Zom 100: Theres More Behind the Comedy

If you ever watch Zom 100: Bucketlist of the Dead you’ll see it is an anime that follows the story of Akira, an enthusiastic man who becomes depressed once he begins his life at his overworked office job. Like some of us he has become a cog in a mechanized machine where he slowly begins to lose his sense of purpose and meaning in society. But when this society collapses as a result of a zombie apocalypse, he now realizes that without peer pressure, his trauma and expectations can’t prevent him from fulfilling the dreams of his previous enthusiastic life. With this Akira writes a list of all he wants to do in life before he dies, and we are lured to the journey of a man who enjoys the fall of society and the freedom he now has.

The childish and relaxed attitude in the face of a zombie apocalypse in Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead makes the show enjoyable. The playful attitude of Akira in the face of what would be the downfall of humanity can be seen as he runs joyfully and treats the whole thing as a sort of game. He comedically laughs and rejoices yelling: “Until yesterday, I saw the world in monochrome, shrouded in black cloud. Blue skies, green trees and bright red blood! I’d forgotten the world was so full of color! I’m just so happy to have a day off from work!” as he runs away from the zombies behind him. This lax response that he has towards the death of many people who are eaten by the zombies brings this psychotic emotion which could be from his grim prospects of life. But regardless of this, the fun feeling that brings joy to the now dystopian world has this calm and happy feeling to viewers.

A more perceptive look into the anime is that it really relates to the struggles of life which we experience inside of today's society. The crushing strain that Akira experiences as a result of our requirement to be a productive member of society reminds us of our own obligations to fulfill as an adult individual. It’s the stress that makes us empathetic for him as we see how he is berated and abused by the hierarchical system that is prevalent in Japanese workplace culture. This can be seen when he describes on multiple occasions the life he lives and describes his experience as “My soul was getting crushed in the gears of an exploitative corporation. So, I didn’t have the patience to listen to other people’s success stories.” While saying how his job was all “Long working hours and bullying from their higher-ups robs employees of their will to quit and lose even the ability to make simple decisions.” With the life of an average man crushing his identity as an individual in which he has succumbed to the reality and yields control of his own life.

The fantasy-like dream of being able to choose what we want to do for ourselves and to take courage to choose the risk that comes with comfort in life reminds us of our own pressure of having to uphold our adult responsibilities. As the chains of his oppressive boss crack, Akira treats this newfounded liberty to do what he’s always wanted to do before he was forced with adulthood expectations. He experiences the sort of college like memories of friendship which had been lost to him as he had become a walking drone who had become deviant. As Akira was now the master of his own fate, he was able to regain authority and realized that “We could die today or we could die sixty years from now. Either way, there’s never enough time to do all the things we want. So I’m gonna make a Bucket list of the dead.”