31 Days of Halloween - Episode 11 "Dead Storm Rising"

The last episode had a lot of talking without much character development, other than Kohta demonstrating why he should not have a gun. However, it did set up a number of conflicts to bring the series to a close. These include: Shido learning of the compound; the group trying to decide if they want to remain with Saya's parents of head off on their own; the adults treating our heroes like kids; Takashi on the verge - but just on the verge - of nailing every chick in the group; and Saya's parents deciding who will come with them and who will be left behind when the evacuate the compound. Do they pay off?

On the bus, Shindo, who has appointed himself mayor of Crazytown, is giving a speech to his orgying (orgified?) flock about how they are "unspoiled" and that he wants them to "cleanse" him of his sins. All while crying. And his followers seem to love it. My followers never like it when I cry and rant about my sins. I need new followers.

This is the face of someone I would follow...absolutely nowhere.

Back at the Saya family compound, some of the survivors are expressing doubts that the dead are actually rising. Saya gets into an argument with the leader of the Soon-To-Be-Dead Skeptics Club, which devolves into a diatribe on the part of the latter about Soichiro controlling them with violence, the plight of other Asian countries, and being forced to be "murders" by "pigs of exploited classes" and "high school kids who are intoxicated by their violent power." Hey, wait, is this Occupy Zombieland? In the aftermath of the confrontation, Kohta explains that the skeptics are trying to cope with the new reality by denying it. Then, for no particular reason, Takashi is pronounced leader of the group by Kohta and Saya.

Elsewhere, Soichiro is giving Saeko a rare sword (to pay off a debt of honor owed to her father) and a history lesson. All in super-creepy tones. Saeko says she is unworthy of the sword, etc. Whatever. We know she's going to take it, so why not just say "thanks" and go hack off some zombie heads?

Rei provides Takashi with an ego boost, saying she should never have broken up with him and that she loves him. This leads to nothing - well, Takashi does say he's not certain whether he wants to kiss her or smack her - and she leaves. As she does so, she crosses paths with Saeko who is on her way to see Takashi. Rei and Saeko have an odd moment where Saeko says they are...well, something...and Rei tells her not to bring it up. Uh, what? You can't introduce a mysterious plot element right before the series end. Bad writer! No Scooby Snacks for you!

Yes, anything you say, I will do.

At the barricades, Shido's bus pulls up. The guards, overcome with the desire to save breasts (image at right) let them in. I quite understand. We get a Shido flashback, about his father (a member of the Diet), who was mean to Shido's mom to the point that she killed herself. We do learn why Rei hates him - he failed her one year, forcing her to repeat a class at the behest of his father, as a way of teaching her father (a detective investigating him) a lesson.

Wait, that's why she hates him? I had hoped for something a little more meaty. Also, how does that teach anyone a lesson? Granted, it's not a great thing to have happen;; but, on the scale of things to do to a rival's family, this isn't that epic. You want epic revenge, check out the ending of Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus.

Rei confronts Shido, but this is so boring, that I don't even care. It's supposed to be dramatic and Soichiro urges Rei to kill Shido, but it comes across as padding. Soichiro then kicks out Shido and his students, the one's who have been "infected with [his] evil." How does Soichiro know this?

Uh...I have no words.

In a more interesting plotline, a US Ohio-class SSBN gets a launch order. They are to fire Trident missiles against "Romeo Kilo" (North Korea) and "November Charlie" (Northern China, I guess). The missile launches are being tracked by the crew of the International Space Station They can see that ICBMs are also being fired from Russia. The episode ends with one of the astronauts saying "it's Armageddon."

The episode ties up some plotlines (e.g., Shido and Rei), while also examining themes of denial in the face of powerlessness and different concepts of personal and family honor. We get more background info on a few of our characters; but this strikes me more as filler than dramatically necessary. Shido is a murderous, sex-crazed nutjob because his dad was mean to his mom? That's what we're going with? It would have been better to not give him any motivation. For that matter, leaving Rei's hatred for him more nebulous would've worked better as well. Ultimately, the problem with this episode is not the lack of action; it is that the discussions and revealed character motivations are either repeats or not dramatically satisfying. The skeptics are in a laughable state of denial, Shido's transgression against Rei lacks drama, Takashi's qualms about being the leader are underdeveloped...none of the major plotlines work well in this episode. Still, it does end on a high note, with the gang coming to a decision crisis (evacuate with Saya's parents or head off on their own) and with the Great Powers adding another dimension of chaos and destruction to the zombie apocalypse.

Best line: Soichiro to Saeko: "Go ahead, touch it. You will not stain it's power." Hey, He's talking about the sword, you pervs.

Best kill: None this episode. Shido kicks one of his students off the bus at the beginning of the movie and the poor kid is torn apart, but it is off screen.

Fan Service: Have to go with Shido's student using her boobs to gain entrance to Soichiro's compound. Respect the power of boobs.

As a bonus, here's the "Honest Movie Trailer" for World War Z.