Sea Slugs! Anime Blog

I am going to start by saying that there has to be a second season of this. I am just going to put my fingers in my ears, close my eyes, and chant that a second season is coming. Otherwise, the pacing of Zombie Loan makes absolutely no sense at all. What kind of series goes at a very typical 26 episode pace, introducing a slew of new characters (about half of which are not even named), and then ends at episode 11? How is this possible?! Almost zero loose ends were wrapped up, and yet the arc with Shito was so good! Going on recent trends for having a set of 13 episode series back to back, I am going to assume that Zombie Loan was simply the first in a set of seasons, much like Peach Pit’s other series, Rozen Maiden and Rozen Maiden Träumend.

Up until episode 8, most of Zombie Loan was opening-fluff. We get your typical episodes that don’t really contribute much to the overall story, but introduce various characters. However, the one thing that really made Zombie Loan special was the various little philosophical moments. At first I derided the silly plot, but actually the fact that most of the characters are zombies lets Zombie Loan address a lot of issues about life and death. These discussions were fantastic, and I was surprised at how deep Shito’s feelings about life were. Although Chika ends up with the usual “RAWR I am genki and want money, but sometimes I can be sensitive!” shtick, Shito’s tortured past, and jealousy of those that live normally was riveting.

Oddly enough, almost all the characters lead really craptastic lives, but yet barely anyone sinks into an emo-funk for very long. Michiru is an especially great protagonist, because she is able to contribute so much with her extremely limited talents (seeing black rings and talking to plushies). Chika and Shito seem to be your usual stock genki and cool combination of characters, and to a large degree they are. However, the fact that they are somewhat indestructible, and forced to work together leads to a unique dynamic. Basically, as Yuuta puts it, this is the friendship that comes from trying to kill each other. Nanoha would understand.

The final arc, which gives hints at Shito’s past, seemed to really be kicking the series into high gear. All the sudden, mysteries were abound, and loyalties were questioned. Most importantly, Zombie Loan finally introduced a plethora of merchandising opportunities. Zombie Loan handled all the plot twists deftly, and continued to build the bonds between the characters. During the final third, I was really getting excited about the series. Unfortunately, Zombie Loan ends abruptly after Shito is rescued, and almost nothing gets answered. WTF?!

Story aside, Zombie Loan also had a lot of surprisingly funny moments. Michiru’s confusion and moments of self-doubt often became hilarious jokes, like when she blamed herself for global warming, or when she tried to hit Phalanx with Chika’s bokken. In fact the humor was always very understated and welcome. It was the expertly handled humor that made the characters (well, those that got names) so loveable and memorable.

As for the various production values, Zombie Loan didn’t always have the best animation, but the art was pretty good in general. Once you got past the extremely sharp and skinny characters, most of the still shots and daily life moments looked fine. There were maybe a few too many sickly green moments, but overall the production values were good. The background music was excellent, and did a lot to enhance the mood. The OP/ED were ok, and I would have liked the OP a lot more if there was a different vocalist.

I made fun of Zombie Loan at first, but by the end of the series, I was a huge fan. There were a lot of similarities between Zombie Loan and Rozen Maiden, but Zombie Loan seemed deeper and more serious. I can only hope that Zombie Loan will follow Rozen Maiden’s lead in putting out a second short season, so that we can continue the story where we left off. If I judge the series based solely as an individual unit, I’d only give Zombie Loan a 3/5, because very little of the story was wrapped up, and yet so many mysteries were presented. However, I’m going to give Zombie Loan the benefit of the doubt, just because it seemed to be setting up something grand, and the series got better and better with every episode.

Kabitzin’s Rating: 4.5/5