T5W#390-Top 5 Zombie Anime

Zombies, Zombies, Zombies.  Ever since George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, they’ve been all the rage in media from Movies to TV to Comics and more.  While many can say that the genre has run its course thanks to the overabundance of The Walking Dead, the overnight success of The Last of Us indicates that isn’t totally true.  But with all the live action focus on these legions of the undead, what about Anime?  Oh yeah, youre definitely covered in that department and while you can commend incredible make artists for the hard work they put into Zombie makeup, Anime can really bring the threat of the Zombie Apocalypse to a whole other level of terrifying. So, for todays Top 5 Wednesday, I’m picking my Top 5 Zombie Anime sure to wet the appetite of any casual horror fan.

 
#5-The Resident Evil Anime Trilogy

The Resident Evil games have plenty of Anime inspiration running through their veins from the good looking protagonists to their usage of bullet time to take down monstrous bosses.  It only makes sense they’d get their own Anime adaptations down the line and we’ve gotten 3 CG Anime films as a result:  Resident Evil: Degeneration; Resident Evil: Damnation & Resident Evil: Vendetta.  The overall results of each movie vary but that doesn’t take away from the fact that these are much closer to the source material than the Live Action Films and each serve as interquels between games, often setting up elements for future titles. 
 
I’ll be looking at Degeneration and Damnation later in March right around the time Resident Evil 4 Remake launches and if you’d like to see my thoughts on Resident Evil: Vendetta, here’s my review from a few years back: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/resident-evil-vendetta.html

 
#4-School Live

While I’ve only seen the first episode of this title, I couldn’t believe the twist ending and it’s a very tragic kind of twist on the Zombie genre that blew me away.  While things may look like sunshine and rainbows for cute student Yuki, the truth is far worse.  It’s all in her head and the Zombie Apocalypse has hit in force, leaving her and her high school club some of the few survivors left.  Yuki’s completely oblivious to this, however, and it’s up to her classmates to keep her and themselves alive.  Like I said, helluva twist and I only saw the first episode.  Still, given that premise, I doubt things end well for anyone.

 
#3-Hellsing Ultimate

For those of you who like your Ghoul and Zombie hordes mowed down like cutting the grass, you call on the professionals: The Hellsing Organization.  Sure there are more super power Vampires than Zombies in this Anime but there’s plenty of carnage provided by the latter, especially in a rather lengthy and violent sequence of them running amok in London.  But when Hell descends on the city, you send in a special kind of Hell to fight back.  No matter the high numbers of soulless monsters or souped up super Nazi’s, you throw Alucard into the middle of it and nothing’s gonna be left standing for long.
 

#2-Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress

A lot of people call this show Attack on Titan Season 1.5 and it’s easy to see why.  It was created by Wit  Studio and Director Testuro Araki that 4 year long period between the first two seasons of their mega hit and it bears a lot of visual simulaties but replaces Titans with armor plated Zombie like creatures.  However, the series replaces walled off sectors with a railroad system allowing armored trains to traverse the nation while fending off continuous attacks from the relentless, nigh unstoppable Kabane.  You have to get very inventive to bring one of these guys down, or allow some Kabane DNA into your system to fight them on their own terms.  If you like Attack on Titan, you’ll probably like this one and, ngl, I kind of like it more.
 
 
#1-High School of the Dead

Ah yes, the quintessential Zombie Anime.  When a mysterious Zombie plague invades Tokyo, the survivors of a High School caught in the first wave have to fight their way out and survive in a fast falling city.  This show plays fast and fun from beginning to end, poking fun at Zombie tropes while also remembering to be serious with the amount of horror and carnage that comes from such a nightmare.   Oh and there’s girls, lots of scantily dressed school girls kicking Zombie ass and taking names while trying to keep their clothes on…I wonder why this show is both beloved and looked down up.  Sure the show kind of runs out of tricks towards the end but High School of the Dead is still a kick ass Zombie slaying Anime and probably one of the best Action Anime ever made.  Choose your weapon, assemble your crew and get ready for the hottest fight of your life.