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There are rumors that the anime “Zon 100 ~ 100 Things I Want to Do Before I Become a Zombie ~”, which will be broadcast in the summer of 2023, is gaining popularity overseas.
Thoroughly verify whether it is true or not, and if it is true, what the reason is! On top of that, I will introduce what kind of work this work is!

Unique coloring and sound! A new sense of “bright zombie animation”

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In recent years, it is no longer unusual for Japanese animation to become a hot topic overseas.
Nowadays, there are overseas anime fans who like Japanese works all over the world, and the environment where they can watch them in real time has been developed, so there are popular works overseas almost every season.

And in the summer of 2023, there were several works that caught fire overseas.
Among them, “Zon 100 ~ 100 Things You Want to Do Before You Become a Zombie ~” is particularly noteworthy.

It won first place on the overseas anime fan site “Anime Corner” every day, and also ranked high on other fan sites across the board.
In addition, it is ranked 8th in the world ranking of Netflix, and there are countries such as Hong Kong that have recorded 1st place.
For Cool, which has many sequels to overseas popular works such as “Jujutsu Kaisen” and “Horimiya,” this achievement can be said to be a great success.

It is speculated that the reason Zon 100 has been so well received overseas is that it is a work about zombies that overturns the common sense of what zombies are.

The zombie genre basically depicts a human drama that occurs in fear and chaos, or despair.
Therefore, most of the scenes are dark from the beginning to the end, and most of the works have a gloomy atmosphere in which the story is spun.

However, this work called Zon 100 is completely different.

The introduction of this work is written as follows: “The main character, who entered a black company and was sick of the harshness of his daily life, suddenly encountered a pandemic caused by the zombification of the people.
Far from despairing at the outbreak of the zombie panic, she expresses a feeling of joy from the bottom of her heart, and far from regaining her original brightness, she expresses a sense of liberation that even makes her feel insane.
For this reason, overseas anime fans were surprised and fascinated by the opposite development of this template, even though they were skeptical that “Japan’s working environment is just that crazy…”.

In addition, this work has another characteristic element.
The point is that the style is pop and casual.

When the main character witnesses a zombie for the first time, the blood that adheres to the zombie is expressed in colorful coloring like paint.
The BGM when the main character escapes from zombies is also not creepy at all, and expresses the main character’s sunny heart by making full use of exhilarating EDM and refreshing songs.

This kind of “slipping” of the royal road to zombies seems very fresh to overseas anime fans who like zombies, and it seems that the modern casual drawing and music have doubled the appeal.

And when we talk about Zon 100, we can’t ignore the cool characters who travel freely in its unique world.
From here, we will introduce the four main characters of this work!

Akira Tendo Character Outline

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main character.
Although he entered the production company with high hopes, he soon became mentally ill from the black company of hell, where he stayed up all night from the first day of joining the company.
For that reason, even in the sudden zombie panic, he does not feel fear or despair, but feels a sense of liberation, saying, “I won’t have to go to work tomorrow!”

After that, instead of worrying about becoming a zombie, I thought positively that I would do everything I wanted to do before I became a zombie.
On the other hand, his memories of his company life are completely traumatized, and when he reunited with his former boss, his cheerfulness faded and he returned to his old appearance.

His voice actor is Shuichiro Umeda.

A male voice actor affiliated with Ken Productions.
In 2019, he made his debut as Aki Takachiho in the idol game “Readyyy!”, and was in charge of “Mahou Tsukai Dawn” Saville and “Shikimori-san, who is not just cute” Izumi-kun, who will be broadcast in the spring of 2022.
His representative works include Teru Tendo, Aki Takachiho, Izumi-kun, and Saybil.

Mikazuki Shizuka

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The main heroine who is two years older than Akira.
She was a rationalist who worked for a foreign financial company, and thought about how to survive calmly even after a zombie panic occurred.
However, she meets Akira, who acts the exact opposite of her, and while she is amazed at his reckless and reckless behavior, she joins him as if caught in the momentum.

From then on, not only is he cool, but his mischievous side and cute side are exposed, and he develops an attachment to group activities, which he was originally not good at.
She seems to have moved quite a bit, such as taking a sympathetic view of Akira, who triggered the trauma.

Her voice actor is Tomori Kusunoki.

She is a voice actress affiliated with Sony Music Artists.
She made her voice acting debut in 2017, played her first anime lead role in 2018 as Hazuki Kagimura in Märchen Medhen, and made a big break with Setsuna Yuuki in Love Live!
Her representative works include Setsuna Yuuki (1st), Makima (Chainsaw Man), Ren (SAOAGGO), Kanade Yoizaki (Proseca), Misha (Devil King Academy), and Mikazuki Shizuka.

