Zombie-Loan Rating and Review

Series: Zombie-Loan

Animation Studio: Xebec M2

Original Run: 13 Episodes (11 eps + 2 OVA eps)

English Licensor: N/A
Adaptation of: PEACH-PIT's manga "Zombie-Loan"

Summary: Life's great isn't it? You get into debt sometimes but then you pay it off, yup, that's the life. And here's a bonus, if you die, and you weren't ready to, you can always strike a deal with the Zombie Loan Office! Meet, Michiru Kita, a very detached high school girl with the special ability to see how far a person is from death. Sure it may sound pretty cool at first but, it is pretty disturbing for the poor girl. How does she do it? Simple, she is able to see a ring around a person's neck and as the gray ring gets darker the nearer the person is to death. So if it turns black the person dies. Well, imagine you have this ability and you are minding your own business when you trip over a human hand that is lying in the middle of a school corridor. Yup, creepy. Well from here, Michiru discovers the secret of two perfectly normal looking boys named, Chika and Shito. Their secret: They're both dead; and the hand she tripped over is Chika's. Michiru has a normal reaction of being shocked and the two gentlemen consider killing her, but once they see that she has this special ability, they decide to let her live to assist them with their job; killing and hunting down zombies. 

Well, she does end up "dying" in helping the two un-dead boys with their job, but in her dying breaths she states she wants to live and thus the two guys add her debt to their accounts. However, this also means that Michiru has to work for the office as well. Now, how does this whole loan thing work?  It really is a simple process, the Zombie Loan Office people will ensure you will be brought back to life so long as you pay off your debt by doing work for them. Thus, Chika and Shito made such a deal, and are partners to pay off their debt. The two boys are bound by a spirit chain which is formed by their right hands and each one "wears" the other's hand until they have to fight and bring out their weapons. Unfortunately they can't hold onto their own hand for very long and they can't travel too far from one another or the hands end up rotting. Michiru does question the office at first but as she meets her new co-workers she begins to bond with them and begins to have a better outlook on life. So, the series mostly consists of Michiru using her "Shinigami Eyes" ability to help Chika and Shito search for zombies and put them to rest. As Michiru continues her work, she begins to see the troubles that her two partners carry within them, as she too, struggles to find her appreciation for life again.

Action, supernatural, a pinch of romance, and a touch of comedy. There really is not much to say about this series, and it is a quick watch, so try it out if you're interested in this kind story.

 A.I.'s Rating: 7/10

A.I.'s Review: Well, it is getting around towards Halloween so I'll probably be doing a couple of "un-dead" series. "Zombie-Loan" is not one of my favorite series, but the artists of the original series are one of my favorite manga artist teams. I gave this series a lower score as I felt that the series jumped all over the place and many things were left unresolved by the end of it. The art was unique and the comedy was okay, but nothing was really memorable about it. The only thing that I found to be a interesting aspect of the series was the voice actors of Chika and Shito (since they are two of my many favorite voice actors). The character development was weak and at times the story got confusing. Michiru wasn't very useful and the two boys really didn't do much. Yet I will say that the character designs were pretty good and some aspects of the series I found to be "cute," ex. like the death god. The series itself isn't bad as the idea is pretty original but I can't look over the fact that there are episodes and arcs that I found to be boring. I can't say whether or not one should watch it as it depends on person to person but I didn't care too much for this series. 

Next time I'll probably do another anime that I found to be a bit more geared toward the stereotypical zombie fling we all know and love.