Tag: Is This a Zombie?

Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead OVA

Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead OVA

Flea Market Challenge

As I suspected, I had already watched the Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead OVA years ago. I guess wherever I watched this series included the OVAs along with the series. I very clearly remember thinking that this episode was the final episode of the second season, not an OVA.

The reason I remember it so distinctly is that the episode ends with an uncensored shot of Haruna where we can see through her shirt and she’s not wearing a bra. I always thought it was odd that this would be allowed in a TV series.

But, now that I know this episode is actually an OVA, it makes a lot more sense. Still, it’s a bit odd that Haruna was the one we see uncensored when you consider her body type and implied age.

Eu, Ayumu, and Sera setting up for the flea market from the Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead anime OVA
Eu, Ayumu, and Sera setting up for the flea market

The OVA episode starts off with Orito challenging Haruna to a flea market battle. The rules of this competition aren’t exactly clear. It’s implied that the winner is whoever sells more of their wares. But it’s also later implied that whoever makes the most money wins.

Why would Orito challenge Haruna to this competition in the first place, though? Well, he knows that if she’s challenged to literally anything, she’ll go all out in her attempt to win. And that’s exactly what he’s counting on her doing here.

Orito believes that in an attempt to win, Haruna will sell some of Sera’s underwear — which he’ll obviously buy from her. It didn’t quite work out as Orito was expecting, but he did come away with one of Sera’s tanktops. Considering his reaction, he probably views that as a success.

Marketing 101

As Ayumu goes around to different booths at the flea market, he notices that all of the successful booths have something in common: sex appeal. This is true of Sera’s booth, Taeko’s booth, Yuki’s booth, and Saras’s booth. What’s being sold matters less than who’s selling it.

Of course, there’s a bit more to it than just who the seller is. What the seller is wearing also plays a big role. Sera was wearing a low-cut shirt, Taeko’s shirt could be seen down when she bent over, Yuki was wearing a bikini top, and Saras had girls in bunny suits selling lewd prints of herself.

Even after Haruna lowered the prices on all of her goods, she still wasn’t getting any customers. So, naturally, Ayumu is going to suggest that Haruna utilizes her sex appeal just like everyone else. But, he quickly realizes that Haruna has none.

Yuki Yoshida selling ramen at the flea market from the Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead anime OVA
Yuki Yoshida selling ramen at the flea market

Overall, I’d say that this first half of the episode was very average. There wasn’t anything wholesome or heartwarming. There wasn’t really much comedy. And there was very little ecchi. Without those things, what does Is This a Zombie? have going for it?

I think this OVA falls into the same trap as the first OVA, which is that it’s kind of just a worse version of the main series. OVAs generally don’t progress the plot of their respective series. So unless they add something the main series can’t, they end up just feeling like worse episodes that were cut from the main series.

But, what can an OVA do that the main series can’t? In the case of an ecchi series like this, the OVA can go all-in on the ecchi content. We got a little bit of uncensored content at the end of the episode, but adding more throughout is something that would set the OVA apart from the series.

Physical Assessment Day

The second half of the episode was better than the first. Not only was this because it was more ecchi-focused, but also because it had a “unique” premise in Ayumu sneaking into the female physical assessment while invisible.

I say “unique” because a male character using the fact that they’re invisible to spy on female characters isn’t actually unique. But it’s more unique than the first half of the OVA because it involves magic. The first half has nothing magical about it. It’s just a flea market.

Again, though, this half of the episode could have gone in a more ecchi direction. But, that doesn’t mean that it needed to feature uncensored content, despite what I previously said about uncensored ecchi content making the OVA stand out more.

An invisible Ayumu watches Mihara stretching from the Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead anime OVA
An invisible Ayumu watches Mihara stretching

Really, adding any more ecchi beyond just the girls stretching while wearing their gym uniforms could have added to this portion of the episode. Did we need to see all three girls doing the same stretches? Couldn’t they have each done something different to add more variety?

And although it’s cliché, having Ayumu go into the girls’ locker room while invisible would have been a great way to add more ecchi content here. That would be a natural way to include ecchi shots of the girls wearing things other than their gym uniforms.

