Ayumu Aikawa is a 16-year-old high school student who is tragically murdered while investigating a suspicious house. However, he soon awakens next to a strange armored girl called Eucliwood Hellscythe. She reveals herself to be a necromancer who has revived Ayumu, consequently turning him into a zombie!
Now immortal, Ayumu sets out to hunt down his killer. One day, while searching in a cemetery, he encounters a boisterous young girl named Haruna, who is fighting a bear with a chainsaw while dressed as a magical girl. After she kills the beast, Haruna attempts to erase Ayumu's memories of her, but he instead absorbs her magic for himself. Stripped of her powers, Haruna now orders Ayumu to take up her role of hunting strange creatures known as "Megalo," monsters that roam the human world and terrorize the population.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? follows the daily antics of the human-turned-zombie Ayumu as he begins his new, ludicrous life where the supernatural becomes the norm.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
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Archaeon
Is everything really better with zombies? Given the recent surge in stories involving the shambling undead it's pretty obvious that there are people out there who believe that they can improve any form of entertainment, so much so that at times it seems as though the world is already in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Tales of creatures that wander aimlessly, groan a lot, and have the annoying habit of eating people while they're still alive are rife in movies and games (although I tend to class Resident Evil as more of a playable soap opera with added undead), but that's only the tip ofthe iceberg. Zombies are now appearing on prime time TV (The Walking Dead), and even literary works have fallen foul of them (Pride & Prejudice & Zombies).
Of course, anime and manga are no strangers to stories of the undead, and while there are some interesting takes on the theme (and before you ask, no, the adolescent wet dream that is Highschool Of The Dead isn't one of them), the majority of titles on offer follow the George A. Romero method and offer up a healthy dose of body shock. While there are stories like Zombie Loan that try to do things differently, these are often lacklustre affairs that are more drama than actual horror.
And then there are shows like Kore wa Zombie Desu ka (Is This A Zombie)?
Originally a popular light novel series by Kimura Shinichi (which has also spawned three different manga that are set in the world of the story), the anime adaptation follows the life of Ayumu Aikawa, a highschool student who was murdered by a serial killer. He was quickly resurrected as a zombie by the necromancer Eucliwood Hellscythe, and since that time he has tried to make the best of a bad situation. His life now consists of everyday mundanity (barring an inability to tolerate the sun and avoiding fire hazards), as he lives in relative peace with his silent saviour, but all that changes when he meets the young, chainsaw wielding masou shoujo in training called Haruna (and no, that's not a spelling mistake).
After that his life takes a turn for the worse.
Okay, it all sounds pretty intriguing, but that's as far as it goes. The plot features some interesting tokens that work well with one or more of the themes in KoreZom, but the series composition has been poorly executed, so much so that viewers may find themselves wondering if there's any point to the show. The main problem is that there's simply too much going on, and because of this the storyline is so disjointed it can sometimes seem like the narrative is being held together with some glue and a couple of nails, and that's not the worst part.
KoreZom attempts to parody some well known genres, and initially it may manage to raise a few laughs with its approach, but this quickly becomes tiresome as the series attempts to turn them into running gags. In addition to this the idea of putting all of the protagonists under one roof has only been done for those stereotypical comedy moments that are amusing to those with more teeth than braincells, which is a shame as there are a few hints of how funny the show could have been. The storyline appears to be desperately trying to reach for ... something, but what it is and how it could be achieved are things that only the producers may know.
Unfortunately the shoddy workmanship continues into the visuals where generic design seems to be the order of the day. Aside from the outfits, KoreZom features some truly unremarkable looking characters, all of whom look like they were copied directly from other harem based shows. That said, Studio DEEN are only partly to blame for this as the main inspiration came from the light novel's illustrations by Kobuichi and Muririn, which is a tad unfortunate as if the rest of the artwork is anything to go by, the series would have been better served with the producers creating everything from scratch. While the scenery and settings may sometimes be generic, they can also be atmospheric and detailed, and there's a variety to the imagery that highlights the difference in creative mentalities. Granted the character design may have been an attempt to support the parodying of specific genres, but that's no excuse for the obvious lack of originality or innovation.
Which brings up the issue of fanservice.
When a show has a transparently weak foundation there are many ways to bolster the viewer's opinion of it, but the one that takes the least effort follows the simple ethos that "sex sells". Now somebody on the production team obviously realised very early on that KoreZom was a shaky proposition so not only is the fanservice aggressively blatant, it often feels more like a slap in the face.
I mean seriously, is there any need for all those close ups during the fights? This is supposed to be a comedy, not Ikkitousen or Queen's Blade.
Aside from the background imagery, the only other good point about the visuals is the animation, most of which is of a decent standard. There are a few blips here and there, some of which are purposeful to highlight certain comedic aspects while others simply slipped through the net, but these can be forgiven in light of the major problems this series has.
The opening sequence features a rather dramatic array of imagery depicting the main characters in various "thoughtful" poses before adding some action sequences to highlight their combat skills, all set to the song Leave-It-To-Me-Tonight by Nomizu Iori. Unlike the OP, the ending sequence is more true to the predominantly humourous tone of the series, and features the track Realize, Mr. Zombie, I Am Your Classmate by Rie Yamaguchi and Manzo. As for the background music, KoreZom has a nice variety of well choreographed accompaniments, but the truth is that a few of them are unnecessary as they don't really add much to the scene and seem like nothing more than another support for a weak storyline.
Surprisingly, especially given all of the production issues, the acting is actually pretty decent. The script is fairly mediocre as it follows an age old comedy format (so repetitive phrases abound), which isn't really the best thing for the serious moments in the show as it can be difficult to make the mental switch between humour and action - and this shows in several places. Thankfully the seiyuu are on hand to save the day, so what could have been very flat comedy routines gain some life and the more emotive scenes are provided with much needed personality. Unfortunately the actors are only human, so even though they do their best with the script, there's simply not enough viable content to support or develop their roles.
Now given that KoreZom is supposed to be a parody of sorts it should be the case that characterisation is all that's needed to make the series work, so it's a little disappointing that the characters are nothing more than shallow copies based upon one or more archetypes that are generally found in harem romantic comedies. Aikawa is the typical clueless lead male with few future prospects who is suddenly surrounded by females who apparently like necrophilia (he's a zombie, remember?), and after his introduction viewers can engage in a spot of ornithology (bird watching).
Oh look! There's the Greater Spotted Tsundere Loli, and over there is the Large Breasted Warrior trying not to look embarrassed, and in front of the TV you can see the Silver Haired Silent Warbler waiting to be entertained.
Yes, KoreZom has a wealth of common character types that will keep any harem junkie entertained for five minutes, and the best thing about all of them is that viewers will never once believe that they could ever be real, so feeble is their characterisation and development.
So is there actually anything good about this series?
Well ... actually there are a few bits worthy of praise, and if one discounts the generally banal and inane humour then KoreZom has a few morsels to offer. There are some genuinely funny moments that are both surprising and well executed, and the while the initial parody of the mahou shouko genre is pretty bog standard, the second one actually refutes the idea that Puella Magi Madoka★Magica was in any way genre breaking.
Unfortunately the comedy can only carry the show so far, and the simple fact is that KoreZom simply doesn't know what it's supposed to be, so it winds up being nothing in particular. It's a shame really as the seeds are there for this to have been either an interesting supernatural tale, or a very good parody (if one removes the unnecessary fanservice), and it's nice to see a different take on zombies once again.
The sad fact is that the traditional zombie is now almost extinct in entertainment media, and those that remain are treated as rare relics of the original belief that a person could be magically raised from the dead in order to complete tasks like carrying the shopping, painting the house, etc, etc. These old style zombies from West Africa and Haiti are usually a far cry from the modern take, often being better groomed, able to speak, and capable of following simple orders.
