English Dub Review: Zombie Land Saga Revenge “Maimai Revolution SAGA”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Kotaro is minding his own business in the public bath when a high school girl walks in and trips over a bar of soap. He ends up taking the unconscious student back to his zombie lair and introducing her as number 7. It turns out she’s not actually dead, but is in fact a big fan of Franchouchou! The girl, affectionally known as Maimai, ends up joining up with the girls for a performance at her high school and teaching them a few new things along the way.

Our Take:

Zombie Land Saga Revenge shakes up its usual format this week for an episode that’s not geared around one of the main members of Franchouchou. Or rather, it is, but not in the way you might expect. Instead of focusing on one of the core cast of characters, Maimai Revolution SAGA introduces a brand new person to the viewing audience: Maimai Yuzuriha.

Maimai is about as genki a gal as you could find. She’s the kind of girl who breaks her glasses and then gets happy about it because the lenses are like kaleidoscopes now. Maybe not the kind of character you’d want to spend an entire season with, but as a one-off character who sticks around just long enough to inject Franchouchou with some of her positive energy before riding off into the proverbial sunset, she works well here.

She and Sakura quickly form a connection because of their many similarities, but Maimai is definitely not as adept at dancing and singing—at least not at first. It’s funny to see her keep trying though, much to Ai’s chagrin. After performing with her idols, Maimai is mature enough to realize that she doesn’t belong in the group. She might be able to keep up with them on a physical level with enough practice, but she could never connect with them on an emotional depth fully because while they’re looking for a fresh start in life, she’s still living hers out. This realization gives Maimai’s character a much needed burst of self awareness, and also gives the show a good out for not keeping her around any longer. Farewell Maimai, it was fun while it lasted!

Maimai Revolution SAGA isn’t exactly a tearjerker, and it isn’t really that exciting. There’s not a whole lot going on besides the final performance. But it is a lot of fun! Maimai injects some fresh vitality into the series, and her character is brought to life remarkably well by her voice actor. Alas, it doesn’t look like the fun times will last forever though, as the post-credit scene suggests the girls’ secret is about to be found out.