Reviews for Zombie Land Saga Revenge

An instant 10 for me. Episode 4 just came out and the performance is just so powerful that gave me goosebumps. Junko and Tae just crushed their audience minds with their Voice and Drum skills. To be honest the gimmicks in that performance was unique. The laser part together with the chorus is just amazing. I also like how the story progresses as Franchouchou is now a top priority rival of Iron Frill, which makes it more interesting. Overall the anime is great good Openings and Endings plus the performance music is also a banger. Season 2 is worth the wait!

Zombieland Saga is a show that you wouldn't think twice about girls that have passed away in one form or another, and then given the Jesus Christ "resurrection on the Third Day" treatment as zombies to save a land that's largely been purged and disappeared since time millenia...by being an idol show with much of the hysterity. And look how far we've come into the 2nd season of the show, dubbed "Revenge", because literally, it's that and much more. With that said, GOOOOOOOODA MORNIN' ZOMBIES, LET'S BEAT THE LIVING **** OUTTA THE **** WACK TO SAVE OUR ****ING MOTHERLAND, SAGA! GODDAMMIT YOU FRIGGIN MAGGOTS! To come backalmost 2.5 years since Season 1 that slowly usurped the throne as the dark horse of Fall 2018, director Munehisa Sakai and his production team at MAPPA have been slowly concocting another marvellous follow-up season to continue where the story of SAGA is left behind with the epic bomb and failure that is the less-than-desirable 10,000-people concert crowd at the huge EFS stadium arena...and carry on IT DID. Other than the attention-grabbing promo poster of Kotarou along the seabed with his signature move, as is with kickstarting this year right with Season 2's main PV on January 1st, 2021 (in Japan), if you've watched Season 1 back in the day, you know that this series is anything but typical. And with the in-your-face "Revenge" theme being a centralized topic, this journey to exact revenge will be a tough one for the zombie girls of Franchouchou and their wack manager Kotarou (God I still LOVE Mamoru Miyano's voice).

As is of the story (or most appropriately character-driven) narrative of Zombieland Saga, each girl has their own story to tell, and since Season 1 covered the biker girl Saki, the Truck-kun-ed Sakura and the LGBT representative Lily's backstories, Season 2 tops that up with the rest of the girls that haven't had their backstories foretold...plus even down to Kotarou himself, and how and why Saga is a place that should be left preserved and brought back to its former glory: TO SAVE SAGA. Not gonna spoil anything, because secrets are the charm to this magnificent and tightly-paced show! This time, nothing was left untouched, and to that effect, Season 2 ups the ante of which Season 1 had already solidified its foundations with, and with a huge impact (just like how Kotarou becomes a cussing Eren *WHOOPS*). Franchouchou has largely stayed the same from Season 1, so you can easily expect a lot of the usual enjoyable and hilarious hijinks that this show has to offer up from these zombie girls that the general public hasn't caught onto them being legit zombies (close, but not close enough). This is a family bond so strong that as time passes, SAGA becomes all the more important, more than just an ingrained dream for the girls of Franchouchou and wacky Kotarou to see the light of day in saving SAGA. Glory, glory to SAGA!

Everything else is what you should expect and more coming out of Season 1: from story and characters (that are given a HUGE upgrade), and even right down to the visuals and music, which are still the *chef's kiss* excellente pairing of Franchouchou songs with MAPPA's constant and consistent greatness. While the OST this time isn't as bedazzling and bombarding as the prequel, it's still great to hear the comeback of this fully zombie girls idol group that immediately raises nostalgia for how much time has passed since then.

BLOODY HELL, if you made it all the way through this review, I should raise the question: "Have you watched Season 1? If not, then WHY THE **** are you reading this review!? Go back to Season 1, finish that, then come back here to experience somemore, you friggin' maggot!"

This is one fine outstanding sequel in the world of zombie girls and idol music of a big-brain mish-mash-ing potato.

The highly anticipated sequel to Zombieland Saga not only lived up to the hype, it exceeded all expectations. Cementing itself among the best idol series in recent memory. The original Zombieland saga made waves with its unique ensemble premise and cast, promotion of a somewhat unknown area(to foreigners) of Japan, and incredibly well executed humour. Season 2 does a great job of building upon the already established characters. As with any idol series, Zombieland Saga Revenge dedicates several episodes to each character’s development, bringing us even closer to the girls we know and love. In contrast with season 1, however, Revenge takes a darker approach tostorytelling. While there are definitely still plenty of hilarious moments throughout, there’s much more of a focus on genuine serious issues this time around. Several episodes had me genuinely in my feelings because of how well they were pulled off, particularly Saki, Junko and Ai’s backstories. While we got introduced to all the girls in season 1, we didn’t really get a whole lot of development. Season 2 solves that issue and by the end, you can’t help but feel that you’ve been right there along with the girls.

