Treehouse of the Dead

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9 was a good episode, overall. It gave us a bit more information on how the zombie apocalypse spread, which is great. But, it also introduced a trope I’m not exactly the biggest fan of.

Before we get to all that, though, we need to talk about the treehouse. On their way to Akira’s hometown, our heroes came across a tunnel that had been blocked off. This was done to trap zombies inside and protect the village on the other side.

As a result of this, Akira and his friends had to make their way around the tunnel by going through the forest. And this is where they met, and saved, Masaru Kumano. Masaru was being chased by a zombie boar. And after Beatrix saved him from it, he took the group to his home.

As we all should have assumed from the title, Masaru’s home is a treehouse. However, it’s not a completed treehouse. Masaru only recently arrived in this forest and hasn’t had the chance to complete it. But, Akira volunteers to help build the treehouse since it’s something on his bucket list.

So, why should we care about the treehouse? Well, it’s actually a great idea in a zombie apocalypse. Assuming zombies can’t climb ladders or trees, a treehouse provides decent protection. And, you could even build in a way to raise the latter to keep unwanted survivors out.

This scene also seems to include a bit of foreshadowing. When Akira asks Masaru about his son, Masaru reveals that his wife and son were zombified. And not only that, but Masaru had to put them down himself. To me, that was foreshadowing something Akira will have to do later.

Zombie Germ Theory

The most interesting part of the episode was the information we got about the infection. We learned a little more about how the infection works. Though, it’s still unclear how it began and the different ways it spreads.

This isn’t entirely new information, but we know symptoms of the infection are delayed. At least, in some cases. An earlier example came from Episode 4. The other guy hiding in the store with Akira, Kencho, and the flight attendants turned into a zombie. He was quiet and shaken up, but otherwise “fine” before then.

I don’t quite remember, but I think we saw that he had a bite mark prior to turning. So, we can assume the infection spread to him through a zombie bite. And, we know that the flight attendants became zombies in the same way. However, for them, the process happened much faster.

This idea of delayed symptoms came up again in Episode 9 during the flashback of the refugees. When entering the tunnel, one of the refugees suddenly turned into a zombie. We can assume he had a prior zombie bite. But, it’s not confirmed.

Then, later in the episode, we see Akira’s dad coughing up blood and saying to himself that he’s running out of time. The implication here is that he’s infected, but hasn’t turned yet. Though, it’s also possible that this is an intentional misdirection. He might be sick with some other ailment.

But, what if he’s infected? If that’s the case, I’d want to know how long ago his exposure to the virus was. And, I’d want to know if a zombie bit him. It doesn’t seem that a bite is the only way the infection spreads. Otherwise, the infection couldn’t have spread globally overnight.

Dueling Bucket Lists

Now we’re getting to the part of the episode that I didn’t like as much. At the end of the episode, we find out that there’s another group of four with a bucket list of things to do before they die.

But, the twist is that these people and this bucket list are the opposite of Akira’s group and their list. This new group features terrible people who want to see others suffer. They want to get back at the world they believe unfairly wronged them. And, their bucket list entries reflect that.

The leader of this group is Kanta. His name wasn’t revealed yet, but I looked it up because I wanted to be able to call him something. Anyway, Kanta hates society because he feels that it left him behind. He had trouble getting jobs he thought were worth his time and ended up becoming resentful.

Kanta is the kind of person who just wants to watch the world burn. But, what about his “friends?”

The woman in the group wants to burn down a company that insulted her. The large incel of the group wants to force himself on a woman. And, the fourth member of the group is a guy who wants to assault his wife.

As you can see, Kanta somehow managed to find a group of people who are just as messed up as he is. And now, it looks like they plan to unleash zombies on Akira’s village for the fun of it.

So, why do I hate this trope? I’m not interested in surface-level, opposing groups like this. Kanta’s group isn’t interesting (so far). His group isn’t anything more than the antithesis of Akira’s group. And, to me, that’s not how you write exciting antagonists.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9? Were you expecting Akira’s group to spend the night in the treehouse? Do you think Akira’s father is infected? And, how do you feel about the evil bucket list group? Let me know in the comments.

Akira already said he doesn’t want to see people become zombie food. So, I’m expecting things to turn out well for the evil bucket list group. They’ll see the error of their ways and become contributing members of the village. At least, that’s what I’m predicting will happen.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

Sushi of the Dead

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 8 finally introduces Beatrix Amerhauser. And, I’m not sure how I feel about her just yet. I was thinking that she would instantly be my favorite character. But, I’m going to need more time with her.

