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Studio : XEBEC M2
Length : 13 Episodes
Year : 2007
Genre : Shounen - Supernatural - Horror - Comedy - Ecchi
Synopsis :
When someone is near death, a band appears around that person's neck. The darker it becomes, the less time the person has left to live. The weak Michiru Kita has the rare ability to see these bands and discovers that her classmates Chika and Shito have them... and they are completely black! Through them she encounters the Zombie-Loan agency, for which Chika and Shito must work hunting down zombies in order to repay their loan to stay alive. And her ability to see the marks around people's necks would make Michiru a great asset for their job... If she is willing to help.
Additional Notes: Episodes 12 and 13 were released only on DVD, the original TV broadcast included only 11 episodes.
Added : 2007-07-02
Synopsis by : leoxjm
Last update : 2008-08-31
Last update details : Modify info
Score : 6.8
Number of reviews : 10
Link(s) :
Official #1 : Official Zombie Loan Website (Japanese)
Song(s) :
Opening #1 : The Birthday - Ookami no Nodo
Ending #1 : MUCC - Chain Ring
Release(s) :
2008-08-29 -- Episode(s) 13 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
2008-08-29 -- Episode(s) 13 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
2008-08-26 -- Episode(s) 12 by Shinsen-Subs. BT Link
Found 55 releases. Click here to [ Find them! ]
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Posted by : Faebinder 
Posted on : 2008-08-27 
It wasn't anything special. It was fun to watch and you sorta knew the outcome in the end anyway. Details.
Animation: 8/10. Maybe I am being harsh, but I doubt it. The classic flash/cut scenes for a fight. Good color choices though and some okay details. There is nothing extraordinary about the animation and drawing. It's classic.
Music: 7/10. Unremarkable. Both the opening and ending. The intraepisode music was at best acceptable. The sound effects were average.
Story: 8/10. Good idea to start. Okay setup. Made interesting by some complications but overall you expected most of the story to unfold the way it unfolded. The story is about two hunters, each keeps his hand with his partner and exchanges it when the time is right to shoot the bad guys. Okay interesting. Some okay bad guys here and there but again, there is nothing special about the story.
Character Design: 8/10. Too many classic personalities, too many classic villans. Some original clothing but nothing special. Hardly any effort is placed in changing the looks of the villans or the good guys. The villans disappear too quickly.
Overall a fun story to watch but you aren't look at a hot juicy anime.
Posted by : kevinchaosvs
Posted on : 2008-07-07 
Story/Dev:20%
Characters/Dev:35%
Now it certainly is very difficult to come up with something that is entirely original. With that being said, I don’t mind watching series comprised of recycled themes, if the overall result is still enjoyable. After all, lots of themes remain popular after being constantly recycled; or rather they get reused because they are popular themes to begin with. Indeed, in Zombie Loan are some of those examples of themes that never grow old: Shinigami and the quest for Immortality (pun unintended). Sadly, however, Zombie Loan is a total flop, even with the backing of said popular themes for its storyline. While, so far, most anime I know of that feature Death and/or Immortality have got decent ratings at the very least, I found the series unentertaining and absolutely disappointing. Maybe it’s because other anime have explored the theme way better, and way more detailed than Zombie Loan.
But one thing’s for sure: the series lacked character development and proper storyline development: generic paper-thin personalities with the two guys there, mainly just to look good and make cool poses with their katana and gun. Yes, clouding a character’s background in mystery is a good way to get viewers to be interested, but Zombie Loan just throws in mysteries after mysteries about Kito’s background, to the point where I couldn’t care less about him and made me question if he is even a main character at all. Funnily enough, I am actually more intrigued with the dual-personality girl and the happy go lucky girl in the Loan office, as well as Akatsuki’s old friend, the "minor" villain.
For a horror and supernatural genre, this series is boring. The enemies are the bunch of zombies you see in those cheap horrors. And the main villain is…well… …another fail. The series tries, and fails very drastically, to be philosophical with talks about Death and stuff. It simply lacked that impact which made me go "whoa!". Apart from being corny, it also sounded very forced and totally fake.
Eyes that see Death? Contacts with Death? Ha! TYPE-Moon has done it way better with Shingetsutan Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai.
Then there’s also the problem with leaving the ending hanging, without a proper closure, further making it seemed as though the series started without going anywhere and ended without going anywhere, either. This series lacks a sense of direction! The comedy aspect was just all right, not that hilarious.
