REVIEW: ‘Undead Unluck’ Episode 2 — “Union”

Everyone’s favorite unfortunate duo Andy (Yûichi Nakamura) and Fuko (Kahara Moe) are back in Undead Unluck Episode 2, “Union” for more hijinks and chaos as the two search for the ultimate death. David Production has done an excellent job bringing the unlikeliest team-ups to the small screen for viewers worldwide to enjoy and the adventures continue in a stellar second episode.

Now that Andy knows about Fuko’s unluck ability, he tries to devise the ultimate way to activate it and bring about what he hopes will be the ultimate death. His latest theory is that sleeping with Fuko is the best way to make the most contact and therefore the biggest unlucky event. It almost takes a turn into an unfortunate anime trope before viewers realize Andy isn’t trying to make an unwanted advance. When Fuko explains that the more she cares for someone the worse the unluck is, Andy decides that he is going to try to get her to fall in love with him instead of forcing anything. It’s an appreciated change of pace, having a character interested in intimate relationships that isn’t a complete creep.

It’s not that there isn’t something off about Andy, it is just that it takes a new twist from what anime viewers would expect. His only goal is to die, something his ability won’t let him do, and a lifetime of dying and coming back to life has left him understandably changed. Undead Unluck Episode 2 highlights how insane he is, but there is never anything sinister about it. He’s just a damaged boy looking for an epic death.

Andy’s carefree nature also meshes quite well with Fuko’s worrying. In the last episode, they come face to face with the secret agency Union who are out to eliminate people like them which leaves Fuko terrified. Andy mentions that this group has other “negators,” people like our duo who negate the rules of nature, and that they will stop at nothing to capture Andy and Fuko. They set out to run away before meeting up with some of these negators in the flesh.

This encounter with the negators does two really interesting things. It provides some neat fighting sequences, something every good shonen anime needs, but also establishes what other types of powers exist in this world. There are some like Andy whose abilities only affect themselves, Fuko who affects others but not on purpose, and two new characters, Shen and Void, who can both affect people intentionally and with a specific desired outcome. Seeing these different types of abilities come up against each other shows what an odd combination Andy and Fuko are and the difficulty of the challenges they are going to face.

Union sets out to hunt other negators, but Fuko learns that they actually have a team of ten negators that are safe from Union. Andy and Fuko both decide to try to earn their way into Union to avoid being hunted, an abrupt change from how scared Fuko was at first. Both Andy and Fuko have developed quite a bit in just two episodes, both as individuals and as a team, and their journey taking them into the arms of Union works perfectly. They will have to eliminate another Union member before they get the chance to join, but their relationship earns the respect of Shen who is willing to vouch for them.

Undead Unluck Episode 2 helps grow the relationship between Andy and Fuko and sets them off on their epic adventure. There is plenty of great character development and world-building that set the groundwork for this to be one of the best anime series this fall season.

Undead Unluck Season 1 is streaming now on Hulu.