‘Undead Unluck’ Anime Review: Is It Worth Watching?

Undead Unluck is a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshifumi Tozuka, which has been ongoing since January 20, 2020, and has now been collected in 18 volumes as of the time of writing. The story is a supernatural adventure filled with humor and follows a young woman named Fuuko Izumo, who has the bad luck of initiating “unluck” in anyone she comes into contact with, and an “undead” man she named Andy, who is sick of his immortality and wants to die the best death ever. The two of them are soon tasked with discovering the mysteries of their world.

This is the main premise of the show, whose first episode premiered on October 7, 2023, and for an avid anime watcher, we still have to say that the series is quite a handful and that there is no unanimous answer as to whether it is good or not. Undead Unluck is a fairly popular series, but we have seen for ourselves that there is a lot to take in, so we have decided to write a review in which we are going to tell you all you need to know about the show and whether it is worth watching or not.

The series starts off strong, with a post-apocalyptic world in which two teenage lovers die together in a snowy town, but while loving each other. This scene gave us serious Nier vibes, and with the foreshadowing of something more (the girl at the airport was a big clue), we thought there would be more. Now, if you know the premise of Undead Unluck you probably won’t be surprised. Still, newcomers to the story are certainly in for a great shock, as it soon turns out that the initial story was just the ending of a manga that Fuuko Izumo is reading and that it’s not the main story.

The story then switches to the real world, and we have to say that it is a bit disappointing, as the initial premise seems to be quite interesting. But, all’s well that ends well, so the story of two dead lovers, however Shakespearean, was remedied by a living girl. It all seemed fine and dandy until the girl stated, with a smile on her face, that now that her manga was over, she could kill herself, and she planned on doing it until a strange guy approached her. He is odd in more ways than one, and when she warns him not to approach her because he’ll die – the plot goes into complete chaos.

Of course, the guy approaches her. It turns out that he is undead and that he cannot be killed no matter how brutally he dies. It also turns out that the girl brings bad luck to all those who touch her in any way, and the more you’re in contact with her, the more brutal your unluck will be. This is a tragedy for her, but for the guy who reveals himself to be undead, this is great because he wants to die the greatest death possible.

While there is some hint of a story there (Fuuko’s tragic past was revealed and how she blames herself for the deaths of her parents, and a secret organization approaches them), the rest of the narrative is more or less a collage of brutal deaths, borderline-hentai scenes, and a lot of jokes, some of which are more successful, while others are less successful. And that is pretty much all we could take from the series, as there doesn’t seem to be any depth there.

Don’t get us wrong, this is completely legitimate and in being a ridiculous mishmash of fanservice (the girl is cute and has big breasts, the guy constantly tries to grope her while she runs away, there are numerous sex references and a lot of censored nudity), the show is absolutely successful. Undead Unluck is absolutely successful if you like that ridiculous approach to the plot, which often works quite well in anime series. Not everyone likes that, and that is why we have said, in the beginning, that the series is not for everyone’s taste and that there is a lot to take in before committing.

As far as we understand, the plot will get more complex later as more characters are introduced and as the two protagonists actually get a sense of meaning in the series, a goal, so to speak, but the overall idea will remain the same. The ridiculousness portrayed in the series won’t be disappearing. This is why you’ll have to decide on your own whether you want to watch this.

The animation is good, and the series does seem to have a goal it is heading to definitely, and while the characters are more or less tropey, as well as the relationships between them, there is something new and innovative in this show, and if you like your ridiculousness to captivate you in a new way, well, then Undead Unluck might just be the thing for you. Of course, the ecchi content is also something that a lot of anime fans like, so there is also that.

But if you want a coherent storyline with depth, then the series is definitely not something you’ll enjoy. There is no inherent beauty in it, no complex interpersonal relationships, no mesmerizing narrative – it’s all just fun and games with many sexual references and brutal deaths… it’s more or less like an animated Tarantino movie, so if you’re a fan of the “violence for violence’s sake” maxim, then – go ahead and enjoy the show. We guarantee that you will.

As for everyone else (yours truly included), you should probably look elsewhere…

Score: 3/10

What do you think about Undead Unluck? Let us know in the comments below!