Part 2: RIP, Our Idol Industry Differences, And The Traumas Born From Our Deaths!
As we said last time, Zombie Land Saga's 12 episodes can be split up into discrete little arcs. We passed out of the first, and here we're going to cover the second and the third. Really, we're going to cover the third in-depth. The second little arc which spans episodes 3, 4, and 5 of the show is mainly fun fluff of the week as our zombie idol group continues to take steps to becoming a legitimate force in the pop music sphere. It's all very important stuff and not "filler" in any sense of the word, but you'll forgive me if I want to fast-forward a bit to the more emotionally resonant stuff. We will talk for a bit, though, on these episodes. Episode 3 concerns the girls performing a guerrilla performance, in which they just head out into a town square in Saga and sing and dance. There's a bit of tension where Ai and Junko still aren't entirely on board with the project, but they cut in to help at the last minute and the guerrilla show goes as well as it could have. Episode 3 also finally has the girls decide on a name for the group, inspired by Tae's zombie groaning/sneezing: From here on, the zombie idol girls are known as Franchouchou. Saki also takes on the role of the group's leader, so to speak, so things are getting more organized.
Episodes 4 and 5 are more of the same; a scheme of the week which devolves into shenanigans, with a quiet scene or two of character-based reflection and vowing to make it in this idol world. Episode 4 has a show at a hot spring sponsored by a pharmacy, which the girls ruin via shenanigans involving sneaking out into the hot spring at night and traumatizing the pharmacy marketing lady by accident thanks to being walking corpses. It does have a nice little scene where the girls all bond together at a foot bath and reflect on how they have a long way to go but remain determined to make it. Episode 5 has double the shenanigans, as we have some comedic gold involving Franchouchou doing an ad for a fried chicken chain called Drive-In Tori and Tae wanting to eat the chicken mascot they're working with. The second half of the episode has them compete in a sports event called the Gatalympics, and the comedy of the girls repeatedly falling into mud while trying to swing on ropes or ride a bike and stuff. Like I said, analyzing comedic bits just doesn't really work. The best I can say is "it's funny stuff" and urge you to check out the show and watch zombie anime girls fall in the mud and have a chuckle.
So ends the second little arc of Zombie Land Saga, and by this point the girls are starting to rise out of obscurity. They've performed multiple shows, been on TV, and competed in a fun little sports event. Indeed, a pair of reporters we keep seeing have even noticed them and are covering their events with great interest, though the end of episode 5 has one of them remarking that Junko looks awfully familiar. I should mention, while we've got a paragraph or so to spare, that the girls' public facing personas don't use their actual names. Instead they just go by numbers, so Sakura is Number 1 and Saki is Number 2 and so on. Tae is Number 0, probably because she's just a stereotypical zombie and that's the joke. So, when the reporter man thinks to himself that Junko looks familiar, he's really wondering where he's seen Franchouchou's Number 4 before. Indeed, as Episode 6 starts, it's been a month and a half and this guy hasn't been able to dig anything up on the girls. No social media presence or anything. This is juxtaposed nicely with the girls sneaking into Kotaro's room one night to check the Internet on his computer, Junko and Yugiri in particular baffled by it because they died before the Internet was even a thing. Times do change, after all. Even for Ai, who's only been dead a decade, the idol scene has shifted and changed. Groups she thought were a sure thing disbanded, but that's natural with the times. As she says, the idol concept goes through booms and busts.
