Zombie Land Saga

Episode 4

In the spirit of reviving things that should be long dead already, Zombie Land Saga dives into the steamy waters of the obligatory hot springs episode! However, it's all in the name of good business. Idol necromancy comes with a fair amount of overhead, and Kotaro's coffers (and presumably coffins) have run dry, so he's booked the girls as entertainment for Saga's largest pharma company. What could possibly go wrong? If you guessed “a lot,” then congrats, you're fluent in zombie idol comedies.

One thing I'm glad this episode brings up (because I didn't have room to fit it into last week's writeup) is the girls' zombification as commentary on the idol industry. All art is political to varying degrees, but zombies especially have been vehicles for social commentary and satire ever since their inundation into popular culture—just look at how much has been written on Night of the Living Dead. Kotaro makes a pointed comment about how easily idols burn out, and then follows it up by saying he can overwork the (un)living daylights out of our heroines because they're all already dead! They don't have to sleep. They don't age. They can put themselves back together if they break. In a way, being undead makes them the perfect idols, which should hopefully give some viewers pause. Kotaro himself, while exaggerated, is a believably buffoonish and crass portrait of a producer/manager, never hesitating to belittle the girls (they're always zombies first, not idols). Even beyond the scope of idols, the fear that the girls will be outed as zombies if they're seen without makeup draws a pretty damning parallel to absurd beauty standards for the industry. It's nice to see these satirical facets emerge from the subtext, and I hope the show explores these avenues beyond simply mentioning them.

That aside, this was another reasonably funny and entertaining venture for the newly-christened Franchouchou (actually Franchouchou was the name of the doctor, you're thinking of Franchouchou's monster). Kotaro's shtick remains unchanged, but Mamoru Miyano continues to elicit laughter with his commitment to the bit. Beyond his decibel-oscillating tirades, I got a kick out of the sharp contrast between his tone with the girls and his tone with the pharma president. He can sound like a normal human being when he wants to. The girls, meanwhile, buoyed by the (relative) success of their guerilla concert and under the steadfast leadership of Saki, decide to put their all into making this next concert the best possible. And by that, I mean they go goof off as soon as Kotaro is out of sight.

Overall, this episode follows the thread of the girls coming to terms with their situation and growing closer as both co-idols and friends. They remark that being zombies does come with its upsides, since it would have been impossible for all of them to meet within their own lifetimes, much less form a regional idol troupe. Foot baths and window shopping strengthen their bonds, and in the long run that's more important than practice. I also appreciate that they made Saki their leader instead of defaulting to the protagonist. Out of all of them, she's the furthest from being what one would traditionally call an “idol,” but her leadership skills and boisterous personality naturally lend themselves to the position. I doubt any of the other girls would have slugged Kotaro right in the gut! She's a good fit for the the show's off-beat take on idols.

Zombie Land Saga further pokes fun at idol conventions by having the girls shill for a phony dermal patch. They have an entire scene where they ooh and aah amongst themselves over the rejuvenating effects of Saganship Z, and Kotaro later drops the whopper of a catchphrase “Songs for the soul. Saganship Z for the body. Now that's relaxation.” Just rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? This would smack of blatant product placement if Saganship Z existed, which it does not. They could have gotten away with making this part more exaggerated and thus funnier, but I guess I'll eat my words if some pharma company decides to manufacture Saganship Z with Zombie Land Saga branding. Their performance goes off without a hitch, however. The awful CG models return, but the saving grace is getting to see Tae's model shuffle around even more awkwardly than the janky movements of the girls' normal dance routine. And since their concert went so well, Saki of course jeopardizes everything by peer-pressuring Sakura into joining her and Junko in the hot spring. There are a couple of leering shots, but I'm actually pleased and impressed that the episode was less concerned about fanservice and more concerned about animating spooky zombie scenes to terrorize the pharma company president. Kotaro's not pleased, but the quest to save Saga is a long and winding road.

The sheen of Zombie Land Saga's initially outrageous concept is starting to wear off, but even without the element of surprise, its solid execution keeps it feeling fresh. Now that everyone's on board with the idol thing, I'm interested to see in what direction the show goes. It could hold the line and just be an idol show with a zombie twist, and that's probably enough to make it stand out. I'm hoping it continues to be more ambitious and more thoughtful with its satire, but I'll also be fine with it going completely off the rails a la Samurai Flamenco. Whatever path it takes, as long as it continues twisting bog-standard onsen scenes into decapitated zombie horror shows, I'll be a fan.

Rating: B+

Zombie Land Saga is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Steve is an anime-reviewing zombie who can be found making bad posts about anime on Twitter.