The Fall 2023 Anime Preview Guide

Undead Unluck

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Fūko Izumo is known as a woman cursed with "Unluck." Fūko brings misfortune to anyone who touches her, and the scale is proportional to how long they had physical contact. She's saved by Andy, a man who cannot die ("Undead"). He hopes to figure out how to use Fūko's misfortune to finally bring him death. The unlikely pair team up to complete missions given to them by the Book of Revelations, but if they or any of the other negators in their union fail, the book can punish humanity.

Undead Unluck is based on a manga of the same name by Yoshifumi Tozuka. The anime series is streaming on Hulu on Fridays.

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Richard Eisenbeis
Rating:

Well, wasn't that a fun 22 minutes of anime? Going in, I had no idea what this one would be about—had no idea of the creativity I was in for with both the story and animation.

On its most basic level, this story is about two superhumans: a man who can't die and a girl who causes others to be fatally unlucky. A fair bit of the story is spent laying out the rules for these powers. Andy can regenerate his body completely, no matter the damage, and can even stop that regrowth with conscious effort. Meanwhile, Fuko causes anyone she has skin-to-skin contact with to suffer an unlucky event moments after. The longer the contact the more extreme it will be.

Honestly, I love “hard magic systems” like this—ones where the rules of the powers we see are clearly defined. Once that's done, we not only get tension in the story by knowing the characters' limits but also get to see our heroes work within these limits in creative ways—like, you know, blowing off your regenerating legs again and again to make bloody jet boots.

As for the characters, Andy and Fuko are two people whose powers have made their lives worse. In Fuko's case, she is terrified of getting close to people (both figuratively and literally) and permanently scarred by the fact her powers killed not only her parents but 200+ innocent people as well. Meanwhile, Andy's immortal life is so full of bad memories that it drives him crazy—so his only recourse is to shove a piece of metal into his brain to give himself a permanent lobotomy.

Yet, out of all this dark tragedy comes an almost heartwarming comedy. Andy has found someone who might be conceivably able to kill even him. Fuko has found someone who isn't only not hurt by her touch but longs for it. In other words, they have found hope for the future within each other.

Add onto that the great opening sequence with its jerky animation style to simulate a manga in motion and you get a first episode that's well worth watching. I'm not sure where things go from here but I am sure it'll be a fun ride.

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Nicholas Dupree
Rating:

"It gets better" is one of the most common refrains around Undead Unluck's early goings. I can attest to that sentiment as somebody who has read a good bit of the manga. Several frankly crummy elements in the manga's early chapters are quickly excised, disappearing from the material so abruptly and staying gone so completely that folks wondered if this adaptation would alter these opening episodes to better align with the series. That didn't happen, so we're getting the unfiltered Undead Unluck experience, for better and worse.

I'll be frank: I think Undead Unluck has one of the worst, unendearing starts of just about any Shonen Jump series I've followed, and a lot of that holds true in this adaptation. I hate the gross way the series indulges in invasive fanservice towards our female lead, using the nature of her powers as an excuse for Andy to constantly violate her personal space and grope her for cheap gags. I hate how that comedic dynamic means Fuko gets reduced to her boobs multiple times in this episode. I hate that the pair's dynamic is essentially Wolverine and Rogue from X-Men but with 1000% more sexual harassment. I hate that Andy's design gives him a permanent DreamWorks Face and that he's constantly mugging through every last second of this premiere. An episode that ends with our heroine making a "comedic" escape from the male lead because he's loudly demanding they have sex is just going to leave a bad taste in my mouth, regardless of the non-sexy motivations behind it.

It sucks because there are some cool ideas, even in these early bits. I love the unique way Andy uses his regeneration powers, utilizing the morbid, cartoon physics of his very physiology to pull off stuff like flying and turning his bones into weapons. Similarly, Fuko's "Unluck" is a cool concept even outside of its potential in battle, and the way it informs her internalized self-loathing is a desperately needed emotional hook. I still can't stand Andy, but seeing Fuko so happy to have her haircut, to finally have somebody she doesn't have to keep her distance from every second, is genuinely sweet. Combined with this adaptation's ambitious direction and animation, there is a ton of potential here to make something both unconventional and unique.

However, it's hard to tell anyone if it's worth sticking out to see if that potential is met. Cool powers and engaging character writing are nice, but it's shallow compensation for sitting through the noxious character dynamic and juvenile groping gags. If those hurdles leave you undeterred, you'll probably have a good time with production values like these. For everyone else, it's a harder call. Undead Unluck does get better, but it may be too little, too late for the uninitiated.

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James Beckett
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I love it when an anime goes above and beyond to craft details that aren't strictly necessary, per se, but are still absolutely worth the extra time and effort. Take the opening few minutes of Undead Unluck, for example. They're cinematic, artful, and quite haunting in their sparseness, telling us with nothing more than mood and pure imagery the story of a doomed young couple at the end of the world. I checked out the manga's first chapter for reference, and my hunch was correct. The crew at david production took what was originally the throwaway detail of a single panel and crafted something so much more out of it. What makes it especially compelling is that it makes the reveal of what Undead Unluck is really about that much more hilarious. You thought you were in for something classy? Fat chance, losers!

This here is a gloriously stupid and cartoonishly gory action-romp about a girl with the worst luck in the universe who meets a buck-ass naked immortal psychopath who spends the entire episode hanging dong and flying around with the propulsive jet-stream geysers of blood that just never stop spraying from his mutilated extremities. Honestly? I'm perfectly okay with that. Freiren is giving this season class to spare, so why not indulge with the phantasmagorical sights and sounds of some hyper-caffeinated twelve-year-old boy's id made manifest on the screen? It makes for a damned good time, in my book.

Your mileage will vary with Undead Unluck's unapologetically sophomoric approach to its storytelling and character writing. The boob-groping jokes are certainly worthy of some major groans, but the whole show is suffused with such rampant Tom-and-Jerry-except-on-a-lot-of-cocaine energy that it's hard to find anything it does too offensive. Besides, the show does a good enough job of establishing Undead Andy and Unlucky Fuuko's deranged little friendship that I'm willing to forgive the man's more idiotic moments, provided the show doesn't beat the "Haha, he grabbed her chest nonconsensually!" stuff into the ground any further.

I've been itching for an action-adventure anime to sink my teeth into this season, and it looks like Undead Unluck will be just the dose of dumb fun that the doctor ordered. Just make sure you leave whatever brain cells you need for functioning on a day-to-day basis at the door.