Animation/Graphics/Design :75%
Music:10%
The bgm was easily forgotten and I disliked the OP. The ED was okay. The graphics are good though, making it the only positive point of the series. I like its unique art style, which is successful in creating a morbid and solemn atmosphere, which compliments to the mood of the story. Ironically, that was what amplified the factor of disappointment. The art was so good in giving an ominous mood, it kept giving me hope that something exciting is about to happen. And of course, in the end, nothing major happened. However, the fight scenes were pathetic and way too short.
Summary:
I picked up this series after watching Higurashi and was scavenging for some other horror shows to watch. Turned out this was a waste of my time. Boring.
Personal overall rating: 30%
Rating given mainly for the graphics.
Posted by : Gen3s1s
Posted on : 2008-06-22
I only heard about this thanks to the novel. I didn't actually read it, I just read the synopsis and thought "hmmm... this would be an awesome anime". Unfortunately, I was a pretty disappointed when it released as an anime. I was ecstatic. How could something with such a great plot fail miserably? I find the reason for this is because everything in the anime is pretty much a mystery. The characters are a mystery and so is the plot. Which is nice, but it's a little too much in my opinion.
The plot is interesting. That's all there is to it. I've always liked mysteries within animes. However, Zombie-Loan just took the piss. They add surprise after surprise to the point where you won't even be surprised that you’re surprised. It gets tiring and irritating, any anime can pull things out of thin air but, there's a limit. They've managed to pull so much crap out of their asses, until it reaches the point of nothing but confusion. There are funny moments and that's probably the strongest point in the anime. However, there are no touching or sad moments in the anime and it can get a little repetitive to a certain degree.
The characters... while I enjoyed watching Akatsuki and Shito's squabbling, there was not enough character development. They lack depth and you don't actually know what kind of person they are. One minute they're bad the next they're good. They are entertaining but only in a comedic way. That's fine, but if I wanted a comedy show I would watch Lucky Star or anything else for that matter. Other characters are merely side characters and, since they're side characters, you won't learn much about them either. Kita Michiruu is a very common character. A clumsy idiot, that's all. I do like Yuuta, she may be a side character but, she's unique, funny and cheerful. Three great points a character can have in my opinion.
The animation is interesting. It's unique I suppose I can't explain why. At first it'll just look solid. When you take the character designs into account then it's another story. They are uniquely designed. It's fascinating how they've managed to design these character's in a spooky kind of way. It's not even noticeable when you can consider their personalities. I love how the animation changes during comedic moments; it's always been a plus in my book. It's pretty dark during some moments, what could you possibly expect, what with the title and all.
The music never really stood out. I mean apart from the music played during battle moments. These moments are far too short seeing as the battles are also far too short. The OP and ED, while they suit the anime they aren't exactly a favorite of mine. The thing is the music isn't necessary, I mean a fifteen second tune, to go with a roughly fifteen second battle, is just as frigging pointless as having sunglasses on during winter.
Zombie Loan isn't terrible, but it disappointed me so much that I still regret ever watching it to begin with. People have different tastes in anime, though, so it might be your cup of tea. I, however, had so many issues with this, such as: the confusing plot, which only managed to get even more confusing further on down the line. The characters, who constantly change their personalities and never ever go into detail. The redundant use of music used during these short-ass battle scenes. The only good thing about the anime is the fact that it was funny and I don't consider this next part good but, it managed to hook me in. It lost me somewhere down the line though, I only finished it because it was short and the ending just irritated me, it left me asking a lot of questions and, even if goes into a second season, I doubt I'll watch it. I don't recommend this but, if you want to watch it, then go ahead. I guess it's enjoyable, it's short as well. Now is pretty much the perfect time to watch it. All you have to do is not expect much from it, and you’re going to hate it a little less. My review is a lot different from all the others because I just hated the way it ends. I was originally going to give it a seven alas; the ending sent this down to a four.
Posted by : leoxjm
Posted on : 2008-06-21
Call me crazy, but I definitely wasn't very happy with Zombie-Loan. It was likable, sure, but it was definitely not a very good show. The problems, in my opinion, are multiple.
First of, the pace of the show is very... odd. At times it feels like the show moves at breakneck pace, but it does so in circles. For example, the whole Butterfly case/subplot was very interesting, but it was over almost as it began. They could well have stretched the situation to run for the entire length of the series. Instead, the makers opted to have the case last a couple of episodes and move on. The same happens with just about everything else. This may not be such a problem if the show actually went anywhere, but it unfortunately doesn't. It has no real sense of closure, so in the end you may feel like a lot of things occurred, but that nothing really happened. Was the show canceled or something? It doesn't really have a finale! It drops off sort of in the middle of a case, and after letting us get a much needed feel for one of the main characters, which leads me to the next point: Improperly-fleshed characters.
