REVIEWED: SEASON 1 (ALL 12 EPISODES) / DIRECTOR: MUNEHISA SAKAI / SCREENPLAY: SHIGERU MURAKOSHI / STARRING: KAEDE HONDO, ASAMI TANO, RISE TANEDA, MAKI KAWASE, RIKA KINUGAWA, MINAMI TANAKA, MAMORU MIYANO / WHERE TO WATCH: CRUNCHYROLL / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW (VOD), JANUARY 7TH 2020 (BLU-RAY – REVIEWED)

A high school girl who dreams of Idol superstardom is fatally struck by a truck on her way to school – years later she awakes as a zombie and must work with a host of other zombie girls to create the Idol group that will save the prefecture of Saga in the hilarious and touching original anime, Zombieland Saga.

There comes a time when, in the sea of manga-adapted anime, an entirely original project is brought to life and must battle with an IP that already has legions of fans – this means it must work twice as hard at standing out in the crowd (although since it’s debut, it has since spawned its own manga). Zombieland Saga, a series that debuted in the Autumn season of 2018, is an Idol anime unlike any other.

Sakura Minamoto, our core protagonist at the heart of the story, is the aforementioned high spirited girl whose world is changed forever after succumbing to harsh reality of death – joining her as a zombie is biker girl Saki, former Idols Ai and Junko, courtesan Yugiri, adorable child prodigy star Lily and the mysterious always-a-zombie Tae Yamada. These talented girls from across time are all brought back to life by Kotaro Tatsumi with the plan to create an unstoppable idol group that will put the Saga Prefecture back on the entertainment map. Each of these wonderfully colourful and interesting characters makes up the central idol group; Franchouchou. Throughout the first season of this highly entertaining show, each of our main characters gets a suitable amount of time to shine and develop – from episodes that centre entirely on their backstory which explains their personality to episodes that evolve their relationships with each other.

With this being an idol anime, you bet that the music is easily one of the best aspects of the series. Every song beautifully accompanies the theme of the episodes or the ark that the story is taking – with a prime example being Episode 8 which delves into the history of the loveable Lily and the heartbreaking way that she died – the power of music is ever-present and will have you laughing, crying and dancing along.

As with other anime of this ilk, it’s a pretty incredible feat that so much character development and story can fit into such a short series of twelve 23-minute episodes – a testament to the unbeatable creativity and skill of writer Shigeru Murakoshi. After watching the entire season, which ends with a perfectly pitched cliff hanger for the impending Season 2, you feel as if you have known these characters for much longer than you actually have.

The only negative to do with this amazing show is that, during a handful of the live song performances by Franchouchou, the animation transitions from 2D to 3D (think of Hatsune Miku) which, considering how the rest of it is presented, is a tad off-putting and, in places, a little janky – apart from that niggling issue, the rest of the animation is simply wonderful.

At its core, Zombieland Saga is an idol anime that is incredibly creative and original – an anime that bucks the usual trend of this sub-genre of the medium and pokes fun at it whilst also putting on a unique spin. With wonderfully interesting and fleshed out characters to simply stunning music (including perhaps the greatest opening theme of all time), this is one series you do not want to miss – whether you are a fan of just zombies or just idols, it has something for everyone.

Special Features:

The Special Features on the Blu-Ray release of Zombieland Saga are:

• Disc 1 – Episode 2 Commentary (from English Voice Cast)
• Disc 2 – Textless Opening Theme & Textless Closing Theme

Also available on the disc is the choice to have the audio in Japanese (original with English subtitles) or English