Quick Summary • Best Moment • Setup • Delivery • Other Posts
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 5 – Quick Summary
In Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead episode 5, “Hero of the Dead,” Akira finally remembered what his childhood dream had been. It was very, very simple. It was very, very childlike. And it just might make a huge difference in this world. The now-blonde Kencho was dubious, but like a good friend, he went along with Akira’s vision. Their journey of fulfillment hit a few snags, though. Not the least of which was basic physics. What is Akira’s dream? Can it really help the people around him? And what does a shark have to do with it?
Note: This post may include spoilers, so be cautious.
Favorite Quote from Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 5
Kencho was right. Though I’m sure Akira was unconvinced at the time. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Kencho is a great friend. He supports Akira’s interests and actively encourages him. The dude does not believe in the whole hero angle, but he still goes with Akira to the marina.
And he’s not a complete idiot.
Akira, dressed in the anti-shark suit, rushed into the road leading to the marina. He heroically told everyone to get inside. With complete assurance, he said he would stop the zombies. After all, they couldn’t bite him, could they?
Physics does not care about our beliefs. Physics – and science in general – are simply uninterested in our hopes, our dreams, or our prayers. That Which Is is going to be That Which Is. And it proved it in this episode.
True, the zombies could not bite through the suit. But the force of the bite, as well as their accumulated weight, still affected Akira. Four of five of the zombies piled on and tried to nom him.
Panicked, he called for Kencho to leave the safety of the lobby and help him.
“Not happening,” said Akira’s best friend in the world (09:16). “There’s only one suit, after all!”
With that, Kencho closed the door.
If we’re ever in that situation and I was dumb enough to do what Akira did, please – be Kencho. Close the door. I’ll understand.
Favorite Moment from Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 5
They worked very, very well together. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
Setup: Zombie Shark is Awesome
I write science fiction. More specifically, I try to write hard science fiction. Everything I put into my stories, from holographic pendants (called Holo-Ds) to fusion drives to even philosophical musingsmust be realistic. Even the projected science elements like my version of FTL drive has to behave like it’s real.
That part of my brain loudly declared, at 13:24 (when the zombified shark came walking out on the legs of three ingested divers), that there was no way on God’s green Earth that such a thing could be.
But even that harsh part of my brain kicked back and enjoyed the hell out of zombie shark. It’s the most ridiculous, insane monster I’ve ever seen. I absolutely loved it. Even the idea of killing with two D cell batteries was inspired insanity. It was farcical humor at its finest. I don’t even think Undead Murder Farce could do any better – and the word “farce” is in its title!
Zombie shark is awesome.
Zombie shark strikes fear in the hearts of its intended victims. Once they can actually accept the danged thing exists, that is! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
I wanted to pick, as my favorite moment, the scene where Akira used his Clueless Charm skill on Shizuka by dropping “Yeah, but… You’re someone precious to me now, Miss. I’d save you even if I wasn’t trying to be a hero” (22:17). Her reactions were wonderful. But, you know, that’s just not it. That’s not my favorite moment. Sure, seeing her not knowing how to react to his painfully honest sentiment was cool and all. But another moment appealed to me more.
It happened just after Akira was pretty sure she was shark food. When the shark attacked, the panicking woman who had been on the bus with Akira did more than panic. She pushed Shizuka to the ground, which was where the zombie found her.
Shizuka felt completely astonished to see Akira leap to her rescue. Even after she gave him a dressing down for trying to be a hero to compensate for his low self-esteem (an outburst on her part which was, as far as I could see, the result of her own defense mechanisms trying to give her emotional distance from the zombie outbreak), he tried to defend her.
Delivery: Akira and Shizuka’s Teamwork
Her defense mechanism was still alive and well. Did she even say thanks? Nope! “There’s really something wrong with you!” she screamed at him (16:35). “Why would you go so far as to do that?”
She placed that low a value on her own life. She could not understand why Akira would put his neck on the line for her. So he educated her. “Enough with the reasons!” he screamed back (16:38). “When you’re hungry, you want to eat your fill. If you see a cute girl, you want to get to know her.”
