#I'm Looking For a Zombie ‒ Episode 4
This episode did a better job of establishing the tone the show is going for. Given the character personalities, designs, style of humor, and animation quality, #I’m Looking For a Zombie was a show that leaned more towards being a comedy than an actual dark zombie apocalypse series. There were definitely dark moments in previous episodes, like the death of Mikazuki and the cliffhanger of last week's episode with Natsuki, getting her arm cut off, but the show never really dwelled on those things, so it was hard to establish how they ended up messing with the overall lighter disposition of the main cast. This episode makes a genuine attempt to merge those two contrasting elements into something that I would argue is a lot more functional, even if it arguably makes the series a bit more predictable.
I like how the show creates a contrast utilizing Yū as the central character. She was by far the more practical, levelheaded straight man of the group. She seems to be the only member of the main cast that has a decent education, despite being physically weakest, and she's also the character that is taking things way more seriously than anybody else. This goes into a bit of her backstory, highlighting that she has a very deeply rooted inferiority complex due to the fact that her intelligence didn't really matter once the zombies started showing up. In a world where strength is the key to survival, being a weak child led to her being abandoned by her previous family. This is meant to contrast with how the main cast goes about things, as they see everybody as useful in their own way and adopt a more “nobody gets left behind” mentality. I respect the show for how it brought back Mikazuki from episode two by introducing the crew that abandoned her when she got bit. The idea is that, yes, the main cast is silly and goofy, but that's because they're always trying to make the best out of an otherwise horrible situation. They would rather all die together, making the most out of things, than leave anybody behind.
This is the closest that the show got to making me feel genuine emotion, but it's not perfect. It still plays a little too much with the vagueness of its world and the characters' inferred backgrounds to execute these plot points. First off, this episode definitively confirms that the day of the red sky was somewhat recent, maybe a little more than ten years ago, given Yū's flashback. It's implied that most of the main cast aren't that well educated, leading an incredibly sheltered and minimalistic life. I thought the show was leaning towards their sheltered upbringing being generational, and I'm sure it will reveal more about their background in later episodes. Still, these questions are more distracting than enthralling.
Yū's flashback is a little over the top. I understand that the theme is that people are being treated as deadweight, but the fact that the family just left their daughter behind to go to a festival instead of maybe leaving her behind in the actual throes of a zombie attack feels very forced. Besides, Yū was a literal child, so even if she was gifted with strength, I don't really see how she would have been more useful. Even if she's naturally weak, the show really pushed the idea of her parents just being evil to solidify this backstory. It's not unrealistic, but it is very boring.
This also gets into the dichotomy between the main cast and Mikazuki's old crew who show up. Yes, it is terrible that they kicked her out of the group once they found out she was infected, and maybe I'm a terrible person, but I don't know what else they were supposed to do. The show is trying to create this parallel between what happened with her and what's currently happening with Natsuki, but at least in Natsuki's case, there is a chance that she will survive because her arm was cut off before the infection spread to the rest of her body. In Mikazuki's case, she was bitten on the neck, and there was no way that she was going to be saved. I guess the idea is that they abandoned her in her final moments, and that's where the tragedy is supposed to be. That comparison works better if there is a follow-through on Natsuki needing to be put down as a zombie to show the difference in attitude of how the main cast will treat each other during these do-or-die situations because, as of right now, it's not exactly a one-to-one comparison.
I do think this is a step in the right direction and that the show is getting better at establishing a sense of footing. There are definitely some things I hope get addressed or handled better in the future. But for now, this show's tone isn't a jarring distraction. Now it just needs to keep that tone consistent, while also elaborating a bit more on its mysterious plot points.
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Bolts also streams regularly on Twitch as the indie VtuberBolts The Mechanic where they talk about and play retro media!#I’m Looking For a Zombie is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
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