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The Show:
Is this a harem show?
Is this a magical girl program?
Is this a fighting anime? I'm
talking about Is this a Zombie? and
it's all that and more. The 13-episode
series is a wonderful mash-up of several anime sub-genres and it
manages to
pull it off with a nice comic flair.
Fans will want to search this one out.
Ayumu Aikawa is a typical high school student... except for
the fact that he's dead. While going to
the store one evening he heard a girl scream, went to investigate, and
was
murdered by a serial killer. That would
have been the end to his story except that he had just made friends
with an odd
girl who doesn't talk by the name of Eucliwood Hellscythe.
She happens to be a necromancer and brought
he new friend back to life. Now he's a
zombie,
but not the 'must eat brains' kind. He
appears normal and can survive any injury (and he even heals his wounds
incredibly quickly) but he can't go out in the sun without experiencing
a lot
of pain.
After being killed and revived, he goes back home to
discover that Eucliwood has moved in... and demands that Ayumu feed her. That would be awkward enough (can you imagine
what would happen to his standing at school if everyone discovered he
was dead
and 'living' with a girl?!?) but things get worse quickly.
While looking for the man who killed him,
Ayumu runs into the young Haruna who is battling a demon known as a
Megalo with
a chainsaw. It turns out that Haruna is
a "Magical Garment Girl" and accidently cuts Ayumu in half (he gets
better)
during the battle. After the fight she
uses her magical power to erase his mind of the encounter... or tries to
do
so. Instead of wiping his memory, the
spell backfires because Ayumu is dead and he absorbs her abilities. Yes, Ayumu is now a Magical Garment Girl and
when he says Haruna's magical phrase he gains magical powers, a mystic
chainsaw, and a cute pink dress with bows.
Since Haruna doesn't have her powers anymore, she moves in with
Ayuma.
Just as Haruna is getting settled in, an incredibly buxom
woman named Seraphim shows up at the door.
She is seeking Eucliwood's help on behalf of her village, but
the
necromancer refuses to fight for them.
So, Seraphim, who despises Ayumu and calls him "maggot," moves
in
too. Oh yeah, and Seraphim isn't an
ordinary woman either. She's a
ninja. And a vampire.
Between searching for a serial killer,
battling an assortment of Megalos, and a trip to a resort, is there any
way
that a zombie can peacefully live with a magician who can summon death,
a
magical girl who lost her powers, and a ninja vampire who hates him?
This was a very fun, and funny series. With
tongue firmly planted in cheek, the show
plays out like the best harem comedies but manages to have some pretty
exciting
action sequences too. Usually these
genre-blending type of shows don't quite work, but this one does,
against all
odds, and the result is a hilarious and exciting. I
think the thing that surprised me the most
was that the overall plot was pretty decent.
There's a larger story being told and it unfolds nicely. The mystery of the serial killer takes some
interesting twists and turns and the plot builds gradually to an
impressive
finale. Even without the comic aspects,
this would be a decent anime, but with all of the humor it's a home run.
There is a lot of sex humor throughout the show, but it's
not all fan service. I usually don't
like anime sex jokes. Not because I'm a
prude but because, by and large, they're not funny.
I know it's a cultural thing, but a guy
having a bloody nose when he sees some cleavage just doesn't get me
laughing. That's not the case with this
show. The humor largely comes from
double entendres that work more often than they don't.
They actually set up some of the risqué puns
and humor, and that's great. In other
shows
the jokes are just thrown out as one-liners which often fall flat. I was pleasantly surprised as how well the
'naughty' humor worked.
The DVD:
This set contains the 13 episode series on two DVDs, each in
its own keepcase case and housed in a sturdy slipcase.
Audio:
This set offers the original Japanese track in stereo as
well as an English dub in DD 5.1. While the 5.1 dub was nice during the
battle
scenes, I preferred the original language track. The voices just seemed
to fit
characters better and made for a more enjoyable viewing experience. The
English
voice actors did do a good job however and people who like watching in
English
shouldn't be disappointed.
Video:
The 16:9 anamorphic video looked good overall. The colors
were bright and solid and the blacks were nice and inky. The image was
generally sharp too. I didn't find anything to complain about.
Extras:
There are a couple of commentary tracks by the English cast
and crew (*yawn*) and a clean opening and closing as well as a series
of trailers
for other FUNimation titles. Honestly,
I'm very happy with that. I enjoy
trailers and clean credit sequences, but aside from that there haven't
been too
many anime extras that get my heart beating faster.
Final Thoughts:
I enjoyed this show much more that I thought I would.
With a decent overall plot and some great
humor this anime totally rocks. Here's
hoping we don't have to wait too long for season two!
Highly
Recommended.
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