Warning: This article discusses a character having suicidal thoughts.
Imagine being trapped in an endless cycle of corporate exploitation. You wake up at the crack of dawn, stumble into the office, work insane hours with your boss constantly breathing down your neck — and maybe, just maybe, you're able to get home that night. Your brain finally relaxes, until you remember that you've got work the next day, and the next, and so on.
Instead of living life, you're simply existing. You're going through the motions — unaware of time, people and the world around you.
This is where Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead starts off. 24-year-old Akira Tendo is elated to have landed his dream job at ZLM. He is bright-eyed during his first day, noting that the employees are friendly, lively and encouraging.
Akira even joins them for an after-work beer, toasting the success of the company and his future. As first days at a new job go, this one seems to have gone off without a hitch. That is until Akira notices his colleagues standing up and getting ready to head back to the office.
Akira brutally lives through his first all-nighter — and isn't able to leave the office until two days later. He witnesses his colleagues guzzling energy drinks, huddling in sleeping bags under their desks and talking about the amount of unpaid overtime they've clocked in a month.
"Annual paid vacations? Oh, yes, the company graciously offers that, as well as mental health days and your work anniversary off," remarks one senior, sleep-deprived employee. "But I've never seen anyone use them though."
Akira is exhausted, but remains hopeful that he can still succeed in the business. A year later, he's become a shell of himself, using his trash-filled apartment for a moment's respite before returning to the office.
During his third year of working at ZLM, Akira contemplates killing himself because it would mean that he wouldn't need to go back to work.
His world is devoid of colour and everything has faded to a dull, meaningless grey. Things take an unexpected turn when Akira finds out that his landlord has turned into a mindless, blood-thirsty zombie.
At that moment, Akira snaps awake and runs from a horde of zombies occupying his apartment building. Devoid of fear, alarm or panic, he leaps to the roof and — with the biggest smile on his face — screams "I'M FREE!"
You see, Akira couldn't care less that a zombie apocalypse has unexpectedly come to Tokyo. The one thing on his mind is that starting today, he doesn't have to go back to work.
He can binge-watch movies all day, drink beer in the morning, slum around and do whatever the hell he wants to do. In fact, he has three years worth of activities planned, so he starts compiling a checklist titled "100 Things I Want To Do Before Becoming A Zombie".
This is where Zom 100: Bucket List Of The Dead truly begins its chaos-filled journey. Now, that Akira has experienced the ultimate wake-up call, the city is filled with an explosion of vibrant colours that he hasn't seen for years.
There's the green grass, the blue sky and the red blood seeping from the cut on Akira's head as he evades a horde of zombies chasing him — because even though Akira is running for his life, he has never felt more alive.
This is exactly what makes Zom 100 so interesting. Zombies have been done to death, but this anime breathes new life into an outdated genre by subverting the usual doom and gloom surrounding it.
Instead, we're treated to vibrant splashes of colour and scenes of Akira fearlessly dodging zombies — all so that he can go to the local conbini (Japanese convenience store) and grab some beer.
The social commentary on work-life balance doesn't go unnoticed either. Traditionally, Japanese workers are expected to show extreme dedication to their jobs. Long hours and high levels of stress are all part of it.
And, of course, when you add booze into the mixture (which is often used to create friendships and seal business deals), this adds to the toxic, pressure-fuelled environment — often resulting in business workers sleeping on the streets.
It makes you question whether the zombies in Zom 100 are actually real — or whether they're mindless creations that have come from humans being crushed by the corporate world.
So, what would you do if a zombie apocalypse unexpectedly came to your city and it meant that you no longer had to work?
Zom: 100 Bucket List Of The Dead is available to stream on Crunchyroll and Netflix. Plus, check out the trailer for the live-action adaptation that'll be released on Netflix in August.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org. If you are in Australia and need support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78.
