Zombie-Loan, Vol. 1

Zombie-Loan #1

by Peach-Pit

Michiru Kita's a weak-spirited girl who has a hard time saying what's on her mind. One day, she notices mysterious, ring-like markings around the necks of two of her classmates, Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana - two boys who miraculously survived a horrible accident six months ago. Michiru, possessing the rare ability to see these rings, knows that they warn of impending death. Thinking that, perhaps, she can do something to save her classmates' lives, she approaches them...but it seems the boys have already made a different kind of deal and garnered themselves a heavy debt.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Fantasy, Zombies, Supernatural, Graphic Novels, Comics

190 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Peach-Pit (ピーチ・ピット Pīchi Pitto) is a female manga artist duo in Japan, made up of Banri Sendo (千道 万里 Sendō Banri) and Shibuko Ebara (えばら 渋子 Ebara Shibuko). Their group name derives from the diner hangout Peach-Pit from the TV show Beverly Hills, 90210. Although both have similar styles, with some artwork it is possible to identify which artist drew it. Both are known for their bishōjo styled works. As noted in their books, they are both Geminis and have "Almost flushed our phones down the toilet...twice."

The two of them grew up together and went to the same elementary school and have been best friends ever since. Both started as doujinshi manga artists, but not as Peach-Pit. Then they were scouted by Dengeki Comic Gao!. In 2008, one of their manga, Shugo Chara!, was awarded the Kodansha Manga Award for best children's manga. Shugo Chara was also turned later into an Anime television series.

Reviews

[Lala · Rating 5 out of 5]

I, contrary to other rather pessimistic reviews, adore this manga. I like how Michiru isn't one of those heroines that is terribly powerful and fights every battle while the others characters watch. She is shy and her klutziness is humorous to watch. She isn't a bland character but she isn't the main star who leaves every one else in the dust either. I also like the fact that neither Chika or Shito fall heads over heals in love with her. their personalities clash in a way which is always fun to watch and while they have a concrete goal in mind they aren't overly oblivious to the heroine or other characters. The three characters placed together is like a train crash, you want to look away but can't and most of the time it is worth it. I personally think that this manga is a hilarious read and I've read the other reviews that the art isn't spectacular. I think that is just idiotic, I've seen much worse and if you haven't seen nor comprehended the phrase 'don't judge a book by it's cover' then perhaps you should look it up. A great part of manga is the art but not solely the art and if you are just judging the book for it's art then you'll miss a lot. I think this deserves the rating I gave it and I would recommend it to just about anybody.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zombie Loan ran in Monthly GFantasy, a magazine that supports shounen series that tend to have fantasy settings and supernatural elements. I've read two other series that run in this magazine - Pandora Hearts (one of - if not - my favorite shounen series of all-time) and Black Butler (which was incredibly meh to me so I dropped it after a good solid try). I've seen all these series described as being appealing to woman (such as the beautiful character designs and sweeping costuming in Pandora Hearts) even though they are written for a shounen demographic...so, I decided to give Zombie Loan a chance (because usually when it comes to shounen, I don't give it a second glance).

The premise of Zombie Loan starts out with Michiru Kita, who is able to see when people are about to die. She notices that two of her classmates - Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana - have the telltale signs of impending death, so she decides to warn them. As it turns out, however, these two boys are already dead, having died in an accident six months prior to the start of the story. They are now zombies who have taken out loans for a second chance at life, which loans involve dispatching 'illegal' zombies as part of their payment.

I've never read about zombies before, nor have I ever really been all that inclined to start. But, my library happened to have the complete series of Zombie Loan, and having some background on the details of this series' publication, I decided to check it out.