Michiru is about the only one that a viewer can get a grasp on, and being generous, a case could be made for Akatsuki as well. But everyone else (including Shito) are pretty much a question mark to fill up space or do what the other ones can't. Shito gets better at the end, but the series ends when it'd be reasonable for a viewer to ask himself "What now?" Koyomi/Yomi was interesting, but she got suddenly dropped halfway through the show and stopped showing up or doing anything. Sousetsu and Shimotsuki's "dog" might as well have popped out of thin air... and so on. We never really know what the deal is with the great majority of them, nor do they have any sort of relevance to the "story", if you can call it that.
What the show did have, was some emotional punch and perspective. While the characters' lack of intensity doesn't make one care a lot for them, the show doesn't shy away from using them to show an uglier side of life, or the sad "perks" that come for working so closely with death. Zombie-Loan relies very much on emotional punch, admittedly an effective one, but it is sort of a cheap show... and the fact that a show is sad or shocking doesn't necessarily make it good. It also makes use of its funny moments effectively, resulting in a sort of interesting dark comedy at times. Had it coupled this with stronger development of its characters or story, maybe Zombie-Loan could have been memorable.
Visually, the character designs are the series' strongest suit. Guys, girls, they are all cute, so you can just take your pick on what you like. The animation wasn't too great, but I admittedly found the "deformed" parts of it cute/amusing, which I guess was the intended effect, so aesthetically it doesn't excel, but is effective. Action/fight sequences, however, are apparently kept to a minimum. We have the story tho thank for that. Anyway, given that they are few and far-in-between, it is difficult to really rate them. Perhaps the show could have been more interesting (or at least "cooler") if it had devoted some time to them, but it didn't. The music repertoire was limited and therefore repetitive, with the additional "sin" of being rather unimpressive. At least it has the saving grace of being adequate... but that's it. The OP wasn't too great, in my opinion. I don't think it fit the show too well, although the music was alright.
Admittedly, I looked forward to Zombie-Loan when I heard it was getting made, but finished it more out of a sense of obligation that actual interest, because I really did feel disappointed. The story is so left in the open that it pretty much invites a sequel or second season, but I don't know if I'll want to see that. I cared enough about this show to have wanted it to go somewhere, but if whatever would come after doesn't it would probably make me hate it more. I may not hate it right now, but it is an unimpressive show. I don't really recommend it, unless you like your shows with lots of fluff and little substance. Well, at least it has fluff.
Posted by : Himitsu
Posted on : 2007-11-24
I don't really have anything unique to say about Zombie-Loan. Its length was only 11 episodes, so not much was expected about its development. Expectations fulfilled: the story never really finished, a number of characters were left in the dust, and a lot of questions are left to be answered. However, the 11 episodes were actually quite entertaining; the direct effort of art, voice work, music, and sound was quite nice.
Best thing about Zombie-Loan was probably that it was visually appealing. The boys were slanky and "bishie", the colours were pretty, and their presentation style was... interesting? I especially liked the loli-goth style Yuuta would wear. There were also some 'yummy' moments here. Who could not forget the yuri-esque scenes? I know I won't!
The voice work was good, a lot of recognizable seiyuu. No complaints here, I thought that each voice was well-paired with the character in mind. The Opening and Ending won't ever be favourites of mine, they're not within my style of taste, but they weren't horrible. The insert songs, however, were lovely and upbeat, they really enhanced the battle scenes.
Zombie-Loan had an interesting presentation style. There was plenty of horror/blood and gothic atmosphere, but it still managed to be very funny!
A good anime with plenty of entertainment value, but it was a low quality production in terms of developing the story and characters. In fact, the ED theme shows you plenty of characters that don't show up in the anime! What a teaser. The ending really left an ellipses... I think that type of ending was intentional, it was very easy to leave that out. Anyway, fun anime with some funny moments, but no re-watching value.
Posted by : rae214
Posted on : 2007-11-04
Although I have to admit I enjoyed watching this anime, I also have to admit that the probability of me watching it again is quite low. Reason? Well, the main problem for me was the storyline. The story has many holes in it, and unless there is a sequel you truly couldn't understand it. There were a lot of questions unanswered, so in that sense I could compare it to Black Blood Brothers. All in all the story was intriguing yet quite unsatisfactory.
However, as I said in my opening sentence, I also enjoyed this anime, so that means there also good points. First, the animation was really good: the battle scenes were really a treat to watch, and the drawings were really good. Next, the sounds they used really fit the series, and although I didn't really like the opening I have to admit it fit the series in general. The pace of the story was generally acceptable, although it dragged a bit in some episodes.
