Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead – 5 [Hero of the Dead]

Welcome all, to another week of Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead! This is a late post no doubt, just a bit of a downer week for me. I’ll catch up eventually. Or burn out in a ball of fire. Whichever comes first really. Regardless, on with the episode!

First up we have some sad news, as Zom 100 is taking a break after this week. Most likely there are some production problems going on behind the scenes, schedules running amok, the usual anime thing. What’s interesting about that though is that this weeks episode is easily the best looking one since the premier. From a purely technical standpoint, this is the first one in almost a month to really move. From Akira running around in his super sentai shark suit to the shark itself barreling through the aquarium, the episode was filled with fun scenes. It’s the most fun I’ve had with the series in weeks, right down to the actual narrative of it as well. Part of it is that our leads seem to be on the move again, rather then stagnating on a rooftop, which is nice. But the production certainly helps too!

Speaking of narrative, one of my favorite things about this week is that it sees Akira and Shizuka reunited at last. I really enjoyed seeing them balance each other out again, their competing views on how to live their lives driving both of them to more moderate positions. Akira shows Shizuka how to live in the moment, how to truly desire something and move towards it, basically how to make what life you have left fulfilling. Shizuka meanwhile shows Akira how to survive long enough to actually get to what he wants, showing him the importance of planning ahead and how dangerous just YOLOing things can be. Basically Akira knows how to survive mentally while Shizuka knows how to survive physically. It’s a dynamic that I think Zom 100 has been missing for a bit, and part of why it felt a bit lacking in the previous episodes.

And this isn’t just an “in the moment” thing. I think both of them end up taking the lesson to heart, as we can see at the end of the episode when Akira throws her words back at her. He didn’t rush out to protect just anyone, leaving those precious to him behind. She is someone precious to him, meaning his actions were justified by even her own standards. As for Shizuka, she actually responds to this, clearly being affected on some level by someone else showing concern for her. It’s a nice little bit of measurable progress in their relationship, something we can point to at the end of the episode and go “See, things aren’t the same!”. To me, that’s an important part of ensuring Zom 100 doesn’t just become some kind of episodic comedy.

As for the action, I already said it was fun, if a bit stupid. The super sentai outfit was cute, as was Akira trying to get back his childhood dream and sense of wonder. I also like how Zom 100 is evolving their physical looks to show off their change, like with Kencho dying his hair blonde to a visible sign of his rebellion against the system. It’s nothing terribly new or creative, no doubt you’ve seen plenty of “Cut my hair I’m a new person” scenes in other anime. But it being done a lot doesn’t mean it isn’t effective, plus I just like Kencho with blonde hair more. It also helps that the super sentai suit was creative, as was their justification for why it’s actually safe to use against the zombies. Is it a bit silly? Yeah. But Zom 100 is a bit silly, so it fits.

The one place I think Zom 100 took thing a bit to far was the shark. Don’t get me wrong, it looked great and once we got into it the shark was funny. But this thing with the legs of the divers combining with it to allow it to walk/run on land was… Well even the characters call that out as bullshit. It just felt a bit off when there were much more justifiable threats that could have come up. Stuff like zombie divers in the suits, or a big strong guy since we already know zombies keep the traits they had in life. If Zom 100 wants to go down the road of Zombieland silliness then be my guest, that’s still fun. I’m just not sure how well it will balance with the more serious bits it’s trying to sprinkle in as well.

So yeah, all in all this was a fun episode of Zom 100 and it revitalized some of my interest in the show. The delay is a shame, I’m concerned about what the second half of the season will be like. But I’ll gladly accept more time if it leads to a better product, I don’t mind waiting. Helps that I have to many shows to blog as is.