The usual mornings. The usual music. The usual self. For seven girls, a peaceful life was all of a sudden destroyed. All at the hands of zombies, dead things that somehow remained moving. Now they step into a new world, whether they liked it or not. A “zombieworld” that represented both the best and the worst. The seven girls had only one wish: “We want to live.” – ANN
Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation (Simuldub premieres Oct. 28th)
Episodes: 12
Source: Original
Episode Summary: Sakura loves watching idol performances and is looking forward to submitting her application to become an idol. Unfortunately, on her way out the door to mail it in, she’s hit by a truck. She wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings during a raging thunderstorm, and is soon pursued by other frightening figures in the darkness. Sakura escapes the house and encounters a police officer, but his reaction to her appearance isn’t encouraging. When she sees her own reflection, it becomes clear; she’s in the same state as the zombie-like creatures who chased her away.
Sakura is collected by Tatsumi, a flamboyant and eccentric man who claims to be putting together an idol group. The other threatening creatures are undead women from throughout idol history, brought back to life for this very purpose. Aside from Sakura, all the others behave as typical zombies would, mindlessly shuffling throughout the room and occasionally biting one-another. Considering these unusual circumstances, Sakura believes this whole “idol” business to be complete folly. Nevertheless, Tatsumi has signed them all up for a live performance at a local death metal festival. Having never practiced any songs or routines the performance is still an unlikely success; it seems that the zombies still retain some inherent sense of rhythm, and their horrifying death screams fit right into the atmosphere. The performance also seems to have had another benefit – the mental stimulation has “awakened” most of the other girls, who are now able to function like Sakura.
Impressions: Prior to this season, this series was sort of a question mark for me. Being so close to Halloween, the Autumn season always puts me in the mood for spookier content, so a decent zombie-focused series is always going to be a welcome addition to the mix. Idol series really aren’t my typical flavor, however; I’ve mentioned before that I have some mixed feelings about the Japanese idol industry generally, and while animated versions by their nature tend to remove a lot of that baggage the subject matter in general still leaves me wary. The first episode of this series is actually a pretty accurate approximation of my general ambivalence toward its concept – a combination of humorous and problematic elements that I suspect will find much more solid footing with other anime fans than it does with me.
This first episode is actually fairly funny, which is a feat that not a lot of anime can match, in my opinion. The concept itself is absurd and ridiculous; its inherent goofiness and the decidedly unscientific nature of Sakura’s predicament accounts for a lot of the more laughable moments throughout the episode. The contrast between Sakura’s relative sentience and the other characters’ more typical zombie-like behavior provides for a lot of dissonant humor, especially since Tatsumi is entirely unwilling to acknowledge the fact that the rest of his idol group is operating on instinct and animal nature. They’re clearly not in any shape to pursue the absolutely bizarre task he’s laid out for them all, which provides some decent tension as we watch the story unfold. One has to marvel at the fact that someone thought to combine both the horror and idol genres in such a peculiar way. I suspect it’s an intentional parody of the way in which the anime industry (and many other entertainment industries, to be honest) tends to take a successful story concept and wring every possible variation out of it until the fandom has had its fill (and sometimes even beyond).
Physical gags are also a big part of what makes this opener successful and memorable. The episode begins with a truly startling sequence as Sakura rushes out to the street only to be slammed into by a passing truck. In the next several cuts she flies through the air while the screaming death metal soundtrack bellows its guttural accompaniment. The juxtaposition of the split-second horror of the main character’s accident with the viewers’ initial expectation of something more cutesy and mundane works well to define the remainder of the experience. There are also several other gags related to the customary inability of zombies to die (or to die again). Sakura is shot by a police officer (completely ineffectual), bitten by one of her new cohorts (also ineffectual – but annoying to her on a personal level), and head-bangs onstage with her companions to the point that their necks snap loose (harmless fun if you’re a zombie!). The sheer ridiculousness of both concept and execution works to the episode’s benefit.
It’s as the episode goes on that its more uncomfortable aspects start to surface. To be honest, I’m not a fan of Tatsumi’s character – not because of his personality, so much as what the implications of his actions have to the power dynamics of the characters. All Sakura really wants is some details regarding her situation, as anyone would; if I were brought back from the dead I’d need to know how and why. Tatsumi has an evasive non-answer to every one of Sakura’s questions and always manages to find a way to behave eccentrically and dodge her inquiries. I think this is meant to be funny, and in a vacuum his character is definitely pretty humorous. But consider this – he literally holds the lives of the other characters in his hands, and this puts him in a prime position to manipulate their actions and ensure that they continue to be beholden to him. Sure, they may be zombies, but as the last minute or so of the episode proves, all they need to regain their humanity is a little bit of mental stimulation; treating them like non-entities to be used for entertainment and profit is a bit unsettling to me.
While I don’t want to commit the error of trying to map out this series’ trajectory too much, there’s a large part of me that wants to see it make good choices. The first episode is definitely entertaining, so if it could supplement its base humor with some comeuppance for Tatsumi and his controlling ways I’d definitely be fully on-board. I think its success with me as a viewer will ultimately depend on how much the series flies counter to its tropes. Will it question the whims of the manager forcing the girls to sing and dance according to his desires? Will the characters gain control of their own destinies? Or will it turn out to be just another idol series with a different coat of paint? It’s a tough question and perhaps not one that’s even being asked in the first place. I do hope that the series rides more than just a one-note gag to the finish line, because I really did enjoy its first outing. I definitely think there’s room for it to become something better, though.
Pros: The first episode is very funny, including some good physical humor. Interesting twist on the idol anime genre.
Cons: Tatsumi, the manager, introduces some uncomfortable power dynamics that are hard to ignore.
Grade: B-