As a whole, Zombie-Loan is a nice anime to watch, but if you're looking for something which has an ending (or at least something which feels like an ending), you wouldn't like this. I would personally recommend this to all otakus who like the supernatural themes, this is for you.
Posted by : BLECHNOCTURNE
Posted on : 2007-10-01
Zombie-Loan is a a good anime, that is while it lasts… It short only 11 episodes long, but while the manga isn’t finished, the series had A LOT of plot holes, a sequel is expected. But yet again, nothing is ever sure.
Characters: 9/10:
Zombie-Loan features a lot of characters, all of them very charming and unique. The 3 main characters: Chika, Shito And Michiru somewhat feature development, but you only see clues of these, hence the series is fairly short. The paradox of the series is that Chika and Shito, At first they hate each other’s guts, but are bonded until they finish a certain task. You see their deep relationship at the final episodes, but only a glance.
Animation: 8/10:
Colors are vivid, Nice, very unique style. The series maintains its quality from start to finish. BUT (There’s always a but) it has a very noticeable flaw, During battles most of the time the animation stops in the same frame, I can’t explain this well…. For example, Chika swings it sword towards the enemy with nice animation, then when he hits its stays there for 5-7 sec. Thus slowing down the pace of battles, but the battles are still very enjoyable.
Story: 10/10:
Even though its not finished, the story makes room for a lot of variety, and depth. It looks very promising. What I’ve learned in the 11 episodes is that, The story seems kind of predictable, but it constantly taking slight spins, keeping you interested.
Music: 9/10:
The music helps to create the atmosphere almost perfectly, whether its a comedy scene, or a sad scene, ect, The music blends in nicely.
Overall, Zombie-Loan is a very good anime that has it all: The occasional Fan-Service, Comedy, Character Depth, Even good battle scenes. But it lacks one essential thing: Lasting Value. You will watch the last episode and say: “What it’s already over?!, but what will happen, here and there?, ect?." I would recommend this anime for basically everyone, but keep in mind that it will leave you wanting more.
Posted by : tokiii
Posted on : 2007-09-23
Well I just finished watching this anime, and I reeeeeeeeeeeeally enjoyed it. (All those extra e's were necessary for emphasis.)
m(_ _)m
To be honest, I started watching because I came across a picture of Chika and Shito and thought they were bishies. I didn't really know what to expect and as I started watching, I thought it was going to be some shallow story about fighting zombies and the lead girl was gonna save the two boys from their black rings and get into some sort of romance. But the story proved to be much more than that and it suuuure showed me. I apologise profusely for my insolence =). It turned out to be unpredictable, and at times to be surprisingly deep, thought provoking, and moving.
The boys are cute, and Michiru is annoying but she gets better :D
"What is death like?" – "he’s disgustingly beautiful" – "the perfect monster" – "since it’s born, it must live"—are just some of the great one-liners in a well-written dialogue. The characters themselves are distinctive, quirky and endearing. The minor characters are VERY quirky. Be prepared for some slight lesbian scenes and several episodes of confusion as to whether one particular character is a boy or girl. But these don't detract from the story at all, and after you finish watching, it won't be what you remember most about this anime.
As for Michiru, at first you think she's the lead character but as it goes on, the story broadens to Shito and Chika. Which is good because I personally found Michiru pretty bloody annoying in the beginning. But rest assured, later, she's orrrrrrrrrrrrite and actually says some of those thought-provoking lines I was talking about. Her character seemed wimpy, but it was her voice that grated on my nerves the most. Funnily enough though, I love Claymore to death and the seiyuu who does Clare also does Michiru. Talk about skills. Also the seiyuu who does Shito also does Cloud in Advent Children. Like, WHOA. (Okay, random info there that I inserted purely just because I was all WOW over it :D)
Even the villains are diverse, from the attractive boy who thinks death is freedom, to a mad scientist obsessed with playing creator. This means the anime never feels repetitive, even though the essential action of hunting zombies never changes. And even the villains have their poignant moments—“Even someone like that has a family."
I would have cried as well
Michiru’s relationship somewhat develops with the two boys - and there are some nice scenes like when Shito just stares at her and when Chika defends her after Shito snaps at her. I mean, snap. I would have cried if I were her as well. But it was Chika and Shito's relationship that I found most interesting. It was touching to see the moments when they helped one another despite their mutual dislike, and the expressions on Shito's face as though he were surprised that Chika was diving in to help him. In the last episode particularly, there was this one scene that I played over like 3 times because that's how moving it was. Yeah! for serious! (although I admit I'm sappier than most people.) Oh by the way, music in the anime, VERY well done. There was this like...piano-ish score that played during the more serious moments and it was really lovely.