Beatrix is definitely good and about what I expected. Based on her appearance, it was obvious that she was going to be a foreigner. And, that combined with the samurai armor she wears, told me she was going to be obsessed with Japan. All of that information came only from her appearance.

Anyway, Beatrix only wants to do one thing when the rest of our heroes encounter her: eat sushi. The problem is that most of the skilled sushi chefs in the area didn’t survive the apocalypse. But, luckily, Beatrix knows where they can find one still holding out.

As long as they bring fish to the chef, he’ll make them all the sushi they can eat. So, that’s exactly what they do. After all, having an expensive sushi dinner was one of the entries on Akira’s bucket list. There was no way he was going to pass this opportunity up.

I kind of wonder what happened to the sushi chef after they all left, though. He didn’t go with them and he didn’t mention having anywhere else to go. All he said was that they could eat and drink as much as they wanted because they’d likely be his final customers.

And, that also got me thinking about how things are going to end for our heroes. Are they going to make it through the apocalypse? That’s the happy ending, of course. But, the series is about doing things before becoming a zombie. So, it could end with them being zombified, too.

Samurai of the Dead

I probably shouldn’t be surprised by the fact that Beatrix uses a naginata to slay zombies. She wears samurai armor, after all. So, it makes sense that she would also carry around a Japanese weapon. But, I was very surprised because none of the other characters do that.

Until we saw Beatrix cutting down zombies, I hadn’t even thought about how the others weren’t armed. They don’t have swords, or guns, or knives, or anything. All they use to fight are the objects they find around them, like bottles of alcohol, or their RV.

Akira has his shark suit, but that doesn’t help him slay zombies. It protects him from the zombies. But, he still fights them with his fists and feet. That can’t be easy. And, I’m left questioning how effective it would be. I have to assume you can’t knock out a zombie.

I guess I’m just so used to zombie series that take place in countries like the US. If a zombie apocalypse struck the US, there would be no shortage of weapons. Here’s a fun fact for you, in 2018, 46% of guns in circulation worldwide were in the US.

And, to put that further into perspective, there were over 120 guns for every 100 residents in the US. There are way more guns than people in the US. Why do you think so many zombie series feature every character packing heat? They’re made in the US.

But, Zom 100 takes place in Japan and has a Japanese creator. And if you know anything about Japan’s firearms laws, you’ll know they don’t have a lot of guns. So, it was interesting, for me, to suddenly notice the lack of weapons in this series. It’s a cool piece of culture showing through.

Hot Springs of the Dead

It should come as no surprise that the best part of the episode was the trip to the hot springs. After all, this was when Beatrix showed off her knowledge of Japanese history and customs. I actually liked this gag, even the third and fourth times it happened.

Of course, there may be another reason why you enjoyed the hot springs part of the episode. We got a little bit of fan service from both Beatrix and Shizuka. And, I’ll say that the Shizuka fan service was better, which I wasn’t expecting.

It was actually this part of the episode that made me like Shizuka more. Yes, the fan service played a role in this. But, this was also one of the few times that she’s acted in a cute way. Usually, she’s to the point and even a bit abrasive. Not this time.

As we should all know, Akira and Shizuka are destined to be together. I don’t know if that will ever come to pass. But, they’re framed as a future couple. And, at one point in the episode, Kencho also makes a comment about liking Beatrix. I wonder if they’ll end up together, as well.

But, anyway, going back to Beatrix, I liked that she didn’t care about sharing the bath with Akira and Kencho. In that situation, I’m totally with her. It’s the end of the world during a zombie apocalypse. Are you really going to care about who sees you in the hot spring?

It’s also not as though the members of this group haven’t been through things together by this point. They’ve all seen Kencho naked. They’ve all been traveling together in the heat without bathing. Might as well relax while you can.

Conclusion

What do you think of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 8? Do you like Beatrix? Do you like her more than Shizuka? Is she your favorite of the four main characters? Also, did this episode make you like Shizuka more than you previously did? Let me know in the comments.

For now, I’m going to say that I like Shizuka more. I want to like Beatrix more than Shizuka — she has some fun personality traits. But, Shizuka is cuter and that’s what matters most.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 9 is available now.

Truck Stop of the Dead

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 7 continues the truck stop arc. Am I the only one who didn’t care about this arc at all? Neither Episode 7 nor Episode 6 included any content I cared about.

