I’m choosing to use the Netflix movie card instead of the actual movie poster for this review, because the poster gives away a major reveal for anyone unfamiliar with the manga & anime. I also think despite it not showing any of stars, it’s a better poster. This was such a fantastic, goofy movie; and I loved every second of it. As zombie comedies go I rank it right up along with Shaun of the Dead, and above Zombieland it really was that good. This movie earned its “of the Dead” suffix. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead started as a manga, eventually got an anime, and evidently had a live action film release August 2023.

Directed by Yûsuke Ishida, and starring Eiji Akaso, Mai Shiraishi, and Shuntarô Yanagi, this Netflix movie starts off introducing us to our main character Akira Tendo (portrayed by Eiji Akaso), who just got out of college and landed a job at a media company. Over the course of a year Akira is forced to do every menial task under the sun and work back to back full day shifts and this slowly grinds away his will to live. In Shaun of the Dead fashion he’s oblivious to a zombie in his vicinity the night before the apocalypse starts. The following day when he discovers what the world has turned to, once he’s gotten to a safe place he’s happy more than anything. Happy to be free from his shit job with shit bosses.

There is a somewhat supernatural element to the way the zombies move sometimes (as if the walking dead weren’t by definition already supernatural). Occasionally a bout of extreme strength is shown, or a zombie manages to stay standing or start standing up in a manner that seems to defy physics a tad. Since I had never heard of the manga or anime Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead prior to watching this, I absolutely did not see coming the SYFY Channel-esc, B-movie type twist in the last half hour of the film, and I loved it.

There was something refreshing about this movie that I just can’t put my finger on. Had it been tagged anything other than “Absurd, offbeat, horror comedy” on Netflix I may have given it fewer stars. By the end I felt like I had watched one of the few really good movies that the SYFY channel would show when doing their new movie every Saturday thing. It delivered exactly what it promised and earned every bit of 9 out of 10 stars.