In the past week, I've marathoned all 13 volumes of the series. The end result is a mostly cohesive story that took about three or four volumes to get its feet under it, a strong middle, and then two or three volumes to kind of peter out at the end (existentialism overload). The series got rather messy at times with an at-times rambling plot. There was more language than I'd like (being Yen Press, which I've read several other series from with quality translations, I'm really not sure if the language was there to begin with or if it was added in during translation in order to convey the rudeness of speech), and I could have done without the innuendo, which was more prevalent in the initial volumes and all but gone by the time the series really picked up. The art improved significantly from start to finish.

Zombie Loan was a fun series to read. I think it could have used more polish to make it really stellar, but as is, it's not bad. Certainly worth the marathon read. :)

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes hi this is another case of having loved something when I first read it over a decade ago but on a reread just wanting to throw the book away in annoyance. Michiru's the best though, love her.

[MissAnnThrope · Rating 1 out of 5]

08 February 2013

Best part of the entire volume:

”He's a dickcheese bastard!!!”

The concept for Zombie Loan, Volume 1 sounds interesting and dark, but it failed to spark any interest in me at all. I think the main character, Michiru, is a hopeless pushover to the point it's almost embarrassing to see. Sadly, she has an extreme case of doormat-itis. The strange thing about her, which is even stated in the synopsis, is that she has a hard time expressing herself to others. Then why is it that 80% of this volume shows her shouting her head off?

The other two main characters, Chika and Shito, are polar opposites of Michiru. They are obnoxious, arrogant, and have zero likability. I don't care how pathetic someone may seem, you have no right calling them “trash” for feeling despondent. Douche. I kept hoping a zombie would suck their brains out.

The dialogue was dull and the humor was flat. Unfortunately, I really didn't care for the art as well. I think the ending leads to the possibility of Michiru developing into a stronger character, but I have no interest whatsoever to wait to see that happen. Since the story and art were lacking, I doubt I'll continue on with the series.

[Miss Ryoko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Zombie-Loan has been on my to-read list for quite some time and thanks to the ABC Challenge in the Manga Book Club, I had an excuse to finally check it out. The first volume is kind of meh and slow. It has potential, and I'm sure things will pick up. But the first volume made two distinct impressions on me:

1) This feels like a emo, paranormal version of Fruits Basket... Chika and Shito are pretty much Kyo and Yuki and Michiru is Tohru.
2) Why are these paranormal beings called zombies when they are nothing like zombies? Perhaps the translation is loose? Or perhaps the creators at Peach-Pit took artistic liberty in creating a different kind of zombie. That is fine, however, it disappoints me a bit because I like my zombies to be traditional zombies. There is no right and wrong, and I generally like it when people tweak paranormal beings, but these things are not even close to being anything like zombies other than they want to "eat flesh"... and so... I am a bit disappointed. I was hoping for actual zombies.

I will definitely read the rest of the series some day. But now I need to get a move on the rest of this ABC challenge because I'm falling behind!

[Selena Pigoni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. Part of me liked it, but part of me didn't.

This is kind of a "deal with the devil" type manga, which I like. The characters however... I think it'll take some time for them to grow on me. Shito and Chika are kinda prickly and I'm not sure if I like them or hate them. Michiru's a quiet, wishy-washy girl who doesn't say what she feels and lets people walk all over her, and I really didn't like her until the end, when she seems to grow a lot.

I think I'll give this series another volume and see if the characters improve.

[O · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't go farther than chapter 3. The guy at the end was so full of shit. He thinks anyone who doesn't ~live to the fullest~ are scum and trash. What about people with depression? And telling the girl to kill herself just because she doesn't confirm to his idea of living... what a pos.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Graphic violence, but an interesting and unique concept. I'm enjoying it so far.

[Ana Paes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Notes: it's not good but it's not that bad. It's plain weird. I'll give it one more shot, maybe it gets better.

[Book Tea 🫖 with Jai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michiru Kita is a nerdy girl who has a what they called Shinigami Eyes, which is the power to allow her to see a death ring around the person's neck. The ring will start off gray, then when the ring turns pitch black, the person dies. 

