This article is part of a segment on the site where I will introduce readers to the wonders anime that may not be well-known in the States. I always attempt to find the odd, gross, and uncomfortable to watch along with the funny, clever, and dramatic series that anime geeks crave.
From deep within the bowels of Japan comes an anime so utterly mediocre, so terribly average, so incredibly meh that the few who watch it are doomed to benign indifference. This series features zombies that aren’t zombies in the traditional sense, werewolves that are demon-like, and main characters completely unrelatable to the viewer. This week’s Ima focuses on Zombie-Loan
What it’s about:
Michiru Kita is a shy, downtrodden schoolgirl who is able to see black rings around the necks of those who are about to die. She is recruited, through a few unfortunate circumstances, as part of the Z-Loan corporation, a corporation that gives loans on life in exchange for the hunting of zombies. She is joined by Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, both zombies who have taken out a zombie loan.
These two both “died” in a train accident, and upon the receipt of their zombie loan, came back to life, though they were both dismembered and ended up with each other’s hands when the loan was given. Therefore, they must exchange hands in order to use their ectoplasmic weapons, but cannot exchange them for more than an hour, lest they rot and fall off.
The crux of the series focuses on the dynamic between these three main characters. A dynamic that is uneven, bland, and ultimately confusing.
Why you should(n’t) watch it:
While there are moments of genuine hilarity and some of the supporting cast is more interesting than the main protagonists, there’s little to be excited about in this anime. The premise may seem very promising, but the series overall tends to dip into boredom and over the top teen angst. While there have been many great stories told about teen angst, The Catcher in the Rye this is not.
Chika and Shito, the two male protagonists, often fight about inane things, leading the viewer to believe that the animosity between them is forced, ambiguous, or not explained properly. Both characters have wildly different personalities, and while this could be a possible explanation for their hatred of each other, compounded with the fact that they must stay within a certain distance in order for their limbs to stay intact, the way it has been presented in the anime makes it largely ineffective.
It is literally impossible to relate to female lead 
Michiru Kita. She is an overly shy, helpless , and slightly dumb character with little depth. The depth they do try and give her leaves little impact. She is constantly abused by the male characters in the series (though only sexually abused by a minor female character),but does nothing about it.
The viewer is supposed to sympathize with the terrible lot she was dealt in life, but often I was left wondering: Couldn’t all of this be avoided if she would just speak up? While she does grow a spine by the conclusion of the series, it feels far too little, too late. Michiru Kita is not a role model for girls, she is a punching bag for angsty teenage boys with death wishes, and this is one of the main problems in Zombie-Loan.
Despite all of the flaws previously listed, none of these annoyances made me hate the series. There are plenty of interesting minor characters and villains who often outshine the mediocre core cast. The humor in the show, while over-utilized at times, definitely plays in the anime’s favor, often leading to laugh-out-loud moments during otherwise serious scenes.
Zombie-Loan, when taken as a whole, is just completely irrelevant. On a scale from 1-10 it’s a 5. It is a flat gray in the color spectrum of good anime. It is dead in the middle, swimming with plenty of other mediocre shows that have no impact on the viewer. The moments of boredom, and eye-rolling angst mixed with the great supporting cast and humor leaves this series at a pure good/bad equilibrium.
Where you can catch it:
As much as can glean from research, Zombie-Loan hasn’t aired in the States as of yet. Many fansubs are available however, and many places to torrent watch them exist. Since megavideo won’t ever embed in my damn articles, you can watch the first episode here.