Akira’s quest to complete his bucket list continues, but as Kencho points out, is any of it at all realistic while a zombie apocalypse is going on? Like wining and dining a flight attendant? Becoming a superhero? How in the world can you even accomplish that?
Well, let’s just say attempting to get a widescreen TV to play video games and a trip to the aquarium can have wide-ranging consequences…or something!
Zom 100 volume 2 continues the tale of Akira living life without having to work. This time he has his old buddy Kencho with him, and both aim to experience life at its fullest. Despite, you know, zombies moaning all over Japan. The two continue to try and check off all Akira’s to-do list, and the nature of this volume is…hitting two birds with one stone. You wouldn’t think a trip to the store to get the TV would also mean encountering specific survivors — in this case, one businessman and three actual flight attendants. The result? Akira throwing up his tequila, Kencho hitting a home run with an attendant, and the businessmen being the odd-one out since he’s the actual zombie and failed to tell anyone.
So yes, the tonal shifts continue in this volume but is a slight step-down from volume 1. It’s a case where the seriousness can sometimes be a detriment, but in many cases, reality sets in — you’ll experience heartbreak in life, but you can’t let it continue to bring you down. So in that respect, despite it seeming unnatural for Akira to immediately move on after the events that went down at the store, it’s in character for a guy that was beaten down mentally due to his old job.
Though is it in character for him to be a superhero? Well, let’s just say he attempts this, but with mixed results — he goes to the aquarium to get a suit that would prevent him from turning into a zombie after being bitten, but the problem is that’s all it does — pain still awaits this idiot. This does allow him to run into the bike thief, Shizuka, as a horde of zombies chase her and a number of civilians into the aquarium. But aside from his attempt to save people, where’s the heroic moment? Well, let’s just say you might not want to find out what happens when a zombie shark and a few humans happen to merge together.
Still unrepentant yet also still a thrill, the speed and line work for this series, ranging from terrified Shizuka and Akira to Kencho mooning the zombie shark, is a pleasure to look at. It makes the comedy and action scenes pop, and remains one of the strongest elements of Zom 100 as a whole. The characters also continue to stand out too. And despite Shizuka saying she’s never going to meet Akira and Kencho again, I bet she thought she’d never meet him after their first encounter. Future cover volumes already show they’re going to meet again…so what craziness will the three be up to next time? Looking forward to finding out!