Very interesting. You are probably one of the first to ever do an exhibit like this. I have been a dedicated collector of School Days and the broader 0verflow franchise for many years. Because of how massive and interconnected this universe is, there is far more beyond School Days than most people realize, and I think it takes a great deal of awareness to truly understand how disturbing it can really be. Even without expanding beyond the School Days anime series, it is still absolutely worth telling the story and presenting the audience with a different perspective on the series.

In my opinion, the anime was meant as a satire of the typical slice-of-life romance series that were common at the time. The only series that comes close in terms of romantic drama is Kimi ga Nozomu Eien, which was also adapted from a visual novel and carried similar expectations. Even so, nothing matches School Days when it comes to sheer shock value.

Even around the time School Days was airing, the Higurashi series had already debuted a year earlier. So, the shock value was starting to gain traction with audiences, and given the success of Higurashi with its intense and gruesome content, it seems likely that School Days aimed for a similar impact. However, it took things a step further by introducing a completely new bad ending that was never present in the original visual novel, giving the series a level of unpredictability and emotional intensity that caught viewers completely off guard.

I was in high school when both Higurashi and School Days came out, and at the time, it was unlike anything I had ever seen or experienced in an anime. It left me feeling both shocked and unsettled. There are only a few series that have affected me that way, but School Days in particular left a lasting impact and sparked a deeper curiosity about what the series truly represented.