Zombie-Loan ~ Review
“A comedy filled zombie story that is strangely entertaining and exciting”
Although it may seem gory and disturbing at first glance of the above image, this series is quite different from your average, mainstream zombie survival anime series and films. In fact, the concept of zombies is almost seen irrelevant in some sections of the story, making this series quite a unique zombie anime.
Zombie-Loan revolves around a schoolgirl called Michiru Kita (pictured above middle) who possessed the Shinigami (god of death) eyes; a strange power that allows her to see dark rings on the necks of people who have little time to live. The blacker the rings are, the closer they are to death, and once the ring is completely black, the person dies. One day, she finds that two of her classmates, Chika Akatsuki (pictured above right) and Shito Tachibana (pictured above left) both have black rings around their necks but don’t seem to be dead. Michiru later finds out that they have both made a deal with the Zombie Loan; in exchange for resurrection, they must hunt zombies and pay back “the loan of life”. Now that Michiru has learnt their secret, she must help the two to pay back their loan.
Unlike most zombie plots, Zombie-Loan is very much a light-hearted series and can be viewed by all ages (unlike other graphic, gory zombie series)
A huge plus that can be seen from this series is the very clever and original storyline. Seriously, melding the undead with a loaning service for life? You have to admit, you can’t get any more original than that. The overall presentation of the anime was also a big plus, Xebec studios (animating such notable series as To LOVE-ru, Shaman King and Busou Renkin) doing an excellent job on the execution of this series.
The TV series was originally 11 episodes long, with 2 OVA’s being included in the DVD package. Although the TV series had a definable “end”, the OVA (which was later released to be viewed on streaming sites) was almost cut short, leaving viewers on a cliff hanger ever since. There are many theories as to why they might have done this; some stating it to be a sign as to go and “read the manga if you want to know what happens afterwards”, or perhaps they were hoping to make it into a 24 episode series but couldn’t due to reasons. Who knows. All we do know if that we have been left for an explanation for approximately 5 years (the series airing in mid 2007) and we have had no news for a second season.
Leaving the flaw aside, Zombie-Loan is a very unique zombie series that are both interesting and entertaining at he same time. Although I have not yet read the manga, I am planning to have a look at it (a lot of people have said that the manga is better than the anime). However that should not discourage you to not watch the anime either; the story and characters are sure to leave you smiling at the end of every episode.
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The Final Judgment:
Recommendation Level: 4/5 – Strongly Recommended
Final Score: 7/10
THEANIMEMAN 