REVIW: ‘Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead’ Episode 2 — “Bucket List Of The Dead”

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead (Zom 100) was a smash hit with its premiere episode. Animated by studio BUG FILMS and directed by Kazuki Kawagoe, based on the manga by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, the series captures the exhaustion and desperation that capitalism beats into us and resonates with viewers. Now, with Zom 100 Episode 2, “Bucket List of the Dead,” Akira Tendo’s joy for the end of the world becomes a pact to himself to finally live.

Opening with a nightmare, Akira dreams about work. His boss, who is now a deceased zombie, beats his hand on a table and demands a project be turned in. When Akira shoots up in his bed, the reality is that his three years of saved-up vacation has now begun, and well, he doesn’t have to go to work. The episode itself captures the first true day during the apocalypse, as Akira makes his way through the day and meets a fellow survivor.

Zom 100 Episode 2 is all about a beer run, and it’s in capturing the joy of this banal task in the middle of the apocalypse that makes the series keep hitting. The comedic disconnect between the gory circumstances and Akira’s dedication to just going to get beer is beyond fantastic. Crawling down the pipe, Akira sees a couple that is worried about their future, while he is just worried about beer. Turning his convenience store run into one for them, too, Akira takes to the streets unbothered by the zombies that would be more intimidating if the studio didn’t choose to make all of the blood splatter vibrant neon colors.

That said, his happiness isn’t just balanced by the grim circumstance he’s living through. While on his beer run, Akira runs into the first new character of the series, Shizuka Mikazuki, a survivor taking it all very seriously. With a camera and a plan, her cold demeanor and dismissal of Akira help put into perspective the danger in the world. It balances out expectations for life without a world order — just zombies.

It’s a fantastic first meeting and one where she switches usual roles with a male protagonist, shielding Akira from injury with her body. She makes Akira analyze risk, but Akira still keeps his demeanor intact, even if he has to think quickly on his feet. Shocked into understanding his own mortality, Akira makes the decision to live his life, choosing to write a bucket list. Each item represents different things that he has kept himself from doing since he became an adult. While he can cross some off immediately, like confessing to a girl he loves (RIP boss’s mistress), it also includes cleaning his room and drinking beer at home. While some bucket lists are all about adventure, Akira’s list makes it clear how empty his life has been up until this point. More importantly, how isolated he’s been in his adulthood. No family, no friends, no girlfriends, he ends his list by wanting to form and rekindle relationships.

On the other side, Shizuka isn’t thinking about dying. Instead, she’s thinking about surviving and not the eventuality of becoming a zombie. Her list is all about staying alive, and as she writes it, you can see how she and Akira are truly on different sides of this apocalypse. While Aso’s Shizuka is important throughout the story, it takes time to understand who she is. BUG FILMS taking the time to show the audience who Shizuka is as a character is a well-executed addition to the series. Much like the importance of laying out Akira’s life at work in Episode 1, Shizuka’s being given an explicit personality in Zom 100 Episode 2 is a smart choice that helps build a lasting foundation for the season.

Zom 100 Episode 2 also features the first time audiences can see the opening theme in action. The animation captures the vibrant colors and beautiful design of the manga covers in a way that honors the inherent joy that Haro Aso’s story shows in the midst of the violent apocalypse. One of the best OTs of the season, “Song of the Dead” by KANA-BOON is upbeat, the color is bright, and it also never loses the perfect horror elements in its zombies.

Balanced with humor, joy, and the dire situation the world is in, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 2 is another perfect episode. BUG FILMS has knocked this adaptation out of the part and shown the importance of one story being told across multiple mediums.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 2 is streaming now on Crunchyroll with new episodes every Sunday in July.