I can’t speak for all guys. But I can speak for me. What Akira said? That’s truth in the age of zombies. It’s not even “cute”, though I know why he chose that word. It’s anyone you feel a connection to, or think you might want to feel a connection to. You’d do anything for them, at times like that.
Shizuka had a hard time framing what Akira said. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.
But that wasn’t my favorite moment. It only set it up. Shizuka couldn’t believe him. What he said must have sounded insane to her. But she adapted. She pulled herself together. Standing beside him, she asked (17:19), “What’s your strategy?” When he said he really didn’t have one, she said she figured as much. In that moment, as the shark attacked, they acted as a team. Together, they brought the shark down and saved everyone, including themselves.
In the age of zombies, I can’t think of a better way to start a relationship! Sure, they parted at the end. But I thought they worked well together, and what’s more, I think their strengths and weaknesses played wonderfully off one another. I’d go so far as to say they actually have some chemistry. That might be wishful thinking. But I like it!
What did you think of the zombie piranha? What were your favorite moments? Feel free to let me know in the comments!
Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 5: Other Posts
Other Anime Sites
- Reddit: Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto • Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead – Episode 5 discussion
- DOUBLESAMA: ZOM 100: BUCKET LIST OF THE DEAD EPISODE 5 REVIEW
- I Drink and Watch Anime: ZOM 100 – Episode 5
This Site (Crow’s World of Anime!)
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 01: Akira of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 02: Bucket List of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 03: Best Friend of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 04: Flight Attendant of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 05: Hero of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 06: RV of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 07: Truck Stop of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 08: Sushi & Hot Springs of the Dead
- Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 09: Treehouse of the Dead
The zombie shark is among the things that work for me in the show. Heroes? Hm… Did you notice that we still have electricity? Try keeping a nuclear powerplant running and keeping it from going boom under the circumstances of a zombie apocalypse (I can’t see infrastructure to be pariticularly good at the time). These guys probably have to improvise like never before. Conditions worse than a black company, probably. And yet the power’s still running.
Our hero can play zombie games on a huge screen. It’s worth it!
Really, if they ditched the black company aspect, the show would be a lot easier to take. I mean our hero’s in peak physical condition – after two to three years in a sedentary job, lack of sleep and malnutrition. It would be a lot funnier, I think, if the zombies didn’t realise he was one of them because he acted just like them out of exhaustion… It’s not the implausibility of it that bothers; it’s that they keep bringing up more contemplative moment around this (and lampshade the position with Shizuka).
Shizuka’s a great character, though. I mean when she was pushed down in front of the zombie shark, her immediate thought was: “That’s why I don’t like moving with large crowds.” No blaming that particular girl; it’s something she expected, something she risked, and something that turned out badly. Her pragmatism is genuine to her core, it seems. And when she chides Akira for saving her it feels real, too, and just your avarage tsundere behaviour, though then she blushes at all the “right” moments, and you can’t be so sure anymore…
For me, the show wavers back and forth like this. I’m trying to ignore the elements that bother me, but it’s hard to find a coherent watch mode that allows this.
Back in the comments of my episode 4 review, Fred and I talked about the power grid. I did some digging, and it looks like it would likely stay up a mere 24 hours before going off line.
So, yeah, that’s not terribly realistic!
Not much in the narrative to describe how Akira remained in shape. That’s a pity — there were options, and it does undermine believability. I found that just thinking of it as a farcical take helps me enjoy it.
In terms of the zombies accepting them because exhausted versions of themselves acted like zombies — for some reason, that reminds me of Shaun of the Dead.
I’m enjoying Shizuka’s character. I felt so sympathetic for her when she just waited to die. Crowds and I don’t get along, either, and far from getting better with exposure, I think it’s getting worse. Either I’m getting less tolerant, crowds are getting less civil, or both.
I think a farcical mindset plus just enjoying the animation is working well for me, at least in terms of a watch mode.
Dangling your participle out there as bait for a zombie shark is a pretty heroic act. Go Kencho!
True. Mind you, I doubt he needed to be naked for it, but true.
Talk about putting it all on the line to save his friend! Even as I was laughing, I had to admire his courage.