Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 465,466 (click to see context) :
* AchievementsInIgnorance: She manages to do a lot of incredible things by complete happenstance.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
Added DiffLines:
* AchievementsInIgnorance: She manages to do a lot of incredible things by complete happenstance.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* AchievementsInIgnorance: She manages to do a lot of incredible things by complete happenstance.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
** She comes up with the name "Franchouchou" by ''sneezing''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 563 (click to see context) from:
* PrefersRawMeat: Has on qualms eating ''raw chicken''. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense though since she can't get sick from it]].
to:
* PrefersRawMeat: Has on no qualms eating ''raw chicken''. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense though since she can't get sick from it]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 409 (click to see context) from:
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's young oirans-in-training who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
to:
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's house’s young oirans-in-training ''kamuro'' (handmaidens and oiran-in-training) who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 368 (click to see context) from:
** She [[ClingyJealousGirl clings to Ai tightly]] [[spoiler: when Shiori makes a last gesture to recruit Ai into Iron Frill.]]
to:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 553 (click to see context) from:
* HiddenDepths: She's good at making snow sculptures, and she can do a ''killer'' drum solo.
to:
* HiddenDepths: She's good at making snow sculptures, and she can do a ''killer'' drum solo.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** [[spoiler: She decides to watch some of Junko’s old performances online and is absolutely captivated by her. When Junko walks into the room she closes the browser in embarrassment.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 419 (click to see context) from:
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]] Though in episode 8 of ''Revenge'' finally delves into her backstory.
to:
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]] Though in episode 8 of ''Revenge'' finally delves begins delving into her backstory.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
** She’s determined to protect Maria — her best friend’s daughter - from getting herself killed in her bet with Misa.
*** An odd example because Saki and Reiko are chronologically the same age group. Reiko however is now two decades older than Saki since the latter’s been revived in her age of death. So how Saki views Maria is a bit complicated.
*** An odd example because Saki and Reiko are chronologically the same age group. Reiko however is now two decades older than Saki since the latter’s been revived in her age of death. So how Saki views Maria is a bit complicated.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 171 (click to see context) from:
* Leitmotif: A heavy guitar riff plays whenever she things get intense.
to:
* Leitmotif: {{Leitmotif}}: A heavy guitar riff plays whenever she things get intense.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* Leitmotif: A heavy guitar riff plays whenever she things get intense.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) :
[[foldercontrol]]
Added DiffLines:
[[foldercontrol]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
[[foldercontrol]]
Deleted line(s) 13,14 (click to see context) :
[[foldercontrol]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 11,12 (click to see context) from:
Seven girls - who all tragically died young - are handpicked and revived as zombies by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
to:
Seven girls - -- who all tragically died young - -- are handpicked and revived as zombies by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 403 (click to see context) from:
* FeminineWomenCanCook: She's a skilled chef and prepares meals for the other girls before work. [[spoiler: It's one of the many life skill she learned when she started living independently.]]
to:
* FeminineWomenCanCook: She's a skilled chef and prepares meals for the other girls before work. [[spoiler: It's one of the many life skill skills she learned when she started living independently.]]
Changed line(s) 406 (click to see context) from:
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's young servants who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
to:
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's young servants oirans-in-training who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 417 (click to see context) from:
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]]
to:
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]]]] Though in episode 8 of ''Revenge'' finally delves into her backstory.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 90 (click to see context) from:
* TeethclenchedTeamwork: She and Kotaro butt heads frequently over how to best support Franchouchou. Though ultimately the two have the same goal of making Franchouchou the best it can be.
to:
* TeethclenchedTeamwork: She TeethClenchedTeamwork: Ai and Kotaro butt heads frequently over how to best support Franchouchou. Though ultimately the two have the same goal of making Franchouchou the best it can be.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 10 (click to see context) from:
[[caption-width-right:350: Tae Yamada, Yugiri, Lily Hoshikawa, Sakura Minamoto Junko Konno, Ai Mizuno, & Saki Nikaido]]
to:
[[caption-width-right:350: [[CameBackWrong Tae Yamada, Yugiri, Yamada]], [[TeamMom Yugiri]], [[TheBabyOfTheBunch Lily Hoshikawa, Hoshikawa]], [[TheHeart Sakura Minamoto Minamoto]], [[ShrinkingViolet Junko Konno, Konno]], [[TheAce Ai Mizuno, Mizuno]], & [[ActionGirl Saki Nikaido]]Nikaido]]]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 31 (click to see context) from:
** Episode 8 and 9 of ''Revenge'' is stated to be a multi-part arc that is an entire WholeEpisodeFlashback for Yugiri, and finally explains "the Saga incident" that happened way back in the Meiji era, alongside exploring Yugiri as a whole.
to:
** Episode 8 and 9 of ''Revenge'' is stated to be a multi-part arc that is an entire WholeEpisodeFlashback for Yugiri, and finally explains "the ''The Saga incident" Incident'' that happened way back in the Meiji era, alongside exploring Yugiri as a whole.
Changed line(s) 83 (click to see context) from:
* StrongFamilyResemblance: As revealed in "Saga Incident: Part 1", all the girls of Franchouchou (other than Yugiri) had ancestors living in/around Saga back in the Meiji era, and they were nearly identical in looks.
to:
* StrongFamilyResemblance: As revealed in "Saga ''Saga Incident: Part 1", 1'', all the girls of Franchouchou (other than Yugiri) had ancestors living in/around Saga back in the Meiji era, and they were nearly identical in looks.
Changed line(s) 412 (click to see context) from:
** "Saga Incident, Part I" suggests that, despite taking things in stride as she normally does, Yugiri was a bit lonely after moving to Saga. While it was in exchange for her freedom, she moved to a town where no one knew her (except as a legendary courtesan), and she didn't know the people there either.
to:
** "Saga 'Saga Incident, Part I" I' suggests that, despite taking things in stride as she normally does, Yugiri was a bit lonely after moving to Saga. While it was in exchange for her freedom, she moved to a town where no one knew her (except as a legendary courtesan), and she didn't know the people there either.
Changed line(s) 423 (click to see context) from:
** While she continues to be a little out of focus in Season 2, this trope thankfully gets defied due to her character arc ("The Saga Incident") being a part of ''Revenge'''s overall story.
to:
** While she continues to be a little out of focus in Season 2, this trope thankfully gets defied due to her character arc ("The (''The Saga Incident") Incident'') being a part of ''Revenge'''s overall story.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 5,6 (click to see context) from:
[[center: [- [[Characters/ZombieLandSaga Main Page]]| '''Franchouchou''' ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]]) | [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLiving The Living]] ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaKotaroTatsumi Kotaro Tatsumi]])]]-]
to:
[[center: [- [[Characters/ZombieLandSaga Main Page]]| '''Franchouchou''' ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]]) | [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLiving [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLivingAndOthers The Living]] Living & Others]] ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaKotaroTatsumi Kotaro Tatsumi]])]]-]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 578,606 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Romero]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YasuhiroTakato (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romero_zls.png]]
->'''Born:''' November 1\\
'''Died:''' December 9 (age 3)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 33cm (1'1") / 3kg (7 lbs)
->''"Arf"''\\\
Kotaro's pet zombie toy poodle, who helps guard the mansion and keep a close watch on the girls.
----
* ArtShift: He switches from a cartoonishly adorable design to a more realistic, terrifying one when he eats.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Much like Tae, he'll usually try to eat things that aren't even meant to be edible. In Episode 6 he swallows a baseball whole, and in Episode 10 it's implied that he ate a grasshopper that was unfortunate enough to go near him.
* EyeScream: His left eye is missing, and when he undergoes an ArtShift, his remaining eye is shown to be bulging from the socket.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog. He's also shown to be friendly with Sakura, joining her on her morning jogs [[spoiler:and becoming fiercely protective of her after she's hit by a truck in Episode 10.]]
* KillerRabbit: He may be an adorable little puppy, but he's an adorable little ''zombie'' puppy, and he becomes extremely dangerous when hungry.
* MysteriousPast: We don't learn anything about his life and death, or which time period he comes from, until "Saga Incident, Part I". Romero has [[spoiler:been around since at least the Meiji era, and hung around Kotaro's old bartender friend back in the day]].
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: His name is a nod to zombie movie director Creator/GeorgeARomero.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He has the most cartoony design out of any character, at least until he turns ravenous.
* PreciousPuppy: Quite cuddly and cute ([[ArtShift At least when he doesn't look absolutely terrifying]]).
* RaisingTheSteaks: A (usually) cute little dog who's also a zombie. Presumably, Kotaro used the same methods to bring him back as a zombie as he did for the girls.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: He’s been around as a zombie ever since at least ''the Meiji era'', where he was the pet of Kotaro's bartender acquaintance.]]
* SeriesMascot: He serves as this both InUniverse and out; in Episode 6, Kotaro sells Franchouchou merchandise that has pictures of Romero on it (and he's notably drawn in a much cuter art style).
* TeamPet: He is the mascot of the zombie idol group, and is fittingly a zombie himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Again, pun aside]], he's very loyal to both Kotaro and the girls. [[spoiler:After Sakura gets hit by a truck again, he attempts to attack the driver.]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You know how all the girls have to wear full-body makeup to appear like living people? For some reason, Romero—who is blue, missing an eye, and has visible bandages and stitching—is able to go out in public with no disguise, and no one seems to realize he's a zombie.
[[/folder]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YasuhiroTakato (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romero_zls.png]]
->'''Born:''' November 1\\
'''Died:''' December 9 (age 3)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 33cm (1'1") / 3kg (7 lbs)
->''"Arf"''\\\
Kotaro's pet zombie toy poodle, who helps guard the mansion and keep a close watch on the girls.
----
* ArtShift: He switches from a cartoonishly adorable design to a more realistic, terrifying one when he eats.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Much like Tae, he'll usually try to eat things that aren't even meant to be edible. In Episode 6 he swallows a baseball whole, and in Episode 10 it's implied that he ate a grasshopper that was unfortunate enough to go near him.
* EyeScream: His left eye is missing, and when he undergoes an ArtShift, his remaining eye is shown to be bulging from the socket.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog. He's also shown to be friendly with Sakura, joining her on her morning jogs [[spoiler:and becoming fiercely protective of her after she's hit by a truck in Episode 10.]]
* KillerRabbit: He may be an adorable little puppy, but he's an adorable little ''zombie'' puppy, and he becomes extremely dangerous when hungry.
* MysteriousPast: We don't learn anything about his life and death, or which time period he comes from, until "Saga Incident, Part I". Romero has [[spoiler:been around since at least the Meiji era, and hung around Kotaro's old bartender friend back in the day]].
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: His name is a nod to zombie movie director Creator/GeorgeARomero.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He has the most cartoony design out of any character, at least until he turns ravenous.
* PreciousPuppy: Quite cuddly and cute ([[ArtShift At least when he doesn't look absolutely terrifying]]).
* RaisingTheSteaks: A (usually) cute little dog who's also a zombie. Presumably, Kotaro used the same methods to bring him back as a zombie as he did for the girls.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: He’s been around as a zombie ever since at least ''the Meiji era'', where he was the pet of Kotaro's bartender acquaintance.]]
* SeriesMascot: He serves as this both InUniverse and out; in Episode 6, Kotaro sells Franchouchou merchandise that has pictures of Romero on it (and he's notably drawn in a much cuter art style).
* TeamPet: He is the mascot of the zombie idol group, and is fittingly a zombie himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Again, pun aside]], he's very loyal to both Kotaro and the girls. [[spoiler:After Sakura gets hit by a truck again, he attempts to attack the driver.]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You know how all the girls have to wear full-body makeup to appear like living people? For some reason, Romero—who is blue, missing an eye, and has visible bandages and stitching—is able to go out in public with no disguise, and no one seems to realize he's a zombie.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 10,12 (click to see context) from:
[[[[caption-width-right:350: Tae Yamada, Yugiri, Lily Hoshikawa, Sakura Minamoto Junko Konno, Ai Mizuno, & Saki Nikaido]]
Seven girls, all who tragically died young, are handpicked and revived by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
Seven girls, all who tragically died young, are handpicked and revived by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
to:
Seven
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/franchouchou_anime.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From ''top to bottom & right to left by row'':]]
[[[[caption-width-right:350: Tae Yamada, Yugiri, Lily Hoshikawa, Sakura Minamoto Junko Konno, Ai Mizuno, & Saki Nikaido]]
[[caption-width-right:350:From ''top to bottom & right to left by row'':]]
[[[[caption-width-right:350: Tae Yamada, Yugiri, Lily Hoshikawa, Sakura Minamoto Junko Konno, Ai Mizuno, & Saki Nikaido]]
Added DiffLines:
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
!Franchouchou
Seven girls, all who tragically died young, are handpicked and revived by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
Seven girls, all who tragically died young, are handpicked and revived by Kotaro Tatsumi to become Saga's regional [[IdolSinger idol group]]. While the group has a rough start on the road to fame, they quickly take Saga by storm as they continue to succeed in spite of impossible odds.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
%% Before posting a trope here, please make sure it's neither a YMMV one or a trivia one.
%% Also make sure the trope isn't on the Flame Bait Index.
%% In light of recent editing and revisions, note that the official Zombie Land Saga Twitter has stated Lily Hoshikawa is a transgender girl, and any edit which removes wording or tropes related to that will be reversed. Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies.
[[center: [- [[Characters/ZombieLandSaga Main Page]]| '''Franchouchou''' ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]]) | [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLiving The Living]] ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaKotaroTatsumi Kotaro Tatsumi]])]]-]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
* AccidentalNightmareFuel: InUniverse, whenever someone finds the girls outside their makeup, they end up screaming their heads off. The girls actually managed to spook Kotaro by accident one night after returning from his mysterious acquaintance's bar.
* AttractiveZombie: Well, with their makeup on. When it's not... they're still pretty cute, as putrefied corpses go. Romero leans more towards cute than attractive, but subverts it when he changes art style.
* BandageBabe: Sakura, Saki, Ai, and Tae's bodies are covered in bandages to varying degrees.
* BornUnlucky: While a couple of the girls particularly stand out from the rest in this regard, at one point Ai points out that every one of them died very young and under very unfortunate circumstances. This is also underscored by the fact that all of them died on a ''butsumetsu'' day, traditionally considered the most inauspicious of the six-day ''rokuyō'' cycle of the Japanese calendar, which is believed in Japanese Buddhism to be the day the Buddha died.
* ColorCodedCharacters: The girls tend to be associated with specific colors when performing (in the case of their default idol costumes, while they all wear red jackets and red-and-black boots, they still wear uniquely-colored skirts and neck accessories). Sakura wears pink, Saki wears orange, Ai wears blue, Junko wears grey and/or light purple, Yugiri wears red, Lily wears yellow, and Tae wears purple.
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: As zombies, and when doing their own makeup. Given the satire of the idol industry, their resemblance to ExhaustedEyebags probably isn't a coincidence.
* CuteMonsterGirl: They're still fairly pretty teenagers without their makeup... except when we get a GrossUpCloseUp.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The main zombie cast are living corpses, but their humanity has been restored after awakening. Tae is still largely animalistic, but she poses no danger and her bites are harmless.
* ADayInTheLimelight: A rare mixture of this and ''ADeathInTheLimelight''; starting Episode 6, the series starts to explore the girls' history, the circumstances of their deaths, and their efforts to tie up some loose ends.
** Episodes 6 and 7 jointly focus on Ai and Junko's struggles: the former, with her reputation for her highly public demise; the latter, with the drastic changes in the idol industry during the last 35 years she was dead.
*** Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' focuses on Ai and Junko once more, but this time, it focuses on their friendship when it's put to the ultimate test when Junko gets anxiety-ridden about Ai potentially ditching Franchouchou, in favor of joining the new iteration of Iron Frill.
** Episode 8 explores Lily's complicated relationship with her father Takeo, as well as the effect her death has on the two of them.
** Episode 9 has Saki get involved in her old gang's problems, in particular her old friend Reiko's frayed relationship with her rebellious daughter Maria, who wishes to keep Dorami going against her wishes.
*** Episode 2 of ''Revenge'' continues Saki's backstory with the revelation of how she realised the true meaning of being special (which she pondered back in Episode 9 of Season One), and how she met Reiko for the first time thanks to White Ryu's motivation from his radio show.
** Episode 6 of ''Revenge'', despite not focusing on her backstory, is still entirely dedicated to Tae. She manages to go on a basic errand run with the aid of Romero and Maria. Tae's whole escapade ultimately ends up managing to help Franchouchou in the long run.
** Episode 8 and 9 of ''Revenge'' is stated to be a multi-part arc that is an entire WholeEpisodeFlashback for Yugiri, and finally explains "the Saga incident" that happened way back in the Meiji era, alongside exploring Yugiri as a whole.
* TheDogBitesBack: Kotaro tends to show little respect for the girls and isn't afraid to attack them. However, any time he goes too far, they aren't shy in hitting him back with equal or greater force.
* FireForgedFriends: All seven girls had been awakened with only a few things in common, and lots of personality conflicts that at times threatened to unravel the band at the seams. By the end of Season 1, however, they have developed a great sense of camaraderie and understanding of each other.
* {{Foil}}: The six awakened girls each form a pair that greatly contrasts each other.
** Sakura and Saki: They are both natives of Saga and are the only ones with no prior experience in the idol business, let alone the entertainment industry. Both girls also died in accidents involving land vehicles due to recklessness (Sakura got hit by a truck after rushing out of her house without looking at the traffic, while Saki took a game of chicken too seriously and rode off a ledge). But where Sakura is the [[NiceGirl sweet]] [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent everyday girl]] who was an aspiring idol (and was supposed to file for an audition on the day she died), Saki is the aggressive [[JapaneseDelinquents ex-biker]] who showed no interest in the industry in life. They're also both the centers of the group, with Sakura being the [[TheHeart emotional bedrock]] and Saki the [[SupportingLeader functional leader]], as showcased when they both try to mediate between Junko and Ai's argument in Episode 6.
** Ai and Junko: They're the only professional idols of the group, with the former hailing from the mid-Heisei period (late 2000s), and the latter from the late Showa period (early 1980s); said differences in time period, however, inform their vastly differing philosophies towards their profession--in Ai's time the idol was a relatable figure fans could identify with, while in Junko's, it was an idealized image of perfection. Both initially expressed skepticism regarding the group's prospects, but while Ai was [[TheCynic outspoken]] with her misgivings, Junko was much more [[ShrinkingViolet silent]] about it. They also took their zombification the hardest out of the group, both trying to escape the mansion in Episode 2 and getting HeroicBSOD when they realized they were stuck with Kotaro, and also died in accidents just as their careers started to take off, leaving them with issues about being "history". However, their reactions to said issues were very different: Junko spent half of Episode 7 depressed at how her ideals seemed outdated, while Ai continued practicing without rest, refusing to be just a relic.
** Yugiri and Lily: While they weren't idols, they were experienced entertainers in life, with Yugiri being an ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiran oiran]]'' and Lily a famous child actress. However, their backgrounds--the former, a HighClassCallGirl; the latter, [[spoiler:a transgender girl]]--would normally make them anathema in the idol industry except for the highly-unorthodox Kotaro, who knew their histories and still revived them regardless. In terms of time period, Yugiri is the earliest and Lily the most recent. They are also the least bothered by their new lease of (un)life, with Yugiri being the calm and mature [[CoolBigSis older sister]] of the group and Lily the energetic and cheerful [[TheBabyOfTheBunch child]]. While Yugiri has moments of joining the other five in the insanity, Lily has moments of maturity.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The conditions of their bodies hint at the circumstances of their deaths before they're revealed ([[RuleOfSymbolism even though the dead are cremated in Japan]], as they point out).
** Sakura has a huge gash on her head from smashing it against [[LookBothWays the windshield of a speeding truck]].
** Saki is [[CoveredInScars covered in stitched up cuts]] and bandages from her fatal bike crash which inflicted lethal burns and lacerations.
** Ai is [[BandageMummy noticeably bandaged all over her body]], save around her eyes and her hair, because [[HighVoltageDeath she was hit by a freak lighting storm and cooked alive]].
** Junko [[FrankensteinsMonster has visible stitching all over her body]] as the result of [[LudicrousGibs being torn apart]] when her plane exploded.
** Lily's [[HeartBeatsOutOfChest heart is constantly and comically beating out of her chest, expanding to huge sizes when she's nervous]], because she died from a heart attack.
** While Yugiri's death hasn't been officially stated, the scar around her neck does call to the fact that she died around the time Japan still carried out executions via beheading.
* FriendlyZombie: While they initially behaved very much like stereotypical [[ZombieGait shambling]] biting zombies, after being awakened the girls regain their intelligence and become {{Inhuman Human}}s, acting much the same as when they were alive, with the exception of Tae (and even she's just a BigEater who doesn't always realize people aren't food). Sakura in particular is a NiceGirl zombie who serves as TheHeart of the group and goes to great lengths to look out for her friends. The problem is while the girls don't act like stereotypical zombies, they're still walking corpses and people panic if they ever see them without makeup on.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Whoever the episode is centered on, it ''always'' comes with some form of angst, and someone has to intervene:
** Ai: Her traumatic HighVoltageDeath causes her to freak out in the middle of a thunderstorm, and it takes Junko taking her hand and comforting her to help her get over her death.
** Junko: Because of the era she was born in, Junko was expected to be perfect as an idol. It's not that her standards are high, it's because the idol industry and her fans expect her to. Kotaro openly tells her she doesn't have to interact with fans if she doesn't want to.
** Lily: Lily may be a CheerfulChild, but meeting her father years after her death affects the both of them, thanks to the issues both of them have surrounding it. It takes Sakura's comfort and Kotaro's willingness to write a song for her that Lily and her father are able to move on with their lives.
** Sakura: [[spoiler:Sakura has two whole episodes worth of angst, and it wasn't really her fault. MurphysLaw gave her [[BornUnlucky really terrible luck since childhood]]. Just when she turns her life around due to Ai's comment about being determined, she gets hit by a truck. After regaining her memories, she immediately gives up on life and whereas Saki fails to slap some sense into her, Yugiri does it effectively and makes her point. After her successful concert outing, she regains her undead memories and overcomes her personal grief.]]
* ImageSong: As of Season Two, every member of Franchouchou (besides Tae, who can't sing) has gotten at least one song dedicated to them:
** Sakura has "Sensei! ALIVE Sensation" from the "Best of Franchouchou" album as her solo song.
** Saki technically has two; "Tokkou Dance ~DAWN OF THE BAD~" from Episode 9, and a cover version of "Do You Hate Rainy Days?" from the second episode of ''Revenge''.
** Ai gets one, sort of. "Fantastic Lovers", despite being a song from the original Iron frill team, is mostly sung by Ai.
** Junko gets to perform one in Episode 3 of ''Revenge'', known as "50 and 4 Things Left Behind". It was the first hit that Junko had back when she was alive.
** Yugiri has an entire song dedicated to her love-life problems (and hints at the incident of Saga as a whole in the Meiji era) known as "Saga Jihen", included as the main highlist of the "Best of" album.
** Lily also technically has two songs to herself. First, there's "To My Dearest" from Episode 8 (and has a special piano version from the "Best of" album), and Lily's scatting remix of a song called "Life" that's known as "Little Bodda Bope" in Episode 5 of ''Revenge''.
** While Tae can't sing, that didn't stop her from getting a song dedicated to her, almost. Tae's voice actress gave the character a cute InsertSong known as "Today's Curry, Yay Yay Yay" in Episode 6 of ''Revenge''.
* ImmortalityHurts: In a way their state of undeath is a form of immortality, since they don't age anymore and can't be permanently re-killed. That said, while they can't die again, they still feel pain, so experiencing things that would kill normal people (and in fact were the causes of death for quite a few of them) still hurts like hell.
* InhumanHuman: Once they've been "woken up". They're their normal selves mentally, they just have to deal with being dead now.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: While it takes them time to adjust to their status as zombies, none of them are particularly upset about the idea that it makes them both ageless and immortal, at least until Saki discovers NotGrowingUpSucks in Episode 2 of ''Revenge''. Lily in particular is happy with it, as it means she can stay a cute girl forever [[spoiler: and never worry about developing a body that conflicts with her gender identity.]]
* LosingYourHead: They have completely detachable heads that can still move and talk, while their headless body remains functional and will retrieve their head.
* MadeOfIron: Due to their nature as zombies, the girls are able to take a substantial amount of physical damage without lasting consequence or visible pain. The first episode has Sakura being shot through the chest and only looking down with surprise at the bullet hole rather than showing any discomfort, and Ai getting impaled with a fireplace poker through her skull and still remaining unfazed.
* MadeOfPlasticine: ... That being said, the girls can easily lose their limbs, head, and other body parts such as eyes if they're not careful. While they may be durable, they are also fragile if they overexert themselves.
* MsFanservice: The [[https://twitter.com/web_kuji/status/1081747297472561153 official merchandise]] showcases the girls in swimsuits while wearing their makeup.
* NervesOfSteel: [[spoiler:In the Season 1 finale, Franchouchou ''literally'' bringing the house down around themselves as they continue to just sing and dance away like nothing is happening proves that they all have this to no small degree.]]
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Aside from having much more detailed, grim appearances when shown from other characters' perspective, when in zombie-mode all of the girls have flatly colored hair in contrast to living characters who are drawn with very shiny hair.
* NonUniformUniform: Their default idol outfits all consist of the same jackets and boots, but they each wear differently-colored skirts and neck accessories.
