Why I can't stop thinking about Zombieland Saga

Zombieland Saga is something I can't get my mind off of. It's constantly in my thoughts every single day since I've watched it, and now that I've finished watching it I'm left suppressing my urge to rewatch every episode over and over instead of spending my time on something new.

I've watched several different anime series throughout recent years, each one interesting and unique, but this time I've fallen into a new rabbit hole all over again. I've found a new favourite character and favourite ship to search the internet for whatever content I can find and obsessively talk about with my friends. I've been stuck in bed, too lazy to get up, because I just want to keep reading fanfiction of them. I have favourite songs that I'll loop constantly over and over again no matter what I'm doing. I've saved a bunch of funny clips of the show to my phone that I'll rewatch, even to the point of starting a dumb little meme account on Twitter to repost an inside joke I just made up. I don't feel this way about "just any anime". It's become so special to me in such a short time, and made me genuinely excited for an idol anime again. It reignited a love I thought I had lost, and it helped me move on with my life and find happiness. 

There are so many reasons I can't stop thinking about Zombieland Saga, from the ways it both parodies and highlights the best qualities of idol anime, its wonderful characters and their stories, as well as how the real-life aspects of the series have impacted me.

There's so much I'd like to talk about with you, as even if I've only recently discovered this series, my love for it has quickly grown very deep.

          

Zombieland Saga is a show I've known about for years. It was around the time I had gotten really into Love Live, and opened my eyes to a new world full of idol anime. While I didn't end up watching it while it was new, I had never forgotten the name or the hype it generated. I had wanted something to watch for a trip home last month, and after both attempting to revitalize my love for Love Live as well as being reminded how funny people say Zombieland Saga is, I thought it would be a great way to spend my time.

It's a show that was always recommended to me as "the idol anime for people who don't like idol anime" and I had heard from people that "nothing like it will ever be made again". It relentlessly makes fun of itself and the genre it's in, pushing unwilling characters into a rag-tag idol group with no clear goal. It's the show where the girl gets hit by a truck and dies in the first minute of the first episode and continues to make fun of her for several episodes after. It's the idol anime for people who make fun of idol anime, and that's communicated very quickly and hilariously through only its first one or two episodes.

The first episode opens with Sakura Minamoto following the typical trope of "high school girl watches idols and gets inspired to become an idol", setting off to audition for her favourite idol group, only to immediately get hit by a speeding truck and killed instantly. It's such a strong iconic moment that both became popular for its humour and shock value, but also introduces the tone of the series perfectly. It isn't a typical idol anime where the cute bubbly girl joins her new idol group to realize their dreams together.

Later in the episode, the girls are pushed on-stage for their first performance at a death metal concert because apparently it was the only place with an open stage policy. They've barely been introduced, almost none of them are aware of what's going on, and their manager Kotaro even tells Sakura the expectations are so low that he fully knows they're going to do terrible. Once they get on stage and try to introduce themselves they're blown off as not belonging and simply being "mainstream pop rubbish". But it's in this performance, through all the screaming and headbanging nonsense, there's a glimpse of what feels familiar. Bright lights, a group performing on stage, and an excited audience. It isn't just some insane performance for the sake of humour, there's some actual connection to idol anime, as loud and wild as it may be.

Through all this humour and mockery, each episode slowly pushes it from a show about an idol group that relentlessly makes fun of idol anime and its tropes to being a shining example of what makes these shows so special in the first place: How appealing and endearing the characters and their personalities are, how strong the music and performances are, and how those two connect to tell great stories. Each of these characters are extremely likeable with their own reasons to call them your favourite, and the performances are thrilling even if they aren't the typical "overly cutesy anime girl" J-Pop. There's always a fun new twist on some aspect of the show, with the characters being zombies and the ridiculous scenarios they put each other through, but that makes it such a uniquely endearing idol anime.

These scenarios and what makes them so endearing is highlighted perfectly during the rap battle between Sakura and Saki in Episode 2. If there's any scene most people know from this show (besides Sakura getting hit by a truck) it's definitely this one. It made a huge impression on people and I remember seeing it talked about online a ton when it was new. It was my first introduction to Zombieland Saga, and if you go to any decently popular post about Zombieland Saga on any social media, you're bound to see someone else saying something like "I don't even like idol anime but I saw the rap battle and I wanted to watch it". It's become such a big deal that it's arguably the one thing the series is known for, and it was loved so much that people would go crazy when other anime would drop rap battles of their own, such as the one featured in Kaguya-sama's third season. It's the thing that not only made Zombieland Saga so well-known, but arguably became the reason rap became successful in more anime ever since its release.

