English Dub Review: ZOMBIE LAND SAGA “Warming Dead SAGA”

The zombies stay overnight in a hotel in hopes of getting hired on as full-time performers.

Overview (Spoilers Below):

It’s another morning at the zombie compound, and Koutarou is just as insane as ever. At Sakura’s suggestion that their next step should be to record and release a single to the public, he erupts into a lecture about their lack of money. Apparently, none of their performances have added a dime to his pocket, and his pockets are already empty from makeup and gas expenses.

He decides to try and get them hired on as performers for a local inn to generate some cash flow. Though their performance goes off without a hitch, the hotel owner remembers none of it because she encounters Saki and Sakura in their full-on zombie modes while sneaking around to the hot springs.

Our Take:

Even after putting on some stellar performances, there’s still a long way to go for Franchouchou. One of the main obstacles they’ll have to overcome is money – or rather, their lack of it. Without cash on hand, they can’t travel long distances, buy new costumes, or even book a recording studio to put out their debut single to the adoring masses. So Koutarou, being the incredible manager that he is, has an idea to bring in some cash. (He also makes fun of their new name in a funny scene where he lists about seven variations of Franchouchou soundalikes.)

Now that the initial gimmick of zombie idols is wearing off, I’m a little afraid that the show might be starting to grind its gears. Things just seem really slow and boring in this episode. Not a whole lot happens, really. We see a bit of their performance (which has some obvious CGI that looks pretty bad), but a lot of the time is spent on just showing the girls reaffirming the vows they’ve already made to continue with being a group together. Seriously, they just sit around and talk about how they’re ready to make this work with lots of practice and dedication (except Saki, obviously). But we’ve already seen this same scene in past episodes! We get it, they’re becoming friends and learning to trust each other. I did enjoy how this episode showed the girls taking part in some normal sightseeing activities that weren’t part of their typical idol routine duties. Fawning over cute cats and ringing the bell at the temple are things they haven’t gotten to do in many, many years.

What’s the deal with the pharmaceutical company and their Z patches? That definitely seems like it’s gonna come back around, right? Maybe that has something to do with how Koutarou was able to revive the girls from the dead. Perhaps he’s the son of the company’s founder or was a former employee who got his hands on a rogue formula.

The English dub this week was pretty darn good. We got some solid jokes that did a good job making the leap from Japanese to English, like this gem from Koutarou: “Our budget’s as dry as your skin.” What a guy, what a guy. Saki’s excitement at getting a real bath is cool, too: “We get to take a real bath? I’ve just been hosing off in the yard!” Brina Palencia continues to do a great job, especially with the fast-paced intro recap narration.

Warming Dead SAGA isn’t quite the expectation-defying type of episode I’d come to look forward to from ZOMBIE LAND SAGA’s past three outings. There were a couple of funny lines and it was sweet seeing the girls explore the new city outside of their usual responsibilities as idols, but there wasn’t much forward progress present this week. Nobody really learned anything or grew in any new way, either. One or two episodes of spinning the wheels might be okay, but I hope ZOMBIE LAND gets back to pleasantly surprise me soon.