Warning: The following contains spoilers for Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 1, "Akira of the Dead", now streaming on Netflix & Crunchyroll.
Working a 9-5 is not glamours, but most would say that going to work is better than living through a zombie apocalypse. Unless your job pushes you to do multiple all-nighters at work, prevents you from using a vacation time, and your office crush is sleeping with your boss. Then the zombie apocalypse might not be so bad especially if you have a bucket list of 100 to get through. Writer of Alice in Borderlands, Haro Aso created such a world with the help of Manga artist Kotaro Takata.
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Deadepisode one made its way onto streaming platforms Sunday, July 9th. This horror comedy anime revolves around 24-year-old Akira Tendo. Akira has been stuck in his dead end job for three years, and his crush isn’t interested in him. Thankfully the zombie apocalypse hits. The freedom from work has given new life to Akira to travel, confess his feelings, and work on his bucket list. The first episode of the series does a fantastic job of introducing fans old and new into this zombie filled world.
Episode Breakdown
At the start of the episode, we get a glimpse of Akira before the apocalypse hits. Within the couple of frames shown before the flashback, viewers see that Akira’s living situation is horrible. His room is filled with trash, soda cans, and is dimly lit by the television. At a glance it almost seems like Akira is more zombie-like than he was just watching. Following this viewers are provided a shocking look into who our main character was three years ago for the start of his job. The shocking contrast of who Akira was before to who he is now shows how horrible his job has been to him. The once-driven man turned into a corporate zombie, that is until the real zombies arrived.
Most horrified by the invasion, Akira can’t help but come alive to the reality of this new world. Amongst the gray that his world has become, splashes of color appear around the zombies. Signs of the freedom from his corporate job, the freedom to finally do everything that he’s ever wanted. Surrounded by fenced in zombies, Akira starts listing off some of the items from his bucket list, starting by revealing his feelings to his office crush, Saori Ohtori.
Sadly, Akira was too late to save Miss Ohtori from the outbreak. With nothing left tying him to work, Akira moves forward, promising to live his days to the fullest and finish all 100 things he wants to do before becoming a zombie.
Corporate Zombies
Episode one of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead does more than just set up the story for the rest of the season. Akira is an exaggerated representation of exploited corporate workers. His fantasy of quitting his job and confessing his love to his office crush is one many have had. Of course, it probably didn’t involve throwing the zombified boss out a window. However, the horror of the word contrast to how Akira was living is important to remember.
Most would be terrified to live in a world filled with zombies, but compared to his reality before, zombies are nothing to Akira. Remembering the toxic conditions Akira and his coworkers lived through is crucial to remember moving forward. The actions and reactions Akira makes will be based on his newfound freedom in this world. He likely won’t react like others that fans of zombie content have seen. Yes, there will be tragedies like never truly revealing his feelings to Miss Ohtori. Only, Akira doesn’t have time to dwell on this, he along with the viewers know that he is running on borrowed time.
Eventually, the outbreak will catch up to him, and he has to live his life to the fullest before it’s over. What this could be for future character losses in the series is yet to be seen, but it can be anticipated that Akira will bounce back faster than most. Not due to a lack of caring, but because he’s fully aware of the hell that they’re living in. One second of hesitation or looking back can mean losing out on something new, like losing out on the chance to confess to Miss Ohtori. Some fans of zombie films and TV might find this hard to adjust to or refreshing, but the biggest point to remember is that Akira doesn't see the end of the world as a bad thing. He may come to find the outbreak annoying but compared to the hell he was living in before, zombies are not that bad. Until then fans will just have to wait for the next episode to see the next item Akira checks off his bucket list.