Kenichiro Ryuzaki

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Akira’s classmate and best friend.
After graduating from college, he got a job at a real estate company and found success with his good looks and his natural communication skills, but his sleazy ways were never meant to be.
After he reunited with Akira and remembered that his true dream was to become a comedian, he began traveling with Akira with the aim of becoming one.

He has been on good terms with Akira for a long time, and has been like a buddy, and after the zombie panic, he will cooperate with his “100 things I want to do before becoming a zombie”.
In a different way than Akira, he seems to be enjoying the post-pandemic world.

The voice actor in charge is Makoto Furukawa.

A male voice actor affiliated with Toy’s Factory.
In 2011, he made his debut as a voice actor as Satoshi Yoshino in the web anime “Busou Junior High School Student”, and in 2013 he played the role of Mari Tada in “Golden Time” for the first time in TV animation.
His representative works include Saitama, Miyuki Shirogane (Kaguya-sama), Benimaru (Tousura), Ronald (Vampire will die soon), Shadyk (Witch of Mercury, Gundam), and Kenichiro Ryuzaki.

Beatrix Amelhauser

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A 21-year-old German woman that Akira and the others met on the road.
She has been interested in Japanese culture since she was a child, and on the morning of the day she finally came to Japan, a zombie panic occurred and she was caught up in a pandemic.
However, as a result of her being too familiar with Japanese culture, she was able to survive safely because she had the specs of a samurai who wore armor and perfectly wielded traditional Japanese weapons such as long swords and bows and arrows.

Her voice actress is Minami Takahashi.

She is a female voice actress who belongs to the Tokyo Actor’s Co-op.
In 2012, she made her anime debut under the name of Minami Takahashi, and in 2013, she gained attention as Konomi Baba in The Idolmaster: Her Million Live!
Her representative works include Konomi Baba, El Condor Pasa (Uma Musume), Lucoa (Dragon Maid), Lilith/Ancestor (Machikado Mazoku), Elf Yamada (Eromanga Sensei), and Beatrix.

What kind of company is BUG FILMS?

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Zon 100 animation is produced by a company called BUG FILMS.
Even among anime fans, the name may not be well known.
Because it is a new company that was just established in 2021.

BUG FILMS is a production studio newly established by Twin Engine, an animation production company that produces “Golden Kamuy” and “Vinland Saga”.

Twin Engine also has many other studios such as Geno Studio (Golden Kamuy 1st to 3rd) and Studio Kafka (The Ancient Magus’ Bride 2nd).
The feature is that each studio is a joint stock company as an independent corporation, and BUG FILMS can be said to be one of the production departments of the Twin Engine Group.
Hiroaki Kojima, who worked on various works as an OLM producer, serves as the representative director.

In 2021, “Komi-san has communism. ”, and in 2022, I was in charge of cooperating in the production of “Summertime Render”, and started the main contract from Zon 100.
Therefore, although this work is the first prime contractor work, it is finished in a beautiful and powerful drawing that does not make you feel that at all, which is also a major factor in its popularity overseas.

Issei Kawagoe was selected as the director.
After working as a production manager, he became a director. , his first experience as a director.
This is the second work directed by the director.

Koji Seko is in charge of series composition.
In the past, we have worked on highly rated anime such as “Ajin”, “Mob Psycho 100”, “BANANA FISH”, and “Dorohedoro”, and in recent years we have been working on series composition with big titles such as “Attack on Titan”, “Jujutsu Kaisen” and “Chainsaw Man”.
Today, he is one of the most sought-after screenwriters.

Kii Tanaka is in charge of character design.
In the past, “Hundred”, “Hinomaru Sumo”, “Solitary ○○ life”, “I’m a spider, what is it? ] and so on.

The opening theme is KANA-BOON’s “Song of the Dead”.
Featuring an exhilarating rap part, the song perfectly expresses the piercing brightness and dangerousness that are unique to this work.
The ED “Happiness of the Dead” is sung by up-and-coming singer Shuyi.

Summary

Originally, zombies are a popular genre all over the world, but this work overturns the common sense of all zombies in the past, so it is popular among overseas anime fans.N seems quite surprised.
Perhaps one of the reasons why he is so well-received overseas is that he has a cool, cerebral character, which is rare these days.
If this popularity continues in the future, it looks like it’s going to be amazing!