* OhCrap: Soon the girls start having this reaction whenever they are out in public without makeup, when one of their limbs or head falls off, or when Tae tries to bite someone.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: At first the girls act like typical, if non-infectious, zombies, but once their brains are properly stimulated via DeathMetal, they regain their higher brain functions. Unstimulated, they act like a classic Creator/GeorgeARomero-type zombie, but can ''run''. However, they still have control over missing body parts, and their bodies can be active on their own if their heads are missing just like the ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' zombies.
* PullingThemselvesTogether: Several of the zombies' limbs and even heads come off under high tension, though they have no trouble just sticking them back on.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: All of them have red eyes while in their zombified appearance, which under the right circumstances can [[GlowingEyes glow]]; even though the girls [[FriendlyZombie aren't normally dangerous]], the living still treat them that way. While in makeup, their eyes are completely different save Tae and Yugiri's, and judging from how the others are given the eye colors they had in life, it's likely Tae and Yugiri are the same.
* RefugeInAudacity: Likely part of the reason why no one realizes that the ones who died (relatively) recently are part of the group. To anyone who might have known them when they were alive and in some cases saw them die, the idea that they actually came back from the dead just seems implausible.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: {{Averted}}. Not only do they lose their heads semi-frequently with no real issues, Sakura jabs an iron poker clean through pre-awakened Ai's head in the first episode, and it does nothing to stop her.
* RevenantZombie: While they start off as the stereotypical mindless [[ZombieGait shambling]] zombies at first, they regain their intelligence and humanity after awakening, having their personalities and the memories of their lives.
* TheRival: They are considered as the worthy rivals of [[spoiler:Iron Frill, especially when the latter idol group publicly declared it on TV in the fourth episode of ''Revenge'']].
* ScaryStitches: Several of the girls have conspicuous stitches or possibly staples, with Sakura's treating the gash across her forehead, Junko's skin being totally patched together, and Yugiri having them around her neck.
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: When they're not performing, practicing, or sleeping, the girls wear school uniforms, likely the ones they wore in life. The only exceptions are Tae, who is OlderThanSheLooks at the age of 29, and Yugiri, who died before school uniforms were a thing (at least in Japan), but dresses like a female student of her native period.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Taken UpToEleven. Without their makeup, they are rotting corpses with blue-green skin and sunken red eyes. Thanks to Kotaro's impeccable makeup skills, they not only pass off as living girls, but as ''attractive'' living girls, something they comment on frequently.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: The girls are put through some hilarious forms of abuse throughout the show. Since they're zombies, they can literally put themselves back together. That said, while they all get caught up in slapstick as a group, Yugiri is the only one who manages to avoid getting a slapstick moment of her very own.
* TheSleepless: They're dead, after all. Though while they don't strictly ''need'' to sleep, they do anyway because it's still best for their well-being; Ai went a month without sleep rehearsing for Saga Rock, and while she didn't suffer any physical ill effects, she was starting to hallucinate by the end of it.
* SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration: At least Type IV. The girls can develop mushrooms if cooped up in an area for too long, but they're no longer actively decaying and can just stick any lost body parts back on.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: As revealed in "Saga Incident: Part 1", all the girls of Franchouchou (other than Yugiri) had ancestors living in/around Saga back in the Meiji era, and they were nearly identical in looks.
** Sakura's ancestor is working as a shop keeper on the streets of Saga.
** Junko's ancestor [[ButtMonkey is the victim of an unfortunate slipup where Kiichi crashes into a fisherman who sends an eel flying into her kimono sleeve.]]
** Tae's ancestor appears to be some kind of noblewoman, as she was being transported in a private, regal-looking wagon.
** Ai's ancestor is seen [[FriendToAllChildren playing with a group of children]] near Yugiri's house.
** Saki's ancestor has a [[CoolBigSis sisterly relationship]] with Lily's ancestor, comforting the latter who's in tears.
* SuperToughness: Given that they don't have the weakness to being decapitated or speared through the brain, it's uncertain exactly what it would take to kill them. They've been hit by vans at high speed, been shot through the chest, bellyflopped from significant heights, blasted by a freak bolt of lightning that fried their stage, caught up in explosions, and pretty much shaken all of it off in a matter of moments. It's slightly countered by the fact that they can be very easily dismembered, but it's simple to put them back together.
* TeethclenchedTeamwork: She and Kotaro butt heads frequently over how to best support Franchouchou. Though ultimately the two have the same goal of making Franchouchou the best it can be.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The girls' profiles list each of their favorite foods:
** Sakura: All kinds of sweets
** Saki: Chicken (which explains why she was such a frequent visitor to Drive-in Tori)
** Ai: Yakiniku
** Junko: Foods with soy and Japanese food
** Yugiri: Amazake
** Lily: Mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard
** Tae: Mentaiko[[note]]a type of spicy pollock roe[[/note]], squid
* TrueCompanions: By the end of Season 1, all seven girls have learned to work together and look out for one another, creating an inseparable band of sisters who would rather fail together than succeed without any one member of their group.
* UncannyValleyMakeup: At the start of Season 2, with Kotaro in a depressive funk, the girls have to do their own makeup, which results in them having deathly-pale skin, and they're unable to get rid of their CreepyShadowedUndereyes. Ai's co-workers remark that she looks extremely unhealthy, but the group is otherwise able to blend in with society.
* UndeathlyPallor: All of the girls have grayish-blue skin, in-universe rather than a stylistic choice. When they need to go into public to perform they require make-up from Kotaro to look alive.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Saki and Lily rib at each other endlessly. Saki gives Lily all sorts of [[EmbarrassingNickname demeaning nicknames]] based on her height and age, and [[spoiler: mocks her absurdly masculine DeadName]]. Lily often mocks Saki's overenthusiasm and gruff demeanor, and is usually the first to snark whenever Saki is SuddenlyShouting. Though it's all mostly harmless, and the two clearly maintain a strong friendship through it all.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: They may be zombies, but they still act and think like they used to (except Tae) and question their choices and freedom in the grander scheme of things.
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Their bodies are always going to be in the shape they were in when they died. Some reassembly was needed for [[LudicrousGibs Junko]] and [[OffWithHisHead Yugiri]].
* YouAreNumberSix: Since revealing their real names to the public would cause the obvious problem of attracting people who would have known them in life and thus revealing that they're zombies, the girls are each given numbers as aliases when they're performing or interacting with fans.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Considering that each of them died decades (or in Yugiri's case, centuries) ago, they obviously can't return to their old lives again. This isn't addressed until Lily's CharacterArc.
* YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead: Invoked and played with. The girls often bring up that they can get away with doing acts which would otherwise be fatal. In particular, Ai, Saki and [[spoiler:Sakura]] all experience anew the manner of their deaths and still make it out in one piece.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sakura Minamoto -- [=#1=]]]
--> [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Click here for information on Sakura Minamoto]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Saki Nikaido -- [=#2=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AsamiTano (Japanese), Creator/CaitlinGlass (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Yuriya Suzuki (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' May 15, 1979\\
'''Died:''' August 30, 1997 (age 18)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Drove off a cliff\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 153cm (5'0") / 48kg (105 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 77(C)/54/82cm (30/21/32 in)\\\
->''"I'm the first-captain of Dorami, the legendary all-female biker gang from Saga Prefecture, the name is Saki Nikaido!!"''\\\
A legendary biker and special attack unit captain of Dorami, Kyushu's most infamous all-female biker gang during the TheNineties. A coarse, violent rebel through and through, she only respects those with "guts", and her ability to take charge leads her to appoint herself the leader of Franchouchou. She also has a fondness for VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}.
----
* NumberOneDime: Her beloved {{Franchise/Tamagotchi}}. She laments its loss at several points. It turns out her co-captain Reiko has held onto it as a momento.
** [[spoiler: Maimai gifts her a 20th anniversary edition of the same model as thanks for performing at her school. Saki couldn't have been happier.]]
* ActionGirl: She is one of the most physically abled of all the girls. She's able to knock down Takeo, an 8-foot-tall giant of a man, and in the past fought off twenty or so Korosuke rivals alongside Reiko without much of a scratch. She also has a really good fastarm, as seen when she throws a baseball at Kotaro when he provokes her.
* AmbiguouslyBi: While she's shown interest in men, she has many characteristics not unlike a ButchLesbian. She was a captain for an all-female biker gang, is the most physically-oriented of the girls complete with a sports jacket in her default appearance, wears some pretty androgynous clothes like baggy pants and overalls, and is characterized by a tough thrill-seeking demeanor.
** Her co-captain Reiko had her hair dyed with the ''bisexual flag colors''.
* AscendedFangirl:
** In life, she used to hang out with her gang at "Drive-in Tori", a popular chicken restaurant, and grew up watching the Kashima Gatalympics. Small wonder that she's in TearsOfJoy when she learns that Franchouchou is slated to perform at a commercial for the former, and later gets to participate in the latter.
** In ''Revenge'' Episode 2, she is also revealed to be a fan of White Ryu, a radio DJ, and as such is very excited to be a guest on his show. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, White Ryu decides to hand over control of the show to Saki since he feels it's time for him to retire.]]
* BareYourMidriff: In Episode 10 she wears a [[{{Stripperiffic}} revealing sports bra]] on a cold mountain.
* TheBigGal: She can knock down a man five times her size with a flying kick. During a flashback in Episode 9, we see the aftermath of her and Reiko taking down 20 or so rival gang members between just the two of them.
* BikerBabe: She was once a captain in Kyushu's toughest all-female biker gang during the 90s.
* ButtMonkey: Shares being the target of Kotaro's acts of abuse with Sakura in Season 2.
* CatchPhrase:
** "You wanna die?"/"Want me to kick your ass?"
** To a lesser extent "Can't believe it."
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Back when she was alive she and Reiko were able to [[OneWomanArmy take down twenty-some bikers with barely a cut on them]]. As a zombie she can send a grown man flying with a kick, survive a nearly-fatal motorcycle jump, and pedal a bicycle so fast it ''creates a sonic boom''.
* CheshireCatGrin: Saki is a born troublemaker, and she's wearing one of these whenever she's causing some.
* CoolBigSis: She and Lily have a playful and banter-filled sisterly dynamic, and the former can be quite protective of the latter. She occasionally acts as this towards Sakura and Ai who are both at least a year younger.
** She comforts Ai when the latter is terrified by sudden thunderstorm.
* CryCute: [[spoiler: At the end of ''Revenge'' Episode 2, the normally energetic, devil-may-care Saki simply breaks down crying in heartbreak over the realization that she can never grow up to be a woman worthy of White Ryu.]]
* DareToBeBadass: Her M.O. is this. Even in life, she was an [[TheUnfettered unfettered thrillseeker]] often seeking challenges, and one of those even cost her her life. She never loses this trait as a zombie, and repeats the same stunt she did previously, only this time surviving it.
* DeathGlare: She has a tendency to pull this face when someone tries to pick a fight with her. More often than not, she will intimidate the instigator.
* DefeatMeansFriendship:
** Sakura one-upping her in an impromptu rap battle where the former basically tells her to screw herself the entire time earns her Saki's respect. Prior to that, Saki spent most of the episode either antagonizing Sakura or treating her like some pushover.
** Pulls one on several biker delinquents after they witness her jumping off and surviving the crash that killed her the first time she attempted it.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: [[spoiler: ''Revenge'' Episode 2 reveals that she was an even more unruly punk before she joined Dorami, unsure of the direction she was taking, until listening to White Ryu inspired her to make something out of her life, leading her to become friends with Reiko and Dorami in life, and then Franchouhou post-mortem.]]
* ExposedToTheElements: In Episode 10, Saki wears a sleeveless [[BareYourMidriff cropped top]] in the snowy mountain.
* FatalFlaw: Being a reckless [[TheUnfettered unfettered thrillseeker]] cost Saki her life as she jumped off a cliff and succumbed to her ensuing injuries.
* FearlessFool: She certainly is hot-headed and brave, but this trait of hers ended up being her FatalFlaw, because she was so determined to win the game of chicken against the rival gang that she just kept speeding on and was mortally injured by the ensuing crash. She does get a second chance as a zombie... and she does the exact same thing all over again. She survives this time thanks to her undead nature, even though there was no guarantee that she would've survived the crash intact enough to keep functioning.
* FriendToAllChildren: She's quite gentle and kind towards Franchouchou's younger audience. She's also protective of Lily, kicking away who she suspected to be a kidnapper (who of course was actually Lily's father).
* GamerChick: Aside from her fondness for Tamagotchi, her profile mentions she was a fan of arcades.
* HiddenDepths: Despite being a delinquent BikerBabe with designs to take over the country, she shows a great deal of [[FriendToAllChildren gentleness towards children]] and awareness of social norms, knowing full well that her rough and violent attitude towards her gang won't fly when trying to be the most beloved idol group in the nation.
* HotBlooded: When something piques her interest she gets very intense about it. As she says herself, "When I go in, I go all in".
* IJustWantToBeNormal: {{Defied|Trope}}. Living or dead, Saki's never had any idea of what "normal's" supposed to be, and has never understood what other people see in it.
* ImageSong: Saki gets one in Episode 9, called "Tokkou Dance ~DAWN OF THE BAD~", which has her leading a 90s punk rock song about achieving what you want in your life, by relying on the friends who are on your side.
* InformedAttribute: Her offical profile states that Saki dislikes sweets but in episode four she has her face pressed up against the window of a cake shop with Tae, Lily, and Sakura.
* InstantExpert: "Expert" might be going a bit far but it should be noted that of the six fully awakened zombies, she is the only one not known to have any background in singing, dancing or any form of entertainment whatsoever. She nonetheless takes to performing as an idol quite handily, vocally holding her own just fine and not yet displaying the same level of difficulty coordinating dance with the group that Lily or Junko have at varying points.
* JapaneseDelinquents: She fits the bill of a bike gang captain in a school jersey and very long skirt, complete with TrrrillingRrrs.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Saki is brusque, blunt, and has no respect for pushovers. However, she does show a soft side, such as, generally, warming up to Sakura after proving that she isn't as completely gutless as she appears and defending her fellow zombies from Kotaro's antics, as well as, specifically, sharing a moment with a young, new fangirl, and [[spoiler:despite laughing over Lily's overly-macho birth name and her manner of death, wholeheartedly accepting her for who she is.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: As scathing as it is during their rap battle, Saki makes a fair point that Sakura's obsession with getting her memories back probably won't do her any good, since being a zombie means she can't return to her old life anyway. However, [[ShutUpHannibal Sakura retorts that it's still better than sitting around doing nothing]].
* LargeHam: Saki is perhaps the only idol who can rival Kotaro's haminess when properly excited.
* TheLostLenore: {{Downplayed|Trope}} and [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]]; she mourns her VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}'s death since she herself has been dead for over twenty years[[note]]Tamagotchi tend to live a few weeks at a time[[/note]], and even then, she's merely annoyed by it.
* LoveHurts: [[spoiler: By the end of ''Revenge'' Episode 2 she confesses her love for White Ryu; unfortunately for her, he admits he cannot reciprocate her feelings due to their age gap, telling her to [[JailBaitWait wait a few years until she grows into adulthood]]--something already impossible for her as an undead, much to her grief.]]
* MamaBear: A non-maternal variety. Do not mess with her crew if you don't wanna die.
* MsFanservice: Downplayed, but she's willing to wear a sports bra on a cold mountain and is considered attractive.
* MulticoloredHair: She has blonde hair with orange and green streaks.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: She is skinny, but that doesn't stop her from beating up 20 bikers in life, and kicking an 8-foot tall man off his feet, sending him flying. Not that it really matters as a zombie.
* TheNicknamer: She loves to give nicknames. She always calls Lily "Shrimpy" ("''Chinchiku''" in Japanese, "Squirt" in the English dub), much to her annoyance. She refers to Kotaro as "Shades", Yugiri as "Sis", and uses various egg-related terms on Sakura.
* NonFatalExplosions: Completely averted with her actual death, but played straight when, as a zombie, she tackles the same challenge that killed her. Though she does say it ''really'' hurt.
* NotGrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler: In ''Revenge'' Episode 2, after White Ryu appoints Franchouchou to succeed him in his radio show, Saki confesses her feelings for him. However, he tells Saki to try again when she’s a grown woman. Saki ruefully admits to Sakura that she knows she’ll never be one since zombies don’t age, bursting into tears as the realization hits her all at once. Ironically enough for someone who lived fast and died young, she finds a reason to grow up only after she’s already dead, and now she never will.]]
* NotSoAboveItAll: Normally, she's just as annoyed with Kotaro as the rest of the girls, and the first to get physical whenever he goes a step too far in belittling them. In Episode 5, she becomes a whole lot more agreeable with him when she discovers he's booked appearances for them at Drive-In Tori and the Gatalympics, engaging in HamToHamCombat with him over their shared enthusiasm.
* NumberTwo: Leaving aside it being her number in Franchouchou, this was pretty much her role in Dorami, as captain of the gang's special attack unit ([[DubInducedPlotHole the English translation incorrectly identifies her as the gang's overall leader]]).
* OddFriendship: With the gentle Sakura, borne from witnessing firsthand her competitive side, not to mention the fact that they're both natives of Kyushu.
* OddlyVisibleEyebrows: Has a large [[PeekABangs bang]] over the left side of her face, but her eyes are still visible underneath.
* PeekABangs: The left side of her face is covered by her hair, though her eye is still visible.
* PetTheDog: In Episode 6, she comforts Ai after realizing she has a crippling FearOfThunder borne from her manner of death.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Five feet tall, making her the second-shortest member of Franchouchou after Lily. She still has no problem delivering a flying kick to a man who easily towers over her and knocking him into a wall without any major effort, or taking on a rival gang and utterly pulverizing everybody in it with only Reiko at her side.
* ProudBeauty: When wearing makeup to hide her zombie appearance: she's attractive, she knows it, and wants to flaunt it.
-->'''Saki:''' "And to be honest? Right now? I am hot as hell!"
* RapunzelHair: She has a ponytail that goes all the way to her legs.
* RuggedScar: She has a stitched up scar on her right cheek and arm and left leg as a zombie, giving her a tough and surly look befitting her past life as a biker gang captain.
* {{Sarashi}}: As a zombie, Saki has bandages around her limbs and her body, and some end up like this. It's not clear if this is just for fanservice or actually functional; she didn't have them pre-mortem, suggesting they might be functional.
* SupportingLeader: While Sakura is the main protagonist, Saki is the one who takes up the mantle of TheLeader among the girls, owing to her past experience as a bike gang captain.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Downplayed; she wants to take over all of Japan, and she figures that if she can't do it with her old biker gang now that she's a zombie, then cooperating with Kotaro's zombie idol project is her best shot.
* TearsOfJoy: PlayedForLaughs twice in Episode 5, when she revisits Drive-In Tori, her favorite restaurant in life, and learns she'll get to participate at the Kashima Gatalympics.
* TechnicolorEyes: Golden eyes when alive or in makeup.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Has this to an extent with most of Franchouchou. She and Sakura in particular display this dynamic whenever the two end up spending an episode together.
* TomboyishPonytail: She's easily the most tomboyish girl of the group with her rough demeanor and her past as a captain of a biker gang, and she usually wears her hair in a ponytail.
* TookALevelInKindness: Saki is much nicer after being roasted by Sakura in the rap battle.
* TranquilFury: She is capable of doing this when she's not in LargeHam mode herself, or some would-be delinquent is trying to pick a fight with her. As someone who has fought at least ''20'' girls, she is basically saying "Don't pick a fight you can't win".
* VirtualPet: Owned a (now long dead) Tamagotchi when she was alive. [[spoiler:The case is kept as a memento by Reiko.]]
* ViolenceIsNotAnOption: When Saki butts into a generations-long dispute involving the remnants of her old gang, she resolves to settle it "like an idol" rather than with violence, agreeing with Kotaro that her old methods could only hurt her band's image.
* YouGotGuts: She only respects people who show "guts", which she thinks Sakura doesn't have since she keeps sucking up to Kotaro's bizarre demands without question. When Sakura proves her wrong by challenging her to a rap battle and demonstrating that being a zombie idol is CrazyEnoughToWork, the two become friends.
* YouRemindMeOfX: After she takes a liking to Sakura, Saki notes that her egg-shaped head looks a lot like her dead Tamagotchi.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ai Mizuno -- [=#3=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RisaTaneda (Japanese), Creator/BrynApprill (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Rie Matsuoka (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' March 7, 1992\\
'''Died:''' August 4, 2008 (age 16)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Struck by lightning\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 160cm (5'2") / 42kg (92 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 81(B)/56/80cm (31/22/31 in)\\\
->''"I don't see mistakes or failures as bad things. That's not how it works...they always end up helping me with whatever happens next."''\\\
The legendary lead singer of Iron Frill, the top idol group of the 2000s, which Sakura idolized in life. A serious and strong-willed girl, she's initially skeptical of Kotaro's plan, but eventually dives whole-heartedly into the role and puts all her effort into building Franchouchou's legend. As the most experienced (current-era) idol of the group, Ai is effectively the team manager, planning out the group's choreography and roles with occasional input from the others.
----
* TheAce: Ai is looked to by the other girls for coaching during rehearsal, and given leads in songs along with Junko, for her incredible talents in singing, dancing and choreography, as well as possessing such a knack for musical arrangement that at one point she was able to pinpoint and properly alter a song's harmony to prevent [[TheLoad Tae]] from continually garbling over it. Season 2 addresses the downside of this as the girls have become extremely reliant on Ai's opinion on almost everything, Kotaro arranges to have Ai do some solo stuff in episodes 3 & 4 so that the girls will have to figure out how to preform on their own.
* AchillesInHisTent: Getting stuck in a HeroicBSOD over her undead state leads to her silent refusal to take part in Franchouchou's guerrilla show in Episode 3. Seeing the other girls' continued determination to move forward eventually inspires her to join in and salvage what little of the show they can when Sakura forgets her lyrics, after which she starts performing again.
%%* ActionGirl
* AmbiguouslyGay: All of the ShipTease she has with Junko in ''Revenge'' leaves it up in the air if she fully requites.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [[spoiler: At the receiving end of this when Iron Frill's lead idol tells her she should leave Franchouchou and (re)join their group, which shocks both Sakura and Junko, who were eavesdropping.]]
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Ai has a dizzying array of knowledge about the idol business, dance choreography, musical theory, PR... it's obvious to see why she was the leader of Iron Frill. Unfortunately, this comes with the LogicalWeakness that she's often stubborn about her own point of view, and she gets along the worst with their ''actual'' manager, Kotaro. She's also the only member of Franchouchou able to discern [[spoiler:Sakura's recent memory-swap for what it was in Episode 11.]]
* BandageMummy: Ai's bandages almost completely cover her save for her eyes. Given she was killed by being struck by lightning that charred her corpse, the bandages are likely not only helping keep her together, but covering up the massive burns over her entire body.
* BaguetteBeatdown: Gives one to Kotaro in a rage after his hostile Frenchman act in Episode 5.
* BareYourMidriff: This was a very prominent feature of her Iron Frill outfit.
* BreakTheCutie: Ai has not had a very good time going from a rising musical talent to a disfigured walking corpse, her spirit crushed in succession by the realization that she has nowhere to go among the living and the discovery she's remembered for her gruesome death instead of her career and talent.
* BrokenPedestal: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Sakura only has the faintest recollection of Ai due to her memory loss, but that doesn't stop her from being deeply disappointed that a "legendary" idol such as her would rather give up after losing everything rather than find new ways to move forward. Once Ai gets over her HeroicBSOD to save Franchouchou's performance after Sakura forgets her lyrics in Episode 3, [[RebuiltPedestal Sakura regains her respect for her]].
* ClosetGeek: Downplayed, but Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' show that she is a big fan of Junko and watches videos of her singing on [[BlandNameProduct Mytube]] frequently. When Sakura walks in on her watching them once, Ai reacts as if she had just been caught watching porn.
* ContinuityNod: As Ai continuous to practice nonstop for Saga Rock to the point of falling apart, she can be seen wearing the muscle ache strips given to them at the spa.
* CrutchCharacter: Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' establish her as one for Franchouchou. The others are so dependent on her knowledge and experience that Kotaro excludes her from the group's performance as Iron Frill's opening act, under the pretence of not wanting her old bandmates to recognise her, so that the others are forced to act on their own initiative rather than constantly seeking her advice.
* TheCynic: {{Subverted|Trope}}. At the start of the story, she's highly critical of the Zombie Land Saga Project, which she feels is doomed to fail the moment she hears about it. She begins seeing promise in her fellow zombies after a few episodes but remains the first to remind them how hard they're going to have to work for it, showing that she's more of a realist than a cynic, and given the sketchiness with which Kotaro pitched his idea, her skepticism is not completely unwarranted.
* DefrostingIceQueen: She's introduced being quite cold and callous towards Kotaro and the other girls due to finding the Zombie Land Saga project a bad idea. But over time the others inspire her to give being a zombie idol a chance, which rekindles her love for performing and working as a team.
* {{Determinator}}: Not a trait present in the first few episodes (while she is undergoing a very logical HeroicBSOD), but she eventually proves to perhaps fill this role the most of any of the girls. [[spoiler:This attitude of hers is shown in Episode 11 to have been the very spark that ignited [[HeroWorshipper Sakura's]] desire to become an idol.]]
* DiedStandingUp: During a concert that took place in the middle of a thunderstorm, Ai ran out to a center stage to thank the crowd for coming, but ended up struck by lightning and died frozen in her pose.
* TheDogBitesBack: In Episode 5, fed up with Kotaro's verbal abuse complemented with hitting her with a baguette, she bludgeons him back with the same baguette.