Actually, they sound a lot like husbands.
JusticeSoulTuna
So what is 'Is This A Zombie?' aka 'Koreha Zombie Desu ka?' Zombie Desu ka (as I'll refer to it from now on) is an anime that abuses genre cliches, it's horrendously inconsistent, shockingly violent and has some of the most uncomfortable shots of a guy's ass on several occasions...and it's easily one of the funniest animes I've ever seen. YES. Zombie Desuka is the BUSINESS. I honestly couldn't contain my laughter ever since the dynamic and hysterical first episode. What makes this anime so special is, as I've mentioned, how it abuses genre cliches such as harem, shonen, fantasy, fanservice and even a bit of heavilyimplied yaoi. There's an ample amount of fanservice in this anime, ranging from your typical 'pantsu' shots to bouncing cleavage, but there's also a surprising amount of fujoshi bait (and by that I mean moments that would make girl fans cream themselves) which is a nice balance. So while it was uncomfortable to see the main character's ass every so often, I can take it as fair since modern animes try more to appeal to both perverse fanbases.
Speaking of the main character, Ayumu is your typical, lazy-eyed, dangling spiky hair protagonist. You can draw comparisons between him and Tomoya from Clannad and Ichika from infinite Stratos, but I believe that he is a lot like Sato from the anime Ben-To. They're both energetic guys who don't go out of their way to be perverted but are definitely guys who wouldn't pass a chance to take a look, nor do they act all bashful when they're caught. In fact, there's a lot of similarities between Ben-To and Zombie Desu ka, from the absurd plot devices, the pacing and tone as well as the random comedy. And like Ben-To, I found myself surprised by wacky elements popping up every so often and it was great how it managed to blend with the semi-serious story. I've grown fond of animes like this; the whole 'comedy action fanservice' genre, cause it manages to not take itself too seriously but delivers a hilarious plot with some great action and fanservice shots. It's a delicate balance that few animes manage to achieve properly, but these few are pretty amazing. Animes such as Heaven's Lost Property and Highschool DxD have much 'darker' stories and heavy ecchi/ fanservice, whereas animes like Ben-To and Zombie Desuka are lite on the fanservice but emphasize the wacky side more often.
So as the title implies, the anime revolves around Ayumu being a zombie, resurrected by a quiet, moe necromancer named 'Eu' who treats him as a servant and friend. He uses his newfound life, and surprisingly superhuman powers, to find his killer. If this all sounds awfully serious and deep, trust me the first episode derails that by the end. The dramatic air that the first few minutes of the first episode give off is immediately dispelled by a hilarious moment when Ayumu gets hit by a car in a wacky fashion. By the end of the episode, I shit you not, he becomes a magical garment girl on top of being a zombie, doing a whole long-ass magical girl transformation and everything, with PANTY SHOTS AND EVERYTHING *shudders*. The weird train doesn't end there, as he ends up having a 'masou-shoujo' in this house, then later a vampire ninja girl (with big boobs, cause why not) and eventually has another vampire ninja girl (also well endowed) end up falling in love with him, under ridiculous, parody-cliche circumstances. While this all sounds like a cluster of absurd plot devices, it's exactly what makes this anime so hilarious.
One of the defining features of Zombie Desu ka is the aforementioned moe necromancer, Eu. Her full name is 'Eucliwood Hellscythe' and she takes the quiet moe girl cliche to a whole new level. What I found very creative is how, while she doesn't speak at all and prefers to write down what she wants to say, the main character imagines her voice in his head, saying perverted things in place of the normal request she asked. This is done each episode by a different voice actress (both in the sub and dub) so you're never sure which voice is her real one, and it's probably one of the most creative things about her character. While there's a lot of cliches in her design, her reason for not speaking are actually quite dramatic. The explanation comes off as a load of over-complicated fantasy mumbo-jumbo, but it fits in with the semi-serious tone of the show and it's a major plot device. I won't ruin too much but there's a lot of surprises in store regarding her reasons for not speaking, and trust me you'll wanna see what those reasons are.
The antagonists in this anime are unexpected but manage to be entertaining in their own ways, and the overarching main bad guy delivers one of THE funniest lines in the second to last episode. The final episode decides to take all the cliches it hadn't touched upon and abuse them to a comedic end as well, and so does the OVA episode. While this can be considered a harem anime at its base level it surprisingly manages to dodge a ton of genre cliches or use them in moderation; strange for an anime that parodies cliches. It almost never uses the typical 'walk in on girl naked' cliche and 'fall on and grope girl' cliche that animes like To Love Ru are infamous for, and when it does the result is violent retribution (as usual) which is balanced by the fact that Ayumu is a zombie so any physical damage is real but doesn't last. The main character however does go through a ton of physical and verbal abuse from start to finish, being called 'pervert' and 'maggot' for a ton of different reasons, a lot of which is funny. However the vampire ninja girl Sera does weigh on your patience with her persistent insults and she's not even a tsundere or love interest waiting to happen, she's more of the freeloader who has her own motives and shits on the main character all the time. While she is hot and her insults are funny for the most part, it can become annoying after a while. Despite that, every character manages to be goofy and funny in a variety of ways so small things like that don't get in the way.
That isn't to say that Zombie Desu Ka is perfect, far from it. There's a lot of plot holes, inconsistencies and moments that go unanswered. There's characters that get introduced but disappear just as quickly or aren't seen often. There's plot devices that are mentioned or implied, but never expanded upon. And there's a lot of issues regarding the depth of Ayumu's powers and why he's able to steal someone else's powers. However, I don't believe that any of these are an issue since the animes M.O. from the start was to abuse plot devices and cliches, so you tend to go with the flow rather than look for answers in a semi-serious anime. A lot of the occurrences in animes like Excel Saga go unexplained and we accept them purely because it's wacky fun, and whilst a lot of comedy animes have a decent amount of wacky elements I'd say that Zombie Desu Ka is one of the few animes that fully embraces the wacky side. Despite the inconsistencies, there's a lot of subtle things that this anime does well. The animation is solid and the fight scenes are fluid and epic. The music is upbeat and can be mellow when dramatic things occur. The plot device of Ayumu hating the sun since it dries him up (strange plot device for a zombie, I know) is interestingly accentuated by how blinding the light is during the day and each character has one or two defining quirks just like this, including the main bad guy. So while it was the kind of anime you don't have to think too deeply about, it was easy on the eyes too.
In the end, what can I say about Zombie Desu Ka? It's absurd, it's violent, it's random and it's just plain weird sometimes. But it's also hilarious, epic, touching at times and surprising at other times. I don't usually give numbered scores but if I could give this anime a score i'd give it a 9/10. I've only watched the first season so far so I have big hopes for the second. I watched the dub of it, and the cast did a phenomenal job, especially with the many voices that portrayed Eu in Ayumu's thoughts. Both the japanese and english versions manage to be funny for their own reasons in both the delivery of jokes and contexts of funny situations, so each is a unique watch. I look forward to watching the dub of the second season and I really hope it doesn't derail itself like too many second seasons do. However if it's like Heaven's Lost Property or Highschool DxD, it can only get better and funnier. Despite all the physical violence, verbal abuse, weird situations and world ending events that come across Ayumu's way, he can take it. Why? Cause he's a zombie.