The group's first attempt at a real idol performance on-stage quickly devolves into zombie shenanigans causing Sakura to slap away one of their severed heads in a fit of rage. The whole thing ends up consisting of Sakura and Saki bickering and insulting each other, the rest of their group, AND the audience as they openly mention how they have to hide their identities as zombies in front of the very people they're trying to hide it from. It's still a performance with a group of idols on stage, with music and everything, but it almost feels like it's made to be a mocking of the typical idol performance. Even the name of their group, Franchouchou, is chosen due to simply sounding like a fancy name came out of the sound of one of the members sneezing. This is the immediate appeal point of Zombieland Saga. It's oddly abrasive, yet became incredibly popular. One of my favourite examples of this scene's popularity is a really heartwarming interview by Crunchyroll with Sakura and Saki's seiyuu discussing their experiences with learning and recording their rap battle performance in Episode 2, the things that made Zombieland Saga special to them, and their love for the show.

There's so much cool stuff in this little performance. It's funny, it's unique, the additions of beatboxing and shamisen give it a super catchy rhythm, I love how Lily gets the crowd clapping along, and the best part is the subs are made to rhyme making it really fun in both English and Japanese. It's really impressive!

While the English dub of Zombieland Saga plays the Japanese subbed version of the rap battle in Episode 2, the English voice actors for the dub went out of their way to record and release a version of the entire scene in English online due to popular demand from fans. Caitlin Glass, the English voice for Saki, stated that when they first started dubbing the show, all the fans wanted to know was if they were going to dub the rap battle. It's a phenomenal amount of passion and support from both the fans and creators that I barely ever see in idol anime. In English dubs for idol anime, the music is almost always kept as the Japanese originals and it's rare for official English versions of their songs to even exist, much less be received well or even requested by fans. It's such a strong showing of how impactful this scene is when you can see the people who voice the characters in both Japanese and English and the people who work behind the scenes express their love for this show, as well as the fans of both the Japanese and English versions of this performance make covers or remixes or show interest in an official dubbed version. I don't think there's any other performance in any idol anime I know of that feels this well-loved worldwide.

I'll include links to both the seiyuu interview by Crunchyroll and the English dub of the rap battle at the end of this article for those interested, as they're both definitely worth watching!

I think it's very easy for people who aren't fans of idol anime to ignore the shows and write it off as "boring idol trash with cringy characters", despite the genre having a handful of characters I've fallen in love with over the years. Even as a fan of idol anime, I just expected Zombieland Saga to be a show mostly focusing on funny character interactions or humour based around the girls being zombies and spreading panic. It's only as I began to watch through every episode that I realized this is a show that treats its characters with respect, and it's shocking how invested I became in them, the stories of how they both lived and eventually lost their lives, and how they cope with the losses of not only their own lives, but the people they've left behind. One of the best parts of any idol anime is being able to connect with the characters and find your favourites, so let's take a deeper look at every member of Franchouchou and what makes them special.

          

Even though the opening scene of the show is about mocking the "idol anime protagonist" trope she falls into, Sakura Minamoto is exactly that kind of character. She's lost and aimless before she finds the very thing that inspires her: Ai Mizuno, an idol on TV, claims that mistakes and failures don't have to be a bad thing and that they're merely hurdles she can overcome in order to become the best version of herself. After a long streak of failures and bad luck throughout her life had shown her that trying her best was never worth the effort, she's completely given up on living her life. It's only when she learns that someone just like her can become an insanely successful center idol that she believes she can as well. Witnessing Ai like that inspires her to try again and audition for her favourite idol group. That is, until she's struck and killed upon trying to change her life one last time.

"I guess it's because I've never really thought of mistakes or failures as being a bad thing."

After being brought back from the dead without the memories of her past life, Sakura's main motivation for continuing to perform on stage as an idol has been to chase a familiar feeling she can't quite place. Unknowingly having been able to realize her life's dream after becoming a zombie, there's something about seeing a bright stage, loud pumping music, and a cheering audience that reminds her of something. Once she finally recovers the memories she's been searching for, all she remembers is how her entire life had been a streak of constant failures she's now forced to relive. The positivity and determination to chase the thrill she felt dies as Sakura Minamoto remembers exactly who she was. The Sakura we knew is gone, and the only part of her that remains is someone so adamant about never returning to who she was. Despite being the bubbly positive protagonist on the surface, Sakura is someone who has to face the dread that everything she's built up and tried so hard to achieve could come crumbling down at a moment's notice and how crushing it can feel to attempt to stand back up and continue after a failure. She was someone who was only optimistic because she didn't remember that every attempt to pursue happiness in her life had failed. It's even mentioned by the show's creators that she wouldn't have passed her audition if she managed to get there alive.

Even as her fellow idols try to coax her back to practice, her fans tell her how she's inspired them and how they're cheering her on, and her manager claims he'll never give up on her, she remains steadfast in her decision that nothing in her life is worth trying for. It's only through being literally dragged back into their practice room and being told by her group that she's the one who supported them and that they'd all rather fail on stage together than succeed without her that any semblance of the enjoyment of being an idol can resonate within her again. The memories of her afterlife return to her as well, and everything about her comes together as a whole. The true Sakura Minamoto is someone who can perform as an idol despite the trauma she's lived through. It doesn't matter what happens, nothing is going to keep her from being an idol anymore. Even after the stage she's performing on breaks down, the power goes out, and all hope is lost, she gets back up and continues singing.

