Back in 2020, Netflix released a survival thriller series called Alice in Borderland. This Japanese series received generally favorable reviews both from critics and audiences alike. What most people may not realize, however, is the fact that Alice in Borderland is actually a live-action adaptation of a manga by the same name, written and drawn by Haro Aso.
And now, there’s another work of Haro Aso that received an anime adaptation and is scheduled to be released in the Summer 2023 anime season. It’s called Zom 100: Bucket list of The Dead. Just like Alice in Borderland, this new series also has a horror, thriller, and survival element in it, but unlike its predecessor, the foundation of the story is actually humor and adventure. With that out of the way, This is everything that you need to know about this upcoming summer anime.
The Story
The story of Zom 100: Bucket list of The Dead revolves around a young man named Akira Tendo. He’s been wasting years of his life toiling as a worker in a greedy company that has no regards to their employee’s well-being. He is bored, depressed, and unhappy. That is until a miracle happens that takes all of his problems away. Akira wakes up one morning and finds out that there’s a zombie outbreak happening all over the world. To Akira, this only means one thing. He no longer needs to go to work and is finally free to do whatever he wants.
Rather than spending the rest of his life idling away in his apartment, however, Akira decided to make a bucket list of all the things that he wanted to do before he eventually turned into a zombie himself. Some are doable, such as “Drink all night with my friends”, or “Travel around Japan”, while others are quite abstract, such as “Meet the woman of my dreams”, or “Gamble on a get rich-quick scheme”. Once he adds quite a few entries on his list, Akira is ready to go outside and begin the best chapter of his life.
The Characters
We’ve talked quite a bit about Akira, one of the only people who is grateful and overjoyed by a zombie outbreak. But he is not the only quirky character in Zom 100. There’s also his best friend, Kenichiro Ryuuzaki, a former salesman and womanizer who wants to be a comedian and likes to make cringe-worthy jokes. Akira used to be jealous of Ryuuzaki’s seemingly perfect life, but as it turns out, Ryuuzaki is the one who admires Akira’s straightforward and hard-working nature.
Other than these two best friends, there’s also Shizuka Mikazuki, a young woman who is not only super analytical about everything, but she is also highly \obsessed with fitness. These three will travel for quite some time, until they meet Beatrix Amerhauser, a young German lady who is extremely obsessed with Japanese culture and wants to be a samurai.
The Staff
Zom 100 is produced by a relatively new animation studio called Bug Films. They have worked in different capacities on several popular anime, such as Ancient Magus Bride and Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible. That being said, Zom 100: Bucket List of The Dead will be their first full animation project.
Zom 100 is directed by Kazuki Kawagoe. He was the director for both seasons of Komi Can’t Communicate. The one who is responsible for the music is Makoto Miyazaki. He has worked as either theme song composer or arranger for lots of iconic anime, such as Mobile Suit Iron Blooded Orphan and One-Punch Man. The opening song of this series will be “Song of The Dead” by KANA-BOON, while the ending is “Happiness of The Dead” by Shiyui.
Another important member of the cast is the voice actors. The main protagonist Akira Tendo will be voiced by Shuichiro Umeda (Izumi in Shikimori’s Not Just A Cutie). Kenichiro Ryuuzaki will be voiced by Makoto Furukawa (Shadiq Zanelli in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury). Shizuka Mikazuki will be voiced by Tomori Kusunoki (Makima in Chainsaw Man). And finally, Beatrix Amerhauser will be voiced by Minami Takahashi (Megumi Tadokoro in Shokugeki no Soma).
Release Date
Zom 100: Bucket List of The Dead is scheduled to be released in Japan on July 9th, 2023. For the international audience, this new series will be available on both Hulu and Netflix as part of their Summer 2023 anime lineup. Zom 100: Bucket List of The Dead will debut on both streaming platforms on the same day as Japan.
Interestingly enough, Zom 100: Bucket List of The Dead will also have another adaptation. Netflix announced on their Geeked Week live stream that was held back on June 7, 2022, that there will be a live action adaptation of Zom 100. Not only that, the film is also scheduled to be released in Summer 2023, specifically on August 3, 2023. So be sure to watch this one as well.