Highschool of the Dead/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Characters from Highschool of the Dead include:

Takashi Komuro

Voiced by Junichi Suwabe (JP), Leraldo Anzaldua (EN)

A seventeen-year-old boy who is among the first to notice that things at the school have gone very very wrong. While he and Rei promised to marry each other, it's been several years, and with his apparent growing disinterest in her, she is now involved with his best friend, Hisashi. Things only get more complicated between the two as "they" spread, and Hisashi became one of "them", forcing him to Mercy Kill his best friend.

Takashi quickly takes a leadership role with the group, through his decisive nature and desire to protect others.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Anti-Hero: Type II.
  • Batter Up: A baseball bat is the first weapon he gets his hands on. Later chapters shift his weapon of choice to a riot-suppression shotgun.
  • Biggus Dickus: If the speedo fits.
  • Caught the Heart on His Sleeve: Rei does this to Takashi before a "Shut Up" Kiss of sorts.
  • Chick Magnet: All the girls want him.
  • Childhood Marriage Promise: Pinky Swears with Rei.
  • Chronic Hero Syndrome: At first. Seems to finally be breaking out of it after the clinic raid goes horribly wrong.
  • Determinator: When rescuing Alice/Arisu, as well as in basically everything else he does.
  • Failed Attempt At Drama: When Takashi announces intent to leave for Shintoko Third Elementary, the rest of the gang appropriately react except for Zeke/Zero who responds by peeing on Takashi's leg.
  • The Hero: He is, after all, the main character.
  • Heroes Want Redheads
  • Honor Before Reason
  • Idiot Hero: Good with a baseball bat. Not so good with actually thinking through the consequences of his actions.
  • Love Triangle: Is one awkward situation from being literally fought over by Saeko and Rei.
  • Missing Mom: Hasn't seen his mother since the outbreak; not that he isn't extremely worried about her.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Invoked when he used a live human as zombie bait as punishment for threatening to rape Rei and kill him. He's the only one who thinks he's crossed the line at that point; in fact, he's still redeemable by the rest of his team's standards. He also notes to himself that he may have killed Hisashi (and not regretted killing him) partly out of jealousy over Rei.
  • Morality Chain: Or rather Sanity Chain, especially to Saeko. He also realizes that most of the team plays this role to one another.
  • Only Sane Man: While everyone is at least moderately sane, Takashi’s main advantage is that he’s fully conscious of his grip on the Sanity Ball and can keep the others in line. He does constantly worry that his grip may end up slipping, and worse, knows very well that any freakout would have a domino effect on the team and get everyone killed.
  • Ordinary High School Student: At least until "they" showed up.
  • The Plan: Does one against the gas station nutjob by throwing his bat onto the ground and shooting him. He and Rei then leave the nutjob to die, having made enough noise to attract the zombies.
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Saeko's blue.
  • Sociopathic Hero: Arguably. He acknowledges that a part of him actually likes the lawlessness brought about by the Zombie Apocalypse when he enjoys smashing a cash register at a gas station. Earlier on he notes to himself that he may have crossed the Moral Event Horizon when he killed Hisashi without being too bothered about it. He's able to relate to Saeko's Ax Crazy impulses because of this.
  • Standardized Leader: Played with. Takashi himself worries that he’s got no real outstanding skills compared to the rest of the (useful) members of the team, yet given the flaky cohesion and variable sanity of the group, his ability to keep everyone on a leash is quite invaluable. The kicker is that while he may be the most centred of the group, he’s not completely stable either and he knows it.
  • Stripperiffic: In the OVA, he wears a very-tight fitting pair of speedos that tend to slightly show off his cheeks, along with a pair of boots.
  • Swipe Your Baseball Bat Off
  • Thanks for the Mammary: Intentional or not, Takashi grabs Saeko brutally by the breast in the park, probably to keep her from contemplating Suicide By Zombie again.
  • Took a Level in Badass: Along with the rest of the cast.
  • Unlucky Childhood Friend: Initially to Rei, but The Plot Reaper made sure Hisashi would go no further with her.
  • Would Hit a Girl: Slaps Rei in the first chapter/episode, and then Saya in the OVA.

Rei Miyamoto

Voiced by Marina Inoue (JP), Jessica Boone (EN)

Takashi's former Love Interest and classmate, as well as a member of the lance fighting club. Frustrated with his apparent disinterest, Rei started dating his best friend Hisashi, though she still harbored feelings for him. When Hisashi is bitten, Rei faces the question of whether it is right to act on her maintained feelings for Takashi so soon after he was forced to kill his best friend. Headstrong and courageous, Rei is a strong combatant and valuable asset to the group.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Saeko Busujima

Voiced by Miyuki Sawashiro (JP), Taylor Hannah (EN)

Calm and collected, Saeko is a high school senior and president of the Kendo Club. She is one of the few survivors of the initial outbreak, and after meeting up with Takashi and the others, she lends her considerable skills with the sword to the team. Reliable in the extreme, she takes great pride in her abilities and in the abilities of her comrades.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Saeko: Brand name clothing or your life? Which do you value?
Shizuka: ...BOTH!