"You can't just stand there and rot! They came for a concert and that's what they're gonna get!"

The previous second-in-command of the biker gang Dorami, Saki Nikadou is a rough and tough-as-nails girl, often the only one who barks back at their manager's insults. She won't hesitate for a second to call one of the members of her group a bitch live on stage, and quickly takes the leadership position in Franchouchou. Despite her rough exterior, she's someone with a heart of absolute gold that gets very excited very quickly about her favourite things in life: her biker gang, her favourite restaurant Drive-In Tori, and her treasured Tamagotchi. She'll wield her attitude and exterior as a weapon to protect the people she cares about by any means necessary, even throwing away her own life to do so. She's the kind of person to speed up her bike mere inches away from a sheer cliff to recreate the scene of her death right in front of people's eyes just to prove a point, clawing her way back up and rising from the flames like a badass.

"Even if my heart stops beating, I can still hear an echo. It's the voices of all my old friends. And to show them my thanks, I'll keep on racing down the road of carnage."

Saki's attachment to what she treasures in life leaves her at a loss when those things are about to be lost forever. The biker gang she was once second-in-command in is nearly out of members and threatened to be completely wiped out, and the radio show that helped her find her path in life is about to lose its host: White Ryu, a man she's looked up to for years, and even realized romantic feelings for. As someone who felt like the world was against her and that she never fit in, White Ryu helped her feel like there was a place for her out there and that she wouldn't be alone forever. She opened her heart to the willingness to connect with someone just like her, and this lifestyle is why she values camaraderie so highly. Those words of his were what led her to Reiko, the leader of Dorami, and that connection allowed her to discover everything she cherished in life. If it wasn't for White Ryu, she wouldn't have been able to live the life she loved, and she's determined to not lose something so important. She's the person who's gonna stick up for everyone who feels lost and hopeless just like she was.

Saki has the perfect spark to light the fire in others. Not only is she Franchouchou's leader, but also White Ryu's perfect candidate to take over his radio show to help support the people of Saga. The scene where Saki confesses her love to White Ryu and cries to herself after he declines is absolutely touching. She's completely spilled her heart out, and after both truly cherishing and accepting she's lost what's special to her, she's able to move on with her new afterlife. She's not only shown the world her passion but has come to inherit the very thing that helped her find who she wanted to be in the first place: White Ryu's radio show. Saki takes to the stage to perform her own version of White Ryu's "Do You Hate Windy Days", accepting the position of Saga's new guiding light, her passionate flame burning even brighter for those she treasures.

"Not until we grow up, technically. Problem is, no matter how many years pass, we're never gonna get older. Because we're zombies. I just don't get it, man..."

Ai Mizuno is a legend known by any and every idol in the country. She lived and died as the center of the top reigning idol group in all of Japan: Iron Frill. Ai persevered through everything until being struck directly by lightning on-stage during a performance ended her career along with her life. Robbed of her position of stardom and armed with a life-time of experience on being a top idol, Ai is dead set on making a return to the idol business to reclaim the legacy she lost. Ai has a practical mindset that guides Franchouchou to become the best idols possible, and despite occasionally coming off as cynical or harsh, she helps to anchor and support the entire group with her advice. She's the person who knows what it takes to make it big, and knows you'll fail if you aren't at your best. The entertainment industry is cut-throat, and to fall behind is to die.

"My story isn't over, I'm still here. I'm not history yet! I don't care if I'm a zombie, I'm gonna get back on stage again!"

Ai's cause of death left her with deep scars: a terrible fear of lightning or any kind of flashing lights, and a legacy in history as a deceased legend she'd rather forget. Receiving a second chance as a zombie, Ai believes the solution to change her legacy is to chase after it, that once Franchouchou becomes successful and has enough fans, she'll finally earn back the chance to return to her old group and take back what was hers. As the group prepares to perform the opening act for Iron Frill at Saga Arena, Ai is approached by Shiori Baba, the new leader of her old group, due to her striking resemblance to their old star center. She claims that Ai is too talented to be stuck in some unknown idol group in the middle of nowhere, and that Iron Frill is unbeatable. Shiori warns her: Ai can join Iron Frill as a member of the top idol queens, or suffer in Saga and never reach her full potential. When the time comes for Franchouchou to enter Saga Rock alongside them, Ai must conquer blinding reminders both of the legacy she can never return to and the lightning strike that cut it all short. As thunder and rain pours down onto the stage of Saga Rock, Ai can barely move, let alone sing a single word, despite her life-time of skill and experience.

Her new group supports her on stage, reassuring her that they can back her up and cover for her, and reminding her that there's no way a lightning strike could kill them if they're already zombies. Ai can finally overcome her fear by taking her place alongside her fellow zombie idols, and after being electrocuted one more time she's able to truly return to being the legend she once was. With her new group to support her, Ai performs a new electrified version of Mezame Returner, something only possible performing as a zombie in Franchouchou. It's too late for her legacy as Iron Frill's center, a statement she makes both to Iron Frill and to herself. The only way to truly reclaim what she lost in her life is to stop chasing after it and pursue newer, greater heights.