BatOtaku13
Have you ever seen an anime you were convinced was going to be really cool and interesting and only just to have it let you down to no end? Welcome to my experience with Kore Wa Zombie Desu Ka. After two episodes which presented a genuinely interesting and refreshing take on the harem genre (interesting takes on mythological creatures, nobody particularly interested in each other romantically, basically just putting up with each other simply because they have to), this series succumbs to the harem tropes it actively avoids and just becomes ultimately a very lazy series. The initial concept for this show is actuallypretty interesting, with Ayumu who has just recently become a zombie living with the necromancer who resurrected him because, well what else is he going to do realistically. After his transformation, they meet other mythological creatures and beings such as a magical school girl and a vampire ninja. They fight creatures called megalos which are evil spirits that actually have some really creative and inspired designs to them. In one episode, they fight a giant whale in a school uniform that would put Sin from Final Fantasy X to shame. In another, they fight a giant enemy crab and attack its weak point for massive damage. One of the big points of humor in these fights is how as a zombie Ayumu basically has no powers, so he has to use magical girl powers a la Sailor Moon, which include gratuitous transformation sequences (it’s actually pretty funny in practice.) In this regard, the first half of the series is the best because it focuses on the sheer lunacy of the entire situation and the creatures they have to fight.
But then something terrible happens, Zombie No Desu Ka starts to take itself seriously. This show, about a zombie living who uses magical girl powers and lives with a necromancer, another magical girl and a vampire ninja, starts to take itself incredibly seriously for some reason right around episode 4 or 5 and it absolutely kills the momentum. When the show isn’t having fun with its ridiculous premise, its bogged down by pointless drama about Ayumu’s killer or a story arc later in the series that is so ridiculous that I can’t believe they even animated it. On top of all this, after episode 6 the show just starts to become a victim of the same tired harem/ecchi anime tropes that we’ve seen a million times before. The jokes start to get really lazy, the girls start to get interested in Ayumu, a new tsundere vampire ninja is introduced, and the entire show just becomes a drag. It just drags itself through the motions up until the final episode, which is almost unwatchable. It’s a pool episode featuring some terrible J-Pop performances from the cast of girls that I’m convinced almost made my ears bleed. How in the hell did we get to this point?
This is what happens when you completely forget why your show works and just start pulling stuff out of thin air to kill time. This show could have been really cool by sticking to having fun with its absurd initial set up and following it through to the end. I was completely on board to enjoy this show thoroughly. Please don’t waste your time on this show. It’s a crime that a show like this ended up getting better ratings across Japan than a masterpiece like Fractale, despite this being a wasted opportunity. If you want a real comedy series, look elsewhere; this will just leave you with a bad taste in your mouth.
CamTheThief
Oh boy... This show. I find myself torn while writing this, on one hand there were some extremely funny and enjoyable moments where I could not stop laughing. But on the other hand there were some downright terrible moments where I was raising my head to the ceiling praying for the scene to end. Is this a Zombie is an anime that makes it's mark by throwing in every genre, every character type, every trope, just everything really. If you can think of it there is a high probability you'll find it in this show. But despite throwing everything under the sun into this anime,I would never dream of calling it cliche, and actually say it is extraordinarily unique.
Story: 7
Guy meets girl, they kind of like each other, plot ensues, girl now lives with guy, more girls live with guy, etc, etc. While some of the specifics may be new, the overall concept is nothing we have not seen.
The Zombie and Necromancer (a.k.a servant and master) relationship was well done. Tack onto that the school life setting with a guy just trying to pass through along with his nerdy best friend; it was all well done, though a bit unoriginal. The eccentricities and unique nature of this show come in when we meet a chain-saw wielding Magical Girl (though she uses her magic a whole lot less than Ayumu...) and a busty Vampire Ninja with a leaf sword. Not gonna lie, her concept is fucking amazing. This show throws in every concept you can think of but somehow manages to make it work.
I would be remiss if I did not mention my largest gripe with the show, the fact that Ayumu is more or less our magical girl... Maybe I am alone, but I do not find cross-dressing to be a very funny plot point, I just don't. But even then I can sometimes see how it could work in a story if well done. But sadly, I did not find this to be one of those times. You see, Ayumu doesn't like it, first time, first episode, he dislikes transforming into a magical girl with a pink frilly outfit complete with panties and a bow. Hates it may be a more accurate statement. But every time he is forced to do so, he gets an unbelievable amount of shit from the other characters for doing it. Forced to cross dress in pink to save them all, and they insult him for doing so. Sorry, not a scenario I found even remotely amusing or entertaining.
Art: 7
I can't really say much here, it felt exceedingly average. But since the average these days (for 2011) is still good, it gets a 7. Though I should mention I really liked the character designs. I can't say anything on their artistic value, just a specific aspect I found really nice.
Sound: 8
I found that the OST really just did it's job. Set the scene, nothing more. But what I absolutely loved was the voice acting. I came into this show long after it aired, long enough that there was in fact an English Dub, and that is what I watched. Stone me, go ahead. Spout your insults and hate for the one who neglected to watch it subbed but had the audacity to write a review. Ignoring the hate though, I loved the English Dub. I thought the voices were perfect and added to the hilarity of the scenes, while also capturing some of the more emotional moments fairly well.
Character: 8
This was a rather fun cast of characters. They all seemed to fall into archetypes, but were extremely memorable despite that.
Ayumu Aikawa- Our zombie protagonist who is a nice enough guy but with that laid back, bored disposition. I rather liked Ayumu, he was fairly similar to other harem leads in that he isn't the most popular, isn't extremely capable physically or intellectually, but still sits in the back right side of the classroom next to a window. He gets a lot of abuse in this show, verbal and physical. Being immortal the characters feel no guilt in stabbing him. Being the nice guy he takes it all with a bit of disbelief but really just goes along with it.
Eucliwood Hellscythe- I thought I had seen the quiet character exhibited perfectly in Yuki Nagato. Boy was I wrong. Eucliwood (though everyone calls her Eu) is the character that I consider to be the ultimate moe blob of adorable. She takes the quiet nature to a whole new level by literally not saying a word, but writing everything on little notepads. Though giving off an uncaring persona, she is actually extremely kind hearted. Where I truly applaud the creators is the way Eu had a different voice actress for every episode. Now for a character that doesn't speak it may seem difficult to have a voice actress; luckily our perverted main is here to imagine Eu complimenting him in a suggestive format. It was well done and extremely enjoyable.
Haruna- The resident Tsundere Magical Girl who is a self proclaimed genius and makes great eggs. She really is just a fun character with a ton of energy. She doesn't have the best memory and freeloads at Ayumu's home eating more food than anyone else.
Seraphim- The busty Vampire Ninja, she is extremely cold towards our main character but gets along with others well enough. My issue with Seraphim is that she is accurately summed up by the word bitch. Obviously there is a bit more to her than that attribute alone, but that forms the crux of her character and it left liking her a very arduous task...
My biggest issue with the characters is that they all seem to give Ayumu a bit too much crap. Don't get me wrong, at times it was hilarious to watch them all insult Ayumu. But in my not-so-professional opinion this show needed a character that Ayumu could get along with. In my head this equated to a character that acted in a more playful manner rather than a degrading one. Sexual innuendo or playfully teasing, just someone that alleviated the constant barrage of shit Ayumu received.
Enjoyment: 7
My enjoyment overall is limited to a 7. When this show was good, it was GREAT, but when it wasn't great I honestly considered it be rather bad. My opinion in this facet is probably rather polarized from the majority, but for every scene I loved I found one I disliked as well. My enjoyment did swing in a positive manner on the whole, but nevertheless I had my issues.
