askchapo

Let me strongly recommend ZOM 100: Bucket List of the Dead. It's a hopeful, class-conscious, pro-social zombie apocalypse story that starts from the satirical premise of a burnt out wage slave waking up to a zombie apocalypse, celebrating because he doesn't have to go to work anymore, and setting out to do all the things he wanted to do because he was too busy working himself to death. And if you're thinking "wait, that sounds kind of anti-social, silly as the concept is?" then it also agrees and is quick to hold up foils to him and show off his reckless hedonism and wish fulfillment as empty and reckless, pivoting to a balance that I can only sum as something like "even in the face of the apocalypse, people and their hopes and dreams are the most important thing and life should still be enjoyed, but responsibly and together."

It's a scathing rejection of nihilism and every misanthropic zombie trope, that's also stylish as hell. The only half downside is that it does a lot of like overly enthusiastic regional Japanese cultural tourism stuff as filler in between the big plot beats, making much of it just a tour of different domestically famous locations which the characters soyface over and then get chased by zombies. Its anime adaptation is also amazingly stylish and vibrant with gorgeous cinematography and animation, and I would really recommend checking that out after getting through the manga if you like it (full disclosure: I have only seen the first 6 episodes of the anime and that was all very faithful to the tone, content, and themes of the manga; if it does something horrible or jumps the shark after that, I don't know about it).