Where are the zombie sharks and post-apocalyptic hijinks? I don’t want to watch Akira back in an abusive company. That’s not enjoyable. If I wanted that, I’d stay in the office and work overtime. I don’t need to go home and watch anime to experience it.

At the very least, the next episode seems like it’s going to be a good one. With a title like “Sushi & Hot Springs of the Dead,” how can it be bad? Well, I guess I do know one way it could be bad: If we don’t get Shizuka hot spring content.

If you actually enjoyed this truck stop arc, please let me know why in the comments. I genuinely don’t see anything worthwhile here. Is it because we finally got Shizuka’s backstory? Well, guess what? We could have gotten her backstory in a better arc. It didn’t have to be this one specifically.

Obviously, Akira’s old manager isn’t supposed to be a likable character. But, there wasn’t any payoff at the end of the episode after we suffered through his existence. Sure, all his followers left and took their trucks with him. And yeah, a zombie is definitely going to get him. But, is that enough?

Okay, so Akira didn’t want to see him get eaten. But, it could have been implied. I would have taken something simple like him being the bait so everyone else could escape. We didn’t even get that, though. So, I’m left feeling like we didn’t get a satisfying conclusion to the arc.

Shizuka’s Past

The only good thing to come out of Episode 7 is that we got Shizuka’s backstory. But, as I already said, we could have gotten this with a better episode. It’s not like it had to be this episode, even though there were some similar themes.

Yes, Akira’s relationship with his manager reminded Shizuka of herself and her father. I get that. But, we could have had a different abusive relationship remind her of the same thing. I’m over Akira’s work relationships. Hopefully, we don’t run into another one of his former coworkers at some point in the future.

Anyway, Shizuka’s past is about what you’d expect. She grew up as the daughter of a rich businessman and was expected to follow in his footsteps. What she wanted to do didn’t matter. All that mattered was that she did as she was told.

Also, let’s not pretend like Shizuka’s father wasn’t a comically bad guy. He had her puppy put down because it wasn’t included in his plan for her life. It’s kind of hard to sympathize with Shizuka when she went through stuff like that. Does that happen? Sure. Does that happen to very many people, not at all.

One thing I’m curious about now is what happened to Shizuka’s father. We didn’t get that information from this episode. But, maybe the next episode will tell us. Is he a zombie now? Does she know what happened to him? Does she even want to know?

I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t know and has no interest in finding out. As far as she’s concerned, he’s out of her life. And, if he is alive and she meets him later, won’t that be a repeat of this episode? I hope that doesn’t happen.

Back on That Bucket List Grind

By the end of the episode, Shizuka is on team bucket list. She’s based and bucket-list-pilled, as the kids would say. She even added to the list. Though, she hasn’t added any goals of her own to the list yet.

After watching Akira’s former manager order him around like a slave, Shizuka got fed up. The entry she wrote down was to “tell off my jerk of a boss,” which was obviously meant for Akira to do. And, after she gives Akira his list back, he does just that.

Now, I’ll say that Akira could have told off his old boss a bit more. He was too polite while doing so. And, I don’t mean the part when he was apologizing. The purpose of doing that was to patronize him. I mean that he could have said far meaner things.

Something this arc reinforced for me is that I don’t like Akira as a character. He’s too much of a pushover. And, when he’s not being bossed around, he doesn’t have much personality. I mean, just look at most of his bucket list entries. They’re generic and bland.

Oh, he wanted to grow a beard? Very cool. Ride a motorcycle? Confess to the girl he likes? Hang out with his best friend? Ride in an RV? These are all things that most people would consider part of their everyday lives. Fine, I haven’t ridden a motorcycle or in an RV. But, it’s not like either of those things is special.

Even though it wasn’t for herself, the item Shizuka added to the bucket list was more exciting. Telling off your jerk of a boss is something everyone wants to do at one point in their life. And yet, most people never do.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 7? Did you like this arc and this episode, in particular? Do you think Shizuka’s father is still alive out there somewhere? And, what are you expecting Shizuka’s first bucket list item for herself to be? Let me know in the comments.

I’ve made it pretty clear how I feel about this arc and episode. But, I’m going to predict that Shizuka’s father is alive. And, I’m also going to predict that her first true bucket list item will involve getting a dog.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 8 is available now.

RV of the Dead

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 6 is here after yet another one-week break. I haven’t been enjoying this series as much as I thought I would when it first started. And these breaks aren’t doing the series any favors.

Once again, I was hoping that the blonde girl from the OP and ED would finally make an appearance. And once again, I was disappointed when that didn’t happen. But, surely it will be soon. Though, I have a feeling it won’t be in next week’s episode, either.