Michiru accidentally bumps into  two boys name Chika and Shito, in her class, both have black rings around their necks, but are still alive....How?!?! Because there ZOMBIE After a freak accident, that was supposed to kill them both, they made a deal with Zombie-Loan. In return for keeping them alive. They must hunt zombies( their own kind) to pay back their debt.

When they find out that Michiru's has the Shinigami ability. They immediately want to use it to their advantage. They want her to help to find people with the death rings around their neck. So they can pay their first debt.

The first payment was about children going missing at the school. They didnt know who was doing it. But as always it was right under their nose. Lol. I was suprised when I found out who it was....you will to maybe not :)

I love the speed of the book. I wish they would have put more history on Michiru Kita and Chika and Shito life. I absolutely love love zombie books, and for me right now. I love this series. It reminds me of Death Note. But I'm excited about book 2!!!

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review for the series up to volume 4, but I'll refrain from posting major spoilers.

For the most part this is a decent series. People more into action will enjoy it more, as will most zombie fans. I like the characters well enough, but I can see where this will have the potential to have a lot of filler, as it's 13 volumes long. So far so good, although I'm not as drawn to read this as I wanted to.

Artwork wise, it's cute. It's rather tame for a Peach-Pit book and the fanservice here is practically nonexistent when you compare it to DearS. I know that they can and do write books for a younger audience, but this is written for a slightly older reader base and it's interesting that they didn't put more fanservice in here. It's there, but it's nowhere near as blatant as it could be.

It's worth checking out, in any case.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a high school girl who unwittingly becomes the gopher of two boy zombies. They're not the nicest people you could meet, but they're certainly cute. The heroine of the story can see rings around people's necks and she knows when they're about to die which is what makes her useful to the zombies who are paying off a loan so they can be whole again.

At least, that's what I think happened.

The graphics are confusing, to say the least. I would stare at the pictures and wonder just what was happening and also who was saying what. The story kept me going, not the drawings.

It was a nice, fun, lunchtime read that drew at least one comment from someone seeing me read it. They were interested that it was read from right to left.

[Christiane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the premise: weak-willed orphan Michiru can see people's impending death; when she tries to warn two of her doomed (cute, male) classmates who miraculously "survived" a recent accident, she learns that they have already made a very special bargain. Oh, and young women are going missing, and a super cute little doggy actually isn't. I won't be picking up volume 2 though because I really didn't like the characters very much. Michiru is okay, though her transformation comes unconvincingly fast; her two classmates though are just annoying: rude and mean-spirited with no real redeeming traits.

[Hannah Belyea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michiru has a dangerous ability - she can tell when one is close to death by a ring around their neck - and attempts to use it to warn her classmates, Chika and Shito, only to find that they've made a dark and supernatural deal regarding their lives. Peach-Pit offers supernatural fans a decent beginning to a deal-with-the-devil tale waiting to blossom. What can Michiru do for her classmates besides telling them that death is soon?

[Lord · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uhhhhh..... the worst thing about this manga is Peach Pit's artwork which is quite ugly and the main heroine looks like an alien (which is, of course, not unheard of in manga). The story is very average. I'd take any Dark Horse series over this one. Even Princess Resurrection from Del Rey is better. I really wonder if I will force myself to read the second volume I foolishly bought.

[Teru Chan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this manga at random, and unlike other negative reviews I actually love this manga. Being an avid shoujo reader myself, thus manga was refreshing and different, I was definitely hooked into the story line. all the main casts are pretty awesome. its worth a read imo and defs goes into my favorites self!

[Julie Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michiru Kita is the kind of girl who never speaks up for herself, and does what others tell her to do without question. As evidenced by the way the group of girls she eats lunch with every day make her buy all their food, and she has to go and get it herself! She’s on the way back one day when she accidentally runs into two male students, knocking off her glasses. To her alarm, she sees black rings around their necks. Apologizing, she hurries to the cafeteria to deliver the lunch order. There she discovers that the two boys she ran into are known as Boy A and Boy B, because they were the sole survivors of a horrible accident. Kita finds the rings disturbing because in her experience, people who have them tend to die. Worse than that, though, did she really see what she thought she saw? She awakens in the school infirmary, having fainted. She really wishes the Sister had wakened her instead of allowing her to sleep.