* EarlyBirdCameo: She shows up in the video on Sakura's laptop before her proper introduction as a zombie.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Ai is often seen with an exasperated look on her face at many of the antics of the others and is far and away the most practically-minded of the group.
* EyeScream: At one point in Episode 2 when she tries to escape over the mansion's fence, her eyes pop out of their sockets when she falls down.
* FearOfThunder: She freezes up at the very sight of lightning, which is understandable, given it killed her.
* GoryDiscretionShot: She isn't shown getting electrocuted by the lightning bolt that killed her during the flashback to her death, though we do get a glimpse of her charred body afterward.
* HeroicBSOD: After nearly getting shot by Policeman A, she realizes she truly has nowhere to go and resigns herself to staying at the mansion, becoming too disheartened to perform again. She starts recovering after she and Junko have to salvage their guerrilla performance after Sakura messed up on a few lyrics, as she considers starting her career anew with Sakura and co.
* HeroicSacrifice: One of the in-universe theories of her death is that she deliberately attracted the lightning into herself to save her audience on the grounds that there was nothing else fried by the lightning. Of course, the real explanation is simpler than that; it was an accident.
* HiddenDepths: In Episode 10, we see her seemingly fashion a fully-functional bow and arrow from scratch with no prior access to tools, and she proves to be a pretty good shot with it as well, though she never does quite succeed her hunt.
* HighVoltageDeath: She died in a freak lightning strike during a thunderstorm.
* HopeBringer: [[spoiler:To Sakura, back when they were alive. Hearing of Ai's personal story of perseverance shook Sakura out of her learned helplessness, turning her back into the hopeful girl she once was in time for the opening of the series. When Sakura falls back into despair late in the series, Ai's words prove again to be one of the most influential factors in both returning Sakura to the stage, and getting her back to her feet when calamity befalls the venue.]]
* IChooseToStay: There are points in the show where it appears she might not stick around with Franchouchou only to [[TrueCompanions reaffirm her place with them]].
** She spends the second episode trying to leave Saga thinking the Zombie Land Saga project will flop. But by the next episode she decides to stay and help the others become real idols.
** [[spoiler: Shiori tries to [[WeCanRuleTogether persuade her to leave Franchouchou and join Iron Frill]], and she almost seriosuly considers the possibility before realizing she can't abandon her fellow zombies like that.]]
* ICouldaBeenAContender: Iron Frill had just begun to take off when Ai died, so those who remember her for more than just her death largely remember her as a rising star who could've gone places had she lived. In an unusual case of this, while the loss of what could have been weighs heavily on Ai, nothing's stopping her from getting back into the game. Indeed, having another chance to establish herself helps motivate her.
* IdolSinger: One of the two members of Franchouchou who used to be professional idols, along with Junko. She was the lead singer of Iron Frill, the most popular idol group of the 2000s.
* ImageSong: While she has yet to have one during her tenure with Franchouchou, Ai already has a song of her own- which is known as "Fantastic Lovers". She leads this song with her old friends as part of the Iron Frill group, and was briefly heard in the first scene of the series.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Sakura pitched an iron poker through Ai's skull when she first encountered her as a mindless zombie.
* InspirationalMartyr: She was made into one after her death was sensationalized across the media landscape, and many idols since have cited her as an inspiration for their careers, wanting to reach the same potential she did. Ai on the other hand [[PlayedForDrama is hurt that her life and legacy have become nothing more than a tragic tale told through the industry]].
* {{Irony}}:
** The legendary idol whose career (and life) ended due to an electrical storm, had her career as a zombie jump-started by yet another electrical storm.
** Her profile lists her hobby as "Collecting creepy but cute character merchandise". Given that she's now an adorable zombie girl, any merchandise based on her zombie form (or those of her teammates, for that matter) certainly qualifies as this.
** [[spoiler:Before the series began, seeing Ai's confidence roused Sakura from the depths of her despair and into action. During the guerrilla show, seeing Sakura in trouble rouses Ai from the depths of her despair and into action.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Ai is more sullen and cynical than a jerk, even at her worst, she does bring up some valid questions about how feasible the prospect of zombies becoming idols is. Sakura doesn't deny it, but, like with Saki, insists that they may as well try.
* MasterOfAll: While Junko alone is noted to be a better singer than her, Ai is a much better dancer and is the only member of the group truly versed in group performances. Her reticence to make use of her exceptional ability in early episodes caused a good deal of friction between her and Sakura, who looked up to Ai immensely in life. Junko, meanwhile, admits to herself in ''Revenge'' that had Ai been around in her time, she definitely would've been able to make it to the top as a solo idol like she had.
* MeaningfulName: In Season 2, Ai goes by the name "San Tatsumi" when working on a part-time job. While that surname is taken from Kotaro's, the first name "San" is also a [[PunnyName pun]]; it's the number 3 in Japanese, and Ai is identified as "Zombie #3".
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse, Ai believes this is the case for an idol group taking its first steps toward getting its name out and mentions it in several episodes.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Has a fire poker harpooned through her temple mere seconds after being introduced in zombie form. It stays lodged in her brain for most of the first episode but never makes any mess at all.
* ReactiveContinuousScream: [[RunningGag Has a habit]] of screaming back at others in terror or surprise whenever they scream at her first with the exact same feelings thanks to her zombified appearance.
* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue Oni to Sakura's Red Oni once her true nature begins returning.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Ironically enough, she nearly ends up being this for ''herself''. When her former group, Iron Frill, comes to Saga for a concert, one of her old fans and a current lead member of the group can't help but notice her "similarities" to the legendary singer and tries to convince her to ditch Franchouchou and join Iron Frill, under the excuse that she's wasting her potential and that her presence would make Iron Frill stronger, though another member insinuates that's it's actually because of this trope.
* RunningGag: Ai has a habit of accidentally getting into fearful screaming matches when her makeup's off.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: She immediately tries to leave the group for Tokyo after having one conversation with Kotaro and learning about his ridiculous zombie idol project. She only returns once she's resigned herself to the fact that she can't rejoin the living.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A milder case than most examples but it's clear that Ai's death has had a lasting affect on her psyche. The flash of a camera causes her to flinch and when faced with actual thunder, Ai crumbles in on herself. She curls up into a ball and covers her ears and each time this happens, she doesn't get up until someone else comes to help her.
* ShesGotLegs: Ai is quite slight overall, being the second youngest of the group and the third lightest. Nonetheless, side by side comparison such as the still-frame at the end of Episode 7 seems to indicate that she has the thickest calves and is about equal with Yugiri in the thighs. Her extreme professionalism toward dancing coordination really shows in this way.
* SuperSenses: {{Downplayed|trope}} due to the unclear degree, but she indicates she has better eyes and ears than the other girls and proves it by being able to hear an approaching boar before the other girls in spite of being one of the farthest from the sound.
* TeamDad: Of a [[TheMentor mentor]] variety. She is the one most responsible so far for the girls' training drills, teaching the newcomers the basics of the business, and is the one most vocal about the way of thinking they should approach their shared goal with. When a member is struggling or has a particularly important role to play in a new song, she coaches that member directly by way of example and takes it upon herself to review songs as a whole when the entire band is having trouble. Also, while she always strives to be constructive and, ordinarily, is by no means any less open-hearted than the rest of the group, she firmly believes that they won't get anywhere by "just playing friends all the time" and does not mince words with someone if she feels they are out of line.
* TechnicolorEyes: Light red eyes when alive or in makeup.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Throughout the entire series, Ai is quite noticeably the team member who is least amused by Kotaro's antics, sharing not even a single moment of camaraderie. That said, she doesn't seem to find his PR method invalid either, and [[JerkAssHasAPoint speaks up to its merit]] during the shooting for the Drive-In Tori commercial.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Zigzagged with Junko. In the first few episodes the two are glued to each other's side, both of them see the group as doomed and attempt to escape. Most of their interactions in the first three episodes are with each other as they stay at odds with everyone else. As they get to know the rest of the girls, their interactions branch out but come episode 6 and 7 they are narratively this trope with being at odds.
* TrainingFromHell: In Episode 6, Ai practices for a new song without rest and pushes her body to its literal breaking point. When her friends rightly react in worry, Ai nonchalantly puts herself back together and states that stress is par for the course with their career.
* TraumaButton:
** Ai's death by lightning has left her terrified of lightning, and even a camera's flash can cause her to cringe.
** Similarly, on some level she remembers Sakura impaling her through the head with a poker in Episode 1, and relexively cringes at the reminder of it.
* {{Tsundere}}: A carefully {{Subverted|Trope}} example of the trope based on professionalism. The hot and cold sides of Ai's demeanor are largely dictated by her perception of the other girls' work ethic, rather than by mere slight emotional provocation like many classic tsunderes. She is very kind and supportive to each of the girls under any ordinary circumstance, but while she never resorts to violence unless directly attacked (as by Kotaro in Episode 5), she will become almost militantly stern in her expression if she feels someone isn't taking their duty to the band seriously or conscientiously. [[spoiler:This is displayed most prominently in her clash with Junko in Episode 6 and to a lesser extent, her lectures to Sakura in Episodes 10 and 12.]]
* UnmovingPlaid: Her skirt and bow tie feature this prominently.
* WhatHaveIBecome: The fact that being undead has made her an outcast from society is what makes her take her zombification harder than the rest of the girls, sending her into a HeroicBSOD.
* WhenSheSmiles: At the end of Episode 3, Ai, [[PerpetualFrowner who had been anything but a happy camper until then]], finally cracks a smile as she warms up to the idea of starting her idol career anew with Franchouchou. When the idols perform "Mezame Returner" again in Episode 7, she opens a far warmer smile during the cut-in than she has mustered any other time she has performed it. {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sakura in an Episode 11 flashback, admiringly calling Ai's smile "dazzling" and stating she wants to smile like that herself.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Check out all those tropes above, particularly TeamDad. Now consider that she's the second youngest of the girls at barely sixteen years of age, and that Sakura is almost a year older and Junko three.
* {{Workaholic}}: Ironically she spends the first few episodes refusing to work, but once she gets started, her work ethic becomes very clear. She is nearly always the first to address practical concerns about their careers, becomes absolutely furious when she feels Junko is intentionally letting the team down, and when her arms and legs break down after an extended session of practicing choreography, she states that this isn't unusual for her.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is dark blue.
* YouAreNotAlone: In Episode 12, [[spoiler:after learning about Sakura's extremely pessimistic outlook on life, Ai tells her that all the other zombies died, too, so none of them are "lucky."]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Junko Konno -- [=#4=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Maki Kawase (Japanese), Creator/AmandaLee (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Yuna Kitahara (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' September 2, 1964\\
'''Died:''' December 6, 1983 (age 19)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Plane explosion\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 155cm (5'1") / 40kg (88 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 80(B)/55/84cm (31/20/33 in)\\\
->''"It's an idol's job to give people something to aspire to. I could never let the fans get close enough to see my flaws. Or at least...that's the way it was for idols I knew..."''\\\
A legendary idol from the Showa period who pioneered the industry in the 1980s. A product of her time, she is more used to performing solo than with a group, and has difficulty interacting with other people.
----
* EightiesHair: That is a ''fluffy'' head of hair on her. Justified, since she died in 1983.
* AchillesInHisTent:
** Together with Ai, she refuses to join Franchouchou's guerrilla show in Episode 3. Seeing Sakura's determination inspires them to the point that when Sakura bungles her lines, they join in to salvage what little of the performance they can.
** She quits Franchouchou in Episode 6 after both Kotaro and Ai chew her out for refusing to take part in the photo shoot, feeling that the expectations for idols have changed too much for her to be comfortable with since she died. She spends a good portion of Episode 7 still depressed until Kotaro gives her a pep talk.
* AmbiguouslyGay: She has not been shown to be particularly interested in love, or at least in any heteronormative context.
** She visibly blushes upon seeing Yugiri in full Oiran attire.
** Episode 2 of ''Revenge'' has her flustered by the mere ''mention'' of marriage.
** To say nothing of her ShipTease towards Ai.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: As a girl from TheEighties, her dialogue is peppered with slang from that period. She calls television "the tube", compares digital photography to polaroids, and at one point calls Sakura a ''"ninnyhammer"''.
* BackstoryHorror: An eyecatch and Episode 5 show her having a fear of heights. Then you find out she died from a plane malfunction.
* BeYourself: Kotaro tells her this by saying she can still represent her period and not force herself doing things she doesn't want to do.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: Was considered to be a pioneer of the idol genre.
* CatchPhrase: She has a few variations but you can always, always, always count on Junko to remind the other girls that they're zombies.
* CharlesAtlasSuperPower:
** Junko is apparently strong enough that she can grab a headless Sakura by the legs and run at full speed, keeping up with Saki, without any sign of strain.
** She can leap over the mansion’s gates which are more than twice her own height.
* ContraltoOfDanger: Averted. While Junko has the deepest singing voice of the group, she is also the most timid.
* CornerOfWoe: After being shocked at the drastic changes in the idol industry while she was dead, she barricades herself in a room (complete with warning signs and "do not cross" tape), and sulks in place for weeks, even growing mushrooms on her head. The trope is parodied slightly because the mushrooms are actually real and growing out of her flesh. This is actually TruthInTelevision as her undead body is producing mycelium.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Junko is noted to have the most musical talent among the seven, being the best singer and also being skilled at playing the guitar (acoustic ''and'' electric). However, she is also stated to not be an especially good dancer and has zero experience coordinating with a group, contrasting with [[TheAce Ai]].
* ExposedToTheElements: In Episode 10, Junko wears a sleeveless jersey when fishing in the waters of a snowy mountain.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The idol industry has changed significantly in the 35 years she was dead, and she has difficulty adjusting to what's expected of idols nowadays. She also has a hard time trying to work a computer keyboard.
* FrankensteinsMonster: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While she is just a zombie, her stitched up and discolored skin gives her the appearance of this.
* HeroicBSOD:
** The reality of being chased and shunned by the living for being a zombie leaves Junko deeply disheartened to the point where she and Ai hardly have the will to perform. Like Ai, she also starts to recover after covering for Sakura when the latter flubbed the lyrics to their guerrilla performance, deciding she wants to try singing in a group.
** She and Ai get into a heated argument over their differences in standards for idols due to the era difference between the two. After contemplating it on her own, Junko begins to think there's no place for her as an 80's idol in the modern day and considers leaving Franchouchou for good.
* HiddenDepths:
** After Kotaro kicks down a door by its hinges to give her a pep talk, he nonchalantly asks Junko to fix the door after him. Surprisingly, she simply picks up some power tools and puts the door back on competently. Episode 12 reveals that she reinforced it for extra measure.
** Though she doesn't ultimately catch anything, she appears to have a solid grasp on fishing, assembling a fishing pole and scrounging for suitable bait on her own. At the same time, she gives Sakura a surprisingly philosophical lecture you wouldn't expect from a girl who has spent so much of the series in abysmal spirits. Fishing is even listed as one of her hobbies.
** She picks the lock to Kotaro's room.
** Junko is an ''incredible'' guitarist, whether it be an acoustic ballad or shredding an electric guitar. Season 2 reveals that she made her idol debut as a guitarist.
* IWorkAlone: Downplayed. Junko doesn't hate the idea of performing in a group, but she isn't sure she can work well in one since she had always been a solo act, which compounds her reluctance to cooperate with Kotaro's plan.
* IdolSinger: Like Ai, she was already a professional idol before her death. In her case, she was one of the earliest idols to pioneer the industry, as it was during the seventies and eighties when the trope had first taken off and solidified in Japan.
* ImplausibleHairColor: She had grey hair even as a living teenager.
* InformedFlaw: It's repeatedly mentioned that Junko isn't a very good dancer, but it really only comes up once in practice, and she's on par with everyone else in each performance. Even more glaring is the fact that Junko is able to do the dance perfectly in Saga Rock after not practicing for two weeks.
* LastNameBasis: Initially, she addresses her friends by surname, such as referring to Sakura as "Minamoto-san" and Ai as "Mizuno-san." By Episode 10, she's progressed to formal FirstNameBasis, calling Sakura "Sakura-san" and later calling Ai "Ai-san." Averted in the dub, where she's on FirstNameBasis with everyone from the start.
* LiteralMinded: [[spoiler: She takes Kotaro's expression "Smash it, Junko!" as meaning to ''literally'' smash his guitar, which she does at the end of her concert solo.]]
* LookBothWays: A non-lethal PlayedForLaughs version. As everyone prepares to leave, Junko leaves the mansion to rejoin everyone, only to get rammed by Kotaro's van purely ''by accident'' as she stands in front to try to stop him. Being a zombie, she's fine.
* LudicrousGibs: Junko had to be reassembled from ''a lot'' of pieces that washed ashore after her death.
* LuminescentBlush:
** She is very prone to blushing, whether by embarrassment or at the crass comments of others.
** When she witnessed Yugiri in full oiran headdress and attire, she was [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee blushing in amazement]] at someone looking so elegant.
* MeaningfulEcho: Returns the words, "Don't worry, I'll back you up" to Ai who is about to break down on stage in fear of lightning.
* MetaGirl: Junko serves as a low-key one. She and Ai both believe the whole "undead IdolSinger group" plan is doomed, but while Ai's complaints center around the others' lack of experience and legitimate industry difficulties, Junko is often the one to quietly remind the girls that they're ''actual zombies'' with all that that entails, remains nervous around the one member who has yet to regain her mind, and frequently comments on how ridiculous the situations they get into are.
* OffModel: The show does a very good job at averting this with Junko's patches but still slips into this on occasion. Patches will sometimes be incorrectly sized or angled wrong, though it's very subtle when it does happen.
* OlderThanSheLooks: She doesn't look much older than the other girls despite being nineteen, the same age as [[TeamMom Yugiri]]. Junko mentions to Sakura that mentally, even though she's always going to be a young woman physically, she still feels her chronological age of ''fifty-five''.
* ThePerfectionist: She stands by the idea that idols must be figures of perfection for the fans to admire, and that showing any imperfection in front of them is unforgivable. Just the idea of interacting with her fans makes her uncomfortable because they might find flaws in her person outside the stage.
* RapunzelHair: A weird case in that most of Junko's hair is cut short but she has two long, thin pigtails that reach well past her waist.
* RockersSmashGuitars: When in a pinch over how to lead Franchouchou in an upcoming performance with Iron Frill, Kotaro advices her to smash through her limitations. After the group's success, she takes his advice a bit too literally and smashes Kotaro's guitar to pieces.
* RunningGag: Her overall relationship with Tae. If Junko is present but doesn't have speaking lines in a given scene, she's probably either being chased by Tae or is otherwise cowering from something Tae is doing. The {{Irony}} is that ShrinkingViolet Junko is likely targeted so specifically ''because'' she always reacts so fearfully, thus triggering Tae's predatory instinct.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: She runs away from the mansion together with Ai very shortly after reawakening, mostly because she's terrified of Tae. Like Ai, she reluctantly returns after realizing she has nowhere else to go.
* ShesBack: After spending the majority of Episode 7 sitting in a room and growing mushrooms out of her head, Junko makes a dynamic re-entry by jumping over an iron gate, (almost) stopping a moving van, and getting up to declare herself an idol once more.
* ShipTease: By ''Revenge'', she’s hinted to have a crush on Ai.
** In Episode 4 [[spoiler: she becomes incredibly distraught at the possibility of Ai leaving Franchouchou, to the point of breaking down into tears. She then becomes noticeably more clingy, and has a harder time focusing on the performance than the others. She is only able to finally focus when she decides to do whatever it takes to keep Ai in the group.]]
*** The two then have a very tender moment in where they reunite mid-performance and [[FreefallRomance fall off the stage together]] while [[HeldGaze locked in a deep gaze.]]
** She [[ClingyJealousGirl clings to Ai tightly]] [[spoiler: when Shiori makes a last gesture to recruit Ai into Iron Frill.]]
** The [[https://i.redd.it/thu7dfifdwz61.jpg promotional material between the two]] is also [[https://i.imgur.com/tOHksw4.jpg very intimate]].
* ShrinkingViolet: She is very soft-spoken and reserved, and is deeply intimidated by Tae. She's also very uneasy about the idea of photo sessions with fans, both because of her shy nature and because idols didn't directly interact with their fans that much when she was alive. The band decides to circumvent this and begin marketing by just handing out signed "candid" photos of her as "The Shy One" of the group, as opposed to doing meet-and-greets.
* SingingVoiceDissonance: Junko's soft, meek voice drops to a husky contralto when she sings.
* SongsOfSolace: Whenever she feels down, she will take a guitar and sing to herself. When Sakura hears it, she reveals she sings it to ease herself. The song itself was one of her hit singles when she was alive.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Zigzagged with Ai. In the first few episodes the two are glued to each other's side, both of them see the group as doomed and attempt to escape. Most of their interactions in the first three episodes are with each other as they stay at odds with everyone else. As they get to know the rest of the girls, their interactions branch out but come episode 6 and 7 they are narratively this trope with being at odds.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She is frequently shown to get nervous when dealing with heights. The fact that she died from an engine fire destroying the plane she was on likely contributed to this fear.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yugiri -- [=#5=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Rika Kinugawa (Japanese), Creator/StephanieYoung (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Mioka Sakamoto (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' November 23, 1863\\
'''Died:''' December 28, 1882 (age 19)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Beheading\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 165cm (5'4") / 48kg (105 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 94(I)/62/89cm (37/24/35 in)\\\
->''"To the art of performing, I swore my life...and now my death."''\\\
A legendary courtesan who saw the birth of the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration in the mid-19th century. Despite living in an entirely different time period, she chooses not to let it faze her and welcomes every chance to learn something new.
----
* AffectionateNickname: Lily calls her "Yugirin". Saki calls her "Big Sis".
* AnimeHair: She has her hair tied up in the shape of a heart.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: Speaks in an archaic manner fitting for her time period, specifically the ''arinsu''/''kuruwa'' dialect used by courtesans in the Edo Period.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Kind, beautiful, motherly, and has one ''hell'' of a hand slap. [[spoiler: In Episode 8 of ''Revenge'' when she thinks someone has broken into her home, she almost gouges them in the neck with a pair of chopsticks.]]
* BoobsOfSteel: Yugiri is the bustiest of the zombies, and one of the hardest to unnerve. She's a talented gymnast, hails from a more violent era, and is familiar with the concept of "testing swords". She's also prone to slapping her peers across the face to make them come to their senses, whether they actually need it or not.
* TheComicallySerious: She's... [[FishOutOfTemporalWater not]] [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan as]] [[GladIThoughtOfIt attuned]] to her surroundings as her calm dignity suggests.
* CoolBigSis: She is the oldest in terms of date of birth (though Junko and Tae are older in terms of how long they lived), and she seems to be the most level-headed of the zombies. The group as a whole affectionately refer to her as "Big Sis", and she is especially close to Lily.
* DoubleEntendre: In Episode 4, a line of dialog spoken by Yugiri easily falls under this, and is noticed by Sakura. It also doesn't help that she is a courtesan, and Yugiri is nonchalant in delivering it.
-->'''Yugiri''': What can we do to please our guests tonight?\\
'''Sakura''': Yugiri-san, phrasing!
** Notable in English as well.
---> '''Yugiri''': If we do our best to service them, I'm certain the result will be pleasurable for all parties.\\
'''Sakura''': ''Wow'', we need to work on your phrasing.
* FeminineWomenCanCook: She's a skilled chef and prepares meals for the other girls before work. [[spoiler: It's one of the many life skill she learned when she started living independently.]]
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: While all the zombies are this to a certain extent, Yugiri is the most egregious example, being the most ancient of the seven, having been revived from the period of the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration. She essentially lays out how she deals with the situation in Episode 6, explaining that being confused about what's going on wouldn't be helpful, so she's decided to accept things as they come.
* FishOutOfWater: The situation she ended up in at the outset of ''Revenge'' Episode 8. After the high-ranking government official who bought her freedom passed away, she found herself living in a town where she didn't know anyone and no-one knew her.
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's young servants who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Whenever she sees someone moping, she ''slaps'' them out of their funk. The problem is, most of the time they've already snapped out of it by the time Yugiri slaps them and tells them exactly what they were trying to say. [[spoiler:The one time she actually slaps someone in the middle of a funk is in Episode 12 when Sakura remains adamant in giving up.]]
* GladIThoughtOfIt: As mentioned above, Yugiri tends to resort to [[ArmorPiercingSlap Armor Piercing Slaps]] whenever she tries to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan get someone out of their funk.]] Only problem there is that the majority of the time, the victim has already started to come to the same epiphany on their own right before she slaps them.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: In Episode 11, she decks herself out in full ''oiran'' regalia, complete with platform sandals and headdress [[spoiler:when attempting to snap Sakura out of her depression.]]
* HiddenDepths:
** Episode 5 reveals her to be a skilled gymnast. Later in Episode 10, she confirms she also had training as a geisha (coming from a period where oiran and geisha were both active). Her search for edibles in the same episode leaves something to be desired, however, as she can't tell which fungi are poisonous (though it is mentioned that being poisoned isn't a big deal anymore, as they're all already dead).
** "Saga Incident, Part I" suggests that, despite taking things in stride as she normally does, Yugiri was a bit lonely after moving to Saga. While it was in exchange for her freedom, she moved to a town where no one knew her (except as a legendary courtesan), and she didn't know the people there either.
* HighClassCallGirl: She was specifically an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiran oiran]] in her native time, and that would have essentially made her this trope. Episode 2 shows that she's very good at playing the shamisen, which is just one of many skills oiran were expected to learn.
