From Amazon (synopsis of Manga):

Tokyo Zombie is a horror-comedy manga about two blue-collar factory workers (who happen to be jiu-jitsu experts) dealing with a zombie uprising in Tokyo. When the story begins, Fujio and Mitsuo are dreaming of training in martial arts overseas and becoming famous. When they accidentally kill their overbearing boss, they decide to cover up the evidence and bury him at a man-made garbage mountain known as DARK FUJI. Unfortunately for them, the tons of rotting garbage have been contaminated with industrial waste…
Which, naturally, transforms the bodies of the dead into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies.

Oh yes. A film about zombies from a giant pile of rubbish. You can tell you’re in for hilarity when the Amazon synopsis of the opening part of the film includes ‘zombie uprising’, ‘accidentally kill their overbearing boss’ and ‘ravenous, flesh-eating zombies’, you know you’re in for a good time.

I’ll get the bad news out of the way first. The film’s budget was obviously not huge, and as a result the special effects are a little lacking. But in all honesty that sort of adds to the hilarity – some of the things the director adds to in order to get across something happening are often funnier than the plot itself – for example the slide whistle sound effect when one person falls off a bridge. You’d probably miss him if it weren’t for the whistle. The funniest part of the film is definitely the little side jokes, like the man obsessed with searching for Calpis (a Japanese soft drink) in a zombie-destroyed world, or the poor bloke who’s been forced into dumping his mother into the mountain of rubbish by his pushy girlfriend;

But the film is well worth watching – it’s pretty consistently funny, and in the second half the strangeness of the situation of the characters makes up for the lack of one liners. I will admit there are long scenes that drag on – the driving one for example is a bit overdone. Furthermore there are a few jokes, such as one of the leads finding out he’s being lied to by his doctor, which are probably funnier in Japan than they are in England or America. At least in English, I didn’t get the joke. The subtitles are good (although I tried to get through on Japanese alone – it’s a tough one!) and the film is well done. The one liners do come across well 99% of the time, and lead to some great quotes;

I’m not really sure about deep messages or comments on society that the director is trying to make here, although the wastefulness of our world is probably a main one. The actors are all reasonable , highlight being the hapless Yoko (played by Erika Oduka) who puts on a great show, and is a pretty decent character. (Although her complaining does get a bit old).

So overall the film is funny. It’s not a classic though – the plot is haphazard, some of the acting is a bit stiff and occasionally the film drag on a bit, but overall well worth watching, if only for a brilliant twist. (I’m not saying what it is, but it’s well worth watching for. Trying to guess it is impossible so you’re welcome to go ahead and try in the comments!)

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