The more mature story combined with good old humour and ridiculousness we’ve come to expect from Zombieland Saga, made Revenge an absolute blast to watch. As with any idol show, however, it’ll be judged on the quality of the music produced. I personally think Franchuchu’s music this time around was even better than season 1. I would’ve liked for the girls to get some more solo songs a la love live, but the group performances and finale were phenomenal.

The CGI for the performances was about what you’d expect from an idol show. Definitely noticeable, but didn’t negate my experience overall. For the rest of the series, you’ve got the usual MAPPA quality art and animation.

Overall, Zombieland Saga Revenge takes everything that made season one such a fun and unique time, and improves it by adding a more mature story, improved character dynamics and development as well as offering a satisfactory conclusion to the cast’s story arc. While I’m not sure if we’ll get more of these girls in the future, I definitely think Zombieland Saga has the potential to expand into a legitimate idol project with a wide variety of cast members. Only time will tell.

Zombieland Saga Revenge gets 10 Mics out of 10.

I’ve really missed this series. Yes it is the return of of perhaps the only idol anime I care about watching, Zombieland Saga: REEVVEEEENNGE. And it has been a while since the first season aired (two and a half years to be exact), so waiting for me to see what happens next with these zombie idols left me feeling a bit anxious to see if they could capture the magic that made season one such an enjoyable surprise. Would it be as unconventional as before? Would the songs be able to top season one? WOULD THE LEGENDARY TAE YAMADA WAKE UP THIS SEASON? Well fromthe word go really, I knew it would relive the charm of this series and we would be in for another wild ride.

Sit back, relax, get your necromancy books out and sing to your hearts content as I present to you the anime review for Zombieland Saga: Revenge. Let’s begin.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Story: 8/10

After ending the Arpino show on a high note, Franchouchou’s next plan was performing at EFS (Ekimae Fudosan Stadium) to let Japan know that Franchouchou is here. However, it bombed. Quite spectacularly as they were only able to attract 500 people in a 25,000 capacity stadium. Crashing down to Earth and in massive debt, this is the story of how our group of idols get back on their feet, get back at the world for not acknowledging them and to let them know they are still here. This is their REVENGE.

That’s the main theme surrounding this new season of Zombieland Saga. “When we hit rock bottom, how do we pick ourselves up again?” Throughout this season, we see how our characters try to get back their lost momentum and get back to the point they were at the end of season one and then some. It definitely does still do some unconventional things rather than just strictly singing and still has some whacky s**t to keep the viewers entertained but also has plenty of heart to it to help get attached to the characters even more, helped by the fact that they each get their own time to shine to make you love them even more. It is done effectively so it doesn’t feel hollow and we do get to know about their backstory and thought process more this season. So it doesn’t feel like reusing stuff we already know but actually give us new stuff to learn more about them.

The humour is also on point once again as well with plenty of humorous scenes on par with season one (anything with Tae is pure gold). As well as the zombie aspect plays a part in it as well with one of the subplots and the comedic gags with it are still funny. Although, there is a suspicious lack of horror spoofs to make it even more funny. Then again, Franchouchou’s faces are more well known now, so I get their absence. But still, they were comedy gold and I do miss them.

Characters: 9/10

The characters haven’t really changed much, which by no means is bad. They are still the lovable characters we’ve come to root for. Koutaro is still best boy and Saki remains my favourite girl of the bunch. Like I said, similar to last season, they each get their own time to shine to get better attachment to them. They get a similar situation where we see what happens when their back is against the wall? We see them all tackle back to back situations and how they would tackle them and they were enjoyable to see them unfold. My favourite one is how Lily overcomes her situation and how she copes. The results from her actions makes for one of the best moments from the entire series.

Now this season actually addressed one of my criticisms from season one and we actually got a backstory for Yuugiri as well as finding more about the history of the Saga prefecture. Honestly, I do appreciate that we get to more about Yuugiri because with the attention more focused on the other girls, Yuugiri felt more and more like a background character. Getting her own two dedicated episodes makes us appreciate Yuugiri even more as a character and proof that all these girls are special in their own way. You remove one and it would feel like something is missing. Unfortunately though, no backstory episode for Tae Yamada, but she does get her own dedicated episode this season that shows her at her best and why we love her.

Animation: 9/10

There isn’t a lot to say here, the animation for season two has been consistent with how good the animation was in season one. Of course, that was back before MAPPA jumped into the general public’s conscience as one of the best studios in the industry. Although the most notable thing is that when it comes to Franchouchou’s performances, there is less use of CG and more use of rotoscoping. There is still some CG use so it’s not been completely replaced but at least it does not look bad although the CG animation when using a guitar could be better.

