Sankarea: Undying Love
Sankarea: Undying Love is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori. The manga was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine between December 2009 and September 2014 and compiled in eleven volumes. The story follows Chihiro Furuya, a zombie and occult enthusiast in modern Japan, who meets Rea Sanka, a girl who becomes a zombie after drinking an experimental "reanimation potion" made from bigleaf hydrangeas.
The series has been licensed and is published in North America by Kodansha USA. An anime television adaptation by Studio Deen aired from April to June 2012. A novel adaptation by Ryō Suzukaze was published in July 2012.
Plot
Chihiro Furuya is a male high school student with a keen interest in zombies, collecting zombie-related videogames, film and manga, and even to the point of desiring to "kiss a zombie girl". Following the death of his pet cat, Babu, he attempts to revive it using an old manuscript, which describes the process of creating a reanimation potion. At this time, he encounters a girl named Rea Sanka, who has run away from home. In a suicide attempt to commit she drinks a sample of the reanimation potion which is created from the poisonous bigleaf hydrangea, although she survives. Following an argument with her father, she falls from a cliff by accident and dies. However, as a result of the potion, she becomes a zombie who eats bigleaf hydrangea leaves to survive. The story follows the life of Chihiro and Rea as his new "zombie girlfriend".Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori, Sankarea: Undying Love was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from December 9, 2009, to September 9, 2014. Its chapters were collected in eleven volumes, published between July 16, 2010, and November 11, 2014. The fifth volume's limited edition was bundled with drama CD, telling an original story.Kodansha USA licensed the manga for English release in North America. The eleven volumes were released from June 11, 2013, to March 24, 2015.
Anime
A 12-episode anime television series based on the manga was announced in the October 2011 issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, and aired between April 5 and June 28, 2012. Two original video animation episodes were released with the limited edition of the 6th and 7th volumes of the manga on June 8 and November 9, 2012. A special episode was released with the 6th Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes on November 30, 2012. The opening theme is "Esoragoto" by Nano Ripe and the ending theme is "Above Your Hand" by Annabel.The series has been licensed in North America by Funimation, released the series dubbed in English on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on October 1, 2013. It was then discovered that the release contained the edited version, Funimation has since recalled and postponed a release on Blu-ray/DVD with the uncensored material, no news of a proper release date was announced until Funimation announced a March 31, 2015 release for the uncut complete series. Customers who have received the edited version can opt to return their copy for refund or exchange their copy for the unedited version when it is distributed. MVM Films has licensed the series in the United Kingdom.