Better than Black Cat
What was ESPECIALLY well done about this anime was the comedy. Somehow in an anime filled with a very obvious theme of death, they managed to be really, truly, truly funny. I laughed out loud many, many times. And in contrast, no offence to Black Cat lovers, but I couldn't get past episode 6 of that series because I thought they tried to be funny and it just turned out awkward and like, not funny?
No DBZ-esque fights
Oh I should say something about the action. I thought the zombie fights were going to be boring, and like, what was the point of one having a sword when the one with the gun will just own all the zombies anyway. But actually, the fights didn't drag on at all, and aren't even really that important. There’s no hype about powerful enemies and needing to become stronger to defeat them. None of that, yo. What stood out to me was that something deeper was imbued along with the fights. A deeper concept about life and death, and the meaning of being alive and such. The last episode particularly, had some unexpectedly very, very moving moments. Actually, I'd say that was my favourite episode.
2, 3 episodes nearing the end, I think the anime gets a bit not-for-kids. Even I felt kind of creeped out at some of the things being shown and said. It was that mad scientist guy. Man, was he bloody nuts. But I was surprised to find that even I was subconsciously prejudiced when it came to the topics of genetics and creation, and I only realised it when Shito said "No matter how twisted, life is life. It's okay to be alive." I must admit, I felt a bit of a tear-tear at realising my own bias and at the profundity of what Shito said.
Quest for immortality?
Eternal life. Immortality. The human quest for this isn’t a new one in stories, but what was poignant was that the one in the story that does know the true meaning of immortality is not happy. Not by any means.
This review was too long and is ending now :D
This anime was so good because it balanced many genres so well - comedy, action, drama, horror, supernatural. The only downside to this anime was that it was WAYYY tooooo SHORT. Extra o’s for emphasis. I’m sure there has to be a second season because it feels as though we only just got a taste of this world and there are more questions to be answered, and more laughs and heartrending moments to come.
Recommended =)
Posted by : Hex
Posted on : 2007-09-21
The first and foremost thing I would like to say is that the Opening and ending songs for ZL are awesome, which bluntly sums up anything else I could possibly say about it so I wont go too in-depth.
The idea of "The ring" certainly isn’t something completely new, since it’s similar, in concept at least, to cycles of biological life (IE: everything that is lives will eventually die, etc). However, the spin put on such a commonly known cycle by throwing in zombies, whom are abnormalities in the "ring", makes for a very interesting foundation on which Zombie-Loan rests.
Plot: (9/10)
Personally, I loved the way the story developed. Maybe others don’t find the idea of learning about the separate main characters backgrounds in an episode by episode basis appealing, but I for one think it’s a great way to start off a fresh series. However, after much consideration I gave the overall plot a 9, not because this plot structure is used often, because the first series apparently ENDS in an a way which I find extremely annoying: A cliff hanger (HOPEFULLY there will be a second season, which I assume there will be since all evidence points to yes).
Characters: (8/10)
Michiru, Shito, Chika, etc. all have a few clichés. However, they aren’t completely made up of them. Each of them has their own unique traits that overall make them very enjoyable characters. (I won’t go into explaining exactly what makes them enjoyable because that would ruin the story).
Music: (10/10)
As I stated above, the opening and ending songs are amazing. However, the music through out the actual episodes also effectively set the correct mood for the all of the scenes in a way that you don’t even notice the music playing unless you listen for it. I feel that scene music not standing out is very important for any anime because it can become distracting to the viewer's overall attention to the story.
Zombie Loan took allot of things that almost every one knows about and created an exciting and very enjoyable anime out of them. It has its own distinct originality while not straying too far from the path of familiar story telling, which helps ease the viewers in to an understanding of the characters, their environment, and their current situational problems.
I highly recommend ZL to any one, regardless of preference, as an anime to watch.
Posted by : westcrazy
Posted on : 2007-09-17
This is a good anime for all the action/comedy anime fans. It has some interesting parts, but the middle gets kinda dull.
Plot 8/10: The plot is actually good, all the zombies and the debts, its really interesting. The problem is that near the middle the plot gets kinda boring, but the action gets really good.
Music 7/10: The music is ok, not too inspiring, but not too dull.
Action 9/10: The battles are good, and there is almost never a boring moment in all the episodes action-wise.
Graphics 8/10: The drawing style is good. Not to shabby on the eyes.
I recommend this anime if you are not too busy. Really funny, action-packed, and just plain good.
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