***Warning, the following may contain spoilers for Zombie Loan. Reader discretion is advised.***
Series Synopsis
Michiru Kita (voiced by Houko Kuwashima) is indifferent living and dying. She goes through the motions of a daily existence. Easily pushed around, Michiru has trouble speaking for herself. The only time she’s able to push back is when someone takes her glasses. For they are the only things that can block the power of her Shinigami Eyes.
When a ring appears around a person’s neck, they only a short time left to live. And when that ring turns pitch black, they will die.
At school, Michiru trips over something in the hallway. Sending her glasses flying. Although it was only for a moment, it looked as if she had tripped over a dismembered hand. With no time to question it, she’s confronted by two of her classmates, Chika Akatsuki (voiced by Kenichi Suzumura) and Shito Tachibana (voiced Takahiro Sakurai).
To Michiru’s horror, around both boy’s necks are pitch black rings. Hoping to warn them, she follows the pair to an old graveyard where she witnesses a strange sight.
Chika and Shito remove and swap their right hands. Dumbfounded, Michiru watches as the two kill a stray dog that wandered into the graveyard. Hoping to get away as fast as possible, Michiru stumbles and gets found. While trying to explain herself, the dead dog rises to its feet.
As it turns out, Chika and Shito work for the mysterious organization, Zombie Loan. In exchange for removing their black rings, Chika and Shito hunt zombies. Michiru is then asked, a.k.a. forced, to use her Shinigami Eyes to help the pair identify their targets. |
| Shito and Chika |
Series Positives
Zombie Loan wasn’t a great show. To be honest, it was terrible. The series did many of the things that have caused me to erupt into a fiery rage in the past.
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| Michiru |
Despite that, for some reason, I still liked it. It doesn’t make sense to me either. While not one of my favorites, I didn't hate it. I have justification to tear this show apart, but that’s not going to happen.
Cutesy
Odyssey, how can a show about zombies be cute?
I don’t know, but Zombie Loan made it happen.
There were elements in this series which were adorable. Zombie Loan’s like one of the thousands of cat videos you find online. Nothing all that special. Nothing all that new. But it makes you giggle nonetheless.
This show was a stereotypical anime. Zombie Loan looks like what people imagine an anime to look like. It’s over the top, exaggerated, and over-proportioned.
I guess I'm an easy person to please because I had a lot of fun with this show.
Charming Dialogue
The banter between characters added a much-needed layer of personality. The dialogue helped carry the show. It made bland heroes and a complex story interesting. It provided the necessary charm that prevented me from hating this series.
Charisma is something good anime innately has. However good anime can also back it up with quality and longevity. Something Zombie Loan is unable to do. When you think about it, this show has the same characteristics of a one night stand.
Series Negatives
Just because I liked Zombie Loan, doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to reality. There were so many things wrong with this series. It’s a hard show to defend. I don’t really want to either.
Misguided Focus
Zombie Loan did have a few standout characters. Too bad, the story only wanted to focus on Michiru, Chika, and Shito.
The show did a poor job at illustrating who these three were. They were a ton of holes in their back stories. There was no incentive to get to know them. It also didn’t help that Michiru, Chika, and Shito had nothing special going for them. I say that in full recognition that two of three were zombies.
What sucked, these three were surrounded by far more interesting characters. And Zombie Loan wanted to drop these characters as soon as it could.
For example, there was a female golem who nursed Shito back to health. I found her to be fascinating. But the only reason she got introduced was so the show could have a tearjerker moment. It was an unfortunate waste.
Other underutilized characters included Zombie Loan’s chairman, a werewolf, and even a Death God. The story refused to go into any detail about them.
The Story
The story wasn’t worth a damn. Zombie Loan had a ton of complex details and it did a poor job at managing them. Things like the actual loan system, organizational structures, and special terms got used. With no attempt to explain what they were.
There was never any tension or sense of urgency. There was no threat. Every fight scene was slow and boring. Relying only on the dialogue to maintain interest.
The series did stars getting intriguing in episode twelve. So, that’s a problem. Officially, Zombie Loan has thirteen episodes. However, episodes twelve and thirteen got released as OVAs. These two "closing" episodes were the start of a new arc. And they were the best the show had to offer.
This is another example of a series not having a real ending.
Final Thoughts
Let’s look at the big picture. Compared to Amatsuki’s broken story, Majikoi’s utter nonsense, and Venus Versus Virus’ bull s#$% ending, Zombie Loan wasn’t that bad. That said, Zombie Loan was nowhere near good.
I don’t know why, but I still liked this show despite all its problems. It’s now a guilty pleasure.
I cannot and will not recommend this anime to anyone. There's nothing I can say that will paint this series in an acceptable light. But I'm not going to ignore it since it did entertain me.
And maybe, just maybe, it might do the same for you. Thus, watch Zombie Loan at your own discretion.
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