Continuing from the shattering events that concluded the first season, the second one of “Zombie Land Saga” takes a turn towards the more dramatic, while including, though, much more diversity, both in the music and the overall narrative and art style.
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In March 2019, Franchouchou failed to sell enough tickets for their concert in the Ekiame Fudosan Stadium and incurred a huge debt, not to mention crashing their hopes for a quick rise to the idol stardom. Kotaro in particular is rather depressed, bordering on alcoholism, not being able to fathom his failure, essentially disappearing from their lives. The girls, however, continue to work hard, in day labors though, in order to repay the debt, and essentially start from the beginning in terms of their idol career, appearing once more in a death metal concert. With the insistence of bartender Jofuku, Kotaro goes to see them, and his spark is reignited once more. Soon, the girls are on the path towards stardom once again, while interacting with radio DJs, Number 3's former group which is considered the top in Japan, child prodigies, and as always, their own selves.
The death metal concert, which ends up with a fight amongst the crowd, essentially kicks the season, with the series then focusing on the physical training the girls undergo, thus continuing the thorough analysis of the idol phenomenon. The appearance of Iron Frill, number 3's former group, and Kotaro's insistence for her not to appear in the support performance Franchouchou are having with them, is the first crucial story point of “Revenge”. Leaving aside Ai's feelings on the matter, the fact that the leader of the Iron Frill eventually asks her to join them, brings tension among the ranks of the group, and particularly to Junko, who feels betrayed by Ai's lack of a direct decline. The result is a rather different live, much more rock'n'roll than usual, in a rather appealing aspect of the movie.
Lily gets her own arc when she has to compete on a talent show, against a child prodigy, who is revealed to be completely different than what everyone perceives. A scene where both of them are in the boys bathroom is a cheeky way to highlight Lily's LGBT nature. After an episode where a young fan becomes a member, which looks intently like a filler, the series focuses on Yugiri's past, in a whole different style of narrative, which is filled with samurai, historical events in Saga, and even chanbara fights, in one of the most memorable moments of the whole series. Furthemore, this part sheds much light to the past of Yugiri, Kotaro, and Jofuku, while the arc-closing concert is quite impressive, with Yugiri this time in the center.
The last part has the girls experiencing a mass disaster in the area, which also highlights another part of the idol concept, that of relief through entertainment and volunteering, while closing the season with the most impressive live performance in the series. Also of note is that throughout, the journalist that has been following the group is gradually coming closer to finding out the truth behind their identity.
Contextually, this season is more interesting than the first, both for the diversity mentioned in the prologue, but also due to an extended focus on Tae, who still remains a zombie as “Revenge” starts, and also because the analysis of the characters and their relationships becomes much deeper.
Regarding the artform, the colors remain as vivid as possible outside the house and more dark inside, while the character design, with the big heads and small hands, remains as detailed as before. The skirts also remain rather short, although not in fanservice style. Furthermore, some flamboyance Kasumi Fukagawa has included in a number of peripheral characters is more than welcome, while the animation during the dancing performances appears more natural than before, despite the use of CGI. All in all, the job done by MAPPA in the animation is as great as usual.
“Zombie Land Saga: Revenge is another excellent season for the franchise, continuing one of the most interesting titles of the last few years.
