The ZRC followed ‘Kore wa Zombie Desu ka’ with interest here on the blog, from the initial announcement through to its simulcast premiere and screening, and overall, we liked it quite a bit.

Oddly enough I never went back and completed a review for the show, despite watching every episode, and I’m reminded of that with the news that it’s been picked up for a US release by anime publisher Funimation:

FUNimation Entertainment has confirmed with ANN that it announced its acquisition of the upcoming Fullmetal Alchemist movie, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Sacred Star of Milos (Fullmetal Alchemist: Milos no Sei-Naru Hoshi) and Is This A Zombie? (Kore wa Zombie Desu ka?) television series at its Anime Central panel on Saturday.

So, backing up: what is ‘Is This a Zombie?’ Well, it’s a comedy anime series that concerns the exploits of a Zombified protagonist who has been rudely introduced into a shadowy netherworld of the supernatural which lurks just beneath the surface of modern day Japan.

Kind of. Really, as much as anything else, (at least assuming Funimation doesn’t radically alter the dub ala Shin Chan), ‘Is This a Zombie’ is a satire of trends in contemporary Japanese animation. Superpowered ninjas, the shadowy supernatural, demons and Zombies and scantily clad schoolgirls all collide with a very strange and hyperbolic sense of humor that’s perpetually one step away from a sugar-induced heart attack.

There is a lot of violence in the show, often directed at the Zombified hero of our story, but surprisingly enough, the show itself isn’t at all unsympathetic to his plight. In fact, the closest parallel I can draw to the Zombified state of being in this series is Wolverine from Marvel Comics. He’s not invulnerable, and suffers greatly from injuries fighting superpowered villains, but because he can heal from almost anything Wolverine makes a serious superhero. Taken in a comedic direction with similar powers and circumstances, you might have ‘Is This a Zombie?’

Only not with a mutant; with a Zombie.

In fact it quickly becomes apparent that the ludicrously over the top violence is itself satirical; how can you not laugh when a girl uses a magical chainsaw to slice a giant talking demonic bear (wearing a school uniform) in half:

Well, maybe that isn’t a *universal* reaction.

In addition to a heroic protagonist/Zombie, a magical girl with a thing for power tools and a necromancer, later episodes introduce a veritable swarm of vampires who are also ninja (or is that ninja who are also vampires?), monsters, magic users, a soul-stealing serial killer and even a charismatic villain who may also be a Zombie. All without ever taking itself terribly seriously.

I won’t lie and say Kore wa Zombie/’Is This a Zombie’ is deep and meaningful dramatic television. What it is, rather, is a funny animated show that takes the bold step of casting a Zombie as something other than a mindless villain out for your delicious flesh, and coming from Japan, land of ‘Resident Evil’ and ‘Highschool of the Dead’, that is truly remarkable and laudable.

So the ZRC can happily rate ‘Kore wa Zombie Desu ka’ as Zombie Friendly, and that rating should stick unless Funimation does something nefarious:

PS: You can feel free to skip the last episode; it’s filler. No idea if a second season is on the way, but we’re hoping.

Tags: Anime or Manga, What's Up with Japan?, ZRC Reviews

This entry was posted by John Sears on Tuesday, May 24th, 2011 at 12:32 am and is filed under Zombie Media. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.