* ImageSong: While Yugiri never got her own song in Season One, she managed to score herself her own focused song for "The Best of Franchouchou" album (it even was a major selling point for this album, as it even had its own music video). Yugiri's song is known as "Saga Jihen", a song about Yugiri's 'incident' in her past life, and how she awaits for the love of her previous life to arrive in the depths of Hell itself. It's also sung in the style of jazz/big-band music from the early 1900s.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Lily, who's technically the youngest member of the crew, and the one furthest from her original time period.
* MsFanservice: As the oldest member of Franchouchou, a lot of emphasis is placed on her beauty and maturity. In official merchandising while in makeup, Yugiri has a much more emphasis on her [[ShesGotLegs long thick legs]], wide hips, and BoobsOfSteel while wearing a ''very'' form-fitting swimsuit.
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]]
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: She shares her name with a real-life courtesan from the 17th century, who was in turn named after a character from ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''.
* OffWithHisHead: While all of the girls can remove their heads now that they're zombies, the scarring around her neck implies that she was originally killed via decapitation.
* OnlyOneName: She goes by only one name, which was common practice among both oiran and {{Geisha}}; their employers would give them "professional" names that were typically taken from poetry or classic Japanese literature.
* OutOfFocus:
** Downplayed, with her generally being prone to hanging around cooperatively on the sidelines of the action and occasionally saying something funny for much of the series, and being the only member of Franchouchou besides Tae not to get a backstory episode in the first season. That said, hints of her MysteriousPast came through ([[spoiler:in the form of a mysterious bartender who knows about her past and is acquainted with Kotaro]]), and in general she's much more prominent and active in the last few episodes of the first season, her CoolBigSis traits showing at their absolute fullest.
** While she continues to be a little out of focus in Season 2, this trope thankfully gets defied due to her character arc ("The Saga Incident") being a part of ''Revenge'''s overall story.
* OutdatedOutfit: Her casual clothes consist of a kimono, hakama, stockings and boots, in the manner of a female student from the late 1800s[[note]]and still worn by women at their university graduation[[/note]], but with the hakama cut above the knee like a makeshift skirt, to show off more of her legs.
* RageBreakingPoint: Of the TranquilFury variety. [[spoiler:She [[GetaAHoldOfYourself physically slaps Sakura]] ''[[GetaAHoldOfYourself again]]'' for not only bemoaning her bad luck, but also for throwing her friends' feelings under the bus when all they wanted to do was help her. Where Ai has to point out [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse she's not the only one with bad luck]], Yugiri chooses a more physical approach.]]
* RapunzelHair: While not as long as Tae or Saki's, it is notably long enough to reach her hips.
* ReallyGetsAround: It's implied one of her oiran duties was [[TruthInTelevision to have sex with many of her clients]]. She drops several innuendos throughout the series and has easily charmed several characters like the Gatalympics audience and Policeman A.
* RunningGag:
** Whenever someone is getting moody, she has a tendency to give them a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan slap, and speaks her mind with a speech while the person was actually thinking the exact same thing. She does this to Sakura ''and Kotaro''.
** Her slapping Sakura becomes this, to the point where in the music video for "Saga Jihen" (i.e. Yugiri's ImageSong), she slaps Sakura for no apparent reason whatsoever besides RuleOfFunny.
* SmokingIsCool: Sometimes she can be seen smoking from a ''kiseru'', giving her an elegant and sophisticated vibe.
* StatuesqueStunner: At least when she has her make-up on. She’s a few inches taller than the global average for women in her age group in 2018, but by the standards of 1880s Japan, she’s positively gigantic, towering over the 4’10” average for the time.
* TheStoic: While not immune to freaking out alongside the others, she's generally able to stay calm and composed in most of their wacky situations. It's even more impressive because she is the biggest FishOutOfTemporalWater in the group.
* TeamMom: Shares this role in alternating fashion with Sakura. She sometimes acts motherly towards the other girls, showing concern and acting the most mature. This makes sense given that she is the oldest girl at the time of death other than Tae (who is TheUnintelligible) and Junko (who's the same age, just two months older) as well as being from the earliest time period.
* TechnicolorEyes: Has red eyes, even with her contacts in.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler: The comb she uses was a gift from her lover Kiichi. She's held onto it for over a ''century''.]]
* TranquilFury: She's capable of holding her anger while holding her composure. If she wants your attention, she ''will get'' your attention with five fingers to the face.
* TsurimeEyes: Her eyes show that she's the most mature out of all the Franchouchou members.
* UnmovingPlaid: Sometimes happens to the diamond pattern on her kimono.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: She's the "legendary courtesan" and was a seemingly influential figure in the Meiji Era. [[spoiler: She was regarded highly by her family and fellow oiran. When she moved to Saga, the locals were infatuated by her beauty.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She has the look of a woman in her late-20's, but was actually 19 at the time of her death.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lily Hoshikawa -- [=#6=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MinamiTanaka (Japanese), Creator/SarahWiedenheft (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Rin Takanashi (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' October 6, 1999\\
'''Died:''' November 30, 2011 (age 12)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Mental shock/heart attack\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 130cm (4'3") / 31kg (68 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 59/54/56cm (23/21/22 in)\\\
->''"I'm the shining star of stage and screen, Miss Lily Hoshikawa!"''\\\
A legendary child actress who took primetime networks by storm with her breakout period piece performance. She acts sweet and innocent most of the time, and revels in the opportunity of being forever young and cute now that she can never age.
----
* TheAce: Episode 5 of ''Revenge'' really hammers this home. [[spoiler:Not only does she deliver a moving rakugo performance that brings much of the audience -- including the judges, Saki, and Sakura -- to tears, she then manages to rearrange the song she was set to perform for the finals into a scat-jazz number, retrofit her outfit into a new costume, and improvise a full dance routine, all within the ''minutes'' it took her opponent to finish his performance.]]
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Not only is she the youngest of the zombies in terms of her age at death (twelve years old), but she's also the youngest in terms of date of birth (1999); taking all these into account, this means that, were she still alive, she would've been nineteen as of 2018, which still makes her the youngest overall. By comparison, Ai would've been technically around 26, Sakura 27, Saki 39, and Junko 54; Yugiri would've been long dead (though for comparison's sake, she would've been around 155), while Tae, though her origins remain ambiguous, could be safely considered no younger than 29 at the time of her death.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
** Her father was a big TV fan, so she wanted to make him happy from inside the TV. She succeeded, but it came at the cost of their relationship, and the stress was a big contributor to her demise.
** [[spoiler:When Lily was still alive, she desired to never grow up out of fear of developing a male body. She got her wish by dying and becoming a zombie, which means she can't go back to her father.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Befitting her age, Lily is prone to saying exactly what's on her mind without thinking it through first, or sometimes just not caring to. For instance, when Kotaro reveals the Franchouchou shirts they're to wear for the Gatalympics, she immediately and cheerfully declares them to be the ugliest shirts she's ever seen.
* ChildProdigy: Lily was a highly prolific child actress when she was alive. Despite having no experience before deciding to become an actress, she took to it very quickly and every show she was in became a hit. She also proves to be a quick learner as an idol as well, quickly picking up on the required song and dance skills.
* CosmicMotifs: Lily is often associated with space, and especially stars. For starters, her surname literally means “star river”, and the star motif further features heavily in her design - much of her casual outfits feature starry, [[https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Fairy_Kei#Uchuu_Kei uchuu kei]]-inspired designs, and even her SignatureHeadgear features a collection of star shapes.
* CryCute: The normally happy, cheerful Lily breaks down crying in Sakura's arms as [[spoiler:she comes to terms with the realization that her father Takeo truly loved her and was deeply regretful for neglecting her, and that she still loves him in spite of their unfortunate history.]]
* DaddysGirl: When she was alive, Lily was very close to her father who raised her on his own. Since her father loved to watch TV, Lily decided to become an actress in hopes she could make him happy by appearing on TV. [[spoiler:Her father was indeed very proud about his daughter's success, but sadly, their relationship became strained when he started paying more attention to her career. After coming back as a zombie and meeting her father again, Lily realizes how deeply he regrets what happened to her and forgives him. While she can't tell him she is his daughter, she writes a song for him expressing how happy she was that he was her father.]]
* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler:Her death was caused by a combination of things emotionally wearing her down, including a heavily strained relationship with her father and sleep-deprived overworking from her job, the second also physically wearing her down. TheLastStraw for all this accumulated stress and depression was seeing a single facial hair starting to grow, with the shock of even her body going against her wishes making her suffer a fatal heart-attack.]]
* DoNotCallMePaul: For understandable reasons, Lily hates to be called by her birth name [[spoiler:Masao]].
* DoesNotLikeSpam: [[AllThereInTheManual Her profile]] states she doesn't like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladosiphon_okamuranus mozuku]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijiki hijiki]], which are both seaweed foods. Episode 8 suggests this is because [[spoiler:she thought she had leftover seaweed on her face before realizing it was hair.]]
* ExhaustedEyebags: Had these when not made-up for the camera in the period leading up to her death, signalling she was getting overworked.
* GratuitousEnglish: She tends to pepper her speech with positive English words like "magical" and "wonderful", likely to make herself seem cuter.
* GrowingUpSucks: Shortly before her death, Lily was highly troubled as her body began to enter puberty because she never wanted to become an adult [[spoiler:and develop a body that would conflict with her gender identity]]. Now that she's been brought back as a zombie, [[NeverGrewUp she's happy that she can stay a child forever]].
* HeartBeatsOutOfChest: More directly than the usual example, as her cartoon-shaped heart is [[BodyHorror totally exposed from her chest]] and balloons to improbable sizes when she's scared. Episode 7 confirms that, while the cartoony appearance is there [[PlayedForLaughs for comedic effect]], it actually ''is'' her real heart bursting from her chest.
* HeroicRROD: [[spoiler:While she did die of a heart attack after discovering an unwanted burst of male puberty, it also didn't help that the stress from her acting career had been taking its toll on her very young body, with her father/manager Takeo not noticing her health turning for the worse until it was too late.]]
* HiddenDepths:
** One of the interests listed on the site is in heavy machinery magazines, which she'll often be seen reading in the background. [[spoiler:The ending credits of Episode 8 also reveal a flashback of Lily and her father sitting in a power shovel together.]]
** In Episode 7, Lily argues it's better that they do Saga Rock even if Junko doesn't return, explaining the event is their big chance, and even if they pass on it for Junko, Lily knows that won't make her come back. Yugiri lampshades how mature the reasoning is for Lily.
** In Episode 10, she adeptly constructs a bonfire in the mountains, presumably using the old-fashioned "two sticks together" method. She says she learned to do it for a role she once played.
** In Episode 5 of ''Revenge'', she does a rakugo act of all things for her entry in "Japanese Got Performance", telling such a moving story with it that it moves the judges, the audience and half of Franchouchou (including ''Saki'') to tears. Later in the episode, she manages to quickly improvise a light-hearted, scat rendition of her favourite song, which becomes popular with children and [[InstantWebHit a viral sensation on the Internet]].
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: In Episode 8, a really large man shows up and seems a bit too interested in Lily. She later explains that the man was actually her real father, and while she was still alive he spent a lot of time with her. Though she's already the smallest of the bunch, she's extremely tiny when standing next to him. A photo reveals she got that from her mother, who only came up to her absurdly large husband's waist.
* ImageSong: Lily has one in Episode 8, known as "To My Dearest". She sings this song to her father, as a way of thanking him for being part of her life, through all the good and bad parts. It is performed in the vein of a slow, ballad-like, Broadway musical number.
* InsultOfEndearment: Saki calls her "Chinchiku" (translated as "Shrimpy"), which is initially derisive and annoys Lily, but eventually becomes just a playful nickname. She even accidentally calls her that during a performance, but Lily doesn't budge.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Yugiri, who's technically the oldest member of the crew, and the one furthest from her in terms of original time period.
* IronicName: Lily is a cute and very feminine girl. Her birth name is [[spoiler:Masao Go, the kanji for which literally translate to "Righteous Man Grand", which Saki laughs herself sick at for being so cartoonishly manly. [[MeaningfulRename She left that name behind for a reason]].]]
* KidAppealCharacter: InvokedTrope in episode 5 of ''Revenge'', During the finals of the talent show, Lily is forced to change her song routine at the last second after Light reveals he is going to sing the same song as her. She sings the same song but makes her act a lot more child-oriented, being simple, repetitive, and poppy, which delights the children watching. This contrasts nicely with Light's more adult-oriented performance.
* TheLastStraw: [[spoiler:Her panic over growing facial hair, added with the stress of being overworked by her father, was what led to her death.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Lily can be ''very'' dry, usually when somebody is being a genkier girl then she is.
-->''(Upon seeing Saki's over-enthusiastic reaction to working with a restaurant mascot)'': Yeah, that's not cute at all.
* MeaningfulRename: "Lily Hoshikawa" is not her birth name; that would be [[spoiler:Masao Go, which she dropped due to being a transgender girl.]]
* MegaTwintails: She wears two pigtails that are larger than her head.
* MissingMom: Lily's mother died well before she went into acting, leaving her and her father.
* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:She apparently becomes a downplayed positive version of this for her father, who's under the impression "Number 6" is an IdenticalStranger who happens to look like Lily. Her 'farewell' song to him helps him find catharsis over her death, and she says that she hopes she can make him smile when he sees her on TV. Sakura subsequently notes that he's started coming to Franchouchou's shows, suggesting he's following her career.]]
* TheReveal: Episode 8 reveals [[spoiler:she's a {{transgender}} girl, born Masao Go. She appears to have identified as a girl from a very young age, certainly before she went into acting, if her flashback is anything to go by.]]
* StageName: "Lily Hoshikawa" seems to have originated as one; a flashback in episode 8 shows her being called by that name during a TV interview, but it's later revealed that it's not her birth name and she was originally called [[spoiler:Masao Go, which she changed due to being a transgender girl.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Lily states she looks more like her mother, and flashbacks reveal that they look nearly identical.
* TechnicolorEyes: Golden eyes when alive or in makeup.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Once she was revived as a zombie, there was no longer anything in the way of her identifying as a girl (since zombies don't age), so she renounced her birth name "Masao Go" for good and also dropped her Saga accent for a "cuter" way of speaking.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: Lily has a tendency to refer to herself by the third person due to her desire to be cute.
* TokenMiniMoe: She's the smallest girl of Franchouchou (at 130 cm, she’s actually the height of an average eight-year-old even though she died at 12), and her personality is quite childish too.
* TokenWholesome: She's the only member of the group who has never been shown off in any way that can even slightly be construed as fanservicey, with even the merchandise involving the girls in swimsuits having her wear a very conservatively designed one with swimming trunks. A good part of this is because, as the youngest of them at twelve, putting her in fanservice situations would be inappropriate. [[spoiler:But there's also how, as a pre-op trans-girl, wearing skimpy or form-fitting outfits like the other girls might expose the fact she still has a "male member", which would spoil the reveal in episode 8.]]
* TransTribulations: [[spoiler:Lily is a young transgender girl which caused her to experience gender dysphoria when she started growing body hair. Her father tried to calm her down by telling her it was natural and she had to accept she was growing up. Unfortunately, this only made Lily more frustrated because she was afraid she would grow up to look like her father. This is, in fact, the cause of her early death; Lily was so horrified when she grew her first facial hair that she died from the shock.]]
* {{Transgender}}: [[spoiler:Originally named Masao Go and assigned male at birth, Lily identified as a girl from a very young age, but her growing body defied that wish and the shock of growing facial hair--on top of already being overworked and having to deal with a father/manager who cared more for her as an actress than as a daughter--resulted in her heart finally giving out.]]
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Cute daughter in this case, but her dad still isn't that much of a looker compared to her.
* UndeadChild: She's the youngest of the zombies in terms of when she died.
* UndignifiedDeath: Saki is quick to make fun of how she died due to having a heart attack at [[spoiler:seeing her first facial hair.]]
* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Her father was her manager, and he ended up more interested in her career than in spending time with her.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: She has teal hair, like her mom.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tae Yamada -- [=#0=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese), Creator/DawnMBennett (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Asami Morita (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' Unknown\\
'''Died:''' Unknown (age 29)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 170cm (5'6") / 50kg (110 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 91(F)/59/89cm (35/23/35 in)\\\
->''"(unintelligble zombie noises)"''\\\
A woman who is legendary... [[MysteriousPast just because]]. She is also the only zombie who doesn't break out of her typical undead behavior, often trying to gnaw on the closest thing in sight.
----
* AllDrummersAreAnimals: When Franchouchou opens up for Iron Frill, she's assigned to drumming duties. She gets into it very fast and opens up the act with a full-on drum solo.
* BandageMummy: From what can be seen beneath her clothes, everything apart from her face and hands is covered in bandages.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Tae's antics as a zombie and her WomanChild behavior is often a source of comedy. However, in Episode 12, [[spoiler:when depression-blinded Sakura vehemently pushes her away too many times, Tae reaches her RageBreakingPoint and shows that even if she's ultimately a harmless zombie, she can actually be quite terrifying when she's genuinely angry.]]
* BigEater: Episode 5 in particular showcases her extreme appetite, going so far as to attack a guy in a chicken suit because she thinks he's an actual chicken, to say nothing of downing an entire plate of ''uncooked'' meat before this, and a plate of eels on a stick (including ''the plate'') followed by ''five'' sticks of eels later on.
* BiteOfAffection: While she starts out simply biting anything she can get her mouth on out of mindless-zombie habit, as her intelligence grows she starts biting things more rarely and intentionally. One reason for doing so is out of happiness and affection, such as her happily nibbling on Sakura's head after she [[spoiler:gets her memories in the Season 1 finale back after performing a successful big performance]].
* BrainlessBeauty: She is quite attractive, yet she's the only one who is still a mindless zombie who manages to become a {{Womanchild}} in her CharacterDevelopment.
* BreakoutCharacter: As a result of her immense popularity despite having a minor role in Season 1, not only did she get ADayInTheLimelight with ''Revenge'' Episode 6, but the anime got a manga {{Prequel}} — ''The First Zombie'' — that explains [[OriginsEpisode how she lived and died]].
* CameBackWrong: For some mysterious reason, Tae isn't restored to consciousness by death metal like the other zombies, and remains a feral blank slate. She gets slightly better over time, but she's still not even close to firing on all cylinders.
* CharacterDevelopment: She starts off as a wild animal who'll attack and bite people. Gradually she becomes a bit more civil, being able to understand human language and communicate through groans or gestures, showing curiosity about the world like a child would, and imitating the other girls' dance moves. She's even able to imitate a rooster's crow for the Drive-In Tori ad. Later on, she starts to imitate the other girls' expressions and speech (albeit in a rather garbled manner), and gains enough of a theory of mind to attempt lying. Come Episode 11, she's emotionally aware enough that Sakura's current situation hits her hard, sending her into a CornerOfWoe; in the following episode [[spoiler:she's shown to remember their past moments and tries speaking to Sakura to make her remember them.]]
* CornerOfWoe: Assumes this position after [[spoiler:failing to get through to Sakura]].
* CuteLittleFangs: While they're anything ''but'' little, she is often shown having fangs whenever she opens her mouth.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 6 of ''Revenge'' focuses on her running errands and getting sidetracked, all while being followed by Okoba, entering and winning a breakdancing contest, and ending with her [[spoiler:betting and winning on a speedboat race, officially clearing Franchouchou's debt in the process]].
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Disregarding how she appears as a zombie, she has the creepiest look out of all the girls, with pale skin, [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], face-covering hair, and a black rag for a dress.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: In-Universe: Tae is fondly remembered by her fans as the chicken girl who does the "cock-a-doodle-doo". She does it for the fans in one concert who request she do so.
* ExpressiveHair: Tae's side-bangs tend to react to how hot her emotions are. When she's excited, angry, or worried, they stick out like crazy; when she's more relaxed and peaceful, they relax down to frame her face.
* ExtremeOmnivore: She tends to bite and gnaw on anyone or anything she can get her hands on, including her own hair. According to Kotaro, however, it's totally harmless.
* FriendshipMoment: Episode 11 has Tae seemingly jumping Sakura, in truth her way of showing she was actually worried about her. Episode 12 has her going out of her way [[spoiler:to help Sakura remember their successes. Sakura had previously acted as her caretaker so she didn't end up biting people, and had also taught her how to pay attention and dance, earning her UndyingLoyalty. So when Sakura sulks in the attic, Tae goes out of her way to crash into the attic and drag her all the way to the dancing studio to try and jog her memories. Once Sakura's memories return and mix in with her past memories, Tae happily noms on her head.]]
* HandHidingSleeves: She wears a sweater with overly long sleeves during her first public performances.
* HelpingHands: If her arms get detached they are still able to move about on their own.
* HiddenBuxom: Her normally baggy clothes hide a rather impressive bust that's second in size only to Yugiri, even beating out the visibly-stacked Sakura. Her idol outfit shows it off in full though.
* HiddenDepths: She's good at making snow sculptures, and she can do a ''killer'' drum solo.
* InstitutionalApparel: While the other girls have fairly reasonable sleepwear, Tae is apparently shoved into a striped shirt and pants with a flatcap and left to wander for the night. Given her mental state, this may be justified... or it could just be RuleOfFunny.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog.
* ItCanThink: While she's the only one of the girls not to awaken and acts like a zombie early on, she gradually regains sapience throughout the episodes. This is best demonstrated in the last two episodes of Season 1, in which Tae is the one keeping watch over Sakura [[spoiler:after she got hit by a truck and lost her memory. Her speech is garbled as usual, but her facial expressions and the way she holds Sakura's shoulders clearly show concern. She also spends the first half of Episode 12 trying to lift Sakura's spirits by doing dance moves and showing her the article about their performance at the Saga Rock Festival. Eventually she gets so fed up with Sakura's neglect that she drags her back into the dance studio and tries to reenact a training lesson that Sakura once gave her. Even though Tae can't speak properly, she obviously remembers their interactions, and the frustration in her eyes is clear.]]
* TheLoad: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. As the only zombie who hasn't awakened, she provides little contribution to the team and often gets in the way with her attempts to bite people or her head falling off. On the other hand, she is surprisingly helpful in a pinch, like when she bites one of Maria's buns when she tries to threaten Sakura and Lily, and scares off a large boar after it attacks the girls. [[AllDrummersAreAnimals She can also do a mean drum solo]].
* MemeticBadass: Tae is this InUniverse. In a few episodes in seasons 1 and 2 it's shown that Tae is extremely popular on the internet for her quirky behaviour, with Franchouchou fans absolutely loving the fact that Tae never sings or talks, and more or less does her own thing during shows.
* MsFanservice: Surprisingly enough, official merchandise has her wearing a skimpy swimsuit.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Kotaro gives a basic description of each girl to Sakura when she first awakens. But with Tae, he simply says she's "The legendary Tae Yamada". When Sakura asks again, he simply repeats himself, and never gives any background information on her.
* MysteriousPast: Whereas most of the zombies have details on their past lives largely fleshed out, Tae is so far the only one whose details are still largely in the dark. About the only hints available are that her profile lists her hobby as visiting different travel agencies, that her death's on record, and that she is probably not someone from the entertainment industry, as [[spoiler:Okoba's investigation into Franchouchou only identifies Junko, Ai and Lily by their backgrounds as performers. Additionally, the site of her ancestral gravestone is next to Sakura's]]. [[https://old.reddit.com/r/ZombielandSaga/comments/aadeqz/abstract_of_interview_with_takenaka_nobuhi_head/ Word of God]] is apparently that while she ''does'' have a pre-mortem backstory, they kept it a mystery because they felt there was no reason to reveal it. [[spoiler:Which is kept up in Episode 7 of ''Revenge'', as when Okoba tries to put the pieces together regarding Franchouchou's past, [[TheUnreveal it only focuses on her picture and not the news report, if any, that accompanies it.]]]] That said, she got a manga called ''The First Zombie'' intended to reveal her origins without dragging out the anime, and based on the content, [[spoiler:Tae headed up a small team of demon hunters in the late 1980s, identifying herself as a "Legendary OfficeLady Warrior"]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: She physically appears to be around the same age as the other girls, but according to the [[AllThereInTheManual official website]], she was actually 29 when she died.
* PrefersRawMeat: Has on qualms eating ''raw chicken''. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense though since she can't get sick from it]].
* RageBreakingPoint: Tae showing any kind of emotion is rare, but when she gets angry, ''RedEyesTakeWarning''. [[spoiler:She crashes into the attic after being fed up with Sakura neglecting everyone.]]
* RapunzelHair: Goes all the way to the back of her knees.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Has red eyes both as a zombie and in makeup, and is the member of the group most likely to attack others, whether acting in defense or seeing if they're food. And when properly angered she gains [[GlowingEyesOfDoom Glowing]] Red Eyes, which accompanies a burst of strength.
* RunningOnAllFours: She occasionally does this as a way of showing that she's still pretty feral and hasn't regained her higher mental processes.
* RunningGag: Being a BigEater and her tendency to bite anything she sees. Due to being a somewhat mindless zombie, she is always hungry to the point of eating almost anything from unpaid food, raw meat, and snacks gifted to her - including the ''packaging''. She has a specific version of this with Maria where she'll bite on her {{Odango}} hair.
* {{Sleepyhead}}: Tae occasionally nods off at moments where the other girls are discussing important matters, always with a big SnotBubble.
* SmarterThanYouLook: While she started off as a shambling, moaning, bitey zombie, she starts to display increased signs of intelligence as the series progresses. While she remains TheUnintelligible, it's apparent she's able to understand her friends and follow instructions. Episode 12 is the best indication of this, as she attempts [[spoiler:to raise Sakura's spirits by reenacting their dance moves and her rooster crow from the "Drive-In Tori" commercial, and also bringing her an article showcasing their idol group's success.]]
