Zom 100 has one of the best first volumes that I have ever read. I went into this manga without much in the way of expectations but boy did it immediately set them high. I laughed out loud many times and those laughs were interspersed with bursting out into tears no exaggeration as many as three times in the span of four chapters. The first volume sets up a zombie apocalypse story like no other: its unbridledly optimistic. Faced with the end of the world our main character is overjoyed that he doesnt have to work anymore. With people scared and dying around him he goes on foolhardy excursions with an unbreakable smile on his face. Hes content with life as long as he can have a beer. He encourages his best friend to pursue his dream now that hes out of a job. The mix of overwhelming adversity and then silly irreverence cheerful optimism and the romance of the little things in life Its truly special. Ive never experienced a story quite like it by eschewing zombie drama in favor of extolling the joy of life it brings a refreshing uplifting perspective that really resonated with me. Alas it wasnt meant to last. In volume 2 and on the story turns into oil and water: it toggles back and forth between being a straightlaced Bmoviestyle zombie drama angst action and astonishingly ludicrous villains and having the main characters doing sundry activities with nary a zombie in sight. No longer are the two elements mixed and contrasted but rather separate. Neither element is particularly interesting on its own. After straying from its winning recipe cracks start to show elsewhere. The characters motivations turn to the more stereotypical save the worldtype fare robbing the story of its uniqueness. The manga is considerably trashy throughout licentious and fanserviceey and with as low a tolerance for tastelessness as I have the fact that I loved volume 1 despite this says quite a bit but having lost that je ne sais quoi that starts to grate as well. Moments that focus on the bucket list are still occasional bright points but by and large the manga quickly loses its spark loses its indomitable joie de vivre and loses my enthusiasm. Zom 100 wont stick with me as an incredible story but I will keep volume 1 on my shelf as a token of the time I was reminded that even in a tired genre there is always potential for a fresh beautiful perspective. As an aside the translation by Nova Skipper edited by Karla Clark is absolutely stellar. I was taking notes thats how good it is absolutely buy volume 1 half because its fantastic and half to raise your bar for how natural and funny a translation can be while still maintaining accuracy.