There’s a lot of zombie stories around, almost too many one might argue, and yet we’ve come along way from the shuffling hordes of days past (okay there are still some shuffling hordes and they are still pretty fun, but there’s other options now in our undead characters). Here are my top 5 undead anime characters chosen because while they might be the walking dead they still have an undeniable human heart.
Yes, there will be spoilers in the list below.
Number 5: Rea from Sankarea
Her human life was tragic and her becoming a zombie actually wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to her. Still, life is hard for an undead who is constantly fighting off rot as well as still having to deal with the baggage from their life. Fortunately Rea has someone standing with her as she tries to move on with her death.
Number 4: Sid from Soul Eater
A little more upbeat, Sid is a teacher as the DMWA in Soul Eater who succumbs to death off screen and returns as a zombie who at first seems like an opponent but turns out just to be still doing his job of teaching his students. Still, absolute props to Si for using his own tombstone as a weapon and despite being dead he’s still got a lot of life in him.
Number 3: Ayumi from Is This A Zombie?
Another more comical pick, Ayumi dies horribly, possibly a victim of his own curiosity or bad timing, but is brought back to life by a necromancer. Despite being dead, life goes on, and Ayumi is still making the daily trudge to school and trying to avoid too much direct sun-exposure, all the while he’s on the hunt for his killer. Things take a turn for the weirder when he also becomes a magical girl and a vampire ninja moves into his house. All things considered, Ayumi deals with everything life, and death, throws at him fairly well.
Number 2: Megumi – School Live
Alright, so this one was a major spoiler if you haven’t finished School Live but I absolutely had to include her on the list. The teacher who died defending her students, though we don’t know this early on because we see her still interacting with one of them, and has become a zombie. Yet despite that she still in her own way is working toward helping them find what they need. It is absolutely tragic and yet beautiful and is one of the reasons School Live is such an amazing anime.
Affiliate Link – Soundtrack
Number 1: Hecmatika from Sunday Without God
The arc of Sunday Without God where Ai travels to the city of the dead and meets their Princess is one of my favourites and my only real regret is that we don’t get to return to the city later and see how the characters are going. Hecmatika is unaware that she has the ability to kill the living and turn them into zombies being surrounded by the dead as she but even on learning the truth she accepts it. This one is kind of a cheat because Hecmatika herself isn’t a zombie, though everyone around her is.
I’d love to know: who are your favourite anime zombie characters?
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
Hecmatika took me by surprise as I didn’t expect to see Sunday Without God in this list, but I have to agree Megumi is a must!
She was kind of a cheat addition, but I absolutely loved her and really wished we’d gone back to her in Sunday Without God.
I liked her as well! To be honest, I love that anime quite a lot. I even still have hope for a second season, somehow
A second season would be brilliant. There’s so much more to that world and the characters to explore and I’d love to spend more time seeing it with Ai and the others.
At this point I’d be happy with a single new ova episode haha, just to get to see more of the world and characters
Oh no, Megu 🙁 That was just so sad.
It is interesting that Megumi is the only zombie character here who really makes you feel sad. There are a few comic ones and ones that are a bit mysterious and the like, but considering zombies are people who have died, it feels like we should feel sad more often but they seldom elicit the emotion. Megumi manages it very easily.
I suppose it’s because of the tone difference as you said, or we just don’t know the zombies personally enough in general to care about. That since of ambiguity real damages a lot of the feelings we could have with those who passed away and wander the Earth.
I came to check if Ayumi made the list! Then I got hit straight in the feels when I saw number 2. I cried at the radio scene and was telling my laptop! Don’t you dare do this! No! … She is quite something else!
Sorry. She’s such a good character though and I had to put her in the list.
Seeing Megumi and the mention of School Live again, brings back some great memories! The show was amazing, and I loved the characters. Megumi certainly was one of my favorites. And of course I remember the many wonderful conversations with D….ugh…I miss them😔
I know. It is such a great anime and the characters really carried the story. Megumi totally deserves a place on this list though it is definitely a spoiler for those who haven’t watched the anime .
Nikaido from zombieland saga 🙂
I expected a few suggestions from Zombieland Saga.