Overall: 7
This show takes every thought that could pop into a writer's brain and throws it into an oddly coherent plot. Combined with a fun cast and good voice acting, comedy, some action, and even the occasional emotional moment, you get a genuinely good show. This show is definitely good for a laugh. Even if you are like me and dislike main characters who get a ton of shit, I would still recommend this show. If you're on the fence about the show than I would recommend watching the first two episodes as they perfectly exhibit what this show is: A fun 12 episodes that is even complimented by a second season. Is This a Zombie is a good anime that combines every cliche into something unique.
helur
Looking back on this show I question myself how I enjoyed this show. Riddled with fanservice, a harem which means no actual romance, and a cast of invincible characters. Our good male lead Ayumu is a zombie, taking an arm or two is but a flesh wound, and our female lead has enough magic power that the universe is changed at her emotions and words. The action scenes are enjoyable and occur frequently but nothing extraordinary. They aren't afraid to show a bit of blood though! Nevertheless, there is something about the comedy in this set up that makes every episode worth watching. Of coursebeing undead gives the genre slapstick a new meaning, and by the end of the first episode Ayumu gains the power of Masou Shoujo. Yes that’s right - he is a magical zombie cross dresser wielding a pink chainsaw. If you don't find it funny the first time he transforms well you will definitely get sick of it by the end of the show.
Now I did look down on the show earlier for the fanservice. However, that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the female cast. Eu is our mute armored necromancer who doesn't get much of an appearance in the show till later because, well, she is mute. I liked her appearances but story wise she made a lot of decisions that didn't make sense.
Haruna is the masou shoujo who has lost her powers and is the pain in the ass tsundere that lives in Ayumu's house. The fanservice target, she is the most prominent female character. Another person who can be a break or make on your takeaway from the show.
Sera is a vampire, whose story of origin was horrible. Yet, voiced by Youko Hisaka, one of the more fun characters. She has a running gag of how horribly she can verbally abuse the main character, but is also a ninja at the same time. She is never prominent in the story, but makes steady appearances throughout.
Yuki, another vampire, acts as the wife or Ayumu, reasons to be left to your imagination, and is the only character that's dere was actually enjoyable.
Despite being a strong comedy, it attempts to have a serious plot at times. At these times it fails to be serious, and you are left wondering if they intended to make the plot a joke (in more ways than one). It starts out with how Ayumu wants to get revenge on his murderer, but despite how mysterious it seems like it will be at the start the intensity vanishes until he easily finds them a few episodes in. From there the plot switches to Eu's past mistake and the whole situation is rather ridiculous.
If you enjoy a mix of peculiar comedy and have a tolerance for harem settings this could be the show for you. The atmosphere is typically bright except for those random serious moments they throw at the viewer.
Rawrzz03
*This may contain a few spoilers* At first I thought Kore wa zombie desu ka? was going to be one of those fantasy-comedy anime without an actual storyline and with lots of boring episodes. Fortunately, it was much better than I thought. Story: 6 I was very surprised that this had a plot. It really did. The story focuses on a high school boy, Ayumu, who is both a zombie and a Magiclad Girl (Yeah, I know, kinda weird) and his supernatural friends, Eu, Haruna and Sera who fight against all kind of creatures. This might seem a little mediocre and it is because as the show goeson, more and more unearthly phenomena occur and strange characters show up. But, like I said, I am glad that the anime followed a decent plot with some unexpected events and it wasn't just a stupid comedy.
Art & Sound: 9
Both were good. The characters have many details and some distinctive features, the magical creatures are ok and the outdoor scenery is good, so I don't have much to say. My eyes liked what they saw.
Character: 6
Here, unfortunately, we have some stereotypical characters: Ayumu - the easy-going teenager who cares a lot about his friends and wants to protect them. Eu - the most powerfull character, silent but very smart, full of emotions and very altruistic. Haruna - the funny girl, always smiling who falls in love with Ayumu. Sera - the sensible one, with a strong character who likes being in charge of everything,
There is truly nothing special about those characters, none of them stands out. On the other hand, I apperciate the huge character development. Ayumu starts to care about Eu when she leaves and realizes she's very important to him. Eu also realizes that she's not a soulless monster and she has friends who would die for her and Sera abandons her mission to kill Eu because she finally understood that friends are the most important thing in the world.
Enjoyment: 7
It wasn't a brilliant anime, even far from a good one, but I somehow enjoyed watching it. It was funny indeed (especially Ayumu's transformation into a Magiclad Girl), it was violent indeed (which I liked the most) and it had some heartbreaking moments which really got to my feels. As I said, there were some boring episodes, unrelated to the actual plot but at least they were funny.
Overall: 7
I rated Kore wa zombie desu ka? 7 because it represented a nice surprise for me. The series exceeded my expectations which is really awesome and if the caracters were a little more original, I would give it an 8.
What can I say... If you like fantasy-comedy-harem with some gore and romance anime, you should really watch this. It might be a disappointment for some people but on the contrary, I find this anime better than I thought it would be.
ktulu007
I've always suspected that sometimes people request anime reviews from me because they want to see how I'll react to a particular really bad anime. That suspicion has been confirmed. Today's review was requested specifically because "Ive seen Ktulu review some real crappy stuff (I think I saw Baka to Test somewhere), so I thought this would be 'right up his alley' reviewing-wise." Yes, that is an actual quote. Is it really that bad? Let's take a look and find out. Kore wa zombie desu ka follows a magical girl zombie who lives with the necromancer who brought him back to life, a magical girland a vampire ninja. It's every bit as stupid as it sounds. There is an over-arching story but it's really basic. An enemy shows up, the group has to fight him. You might think that, as stupid as the premise is, it has to get some good humour out of it. Nope. The humour is as weak and imbecilic as the story. Most of it is simply the same joke repeated. Ayumu is a zombie, watch as he gets abused. The series tries to mix comedy and seriousness but it fails at both and the mixing of the two just makes it more pronounced. The last episode is a pointless fan-service episode and the relationship developments are just grody.
The characters are the same one-dimensional cliches that pop up in every poorly written harem anime. The clingy jealous girl, the quiet but kind girl, the tsundere girl, and the girl who gets pulled into the situation through an absurd plot contrivance that makes her feel like she has no choice but to pursue the main character and, of course, the completely unremarkable and utterly boring protagonist who can't make up his bloody mind. It doesn't help that all of the characters are idiots. We're told that Haruna is a genius, but she acts like a complete and utter twit so it's as much of an informed characteristic as the marksmanship skills of Imperial Stormtroopers.
The art is mediocre. It could be better if not for the strange art decisions at some points and the over-reliance on fan-service. Yeah, there's a massive amount of fan-service. Since it's a harem anime, this should come as no surprise.
The voice acting is pretty dull. The only actor who seems to be putting in any effort is Nomizu Iori, the rest of the main cast sound like they're bored most of the time. And she exaggerates to an absurd degree. If I wasn't familiar with the cast from other series I might suspect that they just made bad casting calls, but I've heard all of the main cast and most of the secondary cast in roles where they gave much better performances These aren't incompetent actors, this is incompetent directing. The music is the best part of the series. It's actually pretty good. It's got a lot of energy and the performances are well done.
The yuri factor is a 3/10. Seraphim and Haruna have some moments, and there's one moment with Haruna and Eu. But they never go anywhere and the series is quick to dismiss them.