Sound: 9.5/10

Same goes with the sound department. There are some songs that return and the background ost remains the same from season one, but the new songs are just as notable. Lily’s solo performance at the end of episode 5 was the resident unconventional song from this season, similar to the rap sequence from last season although not as memorable but still good. I also loved the song played during episode 4 which would transition into what would be now considered Franchouchou’s signature song now.

The opening is something of note as well. It was going to be hard to top “Adabana Necromancy” from season one and its absolute craziness. And while not being as crazy as season one’s opening, season two’s opening, “Taiga yo Tomo ni Naitekure” is in my opinion, better than season one’s OP. It mainly comes down to the animation which is simply superb and feels like one big flex from MAPPA and their production quality (Yeah, I saw what you did there MAPPA). Song as well being catchy as hell with an excellent performance from Franchouchou and being just as good as Adabana Necromany. This would probably be my choice for OP of the season. I think it’s that good. Seriously, that animation is gorgeous to look at it unfolding for your eyes.

The ending though is nothing of note here. It’s the usual calm song with still images. Nice looking images but one I didn’t particularly keep watching after a couple of times.

Conclusion

Zombieland Saga: Revenge continues to be the one and only idol anime I’m willing to watch and acts as a great follow up of one of my favourite anime from 2018. It keeps the momentum going while tackling new challenges and situations and still keeping the charm of the series. It’s story is still unconventional but effective, it’s characters are still great and the production quality is still top notch. It is more of what made Zombieland Saga great in my opinion with a couple of improvements with some focus on characters that weren’t really focused in season one. It is still an excellent anime that improves on a couple of things from season one to make it even better. So I think it was worth the wait.

My Personal Enjoyment: 10/10

Overall Score: 9.1/10 Recommendation: Go F**king Watch It

This review contains some spoilers. If you were around during Anime Expo back in 2018, then you might remember a strange franchise introduced to the world. It's Zombieland Saga, and at the time, most of us didn't know what it was. The producers and staff were very secretive about the project until it's revelation. And that is...Zombieland Saga is comedic horror anime about idols. Flash a year later and we got announcement of the sequel. Now here we are in 2021 with the return of zombie idols who takes...revenge? No, that's not quite right. If you remember this show for what it was at all, then you'llknow that Zombieland Saga isn't your typical horror. Or in fact, this is hardly horror at at all given the lighthearted context. Franchouchou, the iconic idol group, returns again with its familiar cast and is still a sensation. Why? That's because these girls have shown that even as zombies, they are a talented group. Organized by their ultra flameboyant producer, Zombieland Saga knew what it wanted to show us.

Let's start and say that even after the 2 year break, the sequel still retains a vibrant energy with the colorful personalities of the cast. From Sakura to Saki, or the famous Tae Yamada, every single member of Franchouchou is an important part of the group. Unfortunately, their group has a rocky start at the beginning of the sequel. They have a debt and even Kotaro, their producer has lost hope to regain their former glory. It isn't until a series of events that convinces him to reorganize and give the idols a chance at their careers. Speaking of which, these idols are no longer the newbies we've known before. They have professional experience now but the sequel also explores some of their personal issues. This includes but not limited to Saki dealing with a relationship, Junko's insecurities, or Lily struggling to maintain her idol image. While this anime throws common sense out the window, some of these personal issues can be relatable in real life. In a more lighthearted way, this sequel shows that being an idol always has its challenges, both for its individual members or the group as a whole. And let's not mention, financial issue remained a major problem until Tae Yamada made the save.

Despite the seemingly recurring elements and cartoonish comedy, Zombieland Saga Revenge contains a short arc that stands out differently than any other episodes in the franchise. The Saga Incident (episodes 8-9) throws the characters into the Meiji Era as it explores the life of Yugiri. Not only do we get to see her character origins but also learn about the ancestry of various character altogether. The arc was memorable for its time setting but also with how it presented itself. You'll have to see it for yourself but let's just say that the Saga Incident can make us really understand Yugiri for who she is. Indeed, Zombieland Saga has always been about showcasing its cast without leaving everyone in the dark. It always remembers that Franchouchou is about more than just the group.

Like the previous season, Zombieland Saga Revenge doesn't hold back with its comedy and humor. After all, this is advertised as a comedic horror show with elements of idol performance and drama. Watching this sequel reminds me to enjoy the overall popcorn entertainment just like the first season. With our colorful cast, there's an immense amount of character chemistry with everyone. Thanks to the personalities of certain characters such as Tae Yamada, you'll rarely run out of moments without laughter. In essence, this sequel proved itself to be able to do what it's best at: entertain.

