And so Zombieland ends…or more that it just decided to drop off for a bit. The last few episodes decided to focus on Sakura with the first being her overzealous preparation for a big concert and Kotaro’s efforts to just get her to chill out and relax, the second being the return of her memories with a new problem that the last episode ends up resolving. We did get at least some answers as to some of the overarching mysteries of the series but those answers certainly are underwhelming. FOr one it appear that the manager really was doing this all for Sakura’s sake and seemed to know her in his school days. At the return of Sakura’s memories many were theorising that her death was actually suicide and not the truck along with other rather dark theories. Personally I never thought it would go that way considering that the show generally has played as lighthearted as possible with the deaths of many of the franchuchu members being on the silly side.
Really Sakura’s problem basically boils down to cosmically incredible bad luck as anything she ever tried hard at resulted in her failing due to random coincidence. The universe certainly has it out for this girl and it’s likely her bad luck will result in many a incident to episodes to come. Yes, this is certainly not the end of this show as the ending itself just feels like a typical halfway point end. Considering Blu-ray sales and general reception it’s likely to get a second season but if it does I would say that I wouldn’t be all the stoked for one. Zombieland Saga certainly started with potential but much like I feared as the idol elements got introduced the show eventually became another idol show. The nature of the idols being zombies mattering less and less as the series progressed with it mainly just being used as a story device for backstory of the week.I know that sounds like I am brushing off a lot but having seen Love Live this formula is rather familiar.
That being each member getting there own episode that happens to deal with some personal problem which is overcome by episodes end with them ending on a song with them as the headliner. Simplifying it down but for any idol show that is business as usual and it is rather sad to see a show that was originally unpredictable turn into something so formulaic. I will say that what it ended up being didn’t ruin it completely as the show itself can be fun but it is disappointing in that it had the potential to be better but settles for the more unremarkable yet profitable option. If there is a second season I can easily see it doing the episodic character focused stories with the regular old idol training arcs and silly episodes. Which can be fun for some but for myself I just find myself drifting away from the series much like I did with love live. After all, I never finished Love Live. I stopped watching around the second season and never found the time or motivation to get back to it. Not out of hating the show as it was surprisingly entertaining but it was more just general apathy. So if there is a second season of Zombieland, I very much suspect to drift off it much like I did with Love live.
I also think that the comedy was getting in the way of actual serious parts, especially with Sakura. It would have been better if she was depressive because she was the one fucking things up instead of sudden broken legs to be the cause of everything. It feels too silly at that point, I mean the flashback happened during a depression arc.
Kinda sad about the wasted potential too. I also wonder why they’re all so good at singing pop music all of a sudden when the first episodes where all about showing how comically bad and estranged this group was. Kinda tired of all these first-episodes-bait series.
It was still above average though and I liked the twist I feel I should have seen coming, considering that everyone but Sakura (and Tae) is some well known idol. That should have been a hint as well as all of them being from Saga save for Ai, who was coincidentally Sakura’s favorite idol. My theory was that Tae was actually Sakura’s best friend in that case. It would explain why it’s forbidden for them to talk about their past (due to memory loss and being unable to speak), but considering that Sakura didn’t react to Tae after getting her memory back Tae is probably related to that bar keeper guy who seems to be the big boss here.
Guess my interest in s2 will depend on how formularic it is. If they should start with episodic stuff again I will break off (I especially hated that Snow episode that felt like a stupid filler near the end), otherwise it could be quite good.