* StopCopyingMe: Does this a lot, not to annoy anyone but because she's regaining her mind. This copying is how she manages to do the complex dances with the other girls, though her speech comes out as a garbled mess.
* StringyHairedGhostGirl: Parodied briefly in Episode 4. When the girls relax on the foot bath, Tae's hair covers her face, resembling an onryo.
* SuperWindowJump: Actually introduced this way in the first episode when she crashes through a window out of the blue back into the manor, being the first zombie Sakura runs into. [[spoiler:She does it again in Episode 11, and while it makes her appear monstrous to Sakura (who has regained the memories of her life at the cost of her memories as a zombie), it’s clear to the audience that Tae is actually ''deeply concerned'' for her.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She'll at least try to eat [[ExtremeOmnivore just about anything]], but she particularly loves dried squid, which Kotaro keeps in his pocket to pacify her bitey tendencies. Her profile also mentions she particularly likes mentaiko.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Pun aside]], Episodes 11 and 12 cement her dedication and loyalty to Sakura. With Sakura having been taking care of her and trying to make sure she wouldn't just randomly bite anyone, Tae is the one who gets hit the hardest [[spoiler:after Sakura's original memories return, but not her undead memories, and after being rejected too many times, Tae reinforces her loyalty by crashing into the attic just to drag her into the studio, and have her remember what Sakura taught her. After Sakura has all of her pre and post-mortem memories, she happily noms on her head]]. For a zombie who has a bit of humanity, this really speaks volumes.
* TheUnintelligible: As the only zombie who hasn't ''awakened'', she is incapable of human speech and can only communicate through moans, gurgles, growls, and the occasional grumbled imitations of others. [[spoiler:The closest she comes to speaking an actual sentence with words is in (the dub of) Episode 12, when, after having had enough of Sakura ignoring her and the others, she drags her to their rehearsal room and lets out an angry growl that sounds vaguely like "Get it together!"]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: As showcased in ''Revenge'' Episode 6, most outsiders familiar with Tae take her weird behavior in stride, even when it comes to things living people don't normally do, like eating food that's still in the wrapper.
* {{Womanchild}}: Tae is an interesting variant. As time goes on, she goes from being mindless to demonstrating curiosity and interest in the world around her, albeit in a very basic manner, and shows an ability to understand her friends to a degree and listen to instructions. In essence, being a womanchild is a step ''up'' for her.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Romero]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YasuhiroTakato (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romero_zls.png]]
->'''Born:''' November 1\\
'''Died:''' December 9 (age 3)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 33cm (1'1") / 3kg (7 lbs)
->''"Arf"''\\\
Kotaro's pet zombie toy poodle, who helps guard the mansion and keep a close watch on the girls.
----
* ArtShift: He switches from a cartoonishly adorable design to a more realistic, terrifying one when he eats.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Much like Tae, he'll usually try to eat things that aren't even meant to be edible. In Episode 6 he swallows a baseball whole, and in Episode 10 it's implied that he ate a grasshopper that was unfortunate enough to go near him.
* EyeScream: His left eye is missing, and when he undergoes an ArtShift, his remaining eye is shown to be bulging from the socket.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog. He's also shown to be friendly with Sakura, joining her on her morning jogs [[spoiler:and becoming fiercely protective of her after she's hit by a truck in Episode 10.]]
* KillerRabbit: He may be an adorable little puppy, but he's an adorable little ''zombie'' puppy, and he becomes extremely dangerous when hungry.
* MysteriousPast: We don't learn anything about his life and death, or which time period he comes from, until "Saga Incident, Part I". Romero has [[spoiler:been around since at least the Meiji era, and hung around Kotaro's old bartender friend back in the day]].
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: His name is a nod to zombie movie director Creator/GeorgeARomero.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He has the most cartoony design out of any character, at least until he turns ravenous.
* PreciousPuppy: Quite cuddly and cute ([[ArtShift At least when he doesn't look absolutely terrifying]]).
* RaisingTheSteaks: A (usually) cute little dog who's also a zombie. Presumably, Kotaro used the same methods to bring him back as a zombie as he did for the girls.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: He’s been around as a zombie ever since at least ''the Meiji era'', where he was the pet of Kotaro's bartender acquaintance.]]
* SeriesMascot: He serves as this both InUniverse and out; in Episode 6, Kotaro sells Franchouchou merchandise that has pictures of Romero on it (and he's notably drawn in a much cuter art style).
* TeamPet: He is the mascot of the zombie idol group, and is fittingly a zombie himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Again, pun aside]], he's very loyal to both Kotaro and the girls. [[spoiler:After Sakura gets hit by a truck again, he attempts to attack the driver.]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You know how all the girls have to wear full-body makeup to appear like living people? For some reason, Romero—who is blue, missing an eye, and has visible bandages and stitching—is able to go out in public with no disguise, and no one seems to realize he's a zombie.
[[/folder]]
----
%% Also make sure the trope isn't on the Flame Bait Index.
%% In light of recent editing and revisions, note that the official Zombie Land Saga Twitter has stated Lily Hoshikawa is a transgender girl, and any edit which removes wording or tropes related to that will be reversed. Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgement applies.
[[center: [- [[Characters/ZombieLandSaga Main Page]]| '''Franchouchou''' ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Sakura Minamoto]]) | [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaTheLiving The Living]] ([[Characters/ZombieLandSagaKotaroTatsumi Kotaro Tatsumi]])]]-]
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:In General]]
* AccidentalNightmareFuel: InUniverse, whenever someone finds the girls outside their makeup, they end up screaming their heads off. The girls actually managed to spook Kotaro by accident one night after returning from his mysterious acquaintance's bar.
* AttractiveZombie: Well, with their makeup on. When it's not... they're still pretty cute, as putrefied corpses go. Romero leans more towards cute than attractive, but subverts it when he changes art style.
* BandageBabe: Sakura, Saki, Ai, and Tae's bodies are covered in bandages to varying degrees.
* BornUnlucky: While a couple of the girls particularly stand out from the rest in this regard, at one point Ai points out that every one of them died very young and under very unfortunate circumstances. This is also underscored by the fact that all of them died on a ''butsumetsu'' day, traditionally considered the most inauspicious of the six-day ''rokuyō'' cycle of the Japanese calendar, which is believed in Japanese Buddhism to be the day the Buddha died.
* ColorCodedCharacters: The girls tend to be associated with specific colors when performing (in the case of their default idol costumes, while they all wear red jackets and red-and-black boots, they still wear uniquely-colored skirts and neck accessories). Sakura wears pink, Saki wears orange, Ai wears blue, Junko wears grey and/or light purple, Yugiri wears red, Lily wears yellow, and Tae wears purple.
* CreepyShadowedUndereyes: As zombies, and when doing their own makeup. Given the satire of the idol industry, their resemblance to ExhaustedEyebags probably isn't a coincidence.
* CuteMonsterGirl: They're still fairly pretty teenagers without their makeup... except when we get a GrossUpCloseUp.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The main zombie cast are living corpses, but their humanity has been restored after awakening. Tae is still largely animalistic, but she poses no danger and her bites are harmless.
* ADayInTheLimelight: A rare mixture of this and ''ADeathInTheLimelight''; starting Episode 6, the series starts to explore the girls' history, the circumstances of their deaths, and their efforts to tie up some loose ends.
** Episodes 6 and 7 jointly focus on Ai and Junko's struggles: the former, with her reputation for her highly public demise; the latter, with the drastic changes in the idol industry during the last 35 years she was dead.
*** Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' focuses on Ai and Junko once more, but this time, it focuses on their friendship when it's put to the ultimate test when Junko gets anxiety-ridden about Ai potentially ditching Franchouchou, in favor of joining the new iteration of Iron Frill.
** Episode 8 explores Lily's complicated relationship with her father Takeo, as well as the effect her death has on the two of them.
** Episode 9 has Saki get involved in her old gang's problems, in particular her old friend Reiko's frayed relationship with her rebellious daughter Maria, who wishes to keep Dorami going against her wishes.
*** Episode 2 of ''Revenge'' continues Saki's backstory with the revelation of how she realised the true meaning of being special (which she pondered back in Episode 9 of Season One), and how she met Reiko for the first time thanks to White Ryu's motivation from his radio show.
** Episode 6 of ''Revenge'', despite not focusing on her backstory, is still entirely dedicated to Tae. She manages to go on a basic errand run with the aid of Romero and Maria. Tae's whole escapade ultimately ends up managing to help Franchouchou in the long run.
** Episode 8 and 9 of ''Revenge'' is stated to be a multi-part arc that is an entire WholeEpisodeFlashback for Yugiri, and finally explains "the Saga incident" that happened way back in the Meiji era, alongside exploring Yugiri as a whole.
* TheDogBitesBack: Kotaro tends to show little respect for the girls and isn't afraid to attack them. However, any time he goes too far, they aren't shy in hitting him back with equal or greater force.
* FireForgedFriends: All seven girls had been awakened with only a few things in common, and lots of personality conflicts that at times threatened to unravel the band at the seams. By the end of Season 1, however, they have developed a great sense of camaraderie and understanding of each other.
* {{Foil}}: The six awakened girls each form a pair that greatly contrasts each other.
** Sakura and Saki: They are both natives of Saga and are the only ones with no prior experience in the idol business, let alone the entertainment industry. Both girls also died in accidents involving land vehicles due to recklessness (Sakura got hit by a truck after rushing out of her house without looking at the traffic, while Saki took a game of chicken too seriously and rode off a ledge). But where Sakura is the [[NiceGirl sweet]] [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent everyday girl]] who was an aspiring idol (and was supposed to file for an audition on the day she died), Saki is the aggressive [[JapaneseDelinquents ex-biker]] who showed no interest in the industry in life. They're also both the centers of the group, with Sakura being the [[TheHeart emotional bedrock]] and Saki the [[SupportingLeader functional leader]], as showcased when they both try to mediate between Junko and Ai's argument in Episode 6.
** Ai and Junko: They're the only professional idols of the group, with the former hailing from the mid-Heisei period (late 2000s), and the latter from the late Showa period (early 1980s); said differences in time period, however, inform their vastly differing philosophies towards their profession--in Ai's time the idol was a relatable figure fans could identify with, while in Junko's, it was an idealized image of perfection. Both initially expressed skepticism regarding the group's prospects, but while Ai was [[TheCynic outspoken]] with her misgivings, Junko was much more [[ShrinkingViolet silent]] about it. They also took their zombification the hardest out of the group, both trying to escape the mansion in Episode 2 and getting HeroicBSOD when they realized they were stuck with Kotaro, and also died in accidents just as their careers started to take off, leaving them with issues about being "history". However, their reactions to said issues were very different: Junko spent half of Episode 7 depressed at how her ideals seemed outdated, while Ai continued practicing without rest, refusing to be just a relic.
** Yugiri and Lily: While they weren't idols, they were experienced entertainers in life, with Yugiri being an ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiran oiran]]'' and Lily a famous child actress. However, their backgrounds--the former, a HighClassCallGirl; the latter, [[spoiler:a transgender girl]]--would normally make them anathema in the idol industry except for the highly-unorthodox Kotaro, who knew their histories and still revived them regardless. In terms of time period, Yugiri is the earliest and Lily the most recent. They are also the least bothered by their new lease of (un)life, with Yugiri being the calm and mature [[CoolBigSis older sister]] of the group and Lily the energetic and cheerful [[TheBabyOfTheBunch child]]. While Yugiri has moments of joining the other five in the insanity, Lily has moments of maturity.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The conditions of their bodies hint at the circumstances of their deaths before they're revealed ([[RuleOfSymbolism even though the dead are cremated in Japan]], as they point out).
** Sakura has a huge gash on her head from smashing it against [[LookBothWays the windshield of a speeding truck]].
** Saki is [[CoveredInScars covered in stitched up cuts]] and bandages from her fatal bike crash which inflicted lethal burns and lacerations.
** Ai is [[BandageMummy noticeably bandaged all over her body]], save around her eyes and her hair, because [[HighVoltageDeath she was hit by a freak lighting storm and cooked alive]].
** Junko [[FrankensteinsMonster has visible stitching all over her body]] as the result of [[LudicrousGibs being torn apart]] when her plane exploded.
** Lily's [[HeartBeatsOutOfChest heart is constantly and comically beating out of her chest, expanding to huge sizes when she's nervous]], because she died from a heart attack.
** While Yugiri's death hasn't been officially stated, the scar around her neck does call to the fact that she died around the time Japan still carried out executions via beheading.
* FriendlyZombie: While they initially behaved very much like stereotypical [[ZombieGait shambling]] biting zombies, after being awakened the girls regain their intelligence and become {{Inhuman Human}}s, acting much the same as when they were alive, with the exception of Tae (and even she's just a BigEater who doesn't always realize people aren't food). Sakura in particular is a NiceGirl zombie who serves as TheHeart of the group and goes to great lengths to look out for her friends. The problem is while the girls don't act like stereotypical zombies, they're still walking corpses and people panic if they ever see them without makeup on.
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Whoever the episode is centered on, it ''always'' comes with some form of angst, and someone has to intervene:
** Ai: Her traumatic HighVoltageDeath causes her to freak out in the middle of a thunderstorm, and it takes Junko taking her hand and comforting her to help her get over her death.
** Junko: Because of the era she was born in, Junko was expected to be perfect as an idol. It's not that her standards are high, it's because the idol industry and her fans expect her to. Kotaro openly tells her she doesn't have to interact with fans if she doesn't want to.
** Lily: Lily may be a CheerfulChild, but meeting her father years after her death affects the both of them, thanks to the issues both of them have surrounding it. It takes Sakura's comfort and Kotaro's willingness to write a song for her that Lily and her father are able to move on with their lives.
** Sakura: [[spoiler:Sakura has two whole episodes worth of angst, and it wasn't really her fault. MurphysLaw gave her [[BornUnlucky really terrible luck since childhood]]. Just when she turns her life around due to Ai's comment about being determined, she gets hit by a truck. After regaining her memories, she immediately gives up on life and whereas Saki fails to slap some sense into her, Yugiri does it effectively and makes her point. After her successful concert outing, she regains her undead memories and overcomes her personal grief.]]
* ImageSong: As of Season Two, every member of Franchouchou (besides Tae, who can't sing) has gotten at least one song dedicated to them:
** Sakura has "Sensei! ALIVE Sensation" from the "Best of Franchouchou" album as her solo song.
** Saki technically has two; "Tokkou Dance ~DAWN OF THE BAD~" from Episode 9, and a cover version of "Do You Hate Rainy Days?" from the second episode of ''Revenge''.
** Ai gets one, sort of. "Fantastic Lovers", despite being a song from the original Iron frill team, is mostly sung by Ai.
** Junko gets to perform one in Episode 3 of ''Revenge'', known as "50 and 4 Things Left Behind". It was the first hit that Junko had back when she was alive.
** Yugiri has an entire song dedicated to her love-life problems (and hints at the incident of Saga as a whole in the Meiji era) known as "Saga Jihen", included as the main highlist of the "Best of" album.
** Lily also technically has two songs to herself. First, there's "To My Dearest" from Episode 8 (and has a special piano version from the "Best of" album), and Lily's scatting remix of a song called "Life" that's known as "Little Bodda Bope" in Episode 5 of ''Revenge''.
** While Tae can't sing, that didn't stop her from getting a song dedicated to her, almost. Tae's voice actress gave the character a cute InsertSong known as "Today's Curry, Yay Yay Yay" in Episode 6 of ''Revenge''.
* ImmortalityHurts: In a way their state of undeath is a form of immortality, since they don't age anymore and can't be permanently re-killed. That said, while they can't die again, they still feel pain, so experiencing things that would kill normal people (and in fact were the causes of death for quite a few of them) still hurts like hell.
* InhumanHuman: Once they've been "woken up". They're their normal selves mentally, they just have to deal with being dead now.
* LivingForeverIsAwesome: While it takes them time to adjust to their status as zombies, none of them are particularly upset about the idea that it makes them both ageless and immortal, at least until Saki discovers NotGrowingUpSucks in Episode 2 of ''Revenge''. Lily in particular is happy with it, as it means she can stay a cute girl forever [[spoiler: and never worry about developing a body that conflicts with her gender identity.]]
* LosingYourHead: They have completely detachable heads that can still move and talk, while their headless body remains functional and will retrieve their head.
* MadeOfIron: Due to their nature as zombies, the girls are able to take a substantial amount of physical damage without lasting consequence or visible pain. The first episode has Sakura being shot through the chest and only looking down with surprise at the bullet hole rather than showing any discomfort, and Ai getting impaled with a fireplace poker through her skull and still remaining unfazed.
* MadeOfPlasticine: ... That being said, the girls can easily lose their limbs, head, and other body parts such as eyes if they're not careful. While they may be durable, they are also fragile if they overexert themselves.
* MsFanservice: The [[https://twitter.com/web_kuji/status/1081747297472561153 official merchandise]] showcases the girls in swimsuits while wearing their makeup.
* NervesOfSteel: [[spoiler:In the Season 1 finale, Franchouchou ''literally'' bringing the house down around themselves as they continue to just sing and dance away like nothing is happening proves that they all have this to no small degree.]]
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: Aside from having much more detailed, grim appearances when shown from other characters' perspective, when in zombie-mode all of the girls have flatly colored hair in contrast to living characters who are drawn with very shiny hair.
* NonUniformUniform: Their default idol outfits all consist of the same jackets and boots, but they each wear differently-colored skirts and neck accessories.
* OhCrap: Soon the girls start having this reaction whenever they are out in public without makeup, when one of their limbs or head falls off, or when Tae tries to bite someone.
* OurZombiesAreDifferent: At first the girls act like typical, if non-infectious, zombies, but once their brains are properly stimulated via DeathMetal, they regain their higher brain functions. Unstimulated, they act like a classic Creator/GeorgeARomero-type zombie, but can ''run''. However, they still have control over missing body parts, and their bodies can be active on their own if their heads are missing just like the ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDead'' zombies.
* PullingThemselvesTogether: Several of the zombies' limbs and even heads come off under high tension, though they have no trouble just sticking them back on.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: All of them have red eyes while in their zombified appearance, which under the right circumstances can [[GlowingEyes glow]]; even though the girls [[FriendlyZombie aren't normally dangerous]], the living still treat them that way. While in makeup, their eyes are completely different save Tae and Yugiri's, and judging from how the others are given the eye colors they had in life, it's likely Tae and Yugiri are the same.
* RefugeInAudacity: Likely part of the reason why no one realizes that the ones who died (relatively) recently are part of the group. To anyone who might have known them when they were alive and in some cases saw them die, the idea that they actually came back from the dead just seems implausible.
* RemovingTheHeadOrDestroyingTheBrain: {{Averted}}. Not only do they lose their heads semi-frequently with no real issues, Sakura jabs an iron poker clean through pre-awakened Ai's head in the first episode, and it does nothing to stop her.
* RevenantZombie: While they start off as the stereotypical mindless [[ZombieGait shambling]] zombies at first, they regain their intelligence and humanity after awakening, having their personalities and the memories of their lives.
* TheRival: They are considered as the worthy rivals of [[spoiler:Iron Frill, especially when the latter idol group publicly declared it on TV in the fourth episode of ''Revenge'']].
* ScaryStitches: Several of the girls have conspicuous stitches or possibly staples, with Sakura's treating the gash across her forehead, Junko's skin being totally patched together, and Yugiri having them around her neck.
* SchoolUniformsAreTheNewBlack: When they're not performing, practicing, or sleeping, the girls wear school uniforms, likely the ones they wore in life. The only exceptions are Tae, who is OlderThanSheLooks at the age of 29, and Yugiri, who died before school uniforms were a thing (at least in Japan), but dresses like a female student of her native period.
* SheCleansUpNicely: Taken UpToEleven. Without their makeup, they are rotting corpses with blue-green skin and sunken red eyes. Thanks to Kotaro's impeccable makeup skills, they not only pass off as living girls, but as ''attractive'' living girls, something they comment on frequently.
* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: The girls are put through some hilarious forms of abuse throughout the show. Since they're zombies, they can literally put themselves back together. That said, while they all get caught up in slapstick as a group, Yugiri is the only one who manages to avoid getting a slapstick moment of her very own.
* TheSleepless: They're dead, after all. Though while they don't strictly ''need'' to sleep, they do anyway because it's still best for their well-being; Ai went a month without sleep rehearsing for Saga Rock, and while she didn't suffer any physical ill effects, she was starting to hallucinate by the end of it.
* SlidingScaleOfUndeadRegeneration: At least Type IV. The girls can develop mushrooms if cooped up in an area for too long, but they're no longer actively decaying and can just stick any lost body parts back on.
* StrongFamilyResemblance: As revealed in "Saga Incident: Part 1", all the girls of Franchouchou (other than Yugiri) had ancestors living in/around Saga back in the Meiji era, and they were nearly identical in looks.
** Sakura's ancestor is working as a shop keeper on the streets of Saga.
** Junko's ancestor [[ButtMonkey is the victim of an unfortunate slipup where Kiichi crashes into a fisherman who sends an eel flying into her kimono sleeve.]]
** Tae's ancestor appears to be some kind of noblewoman, as she was being transported in a private, regal-looking wagon.
** Ai's ancestor is seen [[FriendToAllChildren playing with a group of children]] near Yugiri's house.
** Saki's ancestor has a [[CoolBigSis sisterly relationship]] with Lily's ancestor, comforting the latter who's in tears.
* SuperToughness: Given that they don't have the weakness to being decapitated or speared through the brain, it's uncertain exactly what it would take to kill them. They've been hit by vans at high speed, been shot through the chest, bellyflopped from significant heights, blasted by a freak bolt of lightning that fried their stage, caught up in explosions, and pretty much shaken all of it off in a matter of moments. It's slightly countered by the fact that they can be very easily dismembered, but it's simple to put them back together.
* TeethclenchedTeamwork: She and Kotaro butt heads frequently over how to best support Franchouchou. Though ultimately the two have the same goal of making Franchouchou the best it can be.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: The girls' profiles list each of their favorite foods:
** Sakura: All kinds of sweets
** Saki: Chicken (which explains why she was such a frequent visitor to Drive-in Tori)
** Ai: Yakiniku
** Junko: Foods with soy and Japanese food
** Yugiri: Amazake
** Lily: Mayonnaise, ketchup, mustard
** Tae: Mentaiko[[note]]a type of spicy pollock roe[[/note]], squid
* TrueCompanions: By the end of Season 1, all seven girls have learned to work together and look out for one another, creating an inseparable band of sisters who would rather fail together than succeed without any one member of their group.
* UncannyValleyMakeup: At the start of Season 2, with Kotaro in a depressive funk, the girls have to do their own makeup, which results in them having deathly-pale skin, and they're unable to get rid of their CreepyShadowedUndereyes. Ai's co-workers remark that she looks extremely unhealthy, but the group is otherwise able to blend in with society.
* UndeathlyPallor: All of the girls have grayish-blue skin, in-universe rather than a stylistic choice. When they need to go into public to perform they require make-up from Kotaro to look alive.
* VitriolicBestBuds: Saki and Lily rib at each other endlessly. Saki gives Lily all sorts of [[EmbarrassingNickname demeaning nicknames]] based on her height and age, and [[spoiler: mocks her absurdly masculine DeadName]]. Lily often mocks Saki's overenthusiasm and gruff demeanor, and is usually the first to snark whenever Saki is SuddenlyShouting. Though it's all mostly harmless, and the two clearly maintain a strong friendship through it all.
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: They may be zombies, but they still act and think like they used to (except Tae) and question their choices and freedom in the grander scheme of things.
* WoundThatWillNotHeal: Their bodies are always going to be in the shape they were in when they died. Some reassembly was needed for [[LudicrousGibs Junko]] and [[OffWithHisHead Yugiri]].
* YouAreNumberSix: Since revealing their real names to the public would cause the obvious problem of attracting people who would have known them in life and thus revealing that they're zombies, the girls are each given numbers as aliases when they're performing or interacting with fans.
* YouCantGoHomeAgain: Considering that each of them died decades (or in Yugiri's case, centuries) ago, they obviously can't return to their old lives again. This isn't addressed until Lily's CharacterArc.
* YouCantKillWhatsAlreadyDead: Invoked and played with. The girls often bring up that they can get away with doing acts which would otherwise be fatal. In particular, Ai, Saki and [[spoiler:Sakura]] all experience anew the manner of their deaths and still make it out in one piece.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Sakura Minamoto -- [=#1=]]]
--> [[Characters/ZombieLandSagaSakuraMinamoto Click here for information on Sakura Minamoto]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Saki Nikaido -- [=#2=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AsamiTano (Japanese), Creator/CaitlinGlass (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Yuriya Suzuki (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_saki_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' May 15, 1979\\
'''Died:''' August 30, 1997 (age 18)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Drove off a cliff\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 153cm (5'0") / 48kg (105 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 77(C)/54/82cm (30/21/32 in)\\\
->''"I'm the first-captain of Dorami, the legendary all-female biker gang from Saga Prefecture, the name is Saki Nikaido!!"''\\\
A legendary biker and special attack unit captain of Dorami, Kyushu's most infamous all-female biker gang during the TheNineties. A coarse, violent rebel through and through, she only respects those with "guts", and her ability to take charge leads her to appoint herself the leader of Franchouchou. She also has a fondness for VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}.
----
* NumberOneDime: Her beloved {{Franchise/Tamagotchi}}. She laments its loss at several points. It turns out her co-captain Reiko has held onto it as a momento.