Are you entertained? That's for me to know and you to find out. But as a fan of the first season, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Zombieland Saga Revenge is worth waiting for. Franchouchou is here and isn't holding back again to show the talents of its cast. With every episode, we see the way this show entertain us just as it once did before. Bless MAPPA for creating this franchise because the anime industry needs more zombie idols.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING ZOMBIES! IT'S TIME FOR ZOMBIELAND SEASON TWO AFTER SO LONG!!! It really has been so long. The first season was such a smash it for me, that it became one of my few 10s that I've rated it. But it was for a fair number of reasons, compared to this show of course. As it means a lot to me, but we're not here for that, we're here for the pre review! So let's go! Story The story seems to have taken more of a serious edge on things, while still begin in the style sometimes of ZLS. Not that is a bad thing, more thatthe first series established their thoughts, characters, and all that. Now was more just focusing on being a really great idol group, and supporting one another. To save Saga if you will. Which is why I can accept the more serious but fun tone it's giving through out the show. But that's the thing too, ZLS always seems to do well when it comes to character driven stories, they really make it feel impactful, and make you want to come back next week for more.

Characters

Not really much to put in here, as it is the second season, but so far the girls, and our manager are pretty much the same, but with development behind them of course, along with never losing their smile, never losing their charm, as if they never left our screens before. You won't go wrong here if you really loved the ZLS cast before, as they're all extremely lovely once more. Good stuff.

Art and music

Putting these two together, as they're both standouts for me when it comes to this show. The normal music throughout the sow is great on it's own, but the extra bits that really push it even further is the idol songs themselves, much like the OP itself. ZLS always has kick ass songs, and it's not only great to see and hear, but also it's no wonder why it's highly loved, as the songs are just killer.

The art style is much like the first season, with maybe a few upper touches to make it stand out even more. I think it looks great, the characters and their movements look real wonderful, and I can't really say a fault on it. Great in both ends of it all. Really well done ZLS, really well done.

Should you watch season 2? Absolutely. Absolute bloody yes. ZLS second season is a continuations of the first season, as if it never left our screens, and I am one, here for the ride, and you should be too!

Very poorly executed and lost sight of itself. Season 2 of ZLS attempts to make more plot without committing and more spotlight on new supporting characters. After a very strong start ZLS 2's episodes lose structure and meander constantly while taking out the main characters almost completely. A great example is the biker gang episode with Yamada where she kind of just shows up around the supporting characters and doesn't do anything. Compared to the yakitori episode from season 1 the execution is devoid of stakes, compelling characterization, humor, setup+payoff and the horror references they liked to play around with. The only reason the episode even feelslike it was worth it was a throwaway scene showing a grave with possibly Yamada's ancestor that goes on to mean nothing. This goes double for the Yuugiri flashback two parter where they spend two episodes shoving a plot you don't care about down your throat but making her completely passive. As the most underutilized character in the show, for 40 minutes of anime to do nothing for the character both moving forward and in hindsight is unacceptable.

Artwise ZLS 2 is also a big downgrade from its predecessor. The opening is Mappa saving budget with minimalist premiere pro graphics and again we pretty much never get extensive horror segments like the bathhouse section of season 1. The animation gets choppy and the CG doesn't innovate much either. As for music we also downgrade to poppy crap. The season 1 rap wasn't even attempted to be topped as ZLSR settled into a comfortable bubble.

This is a great show if you have no experience with good idol shows like Idolmaster and Idolmaster Cinderella Girls or Super Sonico and can tolerate the CG but if you have the time just rewatch season 1.

I wasnt able to get immersed in this. I regret it. Story : As the story is a continuation of season 1, you might have some issues with understanding it without it. So far, its top notch. It is dictated with amazing raw emotions. I would say that it shows a realistic story. A more relatable one, which me as a person who is looking for a job after some years of shitty experience in CS (Computer Science), I can 100% say that this is a normal future which awaits you, that is if you dont waste your life simping for HoloLive or Rem. Art : Ithas progressed miles from the first season. The first seasons debuts were poisoning. I cant really tell the difference in good and average art alot as my drawing best results that I have ever gotten is drawing a perfect circle... or an oval... anyways, I cant tell if its the best of the best but I can confidently say its amazing.

Sound : The songs are just the best deserts after watching the story. Especially so when it resonates deeply with the plot. Its one of the anime which has a very good track, with its very good story.

Characters :

The best thing here is that every character is unique. We have smart ones, emotional ones, happy ones, tortured ones (smile like there is no tomorrow) and dumb ones. Though they are not really humorous if we compare it to konosuba but hey, comedy is just a side parfait ( did i spell that right(?)) I dont have much time to write details for every character tho.

Enjoyment : Definitely alot more than season 4 of my hero academia.Its cute, relatable, sometimes humor is present while it also has many other roller coaster of emotions like anger, disappointment and such.

TL;DR : A great story. One that you should definitely make time for. Though immersion, once again is an important factor here. Dont trash talk an anime when you cannot even get immersed in it properly.