My final rating for Kore wa zombie desu ka is a 1.5/10. It's not one of the absolute worst anime I've seen, but it comes pretty close. The story and humour are rubbish and the characters are completely unsympathetic with no redeeming qualities. The only thing worthwhile is the music and you don't have to watch the mind-numbingly stupid series to hear it.
itsthatguy
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? was certainly an interesting show. What initially attracted me to the show was that the main character was in fact a zombie and after seeing that it was labeled as a harem story I was interested to see where it would go. Story: 7/10 Ok, personally I really enjoyed this show. However I would say that the story was the show's major weak point. The initial premise of the story is extremely unique and interesting. Main character and normal high schooler Ayumu Aikawa is murdered by a serial killer, is then brought back to life as a zombieby a necromancer and now is trying to discover who killed him and why, certainly a somewhat dark and unique idea. However with the introduction of Masou-Shoujo Haruna, the story takes a turn for the weird and comedic. After being cut in half by Haruna's chainsaw during a battle, Ayumu accidentally absorbs her magic and must now take over her role of fighting demons as a Mahou-Shoujo, complete with transformation sequence and frilly pink dress. And that basically is how the rest of the show proceeds. It constantly walks the line between "wow this is a dark bloody action anime" and "boy in a pink dress encounters harem hijinks." This results in the pacing of the show being somewhat off and at times I felt as if I was watching two completely different shows. Most of the time there was no particular reason for why the story progressed the way it did, things would just kind of happen and then the characters would respond.
This having all been said though, the comedic aspect of the show was great and almost every episode something would be said or happen that would provoke a laugh out of me and the show does tell a compelling and unique story when it decides to get serious. Despite also being labeled a harem genre, this is only a minor detail in the events of the main story and the overall feel of the show.
Art and Sound: 8.5/10
The animation in the show was very good I felt. The scenery was good, the landscapes realistic, and the character designs were very unique and fresh. The fight sequences and gore were extremely well done yet equal attention was given when dealing with the more comedic and ridiculous aspects of the show (flying whale monsters for example). The sound was also excellent, the opening got you hooked and the ending theme was just plain fun and both were very original. The voice acting was good as well, everyone delivered a great performance and fit their roles to a tee. Plus Yuu's plethora of different voice actresses contributed to a great part of the series' humor.
Character: 9/10
The characters were definitely (in my opinion) the best part of the show. They were modeled off past traditional character types but they were very fleshed out and there was a good amount of character development in the show across the boards. Ayumu is not your typical average harem lead ( for one he's a zombie). He's not overly perverted or boring in any way, he's just an average guy forced to deal with ridiculous situations and handles them accordingly, and unlike a normal harem lead he's got some redeeming qualities and is more than capable of being a badass when its crunch time. I thought that all of the characters were hilarious in their own way though. All of the rest of the characters in the show were mostly there for comic relief and fulfilled their roles excellently.
Enjoyment: 9/10
Despite its faults, I really liked Kore wa? The whole time I was watching it I was just thinking to myself "wow I love this show", even when I noticed plot inconsistencies or when I felt they went over the top with something. It was hilarious, the characters were crazy, the story was original, and while the romantic and the serious aspects of the show often clashed, I felt both worked in their own right and made the show amazing.
Summary: If you are looking for a show with great comedic value, unique characters, or just a different or ridiculous story, then I would highly recommend watching Kore wa Zombie desu ka?. It was always fun, with its fair share of serious moments and interesting characters. I highly recommend for fans of harems or offbeat comedies.
InfiniteJam
Is This a Zombie? is an anime I seen pop up on Netflix and I'm glad to say that I gave it a watch! It reminded me of so many different shows such as "My Bride's A Mermaid", "B Gata H Kei", and "Heaven's Lost Property". This is not to say this anime doesn't have a charm of it's own. I went into this show with not knowing what I was getting into really because I had heard nothing about it. Not gonna lie, the 1st episode was a bit over the top for me at first, but you get adjusted to it shortly after.I believe the reason I liked this show so much was because of the expectations I had when I began to watch it. The thing is, I had none! So I was thoroughly surprised when certain scenes occurred. This anime is to never to be taken seriously, if you take it seriously you lose the whole point of the show, which is to entertain you rather than to tell some complex story with plot twists up the ass. Now let's get into the sections of the show and what I liked and disliked. (I haven't watched the OVAs and the 2nd season at the time I'm writing this review)
Story: 8
The show's story is a extremely weird but I LOVED IT. It's all about a boy who's name is Ayumu who was tragically killed by a serial killer and is brought back to "life" by a Necromancer named Eucliwood Hellscythe (Eu). Eu is the most powerful magical being in the world, but having all that power comes at a cost. After this encounter with Eu, Ayumu's life will never be the same. He then becomes friends with a Magical Garment Girl and a Vampire Ninja. Story sounds pretty crazy right? It only gets crazier as the story progresses. It was pretty unique and different in my eyes, so I enjoyed a lot.
Art:8
I'm not very good when it comes to determining how Art is, compared to other anime and what not. But I enjoyed the art style for what it was. The colors really gave the show a nice feeling to it because they would always match depending on the scenario. Never seen any flaws with it in my eyes.
Sound: 7
To be completely honest, I don't remember hearing anything really memorable from the show. Which is a good and a bad thing. Its a good thing because it shows I found nothing wrong with the sound itself, but it didn't stand out much. So it was ok, the only song I remember was that blasted Ending. It was AMAZING, I almost always watched it whenever it came around. I honestly got giddy when it came to the end of episode so I could hear it again. The animation that goes with the ending also added to my enjoyment to it.
Characters: 8
The characters were both the one of the greatest things about the show and one of the downfalls of it as well. If you're not closely watching the show and just enjoying it for what it is, you'll find the 95% of the the characters are likeable and funny in their own ways. The situations they get themselves in are pretty hilarious as well. But when I took a better look at them, most of them are just one dimensional, there are a few exceptions mind you, but again MOST OF THEM are. Characters won't be much of a problem if you don't this anime seriously though. Most of them are all zany, even if they don't show it at first.
Enjoyment: 10
This is easily one of the funniest anime I've seen in a while. From the parodying of clichés, to the overall humor this anime provides, it's just a riot. Some people may find some of the rehashed jokes some characters use to be annoying but, I didn't mind them one bit. Another thing people may have a problem with is when this show is trying to be serious. This anime has the tendency to have a serious moment, have some humor and then a serious moment again. This may cause viewers to have a disconnect with serious moments. BUT, as I said before, this show is just for enjoyment. So if you don't take it seriously, you'll actually find some of the serious moments to be funny in itself. Some moments just didn't make sense even when I replayed over several times, but it didn't take away from my enjoyment
Overall: 8.5-9
This show was something I didn't imagine I'd like very much, contrary to this, halfway through the 1st episode is where I just fell in love with it. As I've stated several times in this review, if you take this show seriously you're not going to enjoy it much. If you turn your brain off for the 12 episodes this show has, you'll most likely enjoy it very much. Even when you turn your brain off, you may notice some things in the show that don't seem right, but you'll get over it no time.
P.S. In my opinion, I loved when this show showcased the different parodies of popular things that happen in other genres of anime and just of clichés in general. I would be bursting out with laughter XD
P.P.S. I CAN'T WAIT TO WATCH THE OVAS AND SEASON TWO!
MyDogTige
This was oddly entertaining. I was expecting something mind-numbing and slapstick and while there is that, it actually made it worth watching each episode. The core characters make up for a very delightful cast, all over there own development as fhte show goes on. It was nice to see the changes they acquired while learning from their experiences that it doesn't have to compromise who they are or where they're from. I'm usually pretty retentive about visuals to match the show and whatever the subject is, and this one does well. This is just a lot of fun without any sort of effort required. Just sitback, watch and be entertained.
kuro_kuro
ZOMBIES!!! One almost immediately thinks of flesh-eating, mindless, corrupted humans when he hears this word. It also brings to mind gore and blood spilling! Today, the "zombie" genre is very widespread, so it no wonder that Japan has already opened its doors to it. There have already been other "zombie" anime that have been made, namely HOTD and the like. But unlike its other companions, Kore wa Zombie Desu ka is... unique! Kore wa Zombie is a hilarious anime that will most likely leave you gasping for air in every episode. It's a fun, worry-free, and not-so-serious anime. But as a "zombie" anime, it isguaranteed to have lots of blood and gore to satisfy its fans. But don't worry. The "blood-gore" level isn't that bad. So people with weak constitutions can watch it without worry. Although what you should be afraid of is the moments where one might lack oxygen due to laughing too much. It even has a touch of harem to boot!
