Zombie Land Saga Midseason Review – The Idol Anime No One Knew They Wanted

November 12, 2018

After getting the first few episodes out of the way, Zombie Land Saga is in full swing as a full-fledged idol anime. From the training hardships, to the friendships growing, and all the way down to the really bad CG dance scenes, Zombie Land Saga no longer has it all, though some may see this as a downside. But even after it goes full-on idol anime, we still have fans in people who either don’t watch idol anime or are brand new to the genre. Zombie Land Saga has its hold on a lot of fans, and it’s almost as legendary as Yamada Tae.

After the guerilla live in episode 3, we see the end of some of the running jokes. There is no more “Go go go” or any more changing of genres, but we are getting a lot of character development and a lot more of The Legendary Yamada Tae, the true star of the show.

Episode 4 gives some good character development with Junko and Ai getting back into the swing of being an idol. It also further strengthens the Saki and Sakura dynamic making them one of my favorite pairs of characters in anime. Sakura’s goody-goody nature in combination with Saki’s mischief makes for hilarious scenarios like the hot springs.

Now we get to episode 5 and 6. Everything is starting to come together. Yamada Tae steals the show in episode 4 in all ways possible while Franchouchou participates in local advertising and events. Fun fact, some of the Seiyuu participated in the Gatalympics and they got the actual president of Drive-In Tori to play his part in the episode.

But there is one person who starts to question whether or not he’s seen some of the members before. All the major backstories start getting revealed as they prepare for whatever next gig they will get. We learn the era Junko came from is that of the unreachable idols that are figures people strive to be, which clashes with Ai’s version of idols that are within reach of the fans and regularly interacts with them.

Junko and Ai’s death finally gets revealed too. Junko’s patchwork now makes sense after seeing she died in a plane crash. Okay, so now all of the Saga girls’ deaths are making sense now for the most part. Sakura died from the truck, Saki died while riding, and it’s obvious Yuugiri was beheaded. But then we get to Ai’s death. She was performing during a storm, and then while in the middle of the performance gets struck by lightning. Now it makes sense for her bandages, but HOW DOES SOMEONE IN THE MIDDLE OF A STADIUM FULL OF PEOPLE AND TOPPED WITH LIGHTNING RODS GET HIT BY LIGHTNING. It’s insanely unrealistic in my opinion, and I’d rather have over the top “go go go” scenes than over the top deaths. And now, next episode the girls are going to perform at a festival where Ai’s last crew will also be performing. This will be good.

Overall, the show is still just as hilarious as it started. I wish it still had a different genre each episode though, and I want the return of “go go go.” We seem to get running gags that last a few episodes so thankfully we aren’t completely dry on humor and it would also help some of the old gags not end up overused. The show is still great and I still highly recommend it to anyone. At the moment, it’s my #2 show of the season and I always make sure I watch it the day it airs just so I don’t ever miss out on their antics.