Maid of the Dead

Thanks to MAL I was able to discover this Youtube channel called Takena. Takena makes all these short claymation videos that are usually quite gory, including Maid of the Dead (don't watch it if you have a weak stomach)

This claymation short had some good animation and good looking blood/gore too. There's not much to say about it other then the story. A guy goes to a maid cafe, a maid gets bitten by a zombie, and it all goes downhill from there. Just watch it and you'll see what I mean.

From the director of Shitcom, comes another claymation masterpiece! This time the revolutionary and brilliant Mr. Takena Nagao brings us his take on Romero's Dead series. The ridiculous amount of blood and poor clay animation reminds me of Celebrity Deathmatch, which aired on MTV back in the 1990s. My fond nostalgia for that stupid show probably explains my softer criticism of this title vs. Shitcom.

One day inside a Tokyo maid cafe...ZOMBIES ATTACK! The maids then fight zombies in a 3 minute sketch comedy. There really isn't much to say here, although I enjoyed the clear homage to Day of the Dead with the infamous "Choke ... on em" scene.

This was short, stupid, but ultimately harmless. Hell, I actually enjoyed this piece of shit more than Highschool of the Dead, so there are worse zombie anime than this!

We all have those moments where an idea conjured up was considered an amusing thought that passes by in your head due to boredom. But, for one to go the extra mile towards manifesting that said product of mental boredom into short claymation cinema with the mind of independent animator, Takena. An eccentric claymation animator with a facinating resume with works such as "Bloody Date", "Pinky" and his most notable work, "Chainsaw Maid", Takena was one of the pioneers of horror shorts in the early years of YouTube. But as history and basic human nature reminds us, anyone is bound to ... run into some missteps.

Story: Very basic premise as the title aptly states: Maid cafe, ketchup drawings, zombies. Possible hidden meanings concerning social alienation but, that would be reaching too much for any conclusive thoughts.

Art: Use of colors is alarmingly bright and highly oversaturated, coupled with the bright palette of the blood. Could lead to minor sensory overload, beware. One could say it's meant to give the feeling of curiosity leading to embarrassment or lack of shame visiting a maid cafe. Character designs are typical for a Takena animation, not much to go by. In tradition of zombies and this particular artist, the gore delivers a simple but, satisfying display of guts and red stuff made into meals enough to please any gorehound around. Those omelettes don't look too bad as well, yum.

Sound: The Cooking Mama-esque tune in the beginning juxtaposing with a menacing synth score coupled with the use of drums slightly enhances the action to prevent you from dosing off into lucidity as you hear the familiar splats and squishes during the expected carnage.

Characters: Just blank shapes meant to be eaten or to 'survive'. No voice acting, only means of communication consist of a single speech box used in silent films centuries ago before sound was developed for cinema as we know it.

If you're looking for a short with good gore, doesn't take itself seriously at all or simply crave for more claymation hijinks, you can do worse. Overall, it pales in comparison to other works Takena has developed in regards to the undead, the macabre and black comedy. It's safer to make and eat omelettes at home anyway.