The art is pretty good. But it's not that note-worthy since almost all 2011-2012 anime use the same type of technique. It's all pretty balanced. But I'm pretty sure you won't be pausing to look at the artwork, since its pretty fair.
The OP and ED both sound pretty nice. And they have great Seiyuus to boot too. Once again, all of them totally fit their characters... Well all except maybe Hellscythe-dono. I've noticed that her voice changes in several episodes, and it's bothered me a bit, but it's nothing serious.
All in all, Kore wa Zombie is definitely a must watch! Guaranteed to satisfy all your hilarity needs. Warning: when asthmatic, please make sure you have your asthma attack spray ready, just in case of emergencies. (b>w
ZedSaint
Its always good to pick up an anime that means absolutely nothing, once in a while and humor it just for laughs. If it wasn't obvious already, this is definitely one of those anime. I had always wanted to watch it since I loved its opening theme "Ma.Ka.Se.Te.Tonite" by Iori Nomizu and after having dedicated my day to it, I'm here reviewing it with mixed feelings. This anime gets the "fan_service" tag for being all about lewd portrayals, panty-shots, casual nudity and bodacious characters. It also has its good share of cartoonish-gore. Being a zombie, Ayumu is subjected to his body parts being dismembered, more thana dozen times and it doesn't end with him. Ayumu is also forced to cross-dress against his liking which was just funny. Sera's degrading dialogues are cold, unforgiving and hilarious to listen to. Does anything make sense? Not in the very least. The anime succeeds at being an over-the-top fusion of all these elements and actually got me laughing for half of its tenure. The other half was rather grueling.
The anime tries to take on a more serious note on several occasions, all of which seemed uninteresting. Some of the later battle scenes had me yawning, even fast forwarding, through it. They kinda had a whole episode centered on Fan-service which was not just cliched but also wasn't worth my time. There's nothing particularly outstanding about it but its good for an anime between two anime.
Okay... Fan-service, check. Tsundere, check. Moe, check. Harem, check. Zombies, Magicians and Necromancers, check. Ninjas, check. Vampires, check. Ninja Vampires, check. Chainsaws, Katanas and Scythes, check. Human abuse, check check. SO, if you're in the mood for some mindless humor, this anime is deemed eligible.
PS: Zombie fanatics will be disappointed.
My Evaluation: 7 / 10
ZeroReq011
Suppose zombies weren't the brainless shambling horrors mainstream media portrays them as. Suppose zombies live otherwise normal lives like you and me. So then, how can you tell them from us? Simple. Take a chainsaw, preferably a sturdy one, and saw suspected zombie in half. If said suspect continues to twitch, then he's a zombie. Congratulations. If said suspect doesn't, well- But wait! Have you ever wondered if you can find out the same with magical garment boys? Adapted from a light novel series of the same name by Shinichi Kimura, Is This a Zombie? was directed by Takaomi Kanasaki and produced by Studio Deen. Characterdesigns, original and anime, were provided by Kobuichi and Shinobu Tagashira respectively. We follow one Ayumu Aikawa who, after finding a random sword sticking out of his gut before keeling over, was reanimated by the mysterious, beautiful, and seemingly mute necromancer Eucliwood Hellscythe. The both of them now living under the same roof as servant and master, our undead male protagonist tries to live his school life the best he can without anyone normal finding out. Trouble finds him, however, juggling the eccentric company of ninja vampires and magical garment girls wielding leaf blades and chainsaws on top of the caveats that being a zombie in his universe entails, and suddenly, he's also living with a vampire ninja and a magical garment girl. And, for whatever reason, he magically becomes a magical garment boy. Yeah, boy, though unfortunately, the costume's not tailored to his specific gender.
Lots and lots of random, over-the-top hilarity ensues, and it's precisely the random and over-the-top qualities that make the comedy work well in this series. The show's no stranger to exploiting anime tropes, most notably the -dere series, but the show is so audaciously gung-ho about each of them that their comedic value stays fairly constant. In addition to these running gag anchors are just a stream of ridiculously absurd developments, puns, gags, one after another, keeping the funny consistently fresh for a good portion of the show.
The characterization deserves a mention. Granted, it's not going to win any accolades for it, but for what it is, a random, over-the-top harem comedy, I appreciate that the show were able to characterize these girls as individuals outside of their designated stereotypes, and that they show a significant amount competence independent of the male protagonist. Aikawa himself also comes off as a decent character, with humorous quirks and relatable worries. You know, ones that don't constantly scream pervert all the time and end up with him getting constantly decked. Getting beaten down's a reality for him, but it's not something the staff overly abuses for constant laughs. Outside fairly harmless daydreams about Eucliwood, or Eu, he doesn't harbor any obsessive lust for the women that surround him; in fact, he genuinely respects, cares, and tries his damndest to shield them from grief.
Outside comedy, at least for the more episodic first half, there's also some fairly decent drama, the majority of it centering around Eu and how her necromantic abilities, powerful enough to raise the dead, and possibly more powerful still, are related to her seeming inability to speak. Outside her exotic headdress and armor plate, outside her quiet, emotionless exterior, is a girl who's lonely and, because of circumstances, has been alone until now.
I mentioned first half, because the show starts to come off from its seams by the second once there's a transition to something more plot-centric. Simply put, the writers behind this series do not know how to write a decent plot, especially one meant to be dramatic. Here random, over-the-top, and this show's brand of comedic are not welcome. Everything supposedly linear comes out fragmented, everything supposedly serious comes out unfulfilling, and everything supposedly silly comes out contrived. For instance, we got a life-threatening situation over here involving someone being crushed to death. Is it really a smart time to be stupid by making the perpetrator a giant plushie? We got a world-ending scenario involving the creation of a portal to hell on top of kidnapping and coersion. Is it the best time to animate a completely nonsensical scene of walking in to everyone nonchalantly eating pasta? The potential those few precious moments of drama early to make something delightful is wasted on the show's later lack of focus and tact.
Utilizing the heavy elements of the electric guitar and drum set, OP “Ma-Ka-Se-Te Tonight,” or “Leave-It-To-Me Tonight” by Iori Nomizu is strong enough rock to get into for those who are fans of that genre, coupled with the action-packed introductions of the main cast in a rather bleak, apocalyptic setting, but overall, in my opinion, it wouldn't be the number I'd use to characterize this show, the action is more a supplementary element than a major focus, however well-animated it may be at times. I'd also have to question, limited my understanding of the Japanese language may be, why opening seconds grammatically misuse some of the romaji for the show's title. ED “Kizuite Zombie-sama, Watashi wa Classmate desu,” or “Notice me Mr. Zombie, I am your Classmate,” fits the bill better. Essentially a duet by Rie Yamaguchi, who also seiyuus one of the characters, and Manzo, it has this goofy sense charm that playfully shifts tempo, style, and pitch at sections to fit with the visual whimsy of the male protagonist dying while in heat. That's a double entendre.
A generally funny show that doesn't go too overboard on fan service, as far as harem comedies go, with a surprising amount of depth, the second half soured what would otherwise have been a mainly positive experience. If the staff could get a better handle at working the plot, or just making future content more episodic like before, then I'd be a happy zombie.
Speaking of which, it occurred to me that there were less messy ways for sniffing out zombies than using chainsaws. Oops.
