Pros
- Series that doesn’t focus too much on the gritty details of survival like The Walking Dead
- Some humor and very contrasting characters
Cons
- Zombie apocalypse is more of a catalyst that enables story rather than the story itself
Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) Review
Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead) isn’t a typical zombie apocalypse movie where everyday people find themselves caught up in a catastrophic event and now have to survive in an even more brutal world.
For Akira Tendou, a young professional working for an exploitative boss, the zombie apocalypse has the opposite effect: it frees him from an otherwise zombie-like existence comprised only of work, drinking with coworkers, and a sleep granted only through outright exhaustion. The irony isn’t lost.
The increase in shows this Fall season about young Japanese professionals being exploited at work should be a worrying sign for a society that otherwise focused on isekai-themed anime. A similarly series, though not apocalyptic, reveals the female perspective: Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu (The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today).
What both series illustrate is a need for change for young professionals who feel trapped in an exhaustive need to show dedication to work to the exclusion of one’s own happiness.
Luckily for Akira, a zombie apocalypse—nevermind how it began—frees him from an otherwise dreary existence as a salaried zombie going through the motions of life.
The zombie apocalypse forces an epiphany on Akira: he’s completely free. True freedom: no work, bills, or dependents. He even manages to shed the last vestige of work by confessing his crush to his now-zombie female coworker.
But if a zombie apocalypse show isn’t about survival, then it needs to have some other goal, something against which the protagonist struggles.
That’s where the bucket list comes in. Perhaps accepting his eventual zombie fate, Akira creates a bucket list of things he wants to accomplish or experience before his zombification.
The antagonists of the series are later revealed to also have their own lists, and contrary to Akira’s relatively tame bucket list, these antagonists have more debased desires.
The friends Akira makes along the way contribute to the group dynamic through their very contrasting personalities. His best friend, for example, wants to become a comedian, and while the zombie apocalypse allows him to switch careers, his audience is now drastically reduced.
For many, a zombie apocalypse marks the end of the world, but for Akira in Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto (Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead), a zombie apocalypse marks the beginning of freedom: freedom from an exploitative boss and work, freedom from responsibilities, and freedom to enjoy one’s life to the fullest. Those millions of zombies and the threat they pose are but a small hindrance to that life.
Read reviews of other anime series below.
- Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umarekawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou (Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon)
- Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu (The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today)
- Rougo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-manmai no Kinka wo Tamemasu (Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement)