"...You were too late."

The legendary Showa Idol Junko Konno was considered a pioneer of the idol industry in her life as one of the first solo idols to ever hit it big in Japan. Her signature song titled "50 to 4 tsu no Wasuremono" is still being used in television commercials and played online even in the modern day, as it'd be an understatement to call the song that singlehandedly caused the boom of the idol industry in the 1980s a "success". Shy and reserved yet immensely talented, Junko represents the ideal image of an idol during Japan's Showa era, spanning from the 1920s to the 1980s. She believes that a good performer doesn't have to rely on their fans and that it's their job to give the fans something to aspire to while keeping them distant enough to not reveal their own flaws. As the first of her kind, she worked harder than anyone every day to become the person that people could look up to. Finally realizing her goal by becoming one of the first and most successful idols in all of Japan, Junko set her sights on a tour in Kyushu. Unfortunately, that tour would never come to pass as the plane she was on was sent hurtling down towards Saga, ending her life in a crash landing.

50 to 4 is one of my favourite songs in this whole series. It's sad in a beautiful way and the faded colours and shift in aspect ratio really make it look just like an old recording from Junko's life in the Showa era. I associate the guitar with her for many reasons but this song is one of the best. It's a song she wrote in her lifetime that's recontextualized here to mourn what she's lost and something about that is so beautiful to me. Just like Junko herself.

Junko is someone who struggles to continue forwards in her afterlife, unable to take steps into a new unfamiliar age. Her patchwork skin of different colours implies her death was the most traumatic of the entire cast, leading to her becoming the shyest and quietest member of Franchouchou. Despite this, she's able to open up to Sakura about her cause of death and how she struggles with the differences in the modern day compared to her time as an idol in the 80s. She's someone who's so used to performing by herself, in a completely different world. New inventions like the internet and the rise of social media have drastically changed what being an idol means in modern times. Forcefully disconnected from the Showa era life she knew, she struggles to become the ideal modern day idol and can't find her voice to stand up for herself, simply letting what she desires slip out of her grasp. She states that if this is the way idols are in the current age, then she's not up to the task. Even as one of the most talented members of her group is about to abandon them, believing Franchouchou isn't good enough for her, she can't find the words to object.

However, deep inside past her shy exterior burns a flame hotter than any other. The legendary Showa Idol is second to none with a powerful singing voice that commands respect on stage and she should be allowed to perform as an idol in her own way. Franchouchou is a rag-tag group made up of idols from different eras and different lives, and by opening up to each other and working together despite their individual flaws, they can succeed together. She became a legend for good reason and all she needs to do is find the confidence to rise up and take what's hers, smashing anything that gets in her way. She belongs on stage and nothing, not even a different era, is going to stop her. At Saga Arena, Junko responds to Iron Frill's warning to Ai with a declaration of war to prove they're not to be taken lightly. Screaming from the depths of her lungs, Junko smashes her guitar live on stage, and uses it to power herself up and take Ai back to perform with her group in a performance worthy of the legendary Showa Idol.

"You might be undead, but you've still got a light inside you! Shine bright, and the world will follow! Blow them to bits! YOU'RE JUNKO KONNO!!!"

The mysterious woman known only as Yuugiri was known in the 1800s as a legendary courtesan whose services were regarded so highly that none could afford her prices. Sent away to live a peaceful life in a town where no one knew her, she found her fate intertwined with Kiichi Momozaki. The only person she'd met who didn't desire her for her services as a courtesan, Kiichi yearned for the Saga prefecture's independence, to make it into a beautiful place where anyone can choose their own paths in life. As their efforts to restore Saga developed out of control, Yuugiri would lay down her own life to protect his, sacrificing herself to take the fall for the Saga Incident. Knowing her life wasn't given in vain, Yuugiri says her farewells and is executed by beheading. The one deemed responsible for the Saga Incident is removed from history, only to be known as a legendary courtesan in a far away land. Several decades later, Yuugiri and several other girls would be raised from the dead to help an odd man in shades and a familiar old bartender with mysterious pasts lift a curse from the modern-day prefecture of Saga.

"Many of the hearts you inspired are no longer beating, so you must ensure that your dream comes true, or their lives will have been lost for nothing!"

Yuugiri being a courtesan is a core part of the concept for her character, and it's a stark contrast to typical idols in anime always being these innocent high school girls who could never be involved with romance. The idea of a character in an idol anime having worked in a position where she's likely had many intimate encounters with many people for money and currently working as a bartender feels like a slap in the face to what an idol is "supposed" to be, and that makes her really appealing. Despite the status of legendary courtesan seeming like a strong defiance of the image of an idol, it's likely that Yuugiri was resurrected for exactly that reason, as it makes her exceptionally skilled in the performing arts. She's shown both playing and teaching others the shamisen, and can sing and dance. You could argue the courtesans of her time were the equivalent to modern day idols, and she simply performs in the style of her era.

