English Dub Review: Zombie Land Saga Revenge “The SAGA of an Almost-Broken Radio”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Now that the girls of Franchouchou are officially back in the idol game, they’ve got to get the word out to their fans. Kotaro decides that the best way to do that involves television, so he arranges a hosting segment for the girls to show off a local shrine on TV alongside an aging rockstar radio host called White Ryu.

But what he doesn’t count on is Saki’s fascination with Ryu! She ends up getting into a bit of a funk over him, and her memories of how he impacted her life back in the world of the living. Sakura helps Saki realize that she needs to take action, and the two of them head to the radio studio where Ryu hands his show over to them and takes off into the sunset.

Our Take:

The second episode of Zombie Land Saga’s second season is a Saki focused episode, which is kind of fitting considering she goes by the name Number Two in the group. The SAGA of an Almost-Broken Radio is a lot like Saki herself — bold, brash, and not entirely sensible. But even though it doesn’t hold up in parts, it’s still a solidly entertaining look into the future of Franchouchou.

Now that the girls are back, they’re going all in. I was expecting to hear some reservations about it, but all of them seem content with the sudden shift back to the world of idols. The episode begins with Saki leading the girls in a workout to help regain their stamina for singing and dancing, which is a nice way to show off how driven Saki is in a graceful way that fits into the plot.

After learning about their TV gig from Kotaro, they head to the shrine where the TV segment will be shot. It’s a little weird that he’s putting literal zombies up to the scrutiny of TV film crews and harsh lighting, but hey, exposure is exposure. I’m thinking that one of them is going to have herself outed as a zombie by the finale based on a few mentions so far, but this gig actually goes pretty well for the most part. It’s fun to see the girls go through the awkwardness of acting on camera — not super funny, but lighthearted fun nonetheless.

Where the episode really gets into the nitty gritty is once Saki realizes how deep and interesting Ryu is. He leads them to a lesser known inside temple at the shrine, and even though it doesn’t turn out to be that big of a deal, Saki seems to gain an even greater appreciation of him. Once the segment is over, we get treated to a flashback of Saki’s former life as Sakura tries to get to know what’s got her so hooked on White Ryu. It’s cool to know more about the past lives of the members of Franchouchou, but this is just barely surface level stuff. We see Saki beating up a bunch of older guys as she talks about how she didn’t fit in anywhere and that’s about it.

She also apparently heard Ryu’s words back then and took his message about finding others who don’t fit in to heart. She eventually spies another girl named Reiko who’s also in the midst of fighting off a gang of baddies. (Seriously, what is it about that area?!) I’m really interested to know more about her, but the episode mainly keeps the focus on Saki and her deep rooted appreciation for Ryu. When he hands his radio show over to them, there’s the episode’s sole laugh out loud moment for me, when the radio producers give their silent reaction through the window.

The SAGA of an Almost-Broken Radio has some interesting things going on, like Saki’s past and the life and times of White Ryu, but it’s a little too much all at once and the episode doesn’t really seem to land on anything specific besides vague feelings of not fitting in and not having a place of your own. By the time the end rolls around and Saki is crying her eyes out, I found I wasn’t really able to tell what she was crying for, exactly — but maybe that’s the point. I just hope we get more into her and Reiko’s past later on.