Anyway, Akira and Kencho’s group did grow this week. They actually got two new additions; Suzuka and a brand-new RV joined the group. It only took running into her three times, but Akira finally got Shizuka to agree to group up with him (and Kencho). However, it was more Kencho than Akira who did the convincing.

Since Akira and Kencho plan to travel to Gunma, they decided that there’s only one way to do it: In an RV. Apparently, riding in an RV was something Akira put on his bucket list. And, as he rightfully points out, it’s actually one of the safer ways to travel in a zombie apocalypse.

If the trip turns out to be longer than expected, they’ll have to spend the night somewhere. So, rather than searching for shelter, why not bring their own shelter with them? And, as a bonus, an RV provides a more comfortable ride than a motorcycle.

As we saw, Shizuka had the same idea as Akira. Though, we can be pretty sure she was thinking more about the logical side than Akira was. Yes, Akira knows an RV is a safe mode of transportation. But, the biggest draw to an RV for him is the cool factor.

Traveling with Shizuka

So, how did Kencho (and Akira) convince Shizuka to travel with them? It all came down to the fact that Shizuka doesn’t have a driver’s license. But, should that really matter? After all, they’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Do the laws of the road matter?

According to Shizuka, the law doesn’t matter because this is an emergency. Her survival comes before all else. But, Kencho turns this around on her by pointing out her lack of experience. If she doesn’t have a license, isn’t it dangerous for her to be driving?

She could easily crash the RV or whatever other vehicle she’s driving. And if she does that, it could lead to her being stuck in a dangerous situation, or worse. And, as someone who’s always talking about risk analysis, Shizuka didn’t have a comeback. She couldn’t talk her way out of that logic.

If Shizuka doesn’t have a license, though, then how old is she? The legal driving age in Japan for a normal vehicle is 18. So, does that mean Shizuka is a minor? After all, I don’t believe we know if she had a job before the apocalypse, either.

It’s possible that Shizuka is still a high school student. And, that would make her quite a bit younger than Akira. We know Akira is a college graduate who also worked for a company for a few years. From what I remember, he had his job for two or three years before the apocalypse.

That would put Akira and Kencho around 25 years old. So, are these two about eight years older than Shizuka? Or, does she not have her license for some other reason? The fact that Kencho even asks her seems to imply he thinks she looks young.

Black Company Part 2

On their way to Gunma, our trio runs over a spike strip laid out on the highway. This caused Kencho to crash the motorcycle and also flattened all four of the RV’s tires. But, that wasn’t the worst part of it. The spike strip wasn’t there by accident.

Akira, Kencho, and Shizuka drove right into a trap laid by Akira’s former manager. Not the one who turned into a zombie in Episode 1. That was the CEO or something. This guy was Akira’s direct manager who made his work life hell.

In order to be allowed through, and to fix up the RV and Kencho, Akira has to work for his former manager again. And, while their deal is for Akira to only work for two days, Shizuka has a feeling that was a lie. Surely, Akira’s manager is going to try to manipulate him into working more.

All of that doesn’t really interest me, though. What interests me is how Akira’s former manager uses zombies to his advantage. We actually see him do this in two ways. The first is by using them as part of his trap.

Flattening the tires of vehicles on the highway is only the first step. After this, they use buses to block those vehicles from continuing on. And, finally, there’s the threat of the zombies coming down the highway behind the victims. This means they only have a short amount of time to accept the gang’s terms.

The second way the gang uses zombies is the more ingenious way. They put collars on the zombies and tie them to trucks filled with cargo. Then, a person walks in front of the zombies and leads them to where the cargo needs to go. They’ve become livestock.

Final Thoughts

What do you think of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 6? What kind of RV would you have picked? How old do you think Shizuka is supposed to be? And, what other unique ways of using zombies can you think of? Let me know in the comments.

Personally, I would have picked an RV similar to the one the group ended up with. It’s not the one they wanted. But, it seems to be one of the more practical options. I’m also thinking Shizuka is 18 but hasn’t yet gotten her license. I don’t know how else zombies could be used, though.

If you enjoyed this review, remember to share it with everyone you know. Also, follow me on your social media of choice so you don’t miss out on any future articles — links are in the footer.

Finally, I’d like to thank Roman and JasonHK for supporting DoubleSama.com at the Heika tier this month. To learn more about supporting this blog, check out Patreon.com/DoubleSama.

My review of Episode 7 is available now.