Zombies, along with other classic horror icons like vampires, mummies, and werewolves, are so incredibly overdone in just about every medium. In movies, comics, books, video games, tv shows, and even anime, there are zombie-based stories everywhere.
Thankfully, while anime does have some examples of boring classic zombies, a lot of them try to innovate on the concept at least a little bit like some horror movies try to. So, let's go over some of the more memorable anime that add to and even completely switch up the zombie formula.
10 Zombie Land Saga
Starting things off with one of the funniest examples it has to be Zombie Land Saga. People likely didn't expect a list of zombie anime to start off with a comedy, but here it is.
Essentially, the story is about a group of want-to-be idols who were all brought back from the dead by a twisted scientist to shoot for idol stardom. The main character, Sakura Minamoto, is literally hit and killed by a truck in the first episode before suddenly "waking" up ten years later as a zombie. Overall, just a very fun twist on the zombie prompt.
9 School-Live
Now, this next show has been around since late 2019 so it's well past the common courtesy most would give in regard to spoiling anything.
That said, most of what makes School-Live so compelling is dependent on the initial reaction of the viewer when the "true story" starts. So, to keep that as pure as possible, let's just say that it's not a mistake that this show is on here.
8 Kabaneri Of The Iron Fortress
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress is what happens when someone mixes Berserk and Attack on Titan together with just a pinch of Snowpiercer added on top. Obviously, the show is more than that, but this should work well to paint a picture of its tone. Essentially, this story takes place in a world where a zombie virus broke out during the Industrial Revolution, turning a significant portion of the world into Kabane (AKA zombies).
This show innovates on zombies in a couple of key ways:
- Zombies in this series are more like undead made of metal than anything else. Their hearts glow like engines, their skin is tougher than metal, and cutting them even produces sparks.
- The whole setting is very steampunk and the Kabane also follows that theme.
- They don't exactly eat their victims, they seem to just want their blood to increase their own iron reserves.
7 Tokyo Ghoul
Tokyo Ghoul is likely the most well-known example here, and that's one, because Ghouls are such an interesting divergence from the standard zombie formula, and two because Kaneki's torture scene is so memorable. In this series, Ghouls are essentially zombies mixed with vampires that can maintain the appearance of a normal human, aren't rotting, keep their sanity, and gain extra superhuman abilities on top of the standard ones such as strength or durability.
For one, Ghouls can only stomach human flesh or the flesh of other Ghouls, as human food (outside of coffee) tastes like trash to them. Two, Ghouls have Kagune, an extra organ/limb that stems from their RC Factor and comes in all types of shapes, sizes, and functions. Three, they're highly regenerative, able to heal from most wounds with no problem given time and sustenance. And lastly, they actually can become more powerful by eating other Ghouls, which is very different from how zombies usually work.
6 Gungrave
This has to be the most unique inclusion on here, as this next anime didn't start as an anime and get a game adaptation but is actually the other way around. Originally Gungrave was a video game that eventually had its own anime adaptation made about a year later.
In this world, zombies exist in the form of Deadmen which function as mindless soldiers used by all sorts of people. The main character Brandon Heat, now known as Beyond the Grave (usually just Grave) is one of the only examples of a Deadman that still retains some sentience and a goal of their own. In all honesty, Deadmen aren't too different from zombies, but the fact that they're manufactured and serve as soldiers is assuredly new.
5 Sunday Without God
Sunday Without God is by far the most adventurous concept here, at least at a glance. This story takes place in a world where, fifteen years earlier, god abandoned the earth and took the concept of death along with them. Now everyone on Earth are immortal zombies that will never die of old age or from injuries, but they can no longer have children or end their own lives.
Thankfully, people called grave keepers exist in this world with the ability to actually put to rest anyone they so choose.
4 D. Gray Man
Next up is another story that takes place in what is essentially a post-apocalyptic world, D. Gray Man. In this world, there's a constant war between the Black Order and the Noah Family with humanity in the balance. The Black Order is comparable to an alternate version of the Catholic Church and they travel around looking for objects of power called Innocence (which they use as weapons).
Along the way, these Black Order exorcists come into contact with these creepy monsters called Akuma. These are humans that died, but their loved ones ended up in a contract with the Millenium Earl to bring them back. The Earl then provides a metal skeleton and "calls back" their soul into it. Once in the body, the soul is now bound to the Earl's orders and is told to kill their loved one and wear their skin to blend in with humanity. So, in origin alone, these Akuma are such an interesting take on zombies.
3 Is This a Zombie?
Another example of a rare zombie comedy, Is This A Zombie is a story that hilariously blends a lot of overdone horror or anime concepts together to create a confusing but side-splittingly funny mess. Basically, the protagonist Ayumu Aikawa is killed by a serial killer and then brought back as a zombie by a necromancer.
After this, Aikawa then coincidentally comes into contact with a Magical Girl (think Sailor Moon) who accidentally has her powers absorbed by Aikawa. Now, this zombie lad is forced to crossdress all Magical Girl Ore-style to fight against demons, so it's a bit of a complicated premise.
2 Corpse Princess
Coming up next is another classic by the name of Corpse Princess. Zombies in this setting are known as Shikabane and Shikabane Hime, and the main character Makina Hoshimura is brought back as one of the Hime variety in order to slay other Shikabane like her.
The Buddhist monk that brings her back tells Makina that she needs to slay 108 other Shikabane in order to get into heaven. The fact that these zombie-like beings are "contracted" to their own monk that keeps them alive while they work towards their Shikabane slaying goal is an interesting twist on the concept.
1 Sankarea: Undying Love
Lastly, let's talk about Sankarea: Undying Love, another comedy but this one has a big emphasis on romance. The most interesting part of this zombie story is that its main character is essentially a zombie otaku, being obsessed with any media having to do with the undead. And, while trying to use some old manuscript to make a potion that will bring back his dead cat as a zombie, a girl by the name of Rea Sanka drinks it. She then dies not long after in an accident and comes back as his new "zombie girlfriend".
As far as innovating on zombies, it's more the actual story setup and the morally wrong main character that's different rather than the zombie herself, as Rea functions a lot like a regular non-rotting zombie, she just has to eat hydrangea leaves to survive rather than flesh.