Akira Tendo

Shizuka Tells off Akira’s Fat Boss

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , ,

Zom100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 7

There are a lot of horrible people in the world. People who will take advantage of others and use them for their own benefit. As it turns out, this is something Akira and Shizuka have in common with each other. Both have had people stronger than them walk all over them, and it’s become Shizuka’s biggest berserk button in life. So when she sees Akira being used as a slave by his old boss, she steps up. What happens in this week’s Zom100 is a tribute to everyone who’s ever dealt with abusive bosses and parents. 

Akira is a Mindless Zombie!

It’s now been several days since Akira was forced to start working at Kosugi’s truck stop, and things are getting worse. Every second he spends under Kosugi’s thumb, the more he forgets his character development. Which means it’s easier for Kosugi to use his abusive “carrot and stick” enslavement to keep him there. What makes this so hard to watch is that people get subjected to this every day of their lives. 

Kosugi is truly the worst boss a person could have. Not only is he a fat, parasitic slave-driver, he’s also a sexist pig. He makes Shizuka serve him beer after refusing it from an older woman. Then, he starts ogling Shizuka, making lewd remarks and licking his lips like a predator. This man is a human version of Jabba; the perfect target for the “Me, Too” movement. The first chance Shizuka gets, she tells Kencho they’re leaving.

It’s what Shizuka does next, though, that breaks her ice queen facade for good.

Shizuka Had a Jerkwad of a Dad

Unlike the working-class Akira, Shizuka comes from a wealthy and privileged background, courtesy of her CEO father. She was caring and wanted to become a doctor and help people. The problem was her father was an abusive control freak who didn’t see her as her own person; he saw her as just an extension of herself and made her do whatever he said. He even took a stray puppy she adopted and had it put down. He broke her just like Akira’s job broke him.

However, seeing Akira living his life so earnestly and happily awoke something in her. That innate desire to do what she wanted came rushing back. Akira brought out the best in her, and she repays that by standing up for him and telling everyone Kosugi’s a fat, no self-esteem waste of human flesh. It’s a moment that everyone who dealt with abusive relationships in life dreams of fulfilling, and it works. Akira stands up for himself.

Akira’s timing couldn’t be better, either. Some of the zombies get into the truck stop, and while Kosugi’s flailing around, Akira steps like a real boss. He comes up with a plan to get rid of the zombies while Kosugi does squat. As a result, everyone gets fed up with the Japanese Jabba and leaves, leaving him all alone like he deserves. And he will probably be eaten by zombies soon enough

Don’t Be Afraid to Follow Your Dreams

The moral of the episode: if your job or the people you work for are unbearable, then leave. It might mean risking your security and safety, but some things are better than being worked like a zombie. That, and it might mean that the job you want is still out there, or, as Shizuka tells Akira, it doesn’t exist yet. The fact that she says this to the person she looked down on shows that he’s finally won her over. She is an ice queen no more!

Quick sidebar, but I’m hoping that Shizuka’s father died in the zombie outbreak. He’s the kind of parent I hate, and the world is better off without him. 

I Give “Truck Stop of the Dead” a 4.5/5

Sayonara, Tokyo…and Welcome to Hell, Akira

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zom100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 6 Review

After another round of delays, Zom100 is back and about to be bigger than ever. With Tokyo finally losing electricity, resources running low, and more zombies showing up, Akira and Kencho have no need to stay in Tokyo. It’s time for them leave the city and find greener pastures. However, a man from Akira’s past threatens to derail Akira’s new life. A man who, in this writer’s honest opinion, belongs in one of two places: in jail, or dead in a gutter. 

I am being serious. This person is worth less than pond scum.

Sayonara, Tokyo!

With the power now out and the apartment out of water, Akira and Kencho have little to gain by staying in Tokyo. The zombie hordes are becoming too big a problem to ignore, so they decide it’s time to leave. Their next stop is the Kanto countryside and Akira’s hometown, Gunma. In addition to their decision to leave making sense from a logical stance, it also makes sense from a narrative standpoint. Having the series take place in a single location would risk losing its initial appeal. Having them leave gives more opportunities for storytelling.

That, and it leads to the duo running into Shizuka once more, to her chagrin, and Akira’s joy. 

Even though Shizuka acts like an ice queen and tries to be all business, the trio’s search at an RV show makes it clear: Akira is rubbing off on her. She ends up letting her sillier side slip, proving that she’s not as cold as she makes herself out to be. Besides giving her more character, it also endears her to the others. And when the trio’s forced to flee in an RV from zombies, the matter’s settled. She’s part of their group, whether she likes it or not. Welcome aboard, She-Spock.

Too bad things go wrong right outside the city.

Kosugi is Trash

So the trio’s driving on the highway when, all of a sudden, they run over a spike strip, leaving them stranded and Kencho injured. The culprit is a group of literal highwaymen led by none other than Akira’s worst nightmare. The man responsible for making the last three years of his life Hell, a man who is the absolute worst: his former boss, Kosugi.

If Zom100 is an argument against the exploitative nature of capitalism, then Kosugi is the worst aspects of it personified into a piece of trash. Shizuka sees right through him: he sabotages anyone leaving the city so they’ll be stranded, then forces them to work for him in exchange for his “help.” In other words, he’s running an extortion racket, and everyone knows it. So, Akira has to go back to working for him for two days while they fix his ride. At least, that’s what it’s supposed to be.

