42:27

I just women, this is how we think, this is how we think. You need to go watch it. Is it puts it in perspective because the craziest part is these are teenagers, right? I'm an adult. And they're still women who think like they're teenage, and it's so crazy, it is the craziest thing ever. And I just I can't believe how irrelevant school days is now like I can't believe how this one anime who has a horrible ending, like, let's be honest, someone getting their sh their stomach cut open is horrible, and then someone riding off into the sunset with a head is crazy. Like, she's had a whole boat, she had the boat ready as if she was going to kill him or kill her at any like she was already planning on killing somebody.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

See, that's the crazy part. Back in the day, when like imagine flashing back um back when school days were like brand new. Like back in the day, something like this would have to make the headline for it to get any traction. Nowadays, honestly, even though if even if it can make a uh news headline, it's more like it's so common for something like this to happen. It's more like okay, that's fucked up, but damn, like you kind of get desensitized to it because like you're so used to crimes like this of this nature happening. Like especially over um relationship disputes to where like you've you probably heard of like all these headlines, all these uh true crime podcasts talking about how, oh uh boyfriend, girlfriend, domestic dispute, whatnot, grabbing a knife, grabbing a gun, whatever the case may be, uh, maybe a kids are involved or whatnot, like a whole bunch of cravings, a whole bunch of different factors. Like sometimes it doesn't play out exactly the way you would uh suspect, but most of the time it does. And it's just like, dog, dog, like I wouldn't put it past the creator of school days sitting here like, hey, yo, like there's some crazy shit going on. Imagine if I uh written a manga based off something like this happening. And I'm like, how the hell does an anime that's almost like 20 years old feel so relevant to this day and age where like nowadays like you see some of this go down and it's like so realistic? It's like, you know what? I wouldn't be surprised, pride if something like this man, something we just talked about this, like with the 16-year-old girl killing her father. Like, something like this actually happens. So I'm like, What? I mean, I never heard of a woman having her uh guts um split open, whatnot like that. Like, nothing like that, or maybe I never heard of somebody getting beheaded and somebody kept ahead.

SPEAKER_03 45:38

Yo, you want to tell you, okay. I've never heard of someone getting beheaded and kept, but most recently, if you got if you haven't seen, there's a there was a fight between this girl, between two girls, right? One girl found out that her husband was cheating on her with his boss, who just so happened to also be their neighbor. Did you hear about this? They ended up getting into a fight, and she like they knocked the girl. It was her and like her sister-in-law, they fought the girl, right? They ended up killing her. Come to find out she was also pregnant.

unknown 46:25

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 46:26

Like, found out she was even worse, she had a husband, she was married. So the husband was at the hospital not knowing that she was pregnant, and also not knowing that she had cheated on him.

SPEAKER_01 46:42

Damn.

SPEAKER_03 46:44

So he found out the day she died.

SPEAKER_08 46:49

Damn.

SPEAKER_03 46:50

Yeah, yeah. That's why I'm like, and what's even crazier, right? Is like the so they got his text messages, like the not the husband of the woman who died, but the husband of the one who was cheating. Their text messages seemed like they were like head over heels planning on being together. Like, it was weird. It was, it is crazy to think about. He's like, I'm gonna divorce my wife, you're gonna divorce your husband, and we're gonna be together. Like, y'all work at the same job, and y'all are neighbors, and y'all are not being sneaky at all. Like, there is no, there obviously they couldn't have been sneaky and sneaky.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

It's like if I didn't know another, I would think that they want to get caught.

SPEAKER_02 47:45

Bro, I'm like, you can't tell me.

SPEAKER_01 47:51

Oh no, no, no, no. You know, it was crazy. Like, here's the one thing I don't I would never understand about cheaters is how some a lot of times it's about the thrill to where it's almost like it's not about getting caught, it's about um getting away with almost getting caught. Yo, it's kind of like uh that that rush, that dopamine, to where, like, oh shit, that was so close, but man, I got such a rush, I need to do it again.