The shifting and mercurial nature of the idol scene over time is going to be important to this little arc, so we'll put a pin in how Ai feels about it. What we will focus on, however, is how Junko feels about it. Yes, a storm's starting to brew, bringing thunder and lightning and interpersonal conflict. With the advent of Franchouchou's success comes the inevitable sprouts of fandom. There's already talk of the girls online thanks to their chicken ad and their other public appearances, and now it's time to address those fans and begin holding meet and greets to interact with them for photo opportunities. Everyone's on board with this, but Junko doesn't quite know what it means. At first it's played off as a joke, ha ha ha the idol from the '80s doesn't know what a digital camera is. Nobody will be laughing in a bit. A small and simple mini show is held, at the end of which the fans are offered their chance to have their picture taken with their favorite idol of the group. It all seems well, but Junko... Junko can't bring herself to go through with it. When asked why and told that everyone's waiting for her, she protests: Being an idol is about dazzling people from the stage, and this is nothing like that. Back at the house Kotaro lays into them for messing up their photo shoot, and as he leaves it's Ai's turn to lay into Junko for her actions, to which Junko lays out her misgivings:
And there it is. The first big ideological conflict of the show. Ai and Junko's disparate views on what it means to be an idol, and what's necessary to reach those meteoric highs. As is later stated, both of them are coming at it from their own passions and beliefs. Plenty of fights start because both sides have a good point, but neither Ai nor Junko are willing to back down from what they believe in as idols. There is, of course, more going on under the surface with these tensions. Though the other doesn't know it yet, both Ai and Junko are reflecting on their positions with their own personal traumas and anxieties driving them. The episode slows down as both girls head outside in makeup to take a walk and cool off to reflect on things, and we get a pair of poignant scenes where they each confess to another girl in the group what else is on their minds. We'll start with Junko again, sadly wandering the beach. There's a rather symbolically loaded shot where she writes the word "idol" in the sand and the surf washes it away. That's Junko. Later, Sakura will find her and they'll have a heartfelt chat where Junko speaks her mind. In the end, part of the conflict is just like what Ai was saying when they were Googling stuff. Times change, and the idol industry shifts and changes, as well. For Ai and Sakura, who died just ten years before, it isn't such a bad culture shock. Junko, on the other hand, is an idol out of time. An idol from the 1980s. By all measures, she should be an old lady now, with wisdom and experience and having shifted and changed herself along with the times. Instead, here she is, a 1980s idol in a world that's moved on. A dead girl from a dead time in history, and that's what's screwing her up about this photo op bullshit:
Junko continues, as we poignantly see images of her on an old CRT, and a major theme of Zombie Land Saga pops up that we must put another pin in. Junko worked hard on her own meteoric rise as a solo idol in the 1980's, had big dreams, and was riding high. Just as everything was finally looking great, however... she was killed in a plane crash, in 1983, and that was that. She died, and yet here she is. A zombie, out of place, out of tune, out of time. I feel for poor Junko, and I'd like to use this little paragraph to carve out a personal... association, I guess the word is. We don't hear any of Junko's 80's idol songs in this season of the show. One can imagine many styles for her, but there's one song in particular that just makes me think of that era, that time, that essential Junko-esque quality. I present to you Yurie Kokubu's "I Wanna Be With You". It's a little later than Junko's time, being a song from 1987, but what the hell. It's my internal landscape and if I want to set the soundtrack, I can. Just vibe with me. Listen to it and think of what I've told you about Junko. Think of the idol from 1983, out of place and out of time. Think of the lonely hardship she's just shared with Sakura, opening up on the traumatic circumstances of her own death. Think of her, sadly sighing on the beach and solemnly agreeing with what Max Brooks and Zac Snyder and all the rest have to say about what she's become. Junko Konno, the Showa-era idol, has no place in modern society. Indeed, if it comes to it, if her outdated approach is in the way... then maybe Junko has no place in Franchouchou, either.
(INTRUSION FROM THE FUTURE: After writing this and delving more into the city pop scene, I discovered that Yurie Kokubu's debut album, Relief 72 Hours, actually came out in 1983. Even more amazingly, if this Wiki I've found is accurate, the album released on Sept. 21st. Sept. 21st of last year was a special date to me, as it was my return to scenic Grand Bank, Newfoundland after two years. I love little resonances like that in my life. Anyway, here's a great song from Yurie Kokubu's debut album, Tobashite Taxi Man. May it inspire further thoughts and empathies with Junko Konno in this post.)