It’s dark and it’s late as she hurries across the empty school grounds, headed home lest her aunt worry about her. But she is stopped by Boy B, real name Chika, who demands she pay him 500 yen for what happened earlier. Seriously? They are joined by Boy A, Shito, who proposes they kill her, presumably for what she witnessed. What to do, what to do? She tells them she just wanted to warn them about danger, about the rings on their necks, and then she manages to sprint to safety.

The next day Shito and Chika face Kita’s bullies and tell them that Kita is their go-fer now, not theirs. Things are going from bad to worse, so she stays home after that but they find her anyway, and even charm her aunt into giving them tea. They claim they are debt collectors. Kita tries to pay them the 500 yen they demanded but they tell her the debt is now 50 million yen. Wth? They then spirit Kita away to a shady looking business that gives loans. They were very surprised at her ability to see their rings, and they have a definite use for such an ability. See, they work for a special branch of the loan company – the zombie-loan arm – and they owe a huge debt themselves. With her help, they can more easily make the money they need to pay off their debt. Why aren’t they dead, though, when their rings are so dark? In Kita’s experience, the darker the ring, the more imminent death. Oh well, that’s easily explained. They are dead… kinda sorta. They introduce her to the Ferryman, who is an odd sort. And thus a strange business relationship begins.

There is something about Shito and Chika that reminds me of the Boondock Saints, maybe it’s the crosses they wear, not sure. Or maybe it’s just the way they work in tandem. This was a very interesting volume and a great introduction to the series. I anticipate great hijinks ahead and interesting adventures. The Ferryman isn’t what you might expect, being rather quirky and nerdy, kind of like Undertaker in Black Butler but not quite as flamboyant. I suspect there will be character development in this series as it’s already begun. I look forward to seeing Kita grow as a person, and Shito and Chika too. There is already evidence that they are not as heartless as they would have people believe.

Good first volume, looking forward to more.

[Andrés · Rating 3 out of 5]

Otro manga más acabado antes de fin de año. Zombie-Loan es un manga del que vi su anime en mis años más otaku (Por ahí por 2014) pero no pasé de los 4 episodios, y como estoy en la idea de seguir leyendo mangas que he dejado de lado, me decidí por este, que sería el 4to del día. Y de las mismas autora de Rozen Maiden.
Si Rozen Maiden lo destaque más por ser estéticamente hermoso, a este lo destacó por ser conceptualmente hermoso. Un mundo en donde existe una empresa de prestamos a los muertos, en donde pasan a ser zombis y a pagar dinero por este préstamo de vida.
La historia se centra en Michiru, una joven que tiene muy poca personalidad pero con la habilidad de ver anillos negros en las personas, que significan que morirán pronto o bien ya están muertos. Esto las une con dos compañeros de clase que "sobrevivieron" un extraño accidente hace unos meses.
La historia tiene una gran trama planteada en varios dilemas muy serios como ¿Qué estás dispuesto a hacer para vivir? o ¿Qué es realmente estar vivo? Con muchas referencias al folklore japonés y la religión católica, el cómic se mueve rápidamente por escenas algo sangrientas pero no explicitas, con un arte aceptable, aunque no tan hermoso como con Rozen Maiden.
Los personajes están bien. Michiru empieza como la típica tímida y sin personalidad que todos mandonean y que se ve envuelta en algo totalmente fuera de su control, pero, incluso siendo un trabajo más bien introductorio, nos muestran avances en el carácter de Michiru (Con un una escena al final muy buena). Shito y Chika aun no son demasiado explorados pero prometen mucho. Igual que los excéntricos miembros de Z-Loan.
Terminó este tomo sintiendo que se trata de un trabajo lleno de potencial y eso es muy bueno y espero que los siguientes tomos cumplan mis expectativas.