Yuugiri's center performance isn't directly related to her story, only sharing the same name: the Saga Incident. However, it's a really strong performance that highlights how her character is recontextualized through what we learn throughout her story. It's a direct example in the current day of what's made her so legendary, as we see her continue fighting to save Saga decades after she laid down her life for it. Without Saga and the medicine of immortality, Yuugiri and her fellow zombies would never rise again to see the light of day. Without Yuugiri, Saga as we know it would vanish for the rest of time.

"It's my turn to carry the torch now. In present day Saga, I plan to choose a path for myself... and walk bravely."

Lily Hoshikawa is an absolute icon. She became a famous child actress in the 2000s under the management of her father. Naturally gifted, she starred in several of the most popular TV shows all just to make him smile. As her ratings and popularity grew, her father began to see her more for the celebrity she was on TV and less as the daughter she wanted to be, causing a divide between the two and building stress that would ultimately lead to her death by cardiac arrest. Wanting to stay as a young girl forever instead of the growing son her father saw her as, she defied what the world would eventually come to know her as by ending her life.

"Papa's favourite thing to do was to relax in front of the TV together. He used to say no matter how good a show was, it was even better if you could laugh and cry along with another person while you watch. Seeing how much he enjoyed TV made me really happy, so I thought it'd be nice if I could make him smile from inside the TV."

The idea of having a canonically transgender character in an idol anime was such an impactful part of Zombieland Saga, and it became something lots of people were talking about. To my knowledge there hasn't ever been another character in an idol anime who's undeniably stated as being transgender and yet so universally loved and accepted, and Lily is often said to be the first character to do so. Idol anime and its fans often like to make fun of its characters for being abnormal (I think of Yoshiko Tsushima from Love Live Sunshine as a prime example) and Zombieland Saga especially loves to bully its idols, but there's never even a second spent making fun of Lily for being a trans girl or using her gender identity as the punchline to a joke. While her death is something some people may see as exaggerated, her feelings are shockingly relatable for many people and she's always treated with the respect she deserves. Due to her cause of death being cardiac arrest, her heart is often seen literally bursting out of her chest as a zombie and not only does that make her already lovable appearance more endearing, it's such a wonderful visual representation of her character. She has such a deep love for who she is and who she cares for that her heart is so full it can't even keep itself inside her chest. That's adorable.

Lily uses her unending afterlife as a zombie to live her days as the forever young girl she wanted to stay as during her life. Despite not wanting to reconnect with her father at first, Lily is someone whose death has directly hurt the person closest to her. After seeing the way he regrets how he treated her and how he struggles to live without her, she's inspired to use the stage she performs on to show her father that she still loves him. Their love for each other is too strong to be destroyed by death, and through that love, the two can reconnect as the TV star who loves her father and the manager who dearly missed his daughter. 

"I'm still the same Lily and always will be. And now I won't ever grow up! There's no need to worry."

Even the so-called "legendary" Tae Yamada, a barely sentient shambling zombie who seems to only be able to speak in growls and sneezes, still has some heartwarming moments to highlight the best points of her character.

Tae has an entire episode dedicated to her, showing how even if she can't speak, she's supportive of the people around her and well-loved by them in return. As Sakura's confidence fades and she loses the will to go on, Tae forces her back into the practice room to help her just like Sakura did for her. When the group's left at a loss for what to call themselves, a couple of Tae's sneezes give them a name they can all identify under. People like Maria, the new leader of Saki's biker gang, the local police officer who's little more than a bumbling idiot claiming he'll arrest the girls, and the news reporter trying to find out Franchouchou's secrets all respect her. They'll confide in her, ask for her help, recognize her talents, and invite her along. She becomes somewhat of a public figure in their local community, with a cult following of fans for her stage presence in Franchouchou.

In the most absurd scene in the entire show, Tae manages to sneeze the ink from a pen she was chewing on to perfectly mark the trifecta of a boat race onto her betting ticket and wins enough money to singlehandedly bring the entire group out of a 20 million yen debt. Maybe Tae really is legendary.

Tae also seems to have this unexplained silent rivalry with the Drive-In Tori mascot Coco? Neither of them speak and I'm not even sure Coco is like a human in a mascot suit either, he's just a weird chicken man???? Not one second of this is ever explained and that makes it incredibly hilarious.

Kotaro Tatsumi is the perfect example of what makes Zombieland Saga so good. He's absolutely unhinged; yelling all the time, insulting the girls in his group, throwing them into insane scenarios or sudden performances with no notice or prep time, and seems to have little to no respect for them. However, the moments where he emotionally supports these girls feels so genuine. He'll break down a door Junko locked herself behind, knocking her onto the floor unconscious, yet will sit there and wait until she wakes up to ask if she's okay. He'll take the time to properly explain something she doesn't understand and how drastic of a change it can be to someone who's been dead for decades. He's empathetic to her feelings, not forcing her to do something she's not comfortable with or conform to what the rest of the group wants, and it's only once he's helped her and knows she's okay to continue does he go back to his wild personality, yelling at her to fix the door he broke down. He's the person to yell into Sakura's face that he'll never give up, and that he'll never abandon her because even if she doesn't have what it takes to succeed, he does and he'll continue to push her forwards.

