One of the unique aspects of anime is its ability to take a genre that has always been portrayed in a certain way and subvert it in ways we couldn’t imagine. If we want an example of that, we just need to look at One Piece, where the stoic and serious pirates of old are replaced with a whirlwind of fun, humor, and action.
This has just happened again, with zombies once more. The anime Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead emerged less than a month ago and has already become a very popular series. But what’s most intriguing about Zom 100 is not just its story, but how it manages to subvert one of the most classic tropes of the zombie genre: the tone and color.
An unexpected zombie series
From Dawn of the Dead, we have understood zombies as terrifying beings to escape from. And as time has passed, this has translated into movies and series with gray tones, full of drama and very little humor, as seen in The Walking Dead. Even in manga, examples like I am a hero followed these norms.
But in Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, everything transforms completely. It uses a neon color palette that is completely surprising for the genre, and its tone focuses on entertainment and fun rather than pure drama and action. Undoubtedly, it is one of the current surprises.
Zom 100 tells the story of Akira Tendo, a twenty-something office worker at ZLM, who finds himself trapped in a meaningless and routine life. When the Zombie Apocalypse arrives, far from fearing it, Tendo sees an opportunity to break free from his mundane existence. He writes a “bucket list” of everything he wants to do before he dies, not only to experience it firsthand but also to prove that he is still alive and well.
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