Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is an action-comedy thrill ride for horror-thriller fans. Created by Haro Aso and Kotaro Takata, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead features animation produced by BUG FILMS (Summer Time Rendering, Witch Hat Atelier). Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead features theme song music performed by KANA-BOON (opening) and Shiyui (ending).

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead features production by Emi Momiiyama, Emi Satō (Detective Conan: The Culprit Hanzawa, Detective Conan: Zero's Tea Time), Hiroshi Kamei (Magical Girl Site, Altair: A Record of Battles), Junya Okamoto (Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, Pokémon: Giratina & The Sky Warrior), and Yuki Hasegawa (Battle Game in 5 Seconds). Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a series aimed right at the horror-action crowd. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead also features voice performances by Shūichirō Umeda, Makoto Furukawa, Minami Takahashi, Tomori Kusunoki, Hiroyuki Kinoshita, Nobuhiko Okamoto, and Yūko Sasaki.

Akira Tendō (Shūichirō Umeda) is tired all of the time. Akira lives in an apartment surrounded by heaps of garbage left and right. The stacks aren’t nice. Akira feels burned out and works at a job from hell. The company isn’t an ideal workplace and at home he’s a lazy man who can’t seem to find a moment of true peace and rest. It certainly isn’t an ideal life and Akira’s longtime crush at the workplace, Saori Ohtori (Sora Amamiya) doesn’t even seem remotely interested in getting to know him. Single, lonely, and downtrodden, Akira feels like life is running out of steam.

Things suddenly start looking up when unexpected zombies rise from the ashes and begin to wreak havoc everywhere. Why’s the zombie apocalypse so appealing? Because now Akira feels like there’s no point to going to work, worrying about paying the rent, and doing anything responsible. Now Akira has all the time in the world and he can start pursuing something he never imagined doing: the “Zom 100” bucket list of things to do in life – before he might become a zombie himself. No more work, no more rent, no more ordinary life – it’s live or die as the zombie apocalypse unfolds.

Akira Tendō is a highly relatable character and it is easy to put oneself in his shoes. The ordinariness of the character intertwined with the fantasy bucket-list after a zombie apocalypse is surprisingly quite understandable. The result is a character that will appeal to a lot of audiences and that is something which adds a lot to the production.

The character designs by Kii Tanaka (PuraOre! Pride of Orange, Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu) are effective and add a lot to the production. The designs are well-done. The style is actually quite creative looking. There are some impressive elements to the design work.

The animation is a wonderful highlight. The animation style is remarkably creative and there is plenty to appreciate about the art style. The series features art direction by Taketo Gonpei (Girls' Frontline, Gridman Universe). The series art is wonderful and makes the series feel a lot more energetic and creative.

The cinematography by Naho Hasegawa (Giant Beasts of Ars, Peach Boy Riverside) plays a big role in the series artistry. The cinematography is a natural highlight of the production. One of the interesting and creative aspects of the cinematography is the dual aspect ratio occasionally used on the series. The creative synergy of those scenes is impressive. The visuals are also lush, bright, and vivid. The style certainly is more robust than many zombie series and it adds a unique spin to the style of series. Noteworthy style by Hasegawa.

The score composed by Makoto Miyazaki (One Punch Man, RPG Real Estate) is energetic fun. The music by Miyazaki is a high-note of the series. The score provides a good backdrop to the production.

Written by Hiroshi Seko (Attack on Titan, Vinland Saga), Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead isn’t a total slam-dunk but the scripting is decent overall. The concept is fun. The concept is well explored with focusing on the bucket list of the dead. The lead character is charming and dialogue is fun.

Directed by Kazuki Kawagoe (Komi Can't Communicate, Beyblade Burst), Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is a decent anime with good action and style. Director Kawagoe is talented and offers up an abundance of style. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead might not be an instant cult favorite bit it is entertaining and has good style. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is worth checking out.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by VIZ Media, Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The high-definition video quality is top-notch. The presentation features robust colors and details. The transfer retains the background animation and line artwork well. The action scenes are well reproduced with extremely fluid looking encoding.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The release capably preserves the soundstage. The sound direction by Kazuki Kawagoe is well done, too. Dialogue is crisp on the presentation. The score is well reproduced. Despite no 5.1 surround sound mix, the 2.0 audio is exceptionally well reproduced.

One of the strengths of the Blu-ray disc format is the lossless audio encoding. Audiophiles and home theater enthusiasts who appreciate the best possible sound quality will appreciate the differences offered on the release. Streaming video services do not provide lossless audio. Lossless audio is a essential part of the Blu-ray format and one of the reasons it appeals so much to enthusiasts.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes packaged in a deluxe limited edition. The limited edition includes collectors packaging with a special chipboard art-box. The set includes a set of art cards and a notebook entitled "100 Things I Want to Do Before Becoming a Zombie" – with the list printed and plenty of empty blank pages for someone to add their own list of things to do. The deluxe packaging for the release is certainly one of the most impressive qualities of the set. The inside case also features distinct artwork that is different from the key artwork on the front of the chipboard art box. These qualities help add up to something even more incredible.

On disc supplements:

Chapter 1 Digital Manga includes 60 click-through pages of the manga. The manga preview might be fun for those interested in delving into the manga and who are unfamiliar with the comic. The preview has plenty of sneak-peak pages at 60 pages and it is enough of a length to give a good snippet of things. A reasonably good length to check it out and see if one wants to continue the journey by picking up the individual volumes. This is a nice sample test for manga fans and it makes sense that this was added to the release. The manga preview certainly adds some considerable value.

Animatics (HD, 00:35)

Zom 100: Road Trip to Gunma (HD, 23:43)

Storyboarding & Scene Breakdown With Director Kazuki Kawagoe (HD, 11:34)

Art Gallery includes 21 click-through slides. The slides feature full-color character artwork animation. The art slides show multiple angles of the character designs.

Opening and Ending Songs:

Opening (HD, 1:29)

Ending (HD, 1:30)

Promotional Videos (HD, 1:03)

More from VIZ (HD, 1:38)

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead - Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead is an entertaining anime worth checking out. Fans of zombie series with a unique bent will find the concept worthwhile. The zombie bucket list idea is compelling and imaginative. The Blu-ray release features a solid high-definition presentation and lossless audio encoding. The set also comes with a deluxe collector's art box, art cards, and a notebook to make one's own to-do list (before becoming a zombie). Fans of the series might not be able to resist the collector's edition.