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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (TV).


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Tony K.
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Joined: 18 Nov 2003
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Location: Frisco, TX
PostPosted: Thu Jun 01, 2023 12:29 pm Reply with quote


Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (TV)

Source: Manga (ongoing @ 16 volumes, written by Haro Aso, illustrated by Kotaro Takata)

Demographic: Seinen

Animation Studio: Bug Films

Genres: action, comedy, drama, horror, slice of life

Themes: bucket list, post-apocalyptic, survival, workplace, zombies

Plot Summary: Surviving a zombie apocalypse beats being a wage slave any day. After spending years slaving away for a soul-crushing company, Akira's life has lost its luster. He lives in a trash-filled apartment, his pay is abysmal, and he can't even muster up the nerve to confess his love to his beautiful co-worker.

But when a zombie apocalypse ravages his town, it gives him the push he needs to live for himself. Now Akira's on a mission to complete all 100 items on his bucket list before he...well, kicks the bucket.

Air Date & Platform:
July 9, 2023 (Sunday)
Available on: Hulu, Netflix

Episode Count / Runtime: 12 episodes
----------------------------------

Looks very colorful from the key art, and sounds like it could be a fun show. I'm hoping some of the MC's bucket list items are slice-of-life-esque.


Last edited by Tony K. on Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:36 pm; edited 4 times in total
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23772
PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 9:37 am Reply with quote
Episode 1

Welp, I think the episode did a great job of convincing me that a zombie outbreak is, in fact, better than living as a Japanese wage slave. It totally put me in the mindset of the main character. I'm liking this a lot but I don't dig the rainbow paint splatter thing to represent blood. I get thematically why they are doing it but I like my kroovy to be red, red, red.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1912
PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 9:59 am Reply with quote
Damn, I expected it to be good, but not this good and not with such hard hitting animation either. I for one love the use of all those vivid colors when shit hits the fan. It makes for one hell of a stark difference between the dull unending hell that was his job and the now free life in which he can actually enjoy living and do all the things that he wants to do. Honestly, I can't even blame him, between the two I would choose for the zombie fest too, it would probably go horribly wrong, but atleast you will feel something besides eternal dread.

My favorite premiere of the season so far and I am looking forward to seeing more.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1121
PostPosted: Sun Jul 09, 2023 12:11 pm Reply with quote
smurky turkey wrote:
My favorite premiere of the season so far and I am looking forward to seeing more.

Ditto. if Shaun of the Dead and High School of the Dead somehow had sex while on hallucinogenics, this is what their love child would look like.

This is also the second new anime of the summer that I have truly high hopes for, If there was some kind of anime version of a Fantasy Football League, this one would definitely be my first draft pick.
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InfiniteJest



Joined: 22 Apr 2023
Posts: 136
PostPosted: Mon Jul 10, 2023 8:47 am Reply with quote
“if Shaun of the Dead and High School of the Dead somehow had sex while on hallucinogenics, this is what their love child would look like.”

I want to frame this.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1912
PostPosted: Tue Jul 11, 2023 11:23 am Reply with quote
I rewatched the episode and it really is amazing how many small details they put into one episode. It is also a nice bit of fresh air in a season that has a lot of mid anime in my opinion.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4082
PostPosted: Wed Jul 12, 2023 9:46 am Reply with quote
I got to admit, not many series start off with NTR... right, that's the reason, I have no follow up.

Zom 100 solved the slow v fast zombie debate, by having both but unlike other zom com roms, this show uses fast zombies to show off animation and slow zombies to save money. That's, uh, convenient.

Zom 100 really screwed the pooch, however, on the whole breakdown of society with its initial outbreak by focusing on a character who'd prefer to be dead than still be in his old life. The show went out of its way to show off the character's euphoria with all the multicolored blood at just being alive... after escaping work.

So he's insane and now we're stuck with his list of a hundred things to do before becoming a zombie.... did he have a list of a hundred things to do before becoming a wage slave or was this a thing brewing in his mind for the past three years? Do I care? I don't care, that's a problem.

And PreCOVID works really stand out, don't they? "I'd rather die in this job than walk away from it." It really takes a pandemic/epidemic/zombie outbreak to put things into perspective.

Not the worst thing I've seen this season... wait, it is. It did not age well. Definitely on the bottom of my Bucket List this season.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 23772
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 7:21 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

Zom(g), I kinda wanna marry this show. It is just so damn good. I love the humour, the action, the themes, the characters, the visuals (yes, I'm even getting used to the paint splotches "blood"). Talk about firing on all cylinders. Our protag has met his diametric opposite, which is awesome. He's resigned to eventually becoming a zombie and is compiling a list of 100 things he wants to do before the inevitable. She, on the other hand, is determined to avoid that fate and is assembling a list of 100 things to do/avoid to make sure her slammin' bod doesn't go all undead. Perfect. Based on the ED, it seems like he'll meet more peeps and go on a road trip. Can't wait.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1912
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 8:55 am Reply with quote
In a weird way it kind of seems like it is a slice of life anime during a zombie outbreak. Sure, people were/are getting chomped, but judging from the op and ending some friends are being made in the future. The mc's list of things to do can be seen as friendly outings, though a bit less safe than in a regular slice of life. Very interesting in this episode is the clear difference in how people can act in a zombie outbreak. You can enjoy survival while it lasts or try to play it as safe as possible. Given that the outbreak seems to be happening worldwide I do not see it ending happily though.

