Gakkou Gurashi Anime vs Manga

 

Hai~ minna-san! Mo-chan desu~ I really liked the Gakkou Gurashi anime from Summer 2015 so I started reading the manga. And I noticed quite a few differences. This is normal of course in any manga > anime transition. But I wanted to analyze the differences and how it changes the characters if any at all. If you saw the anime and don’t really want to read the manga but just wanna catch up on what happened, you can give it a read. Spoilers for the anime and manga will follow so be warned. So let’s get started shall we? Sei~no!

First thing to note is that Taroumaru is not a regular cast member in the manga. He is only shown briefly in a flashback in chapter 17. They picked him up while Megu-nee was still alive. He was already bitten, so Megu-nee used him to test if animals would turn also.

The manga moves along more chronologically. The anime started with Miki already in the group and then did a lengthy flashback to show how she joined. So in the manga, Miki is not introduced until chapter 7. This means Miki was not there for the Test of courage(ep2/ch3) or releasing the letter balloons/pigeon(ep7/ch6). Also in my opinion, they were more upfront about Megu-nee’s existence in the manga.

Again with the test of courage(ep2/ch3), when the zombie shows up in the library, instead of staying with Yuki, Megu-nee leaves, presumably to get help.

Chapter 5, a late night trip to the bathroom is not covered in the anime. The important points of this chapter is Yuki asking Megu-nee if she’s being a burden to the others. And when she remembers Megu-nee’s death, she falls unconscious.

In chapter 9, while on their “field trip”, Kurumi notices her house but doesn’t say anything. Yuki notices and tells her to go in. Kurumi cautiously searches her house to find it ransacked but neither of her parents present. She then leaves a letter on the table telling them she’s at the school. In the anime however, in episode 11 during a flashback to when they rescued Miki, Rii-san asks Kurumi if she’s okay with not going back to her house. Kurumi then questions her own humanity as she has been forced to ‘kill’ loved ones with her own hands. Reaffirming her belief that ‘killing’ the infected is the only option and Rii-san should not hesitate if she herself becomes infected. Unlike the manga where she has gained some hope for her parents survival, in the anime she’s afraid of what she may find there.

In the manga, Kei and Miki are initially with a larger group(ch12). The group eventually gets killed off and we get the Kei and Miki in the storage room situation same as in the anime(ep4). The important thing to note is that Kei is smitten with the leader of the group before he dies and is clearly distraught by his death. This changes Kei’s reason for wanting to leave the storage room. Instead of leaving to get out of the isolated room, she has seemingly lost all hope. “Since that day, Kei hasn’t smiled once. Kei left today. I couldn’t stop her.”

Chapter 15 and 16 were not included in the anime. Before Miki officially joins the school life club, she confronts Yuki about her hallucinations. She believes Yuki is only pretending to hallucinate to keep the others at ease. Yuki claims that she’s too dumb to understand what everyone else is talking about.

In chapter 18, Miki is the one to find the evacuation manual, as opposed to Rii-san in the anime. When she shows it to the others, Kurumi snaps at her and pushes her against the wall.

After Kurumi is bitten, Miki stops Rii-san from killing Kurumi when she returns with the medicine. Miki then comforts Rii-san. Manga Rii-san was going to kill Kurumi! While everyone is asleep, Yuki removes the handcuffs from Kurumi. When Kurumi wakes up, Yuki is found sleeping on her lap and she “Shh”s Rii-san who screams in delight(ch21). The roles are reversed in the anime, with Rii-san sleeping on Kurumi’s lap and Yuki waking everyone up with her exclamation(ep12).

Kurumi getting bitten and the school being overrun are two separate arcs in the manga. The chaos at the school begins because a helicopter that was searching for them crashes in front of the school. This event is completely different from how it plays out in the anime so I would just recommend reading it(ch25-ch30). Of importance is Rii-san having a breakdown and Yuki having to calm her down(ch27-ch28). Rii-san is probably the least sane one at this point.

In the manga, Yuki does not get the scene where she accepts Megu-nee’s death. Not directly anyway. But she does break down in tears when she kills a zombie in the classroom and sees the burnt clubroom sign after the chaos(ch29).

Perhaps important or maybe not, Kurumi finds a gun in the crashed chopper and keeps it a secret from the others(ch29). Later, Miki catches her and decides that it’s too dangerous to keep a gun around and throws it away(ch30). It’s not efficient for killing zombies plus the gun’s main purpose would be to kill other living humans.

By the way, it is perhaps significant that Rii-san saw Megu-nee at the graduation ceremony at the end of the anime(ep12). In the following manga chapters, Rii-san keeps referring to Megu-nee, such as asking her permission or advice which gives the others pause(ch32,ch33).

The anime leaves off with them leaving the school which is Volume 6 Chapter 31. But you may want to go back as far as the beginning of Volume 5 Chapter 25 to see how differently the school being overrun plays out.

It’s been a long time since I wrote something like this. It’s actually embarassing when I think someone may read it. Rii-san is best girl btw.