DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ANIME ActionZom 100: Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto

REVIEWS

• 

  obskyr

  60/100
  One of the best first volumes I have read – and the rest is dreadful.

  Zom 100 has one of the best first volumes that I have ever read.

  I went into this manga without much in the way of expectations – but boy, did it immediately set them high. I laughed out loud many times, and those laughs were interspersed with bursting out into tears – no exaggeration – as many as three times in the span of four chapters.

  The first volume sets up a zombie apocalypse story like no other: it's unbridledly optimistic. Faced with the end of the world, our main character is overjoyed that he doesn't have to work anymore. With people scared and dying around him, he goes on foolhardy excursions with an unbreakable smile on his face. He's content with life as long as he can have a beer. He encourages his best friend to pursue his dream now that he's out of a job. The mix of overwhelming adversity, and then silly irreverence, cheerful optimism and the romance of the little things in life… It's truly special. I've never experienced a story quite like it – by eschewing zombie drama in favor of extolling the joy of life, it brings a refreshing, uplifting perspective that really resonated with me.

  Alas, it wasn't meant to last.

  In volume 2 and on, the story turns into oil and water: it toggles back and forth between being a straight-laced B-movie-style zombie drama – angst, action, and astonishingly ludicrous villains – and having the main characters doing sundry activities with nary a zombie in sight. No longer are the two elements mixed and contrasted, but rather separate. Neither element is particularly interesting on its own.

  After straying from its winning recipe, cracks start to show elsewhere. The characters' motivations turn to the more stereotypical “save the world”-type fare, robbing the story of its uniqueness. The manga is considerably “trashy” throughout – licentious and fanservice-ey – and with as low a tolerance for tastelessness as I have, the fact that I loved volume 1 despite this says quite a bit… but having lost that je ne sais quoi, that starts to grate as well. Moments that focus on the bucket list are still occasional bright points, but by and large, the manga quickly loses its spark, loses its indomitable joie de vivre, and loses my enthusiasm.

  Zom 100 won't stick with me as an incredible story, but I will keep volume 1 on my shelf as a token of the time I was reminded that even in a tired genre, there is always potential for a fresh, beautiful perspective.

  ---

  As an aside, the translation (by Nova Skipper; edited by Karla Clark) is absolutely stellar. I was taking notes; that's how good it is – absolutely buy volume 1, half because it's fantastic, and half to raise your bar for how natural and funny a translation can be while still maintaining accuracy.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  Labeskii

  85/100
  An action-packed, thrilling story that will make you wait for the next chapter.

  __Zom 100: Bucket List of the Undead - My First Time Review Manga Review__

  This is definitely my first review of any manga I've read. Made by a bored college sophomore with nothing else to do on a midnight.

  This review is free of any major spoilers.

  Although not definitely a hardcore zombie media fan, I've seen a fair share of zombie movies, shows, games and novels (a few months ago, I've read World War Z, read it, its worth it by the way). In my experience, a lot of those media tend to show the zombie apocalypse in a bleak, dramatic tone (which is understandable). Although there are odd ones that might show the zombie apocalypse in a comedic, light-hearted tone (e.g Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, which I've seen), none has caught my attention and made me anticipate a manga's next chapter more than Zom 100.

  1. Characters
  

  • Akira Tendou: Former salaryman/wage slave. The guy that is always optimistic despite shit hitting the fan. For, him, the thrill of running away from zombies is better than spending another hour in his shitty, corporate job that treats him as an 18th-century slave. Writer of a bucket list of stuff he wants to do before becoming a zombie.

  • Shizuka Mikazuki: Cute short-haired girl (short-haired girls are best girls by the way) working as a former banker. A know-it all just because she read every zombie survival guide (including Max Brook's Zombie Survival Guide, which is actually canon to the story). Basically, the cold, calculating intelligent girl that contrasts with Akira's optimistic dumbassery.

  

  Short hair = best girl automatically (some terms and conditions may apply).
  

  • Kenichirou Ryuuzaki: Akira's best friend. Former real estate agent. The kind of guy that will fuck any pretty girl he sees. The tanned, muscular gigachad.

  • Beatrix Amerhauser: Big-titty, blonde, German girl (what's not to love) that went to Japan due to her being essentially a Japanophile. Has samurai armor and a cool katana. Somehow the English translation adds a German accent to her dialogue (e.g the stereotypical stuff that "w" is replaced with "v"). Basically your average Japanese culture enthusiasts but not a nerdy, fat American neckbeard living in his mom's basement.

  Some other main characters not included to prevent spoilers.

  For now, these four main characters are the ones you need to know. Overall, they are well-written, have contrasting traits that complement each other, and have natural chemistry. Lastly I can say about the characters is that they are written to make every shit that happens in the story interesting. Overall 9/10.

  2. Story

  The goal is to complete every entry that Akira and the crew added to the bucket list, consisting of 100 entries (hence the name Zom 100). Despite sounding simple in concept, the various events and stuff they have to do in order just to complete some of those entries are interesting enough to keep you asking what will they do next? It's also interesting to note that the story critiques and satirizes a lot of negative aspects about not only Japanese society but modern society as a whole (e.g. Japan's toxic overwork culture, corporate culture, NEETs, the rat race, greed and other usual stuff). I would like to add that a it does this in a way without being condescending and preachy to the audience. It even has a few philosophical moments to ponder. Basically the stuff you need in an interesting, somehow intellectually appealing story while also having a wide audience appeal. Overall. 8/10 story.

  3. Art Style

  Character designs are interesting and memorable enough that it doesn't look like you typical el-generico art you will see a lot from most anime these days (especially those adapted from light novels, which for some reason, they make it so painfully generic). A lot of the background art are well-detailed and you can tell a lot of effort went through drawing the manga. Overall, 7/10 art style.

  Conclusion

  To end, Zom 100 is one of those manga that will make me wait for the chapter to come. It has an engaging plot combined and combined with interesting characters, it just makes you more curious what shenanigans they will think of. Read Zom 100, you're missing out on some interesting shit.

  Hey you made it in the end! Thank you for reading my first (and shitty) review..~~

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