Modern anime series are more compelling when they blend a variety of established genres and narrative styles, which helps them subvert or reinvent familiar clichés and make the story less predictable. Subversion, in particular, seems to be in vogue in the anime world today, like Chainsaw Man as a brutal shonen title. Meanwhile, the horror comedy series Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead twists the "zombie apocalypse" genre not just with social commentary, but a hint of fantasy.

On the face of it, Zom 100 is an escapism story about a young man, Akira Tendo, who is overjoyed to watch zombies tear apart the society that trapped him in a nightmarish office job. But Zom 100 isn't just criticizing Japan's work culture — it's also subverting the idea that narratives have a smooth, logical flow where the best decisions are always made. Like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Zom 100 is controlled chaos, a semi-cohesive story that presents itself as an improvised, aimless adventure.

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Zom 100 Embodies Surreal Fantasy Tropes Like a D&D Session

Zom 100 is set in the real world, like a slice-of-life anime series, and has slightly supernatural elements with the zombie apocalypse. Even if there are no robed necromancers raising these zombies from the grave, Zom 100's narrative still has some fantasy vibes to it, aided by the show's whimsical imagination and its narrative style.

The comedy makes viewers laugh and the critiques of Japan's work culture give the anime a message to share, but it's the D&D fantasy themes that make each episode's events actually happen. That's part of the series' charm, and blending high fantasy narrative tools into a SOL zombie/comedy series simply adds yet more depth to Zom 100. Such multilayered, charming depth is what makes Zom 100 a standout Summer 2023 anime title.

The Zom 100 anime feels like a reinterpretation of D&D: Honor Among Thieves because of a few key elements, including how protagonist Akira Tendo assembles his misfit squad of survivor heroes. It's true that many zombie apocalypse movies and shows create a main team of survivors, but in a colorful comedy like this, that concept has stronger D&D vibes than normal.

Akira and his friends, even more so than Rick Grimes' large team in The Walking Dead, feel like distinct "classes" with unique skills, outlooks on life, and equipment. These characters may not align perfectly with D&D classes like a warlock or paladin, but the analogy is still there. Shizuka, for example, is a resourceful, slippery rogue who uses clever planning and mobility to get the edge, while Kencho keeps everyone's spirits up as a pseudo-bard and Beatrix the samurai enthusiast is almost literally a fighter with her armor, sword, and bow.

This group makes up its own rules and takes life as it comes on this grand adventure, just like any D&D party at the table or on the big screen, complete with creative solutions to unexpected problems and clashing personality quirks driving the comedy and drama. Those are key D&D traits, and they work just as well here as with any adventure on the Faerûn continent. This is all about escapism from the routines and hardships of daily life, where D&D characters and anime characters alike let viewers or players live out their fantasy of being someone else in a new life.

Such characters can go anywhere and do anything, whether it's a critique of work culture or just a way to explore a D&D campaign module. Examples are many in Zom 100, from Akira's group accepting a quest to help Beatrix deliver fish to a sushi restaurant to building a tree house to visiting some hot springs as this anime's version of the party resting at an inn for a long rest overnight.

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Zom 100 & D&D: Honor Among Thieves Are About Controlled Chaos

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Zom 100 are both wonderful examples of how fiction can reconcile order and chaos to get the best of both worlds. More broadly speaking, nearly all works of fiction blend chaos and order, so the story can have some proper structure while creating the illusion of the characters making their own choices while events happen in an unpredictable world.

However, D&D takes it to another level as a tabletop RPG, balancing the player's unpredictable choices with the DM's need for the campaign to follow a generally cohesive narrative. Railroading and straying too far from the plot are both unacceptable, so it's a collaborative effort to tell a functional story. The D&D: Honor Among Thieves movie represents that as both a fantasy movie and as an adaptation of the original D&D game.

That movie's characters made mistakes, were often taken by surprise, and sometimes refused to cooperate or follow the plan, but the movie still had some structure and direction, so it didn't end up as five hours of Edgin's team wandering around getting lost forever because they can't stick to a single mission goal. The movie's own script served as the phantom DM running a campaign/adventure, and the characters were PCs who goofed off but still knew they needed to actually accomplish something meaningful now and then. That created both order and chaos, which blended seamlessly into a well-structured but authentically chaotic, comedic fantasy adventure. That set it apart from more serious fantasy like The Lord of the Rings trilogy while being equally compelling.

Now, Zom 100 is doing the same without being an outright satire like Gintama or the isekai anime Konosuba. Zom 100 presents its characters as a real-life D&D party with their own classes, personality flaws, and improvised adventures, letting Akira reclaim his personal freedom by wandering the zombie wasteland however he chooses. Akira's only goal is open-ended in nature — he's not trying to save the world like Izuku Midoriya or even save one person like Tanjiro Kamado. He has no campaign module to follow, just short-term goals on his bucket list.

That drives the anime's comedy, escapism, and critique of Japanese work culture, but it's not entirely unscripted fun. Like D&D: Honor Among Thieves' screenplay, Zom 100's narrative is a phantom DM giving Akira's seemingly unscripted adventure some smooth pacing and appreciable goals, so the anime has a purpose. It's working well so far, with or without a BBEG waiting at the campaign's end.