Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead

Akira Remembers to Appreciate Family

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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 9 Review

Zom 100 is unlike most zombie apocalypse stories that came before, and that has to do with its main themes. The whole story’s an argument that people are spending too much of their lives working and doing what society expects of them instead of doing what they want. As a result, many people never get to do the things they want in life until it’s too late. That’s nothing new to this story, but this week’s episode adds another layer to this concept. It’s hard enough when people need more time to do what they want. Now add that they may not have the time they want to spend with their loved ones before they’re gone. 

This review will get pretty deep, so put tissues on standby.

The Magic of a Treehouse

As Akira and his group nears the end of their trek to his hometown, they run into a literal roadblock. The only tunnel leading to Gunma is sealed off on both sides and infested with zombies. Nothing can get out or get in. Thus, the trip to “Kanto’s best-kept secret” continues on foot, leading the group to run into a carpenter being chased by a zombie boar. After saving his life, the carpenter, Masaru Kumano, explains why he’s out in the woods. He’s building a treehouse to keep himself safe from the zombies, something that Akira and Kencho eagerly join in on. Both because it’s on Akira’s Bucket List, and the simple fact that most kids dream of having a cool treehouse.

Tragically, Kumano reveals that the treehouse is not just for safety, but a tribute to his dead son. He always promised that they’d build a treehouse one day, but he lost his wife and son when the zombie plague broke out. This leaves him filled with melancholy over the fact that he didn’t spend as much time with his kid as he wanted.

This moment defines the tone of the rest of the episode, as it makes Akira reflect on his own relationship with his parents, who he hasn’t seen since he left to work in Tokyo. Many young adults leaving home for the first time (and even the ones who remain at home) can feel guilt over not showing enough gratitude to their parents, or getting to do everything they want with them. That was even before the zombie outbreak; with the chance of survival far lower now, Akira’s more determined than ever to make things up to his parents.

I won’t lie: this episode made me think about my own relationship with my parents, and what I can do to help them as we all get older. Anyone acutely aware of the passage of time and how their parents might not always be around may end up feeling the same. 

Gunma is the Perfect Anti-Zombie Stronghold…Until Now

Regardless, Akira leads his group to his hometown of Gunma, and he isn’t joking when he calls it Kanto’s “best-kept secret.” It’s the perfect stronghold to ride out a zombie apocalypse: limited routes to get in, self-sustaining food supply, and plenty of people around make it a veritable redoubt. Akira and his friends could take refuge there forever if they wanted to. Alas, trouble’s already brewing in the form of a group that serves as evil twins to Akira and his friends.

Many refugees from the cities wound up making their way to Gunma following the zombie outbreak, which isn’t a problem at first glance. However, four of those people have come with the intent of destroying the village by unleashing the zombies on everyone. The reason why? Simply for the sake of it.

Meet Kanta Higurashi, a nihilistic NEET and Akira’s evil counterpart. The anime doesn’t reveal his full backstory yet, but it spends the final moments of the episode establishing why he and his group are dark reflections of Akira’s group. Like the protagonists, they were people who either wanted more out of life or were dissatisfied with society and their place in it (or lack thereof.) Whereas Akira and his friends are using zombie virus to better themselves and live their best lives, though, Kanta’s group doing the opposite. They’re indulging in their worst vices and acts of petty vengeance against those they think wronged them. There will likely be those who use the end of the world to embrace their worst aspects, and Kanta’s group is a frightening example of what can happen. 

Too bad we don’t know when the next episode will air.

Support the People in the Anime Industry

Zom 100 has been continually plagued by numerous delays since it’s premiere. As a result, what should’ve been a surefire hit for the summer season has likely not live up to its full potential. Now, it’s suffering its most considerable delay yet as the final three episodes of the first season are delayed indefinitely. 

