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Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2: The Winds of Mt. Kyogatake

Quick Summary of Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2

In Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2, “The SAGA of an Almost-Broken Radio,” Kotarou is back to his old self, and he’s trying to come up with ideas. His genius idea this week is getting Franchouchou back into the public’s eye by hosting a soft news segment. That provoked some interest among the zombie idols. Then Kotarou mentioned that they’d have a special guest — someone named The White Ryu. Saki acted starstruck. How does Saki know The White Ryu? Who is the guy? And why is his hair like that?

Opening Thoughts to Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2

Welcome to our collaboration review of Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2! Irina from I Drink and Watch Anime and I have teamed up to watch the second season of absurd yet heart-warming zombie antics.

Before we kick off the review, how has your week been, Irina? You mentioned renovations last week. I hope they’re going well!

I’m redoing one of my bathrooms. It’s going fine. It’s just a hassle with all the permits and running around. I’m looking forward to getting it over with.

Review of Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2

Zombie Land Hasn’t Lost its Edge

If I had any worries that Zombie Land Saga might have lost its edge, they’re gone. This episode featured some moments that embodied what I enjoyed most about the first season. For example, the show presented us with a new character who at first looked way over the top. But my opinion of him changed as we got to know him through Saki’s eyes. In my favorite scene, the show also showed how Saki in particular feels about their new lives. It makes perfect, melancholy sense. Oh, and Saki destroys a bicycle, but it was for a good cause.

Irina, any opening thoughts on the episode?

I’m glad the fans are still on board, although I have seen a couple of people who are not into Zombie Land at all, but I think they never were. I wonder which anime are going to get the hate treatment this season. Everything I’m watching has been pretty good so far. I mean lots of them are at episode 1…

So far, even the ones I can’t review still have a lot of positives! 

Kotarou told Franchouchou that they’d be going on television with a special guest: The White Ryu. Saki seemed ecstatic. Like, even more than when she’d learned they were going to do a commercial for her favorite drive-in chicken restaurant, Drive-In Tori, in episode 5. We first get to meet the guy when our favorite zombie idols were ready to start shooting at the location. The guy drove up in what looked like some kind of 1950’s American car. Flared fenders, convertible, the works. But the dude wasn’t inside the car. He reclined on the hood, his back against the windshield, like it was the most normal thing in the world!

The White Ryu and His Hair

And he had this hair thing going on! It was like a huge tube of hair that pushed forward above his forehead. It reminded me a lot of Grevil de Blois from Gosick, except The White Ryu’s hair was brown and it was like twice as long as Grevil’s hair. How he spoke reminded me of a sober Timothy Leary. Or maybe I should say a currently sober Timothy Leary. He seemed like this over the top character, but the humor remained delightfully restrained, which is something I’ve appreciated about this show.

One thing I really liked about him is that he didn’t talk down to Saki or the others. He seemed to try to engage with them, in fact. At least to the extent he could. He didn’t quite seem to be on our wavelength. 

What did you think of his introduction and trip through the shrine, Irina?

Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2: The White Ryu makes an entrance.

If you’re going to make an entrance, it might as well be memorable! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

I think it captured both the slightly pathetic side of a star past his prime and the noble side of a true artist whose lived a life according to his own standards.

There’s just something about rock stars, isn’t there. We have celebrities from all matter of media nowadays, but the pure mystic of a good old rock star is something that can never quite be duplicated. No matter how famous or hot an actor is, no matter how rich a social media influencer is, it just doesn’t hold the same type of fascination. Or maybe that’s just me. And I’m not even that big a fan of rock or anything.

I’d been searching for the right image to invoke, but I couldn’t quite find it. I’m glad you did! That’s exactly the image I was looking for.

The White Ryu Shocks Saki

Saki had a blast talking to him, but she got a shock. As he was about to ride off, sprawled as before on the hood of the car, he said something to the effect that he was about to retire from his radio talk show. Saki looked stricken. 

It turns out that back when Saki had been in middle school, she felt very, very alone. Worse, she felt like the whole world, including her teachers, were against her. She had to fight constantly to prove herself. One night she happened to hear The White Ryu’s radio talk show, and he said, “No matter who you are, it’s rough not knowing where you belong.”

Young Saki felt like he’d spoken directly to her. The next day, she met Reiko Amabuki, her kindred spirit who would become her best friend. Reiko was in the middle of a fight, with the odds just like one of Saki’s fights. The shot of Saki diving in to fight beside Reiko was awesome.

Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2: Saki and Reiko fight side by side for the first time.

Irina’s right. This scene could have gone on a bit longer. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Irina, did you like seeing more of Saki’s past?

I always like seeing more about my girl Saki, although I thought the scene ended a bit too abruptly. I’m not sure what it was, maybe the cut was off a bit. Like It either should have ended earlier, as soon as we saw Reiko or had a few extra seconds so that we could actually see Saki join in.

