Feb 18, 2019
[If you can, please watch the show before reading this. I discuss some elements that surprised me and I wouldn't want those surprises ruined for you]
Story(9/10): The concept of zombies turned into idols is absurd, and this show knows it. The craziness of everything is fully embraced, and that's the strongest part of this show in my opinion. The story is paced expertly well, with each misadventure feeling fun and outrageous while also not skipping out on some of the more heartfelt elements. Perfectly sketchy mastermind Koutarou's main goal, the revitalization of Saga, allows for a free-flowing plot that pummels the viewer with pure fun.
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I was pleasantly surprised by the touching plot-lines sprinkled in the 2nd half of the show. I loved the direction everything went in episodes 10-12 in particular. Overall, Zombieland Saga's story is packed with just the right amounts of mayhem and heart, but don't expect anything groundbreaking.
Art(9/10): Goddamned fantastic. Even though the show's main focus is the dead everything feels so alive. (I really hope I'm the first to say that.) I haven't seen animation this slick since Kill La Kill. The range of motion the animators painstakingly added to these characters is outstanding. From Saki's abruptly intimidating body-language to Tae's hunger-fueled frenzy, movement is an absolute joy to watch. Everything else is great, namely the vibrant backgrounds along with the constant changes in the main cast's costumes. The jarring flaw that prevented art from being a complete 10 is the distracting CGI dances. I do not know much about animation, but I have to assume that animating choreography is a pain in the ass. I understand the transition to CGI for the more complex dancing scenes, but man, does it stick out like a sore thumb. I could probably count the CGI scenes on one hand, and there are some dances that don't have it, however I wished the quality was much better than it turned out because the characters look uncomfortably close to MMD quality at times. Overall the animation is fantastic, but the CGI drags the hyped up performances equences down for me.
Sound(10/10): I can't find the words to show how much I love the voice acting. It's wonderful and everyone does a fantastic job. I really appreciated how the voice actresses did not sound like they were drowning in autotune for the songs. Either they were using some pretty damned impressive autotune tech or they have lovely singing talent equivalent to their flawless voice acting skills. The OP is catchy as hell, and the background music (especially that one badass guitar piece for Saki and the other bikers) overall was a pleasure to listen to.
Character(8/10): I thought they would be shallow and I wasn't expecting anything bold, but most of them were decently fleshed out. I loved the exploration into Sakura's mentality during the final three episodes in particular. Saki's and Lily's respective episodes were both great, with appropriately touching moments. Junko's, Ai's, and Yuugiri's plotlines felt reasonably weaker in my opinion because they mainly served as foils to Sakura. These three were the less memorable of the bunch but their stories were decent at best. I also appreciated how Koutarou's source of motivation isn't actually told to you and left to be pieced together by the viewer. The back-and-forth between the characters is what shines the brightest. All the funny moments landed and never felt out of place. I particularly found Koutarou's "good morning's" the funniest. It's comedic when it needs to be and more somber when it needs to be.
Enjoyment(10/10): It's a blast from start to finish. Even though I had minor gripes with characters and art, none of those took anything away from how much I enjoyed this show.
Overall(10/10): Zombieland Saga has flaws, but its accomplishments in every department overpowered all the problems I had with it. It presents a powerful lesson on perseverance and is one of the funniest shows I've ever watched. It's a fantastic (wow, I've used that word a lot in my review), well-rounded show that gave me everything I wanted from it and also delivered a surprisingly heartfelt story in the end.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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