There’s a dark sense of irony to this. For an anime about bashing abusive working conditions, the anime industry is one of the worst places for people to work. The last few years have seen a growing awareness of how bad it is working in the anime industry, with people even being hospitalized from sheer exhaustion. Now, that kind of work environment could cost Zom 100 a spot as one of the best anime of 2023.

The anime opening was actually incomplete when the series premiered. This latest episode is the one that includes the full opening.

There’s no telling when this popular anime might return, but for now, the best fans can do to support is to spread awareness about how great it is. Anyone who’s hated their jobs can emphasize and identify with Akira and his friends, and maybe it can encourage more people to prioritize their own wellness in this chaotic world. That, and it can help spread awareness of how the anime industry needs serious reforms.

I Give “Treehouse of the Dead” a 4.5/5

Akiraiger is Here to Save the Day!!

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When you’re a little boy, you dream about becoming the coolest thing when you grow up. Things like it being realistic, or even physically possible, aren’t that big a concern. Whether it’s being an astronaut, a Jedi, a race car driver, or a superhero, if it’s cool, most little boys are going to want to be one. And that’s what Akira now wants to do for his bucket list: he’s become the superhero Akiraiger.

This is gonna be fun!

The Superhero Akiraiger Appears

So after remembering this time from his childhood where he dressed like a superhero and beat up some bullies, Akira decides nows the perfect time to become one for real. Despite the fact that he’s got no powers, no brilliant mind, or a ton of money. Yet he wants to be one anyway, and he’s got a lead.

At the Shinagawa Aquarium, they this special suit made from titianum mesh and steel fibers built to withstand bites from crocodiles and sharks. In other words, if he wears it, Akira will be zombie bite-proof. Thus, Akiraiger and his partner, the Blonde Nudist (Kencho dyed his hair and strips to attract zombies) are born. 

Sadly, there’s a flaw with Akira’s plan: his new super suit doesn’t stop things from biting into him. Thus, he still gets bit, and it hurts. The upside, though, is that his first outing leads him to save a group of people that includes a familiar face.

Shizuka is Like an Ice Princess…at First

Shizuka, the girl that Akira ran into on his beer run, makes her return amidst a group of survivors running that he saves. And even though she’s grateful for the rescue, she remains a veritable ice princess. She starts psycho-analyzing Akira and tearing down all his rationale. For example, she pegs him as this insecure guy whose doing this to boost his self-esteem. And that he’s risking his life and Kencho’s life for something stupid! It’s brutal to watch!

This episode does a good job of highlighting the contrasts between Akira and Shizuka’s mindsets. They’re like Kirk and Spock; Akira is the one with the crazy plans and let’s his gut and emotions guide his actions, while Shizuka is the one who relies on logic and rationale. She sees no point in working with Akira because she thinks he’ll get them killed. Ironically, it’s Alria’s willingness to act on emotions that saves her life when they’re cornered by a zombie shark. 

No, I’m not joking. There’s a great white shark turned into zombie that ate divers that are also turned into zombies. And now the divers’ legs are sticking out of the shark and using it to hunt for fresh meat. It’s the kind of thing that’s both hilarious and terrifying. It works!!

Shizuka and Akiraiger Will Return

So, in the end, Akira, Kencho, and Shizuka take down the zombie shark with a plan that would make Captain Kirk proud. Akira wears her down enough to get her contact info, and they all head their separate ways. Shizuka says that she doubts that she’ll ever see them again, but she’s in the opening and credits. She’s going to come back. However, it seems that Akira and Kencho can’t do much more in Tokyo, and the plague’s getting worse. Thus, they decide to say Sayonara Tokyo and head into the country for Akira’s hometown.

Zom 100 Episode 5-Shizuka Embarrassed

This was another funny episode from one of the best anime of the year. The only problem is that it got delayed a week due to some sort of athletics competiton, which cost it some momentum. The good news, though, is that the dub is now out for all to enjoy. Given how it has Zeno Robinson voicing Akira and Xander Mobus as Kencho, I’d say its in good hands. As for Akira, he’s doing a great job of living his life to the fullest, and I salute him. Also, I ship Akira and Shizuka. The sparks are there!