SPEAKER_03 48:17

That's really what it's that's like uh okay.

SPEAKER_01 48:21

I was talking to some friends about this where I'm like, see, this is what I'm talking about, to where you got a bunch of overgrown children running around with no hobbies, and it's like cheating is like the best thing they can do for sport for some reason. You know what I mean? Like, like dog, like oh you do this for fun, like really, like, see, because something like this kind of fucks up people as far as like trusting others in relationships, and it's just crazy how a lot of people go around uh kind of messing up uh uh people's heads like that, like uh fucking them over like that. And then now that person goes around not knowing if they could trust their partner after getting cheated on. And crazy enough, you see, like MJ, have you been seeing like these YouTube channels nowadays have like loyalty tests and all that?

SPEAKER_02 49:19

I haven't actually.

SPEAKER_01 49:21

Okay, first of all, I need to put you on this one that's like really popular. There's that's like two, but this one's like really popular. I'll I'll I'll slide you on the link so you can just go ahead and go down that rabbit hole if you want to. But like essentially, it's like you have these loyalty tests, and it's like even I don't know, you'll probably think it's uh stage. I don't know if it's staged or not. Like, um, the people who do the whole thing might have a whole script, but um the the contestant, the the people that's being tested, they're probably um not uh being scripted, so it's like it could be real for them. But uh point being is that you'll be so surprised how common this is to where like you see loyalty tests, you see bounty hunters um checking, uh making sure that um partners are being loyal and shit. And it's like so many people is to a point to where I'm like, bro, like I it's it's kind of crazy how like um cheating is one of those things where that's one one of the main things you don't do in a relationship, but people kind of treat cheating like that's the only way to break out of a relationship, to where it's like they don't want to just break up and uh take their chance with someone that they're more interested in. It's more like, okay, let me plant the seeds first and then uh see where that goes. And uh it's almost like keeping one foot in, one foot out in both directions. Like you want to make sure that uh if anything goes wrong in either one, it's like you're still good on the other side. So it's like you still have a relationship, but it doesn't really feel like you lost anything because well, yeah, you lost one, but then again, you know, people keep having rotation, so to speak. Um that's why I'm like, hey, you know what? Y'all can have all that. Like, I I don't understand how y'all have the energy to even do all that to where all these gymnastics to where you're going this far trying to like kind of plan events. Let me go ahead and stop before this is gonna be a whole after dark segment. But I was like, you know what? Shit like this, man. See, that's why I love and hate this show because it's like on the one hand, it's like I like the messiness of it, but I hate how it reminds me of shit that can actually happen in real life.

SPEAKER_03 52:11

And I think that like that's the whole point is like it puts it in perspective how because these are kids, like when you think about the fact that these are kids doing this stuff, dang, as adults, should we really be tolerating any of it? Like, what are we doing? Because we definitely don't want kids doing it, right? And we have the the money to do, like we have the access and the time and the energy and the like it's ridiculous that people do these things to each other with no forethought or or no thought at all in general, and it it just puts in perspective the mindsets that are just floating around, right? And how selfishness has truly become a thing of like a lot of people are more narcissistic nowadays, right? Yeah, there's a lot that we could go into on school days. I'm not gonna lie, it's so much the mindset.