"The show's in sixteen days. Call time is 10am sharp. I'll do everything humanly possible to help, and you do everything... zombiely possible. Got it? I give my undying word, I will eternally have whatever it takes."

While she's not a member of Franchouchou for long, Maimai is a character who really proves how endearing this show is. The entire point of her character is one the audience can fully relate to because she appears late enough into this show's story for people to be invested in it. She's someone who's been inspired by Sakura's performances the same way Ai was, and someone who's become a fan of idols in the same way the viewer has, understanding what makes them so appealing and easy to connect to. Her love for Franchouhou has pushed her forwards to do things she never thought possible. Maimai represents how idols can inspire their fans and how their fans wish to support them in return, and how that's the entire appeal point of the genre. It's a genuine love for idols that the show has helped ease people into, and it's a perfect idea to create a character who embodies this idea in a show that sells that love so well.

"The reason you shine so bright is because even after dying, you keep rising again! It's like you're dead set on living your afterlives to the fullest. I think if I wanna shine like that, the first step is making the most of my life here in Saga. That's why I'm going to graduate from Franchouchou and live! Here and now, in the Reiwa era!"

Zombieland Saga is both a hilarious mockery of idol anime and such a shining example of what makes them so good in the first place. It's for both these reasons that I'd recommend it to my fellow Love Live and idol anime fans just as much as I recommended it to my dad's friend who's barely ever watched anime and has never listened to J-Pop.

          

I don't think my passion for Love Live is something I've lost, but in the last few years I've found myself a lot less interested in the newer parts of the series. In my previous blog entries I've talked a lot about how much Love Live means to me because of how I love and grow attached to the characters and how amazing the performances are both as an extensions of the character's stories and the emotions they make me feel when listening to the music.

Idol anime captivated me because of characters I could both relate to and admire for what they accomplish, and I felt that exact same way when I watched Zombieland Saga. Even if they aren't alive I still find my favourite parts of characters like Saki or Sakura or Junko or Lily to be relatable. When those characters perform extraordinary feats like rising from the flames of their own death scene or shout that they won't give up even as the power goes out and their stage crumbles and collapses around them, my heart starts racing and I cheer my loudest.

When I watched Junko's performance of Gekkou Survive at Saga Arena, I couldn't look away. When she smashes her guitar with the loudest scream she can muster and uses its broken wires to charge the group with electricity so they can keep performing, it left such a strong impression on me that it was all I could think about for days. I didn't want to watch any more episodes for three entire days because I just wanted to keep thinking about that performance over and over. I was so worried that there'd be a later performance that would overshadow it by being even better, and then I'd be thinking about that for four or five days.

Fun fact! I had to edit out two different mentions of this scene as I was writing this article because it was nearly impossible to not shut up about it, I cannot understate just how crazy I went for this because I was listening to this song and watching this clip several times every day. No, I don't have a problem.

After I rushed to tell my friends how cool I thought Junko was, my boyfriend told me it was funny to read my reaction, saying it was as if someone was watching a shounen anime for the first time. I couldn't help but laugh because that was all true. I didn't think I'd be interested in anime when I was younger because I was under the assumption that it was all edgy fantasy or shounen shows, and it was genres like idol anime that helped me realize that there are kinds that I can enjoy too. I feel the same way watching these idol performances that someone else might when watching their favourite fight scene in a shounen anime. Love Live made me feel this way, and nothing else came close until I started watching Zombieland Saga.

Every performance in this show highlights at least one really great aspect of these characters. For those who have multiple centers such as Saki, we get to see two very different sides of her that both develop her into a lovable character who feels very genuine. These girls aren't shamed or disrespected or forced to hide these aspects of themselves. These performances allow them to express who they are and be openly accepted, whether by their fellow idols, their fans, or the entire world. The idols they become allow them to strengthen their bonds with each other, connect with and inspire their fans, and make the world a happier, better place.

The first time I watched Love Live it felt like a whole world had opened its doors in front of me, and Zombieland Saga gave me the opportunity to live through that same feeling again. I started by simply wanting to watch the anime, and when it blew me away, I wanted to listen to the music over and over again on repeat. It eventually got to the point where I wanted to watch whatever Zombieland Saga seiyuu videos popped up in my YouTube feed, and in doing so I found something that made this show even more special to me. This video was not only a really fun introduction to the seiyuu of the show, especially the voice of Kotaro: Mamoru Miyano, but also an exciting confirmation that Franchouchou has done live concerts in real life! It was also really cool to see that Saki is voiced by Asami Tano, a name fellow Love Live fans will recognize as Sarah Kazuno in Love Live Sunshine. As a Saint Snow fan, it's great to hear her voice and recognize her face in other seiyuu videos or live performances.

