Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead’ on Netflix, a Raucous Ride Through the Zombie Apocalypse

Akira Tendo (Shuichiro Umeda) is a typical salary worker who spends time clocking in and out at a company he’s grown to hate. Life just isn’t going that well for him — whether he’s having to deal with a job that uses him up or grappling with the idea that his crush doesn’t like him back, he wishes he could be doing something else.

Everything seems like a drag. But it can’t get any worse than when Akira walks in on his landlord to talk about rent, only to find him snacking on another tenant. The zombie apocalypse is here, and it looks like it’s not come a moment too soon. In Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Akira decides to take life by the horns and live it his way – going so far as to make a bucket list – so he can do everything he wants before the zombies destroy his life.

ZOM 100: BUCKET LIST OF THE DEAD: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A man is seen frantically running through the streets in a city, surrounded by abandoned cars and dead body. A flyover reveals the entire area has essentially been decimated. The man is eventually chased down by a hungry zombie and eaten as the camera focuses on the message “Memento mori” in graffiti on a nearby wall.

The Gist: Akira has been living life without any kind of purpose for as long as he can remember. He hates his job, his apartment is a disaster area, and he just can’t will himself to move forward. Not only that, but coworker Saori Ohtori (Sora Amamiya) the only person who makes him feel sane at work, is having an affair with his boss.

Luckily, the zombies come. And that means Akira no longer has to go to work, or care about the trappings of everyday life. He’s free, and that means no more having to be weighed down by everything that’s been keeping him from living the way he wants to.

This gives him a new lease on life, especially because he has no need to continue working for a salary in a world where zombies are shambling around. He pens a to-do list in an attempt to complete a bucket list before he feels he’ll inevitably become a zombie.

This includes everything from learning to speak English to finding his dream woman. Most of humanity is terrified of what’s coming next as the zombies continue to multiply, but Akira can’t wait to see what he can do before it all comes crashing down, which leads to him being put in a variety of hilariously weird situations. Most people certainly don’t have this sort of reaction to zombies taking over, but for Akira, it feels like a dream come true.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Zom 100 is unlike so many other anime series given its unique premise, but it does have shades of Sankarea or even High School of the Dead, which also both deal with zombies in one form or fashion.

Our Take: Most zombie content focuses on the bleakness of the future and how terrifying it is that you’ll soon be faced with a miserable death at the hands of the undead. Zom 100 is refreshing in that it skirts those typical concerns and attacks the situation with a completely different approach.

Akira can’t be bothered to stop and think about the implications of what’s going on around him. It should be terrifying, but it’s a joke a minute as you root for Akira and his ability to finally live the life he’s been hoping to ever since he joined the workforce. If you’ve ever had a job you hated, it’s extremely relatable. And there are always things we wish we had done or had time to do.

In that, it’s less of a zombie series and more of a slice of life that delivers on the horror side. It’s just different enough to work, and in the most manic way possible. The zombies are pretty much icing on the cake.

Sex and Skin: Slightly sexual content when it comes to Akira finding out about his boss’s affair, but that’s about it.

Parting Shot: ​​ Akira reflects on life and how it’s changed since the zombie apocalypse after relaxing with a beer on the street by a convenience store. He comes to the conclusion that he’ll live life to the fullest and gets to work buying a pen and paper for his bucket list.

Sleeper Star: Sora Amamiya is already a celebrated voice actor, but she’s an excellent choice for Akira’s love interest — brief as that may be, anyway. She’s perfectly sweet and magnetic at the same time, while it always feels like there’s still some mystery to her.

Most Pilot-y Line: “I don’t have to go to work anymore? I’m free!” Akira screams at the top of his lungs while avoiding the droves of zombies after him. “Until yesterday, I saw the world in monochrome, shrouded in a black cloud. Blue skies! Green trees! Bright red blood! It’s been so long, I’d forgotten the world was full of color. I’m so happy to have a day off from work!”

Our Call: STREAM IT. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a raucous ride through the zombie apocalypse with a plucky protagonist. It’s a fun take on what we normally see out of the genre, and the first episode is set up for some serious fun in the future. Here’s hoping Akira gets to cross off everything on his bucket list.

(And we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that Netflix will be releasing a live-action version of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead in August 2023. Buckle up!)

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.