Gender Expectations And Emotional Neglect

SPEAKER_01 53:12

I also wanted to add on that uh it's also a matter of uh a lot of times I have folks saying, oh, let people be people. And I don't have a problem with that. I don't. But the thing is that sometimes, you know how there's like shades of gray and loopholes and whatnot. Uh my point being is that when you allow people to be people, okay, they'll show you who they really are. But then it's like uh at some point, when do we like step in and be like, hey, yo, uh you kind of going down the wrong path and whatnot? Because yeah, like a lot of people can say, like, oh, well, you know, what they do isn't your business. I'm like, yeah, but like think about like this. Uh you go down the wrong path, you feel like um things got worse for you, and you kind of wish someone was um there to like kind of prevent you or like tell you uh don't do this, don't do that. But I'm like, well, we tried to, but we were told, hey, yo, let people be people. That's why I dare say some people turn out the way they turn out because they just kept getting away with a whole bunch of shit that they wasn't supposed to get away with. Uh that's why uh you got people that will be like, uh you know, once again, I'm not trying to make a whole After Dark segment about it. It just goddamn, like it's just wild how um media like this can inspire people to be like, yeah, you know what, that sounds good, that sounds real good. But also it holds a mirror to how some men and some women be moving. How some men, let's be honest, they're only interested in smashing. Like they're not really trying to have a serious relationship, they just want to smash. In fact, um, that's how they feel like that they were for, because you know, uh sometimes men feel like they're getting treated like, oh, they're only there for money and giving her some pleasure, but outside of that, uh, the women don't really care for the men. So the men is like, okay, we'll play by that game to where I'm like, okay, I'll I'll do this and that, but like I'm not gonna say loyalty. And then women, you know, women move how they move. And honestly, the women kind of baffle me a little bit more than the men. Like with the men, it's like I don't agree with everything they're doing, but I understand to an extent. Meanwhile, with the ladies, I'm like, y'all completely lost me at this point because like y'all make up rules for the guys that you don't want, and then you break the rules for the guy you do want.

SPEAKER_03 56:16

So I'm sorry, but I'm not gonna lie to you. Just you know, I'm not gonna get on my soapbox tonight. I'm not it women aren't confused, and I am one. Women do a lot I don't understand, so but so is the world of school days.

SPEAKER_01 56:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:45

Women do a lot of things that I don't understand. That is the world of school days, and you know what?

SPEAKER_01 56:55

If I'm gonna go ahead and uh put a rating to this because I forgot to write one down um initially, but if I were to give a rating at this point, I want to say an eight.

SPEAKER_03 57:10

Whoa, yeah, I'm proud. I'm proud of the suggestion. I'm sorry. You're a tough critic.

SPEAKER_01 57:17

It's like because I gotta I gotta be real with you, it's like it was kind of boring me in the first time, not gonna lie, but as soon as I got the episode five, I was like, wait, hold on. What the fuck is going on here? Like, see, no, no, no. I knew about the ending. That's why I kind of glossed over school days because the ending was poor for me. But since you suggested it, I'm like, all right, I gotta do due diligence and actually watch it. And I'm like, whoa, hold on. This is the kind of messiness that I can actually talk about. So yeah, eight out of ten. Like, I love it, but I also hate it.

SPEAKER_03 57:58

I also agree. It's a solid eight out of ten, man. It it I love it, I also hate it at the same time, and I am grading this on with the knowledge of Cross Days, but not applying that knowledge. So at as school day stands as a standalone anime, it is a solid eight, it is impeccable in the way that it was written, but the delivery definitely could have been better. I think the beginning of it, there was a lot that they missed out on really um capitalizing on, and that's that lovey dovey. The the cupcake phase. I don't think they capitalized enough on making us really feel that cupcake phase. We felt more drama than we did the cupcake phase. But I mean, maybe that was the interruption, maybe that was the intent. I don't know, but I agree.

SPEAKER_01 58:54

I thought it was the intent because keep in mind, Makoto, like I said before, at the end of the day, Makoto just wanted to smash. Like whether it was Casara, Sakai, was other girls, it was like he wasn't really in love for real. It's more like he was in lust.

SPEAKER_03 59:08

I really don't think so. That's that's where I think there's an argument for it. Is I don't think we, I don't think we uh words. Come on, MJ. Um, I think we take for granted and we don't take into consideration how sexual women can really be and how sexually enticing that is for a younger guy. I really, because it's hormones, it's all of these things, right? And I'm not not taking away his accountability at all. I just think introducing someone to sex, opening them up to that, they're they don't know. You're gonna want to do it more. Am I wrong?