I give Is This a Zombie? a 7 out of 10.
Universal_SheeP
"What was my finishing move? Let see uh...Oh right I think it was...Mystletainn Kick!" "That's not a kick! You cross dressing pervert!......." Quote that while is not the norm for every part of the series, makes up about 85% of the story. Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? is an action harem at it's core with tons of comedic moments to fill the time. I won't lie, what drew me to this anime was the title picture of a magical girl...with a chainsaw. Getting superficial here but who doesn't appreciate a chainsaw toting magical girl(and later magical girl boy, well, whatever the hell he's supposeto be).
On to the first section, the story. I won't be going into many details since I can't do it in way without spoiling it. At the first third or half of the story nothing much is going on other than character introductions. This is fine because there's a lot of great comedy to be had and it's fun to see the characters interact with one another. After that the story starts picking up at a decent pace although it's a bit confusing to follow due to some awkward shifts in the episodes and what seem to lack of explanation in terms of certain back stories for characters introduced later on. Despite being a sporadic mess at times it's not the worst story out there. For a harem it actually carries a story in a decent, sorta realistic(for it's universe) way without being forced.(I think people with a lot of experience with harems know what I mean with that trend to try have serious moment in the last two episodes of a series and it come off as feeling fake).
The art for series was very fun to look at and fit the series perfectly for what it is. The backgrounds were pleasant to look, particularly the graveyard and the city as a whole. If I recall there wasn't a lot of stuff going in those backgrounds but still nice designs. The character designs were good and fit the personalities of the characters, the necromancer and Haruna magical girl outfit were probably the highlights. The enemies gave the vibes they needed to give off appearance wise(whether it was to look seriously or be utterly hilarious the crayfish Megalo.
The sound is possible my favorite part about the show. The opening almost never failed to get excited for watching the new episode. I don't believe I ever skipped that or the ending. The ending song is also great I loved how it had a game show/arcade game vibe to the song. On the background music, it's the typical fare but it's memorable. For the more quote on quote heartfelt moments there was a nice lonely piano bit that for me invoke childhood memories. There is also a quick ostinato thing that usually play during battles and some of the funnier bits. I would link it but I don't think it's been uploaded. The voice actors were excellent, I expected nothing less. Props especially go to Junji Majima who voiced Ayuma.
The characters in the show range from being typical to your standard harem to being a little unique. Ayuma himself is a bit of a typical harem lead in being a perverted clown but as shown when times get serious this guy is really willing to give it his all and not a hesitant cowards. Eu, the silent necromancer, is a great female lead. Even without ever really saying anything she made quite an impact in what she wrote on her notepad and her actions. The other characters are stereotypical to a harem but all played a fun role. Haruna is a highlight for being an high energy idiotic "genius" who intentions are hard to understand even as the show unfolded. The villians were the weak point in the character department for this show, not exactly memorable and once out of the picture they're gone, no mention.
This was very a fun show to watch week after week if for one reason alone. At the end of the day it was over the top cheesy fun. It entered as a good goofy show and it ended as a great goofy show without ever really compromising how it started originally. Recommended to those who want to watch a decent harem or simply a fun show to pass the time.
This is my first review so any comments on how I could improve it and how much I suck are appreciated. :)
DreamyGhost
I didn't realize how good KoreZom was until rewatching it about four months after the first time. A breathtaking comedy that will give you a huge amount of good moments, without losing focus on what matters: romance and drama. {STORY - 4/10} At first, episodes may only steal lots of laughter, but plot gets a little more interesting when close to the end. It obviously wasn't intended to be epic. Still, we can see some funny and quick battles against many animal-based demons, called "megalos". Ayumu's dull life changes completely after being murdered by a serial killer and revived by a necromancer called Eucliwood. Now living as azombie, he struggles to find the one responsible for his death.
What really impresses is that the story doesn't really matter until you reach the last three episodes. There are some critical situations, but focus was kept on entertaining watchers with a huge dosis of basic fanservicing and many jokes. Both climax and dramatic scenes take some time to make their appearance and, when they do, things finally start getting serious...
{ART - 9/10}
Overall graphics from KoreZom aren't so amazing, comparing to other animes from 2011. However, the constant use of distinct visual effects and insane facial expressions on Ayumu, plus very well-made battle sequences and active scenes turn this show into something able to take front against the best designed works from Shaft's studio.
{SOUND - 10/10}
The most notable thing from this particular category is the voice acting. A cast filled with many know names, like Iori Nomizu, who also performs "Ma-Ka-Se-Te Tonight" (opening), Yoko Hikasa and Rie Yamaguchi (same actress from Sora no Otoshimono's Kazame Hiyori), the one sings the ending theme, side by side with it's writer, manzo. Choosing Junji Majima to incorporate Ayumu seemed so perfectly planned. His acting has to be praised, as he's able to match all of Ayumu's emotions within his own tones.
Other than that, backgrounding used throughout the entire anime is impecable and every theme suits its situation perfectly. Most characteristic ones are Haruna's transformation intro and a tenre guitar song that opens almost every episode and is played on calm moments.
{CHARACTER - 8/10}
Having one of the shortest casts I've ever saw isn't exactly a problem. Featuring few, but unique characters is what really matters in an anime, and KoreZom takes a lot of advantage on this area. The ones shown in here may not be seen on common works. A necromancer, a masou shoujo and a vampire-ninja. Those are the main categories from each of the girls close to Ayumu, who belongs to a different kind of zombie. He's immortal and super-strong, despite being vulnerable to direct sunlight, unlike any other living dead I saw before!
{ENJOYMENT - 10/10}
Non-stop stupid jokes, loli and sis complexes, both ridiculous battles and enemies and limitless perversion. That's what best describes this show. Still, ir can awake your deepest emotions at some times and even cause reflections about the way we live our lives. Impossible not loving this incomparable anime!
{OVERALL - 8/10}
Ayumu just wanted to have a peaceful life. That until he got killed and then revived, into a zombie. He didn't have concerns, but an eternal life made he think again about how life is precious and must be enjoyed at all moments. Dealing with demons and love are his newest problems, but will he be able to handle all the trouble that three unusual girls keep dragging to him? At the same time he struggles to have a normal high school life?
michi26
I am going to start this review by stating, if you like a serious anime this is NOT for you. Those who watched this and took everything literal can not enjoy the beauty of this anime. Now to my review. I thoroughly like that this anime is just one solid joke after another. Nothing in this anime is serious and should not be taken serious. It makes fun of all aspects anime out there, and does a good job at it. It builds up great characters that are lovable and does a decent job at putting in background story considering the anime is more ofa feel good funny show.
Personally I think if you want a good laugh this is the anime for you
shinigamineko5
i started kore wa zombie desu ka thinking would be a gory bloody mess filled with trys at scarey zombies.i was so wrong! this was a funny anime, the story was here and there, with a few pieces missing every few episodes, but i think anyone could enjoy this anime.(exept for one person i know who freaked out the first second of bleach!) this anime is one of my favorites out of a looooooooooooooooong list of anime that i watch that i love, like,dislike,hate, and want to burn,and feed to a rabid bear.
ratchet573
What could be more fun than a series that contains magical girls, zombies, vampires, ninjas, necromancers, and evil whales in school uniforms? Well, a lot of things actually. Kore wa Zombie desu ka? starts off promising and funny, but starts to take itself too seriously toward the end and focus on the rather unexciting and uninspired plot than what really made it good. When you watch the first episode, you know you are stepping into strange territory that only gets stranger as the series progresses, but it maintains a certain sense of seriousness that seems unneeded in an anime that’s main character is a zombiewho can transform into a magical girl boy.