I’m not sure why but the editing there threw me a bit. It felt off balance. 

Also, Zombie Land is just taking it for granted that the audience has seen and remembers the first season, aren’t they? I’m a big Saki fan so I was ok with everything that was happening but there might be some fans out there who didn’t necessarily place Reiko right away. 

Saki Takes Action!

Saki seemed down the rest of the day. Sakura worried about her. Saki couldn’t believe that The White Ryu was about to retire. It bothered her so much that she decided to do something about it, right then and there. The next thing we knew, Saki furiously pedaled a bicycle down the street. Sakura clung on for dear life. Saki pedaled so hard that she burned the rubber off the back tire and left a trail of sparks. That was a perfectly Saki moment. 

Sakura is afraid of dying. Again.

Sakura wasn’t sure about the whole bicycle near the speed of light thing. Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

She and Sakura barged into the radio studio. As soon as The White ryu saw them, on air, he said, “Two little kittens… But they don’t look lost.”

Saki poured her soul out to him. She begged him not to retire. And what did he say? He recognized her passion and bequeathed his radio show to her. The crew wasn’t entirely onboard, but one of them did say, “Don’t blink. You’ll miss seeing Saga history!” I love this show’s humor.

My favorite part of the episode had to be how Saki reacted to what he said when he was leaving. Saki blurted out that she loved him. It shocked Sakura so much her eyes popped out. Literally. Took her awhile to track them down and get the reinserted. He took her confession graciously and told her to look him up when she was a bit older. Then he drove off. On the hood again, of course.

Saki Faces Her Immorality

This is where Zombie Land showed how adept it can be with humor and anguish. The next morning, Sakura asked what was going on. Saki was unusually quiet. Trying to smile, Saki said. “I’m never gonna grow up… into a fine woman, huh?” What it meant to be a zombie hit her hard, and though she tried to smile, she couldn’t stop weeping. Seeing Saki like that was something. The moment felt so right for her character. 

What did you think of this scene, Irina?

Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2: Saki realizes she'll never grow into a "fine young woman."

Realization seemed to hurt Saki. Notice how they have “idol-applied” makeup? They had to leave without Kotarou knowing. Nice detail! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

Do we know the Zombie Land Saga zombie rules? Like is she never going to grow up?

Anyways, I thought that was a bit clumsy. In another show it would have been fine but Zombie Land has been surprisingly amazing at dealing with intense and emotional elements with a deft hand. Ths sort of blatant spelling out the obvious for extra feels is not really in the style of the series.

I did really like that we have a good anime example of what to answer when a teenager confesses to you!

Franchouchou Performed the ED

The scene reminded me of something you said back in episode 6, Irina. You mentioned how important it was to know how Junko and Ai died, because of what it said of their characters. You also talked about how that episode was “dramatic in fact as it dealt with two healthy young women tragically losing their lives in their prime.” That observation stuck with me. It revealed an undercurrent of tragedy to the show. It off-set and gave depth to the humor. Saki’s tears reminded me of that.

Saki rocked the closing song.

Saki sang a cover of one of The White Ryu’s songs. Great choreography and costumes. The other idols even wore 1950s-style poofy skirts! Capture from the Crunchyroll stream.

The song at the end rocked. 1950s style. Saki sang lead, she she sounded great. Did you see her expressions and eye movements? The animators look like they had a wonderful time with it! Very fluid animation for their choreography, too. 

Closing Thoughts

Irina, any closing thoughts on the episode?

I loved that ending song. I wonder if Zombieland is going to use a different performance for every ED? That’s pretty awesome as a concept.

Zombie Land continues to just make me smile. This episode just cheered me up. There’s no single element I can point to but it comes together so well. I hope it continues to do so.

So far, it’s on track! Fingers crossed it stays there.

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4 thoughts on “Zombie Land Saga Revenge Episode 2: The Winds of Mt. Kyogatake

  1. Yeah, Zombieland Saga really captures the spirit of the first season well. (I hope we’ll get are Yugiri and Tae arcs, finally. I have a hunch Yugiri is at the centre of Kotorou’s plan; not sure but I got that impression from one of the bar conversations in season 1. But Tae? Not sure why the made us wait for her. I do hope they have a character motivation for her and she’s not just the zombie-stereotype stand in.)

    That floppy pompadour was the perfect metaphor, especially with Ryu not being ashamed of it. We’re now re-introducing the passage of time. ZLS is going strong.

    1. I suspect you’re right about Yuugiri’s role. I got that sense in the bar scene you referenced.

      I still don’t have a guess about Tae. But like you, I hope her story’s something special.

      The more I think about the White Ryu, the more I like the character. He puts me in the mind of the Moody Blues for some reason.

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