Sankarea (Sankarea: Undying Love)

Ever since he was a child, zombie-obsessed Chihiro Furuya has wanted an undead girlfriend. Soon enough, his love for all things zombie comes in handy when his cat Baabu gets run over, prompting Chihiro to try to make a resurrection potion and bring him back to life. During his endeavor, he sees a rich girl named Rea Sanka yelling into an old well every day about her oppressive life. After meeting and bonding with her, Chihiro is convinced by Rea to persevere in saving Baabu. Eventually, he succeeds with the help of the poisonous hydrangea flowers from Rea's family garden.

Unaware of the potion's success and seeking to escape the burdens of her life, Rea drinks the resurrection potion, mistakenly thinking she will die. Though it doesn't kill her, the effects still linger and her death from a fatal accident causes her to be reborn as a zombie. With help from Chihiro, Rea strives to adjust to her new—albeit undead—life.

For a boy wanting a zombie girlfriend, this situation would seem like a dream come true. But in Sankarea, Chihiro's life becomes stranger than usual as he deals with Rea's odd new cravings and the unforeseen consequences of her transformation.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

The initial English DVD and Blu-Ray releases were edited for content, but customers were allowed to exchange it for an uncensored version later on.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Sankarea
Side story:	Sankarea OVA
Sequel:	Sankarea: Wagahai mo... Zombie de Aru...

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Sanka, Rea

Main

Uchida, Maaya
Japanese

Furuya, Chihiro

Main

Shintani, Ryouko
Japanese

Baabu

Supporting

Fukuen, Misato
Japanese

Furuya, Mero

Supporting

Iguchi, Yuka
Japanese

Saouji, Ranko

Supporting

Yahagi, Sayuri
Japanese

Furuya, Jogorou

Supporting

Saitou, Shirou
Japanese

Sanka, Aria

Supporting

Asano, Mayumi
Japanese

Yasuda

Supporting

Iwase, Shuuhei
Japanese

Furuya, Doon

Supporting

Ogino, Seirou
Japanese

Sanka, Danichirou

Supporting

Ishizuka, Unshou
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Takatori, Masashi

Producer

Tateishi, Kensuke

Producer

Omata, Shinichi

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Yoshida, Shunji

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Esoragoto (絵空事)" by nano.RIPE

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Ending Theme

"Above your hand" by Annabel

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Reviews

May 10, 2012

Stark700

Recommended

So imagine this. Close your eyes and picture yourself walking to school, having a great day, realizing that you just aced a test, talked to a boy/girl you like, ate a good meal, and come home. You go to your room to relax but the first thing you see is a zombie girl lying half-naked on your bed. You try to to tell yourself if this is reality or fiction but just can't seem to do it.

Honestly, that's the feeling I got when I first started watching this series. In other words, very surprising. Originally, I didn't have high expectation of this series. No, it ... is not because the series is tagged as “ecchi” by MAL or the fact that the main character has a zombie fascination (more like a fetish to be honest). However, after watching about half the series that aired already, I have a hope for this series as it surprised me quite a bit, for the better.

The story tells the young boy named Chihiro Furuya, who has a strange hobby, or more a fascination on zombies. Now, there's something you don't see or hear everyday. However, despite being strange as it sounds, it is what our our main character loves. His obsession with zombies can be traced to the point of obsession and even a fetish. Sounds strange right? I'm sure this would definitely be something strange even for any of us considered to be an otaku. The story continues on from there where he meets another girl, an idol, to be exact who later after unfortunate circumstances becomes what he "loves". As for our main heroine (or maybe anti-hero later? I mean, she's freaking dead already), she is an unique character. Despite being one of the most beautiful girl at school, she strives hard to gain “freedom” or to be free from her life. Most prominently, she tries to escape her circumstances at home because what goes beyond those doors are circumstances that some of us may puke or feel disgust about. It is definitely something I'm sure most of us don't want to be placed in our own circumstances in real life. (unless you like living in big mansions and get free tuition)

Then, we have other characters like Ranko Saōji (also known as Wanko). She is rather tomboyish judged by her attitude and appearance but there's some history between her and our zombie loving MC, a history that can be traced back to puppy love, zombie movies, and all that rest of good stuff. It would definitely be interesting to see what kind of rivalry or friendship she may later develop towards our school beauty, aka Rea.

Anyways, my impressions of story so far is great. Even the very first episode got me hooked like a zombie. The movement of the story so far is somewhat slow but easy to follow and as the series continues, we see some of the unraveling details such as Rea's background. More importantly, the tone of the story becomes darker (mixed in with comedy the same time) as we see what is going on behind the scenes of Rea's life. We also see the history between Ranko and Chihiro as well as childhood memories are treasure that most us should keep placed in our hearts.

