Now, when you get into supernatural, paranormal, other-worldly shows, you tend to run into the same folks. Much like going to the local anime convention year after year, it’s more or less the usual suspects. So, it’s always zombies, werewolves, vampires and ghosts. When this show came around, I treated this with a bit of scorn. I mean, a Neko Guy? Or are you trying to save a few yen using a cut-your-hair-at-home system? And she’s a zombie? Well, how……original.

OK, back to the front.

Chihiro Furuya is the cat guy with a keen interest in zombies, collecting zombie-related videogames, film and manga, and even to the point of desiring to “kiss a zombie girl”. Did I say “keen”? This guy is an otaku when it comes to this passion. Following the death of his pet cat, Bābu, he attempts to revive it using an old manuscript, which describes the process of creating a potion for resurrection. Now, his grandfather, who suffers from terrible dementia, seems to have some knowledge of this, but getting him in rare lucid moments is, well, rare to have him really explain things, as he may have written this back in his youth.

At this time, Furuya encounters a girl named Rea Sanka, who has run away from home. Now, Daddy Dearest is like the 8^th richest man in all of the Far East and has a major fetish about Sanka. No one is allowed to get close to her, so, no friends, no folks over, no parties, no nothing. In fact, on her birthday, daddy takes nude shots of her, as he has for all these years. They aren’t pervy per se, not like some Playboy photo shoot, but it’s creepy nonetheless, as Sanka has grown into a fine woman.

Wanting to die and leave her miserable world all behind, she attempts to commit suicide and drinks a sample of the “resurrection” potion which is created from the poisonous Hydrangea macrophylla flower, although this fails to kill her. Following an argument with her father, she falls from a cliff by accident and dies; a terrible chest wound the cause of her demise (as you can see by her scar).

However, as a result of the potion, she becomes a zombie who eats hydrangea leaves and lives on. NOW comes the problem, as you have to care for this person who is dead, but keep her body alive and going as long as possible. They never said anything about this in all those movies. Adding to his anxiety is that Daddy has not given up in retrieving his daughter and will stop at nothing…except the close of the first season.

Oh, yeah, we haven’t answered all the Big Questions and this show has “Season Two” written all over it. So, as it stands, it a kind of horror show that is not horrific, a romance show not particularly romantic and a family drama not terribly dramatic. But, I would suggest you see it, if for nothing more than a different take on the zombie oeuvre.

On a scale of 1 to 10:

Artwork              7 (Everyone is just a tad off)
Plot                     8 (There is a compelling plot, despite the non-closure)
Pacing                 7 (Can get a little sluggish)
Effectiveness       8 (It runs hit and miss, however)
Conclusion          7 (That ‘second-season’ smell)
Fan Service         4 (A similar show would “Gurren Lagann”)

Overall               7 (Hampered by the bad ending)

And remember, it’s first run until you see it. What does freedom mean?