Alright, so to start with, I like Zombieland Saga's 1st season as much as the next guy. So I had high expectations from the 2nd season... which unfortunately never met after watching this second season. The 1st season, although it's very low quality with it's animation, had the heart and soul without stooping as low as copying the generic idol-anime formula. It had the general theme of being able to do the regrets that people had when they died. It was a great premise that was executed very well. But what does the second season did that I didn't like? Well, nothing much really. They justcontinued to where they left off. But that's my problem. They didn't do anything outside of that. They took a much safer route that is too safe that it's boring. They only did the things that already worked in the 1st season without taking too much risk.

It had new addition and new background stories for Saga and some of the characters, but it was introduced so late to the season that the first half of this season seems like it's a waste of time imo.

The story, just like I said, was pretty lackluster. It took what worked before and didn't risk new things. It's decent at best.

The characters are decent. They are likable and memorable, but I really don't like some of them as well as the side characters. It's not like they are bad, just a bit inconsistent at times. jk, they are also pretty bad lmao

Let's talk about the main characters. Their developments are pretty much non-existent. It's not them that develops, it's the one-off side characters that gets barely develop because of them. That's not bad, but it's really cheapens them as characters because of how focus they get, yet they don't really do anything. I probably worded that wrong, but it's really hard to explain.

It's not that they are bad, but just really lackluster and probably one of the weaker main cast in the recent times.

The animation is pretty disappointing. The 1st season is pretty low budget but it still managed to be interesting in direction-wise. But here, there's really no stand-out scenes. And the CG models are abominable. It's just not something that should exist in 2021 (as well as coming from MAPPA).

The music is also quite a letdown. The 1st season had so many bangers that I expected some bangers in this season... but sadly, there wasn't that much bangers in this season. It had some great ost and insert songs, but that's about it.

Overall, just a disappointing sequel for a series that I actually cared about.

(4.6/10)

Zombieland Saga is not about Zombies. Zombieland Saga is not about moe. Zombieland Saga is not about idols. Zombieland Saga is not about music. Zombieland Saga is not (only) about selling merchandise. Zombieland Saga is about gentrification, persistence of historical memory and a very light touch of Sentai (you can see all the archetypes there). It's about people doing good together and how we're strong when we're united, being able to face and defeat all adversities in our paths. It's about love, any kind of love. It's about believing in other people. Zombieland Saga is the food you love, but hate all its ingredients. Watch it, please.

With the movie coming out some time this year, I wanted to make a review on this series. (Note that this review is considering both the first season and the second season Revenge). As someone who is not a particular idol fan, this show was a surprising banger. The main gimmick of this show is that it is an idol group of all zombies, and they have to keep performing while hiding their identities as zombies. Personally, I thought the zombie aspect was actually done very well in this show, as it: - Increased comedic effect and enhances performance by doing absurd things like adding electriceffects or such through a logical way.

- Gives the characters more depth by introducing their backstory and uses zombie as "people who died before fulfilling their dreams or had a tragic end". The main cast all get their own development.

The music and performances in this show was really good. I think the CGI performances at the start of season 1 was a bit rough, but that actually had some narrative purpose (whether it was intentional or not) by showing their improvement throughout time, like you can clearly tell how much better the CG is in Revenge compared to season 1. Also Junko's voice is so good.

Shoutout to the GOAT Miyano Mamoru who killed his voice acting role on Koutarou.

Overall I would highly recommend this show.

Zombieland Saga: 8/10

Zombieland Saga Revenge: 9/10

Overall: 8.5/10

Zombieland Saga, as a whole, is a series I find to be wasted potential. Tell me, with a premise such as “zombies turned idols to save the prefecture of Saga with their borderline psychotic manager,” would you expect to see the show would a large dose of melodrama to go with such an absurd premise. Now, before I go into Revenge, I wanna summarize my thoughts on Season 1 since this is my first time talking about this anime. For season 1, the first two episodes were some of the most fun of the whole season, they completely use their premise to its fullest withsilly shenanigans, changing up the “idol anime” genre, and having fun. But, when the third episode hit, it kinda just became a self-aware idol anime with all the over the top melodrama of wanting to become the next big idol group. It was a big disappointment for me, so I was not expecting this season to really surprised me at all. I was somewhat proven right, and somewhat proven wrong.

Story:

The story seems like a fitting way to start of the second season as the crew of Franchouchou are in huge debt from the awful failure of their concert at the EFS. Which was stupid how they got themselves into this mess when given extra context 10 episodes later in a quasi-filler episode. This would have been fine as a bit for a joke, but both the first and tenth episodes play it completely straight. While Franchouchou are saving up money, they grow more as an idol group and as zombies. Most episodes are little bottle episodes that focuses on most of the cast members, giving us a little more context to their characters and normally doesn’t effect them all that much throughout the course of the story and go back to being the same cheerful charismatic zombies. Most of these episodes can be fun but usually don’t hit as hard as I would like them to. I’ll at least give season 1 credit, where there was at least some inner conflict to be had to keep the story more interesting.