[osoi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Неожиданно отлично про то, что можно не жить, а проживать. И чтобы обрести хоть какой-то смысл, надо сначала умереть. Добавить сюда монстров, кишки-кровь, пару холодных как рыба бищей, и всеобщую атмосферу беспощадности (я не увидела ни одного положительного жеста за весь том - сплошная двуличность, тихое вымогательство, безразличие и жестокость), и манга моментально зарабатывает очки. Да, герои устроены плосковато и сюжет частично выезжает на штампах, но одна только идея такого абсолютного безразличия к окружающим и зацикленности на себе любимом рулит, потому что надоели уже до чертиков герои-спасители-всея-человечества. Спасай свою шкуру, лги, обманывай, сбрасывай маску доброжелательности. Бросай ближнего своего в беде, избавляйся от свидетелей, потому что своя жизнь (хоть какая есть) дороже всего.

Надо отдать должное госпоже судьбе - она тут особенно любит деньги, и при должной взятке готова извернуться в угоду плательщику. Ну не прекрасная ли концепция?

lukk.svbtle

[Nell (aneurinreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even though this volume is very much an introduction and not much more, it was so exciting and we already saw a great deal of character development!

Z-Loan is a really interesting concept and I can't wait to see more of how the company works, especially the more magical side of things, such as what happens when they repay their loans. The two characters we briefly ran into outside of Z-Loan are also really intriguing and I hope we see them a lot, as well as the quirky characters who work there.

Michiru borders on being a stereotypical heroine, yet by the end of the volume we see that there is a lot more to her than we were first made to think, and it is in her that the character development is most seen. I really love her and am excited to see what's in store for her!!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starts off with a girl in high school. People basically use her to go get the luncheon stuff. It’s like a church school. She meets these two guys that were in an accident a few months back they should be dead but they’re still alive. She bumped into them by accident without her glasses and she can see when people die she sees like a black ring around their neck, they find out about her abilities and then they want to use her because they are actually dead but if they pay off their debt they can come back to life. It ends with her getting killed and then bringing her back to life. Her parents are dead, and it’s her aunts and uncle who take care of her but they’re bad people so chance of moving out of the house it was fast pace and entertaining. Looking forward to the next one

[Paraskevi Markatou · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved it so much, perhaps the only Zombie- manga I could read!
I wassad when the series of the anime stopped so ''sudenly'' I really wanted to see more. More character development and more romance.
But pretty good. I am happy <3 I love sooo much the art style of Peach-Pit... *I also love DearS!

[Carrie-Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read about a meek, shy girl who kind of accidentally has the power to see when people are dying...or should be dead

It has an interesting premise, we have two mysterious boys, a bunch of missing girls and a weird loan agency. The horror aspects are done well, there are definitely some creepy things going on, the three main characters all have their own personalities and abilities, and we also have sprinkles of humour.

[Lara Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

The artwork is kind of okay, but I don't like the character much so far and the storyline keeps losing me. For language practice purposes, I do enjoy that they sound effects are still there in Japanese, but that's the only reason I kept reading.

Content warning: profanity and animal harm, as well as off-screen deaths of teenagers

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is fantastic. The story is fine, but its nothing revolutionary or special. Michiru, is a basically a pushover and the boys take full advantage of it and basically pull her into their debt problems by nearly getting her killed.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michiru, who can see when people are about to die, works with two undead boys who need to earn money to pay off loans.

This was ok - nothing great. It's right below my mental cutoff for being willing to continue.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unique supernatural story about zombies and death.

[The Reading Writing Puppet · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 it gets pretty intense at times, but at times it’s also confusing, but overstimulated liked it.

[Midnightdraws · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was good book! i love the artwork,and the story line is just amazing

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.