Review of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

I honestly forgot about this show after Summer, probably in no small effort of the delay that only ended until a few days ago. While I do think the delays the show suffered from hindered it's popularity, I won't be using those delays as a con for the inherent qualities of the show, as it doesn't really hold any inherent reason for the quality of the show. Being honest though, even if I were to count it as a con it would hardly matter because this is one of the best seasonals to date. If there is one word, one theme, that defines this show, it's Freedom. Notthe kind that's preached about by Attack on Titan, but pure, unadulterated freedom to do what you want, when you want.

The 1st episode is by far the best indicator of that. The episode spends most of the time badgering and destroying Akira through the toxic corpo environment of Japan, shackling him and imprisoning him through the hellish work ethics and quotas, his habits and supportive crutches slowly being stripped away to the point where he's just a cog in a machine fueled by blood, sweat, and tears, a common thing in the country. By the time the zombie pandemic hits, Akira finds the strength to unshackle every chain that held him down to the mundane and menial life he in order to experience the freedom to do whatever he wants and enjoy life to the fullest, starting small, and getting ever higher with his ambitions.

The visuals, animation and sound at the first episode more than the serve that purpose too. The vivid focus of color, the bombastic and frantic animation through multiple camera perspectives and how dynamic it all feels, all while supported with a high energy score alongside the catharsis of not having to go through the hell that was his job anymore. It's an immensely satisfactory first impression and thankfully it carries that same energy throughout the rest of the season. While the animation hasn't technically reached the same heights in later episodes, it still holds extremely well and it's hardly a con to be against the show.

The characters and story are fairly great too, Akira himself is super endearing, and you can see how infectious his personality and will to live life with no regrets not just with Kencho and Shizuka, but with every character he comes across. While he's not perfect, his qualities stand in contrast to the general mood a zombie apocalypse typically brings and it shows. He's an optimist in a world full of pessimists, and through his personality, he helps people change their perspective of the world, and help them pursue what they truly want in life. Beatrix is a bit of an outlier, given she joined a bit too late in the season, but from what limited screetime she had, she too has somewhat the same development as the others.

It's not as though there isn't any antagonistic force however, Akira finds himself subjugated by past demons, and through the friends and support he nourished along the way, he was able to overcome then, just like how he supported his friends and helped them overcome their troubles to live life to the fullest.

Then, we move on to the final episodes, where the main characters not only fight off the seemingly thematic parallel versions of themselves, but in the sides, a battle of Freedoms, specifically, Positive vs Negative Freedom, is being waged. And it makes a lot of sense, especially once the main characters entered the village. Through the characters sense of community and support, they were able to deter Higurashi, his cronies, and the zombies that came to ravage the village.

Kencho won against the worst husband of the year because unlike him, he knows how to treat people correctly, and not expect anything in return, as seen in his cabaret days and now with the girl he tried to save. Shizuka won against the fatty because he wasn't willing to work with others, or even commit to learning anything about his work, while she had devoted herself to working with the community, and in turn the community helped her. Beatrix won against Toko because she respects the people and their differing ways of doing things, unlike her, who tried to project her perfect way of doing everything.

And finally, Akira won against Higurashi, because unlike Higurashi, Akira had the support of his family and community to support him and his dreams. Higurashi was the embodiment of negative freedom, acting in a way that harmed others, serving only himself, while Akira was the embodiment of positive freedom, acting in a limited manner, but never harming others, and serving himself and the people he cares about. In the end, he is defeated because he's alone, and his self-serving actions amounted to nothing, and it never satisfied him. While the show does do the annoying thing like Demon Slayer where they do give him a sob story in an effort to sympathize with him, they never explicitly treat him like a person that was wronged. All of it was his fault, and he recognized it all too late.

Beyond that, I don't think I have any major gripes with the show. Besides the fact Kana-Boon sung the op (I don't like them, blame Silhouette for that), lorebuilding regarding other survivors make it seem like that outside the main characters, antagonists, and the village characters, the people in the city are deemed like idiots in an apocalypse, and maybe you can be a bit pissy to the fact they pulled a bait and switch regarding Akira's dad, then honestly, it's a near perfect show.

I don't think zombie shows will ever outheal the damage Hollywood caused on the genre back in the early 2000s-2010s, as it stands it's still a really bloated genre with too many awful picks overshadowing any genuinely good stuff. But Zom 100 is one of those good ones. It takes the ironic memes about how weebs and gamers would survive the zombie apocalypse and revels in it, wrapped tightly in a neat bow about how your personal freedoms are the most important thing, and you shouldn't let trivialities like society or a zombie apocalypse stop you from doing the things you want to do.

It's an amazingly fun piece, and I hope despite the delays it had, it gets picked up to get another season.