** [[spoiler: Maimai gifts her a 20th anniversary edition of the same model as thanks for performing at her school. Saki couldn't have been happier.]]
* ActionGirl: She is one of the most physically abled of all the girls. She's able to knock down Takeo, an 8-foot-tall giant of a man, and in the past fought off twenty or so Korosuke rivals alongside Reiko without much of a scratch. She also has a really good fastarm, as seen when she throws a baseball at Kotaro when he provokes her.
* AmbiguouslyBi: While she's shown interest in men, she has many characteristics not unlike a ButchLesbian. She was a captain for an all-female biker gang, is the most physically-oriented of the girls complete with a sports jacket in her default appearance, wears some pretty androgynous clothes like baggy pants and overalls, and is characterized by a tough thrill-seeking demeanor.
** Her co-captain Reiko had her hair dyed with the ''bisexual flag colors''.
* AscendedFangirl:
** In life, she used to hang out with her gang at "Drive-in Tori", a popular chicken restaurant, and grew up watching the Kashima Gatalympics. Small wonder that she's in TearsOfJoy when she learns that Franchouchou is slated to perform at a commercial for the former, and later gets to participate in the latter.
** In ''Revenge'' Episode 2, she is also revealed to be a fan of White Ryu, a radio DJ, and as such is very excited to be a guest on his show. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, White Ryu decides to hand over control of the show to Saki since he feels it's time for him to retire.]]
* BareYourMidriff: In Episode 10 she wears a [[{{Stripperiffic}} revealing sports bra]] on a cold mountain.
* TheBigGal: She can knock down a man five times her size with a flying kick. During a flashback in Episode 9, we see the aftermath of her and Reiko taking down 20 or so rival gang members between just the two of them.
* BikerBabe: She was once a captain in Kyushu's toughest all-female biker gang during the 90s.
* ButtMonkey: Shares being the target of Kotaro's acts of abuse with Sakura in Season 2.
* CatchPhrase:
** "You wanna die?"/"Want me to kick your ass?"
** To a lesser extent "Can't believe it."
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Back when she was alive she and Reiko were able to [[OneWomanArmy take down twenty-some bikers with barely a cut on them]]. As a zombie she can send a grown man flying with a kick, survive a nearly-fatal motorcycle jump, and pedal a bicycle so fast it ''creates a sonic boom''.
* CheshireCatGrin: Saki is a born troublemaker, and she's wearing one of these whenever she's causing some.
* CoolBigSis: She and Lily have a playful and banter-filled sisterly dynamic, and the former can be quite protective of the latter. She occasionally acts as this towards Sakura and Ai who are both at least a year younger.
** She comforts Ai when the latter is terrified by sudden thunderstorm.
* CryCute: [[spoiler: At the end of ''Revenge'' Episode 2, the normally energetic, devil-may-care Saki simply breaks down crying in heartbreak over the realization that she can never grow up to be a woman worthy of White Ryu.]]
* DareToBeBadass: Her M.O. is this. Even in life, she was an [[TheUnfettered unfettered thrillseeker]] often seeking challenges, and one of those even cost her her life. She never loses this trait as a zombie, and repeats the same stunt she did previously, only this time surviving it.
* DeathGlare: She has a tendency to pull this face when someone tries to pick a fight with her. More often than not, she will intimidate the instigator.
* DefeatMeansFriendship:
** Sakura one-upping her in an impromptu rap battle where the former basically tells her to screw herself the entire time earns her Saki's respect. Prior to that, Saki spent most of the episode either antagonizing Sakura or treating her like some pushover.
** Pulls one on several biker delinquents after they witness her jumping off and surviving the crash that killed her the first time she attempted it.
* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: [[spoiler: ''Revenge'' Episode 2 reveals that she was an even more unruly punk before she joined Dorami, unsure of the direction she was taking, until listening to White Ryu inspired her to make something out of her life, leading her to become friends with Reiko and Dorami in life, and then Franchouhou post-mortem.]]
* ExposedToTheElements: In Episode 10, Saki wears a sleeveless [[BareYourMidriff cropped top]] in the snowy mountain.
* FatalFlaw: Being a reckless [[TheUnfettered unfettered thrillseeker]] cost Saki her life as she jumped off a cliff and succumbed to her ensuing injuries.
* FearlessFool: She certainly is hot-headed and brave, but this trait of hers ended up being her FatalFlaw, because she was so determined to win the game of chicken against the rival gang that she just kept speeding on and was mortally injured by the ensuing crash. She does get a second chance as a zombie... and she does the exact same thing all over again. She survives this time thanks to her undead nature, even though there was no guarantee that she would've survived the crash intact enough to keep functioning.
* FriendToAllChildren: She's quite gentle and kind towards Franchouchou's younger audience. She's also protective of Lily, kicking away who she suspected to be a kidnapper (who of course was actually Lily's father).
* GamerChick: Aside from her fondness for Tamagotchi, her profile mentions she was a fan of arcades.
* HiddenDepths: Despite being a delinquent BikerBabe with designs to take over the country, she shows a great deal of [[FriendToAllChildren gentleness towards children]] and awareness of social norms, knowing full well that her rough and violent attitude towards her gang won't fly when trying to be the most beloved idol group in the nation.
* HotBlooded: When something piques her interest she gets very intense about it. As she says herself, "When I go in, I go all in".
* IJustWantToBeNormal: {{Defied|Trope}}. Living or dead, Saki's never had any idea of what "normal's" supposed to be, and has never understood what other people see in it.
* ImageSong: Saki gets one in Episode 9, called "Tokkou Dance ~DAWN OF THE BAD~", which has her leading a 90s punk rock song about achieving what you want in your life, by relying on the friends who are on your side.
* InformedAttribute: Her offical profile states that Saki dislikes sweets but in episode four she has her face pressed up against the window of a cake shop with Tae, Lily, and Sakura.
* InstantExpert: "Expert" might be going a bit far but it should be noted that of the six fully awakened zombies, she is the only one not known to have any background in singing, dancing or any form of entertainment whatsoever. She nonetheless takes to performing as an idol quite handily, vocally holding her own just fine and not yet displaying the same level of difficulty coordinating dance with the group that Lily or Junko have at varying points.
* JapaneseDelinquents: She fits the bill of a bike gang captain in a school jersey and very long skirt, complete with TrrrillingRrrs.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Saki is brusque, blunt, and has no respect for pushovers. However, she does show a soft side, such as, generally, warming up to Sakura after proving that she isn't as completely gutless as she appears and defending her fellow zombies from Kotaro's antics, as well as, specifically, sharing a moment with a young, new fangirl, and [[spoiler:despite laughing over Lily's overly-macho birth name and her manner of death, wholeheartedly accepting her for who she is.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: As scathing as it is during their rap battle, Saki makes a fair point that Sakura's obsession with getting her memories back probably won't do her any good, since being a zombie means she can't return to her old life anyway. However, [[ShutUpHannibal Sakura retorts that it's still better than sitting around doing nothing]].
* LargeHam: Saki is perhaps the only idol who can rival Kotaro's haminess when properly excited.
* TheLostLenore: {{Downplayed|Trope}} and [[ParodiedTrope Parodied]]; she mourns her VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}'s death since she herself has been dead for over twenty years[[note]]Tamagotchi tend to live a few weeks at a time[[/note]], and even then, she's merely annoyed by it.
* LoveHurts: [[spoiler: By the end of ''Revenge'' Episode 2 she confesses her love for White Ryu; unfortunately for her, he admits he cannot reciprocate her feelings due to their age gap, telling her to [[JailBaitWait wait a few years until she grows into adulthood]]--something already impossible for her as an undead, much to her grief.]]
* MamaBear: A non-maternal variety. Do not mess with her crew if you don't wanna die.
* MsFanservice: Downplayed, but she's willing to wear a sports bra on a cold mountain and is considered attractive.
* MulticoloredHair: She has blonde hair with orange and green streaks.
* MusclesAreMeaningless: She is skinny, but that doesn't stop her from beating up 20 bikers in life, and kicking an 8-foot tall man off his feet, sending him flying. Not that it really matters as a zombie.
* TheNicknamer: She loves to give nicknames. She always calls Lily "Shrimpy" ("''Chinchiku''" in Japanese, "Squirt" in the English dub), much to her annoyance. She refers to Kotaro as "Shades", Yugiri as "Sis", and uses various egg-related terms on Sakura.
* NonFatalExplosions: Completely averted with her actual death, but played straight when, as a zombie, she tackles the same challenge that killed her. Though she does say it ''really'' hurt.
* NotGrowingUpSucks: [[spoiler: In ''Revenge'' Episode 2, after White Ryu appoints Franchouchou to succeed him in his radio show, Saki confesses her feelings for him. However, he tells Saki to try again when she’s a grown woman. Saki ruefully admits to Sakura that she knows she’ll never be one since zombies don’t age, bursting into tears as the realization hits her all at once. Ironically enough for someone who lived fast and died young, she finds a reason to grow up only after she’s already dead, and now she never will.]]
* NotSoAboveItAll: Normally, she's just as annoyed with Kotaro as the rest of the girls, and the first to get physical whenever he goes a step too far in belittling them. In Episode 5, she becomes a whole lot more agreeable with him when she discovers he's booked appearances for them at Drive-In Tori and the Gatalympics, engaging in HamToHamCombat with him over their shared enthusiasm.
* NumberTwo: Leaving aside it being her number in Franchouchou, this was pretty much her role in Dorami, as captain of the gang's special attack unit ([[DubInducedPlotHole the English translation incorrectly identifies her as the gang's overall leader]]).
* OddFriendship: With the gentle Sakura, borne from witnessing firsthand her competitive side, not to mention the fact that they're both natives of Kyushu.
* OddlyVisibleEyebrows: Has a large [[PeekABangs bang]] over the left side of her face, but her eyes are still visible underneath.
* PeekABangs: The left side of her face is covered by her hair, though her eye is still visible.
* PetTheDog: In Episode 6, she comforts Ai after realizing she has a crippling FearOfThunder borne from her manner of death.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: Five feet tall, making her the second-shortest member of Franchouchou after Lily. She still has no problem delivering a flying kick to a man who easily towers over her and knocking him into a wall without any major effort, or taking on a rival gang and utterly pulverizing everybody in it with only Reiko at her side.
* ProudBeauty: When wearing makeup to hide her zombie appearance: she's attractive, she knows it, and wants to flaunt it.
-->'''Saki:''' "And to be honest? Right now? I am hot as hell!"
* RapunzelHair: She has a ponytail that goes all the way to her legs.
* RuggedScar: She has a stitched up scar on her right cheek and arm and left leg as a zombie, giving her a tough and surly look befitting her past life as a biker gang captain.
* {{Sarashi}}: As a zombie, Saki has bandages around her limbs and her body, and some end up like this. It's not clear if this is just for fanservice or actually functional; she didn't have them pre-mortem, suggesting they might be functional.
* SupportingLeader: While Sakura is the main protagonist, Saki is the one who takes up the mantle of TheLeader among the girls, owing to her past experience as a bike gang captain.
* TakeOverTheWorld: Downplayed; she wants to take over all of Japan, and she figures that if she can't do it with her old biker gang now that she's a zombie, then cooperating with Kotaro's zombie idol project is her best shot.
* TearsOfJoy: PlayedForLaughs twice in Episode 5, when she revisits Drive-In Tori, her favorite restaurant in life, and learns she'll get to participate at the Kashima Gatalympics.
* TechnicolorEyes: Golden eyes when alive or in makeup.
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Has this to an extent with most of Franchouchou. She and Sakura in particular display this dynamic whenever the two end up spending an episode together.
* TomboyishPonytail: She's easily the most tomboyish girl of the group with her rough demeanor and her past as a captain of a biker gang, and she usually wears her hair in a ponytail.
* TookALevelInKindness: Saki is much nicer after being roasted by Sakura in the rap battle.
* TranquilFury: She is capable of doing this when she's not in LargeHam mode herself, or some would-be delinquent is trying to pick a fight with her. As someone who has fought at least ''20'' girls, she is basically saying "Don't pick a fight you can't win".
* VirtualPet: Owned a (now long dead) Tamagotchi when she was alive. [[spoiler:The case is kept as a memento by Reiko.]]
* ViolenceIsNotAnOption: When Saki butts into a generations-long dispute involving the remnants of her old gang, she resolves to settle it "like an idol" rather than with violence, agreeing with Kotaro that her old methods could only hurt her band's image.
* YouGotGuts: She only respects people who show "guts", which she thinks Sakura doesn't have since she keeps sucking up to Kotaro's bizarre demands without question. When Sakura proves her wrong by challenging her to a rap battle and demonstrating that being a zombie idol is CrazyEnoughToWork, the two become friends.
* YouRemindMeOfX: After she takes a liking to Sakura, Saki notes that her egg-shaped head looks a lot like her dead Tamagotchi.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Ai Mizuno -- [=#3=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/RisaTaneda (Japanese), Creator/BrynApprill (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Rie Matsuoka (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_ai_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' March 7, 1992\\
'''Died:''' August 4, 2008 (age 16)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Struck by lightning\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 160cm (5'2") / 42kg (92 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 81(B)/56/80cm (31/22/31 in)\\\
->''"I don't see mistakes or failures as bad things. That's not how it works...they always end up helping me with whatever happens next."''\\\
The legendary lead singer of Iron Frill, the top idol group of the 2000s, which Sakura idolized in life. A serious and strong-willed girl, she's initially skeptical of Kotaro's plan, but eventually dives whole-heartedly into the role and puts all her effort into building Franchouchou's legend. As the most experienced (current-era) idol of the group, Ai is effectively the team manager, planning out the group's choreography and roles with occasional input from the others.
----
* TheAce: Ai is looked to by the other girls for coaching during rehearsal, and given leads in songs along with Junko, for her incredible talents in singing, dancing and choreography, as well as possessing such a knack for musical arrangement that at one point she was able to pinpoint and properly alter a song's harmony to prevent [[TheLoad Tae]] from continually garbling over it. Season 2 addresses the downside of this as the girls have become extremely reliant on Ai's opinion on almost everything, Kotaro arranges to have Ai do some solo stuff in episodes 3 & 4 so that the girls will have to figure out how to preform on their own.
* AchillesInHisTent: Getting stuck in a HeroicBSOD over her undead state leads to her silent refusal to take part in Franchouchou's guerrilla show in Episode 3. Seeing the other girls' continued determination to move forward eventually inspires her to join in and salvage what little of the show they can when Sakura forgets her lyrics, after which she starts performing again.
%%* ActionGirl
* AmbiguouslyGay: All of the ShipTease she has with Junko in ''Revenge'' leaves it up in the air if she fully requites.
* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: [[spoiler: At the receiving end of this when Iron Frill's lead idol tells her she should leave Franchouchou and (re)join their group, which shocks both Sakura and Junko, who were eavesdropping.]]
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Ai has a dizzying array of knowledge about the idol business, dance choreography, musical theory, PR... it's obvious to see why she was the leader of Iron Frill. Unfortunately, this comes with the LogicalWeakness that she's often stubborn about her own point of view, and she gets along the worst with their ''actual'' manager, Kotaro. She's also the only member of Franchouchou able to discern [[spoiler:Sakura's recent memory-swap for what it was in Episode 11.]]
* BandageMummy: Ai's bandages almost completely cover her save for her eyes. Given she was killed by being struck by lightning that charred her corpse, the bandages are likely not only helping keep her together, but covering up the massive burns over her entire body.
* BaguetteBeatdown: Gives one to Kotaro in a rage after his hostile Frenchman act in Episode 5.
* BareYourMidriff: This was a very prominent feature of her Iron Frill outfit.
* BreakTheCutie: Ai has not had a very good time going from a rising musical talent to a disfigured walking corpse, her spirit crushed in succession by the realization that she has nowhere to go among the living and the discovery she's remembered for her gruesome death instead of her career and talent.
* BrokenPedestal: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. Sakura only has the faintest recollection of Ai due to her memory loss, but that doesn't stop her from being deeply disappointed that a "legendary" idol such as her would rather give up after losing everything rather than find new ways to move forward. Once Ai gets over her HeroicBSOD to save Franchouchou's performance after Sakura forgets her lyrics in Episode 3, [[RebuiltPedestal Sakura regains her respect for her]].
* ClosetGeek: Downplayed, but Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' show that she is a big fan of Junko and watches videos of her singing on [[BlandNameProduct Mytube]] frequently. When Sakura walks in on her watching them once, Ai reacts as if she had just been caught watching porn.
* ContinuityNod: As Ai continuous to practice nonstop for Saga Rock to the point of falling apart, she can be seen wearing the muscle ache strips given to them at the spa.
* CrutchCharacter: Episodes 3 and 4 of ''Revenge'' establish her as one for Franchouchou. The others are so dependent on her knowledge and experience that Kotaro excludes her from the group's performance as Iron Frill's opening act, under the pretence of not wanting her old bandmates to recognise her, so that the others are forced to act on their own initiative rather than constantly seeking her advice.
* TheCynic: {{Subverted|Trope}}. At the start of the story, she's highly critical of the Zombie Land Saga Project, which she feels is doomed to fail the moment she hears about it. She begins seeing promise in her fellow zombies after a few episodes but remains the first to remind them how hard they're going to have to work for it, showing that she's more of a realist than a cynic, and given the sketchiness with which Kotaro pitched his idea, her skepticism is not completely unwarranted.
* DefrostingIceQueen: She's introduced being quite cold and callous towards Kotaro and the other girls due to finding the Zombie Land Saga project a bad idea. But over time the others inspire her to give being a zombie idol a chance, which rekindles her love for performing and working as a team.
* {{Determinator}}: Not a trait present in the first few episodes (while she is undergoing a very logical HeroicBSOD), but she eventually proves to perhaps fill this role the most of any of the girls. [[spoiler:This attitude of hers is shown in Episode 11 to have been the very spark that ignited [[HeroWorshipper Sakura's]] desire to become an idol.]]
* DiedStandingUp: During a concert that took place in the middle of a thunderstorm, Ai ran out to a center stage to thank the crowd for coming, but ended up struck by lightning and died frozen in her pose.
* TheDogBitesBack: In Episode 5, fed up with Kotaro's verbal abuse complemented with hitting her with a baguette, she bludgeons him back with the same baguette.
* EarlyBirdCameo: She shows up in the video on Sakura's laptop before her proper introduction as a zombie.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Ai is often seen with an exasperated look on her face at many of the antics of the others and is far and away the most practically-minded of the group.
* EyeScream: At one point in Episode 2 when she tries to escape over the mansion's fence, her eyes pop out of their sockets when she falls down.
* FearOfThunder: She freezes up at the very sight of lightning, which is understandable, given it killed her.
* GoryDiscretionShot: She isn't shown getting electrocuted by the lightning bolt that killed her during the flashback to her death, though we do get a glimpse of her charred body afterward.
* HeroicBSOD: After nearly getting shot by Policeman A, she realizes she truly has nowhere to go and resigns herself to staying at the mansion, becoming too disheartened to perform again. She starts recovering after she and Junko have to salvage their guerrilla performance after Sakura messed up on a few lyrics, as she considers starting her career anew with Sakura and co.
* HeroicSacrifice: One of the in-universe theories of her death is that she deliberately attracted the lightning into herself to save her audience on the grounds that there was nothing else fried by the lightning. Of course, the real explanation is simpler than that; it was an accident.
* HiddenDepths: In Episode 10, we see her seemingly fashion a fully-functional bow and arrow from scratch with no prior access to tools, and she proves to be a pretty good shot with it as well, though she never does quite succeed her hunt.
* HighVoltageDeath: She died in a freak lightning strike during a thunderstorm.
* HopeBringer: [[spoiler:To Sakura, back when they were alive. Hearing of Ai's personal story of perseverance shook Sakura out of her learned helplessness, turning her back into the hopeful girl she once was in time for the opening of the series. When Sakura falls back into despair late in the series, Ai's words prove again to be one of the most influential factors in both returning Sakura to the stage, and getting her back to her feet when calamity befalls the venue.]]
* IChooseToStay: There are points in the show where it appears she might not stick around with Franchouchou only to [[TrueCompanions reaffirm her place with them]].
** She spends the second episode trying to leave Saga thinking the Zombie Land Saga project will flop. But by the next episode she decides to stay and help the others become real idols.
** [[spoiler: Shiori tries to [[WeCanRuleTogether persuade her to leave Franchouchou and join Iron Frill]], and she almost seriosuly considers the possibility before realizing she can't abandon her fellow zombies like that.]]
* ICouldaBeenAContender: Iron Frill had just begun to take off when Ai died, so those who remember her for more than just her death largely remember her as a rising star who could've gone places had she lived. In an unusual case of this, while the loss of what could have been weighs heavily on Ai, nothing's stopping her from getting back into the game. Indeed, having another chance to establish herself helps motivate her.
* IdolSinger: One of the two members of Franchouchou who used to be professional idols, along with Junko. She was the lead singer of Iron Frill, the most popular idol group of the 2000s.
* ImageSong: While she has yet to have one during her tenure with Franchouchou, Ai already has a song of her own- which is known as "Fantastic Lovers". She leads this song with her old friends as part of the Iron Frill group, and was briefly heard in the first scene of the series.
* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Sakura pitched an iron poker through Ai's skull when she first encountered her as a mindless zombie.
* InspirationalMartyr: She was made into one after her death was sensationalized across the media landscape, and many idols since have cited her as an inspiration for their careers, wanting to reach the same potential she did. Ai on the other hand [[PlayedForDrama is hurt that her life and legacy have become nothing more than a tragic tale told through the industry]].
* {{Irony}}:
** The legendary idol whose career (and life) ended due to an electrical storm, had her career as a zombie jump-started by yet another electrical storm.
** Her profile lists her hobby as "Collecting creepy but cute character merchandise". Given that she's now an adorable zombie girl, any merchandise based on her zombie form (or those of her teammates, for that matter) certainly qualifies as this.
** [[spoiler:Before the series began, seeing Ai's confidence roused Sakura from the depths of her despair and into action. During the guerrilla show, seeing Sakura in trouble rouses Ai from the depths of her despair and into action.]]
* JerkassHasAPoint: While Ai is more sullen and cynical than a jerk, even at her worst, she does bring up some valid questions about how feasible the prospect of zombies becoming idols is. Sakura doesn't deny it, but, like with Saki, insists that they may as well try.
* MasterOfAll: While Junko alone is noted to be a better singer than her, Ai is a much better dancer and is the only member of the group truly versed in group performances. Her reticence to make use of her exceptional ability in early episodes caused a good deal of friction between her and Sakura, who looked up to Ai immensely in life. Junko, meanwhile, admits to herself in ''Revenge'' that had Ai been around in her time, she definitely would've been able to make it to the top as a solo idol like she had.
* MeaningfulName: In Season 2, Ai goes by the name "San Tatsumi" when working on a part-time job. While that surname is taken from Kotaro's, the first name "San" is also a [[PunnyName pun]]; it's the number 3 in Japanese, and Ai is identified as "Zombie #3".
* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: InUniverse, Ai believes this is the case for an idol group taking its first steps toward getting its name out and mentions it in several episodes.
* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Has a fire poker harpooned through her temple mere seconds after being introduced in zombie form. It stays lodged in her brain for most of the first episode but never makes any mess at all.
* ReactiveContinuousScream: [[RunningGag Has a habit]] of screaming back at others in terror or surprise whenever they scream at her first with the exact same feelings thanks to her zombified appearance.
* RedOniBlueOni: The Blue Oni to Sakura's Red Oni once her true nature begins returning.
* ReplacementGoldfish: Ironically enough, she nearly ends up being this for ''herself''. When her former group, Iron Frill, comes to Saga for a concert, one of her old fans and a current lead member of the group can't help but notice her "similarities" to the legendary singer and tries to convince her to ditch Franchouchou and join Iron Frill, under the excuse that she's wasting her potential and that her presence would make Iron Frill stronger, though another member insinuates that's it's actually because of this trope.
* RunningGag: Ai has a habit of accidentally getting into fearful screaming matches when her makeup's off.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: She immediately tries to leave the group for Tokyo after having one conversation with Kotaro and learning about his ridiculous zombie idol project. She only returns once she's resigned herself to the fact that she can't rejoin the living.
* ShellShockedVeteran: A milder case than most examples but it's clear that Ai's death has had a lasting affect on her psyche. The flash of a camera causes her to flinch and when faced with actual thunder, Ai crumbles in on herself. She curls up into a ball and covers her ears and each time this happens, she doesn't get up until someone else comes to help her.
* ShesGotLegs: Ai is quite slight overall, being the second youngest of the group and the third lightest. Nonetheless, side by side comparison such as the still-frame at the end of Episode 7 seems to indicate that she has the thickest calves and is about equal with Yugiri in the thighs. Her extreme professionalism toward dancing coordination really shows in this way.
* SuperSenses: {{Downplayed|trope}} due to the unclear degree, but she indicates she has better eyes and ears than the other girls and proves it by being able to hear an approaching boar before the other girls in spite of being one of the farthest from the sound.
* TeamDad: Of a [[TheMentor mentor]] variety. She is the one most responsible so far for the girls' training drills, teaching the newcomers the basics of the business, and is the one most vocal about the way of thinking they should approach their shared goal with. When a member is struggling or has a particularly important role to play in a new song, she coaches that member directly by way of example and takes it upon herself to review songs as a whole when the entire band is having trouble. Also, while she always strives to be constructive and, ordinarily, is by no means any less open-hearted than the rest of the group, she firmly believes that they won't get anywhere by "just playing friends all the time" and does not mince words with someone if she feels they are out of line.
