Manga Introduction: さんかれあ

Today's manga is all about cute girls and zombies – a combination that is so genius I can't believe it hasn't been done before!

Title: さんかれあ　（Sankarea）

Author: はっとり　みつる　（Hattori Mitsuru）

Difficulty: 3.5/5 (1 easy, 5 hard)

Furigana: Yes

Format: 漫画　（Manga）

さんかれあ has several primary qualities: comedy, romance, supernatural, mature.

The comedy in this series is a bit dark, which is to expected of a series about zombies. Romance hardly needs description, so I'll just skip over that. The supernatural elements of the story will make reading a bit more difficult, as there are some terms used in regards to anatomy, zombies, and other such topics that a beginner isn't likely to have encountered before. Don't worry too much though, because you can understand the story without understanding every single word. Finally, the mature aspect is in regards to the showing of skin – in more ways than one. Both gore and nipples are present in this series, though neither is overdone.

Plot: The plot for this series is a bit weird, but in my opinion that just makes it a more interesting read. The story's main character, Furuya, is obsessed with zombies. He watches any and all zombie movies, plays zombie video games, and even collects zombie figurines. One night, while Furuya is trying to raise his cat from the dead (using a strange tome which details a method for resurrection), the idol of the nearby all-girl's school passes by. She wants to die and be reborn, and she offers to help in Furuya's attempts to bring his cat back from beyond the grave.

Art: This series is very well drawn, so there is once again little to complain about. The girls are especially cute, so that's worth bonus points. The moments of gore are usually drawn so as to depict the horror/gruesomeness of the scene without being overwhelming – which is good, because I don't really care for such. A final note is that for some reason the main character, Furuya, is often drawn in a cat-like style – you'll see what I mean if you read it. I find it rather endearing and interesting though, so it's hardly a fault.

In summary, this series is a bit stranger than the others I have introduced, but that only serves to make it more interesting. If you like zombies and moé, then you should enjoy this series.

View Sankarea on Amazon.co.jp

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