I’m happy to see that the first episode of ZOM 100 was generally well-received. All things considered, it’s a bit of a goofy zombie story but I think it goes to some genuinely touching places and I’m glad I’ll get to see those scenes in fully animated glory.
If anyone survives long enough to get there that is…
If you are digging the work is heck messaging of this show, I hope you enjoyed it thoroughly because I’m pretty sure it’s going to take a back seat from now on.
There are a lot of things you can read into ZOM 100. The I don’t dream of labour thing is pretty obvious. At its core, it’s a lot about seizing the moment and not putting off the things you really want to do in life. Although even more simply it’s about just taking some time to figure out what things you really want to do in life. But that scene with the news report, I sort of saw it as how we get so wrapped up in our own lives that we can easily ignore the greater context. The world is falling apart around Akira, this could very well be the end of humanity as far as he knows. But right now, he needs to get some beer!
And I think the show is actually presenting this as sort of a good thing. We often get the opposite message, that we’re too self-involved. That we’re likely to let the world burn without even noticing because we’re more preoccupied with petty entertainment. However, Japan isn’t exactly known for its people being overly individualistic. Quite the opposite. And I think this scene was saying, yes, there are huge problems in the world, but sometimes you need to take a minute and just do something for yourself. Maybe I,m reading too much into it. I definitely am.
We’re only in the second episode and already Akira’s world is expanding. He got to meet three survivors, isn’t that great. I always really loved the Kosakas’ contribution to ZOM 100. The first meeting between Akira and Mr. Kosaka is hilarious and a great way to get us back into the lighthearted humour of it all after the newscast. It also lets us know that the world isn’t all gloom and doom and one guy getting one last drink.
But then he comes back and the Ksaka’s apartment has been ransacked. It’s obvious they didn’t make it. ZOM 100 doesn’t feel the need to show us the gore or linger on lifeless bodies. Akira doesn’t break down in despair, not that he ever would I think. But that empty apartment is a powerful scene. The mood is solemn and there is no artifice to distract us from the reality of the situation. ZOM 100 may be lighthearted and optimistic, but it is a story about the end of the world. And it doesn’t minimize the fact that some horrible things are happening. Personally, that scene just resonated with me.
Obviously, I can’t talk about this episode without mentioning Shizuka. The issue is, I don’t have much to say about Shizuka. I like her well enough. I think she’s a great foil for Akira. I find it fun that the “fanservice” character happens to be the serious and super-efficient archetype. But that’s about it. She’s the straight man. It’s an important but thankless job and I just don’t have much to say about her this week.
Except that when a zombie apocalypse breaks out, I want her by my side! Who am I kidding, I’ll probably be the 3rd one dead.
I’m in two minds about this. I mean there are scenes I flat out loved, like our main character encountering the survivors on his way down the pipe (and them being gone was a great and chilling follow-up; I assume we didn’t see their corpses because they walked away?)
So why am I in two minds about this. It’s actually hard to figure out and communicate. I generally love it when shows give me the unbridled joy of life, and I should be loving the contrast between that and a zombie apocalypse, but the segue into it from a black company is… probably the wrong kind of framing. I get where the show comes from. And in the second episode I actually appreciate the balancing between two different attitudes: survive most efficiently vs. live it up until you stop.
But there’s some hair-thin line here that makes me uncomfortable with the show’s effect on me, and I’m not sure how to express this. Maybe I should talk about tooth ache? Stuff that is banal in our world, would be a mundane sort of terror in the zombie apocalypse. What do you do if you run out of toothpaste and tooth brushes? How many sweets should you consume to have fun. The show doesn’t have a sense for the mundane, in this respect maybe? I’d need the show either to be sillier than it is, even more stylish or alternatively more subtle, I think, though I’m not sure.
I’m not actually saying I think the show should do things differently. It’s clear to me that the show has a concept it executes well; it’s just that I don’t quite fully get into it. What’s there is still entertaining, but it’s not… untarnished? Unsure. Maybe the effect recedes with coming episodes? I certainly did like the second episode better than the first one. It’s more likely now that I continue watching to the end. We’ll see how I fare.
Regarding “surviving a zombie apocalypse”: There’s been numerous books written about exactly that and in a completely (un)dead-serious manner. (They made for great birthday gifts to certain people back when zombies were more in!)
As for “straight man” roles: It sucks to play them when everyone else already is the insane party member in an RPG group and oneself wants to be the weirdo too, for once. Yet they are necessary to even get anything going. :’ )
It looks from the open and close like there’s going to be another female (ditzy blonde?) who will be even more fanservice-y.
I like how Akira and Shizuka combined would make a perfect character for that scenario. They need each other.
Beatrix is not ditzy. She’s my favourite
I was just going by the open and close. Didn’t even know her name. The guy with the ripped abs looks kind of ditzy too.
He has some ditzy moments. I think Akira might be the ditziest one actually. Hmmmm