I just watched the feature film Zombie Land Saga Yumeginga Paradise, so here are my impressions.
It delivered that trademark Zombie Land Saga surprise-factor and a tear-jerking story centered on Tae Yamada. I definitely shed a few tears.
Plot Overview: The Core Structure Doesn’t Change (Spoiler-Free)
The plot goes like this: the zombie idol group Franchouchou is about to hold a live show when aliens crash the party, so they take the aliens down and then perform anyway. It faithfully traces the already revealed setup and the arc viewers have come to expect. Just like in the TV series—Sakura’s amnesia in season one, the flood in season two—there is always something sabotaging the concert, and this time the aliens simply take that slot. The basic structure remains unchanged, and there is no especially intricate twist.
What truly deserves discussion, though, is Tae Yamada regaining the memories of her life as a human. That is the film’s linchpin.
From this point forward, spoilers are unavoidable, so let me finish what I can say without them first.
Q: Can newcomers jump straight into the movie?
A: Absolutely. Not long after it begins, the film itself recaps the story so far, and the franchise’s core premise is simply “zombie idols perform live.” That’s all you need.
Q: Who would I especially recommend it to?
A: Anyone hungry for an original anime they cannot see anywhere else. If even one of the keywords—zombie, idol, or alien—sparks your curiosity, it is worth the ticket.
An Idol’s Way of Life and a Human’s Way of Death (Heavy Spoilers)
The “tear-jerking, Tae-focused story” I mentioned at the start is precisely this section.
Tae Yamada’s life story is detailed in the manga Zombie Land Saga Gaiden: The First Zombie, drawn by character designer Kasumi Fukagawa herself, where we learn that Tae’s dream in life was to become an idol.
Posthumously, she became the “Legendary Tae Yamada” and achieved that dream as an unthinking zombie. In this film, however, eating the alien ship’s power source accidentally restores her human memories. Unfortunately, to defeat the aliens they must remove that power source, which means relinquishing it—and, inevitably, her memories—once more.
The way those memories fade is devastating. Tae understands what’s coming, and the rest of Franchouchou senses it too. During the final concert performed as Tae Yamada, she offers silent gratitude to everyone even as she reverts to the original, legendary Tae.
It is, in other words, Tae Yamada living a second life, fulfilling both the regret of her past—never reaching her idol dream—and the future she longed for—the prosperity of Saga—before returning to death. She wipes away every leftover regret, both past and future, and bows out in sheer fulfillment. It’s the most dignified death imaginable. Watching her pass on in happiness, I felt both relief for her and a pang of fear: could I ever die with so few regrets?
I’m writing this as a human, not an AI and certainly not a zombie. As someone destined to die someday, Tae’s death and Franchouchou’s uncompromising “idol way of life” force me to ask what it would take to live without regrets and face the end with satisfaction.
When I was adrift, Zombie Land Saga and Franchouchou reminded me that living is not simply “being”—it’s “doing.” The lyric from the season-one opening, “Call it life to keep running even when you’re withered,” keeps echoing. This film, through Tae’s final moments, throws a new question at me: can you live so fully that you meet death without regret?
Just as Zombie Land Saga has been my compass before, this movie has become a fresh guidepost for me.
Franchouchou’s Future
Within the film, Franchouchou effectively makes a world debut with a simultaneous global concert. But what about in reality?
I attended the Makuhari Messe concert after season two aired, so I’m still clinging to the dream they voiced there: Budokan. It doesn’t feel all that far-fetched anymore. The venues keep scaling up, so if the next show sells out, Budokan might be the stop after that. I believe it.
One Last Bit of Trivia
When Yugiri blasts open the hatch while escaping the spaceship, I’m pretty sure the pose she strikes is a Desperado shot.
All told, the Zombie Land Saga movie was fantastic. I’m excited for Franchouchou’s upcoming concerts, the one after that, and ultimately their march to Budokan.