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Forum - View topicZombie Land Saga: Idol Anime For Non-Idol Fans
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18442 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Happy to see another person bring up Idoly Pride, which I found to be the most pleasant surprise of the Winter 2021 season. (And I can probably count the number of idol shows in the last decade which I've watched to completion on one hand.) Since it didn't make the cut for episode reviews, I'd love to see a full review on that one at some point.
I am one of those non-fan people who still got into ZLS, and what Mercedez articulates here is more or less why I went along for the ride (and am back again this season). |
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John the Dark Lord
Posts: 263 |
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Great paragraph, but you are missing the biggest attack against the "purity culture" of the idol industry. Not that I blame you, since you must have knowledge of a very Japanese concept to get it. I'm talking about kegare Basically, it's a state of defilement and sin. But it's not the same kind of "sin" Christians deal with, because it doesn't come only from an action people can do. Japanese believe certain things are naturally dirty, in both a physical and spiritual sense. And guess what's the biggest kegare thing in Japanese culture? Death. Yes, death, funerals, corpses, all those things carry some kind of dirtiness. To quote wikipedia: "The concept of kegare from death still has considerable force within Japanese society". Our cute zombie idols are literally as impure as you can be in Japan. |
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pixelatedlenses
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 35 |
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Oh gosh, I absolutely loved Idoly Pride, and honestly was shocked by how much I came to care for it last season. It really was one of the most pleasant surprises, and kind of the Winter 2021 darkhorse. Honestly, if there's ever a chance for me to write about it on here, I'd absolutely love to. Such an excellent series. Also, thanks for reading my piece. I'm really glad I was able to speak to the series and why I think it hooked so many viewers. I'm really glad I got to share my thoughts! |
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pixelatedlenses
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 35 |
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Thank you so much for your insight! I suppose what I was speaking to was the concept of women having any form of desire versus women being desirable. Idols can't present any form of desire. They have the be a bit of a blank slate, which is where a lot of the more hazardous parasocial relationship comes in. I wasn't considering kegare: I was looking at a more broad image of what is means to be a "pure" or "chaste" woman, even in Japan. I was also relying on my own experiences living in Japan, and how I've seen purity culture function. Still, I really think your insight is quite valuable! |
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Dark Mac
Posts: 321 |
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Zombieland Saga is not an idol anime for non-idol fans. I think most idol anime are crap, and while ZLS had some good parts (particularly early on), it basically turned into a regular idol anime with zombie elements later, and I disliked it for the same reason I disliked almost all idol anime (bad concerts, annoying interactions with fans, manager deciding everything, etc.).
Better idol anime for people who are non-idol fans would be something like Macross, Full Moon wo Sagashite, or Symphogear. |
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AmpersandsUnited
Posts: 633 |
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I agree, aside from the fact I do like idols and the ZLS. It is basically an idol anime with zombie window dressing. Their human forms are what get all the focus in the show, promotional art and merchandise. I'm not sure I understand how the show is critical of the industry or concept of purity. Unless we're speaking strictly in literal terms and a rotting corpse isn't pure. Otherwise, I don't recall them ever mentioning their sex lives or anything akin to that. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 3029 Location: Email for assistance only |
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There are a couple of posts above you by the writer and one poster that directly speak to this. Also one of the characters was an oiran, which is a type of high-end sex worker.
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FireChick
 Subscriber Posts: 2480 Location: United States |
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Totally love Zombieland Saga! I honestly didn't expect to get into this, but some people I follow were hyping it up the wazoo, so I decided to check it out due to boredom and I fell in love! Some people I know feel the show went downhill after episode 2 because it "became the thing it was supposed to be parodying/poking fun at" but I honestly never saw it as a parody. I always thought it was just a fun, quirky idol anime that not only wasn't afraid to critique the idol industry, but actually cared enough about its characters to make them not feel like one-note stereotypes.
I especially loved how the anime treated and respected Junko's anxiety about how the idol industry changed throughout the years without forcing her to conform to it by shaming her into accepting that's how things are now. It respects her boundaries and autonomy, something another idol anime I know of absolutely refused to do in regards to one of its characters (*coughcough22/7coughcoughepisodesixcangodiecoughcough*). |
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Panino Manino
 Posts: 751 |
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...I was ready to click the share button when I saw that surprise at the end of this article. "Sponsored Content", hit me like the punchline of a big joke.
I'm being played here? |
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Tempest
 I Run this place.ANN Publisher  Posts: 10456 Location: Do not message me for support. |
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The ad at the bottom is the sponsored content. The sponsor has absolutely zero influence on the content of the article itself.
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meiam
Posts: 3450 |
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Yeah pretty much, I like ZLS, but I just skip the idol part, particularly the terrible dance number and oh so generic song. Maybe if it had stayed in line with ep1/2 where they'd do idol show but using completely different genre (metal/rap) I'd agree, but instead by ep 3 we were back awkward 3D dance number. Rather than ZLS being an idol show for non idol I'd say it's a good show despite being an idol show. As much as I enjoy it, I'd like the show far more if you'd replace the idol part by literally anything else (sport/slice or life/drama, etc. literally anything else would have been more interesting, heck even if it was about doing taxes I'd like it more). I watch because of the fun characters and amazing VA performance of Kotaro. |
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Random Name
Posts: 651 |
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I was a fan of the first 3/4 of the first season but it has progressively gone down hill from there (IMO). Will probably end up dropping in 2-3 more episodes if it doesn't get better. It started as something unique but turned into a generic idol show of less quality to say a Love Live. While I do love Idol shows I dont think this is a particularly good one from songs to performances. Besides the old formula was so much more entertaining.
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El Hermano
 Posts: 450 Location: Texas |
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I think the songs themselves are fine, but the CG dancing is really bad. I don't expect Love Live budget or anything, but I do tend to wince every time we get the jarring CG. |
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pixelatedlenses
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 35 |
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Gosh, same: the CG is rough, and like... I like to give all CG a chance, but ZLS's is pretty darn egregious. |
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