Art:

Art is a little on the rough side with this series, though it looks the best in this season compared to the previous. Both do have their moments of fun and energetic animation, but they also have moments of static shots with lackluster artwork in places. The character design is probably the best part of this series as each character has their own unique look to them and give off their personalities pretty well. But that opening is a real banger and kinda tops the first season, IMO.

Sound:

Sound design wasn’t really all that special to give much praise as it sounded like most of it was just royalty free sound effects half the time. The music is really well done and catchy to the point that I would tap my foot to some of their melodies. Although, I think catchy music in an idol anime is pretty much expected to be there. Not to mention, it doesn’t really have too much of its own personality to the lyrics as it sounds like the kinda songs you would get from the usual idol groups.

Characters:

I will say that the strongest part is the characters for the most part. Aside from Sakura, who feels more like a wet blanket than a good character, most of the other characters have enough of a dynamic and personality that you’ll be sure to like at least one. While some don’t really gel with me completely for reasons that’ll make this review longer than it is, I can’t really say I hate any of them. I will make note to finally including a backstory to the member, Yuugiri, as she felt painfully underutilized in season 1 and mostly used for jokes. Her story arc were some of my favorite episodes as it was a nice change of pace from the anime’s usual antiques, it felt like a breath of fresh air. It also helped me to fully understand Koutarou’s quest to save Saga as his late ancestor(?) and gives him a lot of charm with his chemistry with Yuugiri. It also helped to accept Koutarou’s screeching autism that was sometimes getting to me.

Enjoyment:

It’s a bit mixed for me as I wasn’t really annoyed by this series, but I wished it really took the show to more absurd levels and actually did a little more with its zombie premise besides “we can’t let everyone know we’re zombies” shtick. And only after the last episode, we get a tease for [REDACTED] and ONLY NOW YOU DECIDE TO COMMIT TO THE ABSURD?!?!

Overall:

Those first two episodes of season 1 and Yuugiri’s arc were some of the best this series had to offer. Maybe one I can think of that was cute was Saki getting to meet her idol who made her who she was and filling in his shoes. But, I guess this show was mostly ruined for me because I expected too much from it that I lost interest along the way. If you want something to turn your brain off to and maybe laugh (though jokes can be hit or miss at times), check it out if you want. Time to go back into my cave.

From its humble beginnings as a bunch of losers trying to get some attention from a street to becoming the biggest idols of the prefecture, Franchouchou certainly has been through a lot to reach where they are. Now that the novelty from S1 has worn off, how does S2 fare without threading the same ground? Fairly well actually. It satisfyingly resolves a lot of the foreshadowing a buildup from S1 regarding Joufuku, as well as give neglected members Yuugiri and Tae their own special spotlight episodes. You'd never expect a prefecture-shilling idol anime to have some decent lore, let alone actual payoff for teasing thatfrom the first season, but S2 delivers and then some. Even up to justifying the very name of the series, "Zombieland", for Saga itself is a zombie.

Character wise there's not much in terms of development since S1 has already exhausted most of the cast apart from Yuugiri. Kotaro is still by far the best character and the supporting pillar of the whole show, and his antics never tire me. S2 focuses instead more on Saga's denizens and their interactions with Franchouchou, be it individual members or as a group. Some scenarios prove quite fun, like a fakeout new member or exploring Reporter-kun's attempts to expose the zombies, but the status quo being what it is, it all resets to the team being more or less the same at the end of each episode.

The plot has never been a focal point of the series, or for many other idol anime in fact, but it does attempt to do something different from S1 and does swerve in some interesting directions. The comedy feels like it has been improved, and unlike S1 there are no real down times or moments dragged out by needless drama. There aren't any weak episodes to sour the experience, and that's a marked improvement over the first season's weak Junko/Ai episodes. I do wish Kotaro's and Sakura's relationship would be given more focus, but hey, they gotta save something for the inevitable S3 I suppose. And speaking of S3, what the fuck was that ending. (old) Gainax would be proud.

I suppose one of the bigger disappointments for me would be the song selection, especially compared to S1's stellar vocal collection. It's not a good thing in your group idol show that the best songs are 3 solos, one by White Ryu, one by Junko, and the other by Kotaro of all people. Seriously, these 3 songs are the only ones that, for me, either match or excel the previous season's in quality, with the rest being mostly just okay. Nothing particularly bad mind you, just unmemorable. I mean, they even reused Mezame Return a few times in this! The OP's a ton of fun though.

For better for worse, it's still more ZLS. The humor is still strong, the characters still lovable, and man, they better pay off that ending come S3.