I do have to admit, though, that this content was definitely better than the majority of the content in the season 1 OVA. The season 1 OVA had a higher peak in terms of good content. But this season 2 OVA was far more consistent — in a good way.

The only thing it was missing was a scene to make me laugh. It didn’t really succeed as a comedy.

Conclusion

The Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead OVA — also known as Is This a Zombie? Of the Dead: Yes, This Suits Me Just Fine) is a 6/10. It’s better than the first OVA, but not good enough to actually break into the “good” tier of 7/10. It’s enjoyable for what it is.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

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Is This a Zombie? OVA

Is This a Zombie? OVA

Not as Good as I Remember

Apparently, I’ve watched the Is This a Zombie? OVA in the past and just never marked it off on MyAnimeList. I’m guessing that means I watched it before I began using MyAnimeList and simply didn’t think I’d watched it when I was going through and adding anime.

But, since I didn’t realize I’d watched this OVA before until I got to the second of the two episodes, I rewatched it all anyway. I really didn’t remember a single thing from the first episode. However, I distinctly remembered certain parts of the second episode.

The big thing that stood out to me while watching this OVA, though, was that I didn’t find it nearly as entertaining as I remembered. Of course, this could simply be due to the fact that these were OVA episodes and not main series episodes.

Eu, Sera, and Ayumu stealing a recipe from Haruna from the Is This a Zombie? anime OVA
Eu, Sera, and Ayumu stealing a recipe from Haruna

Some of the scenes I still think are good. For example, the scene in which they’re playing Karuta with death flag lines is funny. The premise of the game itself is entertaining. But I also liked how Ayumu and Orito were only motivated to keep winning so that they could sit across from girls in skirts.

That’s a good example of how to merge comedy and ecchi.

However, I don’t feel like much of the other comedy/ecchi content within the OVA landed. I may have disagreed with that sentiment 5+ years ago when I watched the series. But at this point in time, I didn’t find most of it funny.

I also noticed that a lot of gags got repeated even within just these two episodes. Most notably, Ayamu getting “impaled” by bamboo was a very common occurrence.

The Hunt for Nessie

The part of the OVA that I definitely remembered watching before was the pool scene with Haruna hunting for Nessie. Almost right from the start of this part of the episode, I remembered how it ended with Ayumu being stuffed inside an inflatable Nessie.

I don’t really know why I would remember this scene and not the karuta scene, which I think is better. But the whole pool/Nessie scene is still pretty good. It’s not as funny as the karuta scene, in my opinion. However, it’s still funny and has a wholesome ending to it.

The funny part comes from all the distractions that get in Ayumu’s way as he’s trying to help Haruna. My favorite of these distractions is when Hiramatsu asks Ayamu to help her put lotion on.

Eu wearing a school swimsuit from the Is This a Zombie? anime OVA
Eu wearing a school swimsuit

So, let me defend why I think this part of the second episode was genuinely funny. First of all, there’s just the absurdity that Ayumu would ignore Haruna to put lotion on Hiramatsu. And second, Ayumu can’t go in the sunlight, but still does to his own detriment because he wants to put lotion on Hiramatsu so badly.

I don’t know what else to tell you. It’s funny.

But then, we get to the end of this part of the episode, and the tone changes. It’s revealed that Haruna and Eu want to be friends with each other, but are too shy to say as much. That’s when the episode turns from ecchi to wholesome, and I actually liked that.

Part of the problem I have with this OVA is that there are a lot of times when it feels like it’s trying too hard to be funny. And that tends to be combined with ecchi content in it. Rather than forcing comedy that isn’t actually funny, there’s nothing wrong with transitioning away from the comedy for a bit. It can actually be beneficial.

Eu’s Birthday

The end of the second episode focuses more on this wholesome content, though I still don’t think it’s particularly good. I do like Eu and seeing her get to celebrate her birthday with her friends is nice. But I’d say it’s just alright as far as content goes.

What I forgot until the very end, however, is why Eu doesn’t speak. As I said, it’s been years since I last watched this series. So when I was watching the OVA, I was just thinking that Eu didn’t speak for a non-disclosed reason.

