Zombie shark makes a splash in ‘Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead’

CEBU, Philippines — When adapting hit manga “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” into a live-action film of the same name, the showrunners knew there was one unforgettable element that they had to include no matter what.

The zombie shark had such a big impact on producer Akira Morii when he first read the manga that he knew it needed to be in the film. Ahead of the global premiere of “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead on Netflix” on August 3 exclusively on Netflix, the trailer sneaks a peek (or two) at the zombie shark in all its ferocious, snapping glory.

With the many outdoor scenes, zombie modeling and large-scale action sequences, the live-action adaptation faced many challenges, and the zombie shark was the hardest of them all.

“The opportunity to turn a shark into a zombie and bring it onto land was too exciting to pass up,” said Morii, who was also behind popular series Alice in Borderland. “The preparation and work itself was really tough but the thrill of being able to do something like that outweighed the difficulty.”

The horror-comedy follows overworked office worker Akira (Eiji Akaso) who, in the wake of a zombie apocalypse, is more excited at not having to go to work than worried about fending off the undead. Deciding to live life to the full, he comes up with 100 things to do before turning into a zombie and embarks on a journey with Shizuka (Mai Shiraishi) and Kencho (Shuntaro Yanagi) to check off his bucket list.

To immerse audiences in Akira’s world, director Yusuke Ishida took scenes that occur at an electronics wholesaler in the original manga and set them in a real Don Quijote retail store in Kabukicho, Shinjuku.

“The details are everything, so we traced each and every sign in Kabukicho’s famous sea of neon signs and recreated the Don Quijote store with the supervision of the actual staff, and the items shown are all actual products sold there,” explained Ishida, who tapped into his experience of combining visual effects and real sets from being third unit director on Shin Godzilla.

Ishida had a purpose for his hyper focus on realism. By making Akira’s world an extension of everyday life, he hopes that viewers will be inspired by Akira’s positive outlook and have the courage to live out each day no matter what tomorrow brings.

The series is based on the original graphic novel “ ZOM100-Zombi ni Naru made ni Shitai 100 no Koto” by Haro Aso & Kotaro Takata, published by Shogakukan Inc. — (FREEMAN)