Ah, but what of the other end of the ideological conflict? What of Ai Mizuno? What are her deep-rooted insecurities? She and Junko aren't so different in that regard. Ai herself has reflected and flashed back to Googling herself, the former center of the popular idol group Iron Frill in the late 2000's. Ai is determined and driven. She refuses to be history just yet, and will rise back up from her defeat... but that defeat still terrifies her. As she's out and about, trying to cool off from the situation, it begins to rain. It then begins to thunder, and Ai cowers in terror from the thunderclaps as Saki comes to find her, the pair taking shelter from the torrential rain in a playground. Saki and Ai have a chat, much like Sakura and Junko just did, where Saki confesses she doesn't really get all this idol and fandom stuff but it's all about guts and gusto for her. As Ai can't help but cower into Saki in fear of another burst of thunder, we find out just why it's so traumatic to her:
Now Ai is sharing the personal details of her death and undeath, and how this isn't the legend she wanted. In death, Ai became a symbol that pushed Iron Frill forward to grow and change, internalizing and overcoming the pain of her loss. It's a touching story, but one that puts Ai as part of the past being shifted and changed from. Where Junko is sadly resigned to be left behind with the times if it comes to it, Ai insists that she isn't history yet. Dead or alive, she's getting back on that stage... and indeed, her words are more literal than she can imagine. Episode 6 ends with the revelation that the girls are playing at the Saga Rock show, a stage that Iron Frill also will be playing at. A stage where Ai has to face, head-on, the trauma of her own death. A stage where Junko may be absent, choosing to be left behind with the past. This ideological conflict has to be sorted out, and soon.
Unfortunately as Episode 7 begins, Junko's chosen to lock herself away in a room in the mansion, depressed and gloomy as the rest of the girls practice away for Saga Rock. Will she recover from her funk in time to rejoin the girls? Will she and Ai hash it out and come to an understanding? Y'all, you know what kind of blog we're writing here. Of course she will. Kotaro eventually gets fed up, breaks down her little barricade, and then gives her exactly the advice and perspective that an undead girl out of place and out of time needs to hear in order to gain inspiration:
Junko understands all that, but she still can't bring herself to do it. She can't open her idol boundary up to that sort of thing. Kotaro's response is simple and to the point: Then don't do it. Times may change and idols may change, but she is Junko Konno, the Showa-era idol. She can do whatever she wants with her idol persona. She doesn't need to conform to the parts of the modern idol era she's not comfy with. She can turn that weakness into a strength and make it part of her character if Ai objects. As Kotaro puts it, there's things that make Ai herself and things that make Junko herself. She can express herself in that style, the style of a time long gone, and show the rest of the girls how capable of an idol she can be while still adhering to the values and styles of her long-gone Showa era. Yes, that will be tricky to do at the moment, but Kotaro offers more soft-spoken wisdom:
And so, Junko is broken out of her funk and declares herself as the Showa-era idol to her zombie friends... after Kotaro accidentally hits her with the van she ran in front of to stop them leaving her behind. Look, it's a comedy show, we have to roll with the punches and she's fine. Junko has gained new resolve and the ability to stand with her friends, and now with her own inner strength she's ready to help Junko. Kotaro was right. It's getting stormy again at Saga Rock as Franchouchou prep to take the stage, another downpour beginning as they step up. Ai is traumatized and frightened by all of this, facing the grim reminder of her own tragic death head-on... and it's affecting her performance. Voice shaking, trembling as the thunder roars overhead, Ai is not doing well. Junko's response is to hop in, singing Ai's part, and then...
They help each other, 'cause they're in this idol stuff together. Say, this reminds me of that other show I talked about which had the metaphor of understanding and empathizing with others via extending your hand and taking someone else's. The name of it escapes me for the moment, so let's focus on this moment. Out of place and out of time, Ai and Junko work together with everyone else and put on a show... and then Ai's trauma strikes back. Quite literally, as the entire group is struck by lightning which fucks up the stage. Together with Junko and her friends, Ai has faced the spectre which killed her again... and well, you can only die once. The lightning doesn't do shit to them because it's already dead, and in fact it somehow autotunes them for their follow-up encore and lets them shoot laser light shows from their fingers. As they finish the song, Ai having confronted her greatest fear and Junko stepping up to uphold her values in the unknown new world of the 2010's... the sun breaks through the clouds.
Ai and Junko faced their fears and overcame them. They proved Max Brooks and Zac Snyder and all the rest wrong. They have a place in modern society, and I'll be damned if they can't dance while they're at it.
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