* TechnicolorEyes: Light red eyes when alive or in makeup.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Throughout the entire series, Ai is quite noticeably the team member who is least amused by Kotaro's antics, sharing not even a single moment of camaraderie. That said, she doesn't seem to find his PR method invalid either, and [[JerkAssHasAPoint speaks up to its merit]] during the shooting for the Drive-In Tori commercial.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Zigzagged with Junko. In the first few episodes the two are glued to each other's side, both of them see the group as doomed and attempt to escape. Most of their interactions in the first three episodes are with each other as they stay at odds with everyone else. As they get to know the rest of the girls, their interactions branch out but come episode 6 and 7 they are narratively this trope with being at odds.
* TrainingFromHell: In Episode 6, Ai practices for a new song without rest and pushes her body to its literal breaking point. When her friends rightly react in worry, Ai nonchalantly puts herself back together and states that stress is par for the course with their career.
* TraumaButton:
** Ai's death by lightning has left her terrified of lightning, and even a camera's flash can cause her to cringe.
** Similarly, on some level she remembers Sakura impaling her through the head with a poker in Episode 1, and relexively cringes at the reminder of it.
* {{Tsundere}}: A carefully {{Subverted|Trope}} example of the trope based on professionalism. The hot and cold sides of Ai's demeanor are largely dictated by her perception of the other girls' work ethic, rather than by mere slight emotional provocation like many classic tsunderes. She is very kind and supportive to each of the girls under any ordinary circumstance, but while she never resorts to violence unless directly attacked (as by Kotaro in Episode 5), she will become almost militantly stern in her expression if she feels someone isn't taking their duty to the band seriously or conscientiously. [[spoiler:This is displayed most prominently in her clash with Junko in Episode 6 and to a lesser extent, her lectures to Sakura in Episodes 10 and 12.]]
* UnmovingPlaid: Her skirt and bow tie feature this prominently.
* WhatHaveIBecome: The fact that being undead has made her an outcast from society is what makes her take her zombification harder than the rest of the girls, sending her into a HeroicBSOD.
* WhenSheSmiles: At the end of Episode 3, Ai, [[PerpetualFrowner who had been anything but a happy camper until then]], finally cracks a smile as she warms up to the idea of starting her idol career anew with Franchouchou. When the idols perform "Mezame Returner" again in Episode 7, she opens a far warmer smile during the cut-in than she has mustered any other time she has performed it. {{Invoked|Trope}} by Sakura in an Episode 11 flashback, admiringly calling Ai's smile "dazzling" and stating she wants to smile like that herself.
* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Check out all those tropes above, particularly TeamDad. Now consider that she's the second youngest of the girls at barely sixteen years of age, and that Sakura is almost a year older and Junko three.
* {{Workaholic}}: Ironically she spends the first few episodes refusing to work, but once she gets started, her work ethic becomes very clear. She is nearly always the first to address practical concerns about their careers, becomes absolutely furious when she feels Junko is intentionally letting the team down, and when her arms and legs break down after an extended session of practicing choreography, she states that this isn't unusual for her.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is dark blue.
* YouAreNotAlone: In Episode 12, [[spoiler:after learning about Sakura's extremely pessimistic outlook on life, Ai tells her that all the other zombies died, too, so none of them are "lucky."]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Junko Konno -- [=#4=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Maki Kawase (Japanese), Creator/AmandaLee (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Yuna Kitahara (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_junko_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' September 2, 1964\\
'''Died:''' December 6, 1983 (age 19)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Plane explosion\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 155cm (5'1") / 40kg (88 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 80(B)/55/84cm (31/20/33 in)\\\
->''"It's an idol's job to give people something to aspire to. I could never let the fans get close enough to see my flaws. Or at least...that's the way it was for idols I knew..."''\\\
A legendary idol from the Showa period who pioneered the industry in the 1980s. A product of her time, she is more used to performing solo than with a group, and has difficulty interacting with other people.
----
* EightiesHair: That is a ''fluffy'' head of hair on her. Justified, since she died in 1983.
* AchillesInHisTent:
** Together with Ai, she refuses to join Franchouchou's guerrilla show in Episode 3. Seeing Sakura's determination inspires them to the point that when Sakura bungles her lines, they join in to salvage what little of the performance they can.
** She quits Franchouchou in Episode 6 after both Kotaro and Ai chew her out for refusing to take part in the photo shoot, feeling that the expectations for idols have changed too much for her to be comfortable with since she died. She spends a good portion of Episode 7 still depressed until Kotaro gives her a pep talk.
* AmbiguouslyGay: She has not been shown to be particularly interested in love, or at least in any heteronormative context.
** She visibly blushes upon seeing Yugiri in full Oiran attire.
** Episode 2 of ''Revenge'' has her flustered by the mere ''mention'' of marriage.
** To say nothing of her ShipTease towards Ai.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: As a girl from TheEighties, her dialogue is peppered with slang from that period. She calls television "the tube", compares digital photography to polaroids, and at one point calls Sakura a ''"ninnyhammer"''.
* BackstoryHorror: An eyecatch and Episode 5 show her having a fear of heights. Then you find out she died from a plane malfunction.
* BeYourself: Kotaro tells her this by saying she can still represent her period and not force herself doing things she doesn't want to do.
* BeenThereShapedHistory: Was considered to be a pioneer of the idol genre.
* CatchPhrase: She has a few variations but you can always, always, always count on Junko to remind the other girls that they're zombies.
* CharlesAtlasSuperPower:
** Junko is apparently strong enough that she can grab a headless Sakura by the legs and run at full speed, keeping up with Saki, without any sign of strain.
** She can leap over the mansion’s gates which are more than twice her own height.
* ContraltoOfDanger: Averted. While Junko has the deepest singing voice of the group, she is also the most timid.
* CornerOfWoe: After being shocked at the drastic changes in the idol industry while she was dead, she barricades herself in a room (complete with warning signs and "do not cross" tape), and sulks in place for weeks, even growing mushrooms on her head. The trope is parodied slightly because the mushrooms are actually real and growing out of her flesh. This is actually TruthInTelevision as her undead body is producing mycelium.
* CripplingOverspecialization: Junko is noted to have the most musical talent among the seven, being the best singer and also being skilled at playing the guitar (acoustic ''and'' electric). However, she is also stated to not be an especially good dancer and has zero experience coordinating with a group, contrasting with [[TheAce Ai]].
* ExposedToTheElements: In Episode 10, Junko wears a sleeveless jersey when fishing in the waters of a snowy mountain.
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: The idol industry has changed significantly in the 35 years she was dead, and she has difficulty adjusting to what's expected of idols nowadays. She also has a hard time trying to work a computer keyboard.
* FrankensteinsMonster: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While she is just a zombie, her stitched up and discolored skin gives her the appearance of this.
* HeroicBSOD:
** The reality of being chased and shunned by the living for being a zombie leaves Junko deeply disheartened to the point where she and Ai hardly have the will to perform. Like Ai, she also starts to recover after covering for Sakura when the latter flubbed the lyrics to their guerrilla performance, deciding she wants to try singing in a group.
** She and Ai get into a heated argument over their differences in standards for idols due to the era difference between the two. After contemplating it on her own, Junko begins to think there's no place for her as an 80's idol in the modern day and considers leaving Franchouchou for good.
* HiddenDepths:
** After Kotaro kicks down a door by its hinges to give her a pep talk, he nonchalantly asks Junko to fix the door after him. Surprisingly, she simply picks up some power tools and puts the door back on competently. Episode 12 reveals that she reinforced it for extra measure.
** Though she doesn't ultimately catch anything, she appears to have a solid grasp on fishing, assembling a fishing pole and scrounging for suitable bait on her own. At the same time, she gives Sakura a surprisingly philosophical lecture you wouldn't expect from a girl who has spent so much of the series in abysmal spirits. Fishing is even listed as one of her hobbies.
** She picks the lock to Kotaro's room.
** Junko is an ''incredible'' guitarist, whether it be an acoustic ballad or shredding an electric guitar. Season 2 reveals that she made her idol debut as a guitarist.
* IWorkAlone: Downplayed. Junko doesn't hate the idea of performing in a group, but she isn't sure she can work well in one since she had always been a solo act, which compounds her reluctance to cooperate with Kotaro's plan.
* IdolSinger: Like Ai, she was already a professional idol before her death. In her case, she was one of the earliest idols to pioneer the industry, as it was during the seventies and eighties when the trope had first taken off and solidified in Japan.
* ImplausibleHairColor: She had grey hair even as a living teenager.
* InformedFlaw: It's repeatedly mentioned that Junko isn't a very good dancer, but it really only comes up once in practice, and she's on par with everyone else in each performance. Even more glaring is the fact that Junko is able to do the dance perfectly in Saga Rock after not practicing for two weeks.
* LastNameBasis: Initially, she addresses her friends by surname, such as referring to Sakura as "Minamoto-san" and Ai as "Mizuno-san." By Episode 10, she's progressed to formal FirstNameBasis, calling Sakura "Sakura-san" and later calling Ai "Ai-san." Averted in the dub, where she's on FirstNameBasis with everyone from the start.
* LiteralMinded: [[spoiler: She takes Kotaro's expression "Smash it, Junko!" as meaning to ''literally'' smash his guitar, which she does at the end of her concert solo.]]
* LookBothWays: A non-lethal PlayedForLaughs version. As everyone prepares to leave, Junko leaves the mansion to rejoin everyone, only to get rammed by Kotaro's van purely ''by accident'' as she stands in front to try to stop him. Being a zombie, she's fine.
* LudicrousGibs: Junko had to be reassembled from ''a lot'' of pieces that washed ashore after her death.
* LuminescentBlush:
** She is very prone to blushing, whether by embarrassment or at the crass comments of others.
** When she witnessed Yugiri in full oiran headdress and attire, she was [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee blushing in amazement]] at someone looking so elegant.
* MeaningfulEcho: Returns the words, "Don't worry, I'll back you up" to Ai who is about to break down on stage in fear of lightning.
* MetaGirl: Junko serves as a low-key one. She and Ai both believe the whole "undead IdolSinger group" plan is doomed, but while Ai's complaints center around the others' lack of experience and legitimate industry difficulties, Junko is often the one to quietly remind the girls that they're ''actual zombies'' with all that that entails, remains nervous around the one member who has yet to regain her mind, and frequently comments on how ridiculous the situations they get into are.
* OffModel: The show does a very good job at averting this with Junko's patches but still slips into this on occasion. Patches will sometimes be incorrectly sized or angled wrong, though it's very subtle when it does happen.
* OlderThanSheLooks: She doesn't look much older than the other girls despite being nineteen, the same age as [[TeamMom Yugiri]]. Junko mentions to Sakura that mentally, even though she's always going to be a young woman physically, she still feels her chronological age of ''fifty-five''.
* ThePerfectionist: She stands by the idea that idols must be figures of perfection for the fans to admire, and that showing any imperfection in front of them is unforgivable. Just the idea of interacting with her fans makes her uncomfortable because they might find flaws in her person outside the stage.
* RapunzelHair: A weird case in that most of Junko's hair is cut short but she has two long, thin pigtails that reach well past her waist.
* RockersSmashGuitars: When in a pinch over how to lead Franchouchou in an upcoming performance with Iron Frill, Kotaro advices her to smash through her limitations. After the group's success, she takes his advice a bit too literally and smashes Kotaro's guitar to pieces.
* RunningGag: Her overall relationship with Tae. If Junko is present but doesn't have speaking lines in a given scene, she's probably either being chased by Tae or is otherwise cowering from something Tae is doing. The {{Irony}} is that ShrinkingViolet Junko is likely targeted so specifically ''because'' she always reacts so fearfully, thus triggering Tae's predatory instinct.
* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: She runs away from the mansion together with Ai very shortly after reawakening, mostly because she's terrified of Tae. Like Ai, she reluctantly returns after realizing she has nowhere else to go.
* ShesBack: After spending the majority of Episode 7 sitting in a room and growing mushrooms out of her head, Junko makes a dynamic re-entry by jumping over an iron gate, (almost) stopping a moving van, and getting up to declare herself an idol once more.
* ShipTease: By ''Revenge'', she’s hinted to have a crush on Ai.
** In Episode 4 [[spoiler: she becomes incredibly distraught at the possibility of Ai leaving Franchouchou, to the point of breaking down into tears. She then becomes noticeably more clingy, and has a harder time focusing on the performance than the others. She is only able to finally focus when she decides to do whatever it takes to keep Ai in the group.]]
*** The two then have a very tender moment in where they reunite mid-performance and [[FreefallRomance fall off the stage together]] while [[HeldGaze locked in a deep gaze.]]
** She [[ClingyJealousGirl clings to Ai tightly]] [[spoiler: when Shiori makes a last gesture to recruit Ai into Iron Frill.]]
** The [[https://i.redd.it/thu7dfifdwz61.jpg promotional material between the two]] is also [[https://i.imgur.com/tOHksw4.jpg very intimate]].
* ShrinkingViolet: She is very soft-spoken and reserved, and is deeply intimidated by Tae. She's also very uneasy about the idea of photo sessions with fans, both because of her shy nature and because idols didn't directly interact with their fans that much when she was alive. The band decides to circumvent this and begin marketing by just handing out signed "candid" photos of her as "The Shy One" of the group, as opposed to doing meet-and-greets.
* SingingVoiceDissonance: Junko's soft, meek voice drops to a husky contralto when she sings.
* SongsOfSolace: Whenever she feels down, she will take a guitar and sing to herself. When Sakura hears it, she reveals she sings it to ease herself. The song itself was one of her hit singles when she was alive.
* ThoseTwoGuys: Zigzagged with Ai. In the first few episodes the two are glued to each other's side, both of them see the group as doomed and attempt to escape. Most of their interactions in the first three episodes are with each other as they stay at odds with everyone else. As they get to know the rest of the girls, their interactions branch out but come episode 6 and 7 they are narratively this trope with being at odds.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She is frequently shown to get nervous when dealing with heights. The fact that she died from an engine fire destroying the plane she was on likely contributed to this fear.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yugiri -- [=#5=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Rika Kinugawa (Japanese), Creator/StephanieYoung (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Mioka Sakamoto (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_yugiri_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' November 23, 1863\\
'''Died:''' December 28, 1882 (age 19)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Beheading\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 165cm (5'4") / 48kg (105 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 94(I)/62/89cm (37/24/35 in)\\\
->''"To the art of performing, I swore my life...and now my death."''\\\
A legendary courtesan who saw the birth of the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration in the mid-19th century. Despite living in an entirely different time period, she chooses not to let it faze her and welcomes every chance to learn something new.
----
* AffectionateNickname: Lily calls her "Yugirin". Saki calls her "Big Sis".
* AnimeHair: She has her hair tied up in the shape of a heart.
* AntiquatedLinguistics: Speaks in an archaic manner fitting for her time period, specifically the ''arinsu''/''kuruwa'' dialect used by courtesans in the Edo Period.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: Kind, beautiful, motherly, and has one ''hell'' of a hand slap. [[spoiler: In Episode 8 of ''Revenge'' when she thinks someone has broken into her home, she almost gouges them in the neck with a pair of chopsticks.]]
* BoobsOfSteel: Yugiri is the bustiest of the zombies, and one of the hardest to unnerve. She's a talented gymnast, hails from a more violent era, and is familiar with the concept of "testing swords". She's also prone to slapping her peers across the face to make them come to their senses, whether they actually need it or not.
* TheComicallySerious: She's... [[FishOutOfTemporalWater not]] [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan as]] [[GladIThoughtOfIt attuned]] to her surroundings as her calm dignity suggests.
* CoolBigSis: She is the oldest in terms of date of birth (though Junko and Tae are older in terms of how long they lived), and she seems to be the most level-headed of the zombies. The group as a whole affectionately refer to her as "Big Sis", and she is especially close to Lily.
* DoubleEntendre: In Episode 4, a line of dialog spoken by Yugiri easily falls under this, and is noticed by Sakura. It also doesn't help that she is a courtesan, and Yugiri is nonchalant in delivering it.
-->'''Yugiri''': What can we do to please our guests tonight?\\
'''Sakura''': Yugiri-san, phrasing!
** Notable in English as well.
---> '''Yugiri''': If we do our best to service them, I'm certain the result will be pleasurable for all parties.\\
'''Sakura''': ''Wow'', we need to work on your phrasing.
* FeminineWomenCanCook: She's a skilled chef and prepares meals for the other girls before work. [[spoiler: It's one of the many life skill she learned when she started living independently.]]
* FishOutOfTemporalWater: While all the zombies are this to a certain extent, Yugiri is the most egregious example, being the most ancient of the seven, having been revived from the period of the UsefulNotes/MeijiRestoration. She essentially lays out how she deals with the situation in Episode 6, explaining that being confused about what's going on wouldn't be helpful, so she's decided to accept things as they come.
* FishOutOfWater: The situation she ended up in at the outset of ''Revenge'' Episode 8. After the high-ranking government official who bought her freedom passed away, she found herself living in a town where she didn't know anyone and no-one knew her.
* FriendToAllChildren: She bonds quite quickly with Lily, being a source of comfort and praise for the young zombie. [[spoiler: She was also quite popular with her family's young servants who were heartbroken learning she'd be moving away to Saga.]]
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Whenever she sees someone moping, she ''slaps'' them out of their funk. The problem is, most of the time they've already snapped out of it by the time Yugiri slaps them and tells them exactly what they were trying to say. [[spoiler:The one time she actually slaps someone in the middle of a funk is in Episode 12 when Sakura remains adamant in giving up.]]
* GladIThoughtOfIt: As mentioned above, Yugiri tends to resort to [[ArmorPiercingSlap Armor Piercing Slaps]] whenever she tries to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan get someone out of their funk.]] Only problem there is that the majority of the time, the victim has already started to come to the same epiphany on their own right before she slaps them.
* GorgeousPeriodDress: In Episode 11, she decks herself out in full ''oiran'' regalia, complete with platform sandals and headdress [[spoiler:when attempting to snap Sakura out of her depression.]]
* HiddenDepths:
** Episode 5 reveals her to be a skilled gymnast. Later in Episode 10, she confirms she also had training as a geisha (coming from a period where oiran and geisha were both active). Her search for edibles in the same episode leaves something to be desired, however, as she can't tell which fungi are poisonous (though it is mentioned that being poisoned isn't a big deal anymore, as they're all already dead).
** "Saga Incident, Part I" suggests that, despite taking things in stride as she normally does, Yugiri was a bit lonely after moving to Saga. While it was in exchange for her freedom, she moved to a town where no one knew her (except as a legendary courtesan), and she didn't know the people there either.
* HighClassCallGirl: She was specifically an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oiran oiran]] in her native time, and that would have essentially made her this trope. Episode 2 shows that she's very good at playing the shamisen, which is just one of many skills oiran were expected to learn.
* ImageSong: While Yugiri never got her own song in Season One, she managed to score herself her own focused song for "The Best of Franchouchou" album (it even was a major selling point for this album, as it even had its own music video). Yugiri's song is known as "Saga Jihen", a song about Yugiri's 'incident' in her past life, and how she awaits for the love of her previous life to arrive in the depths of Hell itself. It's also sung in the style of jazz/big-band music from the early 1900s.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Lily, who's technically the youngest member of the crew, and the one furthest from her original time period.
* MsFanservice: As the oldest member of Franchouchou, a lot of emphasis is placed on her beauty and maturity. In official merchandising while in makeup, Yugiri has a much more emphasis on her [[ShesGotLegs long thick legs]], wide hips, and BoobsOfSteel while wearing a ''very'' form-fitting swimsuit.
* MysteriousPast: Much like Tae, we don't know much about her life prior to her death. We do know that aside from being an oiran, she also trained as a geisha, and she was around at the time of the Meiji Restoration. The prominent scar around her neck suggests she was beheaded or hanged. And then there's the fact that she would be a 200-year old corpse. Whatever embalming methods her corpse was preserved with remains to be seen. [[spoiler:Episode 11 has Kotaro's bartender (and seemingly immortal) acquaintance briefly warn Kotaro to never harm Yugiri because he owes her a lot from the good old days.]]
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: She shares her name with a real-life courtesan from the 17th century, who was in turn named after a character from ''Literature/TheTaleOfGenji''.
* OffWithHisHead: While all of the girls can remove their heads now that they're zombies, the scarring around her neck implies that she was originally killed via decapitation.
* OnlyOneName: She goes by only one name, which was common practice among both oiran and {{Geisha}}; their employers would give them "professional" names that were typically taken from poetry or classic Japanese literature.
* OutOfFocus:
** Downplayed, with her generally being prone to hanging around cooperatively on the sidelines of the action and occasionally saying something funny for much of the series, and being the only member of Franchouchou besides Tae not to get a backstory episode in the first season. That said, hints of her MysteriousPast came through ([[spoiler:in the form of a mysterious bartender who knows about her past and is acquainted with Kotaro]]), and in general she's much more prominent and active in the last few episodes of the first season, her CoolBigSis traits showing at their absolute fullest.
** While she continues to be a little out of focus in Season 2, this trope thankfully gets defied due to her character arc ("The Saga Incident") being a part of ''Revenge'''s overall story.
* OutdatedOutfit: Her casual clothes consist of a kimono, hakama, stockings and boots, in the manner of a female student from the late 1800s[[note]]and still worn by women at their university graduation[[/note]], but with the hakama cut above the knee like a makeshift skirt, to show off more of her legs.
* RageBreakingPoint: Of the TranquilFury variety. [[spoiler:She [[GetaAHoldOfYourself physically slaps Sakura]] ''[[GetaAHoldOfYourself again]]'' for not only bemoaning her bad luck, but also for throwing her friends' feelings under the bus when all they wanted to do was help her. Where Ai has to point out [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse she's not the only one with bad luck]], Yugiri chooses a more physical approach.]]
* RapunzelHair: While not as long as Tae or Saki's, it is notably long enough to reach her hips.
* ReallyGetsAround: It's implied one of her oiran duties was [[TruthInTelevision to have sex with many of her clients]]. She drops several innuendos throughout the series and has easily charmed several characters like the Gatalympics audience and Policeman A.
* RunningGag:
** Whenever someone is getting moody, she has a tendency to give them a GetAHoldOfYourselfMan slap, and speaks her mind with a speech while the person was actually thinking the exact same thing. She does this to Sakura ''and Kotaro''.
** Her slapping Sakura becomes this, to the point where in the music video for "Saga Jihen" (i.e. Yugiri's ImageSong), she slaps Sakura for no apparent reason whatsoever besides RuleOfFunny.
* SmokingIsCool: Sometimes she can be seen smoking from a ''kiseru'', giving her an elegant and sophisticated vibe.
* StatuesqueStunner: At least when she has her make-up on. She’s a few inches taller than the global average for women in her age group in 2018, but by the standards of 1880s Japan, she’s positively gigantic, towering over the 4’10” average for the time.
* TheStoic: While not immune to freaking out alongside the others, she's generally able to stay calm and composed in most of their wacky situations. It's even more impressive because she is the biggest FishOutOfTemporalWater in the group.
* TeamMom: Shares this role in alternating fashion with Sakura. She sometimes acts motherly towards the other girls, showing concern and acting the most mature. This makes sense given that she is the oldest girl at the time of death other than Tae (who is TheUnintelligible) and Junko (who's the same age, just two months older) as well as being from the earliest time period.
* TechnicolorEyes: Has red eyes, even with her contacts in.
* TragicKeepsake: [[spoiler: The comb she uses was a gift from her lover Kiichi. She's held onto it for over a ''century''.]]
* TranquilFury: She's capable of holding her anger while holding her composure. If she wants your attention, she ''will get'' your attention with five fingers to the face.
* TsurimeEyes: Her eyes show that she's the most mature out of all the Franchouchou members.
* UnmovingPlaid: Sometimes happens to the diamond pattern on her kimono.
* WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: She's the "legendary courtesan" and was a seemingly influential figure in the Meiji Era. [[spoiler: She was regarded highly by her family and fellow oiran. When she moved to Saga, the locals were infatuated by her beauty.]]
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She has the look of a woman in her late-20's, but was actually 19 at the time of her death.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Lily Hoshikawa -- [=#6=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/MinamiTanaka (Japanese), Creator/SarahWiedenheft (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Rin Takanashi (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_lily_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' October 6, 1999\\
'''Died:''' November 30, 2011 (age 12)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Mental shock/heart attack\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 130cm (4'3") / 31kg (68 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 59/54/56cm (23/21/22 in)\\\
->''"I'm the shining star of stage and screen, Miss Lily Hoshikawa!"''\\\
A legendary child actress who took primetime networks by storm with her breakout period piece performance. She acts sweet and innocent most of the time, and revels in the opportunity of being forever young and cute now that she can never age.
----
* TheAce: Episode 5 of ''Revenge'' really hammers this home. [[spoiler:Not only does she deliver a moving rakugo performance that brings much of the audience -- including the judges, Saki, and Sakura -- to tears, she then manages to rearrange the song she was set to perform for the finals into a scat-jazz number, retrofit her outfit into a new costume, and improvise a full dance routine, all within the ''minutes'' it took her opponent to finish his performance.]]
* TheBabyOfTheBunch: Not only is she the youngest of the zombies in terms of her age at death (twelve years old), but she's also the youngest in terms of date of birth (1999); taking all these into account, this means that, were she still alive, she would've been nineteen as of 2018, which still makes her the youngest overall. By comparison, Ai would've been technically around 26, Sakura 27, Saki 39, and Junko 54; Yugiri would've been long dead (though for comparison's sake, she would've been around 155), while Tae, though her origins remain ambiguous, could be safely considered no younger than 29 at the time of her death.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor:
** Her father was a big TV fan, so she wanted to make him happy from inside the TV. She succeeded, but it came at the cost of their relationship, and the stress was a big contributor to her demise.