In this video, the announcement that Franchouchou would be performing at the concert hall Makuhari Messe in October 2021 had everyone in the room cheering and clapping, all except for Junko's seiyuu, Maki Kawase, who had begun to cry. As it turns out, the group was scheduled to sing at Makuhari Messe in March 2020, a performance that would end up being cancelled. Apparently it had devastated Kawase, saying she had cried and felt alone. The group continued to practice, believing they could once again perform there. Another attempt was made to schedule a performance the following February, but the event had to be moved to a different, much smaller venue, leaving Makuhari Messe as an unfulfilled dream once again. It wasn't until this very announcement that the group would finally get their chance to perform properly at Makuhari Messe. No cancellations, no change of venue, and they could finally have their revenge. It's the exact kind of story I would expect to hear from the seiyuu of a Love Live group, and it's what makes me want to cheer them on while they perform. When reading an interview with Kawase on Seimaga, I found out that she had learned to sing in order to become more likely to land roles as she was surprised to hear those things would be expected of a seiyuu, and ever since I saw that, her performance as Junko in Gekkou Survive has felt even more legendary. Every YouTube comment I see about Junko having an angelic or perfect voice makes me incredibly happy for Kawase and proud to say Junko is best girl.

I've just mentioned that Junko is easily my best girl but I haven't had a good moment to gush about JunSaku in this article. They've just recently become one of my favourite ships ever. It's hard to find any content of them but hey that's how rarepairs are, you wouldn't expect anything else from the person who ships EliMaki! If you see any content of them at all, no matter what it is, please send it to me I am so desperate for any single crumb of them I can find please i need them oh my god plea se

I'll provide links to this seiyuu video with English subtitles, the digest video of the Makuhari Messe concert, and the Seimaga interview with Kawase at the end of this article if you're interested in any of them!

Zombieland Saga's second season, subtitled "Revenge", has ended as of 2021, and I'm both desperate to see any news on the movie that was announced that year and crossing my fingers that we'll see a third anime season at some point. And yet, although I have unanswered questions and I'm so hooked on this show that I need to see more, I'm okay with accepting the possibility that maybe Zombieland Saga is over. This show has given me a new experience that made my life a happier one, and I can move forward with this new happier life the same way the girls in Franchouchou move on with theirs. Well, their afterlives, at least.

Zombieland Saga is a fantastic idol anime. It's one I can recommend both to people who mock idols or unironically adore them, as it's eager to both make fun of idol anime and be a shining example of what makes them so good. Through its unique and appealing characters with compelling and engaging stories, strengthened through their great music and meaningful performances, this show reminded me of the exact things that got me to love idol anime in the first place. That's why I can't stop thinking about Zombieland Saga.

Although, if Zombieland Saga came out with a silly little mobile gacha game like School Idol Festival, I would play that until my thumbs fell off. They had a collab with Bandori, so it's not completely out of the question, right?

          

Thank you so much for reading! If you're interested in more of what I write, or just want the occasional Junko art on your feed, feel free to follow me on Twitter at @akari_uehara!

A huge thank you to my friends Brave, Mizu, and Nico for beta-reading this article for me! I could never have released this without you being generous with your time and talking things over with me. I wanted several different perspectives on this article and there were always things I needed to double-check or think about, and I just can't understate how grateful I am. I was so incredibly determined to make this article better and better and it only exists because of you. Thanks so much.

As promised, here's your links to the videos mentioned in the article:

Crunchyroll's interview about Zombieland Saga's Rap Battle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTGnaskZ_iU

The English Dub of Zombieland Saga's Rap Battle: https://www.instagram.com/tv/CKQGH-xjbX-/

The announcement of the Franchouchou live at Makuhari Messe subtitled by NauFF Fansub: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbLBkQwPTI8 as well as a thank you to makinohararestarea8294 for their comment providing context for this clip!

The Franchouchou Makuhari Messe live's digest video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N6l8YXDl2s

Seimaga's interview with Maki Kawase: https://seimaga.jp/item25.html

I want to take this opportunity to shout out the Zombieland Saga fandom wiki: https://zombieland-saga.fandom.com/wiki/Zombie_Land_Saga_Wiki

Whoever wrote or edited these articles not only gave me helpful information to reference as I wrote and researched this article but also made it feel like they really gave the writing their own personal touch. It didn't feel boring or stiff to read, and since a lot of things in this show get left up to interpretation, especially with some of the more supernatural elements, some of the theorycrafting on that site or the ideas they mention in the articles themselves were really fun to look at! 

Thank you as well to Samantha Ferreira for writing this animeherald article on Lily Hoshikawa: https://www.animeherald.com/2019/01/29/lily-hoshikawa-zombie-land-sagas-undead-idol-turned-trans-icon/

Not only was this article a great read (which I highly recommend as long as you're okay with the content warnings) but it helped me gather information to write the section about Lily in this article, as well as giving me direct insight into how the transgender aspect of her character was received by fans at a time before I had started watching Zombieland Saga, it's something I simply wouldn't be able to know on my own.

I also want to thank Mother's Basement for their video on Zombieland Saga: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7-jbwCX28c

It really helped motivate and inspire me to talk about my favourite parts of this show, and was a nice look into the perspective of someone who wasn't an idol fan enjoying the genre through this show. 