I Give “Hero of the Dead” a 4.5/5

Akira Needs Love, Too!!

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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Ep 4 Review

Dating in the modern day is hard; there’s no argument about that. Things like dating apps meant to help people meet and fall in love have only complicated an already complicated act even further. Throw in a zombie apocalypse, and the chances of finding love in the world seem even bleaker for people like Akira. It only gets worse in this episode as Akira gets close to finding love…only for it to be ripped out from under him.

As someone who struggles to find love today, I feel your pain, Akira. 

The Quest for the Perfect TV…and Date.

Now that he’s got Kencho living alongside him, Akira’s ready to enjoy that new life with his bro. They’ve got a rooftop camp set up, plenty of food and drinks, and Akira can play video games all day. Kencho even decides to get in on Akira’s bucket list by adding something: wine and dine with a flight attendant. This only leads Akira to remember a painful fact: he’s never had a girlfriend, while his best friend can date anyone he wants. 

This is another reason I like Akira so much as a character: I can see a bit of myself in him, especially in my social life. College was fun, but it kept me so busy I never had time for dating, something I now regret. While I’ve never worked at a place as horrible as Akira did, it can still get in the way of having a social life. In addition, there’s the subtext found in this conversation about how detrimental the kind of job Akira had is to society. The stress may keep people from going out to find love and have families. That may be why a lot of countries have declining birth rates. In other words, the show’s saying work culture is killing people’s chance to find love. Again, I relate to it. 

Source-Sportskeeda, Crunchyroll,

At any rate, Akira heads out on another scavenging mission, this time to find an even bigger TV to play video games on. It sounds, and is, stupid, but remember, the show’s advocating the importance of happiness and mental health even in dark times.

Akira Comes So Close to Scoring…Okay, He Doesn’t!

When their adventure predictably ends with them being chased by a mob of zombies (and zombie firefighters spraying actual fire), the duo takes shelter inside an underground mall. Said mall’s already occupied by a group of one man whose name we never get and three beautiful women. All of whom are flight attendants. 

The second Akira and Kencho realize this, they’re on cloud nine as the whole thing soon turns into an impromptu mixer. At least, it does for Kencho. He wins over one girl so fast that they’re already going off on their own the next thing Akira knows. 

Yes, they do sleep together. The show doesn’t dance around that.

Meanwhile, Akira tries to impress the others by drinking an entire bottle of tequila…only to end up puking into a toilet. Anyone who drinks too much alcohol at once can relate to that.

Despite that, he does end up having a sweet moment with one of the attendants, where they both talk about why they wanted to work the jobs they had. While things didn’t turn out well for Akira, the woman, Yukari, admits that despite all the bs, she still likes her job. It’s a sweet moment, even if Yukari does have a boyfriend.

Too bad the old man got infected by a zombie bite. RIP, flight attendants.

Source-But Why Tho?, Crunchyroll

Even this Can’t Get Akira Down

So, to his dismay, Akira loses his best chance yet to find love, but he and Kencho do get that giant TV they wanted, scratching two more items off their bucket list. The last conversation that Akira had with Yukari also inspires him to add something new: remember his childhood dream. 

I love Akira’s optimistic attitude more and more with every episode. Even when mankind’s facing possible extinction, he can bring out the absolute best in people through his carefree nature. By all accounts, he should be dead by now, but he isn’t. It’s part of why this anime’s so fun and inspiring. Keep living your dreams, Akira, no matter how silly or crazy they are.

One last thing: by the time you read this, the dub for Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead will be out. Whether you’re a pro-dub stan or just want to support the voice actors, you should watch it. Zeno Robinson’s voicing the main character, and he’s been killing it with his roles over the last few years. That, and when you hear him as Akira, you can imagine Hunter from The Owl House.

I Give “Flight Attendant of the Dead” a 3.5/5

Seeking a Bro for the End of the World

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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

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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