7/10

MINOR SPOILERS Zombieland Saga is probably one of the only idol anime I've watched and it is so damn enjoyable. Season 2 has been more of the same from our favourite 7 undead and of course cant forget about the over zealous manager Kotaro who blew away the audience with his over the top personality. Story - 7/10 The story for season 2 is almost the exact same as season 1, with the main cast continuing their idol shenanigans all while trying to top the charts and take over saga. But what exactly is saga and Kotaro's plan with the girls. Zombieland Saga has a lot of mysterysurrounding the main plot that is left unanswered and it really adds to the story. Why did Kotaro revive who he did? How did Kotaro even revive them to begin with? Why does Tae act like an animal? The anime really has a lot it can develop on and use for its plot which I am quite interested in.

Art - 6/10

The art style is nothing to write home about. It is just the same as a lot of other anime out there. Nothing really noteworthy to say other than the fact that seeing the zombie like aesthetics and traits animated is quite amusing to watch. The CG animation on the other hand is still as bad as you would expect from CG in anime but I don't think it would be fair to say the whole anime has bad animation because the creators thought it would be a lot easier to use CG for dance scenes since animating dance choreography seems like a lot of work when done in 2D.

Sound - 8/10

As an idol anime, the sound design in the show is really well done and feels fun to listen to. Both the instrumental music used as well as the songs the group sing are really well done with the latter really feeling like it came from an actual idol group. The OP song really fits the anime as a whole with the way it sounds. Creepy to show the zombie side of the show and yet still cheerful and full on determination from the singers like you would see in a group with a lot of passion.

Characters - 9/10

The characters is where the anime really shines. Every character you meet has a unique personality in the show and they all seem like genuine people instead on just 2D drawings. They all have a well thought out back story relating to their life including the causes of their death and how it has affected them after resurrection. For example, when Junko was alive she was an energetic girl who was full of personality that she showed to everyone but you can tell how her death in a plane crash has affected her mentally after reviving as now she is very docile and not expressive at all. She is the most shy and quite of the bunch even though she might have been in the centre of it all if she was still alive. This level of character development is something I really like to see in anime and with Zombieland Saga we have not just one or two but 8 people whose characters can get more development including Kotaro.

Overall Zombieland Saga as a whole is an anime I really enjoy watching even as someone who generally tends to avoid idol anime. If you liked season 1 of this, you will no doubt love season 2 as well.

Zombieland Saga Revenge is a disappointment to say the least. After a very solid first season, this season doesn't do anything special, and fails to answer the questions presented in the first. The overall pacing is rather bad, it either lingers on nothing, or speeds through events. Out of nowhere, two episodes are interspersed between a slight cliff hanger— the kicker being these two episodes don't actually explain the specific things you'd want to know from the first season— it focuses on the historical background about couple of characters, one who barely has a personality during these episodes. There's no character development of any kindthroughout this season, nor any conflicts from their past lives— which was a big reason why the first season was so enjoyable.

Animation has taken an utter nosedive— the first show by no means had amazing animation, but when you don't have story or characterization to draw away attention, it just looks that much worse. Music isn't very good this season either. Everything is very same-y, with the first song in the first episode being by far the best (and it's not even from Franchouchou).

All in all, it just makes me confused that people are rating this as highly as the first season. Did we watch the same thing?

I am someone who rates based of how much I enjoyed a series instead of rating it based of quality. Quality wise, I'd rate Zombieland Saga S2 an 8/10, but because I enjoyed it so much, I give the series a 10/10. I never thought I would enjoy idol anime, but here I am. The show is hilarious, it has quality music and has a subjectively good story line. The anime which are categorized as "original" are on a roll this year. I'd recommend this anime for anyone who is in it for the enjoyment. I can't wait for season 3 (if MAPPA is everconsidering on making it).

A very big let-down in comparison with season one, with a few great episodes sprinkled in. If you are a fan of the first season, I am sorry, but don't expect the quality, spirit, and drive of those episodes. I still think you should watch season 2, but its very average and generic. Its almost as if the success of zombie land drew the attention of higher-ups and crushed its soul. No idea if that is the case or not, but season two was pretty stultifying. That said, episodes 8 and 9 are absolute gems. 10/10 imo. Don't miss out on those.

If you are reading this chances are you either either looking for validation for your own feelings about the show or are looking for reasons to continue after Season 1. Either way I will give you what you want--- this show is easily one of the best shows I have seen in the last half a decade, including Attack on Titan. Where to start, there is so much right about this show that summarizing it in a relatively short review is fairly difficult. Zombieland Saga: Revenge builds upon the foundation of the 1st season and makes everything significantly better. From the characters to the music tothe visuals, you can tell every little detail of this show has been finely tuned and detailed to the point where subsequent watches will let you notice other smaller details and tidbits you didn't notice before. For example, in one scene when all of the characters are leaving the house you can spot the main character peaking her head out of the front gate and checking both ways on the street before leaving because in Season 1 she was hit by a truck after running out of the house without looking. This is such an insignificant detail, but the fact that they are willing to put this little bit of characterization into an short 3 second scene just goes to show the level they will go to for detail.