I still love how the anime looks/feels/acts, though there is a slight drop in animation quality this week. The op also surprised me in how much footage from episode 1 was in it.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1121
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 10:21 am Reply with quote
Yosh! I'm loving this! The female lead is awesome (kudos to the hat tip to zombie land BTW), and the way she contrasts the protagonist leaves lots of room for character interaction. I dunno if the show is a slice of life with bells and whistles like Smurky said, but I do know that watching the...technically insane? Obviously insane? Anyhow, I find the way the protagonist is merrily skipping through devastating scenes of loss and carnage oddly life affirming somehow.
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Animegomaniac



Joined: 16 Feb 2012
Posts: 4082
PostPosted: Sun Jul 16, 2023 11:44 am Reply with quote
Episode 2

The series not only points out it has both fast and slow zombies, it says it has them because they both show up in movies. OK?

The truck scene was dumb as truck; a truck being randomly driven by a zombie a quarter a mile away? "I can use this." No, you can't. You can't, end of deus ex machina.

I did laugh at "A survivor!", mostly because of his utter failure to think as much when he met up with his neighbors. "I'm doing a beer run, you want anything?"
"Yeah, instant ramen and some tp but it has to be 2 ply." Oh COVID, you so crazy.
They got what they deserved... wait a minute...
Is karma on vacation?
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 8:51 am Reply with quote
Edited to remove yet another misplaced spoiler tag.

Episode 3 and some specific details thereof:

Okay, so I've realized that strict attention to physics isn't what this show is about, and I haven't had any quibbles up to now...but I seriously want to know...how am I supposed to believe that Kencho stripped his shoes, socks, pants, buttoned up shirt, and boxers off while in a dead run from zombies who were one foot behind him the entire time? I get that it was a way of him symbolically freeing himself from his past, but the show should have a little mercy on those of us who can get hung up on small details.

That aside, one of the best things about this show is that I honestly didn't know if Kencho was going to make that leap across the building or not. I mean, I thought he was probably the blond guy in the Opening sequence, and that he'll dye his hair at some point, but this show veers so erratically between comedy and tragedy that it seemed equally possible that he would die in an anti-climactic bubble burst after all that build-up. I love that.

Looks like the emptiness of modern life isn't just going to be a theme restricted to our MC since Kencho was also reduced to an empty shell, and he was a success story instead of a blatant victim.

I'm a little curious about what was going on in that....bar? that people were defending. Or since the blonde guy was on a bulletin board with his finger over his lips, and it was in the same district as Kencho,, should I assume it was some kind of fancified love hotel? Wait..spoiler[.is he going to provide the stage for Kencho to begin his stand-up career?]

Who knows? Well, I guess people who have read the manga and/or light novel that this anime is based on do.

Still loving this show.
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smurky turkey



Joined: 30 Jan 2022
Posts: 1912
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 9:28 am Reply with quote
Yeah, it seems like the theme of being free and doing what you want is not limited to just Akira. Now Kencho is free to do comedy as much as he wants (if he can find an alive audience) and no longer has to sell his soul every day. I love the friendship between the two and how much their college days meant to both of them. As for the removing of clothing and ball scraping, it seems like Kencho is going to be that character from now on.

Aside from that we had some more degeneracy this episode (I saw you, male zombie in a sailor outfit including skirt). As for the bar, I have no idea. Just like Akira his neighbors I have no idea if the people he meets show up later on again or if they are just one offs. I still stick with my slice of life opinion btw. I assume that each episode is going to be achieving items from the bucketlist and just enjoying life with friends.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 10:23 am Reply with quote
Episode 3

I had the same thought about Kencho's fate as you did, Edjwald. I genuinely had no idea if he would make it, but I was leaning towards him going splat. As for Blonde Guy, I'm pretty sure he's a male host, so the place they are defending is a bar, not a love hotel. I think Kencho was in a love hotel and maybe the bar is close by. Anyway, I was sad that the chick Akira (how fitting we saw an Akira the movie motorcycle slide shot this episode) met last week wasn't around but perhaps next episode. I'm also glad that Akira is not a typical anime shut-in protag. It's clear he did once have a normal social life it was just his hellish job that changed things.
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Edjwald



Joined: 03 Aug 2017
Posts: 1121
PostPosted: Sun Jul 23, 2023 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Oh yeah, I forgot about host clubs. I've seen them referred to in anime, obviously, but I've never watched an anime that was specifically about them, and I don't really understand the specifics.

Are they a male version of women who work in clubs and will sit and talk and flirt with a customer as long as the customer keeps buying drinks, but no sex?

Are they male escorts who will go out on a date with a customer, and sex is an option if both sides agree? (in theory).

Are they outright prostitutes who will sleep with a customer for money, purchased goods instead of a wink wink, nudge nudge kind of transaction?

Actually, why do I care? Those details aside, it looks like the customers who were being protected inside the bar might have survived, which is why I was wondering if this would become some kind of survivor center in future plotlines.


(Totally missed the reference to the bike in Akira)
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