Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

ゾン100～ゾンビになるまでにしたい100のこと～ (Zom 100: Zombie ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto)

7.0(1)

OtakuDen

7.7(336,887)

MAL Score

Ranked #1465

Popularity #353

Comedy
Suspense
Adult Cast
Survival

Episodes: 12
Duration: 24 min per ep
Aired: Jul 9, 2023 to Dec 26, 2023
Status: Finished Airing

Synopsis

Fresh out of a prestigious university and a standout from his rugby club days, Akira Tendou believes he’s checked every box on the path to his ideal career. A kind, beautiful coworker even makes the office feel a little brighter—until the reality of relentless overtime and sleepless nights sets in, and the “dream job” starts to look like a trap.

After three years of grinding work at an exploitative company, Akira barely recognizes the exhausted, unfulfilled person he’s become, watching the same burnout swallow his coworkers, too. Then a zombie outbreak upends everything, and the chaos brings an unexpected kind of freedom.

With time finally his own, Akira makes a list of 100 things he wants to do before he’s inevitably turned. Surrounded by the undead, he discovers a strange new sense of purpose—and feels more alive than he has in years.

Otaku Consensus

BUG FILMS’ adaptation lands because Kazuki Kawagoe’s direction turns Haro Aso and Koutarou Takata’s workplace-zombie satire into kinetic, color-coded catharsis, with Hiroshi Seko’s series composition keeping the bucket-list structure emotionally legible rather than skit-like. Critics and fans singled out Akira and Shizuka’s growth, the strong action around episodes 10–11, and a finale that surprised viewers with genuine pathos; the recurring criticism is the uneven broadcast rhythm and pacing drag tied to the show’s production hiccups.

Why You Should Watch

Watch Zom 100 if you want zombie anime that treats the apocalypse less like punishment and more like a deranged wellness intervention. It scratches the survival-comedy itch of Highschool of the Dead without centering a school cast, and it has the workplace bitterness that makes Aggretsuko resonate, only filtered through gore, slapstick, and absurd bucket-list logic. The appeal is not just “zombies, but funny”; it is the way the show weaponizes adult burnout, then answers it with bright visual chaos, physical comedy, and surprisingly earnest character rehabilitation. Viewers who like horror iconography but hate joyless misery will get the most out of it, especially once the character dynamics start balancing Akira’s recklessness against Shizuka’s more guarded worldview.

Key Characters

A
Akira Tendou
Akira stands out because fans read his manic optimism not as simple stupidity, but as a post-burnout rebound that makes the comedy feel cathartic instead of random.
S
Shizuka
Shizuka became one of the show’s most discussed characters because her development gives the survival-comedy setup a sharper emotional counterweight to Akira’s impulsiveness.

What Makes It Stand Out

1
BUG FILMS gives the series a loud, pop-art visual identity, using exaggerated color and kinetic movement to keep the zombie imagery closer to surreal comedy than conventional horror grime.
2
The bucket-list format is a structural engine rather than a gimmick: it lets Hiroshi Seko’s series composition pivot between episodic wish fulfillment, survival pressure, and adult self-repair without abandoning the main emotional throughline.
3
Its genre mix is unusually specific: AniList tags it as Zombie at 96%, Post-Apocalyptic at 94%, Surreal Comedy at 92%, and Survival at 87%, which reflects why it feels more like a tonal collision than a standard undead thriller.
4
The adult-cast and work themes are central to its identity, with AniList marking Primarily Adult Cast at 73% and Work at 70%, making it one of 2023’s clearest anime expressions of corporate burnout.
5
Episodes 10–11 drew attention for their action animation, including a highlighted Teruo sequence, while the final episode was repeatedly noted by viewers for landing with more emotion than the show’s goofy reputation suggests.

Fun Facts & Trivia

Fun fact 1: The anime adapts an original story by Haro Aso with original character designs by Koutarou Takata; the research credits Yasurou Norimatsu, Masayoshi Yokoyama, and Echika Yamamoto with original work assistance.
Fun fact 2: The core anime staff includes director Kazuki Kawagoe, assistant director Hanako Ueda, series composer Hiroshi Seko, character designer Kii Tanaka, and sub character designer Haruhito Takada.
Fun fact 3: Although it is a 12-episode single-cour series, its broadcast stretched from July 9, 2023 to December 26, 2023, a notably long window that lines up with the widely discussed production and scheduling hiccups.
Fun fact 4: Its reception sits in a strong middle-high range across major databases: MAL lists it at 7.7/10 from 336,887 votes with a popularity rank of #353, while AniList records a 76/100 score and 5,619 favourites.