Zombie Loan Volume 1

Overall Rating: B
Synopsis: Michiru Kita is a mousy girl, who runs errands for her friends, and has Shinigami Eyes, which allow her to see a ring around a person's neck. This ring symbolizes the person's impending death; once they are marked to die, a gray ring, which is invisible to normal people, appears around their neck. Over time, the ring gets darker, and once the ring turns completely black, the person dies. Chika Akatsuki and Shito Tachibana, two boys in her class, both have black rings around their necks, but to her surprise, they are not yet dead. Who are these boys, and what do they have to do with the strange loan office called Zombie Loan?

I picked up the first volume of this one because of the title. It doesn't hurt that I like things with zombies in them. Then I checked out the description and it drew me in. I was sure I would be rating this one with an A+. Unfortunately, the first volume didn't blow me away. It's actually a little slow paced, but I really liked the concept so I stuck with it, and I wasn't disappointed.

Zombie Loan is basically a twist on the numerous manga out there featuring shinigami, and life after death. Chika and Shito provide the bad ass dudes aspect to the story, with a gun and sword attached to their bodies by chains, and mysterious pasts. However, instead of the usual buxom girl we get the mousy Michiru. Unfortunately, that's where the characters stop in the first volume. We're also introduced to some minor characters, who add flavor to the book, and hopefully are expanded on later in the series.

So far, I have a bit of a soft spot for Michiru, but I hope she grows as a character more in future volumes. One of the reasons I only rated this volume a B is because I haven't grown attached to any of the characters. The plot is interesting, the art is good, and I'm looking forward to where they go with things, but the characters seem pretty one dimensional. Hopefully this will pick up soon (and maybe add another woman to the cast) so I can cosplay Chika. I think Will would make an excellent Shito.