Many fans have found themselves waiting impatiently for the next episode of the uniquely humorous take on the zombie apocalypse, Zom 100: Bucket List of The Dead. Each episode feels like it has movie-level production, with amazing animation and visuals as far as the eye can see.
It might not seem like anything else can even come close to the level of comedy and visual pizzazz that Zom 100 shows at the moment, but there are plenty of shows out there that come pretty close.
You thought Zom 100 was the only anime that didn’t take the zombie apocalypse seriously? I present to you a zombie anime set in high school, where the main focus isn’t on the brain-loving, ram-shackled zombies. It’s on the anime waifus and their interesting jiggle physics.
Yes, it’s an ecchi anime, and yes, it’s not for everyone. It’s something you watch to turn off your brain and have some dumb fun. Definitely not for everyone, but it’s worth a watch if the premise sounds interesting.
9
Doctor Stone
Not quite in the same vein as Zom 100, Dr. Stone is a post-apocalyptic anime set far, far into the future, focusing on a group of high schoolers as they attempt to revive society from the ground up. The main character is an ultra-genius who has a repository of normally-useless information that culminates in a lot of scientific advancements in the post-apocalyptic world. Yes, he’s a nerd. But a cool one!
Dr. Stone is the Minecraft of anime. If you like the progression system in factory games, where one thing leads to another, which leads to another, then you’ll love the linear progression in Dr. Stone. There’s something viscerally satisfying about watching a man reinvent the basics of our society. The anime does have some comedic elements to it, but it’s not the main focus.
8
Parasyte: The Maxim
A bit more serious take on the whole man-eating monster genre, Parasyte is a deeply interesting show that focuses on the life of a high school boy who gets an alien-monster thing stuck in his hand. This anime doesn’t fit the same vibe as Zom 100 at all. It is about monsters and the upcoming apocalypse, but it takes itself extremely seriously and isn’t comedic at all.
That being said, Parasyte is something of a gem in the rough. It has a unique take on the monster genre and executes it quite well. The animation holds up even by today’s standards, and the characters are interesting to watch. Check it out if you’re in the mood for something a bit more serious.
7
Zombie Land Saga
Unto the breach, once more. This time with undead idols! An idol show with a very interesting twist on it, Zombie Land Saga is as much a comedy as it is a musical masterpiece, making it a fun watch even if you aren’t immersed in the musical anime niche already.
Getting hit by Truck-kun isn’t the end-all-be-all of an anime character. After all, there’s always going to be that next world, right? Well, yes, but the next world is this world, and now you’re a zombie who has to perform in a band full of zombies, all the while hiding the fact that you’re a zombie from the world. Shenanigans ensue.
6
Nichijou
Nichijou is a masterclass in physical comedy and budget allocation. Instead of spending all your money on making your characters look modern and giving them eyes the audience can drown in, make the character models incredibly simplistic, reduce costs everywhere you can, and then when the time is right, drop the most ridiculously over-dramatic animation in the most mundane of situations.
The story follows the day-to-day high school life of three childhood friends. The chemistry between the cast is incredible, and the comedy of the show is one of the best in all of anime.
5
Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
In the vein of not taking things seriously, Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt is one of those shows that not a lot of people have watched, but the ones who have swear by it. It follows two fallen angels in their quest to regain their status in heaven by destroying evil on earth and earning merit points.
The show is heavily inspired by Western media, making it an interesting watch. The characters are quite interesting, and the comedy is good enough for the purposes of the show. Panty and Stocking, the two main characters, don’t take threats too seriously, choosing to focus more on their personal, relatively shallow goals, and that’s what makes the show so fun to watch. With season two on the way, it’s a good time to get yourself acquainted with this masterpiece.
4
Great Pretender
The Great Pretender is a spy/mystery show that doesn’t take itself too seriously and focuses more on the comedy aspect. It’s an episodic series with two episode arcs and fun main characters that keep the whole thing interesting.
The overarching story isn’t too important, giving the anime a Sunday cartoon vibe. The Great Pretender is about con men doing con men things on a really high level, kind of like Ryan Reynold’s Red Notice.
3
Gintama
The most highly-rated comedy anime of all time, Gintama, is something that you have to watch a few episodes of at least. Its comedy is reminiscent of a British rom-com in the sense that not everyone is going to like it, but everyone can appreciate that it’s there.
There’s not much to be said about the classic that refuses to go down in its ratings; Gintama is all about slap shtick comedy, cameos and references, and ridiculous episodes that don’t make sense.
2
Konosuba
One of the best comedy anime, and one of the best isekai to boot, Konosuba is a great anime. It has a perverted main character who believes in the equality of women, a drunk goddess who can’t do anything, a demolition expert who faints every time she explodes something and a masochistic knight who’s in need of some therapy.
We’ve all seen Truck-kun send the MC to a different universe, but sometimes dimensional travel doesn’t have to be linked to vehicular manslaughter. In Konosuba, the main character dies from shock, thinking he got run over by a truck while trying to save a high school girl and then gets transported to a different world.
1
Assassination Classroom
The spirit of Zom 100 is in living life to the fullest regardless of what situation you find yourself in, casually disregarding the extremely serious existential threat of man-eating undead roaming the world. Assassination Classroom captures this feeling extremely well. The plot follows an incredibly powerful alien who is teaching a class that tries its very best to try and kill him. The twist? Well, he’s a really good teacher, and the students are weirdly good assassins.
The premise makes it sound ridiculous, and it definitely is, but it has a lot of heart put into it. While it is mostly a comedy anime, the actual plot of the show hits hard when it wants to, moving the audience to tears with the emotions it evokes.