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Most zombie stories treat the apocalyptic scenario as a bad thing. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead goes in the opposite direction by depicting it as the best thing to happen in the life of its protagonist, Akira Tendo (Shuichiro Umeda). Before the zombies arrive, Akira spends three years working at a black company. He constantly works overtime. He deals with rude and oblivious clients as well as a harsh supervisor. He falls in love with a co-worker named Saori Ohtori (Sora Amamiya), only to find out that she’s having sex with their company’s CEO behind close doors. Akira becomes so mentally and physically drained that he considers committing suicide at some points. It’s an incredibly bleak setup but it’s necessary in order for the show’s real premise to work. Once the zombies show up, you get why Akira is overjoyed. The world may be ending but at least Akira doesn’t have to work his crappy job anymore. In a weird and twisted sense, he’s finally free.
Of course, now that he doesn’t have to work anymore, the question Akira asks himself is what he should do with his newfound free time (apart from surviving, I mean). The first thing Akira decides to do is check up on Saori. Once he reaches Saori’s apartment however, Akira discovers that both her and their boss have been infected. Akira gets the satisfaction of telling the boss he’s “quitting” and putting the undead man out of his misery. The revelation of Saori’s infection proves to be more bittersweet as all Akira can do is belatedly confess his feelings to her and run away, completely leaving this chapter of his life behind.
After “meeting” with Saori, Akira “buys” a notebook at a convenience store and jots down a bucket list of things to do before he dies (either the normal way or the zombie apocalypse way), hence the show’s title. It’ll be interesting to see how the show fares from here. This first episode has superb setup and payoff but that screams to me as a one off approach and I can see the show veering completely towards the action and dark comedy shown in the second half of the premiere. Whether or not that can last a whole cour remains to be seen but this episode garners a lot of good will so I’m willing to delve a little further to find out.
Oddly enough, Zom 100 appears to be the debut production of studio BUG FILMS. Before this, they’ve only done assistant work for other studios. With that in mind, the production values and the direction in this premiere is really impressive. The animation is fluid, especially during Akira’s parkour segments. There’s a great transition from color to monochrome and back to color that accentuates Akira deteriorating over his job and his rejuvenation when the zombies help him get a “vacation”. My only nitpick is the use of letterboxing used for Akira’s flashback sequence. I’m just never a fan of it. That said, I do like how the show transitions back to “fullscreen” right when it depicts everything in color again and when Akira is “freed” from his work. For a fairly new studio, this premiere is one hell of a debut. I hope the animators can keep this up for the rest of the show.
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Watch Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead on Crunchyroll, Hulu, and Netflix
Xenodude Scribbles 