Zom 100 anime

Seeking a Bro for the End of the World

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

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 3 Review

Pro-tip for surviving the zombie apocalypse: there’s strength in numbers. The more people working in one group means greater odds of survival, especially if those people work well together. As Akira continues his carefree life during the end of the world, he realizes he’s missed on so much time with his friends. Being Akira, he decides to make up for lost time. Even if that means going into a zombie-infested hotel. The things that one will do for the sake of their bro are amazing.

Enter Gray Fullbu-I mean, Kencho

So, back in college, Akira had a best friend on the rugby team named Kenichiro “Kencho” Ryuuzaki. He was the opposite of what Akira was before the apocalypse. He was extroverted, charismatic, good-looking, and had a successful, high-paying job. He could date most beautiful of women and would brag about it to Akira, to his irritation. As a result, their last meetup a year earlier ended on a sour note. Now, Akita’s ready to fix that.

There’s just one problem: he’s trapped in an upscale love hotel filled with zombies. Kencho’s hasn’t eaten in days, he’s out of water, and he has to listen to his now-zombie date moaning in her restraints.

Yes, it was that kind of hotel. Akira, though, doesn’t care. He still heads out to get his bro.

Kencho Is Going to be the Comic Relief

Despite all odds, Akira manages to find Kencho and says he’s sorry for snapping at him and that he should’ve listened to him and quit his job. The zombies cut their reunion short when they have to break for the roof and pull a rooftop jump that would make Assassin’s Creed proud. It’s here though that Kencho ends up opening up about his own problems.

In this day and age, there are jobs that, despite being well-paying, require people to do less than reputable things like lie. In Kencho’s case, he had to lie to a lot of customers as a salesman, something that he hated. The worst part is that this happens in real life. People have to throw away their dreams and morals to keep a roof over their heads. They gain security but lose what makes them who they are.  

Inspired by Akira’s determination to live his best life, though, Kencho decides to follow his bro’s example, and become a stand-up comic. So, he jumps across the street…and strips naked as he does so, much to Akira’s amusement.

Believe it or not, that’s not the first time I’ve seen a guy strip like that in an anime. Gray from Fairy Tail does that a lot! It’s hilarious!

Two Bros Hanging Out During the End of the World

So now that Akira has Kencho, this solo survival game has become a duo. And as before, even though the world is falling apart, the two are happier than ever. Together, the two might end up surviving the zombie apocalypse.

Overall, this was another banger of an episode. The comedy remained as black as ever, and the fact that it was S&M gear that wound up saving Kencho’s life makes me laugh. I think that Kencho will be a fun character to have around, even if he does strip naked a lot. 

Shizuka Might be Top Waifu 2023 Material

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

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 2 Review

It’s the end of the world, there are zombies around every corner, and the future of mankind is in doubt. But if you’ve spent three years of working in a hellish job like Akira has, you don’t care. You’re just happy to be free to do whatever you want now. As Akira navigates life in the zombie apocalypse, he remains happy as ever, caring only about his own wants. He’s essentially the antithesis of Takashi from High School of the Dead. However, he soon runs into a woman who fits more in line with the mentality of HOTD. Enter Shizuka, who, despite her cold nature, might be in the running for top waifu of 2023. 

Akira Makes Homer Simpson Proud 

While the rest of Japan (and probably the world) are freaking out over the zombie apocalypse, Akira’s enjoying his job-free life. He finally cleans his apartment, throws his trash out onto the zombies below, and his only plans are to sit back and drink some beer. It’s the kind of attitude that would make Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin proud…until he runs out of beer. Thus, Akira’s first day off gets cut short when he has to go on a beer run through his zombie-infested neighborhood. 

In real life, the last thing people should care about in a disaster is having enough beer to drink. As if to contrast this, the episode introduces viewers to Akira’s neighbors who react to things more realistically: they’re panicking and don’t know what to do. Then Akira shows up, casually climbing down a pipe with a smile, and they’re dumbfounded. The contrast makes the moment work as a black comedy. 

As lovely as it is to see someone remain so cheerful despite the world going to Hell, the episode introduces us to someone whose demeanor is Akira’s polar opposite: Shizuka Mikazuki. 

Shizuka, the No-Nonsense Survivalist to Akira’s Fool

When first introduced to Shizuka, the anime depicts her from Akira’s perspective. She’s young, intelligent, attractive, and utterly serious about how things are now. She criticizes how foolish it is for Akira to risk his life to get something non-essential to survival and refuses to give him her contact information. She doesn’t mention her name in the episode; I had to look it up afterward. But after showing Akira’s return home from his beer run, the episode does something interesting. It shifts perspectives to depict how Shizuka’s handling things.

The contrast between the two couldn’t be more significant. Unlike Akira, Shizuka’s living in a high-rise apartment where she’s got a home treadmill to stay in shape. She’s constantly trying to contact other people to determine how widespread things are. Her tv’s always playing every zombie flick or show in existence to help her understand what she’s dealing with. She’s a smart and dedicated woman determined to survive the apocalypse and is more than capable of doing so. 

Here’s the unspoken question that the anime’s asking about Shizuka, though: is she happy?

Happiness is Most Important in Bleakest of Times

When faced with a catastrophic event like a natural disaster or a nuclear meltdown, the last thing most people think about is being happy. They’re more focused on staying alive, which is only natural, and waiting for things to return to normal. Here’s the thing, though: what if returning to normalcy could take months or even years? What if things can never return to a standard of normalcy? Staying constantly focused on survival in something like a zombie apocalypse can be mentally taxing to even the strongest-willed people. We’ve already seen a recent example of how people react to a globally-disruptive event like COVID-19, and how that put people under a lot of stress. Dealing with that every day can make people bitter and cynical at best, or break them altogether. Yet Akira’s happier than ever. 

The thing about Akira that Shizuka doesn’t understand is that he understands the importance of being happy, especially when things are at their bleakest. While his actions are reckless, his desire to follow his new bucket list (which we see him write this episode) does wonders for his mental health. If he survives to see the zombie virus cured, he’ll come out of things far better than someone like Shizuka. She’ll be even more bitter and cynical than she already is, and some of her seems to understand that. Surviving is important, but so is remembering to have fun.

So, I stand by my assertion: Shizuka has the potential to be a top-tier waifu for 2023. She may be cold and cynical initially, but that will likely change as the series continues. Given how she’s in the opening and ending, it’s a given that she’ll run into Akira again. Once she opens up some more, fans will start clamoring for her. 

I Give “Bucket List of the Dead” a 4/5