** [[spoiler:When Lily was still alive, she desired to never grow up out of fear of developing a male body. She got her wish by dying and becoming a zombie, which means she can't go back to her father.]]
* BrutalHonesty: Befitting her age, Lily is prone to saying exactly what's on her mind without thinking it through first, or sometimes just not caring to. For instance, when Kotaro reveals the Franchouchou shirts they're to wear for the Gatalympics, she immediately and cheerfully declares them to be the ugliest shirts she's ever seen.
* ChildProdigy: Lily was a highly prolific child actress when she was alive. Despite having no experience before deciding to become an actress, she took to it very quickly and every show she was in became a hit. She also proves to be a quick learner as an idol as well, quickly picking up on the required song and dance skills.
* CosmicMotifs: Lily is often associated with space, and especially stars. For starters, her surname literally means “star river”, and the star motif further features heavily in her design - much of her casual outfits feature starry, [[https://aesthetics.fandom.com/wiki/Fairy_Kei#Uchuu_Kei uchuu kei]]-inspired designs, and even her SignatureHeadgear features a collection of star shapes.
* CryCute: The normally happy, cheerful Lily breaks down crying in Sakura's arms as [[spoiler:she comes to terms with the realization that her father Takeo truly loved her and was deeply regretful for neglecting her, and that she still loves him in spite of their unfortunate history.]]
* DaddysGirl: When she was alive, Lily was very close to her father who raised her on his own. Since her father loved to watch TV, Lily decided to become an actress in hopes she could make him happy by appearing on TV. [[spoiler:Her father was indeed very proud about his daughter's success, but sadly, their relationship became strained when he started paying more attention to her career. After coming back as a zombie and meeting her father again, Lily realizes how deeply he regrets what happened to her and forgives him. While she can't tell him she is his daughter, she writes a song for him expressing how happy she was that he was her father.]]
* DeathByDespair: [[spoiler:Her death was caused by a combination of things emotionally wearing her down, including a heavily strained relationship with her father and sleep-deprived overworking from her job, the second also physically wearing her down. TheLastStraw for all this accumulated stress and depression was seeing a single facial hair starting to grow, with the shock of even her body going against her wishes making her suffer a fatal heart-attack.]]
* DoNotCallMePaul: For understandable reasons, Lily hates to be called by her birth name [[spoiler:Masao]].
* DoesNotLikeSpam: [[AllThereInTheManual Her profile]] states she doesn't like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cladosiphon_okamuranus mozuku]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijiki hijiki]], which are both seaweed foods. Episode 8 suggests this is because [[spoiler:she thought she had leftover seaweed on her face before realizing it was hair.]]
* ExhaustedEyebags: Had these when not made-up for the camera in the period leading up to her death, signalling she was getting overworked.
* GratuitousEnglish: She tends to pepper her speech with positive English words like "magical" and "wonderful", likely to make herself seem cuter.
* GrowingUpSucks: Shortly before her death, Lily was highly troubled as her body began to enter puberty because she never wanted to become an adult [[spoiler:and develop a body that would conflict with her gender identity]]. Now that she's been brought back as a zombie, [[NeverGrewUp she's happy that she can stay a child forever]].
* HeartBeatsOutOfChest: More directly than the usual example, as her cartoon-shaped heart is [[BodyHorror totally exposed from her chest]] and balloons to improbable sizes when she's scared. Episode 7 confirms that, while the cartoony appearance is there [[PlayedForLaughs for comedic effect]], it actually ''is'' her real heart bursting from her chest.
* HeroicRROD: [[spoiler:While she did die of a heart attack after discovering an unwanted burst of male puberty, it also didn't help that the stress from her acting career had been taking its toll on her very young body, with her father/manager Takeo not noticing her health turning for the worse until it was too late.]]
* HiddenDepths:
** One of the interests listed on the site is in heavy machinery magazines, which she'll often be seen reading in the background. [[spoiler:The ending credits of Episode 8 also reveal a flashback of Lily and her father sitting in a power shovel together.]]
** In Episode 7, Lily argues it's better that they do Saga Rock even if Junko doesn't return, explaining the event is their big chance, and even if they pass on it for Junko, Lily knows that won't make her come back. Yugiri lampshades how mature the reasoning is for Lily.
** In Episode 10, she adeptly constructs a bonfire in the mountains, presumably using the old-fashioned "two sticks together" method. She says she learned to do it for a role she once played.
** In Episode 5 of ''Revenge'', she does a rakugo act of all things for her entry in "Japanese Got Performance", telling such a moving story with it that it moves the judges, the audience and half of Franchouchou (including ''Saki'') to tears. Later in the episode, she manages to quickly improvise a light-hearted, scat rendition of her favourite song, which becomes popular with children and [[InstantWebHit a viral sensation on the Internet]].
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: In Episode 8, a really large man shows up and seems a bit too interested in Lily. She later explains that the man was actually her real father, and while she was still alive he spent a lot of time with her. Though she's already the smallest of the bunch, she's extremely tiny when standing next to him. A photo reveals she got that from her mother, who only came up to her absurdly large husband's waist.
* ImageSong: Lily has one in Episode 8, known as "To My Dearest". She sings this song to her father, as a way of thanking him for being part of her life, through all the good and bad parts. It is performed in the vein of a slow, ballad-like, Broadway musical number.
* InsultOfEndearment: Saki calls her "Chinchiku" (translated as "Shrimpy"), which is initially derisive and annoys Lily, but eventually becomes just a playful nickname. She even accidentally calls her that during a performance, but Lily doesn't budge.
* IntergenerationalFriendship: With Yugiri, who's technically the oldest member of the crew, and the one furthest from her in terms of original time period.
* IronicName: Lily is a cute and very feminine girl. Her birth name is [[spoiler:Masao Go, the kanji for which literally translate to "Righteous Man Grand", which Saki laughs herself sick at for being so cartoonishly manly. [[MeaningfulRename She left that name behind for a reason]].]]
* KidAppealCharacter: InvokedTrope in episode 5 of ''Revenge'', During the finals of the talent show, Lily is forced to change her song routine at the last second after Light reveals he is going to sing the same song as her. She sings the same song but makes her act a lot more child-oriented, being simple, repetitive, and poppy, which delights the children watching. This contrasts nicely with Light's more adult-oriented performance.
* TheLastStraw: [[spoiler:Her panic over growing facial hair, added with the stress of being overworked by her father, was what led to her death.]]
* LittleMissSnarker: Lily can be ''very'' dry, usually when somebody is being a genkier girl then she is.
-->''(Upon seeing Saki's over-enthusiastic reaction to working with a restaurant mascot)'': Yeah, that's not cute at all.
* MeaningfulRename: "Lily Hoshikawa" is not her birth name; that would be [[spoiler:Masao Go, which she dropped due to being a transgender girl.]]
* MegaTwintails: She wears two pigtails that are larger than her head.
* MissingMom: Lily's mother died well before she went into acting, leaving her and her father.
* ReplacementGoldfish: [[spoiler:She apparently becomes a downplayed positive version of this for her father, who's under the impression "Number 6" is an IdenticalStranger who happens to look like Lily. Her 'farewell' song to him helps him find catharsis over her death, and she says that she hopes she can make him smile when he sees her on TV. Sakura subsequently notes that he's started coming to Franchouchou's shows, suggesting he's following her career.]]
* TheReveal: Episode 8 reveals [[spoiler:she's a {{transgender}} girl, born Masao Go. She appears to have identified as a girl from a very young age, certainly before she went into acting, if her flashback is anything to go by.]]
* StageName: "Lily Hoshikawa" seems to have originated as one; a flashback in episode 8 shows her being called by that name during a TV interview, but it's later revealed that it's not her birth name and she was originally called [[spoiler:Masao Go, which she changed due to being a transgender girl.]]
* StrongFamilyResemblance: Lily states she looks more like her mother, and flashbacks reveal that they look nearly identical.
* TechnicolorEyes: Golden eyes when alive or in makeup.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Once she was revived as a zombie, there was no longer anything in the way of her identifying as a girl (since zombies don't age), so she renounced her birth name "Masao Go" for good and also dropped her Saga accent for a "cuter" way of speaking.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: Lily has a tendency to refer to herself by the third person due to her desire to be cute.
* TokenMiniMoe: She's the smallest girl of Franchouchou (at 130 cm, she’s actually the height of an average eight-year-old even though she died at 12), and her personality is quite childish too.
* TokenWholesome: She's the only member of the group who has never been shown off in any way that can even slightly be construed as fanservicey, with even the merchandise involving the girls in swimsuits having her wear a very conservatively designed one with swimming trunks. A good part of this is because, as the youngest of them at twelve, putting her in fanservice situations would be inappropriate. [[spoiler:But there's also how, as a pre-op trans-girl, wearing skimpy or form-fitting outfits like the other girls might expose the fact she still has a "male member", which would spoil the reveal in episode 8.]]
* TransTribulations: [[spoiler:Lily is a young transgender girl which caused her to experience gender dysphoria when she started growing body hair. Her father tried to calm her down by telling her it was natural and she had to accept she was growing up. Unfortunately, this only made Lily more frustrated because she was afraid she would grow up to look like her father. This is, in fact, the cause of her early death; Lily was so horrified when she grew her first facial hair that she died from the shock.]]
* {{Transgender}}: [[spoiler:Originally named Masao Go and assigned male at birth, Lily identified as a girl from a very young age, but her growing body defied that wish and the shock of growing facial hair--on top of already being overworked and having to deal with a father/manager who cared more for her as an actress than as a daughter--resulted in her heart finally giving out.]]
* TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: Cute daughter in this case, but her dad still isn't that much of a looker compared to her.
* UndeadChild: She's the youngest of the zombies in terms of when she died.
* UndignifiedDeath: Saki is quick to make fun of how she died due to having a heart attack at [[spoiler:seeing her first facial hair.]]
* WhenYouComingHomeDad: Her father was her manager, and he ended up more interested in her career than in spending time with her.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: She has teal hair, like her mom.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tae Yamada -- [=#0=]]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KotonoMitsuishi (Japanese), Creator/DawnMBennett (English)\\
'''Live actor:''' Asami Morita (stage play)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae.png]]
[[caption-width-right:250:[[labelnote:Click to see her as an idol]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae_idol.png[[/labelnote]]\\
[[labelnote:Click to see her as a zombie]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/zls_tae_zombie.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->'''Born:''' Unknown\\
'''Died:''' Unknown (age 29)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 170cm (5'6") / 50kg (110 lbs)\\
'''B/W/H:''' 91(F)/59/89cm (35/23/35 in)\\\
->''"(unintelligble zombie noises)"''\\\
A woman who is legendary... [[MysteriousPast just because]]. She is also the only zombie who doesn't break out of her typical undead behavior, often trying to gnaw on the closest thing in sight.
----
* AllDrummersAreAnimals: When Franchouchou opens up for Iron Frill, she's assigned to drumming duties. She gets into it very fast and opens up the act with a full-on drum solo.
* BandageMummy: From what can be seen beneath her clothes, everything apart from her face and hands is covered in bandages.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Tae's antics as a zombie and her WomanChild behavior is often a source of comedy. However, in Episode 12, [[spoiler:when depression-blinded Sakura vehemently pushes her away too many times, Tae reaches her RageBreakingPoint and shows that even if she's ultimately a harmless zombie, she can actually be quite terrifying when she's genuinely angry.]]
* BigEater: Episode 5 in particular showcases her extreme appetite, going so far as to attack a guy in a chicken suit because she thinks he's an actual chicken, to say nothing of downing an entire plate of ''uncooked'' meat before this, and a plate of eels on a stick (including ''the plate'') followed by ''five'' sticks of eels later on.
* BiteOfAffection: While she starts out simply biting anything she can get her mouth on out of mindless-zombie habit, as her intelligence grows she starts biting things more rarely and intentionally. One reason for doing so is out of happiness and affection, such as her happily nibbling on Sakura's head after she [[spoiler:gets her memories in the Season 1 finale back after performing a successful big performance]].
* BrainlessBeauty: She is quite attractive, yet she's the only one who is still a mindless zombie who manages to become a {{Womanchild}} in her CharacterDevelopment.
* BreakoutCharacter: As a result of her immense popularity despite having a minor role in Season 1, not only did she get ADayInTheLimelight with ''Revenge'' Episode 6, but the anime got a manga {{Prequel}} — ''The First Zombie'' — that explains [[OriginsEpisode how she lived and died]].
* CameBackWrong: For some mysterious reason, Tae isn't restored to consciousness by death metal like the other zombies, and remains a feral blank slate. She gets slightly better over time, but she's still not even close to firing on all cylinders.
* CharacterDevelopment: She starts off as a wild animal who'll attack and bite people. Gradually she becomes a bit more civil, being able to understand human language and communicate through groans or gestures, showing curiosity about the world like a child would, and imitating the other girls' dance moves. She's even able to imitate a rooster's crow for the Drive-In Tori ad. Later on, she starts to imitate the other girls' expressions and speech (albeit in a rather garbled manner), and gains enough of a theory of mind to attempt lying. Come Episode 11, she's emotionally aware enough that Sakura's current situation hits her hard, sending her into a CornerOfWoe; in the following episode [[spoiler:she's shown to remember their past moments and tries speaking to Sakura to make her remember them.]]
* CornerOfWoe: Assumes this position after [[spoiler:failing to get through to Sakura]].
* CuteLittleFangs: While they're anything ''but'' little, she is often shown having fangs whenever she opens her mouth.
* ADayInTheLimelight: Episode 6 of ''Revenge'' focuses on her running errands and getting sidetracked, all while being followed by Okoba, entering and winning a breakdancing contest, and ending with her [[spoiler:betting and winning on a speedboat race, officially clearing Franchouchou's debt in the process]].
* EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette: Disregarding how she appears as a zombie, she has the creepiest look out of all the girls, with pale skin, [[RedEyesTakeWarning red eyes]], face-covering hair, and a black rag for a dress.
* EnsembleDarkhorse: In-Universe: Tae is fondly remembered by her fans as the chicken girl who does the "cock-a-doodle-doo". She does it for the fans in one concert who request she do so.
* ExpressiveHair: Tae's side-bangs tend to react to how hot her emotions are. When she's excited, angry, or worried, they stick out like crazy; when she's more relaxed and peaceful, they relax down to frame her face.
* ExtremeOmnivore: She tends to bite and gnaw on anyone or anything she can get her hands on, including her own hair. According to Kotaro, however, it's totally harmless.
* FriendshipMoment: Episode 11 has Tae seemingly jumping Sakura, in truth her way of showing she was actually worried about her. Episode 12 has her going out of her way [[spoiler:to help Sakura remember their successes. Sakura had previously acted as her caretaker so she didn't end up biting people, and had also taught her how to pay attention and dance, earning her UndyingLoyalty. So when Sakura sulks in the attic, Tae goes out of her way to crash into the attic and drag her all the way to the dancing studio to try and jog her memories. Once Sakura's memories return and mix in with her past memories, Tae happily noms on her head.]]
* HandHidingSleeves: She wears a sweater with overly long sleeves during her first public performances.
* HelpingHands: If her arms get detached they are still able to move about on their own.
* HiddenBuxom: Her normally baggy clothes hide a rather impressive bust that's second in size only to Yugiri, even beating out the visibly-stacked Sakura. Her idol outfit shows it off in full though.
* HiddenDepths: She's good at making snow sculptures, and she can do a ''killer'' drum solo.
* InstitutionalApparel: While the other girls have fairly reasonable sleepwear, Tae is apparently shoved into a striped shirt and pants with a flatcap and left to wander for the night. Given her mental state, this may be justified... or it could just be RuleOfFunny.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog.
* ItCanThink: While she's the only one of the girls not to awaken and acts like a zombie early on, she gradually regains sapience throughout the episodes. This is best demonstrated in the last two episodes of Season 1, in which Tae is the one keeping watch over Sakura [[spoiler:after she got hit by a truck and lost her memory. Her speech is garbled as usual, but her facial expressions and the way she holds Sakura's shoulders clearly show concern. She also spends the first half of Episode 12 trying to lift Sakura's spirits by doing dance moves and showing her the article about their performance at the Saga Rock Festival. Eventually she gets so fed up with Sakura's neglect that she drags her back into the dance studio and tries to reenact a training lesson that Sakura once gave her. Even though Tae can't speak properly, she obviously remembers their interactions, and the frustration in her eyes is clear.]]
* TheLoad: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. As the only zombie who hasn't awakened, she provides little contribution to the team and often gets in the way with her attempts to bite people or her head falling off. On the other hand, she is surprisingly helpful in a pinch, like when she bites one of Maria's buns when she tries to threaten Sakura and Lily, and scares off a large boar after it attacks the girls. [[AllDrummersAreAnimals She can also do a mean drum solo]].
* MemeticBadass: Tae is this InUniverse. In a few episodes in seasons 1 and 2 it's shown that Tae is extremely popular on the internet for her quirky behaviour, with Franchouchou fans absolutely loving the fact that Tae never sings or talks, and more or less does her own thing during shows.
* MsFanservice: Surprisingly enough, official merchandise has her wearing a skimpy swimsuit.
* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Kotaro gives a basic description of each girl to Sakura when she first awakens. But with Tae, he simply says she's "The legendary Tae Yamada". When Sakura asks again, he simply repeats himself, and never gives any background information on her.
* MysteriousPast: Whereas most of the zombies have details on their past lives largely fleshed out, Tae is so far the only one whose details are still largely in the dark. About the only hints available are that her profile lists her hobby as visiting different travel agencies, that her death's on record, and that she is probably not someone from the entertainment industry, as [[spoiler:Okoba's investigation into Franchouchou only identifies Junko, Ai and Lily by their backgrounds as performers. Additionally, the site of her ancestral gravestone is next to Sakura's]]. [[https://old.reddit.com/r/ZombielandSaga/comments/aadeqz/abstract_of_interview_with_takenaka_nobuhi_head/ Word of God]] is apparently that while she ''does'' have a pre-mortem backstory, they kept it a mystery because they felt there was no reason to reveal it. [[spoiler:Which is kept up in Episode 7 of ''Revenge'', as when Okoba tries to put the pieces together regarding Franchouchou's past, [[TheUnreveal it only focuses on her picture and not the news report, if any, that accompanies it.]]]] That said, she got a manga called ''The First Zombie'' intended to reveal her origins without dragging out the anime, and based on the content, [[spoiler:Tae headed up a small team of demon hunters in the late 1980s, identifying herself as a "Legendary OfficeLady Warrior"]].
* OlderThanTheyLook: She physically appears to be around the same age as the other girls, but according to the [[AllThereInTheManual official website]], she was actually 29 when she died.
* PrefersRawMeat: Has on qualms eating ''raw chicken''. [[JustifiedTrope It makes sense though since she can't get sick from it]].
* RageBreakingPoint: Tae showing any kind of emotion is rare, but when she gets angry, ''RedEyesTakeWarning''. [[spoiler:She crashes into the attic after being fed up with Sakura neglecting everyone.]]
* RapunzelHair: Goes all the way to the back of her knees.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Has red eyes both as a zombie and in makeup, and is the member of the group most likely to attack others, whether acting in defense or seeing if they're food. And when properly angered she gains [[GlowingEyesOfDoom Glowing]] Red Eyes, which accompanies a burst of strength.
* RunningOnAllFours: She occasionally does this as a way of showing that she's still pretty feral and hasn't regained her higher mental processes.
* RunningGag: Being a BigEater and her tendency to bite anything she sees. Due to being a somewhat mindless zombie, she is always hungry to the point of eating almost anything from unpaid food, raw meat, and snacks gifted to her - including the ''packaging''. She has a specific version of this with Maria where she'll bite on her {{Odango}} hair.
* {{Sleepyhead}}: Tae occasionally nods off at moments where the other girls are discussing important matters, always with a big SnotBubble.
* SmarterThanYouLook: While she started off as a shambling, moaning, bitey zombie, she starts to display increased signs of intelligence as the series progresses. While she remains TheUnintelligible, it's apparent she's able to understand her friends and follow instructions. Episode 12 is the best indication of this, as she attempts [[spoiler:to raise Sakura's spirits by reenacting their dance moves and her rooster crow from the "Drive-In Tori" commercial, and also bringing her an article showcasing their idol group's success.]]
* StopCopyingMe: Does this a lot, not to annoy anyone but because she's regaining her mind. This copying is how she manages to do the complex dances with the other girls, though her speech comes out as a garbled mess.
* StringyHairedGhostGirl: Parodied briefly in Episode 4. When the girls relax on the foot bath, Tae's hair covers her face, resembling an onryo.
* SuperWindowJump: Actually introduced this way in the first episode when she crashes through a window out of the blue back into the manor, being the first zombie Sakura runs into. [[spoiler:She does it again in Episode 11, and while it makes her appear monstrous to Sakura (who has regained the memories of her life at the cost of her memories as a zombie), it’s clear to the audience that Tae is actually ''deeply concerned'' for her.]]
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: She'll at least try to eat [[ExtremeOmnivore just about anything]], but she particularly loves dried squid, which Kotaro keeps in his pocket to pacify her bitey tendencies. Her profile also mentions she particularly likes mentaiko.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Pun aside]], Episodes 11 and 12 cement her dedication and loyalty to Sakura. With Sakura having been taking care of her and trying to make sure she wouldn't just randomly bite anyone, Tae is the one who gets hit the hardest [[spoiler:after Sakura's original memories return, but not her undead memories, and after being rejected too many times, Tae reinforces her loyalty by crashing into the attic just to drag her into the studio, and have her remember what Sakura taught her. After Sakura has all of her pre and post-mortem memories, she happily noms on her head]]. For a zombie who has a bit of humanity, this really speaks volumes.
* TheUnintelligible: As the only zombie who hasn't ''awakened'', she is incapable of human speech and can only communicate through moans, gurgles, growls, and the occasional grumbled imitations of others. [[spoiler:The closest she comes to speaking an actual sentence with words is in (the dub of) Episode 12, when, after having had enough of Sakura ignoring her and the others, she drags her to their rehearsal room and lets out an angry growl that sounds vaguely like "Get it together!"]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: As showcased in ''Revenge'' Episode 6, most outsiders familiar with Tae take her weird behavior in stride, even when it comes to things living people don't normally do, like eating food that's still in the wrapper.
* {{Womanchild}}: Tae is an interesting variant. As time goes on, she goes from being mindless to demonstrating curiosity and interest in the world around her, albeit in a very basic manner, and shows an ability to understand her friends to a degree and listen to instructions. In essence, being a womanchild is a step ''up'' for her.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Romero]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YasuhiroTakato (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)
[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/romero_zls.png]]
->'''Born:''' November 1\\
'''Died:''' December 9 (age 3)\\
'''Cause of Death:''' Unknown\\
'''Height/Weight:''' 33cm (1'1") / 3kg (7 lbs)
->''"Arf"''\\\
Kotaro's pet zombie toy poodle, who helps guard the mansion and keep a close watch on the girls.
----
* ArtShift: He switches from a cartoonishly adorable design to a more realistic, terrifying one when he eats.
* ExtremeOmnivore: Much like Tae, he'll usually try to eat things that aren't even meant to be edible. In Episode 6 he swallows a baseball whole, and in Episode 10 it's implied that he ate a grasshopper that was unfortunate enough to go near him.
* EyeScream: His left eye is missing, and when he undergoes an ArtShift, his remaining eye is shown to be bulging from the socket.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Tae and Romero show some form of friendship, with the former being a human zombie and the latter being a zombie dog. He's also shown to be friendly with Sakura, joining her on her morning jogs [[spoiler:and becoming fiercely protective of her after she's hit by a truck in Episode 10.]]
* KillerRabbit: He may be an adorable little puppy, but he's an adorable little ''zombie'' puppy, and he becomes extremely dangerous when hungry.
* MysteriousPast: We don't learn anything about his life and death, or which time period he comes from, until "Saga Incident, Part I". Romero has [[spoiler:been around since at least the Meiji era, and hung around Kotaro's old bartender friend back in the day]].
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: His name is a nod to zombie movie director Creator/GeorgeARomero.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: He has the most cartoony design out of any character, at least until he turns ravenous.
* PreciousPuppy: Quite cuddly and cute ([[ArtShift At least when he doesn't look absolutely terrifying]]).
* RaisingTheSteaks: A (usually) cute little dog who's also a zombie. Presumably, Kotaro used the same methods to bring him back as a zombie as he did for the girls.
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: [[spoiler: He’s been around as a zombie ever since at least ''the Meiji era'', where he was the pet of Kotaro's bartender acquaintance.]]
* SeriesMascot: He serves as this both InUniverse and out; in Episode 6, Kotaro sells Franchouchou merchandise that has pictures of Romero on it (and he's notably drawn in a much cuter art style).
* TeamPet: He is the mascot of the zombie idol group, and is fittingly a zombie himself.
* UndyingLoyalty: [[AccidentalPun Again, pun aside]], he's very loyal to both Kotaro and the girls. [[spoiler:After Sakura gets hit by a truck again, he attempts to attack the driver.]]
* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: You know how all the girls have to wear full-body makeup to appear like living people? For some reason, Romero—who is blue, missing an eye, and has visible bandages and stitching—is able to go out in public with no disguise, and no one seems to realize he's a zombie.
[[/folder]]
----