          

I know I've already said it but thank you so, so much for reading. This is the first article I've written in almost four years and as I'm writing this I'm a little worried it might flop. I've spent about two and a half weeks writing this article and a decent chunk of that time was spent wondering if people would even see it. I loved writing about Love Live but the article I'm most proud of has the least amount of views and I think I know and am followed by a lot more Love Live fans on Twitter than people who even know what Zombieland Saga is. I can't say I'm upset about feeling that way though, because I think it really motivated me to try to express how passionate I am about this show, to sorta convince people it was worth watching if they'd never heard of it? This article you just read isn't just something fun I decided to make, it feels like a really big triumph for me because I've felt stuck on trying to write things for so long, and because I've had so much going on in my life since I last finished an article. While I'm certainly proud of what I made, I owe so much to every other person here. I owe a lot to my friends for supporting me and being excited when I'd talk about the progress I made or telling me they like my writing, especially the people who beta read for me or cheered me on. Anyone who's read this article, thank you for just being here and taking an interest in this. I really hope I could deliver something you enjoyed, because damn am I proud of what I made, y'know?

There's so much I love about Zombieland Saga and I didn't even go through everything in this article. It checked out to about 8000 words and I still didn't talk about everything I love, so here's some small stuff I wanna add on!

• I love the songs themselves and they really helped with the writing process. My favourites are 50 to 4, Taiga yo Tomo ni Naite Kure, obviously Gekkou Survive, Saga Jihen, and Yomigaere, but I also just love the background music, and Hard To Say I'm Sorry is easily my favourite song in the OST.
• The dub is absolutely hilarious and the scene where Kotaro yells at the girls to get in the van in Episode 3 was something that made me really want to watch the show. I've posted a whole Twitter thread of great moments from it here!
• Gekkou Survive is so cool because it's mainly a Junko solo performance with the rest of the group supporting her. It's a prime example of her performing as an idol in her own way, especially since she tells Sakura in the previous episode how she still struggles performing in a group.
• You could argue the two metalhead Franchouchou fanboys (who are apparently named Skull and Bull according to the Zombieland Saga wiki, and that's hilarious) are meant to represent the people watching the show as they become fans of the group over time.
• I saw a YouTube comment on Taiga yo Tomo ni Naite Kure that said it had Power Rangers vibes and that makes it equally hype and goofy.

I'm sure every day I'll think of some little thing and say "Damn it I should've included that in the article" but then I'd be working on this constantly and you'd never see it released. I was really aching to try and find any opportunity I could to mention JunSaku in this article because I actually really love them and they feel like such a rarepair with almost no content. I'm actually serious if people find any content of them please send it to me because I need that injected into my veins immediately. I really wanted to talk about this show for several reasons but a big one is because I feel like when I finished Season 2 and went to talk about it on Twitter I didn't feel I gave it the compliments it deserved. I mainly just gushed and said "it's just really cool and gives me brainrot" and this kind of love really needed me to take my time and effort to try to talk about it the best I can instead of "Junko Konno can slam her guitar over my head anytime she wants". Which she still can, absolutely, but it doesn't really get my point across.

I've been through a lot recently, moving out for the first time and living in a different part of the country, struggling with losing a job I really wanted, and I turned to the things that make me happy and tried to write about them as a way to help emotionally. Since writing about Love Live sorta just came naturally to me without having to think too hard about that, I tried to make something there but it just wasn't working out. I feel really blessed that I was able to resonate with Zombieland Saga like I did because I feel like I've been struggling for years to find that thing that really clicked with me and made writing feel effortless. There was so much cool stuff I got to research and discover when writing this article. It blew my mind to see an English dub of the rap battle being requested by fans and Chanmaki is the first seiyuu I've ever read an interview first-hand for despite needing Google Translate. Working on this was just a lot of fun! I'm excited to binge a bunch of Franchouchou seiyuu content while lazy in bed just like I had with Niji when I was writing those Love Live articles I made. A Guide to Franchouchou by My Idol Obsession is a great watch if you're interested in them as well! It wasn't relevant to the article but I wanted to mention it because I just really enjoy these casual videos they make.

I also just want to say I'm so glad a show like this exists because at times it's easy for me to feel ostracized for liking anime and especially things like slice of life or idol anime. I'm glad that there's a show to help ease people into something that outsiders would just make fun of because it feels like it's given this genre a lot more of a chance with a lot more people instead of people just ignoring idol anime as "cringe idol trash". When I said that you could find people talking about how they watched this show because of the rap battle on any social media, I wasn't kidding. They're comments on posts from Instagram, Reddit, and yes, that third one is even from Google Reviews.

Well, I don't want these ending thoughts to turn into an entire second article so I think I'll wrap them up now. I have other unfinished drafts that I could end up working on if I can make them good enough, but I want to say that even if it takes several more years I thoroughly enjoy writing and want to continue making these articles! I post my thoughts on any games or anime I finish on Twitter anyways, so you're likely to see content from me continue into the future, whenever that may be.

Thank you so much for joining me!