SPEAKER_01 59:53

Oh my gosh, see, that's crazy that you say that because I just got through uh reviewing Gatya Puta with uh Playboy, and let me tell you, uh this one character, Amo, like traumatizing uh backstory, how like essentially her mother sold her to a uh PDF file. And uh that was her first time, and I'm like, it's crazy how like uh she's like kind of like those allegories for those girls who are like uh even though she doesn't really come off that way, but at the same time, like if you just look up uh Alma Gacha Puda, like do a Google image search, you were like thinking about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:42

Is it Gachubara or is it Gachakuda?

SPEAKER_01 1:00:45

Uh Gachiapuda.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:47

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:48

Uh she should have like uh black hair with like the orange light uh highlights and whatnot. And it's like she will look like the kind of girl to where I'm like, okay, because she's been uh had the uh past that she had, it's like she kind of moving a little promiscuous, you could say. But I swear she's not like that, but it's like you could say that she could have been that type and uh have um wires crossed and all that.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:25

I get, I mean, it can happen to so I that's what I mean by like I don't think we we're taking that into consideration and his in the role that he's playing. These girls are literally throwing themselves at him, and he's like, Y'all want me?

SPEAKER_01 1:01:42

Like, what it's like I don't know how it is for on both sides, but it's almost like one of those things where uh once you have a little too much access, it's like uh you have a harder time pair bonding, where it's like it's a harder time to lock something down with just one person instead. It's like you have all this access, it's like you just um can't get used to the fact that uh okay, one's enough. Like, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:14

Um and now it's kind of like he's stuck on this perpetuity. It by the time I think when we get to the end, I think he's realized the cycle that he's been in because he's starting to reject all the ideals and all the things that everyone has been saying to him, right? Right, like he's going through a crisis and no one's paying attention. BT Doug, sorry, it's also a good example of how many people ignore what men are going through or what a guy is going through, right? He is going through some emotional tormo, traumatizing shit, and everyone's just like, but at least you're getting some.

SPEAKER_01 1:02:52

Yeah, see, that's what kind of makes me mad as a man, where uh our struggles get minimized, uh, to a point where that's why men don't like to open up as uh much as y'all would suggest, because first of all, we don't want our feelings, our vulnerability and whatnot to be minimized, but also we don't want it be weaponized against us, where it's like all the just used against me later on in the argument.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:28

So yeah, I've heard that. I've I've heard that too, and it really that's what I mean. Like, school days is a really good example, and and it's a microcosmic example because it takes place in a high school, it's not taking place in like an age group that maybe everyone can relate to, but the things that are happening, I think everyone can relate it. It's a really good example, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:52

It's like the the way it played out just sound like something the way it doesn't matter how old you are, it's like this can happen to just about anybody. It's like it's just a matter of oh, um, there's a uh girl that I like or there's a guy that I like, and then y'all just get into this friend group, and like there's uh betrayal and infidelity, and things get messy, uh real violent, and little to no accountability.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:30

Sorry.

Ratings And Closing

SPEAKER_03 1:04:38

But yeah, I think that's all I really have to say about school day.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:41

So I feel that that was that was about it for me, too. Uh, I still standing on the eight out of ten as well, a slow beginning, really dramatic turn of events, about a halfway point. Uh I want to say the art are uh visually is like, you know, it's aged, but it's fairly, it aged fairly well. It's like it's not ugly compared to um modern standards, but it's like, you know, uh compared to what I've seen now, it's like, you know, like and it wasn't that impressive. If anything, it just felt a little flat here and there. But uh outside of that, you know, yeah, like I think the drama really carried it. And I really like that one. Well, with that being said, uh, if nothing else, we're gonna go ahead and close this one out. Uh Mary Jane, thank you for being on the show with me. Uh to the listener. Go ahead and have yourself a good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night. But ultimately, stay nerdy in that great things are coming. We're gonna go ahead and zoom about a year. So