It’s here where the depths of Kosugi’s abusive nature take center-stage. Everytime he talks, he’ll either be yelling at his workers for not doing their job the way he wants. Worse, he’ll yell at them if they show any initiative, like when Akira tries to freeze some beer for everyone, and he calls it a waste of energy. Then, to add insult to injury, when everyone’s happy about it, he takes full credit for it. 

Kosugi is the worst aspects of corporate culture personified. He’s sleazy, sexist, and knows how to mix abuse with empty praise so that people like Akira will become dependent on him. No wonder why Akira’s job was absolute hell: this man doesn’t deserve to be the boss of anyone. If anything, he deserves to be in jail. 

Akira Needs to Stand Up for Himself

Sadly, the episode ends on this bleak note as Akira, despite his best efforts, is falling back into the same zombie-like mentality he possessed at the beginning. If this keeps up, then he’s going to be a wage-slave again. The saddest part about this is the fact that these sorts of things happen in the real-world only makes this harder to watch.

That said, I enjoyed the lightheartedness at the start of the episode, especially regarding Akira and Shizuka. The ice queen’s not so above it all.

Also, there were cameos from the zombie land saga in the zombies!

I Give “RV of the Dead” a 4/5

‘Zom 100’ is a Hilarious Jab at How Corporate Jobs Can be Hell!

Aside Roderick J "Jay" Friz Anime, Anime Reviews , , , , , , , ,

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Review

Once upon a time, working an office job for a big corporation seemed like the ideal life. To get paid working in a safe place that required minimal physical labor sounded like a dream come true. Then people realized the truth: office jobs suck! You face annoying commutes to work, do something that, in the grand scheme of things, has no value, and potentially deal with bosses that are either jerks or idiots. And when a person deals with that day in and day out, every day, can you even call that living? It’s less like you’re living and more like being a zombie. 

Then again, being a zombie might be an even better alternative. That seems to be the philosophy that this new, hilariously comedic horror anime called Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead seems to live by. When everyone living through a zombie apocalypse is the equivalent of hell, this show looks at us and asks, “Was life before any better?” 

Akira Tendo, the Corporate Slave Zombie…

The first episode opens with one of the most depressingly realistic introductions to a character I’ve seen in a while. Meet Akira Tendo, who, at the young age of 24, already lives like he was dead. Three years ago, he got a job at a production company fresh out of college. At a glance, it looked like his dream job. He’d be doing what he loved, his co-workers seemed nice, and he even had a crush on this cute one named Saori Ohtori.

It took less than a day for him to start hating it. 

If people in America think corporate jobs are bad, then that’s nothing. In Japan, there’s the concept of a “black company.” In essence, it’s everything negative about working in a big business office job. Everyone’s expected to work overtime without pay; the bosses are more like slave drivers and concern for mental and physical health is nonexistent. It gets to the point where some people would rather die than live like that. I’m being serious.

As depressing as this is, Zom 100 plays up Akira’s horrible life for the sake of black comedy. We hear his coworkers bragging about how much overtime they’re putting in; his boss is an abusive demon, and that girl he likes? She’s the boss’ mistress! He can hear them making out from inside the man’s office. By the time we’re introduced to him, he’s more a zombie than a person.

Again, it’s exaggerated for comedy’s sake, but it’s still a big jab at how corporate work sucks.

Wait, a Zombie Apocalypse? I NEVER HAVE TO WORK AGAIN!!

One day, as Akira’s reluctantly headed to his terrible job, the thing so many people dread happens. The zombie apocalypse begins, and Akira starts freaking out. Then, as he’s busy running for his life, he realizes something. Something that will offer him salvation from his hellish life: he never has to work again. 

Then suddenly, the formerly monochrome world Akira’s in lights up in an explosion of colors. It’s a big, neon-colored expression of how Akira’s happy for the first time in years. Everyone else is reacting to this like it’s Highschool of the Dead, while Akira’s treating it like the best day of his life. It’s a brilliant moment of black comedy that left me grinning at the sheer audacity. The show’s saying that it would be better to face down zombies rather than sit in an office and do a job that gives you no fulfillment. 

So, now alive for the first time in years, Akira does what he should’ve done years ago. He heads to Ohtori’s place to confess his love but finds she’s already a zombie, along with his fat boss. So, killing three birds with one stone, he quits his job, throws his boss out the window, and then confesses to Ohtori before running for it. And he’s still happier than ever.

Get Busy Living Before you Get Busy Dying.

Afterward, Akira realizes that odds are, he’s going to die and become a zombie himself. Before that happens, though, he wants to live his life to the fullest. So, he grabs a notebook from a convenience store and comes up with his bucket list of 100 things to do before he dies. And that is where the first episode is.

There have been many zombie apocalypse stories told over the year, including anime like Highschool of the Dead. But this might be the first time in living memory where the idea of a zombie apocalypse doesn’t look that bad. Yes, society collapses, and people have to fight to stay alive. But when you contrast that to how horrible Akita’s life was before this, could you even call it living? Life is meant to be more than just slaving away at a job you only do to pay the bills. It’s enjoying yourself. Maybe Akira has the right idea about what he’s doing. Regardless, I’m going to enjoy watching this series.

There’s more, though. The dub comes out on August 6th on Crunchyroll and Netflix (and has Zeno Robinson as Akira), and the latter is making a live-action version of this. Clearly, the anime distributors seem to have a lot of faith in this, so that should encourage you to watch it. Even if we can’t all quit our dead-end jobs, seeing someone like us do that makes our world a little brighter?

I Give “Akira of the Dead” a 4.5/5