Overview

So, you're minding your own business, sailing along through life, not bothering anybody, when, WHAM! You find yourself with a slight case of death, care of a terrible motor accident. I say a slight case, because you, along with another guy that got killed in the accident, get a special loan offer from the Ferryman. Of course, you know the trouble with loans - killer interest rates, fatally high payments, and sometimes they just plain cost you an arm and a leg... Well, in Chika and Shito's case, just a right hand, but that's the trouble with a Zombie Loan... Things never seem like they're going to cost as much as they really do...

Review

Michiru Kita is a soft spoken, sweet, shy little girl that is very good at letting herself get bullied around by others. Her parents died when she was just a child, and her aunt and uncle, who took her in, are more interested in the vast inheritance that she was left than they are in her. It's fair to be say that she's just a walking corpse, honestly... but she does have the unusual ability to see with the Shinigami's Eyes. This vision allows her to see a ring that appears on a person's neck, light gray at first, but slowly getting darker - and when the ring is black, the reaper comes and slices their head off at the ring. So what is she to do, when she meets two boys who have completely black rings about their necks, but are still up and walking around?

I won't get too far into the story, because honestly, it's slow-moving enough that I wouldn't want to spoil any more of it. The two boys in question are Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, and they are zombies, brought back to life under the terms of a Life Extension Loan, care of the Zombie Loan office. You don't have to be a genius to figure out what happens next - soon enough, Michiru finds herself working along side Chika and Shito. Her unique ability is a great find for Chika and Shito, as it allows them to find illegal zombies and dispatch them, earning money to pay off their loans in the process.

Michiru Kita has a lot in common with the character Kotonoha from School Days, in terms of personality... The girl really needs to grow a spine. She lets herself get walked all over by her 'friends' in school, to say nothing of her verbally abusive guardians. It's not that I don't feel for her situation... but there has to be a point when you say that enough is enough. Characters like Michiru and Kotonoha aren't just spineless, they're almost masochistic in the levels of abuse that they're willing to just take, without ever making a peep. It's as though they thrive on their own suffering, when it would take so little to rise above it. At least Michiru, however, DOES start to grow a backbone.

Her partners in zombie removal are Chika and Shito. Chika is your average high energy, high spirited, hyperactive male lead; Shito a fairly standard quiet, brooding type. I wish that I could be kinder in my assessments, but unfortunately, that's really pretty much all there is to Chika and Shito. Of more interest is Koyumi/Yumi, who unfortunately doesn't get much screen time. Still, she's worth mention because she's one of the rare forays into Multiple Personality Disorder to be found in entertainment, much less anime, as well as the best looking female in the series... not just because of lack of competition. There are a few other supporting members to the cast, but for the most part the series focuses on Michiru, Chika and Shito.

The series animation is just slightly better than average, with a tendency toward super-deformed in the lighter hearted moments of storytelling. I don't have problems with that - it's when the usage of SD and similar techniques approach the level of Seto no Hanayomie that I get angry with. The usage here is justified and even a bit humorous. Character designs are pretty bland too, to be honest, with each character really fitting their generic type. Once again, Koyumi/Yumi is worth mention as being reasonably interesting, but even she can't really save the character design. The designs all tend toward the 'Sharp Clothing' style of animation - that is, some REALLY extended, sharp pointy corners and cuts on outfits and even hair styles. Think Yu-Gi-Oh, and you're on the right track, folks.

The voice acting is one of the higher points of the series, with character voices solidly matching their roles and the surprising range of emotions that they have to run through. I hate to keep harping on the same point, but Koyumi/Yumi's voice actress does double duty with the MPD role, and does a great job of it, putting subtle inflections and tone changes into the two separate-but-similar characters she's playing. Chika's VA gets kudos for being able to do a great range from depressed to hyper too. Soundtrack wise, the music is pretty good, but somebody needs to shoot the artist screaming nonsense for the opening theme, and put it out of its misery. The opening theme sounds good - until the strangler opens his mouth and starts screaming gibberish at the top of his lungs. The ending theme is marginally better, sounding more like a song vocal than somebody raking their fingernails down a chalkboard. Slowly.

Overall

To be fair, I've been perhaps a bit harsh in my assessment of Zombie Loan. The characters are stereotypical, but the storyline is better than average - it's just not that good compared to some of the series this last season. Still, I have to say that it's been worth watching overall, if a bit slow to develop. There are signs of life in the supporting cast, and the character dynamic between the three main characters is starting to pick up. I will say that this series is aimed a fair bit more toward the girls than guys; while there's some decent action, half the cast is made up of bishies, and as I said, while there's no denying that Koyumi/Yumi is a hot piece of tail, she doesn't really have a lot of competition. Not too bad, but don't expect anything that'll knock your socks off.