Saya Takagi

Voiced by Eri Kitamura (JP), Maggie Flecknoe (EN)

The smartest student of Fujimi Private Academy, Saya isn't afraid to speak her mind and say exactly what she thinks of others. She is also the daughter of a ultra-nationalist politician. Her deductive nature has allowed her to realize several facts about how they work and her intelligence has saved the group many times.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Kohta Hirano

Voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama (JP), Mark X. Laskowski (EN)

Sixteen-year-old Kohta was a school loser and bully magnet. "Their" appearance changed everything -- his secret obsession with firearms prepared him well for his big break as the gang's resident marksman. Because of this, he winds up teaching the others how to use guns.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Shizuka Marikawa

Voiced by Yukari Fukui (JP), Monica Rial (EN)

A 27-year-old spinster who served as Fujimi High's School Nurse. While ditzy, Shizuka is naturally very calm, and little fazes her. She is often the group's driver and, being good at her profession, she tends the other character's wounds.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Action Dress Rip: It was Prada! Later done of her own volition.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: When some of the students on the bus bitch about Shizuka's driving and Takashi's group plan to escape by heading into the city, she hits the brake and practically tells them all to shut the fuck up. Cue students shutting the fuck up.
  • Badass Driver: Don't let her ditzy demeanor fool you - she's one mean badass behind the wheel.
  • Bright Slap: Looks all set to deliver a bike-powered one to Kohta during his BSOD, but instead she gives him a pep talk. It works out the same way.
  • Car Fu: Despite not having handled any weapons per se, Marikawa-sensei has the highest body count of all the survivors due to her, ahem, forceful driving.
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Shizuka could at least pretend to realize there's a Zombie Apocalypse outside.
  • The Chick: Has not handled any sort of weapon thus far. Subverted in that her driving gives her a very high kill count.

Shizuka: "I'm not supposed to be this kind of character!"

Alice/Arisu Maresato

Voiced by Ayana Taketatsu (JP), Brittney Karbowski (EN)

Seven-year-old Alice/Arisu was rescued from "them" by Takashi after a group of hideaways killed her father and closed the door on her. Being an innocent ray of sunshine amidst the bleakness of their situation, the group quickly took a liking to her and has since adopted her as a little sister figure.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Koichi Shidou

Voiced by Kissho Taniyama (JP), Illich Guardiola (EN)

Class 3-A's teacher. Rei had a beef on him since he flunked her out because of their fathers' radically differing political beliefs. He doesn't care much for the lives of others, and even at the midst of the zombie apocalypse, is apparently planning to build a cult centered on himself.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Rika Minami

Voiced by Junko Takeuchi (JP), Melissa Davis (EN)

A special ops police officer who happened to be Shizuka's roommate. Cold sniper at heart, or not so cold. She had been held up in the airport along with other special forces, clearing zombies so that the airport can be used by survivors to escape.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Hisashi Igo

Voiced by Mamoru Miyano (JP), David Matranga (EN)

Rei's new boyfriend and Takashi's best friend. He's shown to be calm and cool-headed, and was even willing to believe Takashi when told about a murder in front of the school, even arming them with makeshift weapons. By these characteristics, one could be forgiven for thinking he would be the protagonist.

Unfortunately, despite boasting hand-to-hand combat abilities, he was bitten by a zombie teacher and asked Takashi to mercy kill him. However, Takashi hesitated and Hisashi became a zombie before finally being killed. Rei was haunted by his death and as a result distrusted Takashi for a while.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Asami Nakaoka

A female police officer that Takashi's group had met in the mall. She has a kind heart and a rather timid personality, often referring to herself as "this officer". As an inexperienced rookie officer, she tends to overcompensate when helping civilians.

When her superior officer left the mall to go for help, she was left in charge of overseeing the other mall survivors. Keeping the survivors in check proved to be a difficult task until Hirano and the others came to her aid. She and Hirano quickly develop feelings for each other, creating an uncomfortable love triangle between them and Saya.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Soichirou and Yuriko Takagi

Voiced by Joji Nakata (Soichirou) and Yoshiko Sakakibara (Yuriko) (JP), Andrew Love (Soichirou) and Shelley Calene-Black (Yuriko) (EN)

Parents of Saya Takagi. Soichirou is a Japanese ultranationalist who married Yuriko, a woman who had connections with the New York Stock Exchange and therefore their family fortunes increased.

After the initial stages of the outbreak their mansion was converted to a stronghold and refuge for survivors within the area. They take a liking to Takashi, Saya's childhood friend. Soichirou also expresses interest in Saeko, daughter of the Busujima family, and presented his sword to her.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Miku Yuuki

One of the Fujimi High School Students who had escaped and joined Shidou's group. She helped Shidou enter the Takagi compound using her sex appeal.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Shidou and his group are able to enter the Takagi compound by using Yuuki's ample bust size to distract the guards.
  • Really Gets Around: There was apparently some, "interesting rumors" about her at school...

Zeke/Zero

Alice/Arisu's pet dog. He and Alice/Arisu were almost killed but for Takashi's intervention. He accompanies the gang as Alice/Arisu companion and can differentiate who are the living and who are the undead.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:


Misuzu Ichijou

Toshimi's BFF, who turns on her when the zombies attack them.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Toshimi Niki

Misuzu's BFF, who loses her life when she's grabbed by a zombie mob on the stairs and dragged to her fate.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

Takuzo

A leader of his own survival party who briefly joins Takashi's group. His own group scatters after he dies, except for his girlfriend Naomi, who chooses to die with him.

Tropes exhibited by this character include:
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