The plot is fairly simplistic. Ayumu dies and is resurrected by a cute necromancer girl, Yuu. The guy runs into a tiny, feisty magical girl named Haruna. He steals her powers accidentally and gains the ability to transform into a magical girl boy complete with pink striped panties. He also meets a vampire ninja. Together, the four search for the person who killed Ayumu. It gets somewhat complicated from there with a magical girl school and rival vampire ninja clans and another zombie like Ayumu. This is all well and good, but the problem with the plot is not in the fact that it is trying too hard to be complicated and adult, but more so, as I stated, in the fact it takes itself so seriously most of the time. Which is fine, but when you start a series with lots of comedy and very little story, don’t try and throw something at me that is attempting to be complicated.
Another problem can be seen in the rushed ending. The main bad guy of the series is another zombie who was resurrected by Yuu. His intentions are never clear, other than the fact he wants to die. Why he wants to destroy the world in the process is lost on me and how he has magical powers is never actually explained. Anyway, the end of the series comes with episode eleven. Episode twelve is what should have been an OVA as it is the obligatory pool episode with enough fan service to make Rosario Vampire blush. Not only is the episode stupid and pointless, it is also a waste of time. With a second season on the way, there had to be more story that could have been thrown in, or at least something stupid, but progresses the plot or character interactions (like something between Ayumu and Tomonori?).
The animation is alright. Characters look good, backgrounds look good, but it can sometimes look a little on the sloppy side, especially during fight scenes. If I can give the animators an award, it would have to be for jiggle physics. One particular fight halfway through the series was so amazingly captivating in its use of hypnotic giant boobies bouncing around a graveyard like two happy, skipping children. With every movement the breasts flung themselves in the direction the girl is going, threatening to tip her over. A chiropractor had to have been needed after that battle.
Sound, sound, sound. Whatever shall we do without you? The opening is pretty good, not exactly amazing but better than the generic pop that permeates the openings of a majority of anime. The ending on the other hand is plain. Music during the show ranges from six notes on a piano (which I’ve complained about before) to what could be village music in a Final Fantasy game. The voices are all good and the sound effects are good as well.
The character department, as always, is the part where I completely destroy an anime. But one of the things that makes Kore wa Zombie so great is that it has a variety of good characters to enjoy the company of. A few aren’t so great, but a few are pretty fun.
Let’s start with main character Ayumu. He’s as generic as every sentence I write about main characters in anime. It’s getting boring saying that the main character isn’t all that exciting minus his one problem or complex (in this case, being a zombie), but it has to be done pretty much every time I review something. He’s just a generic guy with a harem. Nothing sets him apart from the rest of the high school kids in strange situations.
Eucliwood Hellscythe is an interesting character. As she doesn’t speak and doesn’t really show emotions, there’s a lot that you know is inside of her that you want to learn more about. What she writes and the few emotions she displays do make you feel sympathetic toward her. She’s not the kind of character you will fall in love with, but she does have a certain appeal that can mostly be found in the mystery surrounding her, as well as her feelings later in the series.
Haruna is the magical girl of the anime and has an allergy to clothing. She’s got a lot of nude and scantily clad scenes throughout, but she is also not a particularly bad character. She’s got the tiny complex, she’s got the attitude, but there’s also something likeable about her. And it’s not the nudity. Don’t say that. It’s more so her personality. I know you can trade her for a magical girl version of many anime characters, but I like the females with an attitude who don’t take crap from anyone. She’s strong and likeable because of how tough and in your face she can get. She doesn’t act like it when just screwing around with her friends, but she truly cares for them and would do anything to protect them. She’s also a magical girl with a chainsaw. A FRICKIN’ CHAINSAW. And she’s also the funniest of all the characters.
I did not like Seraphim on the other hand because the moment we are introduced to her, I knew she was what my friends and I call “The Boob Character”. Big tits=big laughs and lots of guys paying attention. Not only is she a total slut, she’s also a vampire ninja. This ridiculousness would have been funny if it hadn’t turned into some sort of political intrigue about conservative vampire ninjaism vs. radical vampire ninjaism. On top of that, she just didn’t have a lot of character. She was helpful as a fighter, but as a person she was just an ass, plain and simple, and totally unlikeable.
Tomonori is the final character I’ll dedicate a whole paragraph to. She was one of my favorite characters for whatever reason (maybe it was the fact I didn’t get to see her enough to learn to hate her). She was damn cute, and on top of that her relationship with Ayumu is my favorite of the series. As the plot progresses, you can see her change and start to really like Ayumu. And on top of that, she was the second funniest character.
King of Night, the bad guy, as stated before was lame and pretty cardboard. The other bad guy (who I won’t name) wasn’t all that exciting either. Dai-Sensei is a character I want to know more about. Otherwise, everyone else is not worth mentioning.
Kore wa Zombie is a fun little ride. It has good action, good characters, and some pretty funny comedy. It starts to lack that comedy as it progresses, but the story isn’t all that bad, just nothing worth remembering. There are some idiotic moments (the last episode), some cool moments (the whale), but overall it’s a lot of meh. It just never seems to find its stride. With a second season on the way though, we can hope that it will provide better bad guys and figure out whether it wants to be a funny plot-based story or a serious plot-based story.
AquaHaze
Out of all the anime I watched this season I would probably say Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? is one of the stronger series. The reason I decided to give the series a try is because the picture caught my attention when I was selecting anime to watch. However I'm glad that I decided to watch this series The first half of the series doesn't really follow much of a story, instead we are given some gut busting comedy to pass the time. The comedy did actually get me to laugh a lot and I would've had no problem if the series keptgoing like this, but in the second half of the series a plot started to unfold. After the plot was revealed, the amount of jokes in each episode dropped to advance the more serious plot. There was still some comedy during the second half of the series and the jokes were still funny when they came around though.
The plot itself wasn't actually bad. Sometimes the plot did feel rushed because they tried to fit it in the end, and there were some plot holes. I think it would've been better if they either made the plot a bit longer to let it develop more or just taken it out entirely. It's not the best plot out there but it is interesting nonetheless and it is certainly better than some of the other plots in series that aired this season. Also putting together a good plot with gut busting comedy isn't exactly the easiest thing to do, so I think the series did a respectable job with the plot
The art is actually very good, I like the character designs and the backgrounds were okay too. The animation during the opening was awesome and you could really tell the mood by the art. I have no complaints here.
The sound was alright, I enjoyed listening to the opening and ending and the voice actors did a solid job with their character. However nothing really attached to me here.
When I first saw the opening and saw the different characters that were going to be in this series I thought to myself, this seems to be a strange combination of characters. However the characters were done really well. Our main protagonist, Ayumu is a zombie is probably one of the better protagonists I've seen mainly because he's not weak like a lot of normal Harem leads. That already is a plus and he also seems know how to act in tight situations. We also have a very adorable female lead, Eucliwood (Eu for short) who undergoes the most development and also doesn't talk, instead she writes on a notepad. She doesn't show her emotions much but as the series goes on she begins to open up to the main protagonist.
The other characters are also very likable. They don't seem to undergo much development but that's just really asking for too much from a series like this. We have a tsundere Mahou Shoujo and 2 other Vampire Ninjas. They do have traits of harem stereotypes but they also have qualities that makes each one of them unique.
Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? is really an enjoyable series, I couldn't count the amount of times that I laughed. Add in very lovable characters and we have ourselves a very entertaining series. If you want a good laugh I would recommend watching this
Overall Kore wa Zombie Desu ka? was one of the better series of the season and although the quality of it did dip slightly toward the end I still found the series to be very good. I give it a 8/10.
Thanks for Reading