But, no, that’s not the case. The reason Eu doesn’t speak is actually that her words cast powerful spells. We see this when she says “goodnight,” or whatever it was she said, and everyone in the room instantly falls asleep.

Eu holding one of her birthday presents from the Is This a Zombie? anime OVA
Eu holding one of her birthday presents

So, why doesn’t Eu speak? Because she’s afraid of the power of her words. If she got mad and told someone to go away, they would literally leave — and that’s not really what Eu wants even if that’s how she felt in the moment.

Why am I bringing this up? Because I felt that this was the only part of the OVA that reminded me that there was actually more going on in the main series than just gags. All the characters have their own problems and things they’re going through.

Yeah, sure, they’re generally not very deep because this is still an ecchi comedy at the end of the day. But, I do like that there’s more going on with these characters than them purely being used for gags.

Conclusion

I’ll probably review the OVA for the second season of Is This a Zombie? in the coming weeks (maybe next week?). I don’t know if I’ve already watched it. But I’ll review it independently either way.

Overall, I’d say the Is This a Zombie? OVA is a 5/10. I like some parts, but there are just as many parts that I didn’t like. So as a whole, I have no strong opinions about it. That’s also 2 points lower than I rated the series years ago.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to click the like button down below. Also, follow me over on Twitter @DoubleSama so you don’t miss out on any future content. And come join our Discord server if you’re interested in discussing anime with other members of the community.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and Toma for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about how you too can become a supporter of this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Is This a Zombie?

Is This a Zombie?

Is This a Zombie? anime cover art featuring the Magical Garment Girl Haruna
Is This a Zombie? Cover Art

Overview

Is This a Zombie? is officially listed under the categories of romantic comedy, magical girl, and harem, but in reality, it’s a comedy that makes fun of a bunch of different genres. The most obvious of these is the magical girl genre which is one I enjoy considering it was my start in anime.

This anime has it all. It has zombies, magical girls with chainsaws, ninja vampires, necromancers, and normal people too I suppose. What more could you ask for?

The general plot is that Ayumu was killed by a serial killer and brought back to life as a zombie by a necromancer. After that, he continued to come in contact with other strange people and monsters. That’s basically it. The plot is fairly loose so the show can essentially do whatever it wants.

Characters

Ayumu Aikawa is the protagonist who was murdered and then brought back as a Zombie. As a zombie he can use over 100% of his body’s power to fight, but also must avoid the sun or risk drying out.

While trying to live his best life as a zombie, he is then forced into becoming a magical garment girl whose job is to fight monsters called Megalos. Unfortunately for him, there is no male outfit for magical garment girls.

While all this is going on, he still has to play the role of a regular high school student as well.

Eucliwood Hellscythe (Eu) is the necromancer who brought Ayumu back as a zombie. She’s mute for the most part, having very few lines throughout the series. Instead, she writes messages on a notepad which she holds up.

Eu is Ayumu’s main love interest and since she doesn’t speak, he often imagines her responding to him in ways contrary to how she actually responds.

Haruna is the genius magical garment girl who wields the chainsaw Mystletainn. Her magical garment girl abilities were absorbed by Ayumu causing her to not be able to fight the Megalos, so Ayumu was forced to use Mystletainn in her place. Although she is a child genius, she is still a child and shows it through her excessive chunibyo, much like Megumin from KonoSuba.

The final of the main group is Seraphim. She’s a ninja vampire who serves Ayumu although she frequently hurls verbal abuse in his direction. I don’t like her character as much as the others so I don’t really have much else to say about her.

Ayumu Aikawa as a Magical Garment Girl from the anime Is This a Zombie?
Ayumu Aikawa as a Magical Garment Girl

Conclusion

After I watched the first season I wasn’t really sure what to make of the anime since it was so all-over-the-place. However, after watching the second season I decided that I did really enjoy it and so I have to give it a 7/10 for being entertaining. My favorite parts definitely involved Haruna, as I’m always a fan of comedic relief lolis and magical girls.

I would recommend this anime to anyone who likes comedy or satirical anime, but even if the satire is lost on you, it’s still a fun watch.

My review of the Is This a Zombie? OVA is available now.