Even considering how there are only 24 episodes thus far in the series, the characters and world are so well fleshed out that is hard to believe that this is an original anime with no source material. Little idiosyncracies that even minor characters have are consistent and have relevance to the story or lore in some way that it is impressive they were able to Chekhov's gun in so many details without bloating the visuals or stories.

Going a layer deeper too, yes it has all of the bells and whistles of a typical idol show, but considering that the characters are all dead it poses thoughts, questions and answers on a level that are slightly different from your typical "work hard and you'll be rewarded" message these kinds of shows tend to convey.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but with all of them being dead the struggle of them becoming idols has more weight because realistically if they don't become idols, what do they become? Without overtly stating it... too much, the show conveys that if they don't achieve their goals they become what they actually are: zombies. I feel like it is conveying to its audience that if you give up on what matters to you, even if you have life you are a zombie only existing for the sake of existing, and considering many people spent the last 2 years in COVID times doing just this, this sentiment resonates even more. This show essentially says that life is meant to be used existing for what you want to become, and trying to figure that out is a blessing for those who are able to do so. Then it also posits just motivation and enthusiasm aren't enough to be successful, and that even if things are going well, what is required to make a change, an impact, and be successful is to put the time, thought, and care in to prepare and ensure it works out.

I could keep going on about how cool the themes of the show are, both musical and other, but I would be rambling more than I already have.

This show resonates in a way that is rare and more weighty than what should be possible for a trashy idol show, and quite frankly whether you watch this show with your brain on or off, it is a really good time. It just oozes character, love, and care from the people who produced it, yet at the same time I can fully believe it is just a paid ad to get more people to visit and move to the Saga prefecture.

I cannot recommend this show more than I already have; And quite frankly I hope in the future we get more original animes that are of this quality and caliber.

It's safe to say that Zombieland Saga Revenge absolutely blew season 1 out of the water. The art, animation, soundtrack, character moments just EVERYTHING was such an improvement - considering season 1 was so good this is truly a feat. Really just everything about this season was fantastic, I'll get into specifics later but this season really knew when to be serious and when not to be - some moments I'd be dying with laughter, others tensed up on the edge of my seat and others damn near crying, it was such a rollercoaster in the best way possible. First of all I want to talkabout the soundtrack, my god did this season have some FANTASTIC music. The OP itself is already one of my favourites in recent memory, and on a slight tangent probably my all time favourite in terms of animation. I've really never seen another OP like it, I actually can't find any flaws it's just so perfectly arranged. But anyway pretty much every song in this show stood out to me, the VAs put so much effort into singing them and you can really tell, they also thematically fit so perfectly and are overall just very very well written songs.

The art and animation this season was really quite incredible, my own and a lot of other people's main issue with the last season was the CGI of the characters performing on stage, but this season improves this by an insane margin - the CGI actually looks really good now. The art as well in general is really pretty, I really like how the girls all look a bit more zombie-like and overall how they're redrawn.

This season features some REALLY great side characters too aside from our ever-amazing main cast, there is really never a dull moment and each side character introduced even if just for an episode is always a ton of fun. Back to the main cast though, each girl has a decent amount of focus this season and it's great to see how far they've all come since the start of season 1. I also have to mention Koutarou the man himself, he has some BRILLIANT moments this season - not only in terms of comedy (at which he is better than ever) but also in some serious and really quite heavy-hitting scenes which honestly made me really view his character differently, without spoiling anything it was eye opening to see how much effort he's actually putting in and how much he cares.

Overall Zombieland Saga Revenge is a near perfect sequel that absolutely improves upon the first already brilliant season in just about every aspect, upholding the franchise's ever-amazing comedy but also introducing some really introspective moments with the main cast and an absolutely fantastic soundtrack. Absolute must watch if you've seen season 1 - which I also highly recommend.

I'm sorry I'm illiterate. I love Zombieland Saga very much. The absurd chaotic storyline, the good ol' friendly setting of Saga that warms my heart, the overdramatic voice acting, the overly optimistic and unstable attitude of the zombie girls, their amazing songs, everything. Zombieland Saga (including Revenge) for me is hard to review, it's a mixed bag of candy that contains too many good stuff that clouds my judgement, and even if I do get a hard cringe from a lot of its childish and forced moments, they were still meant to be pleasant or inspiring, and I am willing to forgive and accept thosecringe. Because of how irrational I forgive those flaws, I think it's pointless for me to review the whole anime properly.

Revenge is a huge step up in terms of quality. The art and animation are so much better now. The dancing and expressions are more natural and detailed. The promotional artworks are beautiful too. It really does feel like Franchouchou made it as top idol, makes me happy as a fan.

I'm Reviewholic, I am illiterate due to yesterday's brain damage, and I love #4.