The Raunchiest Anime Of All Time Is Banned In China But Streaming On Disney+

By Jonathan Klotz
| Published 14 seconds ago

Whenever someone says they’re a fan of anime, a good follow-up is, “which anime?” Anime is a medium that simply means animated shows or movies from Japan, and within that are countless other genres including Shonen (One Piece, Demon Slayer), Isekai (Overlord, Sword Art Online), Romance (The Apothecary Diaries), Slice of Life (Your Name), and then there’s different styles within all of that, including the one that people bring up when they want to tear down anime as being mindless fanservice: ecchi.

Ecchi anime is incredibly suggestive. This is where you’ll find the gratuitous male gaze shots of every single female character, and plots with adult themes that are not mature because they also tend to have purposely juvenile comedy to them. That’s why it’s surprising to browse on Disney+ and find that 2010’s High School of the Dead is available for streaming. 

High School Of The Dead Is The Most Famous Ecchi Series

High School of the Dead is one of the most infamous anime of all time thanks to its blatant, gratuitous fanservice that you’ll either love or hate within the first five minutes. The plot is about a group of high schoolers trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, and as with The Walking Dead, the real danger is the complete breakdown of society. Not only the support systems they took for granted, but their own morals and ethics, all of which get tested. Within a few minutes of his introduction, you’ll think that teacher Koichi Shido is among history’s greatest villains when his inner monologue reveals he wants to reshape society with himself on top. 

The first few episode of High School of the Dead center around Takashi and Rei, both second-year students at Fujimi High School, who become the de facto leaders of the band of survivors. Some of the students get a chance to show off skills that’ve learned in clubs (kendo club turns out to be really useful), or studying abroad (the nerd who spent a month in America learned to shoot from a Delta Force member), while others quickly become fodder for the slow-moving horde. 

There’s one sequence early on that says everything you need to know about High School of the Dead. Two girls are running form zombies, talking about how they will be best friends forever, when one of them is grabbed by a zombie. As she’s getting pulled into the horde, her skirt rides up letting you know that this is absolutely an ecchi, and at the same time, her BFF is yelling at her to let go, and even stomps on her hand, leaving her to die. Violence, language, fanservice, and a dark sense of humor. That’s the entire series in one 20-second scene. 

The Most Banned Anime Of All Time

High School of the Dead is not for everyone. If you’re fine with the fanservice, you’ll discover it’s a decent zombie apocalypse anime with two good leads in Takashi and Rei, both of whom are allowed to grow and develop as society collapses around them. Getting to the good bits of the plot requires going through an awful lot of “plot” that should be listed in the dictionary right next to “male gaze.” 

The sex and violence found in every episode of Highschool of the Dead was enough for the Chinese government to ban it from the country in 2015. The manga has also been banned from countless libraries and schools before staff learned that not all manga is for kids. Sadly, for those who enjoyed the series, creator Daisuke Saito passed away in 2017, and out of respect, the publisher quietly canceled the manga and anime, leaving it forever at only one season. 

High School of the Dead is one of those anime that you’ll either love or hate, and a lot of it comes down to your personal sense of humor and how you like your horror. If you’re a fan of the 70s and 80s horror, you’ll find the series hits a similar tone, but if you’re not and you’re curious about it, think twice because the level of fan service can be hard to handle when you’re not on the same wavelength. 

If you do want to check it out, fire up Disney+, scroll past Bluey, and the entire run of High School of the Dead is available for streaming.