As for the art, I'm not too impressed. Well, let's just say that when I first saw that Studio Deen was the studio involved for this, my hopes were dead like a zombie. However, after watching these first few episodes, I'm glad they proved me wrong. I like the style and art of the series so far even if it's a bit plain. After all, art isn't something that determines the overall enjoyment of a series. Don't believe me? Just ask Gurren Lagann. As for the sound and music, I think so far it does seem to fit. I mean, it's not something eerie like Shigofumi: Letters of the Departed but you'll notice it soon once you get into the series. There's also emotional music mixed in that reflects on some of the mood of the story. Then, there's the melody of comedic music thrown in during lighter atmospheres. Overall, I'd say that the soundtrack isn't something worth an Emmy Award but also compelling to the show.

Overall, I'm enjoying this series as it is so far. It's not something I'll be obsessed about as much as the main character for zombies but definitely enjoying it at an anime fan level. The story (although somewhat easy to predict) has drama with an emotional background mixed in with comedy and possible romance. The characters are appealing and the soundtrack fits well. My only concern at this point is Studio DEEN as it's definitely not my favorite anime studio of this world. But beyond that, I see potential for this rare little gem this Spring Season.

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Nov 7, 2013

finalchance531

Recommended

I wasn't so sure about this show when I read about it. I try not to look to deep and spoil something that I shouldn't. Regardless, this show is very entertaining.

Spoiler Free, outside from the summary information.
Quick and simple for those that want to know if this is a go or not.

Story: 8
This story was very enjoyable to me. It had just the right amount of comedy and ecchi without hurting the quality of the entire show. It pulls you in to see what on earth could happen next. With the whole plot around zombies, you cant usually go wrong, usually. The story will have ...

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Jul 8, 2012

Lanthanum

Recommended

Falling into 6 genres, Sankarea lacked a specific direction and yet remained enjoyable.

The first 3-4 episodes focused on mainly building the setting on which the rest of the show would be based on, and from there it took the direction of a typical romantic comedy SoL type anime. Being a fan of many SoL anime, I found the rest of the show to be enjoyable. Those who do not enjoy SoL shows may be disappointed after watching the well paced, plot based first 3 episodes when the majority of the show is a character based comedy.

As for horror and ecchi, both were incorporated into Sankarea ... in an unobtrusive manner. Whist the first 3 episodes had horror undertones, the rest featured horror in a more comedic manner. Nothing overdone or such. Ecchi was also incorporated smoothly and presented in a subtle manner. Nothing too distracting and in-your-face yet still enough to provide service to ecchi-fans.

Individual score breakdown

Story: 6
After the first 3 or so episodes, the plot of Sankarea quickly breaks down into something similar to a SoL, with periodic arcs. Nothing really remarkable. Heck, the majority of the anime IS character/comedy based. It's still enjoyable, just don't expect some amazing plot.

Art: 9
The art is simply superb. Not only is the quality excellent, the character design is also well done and each character takes on their own unique art style and appearance. The background is nicely detailed, and the atmosphere and lighting done just right. Animation is smooth as well. After watching the absolutely stunning animation/art of Fate/Zero though, I really can't give Sankarea a 10/10.

Sound: 9
Voice acting is well done and brings out the personalities of all the characters. Background music could be a bit better, but it still integrates into the show quite well. The OP and ED are both excellent. Being an audiophile, I found everything to be recorded nice and squeaky clean.

Character: 7
Other than the story, the character was the second weakest part of the show. Both lead characters were well personified and likeable to some degree. Unfortunately, every character was a subcategory of a cliché, but kept me interested through the rather... unusual circumstances the lead goes through.

Enjoyment: 9
Much of the enjoyment stems from the comedy. Although it is no where as good as the better SoL/Romantic comedy/Comedy I've watched, Sankarea was mostly entertaining.

Overall: 8
I believe Sankarea deserves better than a mediocre 6 or 7. The whole quality of the show is very impressive, and even though the plot and character is slightly weak, I give Sankarea a very good 8/10.

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Poll: Sankarea Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Jun 28, 2012	295 replies	by llKairon »» Mar 4, 6:50 PM
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Poll: Sankarea Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) tsubasalover - Apr 26, 2012	210 replies	by anaw_aitesa »» Feb 26, 6:04 AM
Poll: Sankarea Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Yumekichi11 - Apr 5, 2012	304 replies	by Kushal03 »» Feb 18, 2:08 AM
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