One anime is posing the question – what if you were thrilled by the zombie apocalypse? Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is an upcoming anime based on the manga, Zom 100: 100 Things I Want to do Before I Become a Zombie (you can see why they shortened it) which sees dead-on-the-inside office worker Akira Tendo come alive when a zombie plague finally frees him from his boring, tedious life.
The manga, written by Haro Aso (Alice in Borderland) and illustrated by Kotaro Takata, began serialization in Shogakukan’s manga back in October of 2018, and as of February this year has 13 volumes, or tankōbon, in total. The series lead protagonist, Akira, starts off fresh out of university ready to work at the job of his dreams, only to discover that it is a soul-sucking, hellscape of a company and he has become one of Japan’s many salarymen (office workers) who are exploited by the companies that require workers to sacrifice their sense of self.
Gradually falling into a listless state of living, Akira is only pulled out of it when a zombie apocalypse means… no work! The manga has now been adapted into an anime and will be airing in Japan and also in the United States, with the episodes being simulcasted by Hulu and Netflix.
Freed from the shackles of corporate life, Akira vows to start living fully, even if everyone around him is either dead or dying. He creates a bucket list of all the things he wants to do before he becomes a zombie himself and is determined to tick them all off. Along the way he is joined by other survivors, including his friend Kencho, as they work their way through the list and through the zombie swarms infesting the city.
It really speaks volumes about the Japanese work environment, which has been known worldwide for its grueling hours and demands for company loyalty from workers, that an employee would, not only prefer to take on a hoard of zombies but relish it instead of spending another day in the office. The adaption was announced as a deal between Viz Media, Shogakukan, and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions. There will be reportedly 12 episodes in total for the first season.
This isn’t the first adaption of the manga either. Netflix has already gone ahead and made a Japanese live-action film adaption which will land on the streaming platform on August 3, 2023. The anime series is set to premiere just ahead of that, with the first episode airing in Japan as well as Hulu and Netflix on July 9.