Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9 sees things get much sappier, with the series trying to balance comedy with a heavy dose of emotional baggage. Let’s see how things went in this review!
Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9 Overview
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, also known as Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto in original Japanese or just Zom 100, is an action, comedy, horror, and supernatural anime airing as a part of the Summer 2023 anime season. The show is based on a manga series written by Haro Aso and illustrated by Kotaro Takata. Click here to read the review of the previous episode of the show!
The anime is being produced by Studio BUG Films, who are working on a full-length anime for the first time. The show is being directed by Kazuki Kawagoe, a well-known director who has previously directed popular shows such as Komi Can’t Communicate and Beyblade. This episode is also known as Zom 100 Episode 9, and Zom 100 Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto Episode 9.
– Zom 100 Episode 9 Review does not contain spoilers –
Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9 Review- Treehouse
Right after the funniest episode of the series, the show decided it was time to get serious once again. Too serious, in fact. We have dealt with disappointment and anger in this show before, with Akira’s old boss making his way back in the earlier episodes to give us a healthy dose of those, alongside some deserved catharsis. This episode was different, however, as there was a lot of melancholy about it, alongside a dread of just what might happen to the main characters.
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The pace and form of this episode were fantastic, as the parts that aired before the climactic-fated meeting were set up perfectly by events that came before. The episode was all about meeting Akria’s parents for the first time. What the show did before the fateful meeting was interesting in that it reversed the dynamics that we were expecting. Instead of Akira meeting another young person set out to see their parents, we saw a parent who will never be able to see his children again.
Zom 100 has also always treated the concept of death with the dignity that it deserves. It might be a comedy show above all else, but it has never been shy of displaying the horrors that lie underneath the relatively fun facade our characters put on. Just because they haven’t dealt with the horror of death up close and personal before, it doesn’t mean that the rest of the world feels the same way. Why this episode was special is exactly because of this- our main character, Akira, was confronted with mortality. Not his own, of course, but of people he actually cares about.
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After Akira meets with someone who makes him realise how important family is and how quickly everything can end in a world as dangerous as this one, a very legitimate fear envelops the show- that Akira and his friends might not find what they are looking for after all. While narratively and tonally improbable, the show made this line of thinking possible with the help of an emotional and nostalgic setting that would lead to some of the best moments of anticipation the show has seen so far.
This has been a refreshing story for the show, and it looks to continue for a bit after this episode. Right towards the end, we get to see a parallel that puts into perspective how toxic Akira’s mindset could have been had he been a different kind of person than he is. If he were a little more zany or had a negative outlook towards society and life itself, we would have been watching a very different kind of show right now. It is not as funny and hopeful as we usually see it, but dark and gritty, very much like most other zombie media.
Verdict
Zom 100 Bucket List of the Dead Episode 9 was a lovely little episode that took things into a meaningful and more emotional direction that felt like a nice change of pace.