“Sankarea: Undying Love” is a 12-episode anime series about a boy who drinks a potion to bring his dead cat back to life, accidentally turns a girl into a zombie, and then spends the whole show trying to keep her alive. That is the pitch, and it is stranger than it sounds.
Chihiro Furuya is a high school student obsessed with the undead. He collects zombie games, movies and manga, and he dreams of kissing a zombie girl. After his cat Babu dies, he tries to revive it using an ancient recipe for a reanimation potion. The recipe calls for bigleaf hydrangea, a plant that is poisonous to humans.
He meets Rea Sanka, a girl who has run away from home. Her father is controlling and cruel. In a suicide attempt, she drinks a sample of the potion. She survives, but when she falls from a cliff during an argument with her father, she dies. The potion brings her back anyway, and she becomes a zombie who eats hydrangea leaves to stay alive.
Trailer, via Crunchyroll Dubs.
Chihiro and Rea
Chihiro is the kind of character who knows everything about zombies except how to talk to living people. He has never had a girlfriend. He has never really talked to anyone. Rea is the opposite. She is miserable, isolated and desperate. The anime pairs them together and watches them figure out what being a couple means when one of them is technically dead.
The show handles their relationship with surprising warmth. Chihiro wants to protect Rea, and Rea wants to live. She hides out with him, and the two of them build a life around his apartment, his collection and his obsession. The show leans into the absurdity of it — a zombie girl living with a human boy who loves zombies — but it also treats their bond as genuine.
Decomposition and Control
The problem is that Rea is decomposing. Zombies rot, and the show does not hide it. Rea gets worse over time, and Chihiro has to find ways to slow the process. There is no cure in this world. The only thing that helps is the hydrangea leaves, and even those only buy time.
Rea’s father is the other threat. He is dangerously determined to get her back under his control. The show spends time building the fear of this man, and it pays off in later episodes when he closes in on the couple. The tension is real, and it drives the final stretch of the season.
The Voice Cast
The series is voiced entirely by Japanese talent. Maaya Uchida voices Rea Sanka, and Ryohei Kimura voices Chihiro Furuya. Sayuri Yahagi voices Ranko Saōji, Yuka Iguchi voices Mero Furuya, Misato Fukuen voices Babu, Mayumi Asano voices Aria Sanka, Seiro Ogino voices Doon Furuya, Shuhei Iwase voices Yasutaka, Unsho Ishizuka voices Dan’ichirō Sanka and Saori Hayashi voices Mogi.
The voices sell the comedy and the pathos. Chihiro’s awkwardness and Rea’s deadness come through in their delivery. The supporting cast is smaller but effective, especially Ranko, who provides comic relief and a contrast to the main couple’s gloom.
The Bigleaf Hydrangea
The bigleaf hydrangea is central to the plot. It is the poison that nearly kills Rea, the ingredient that revives her and the food that keeps her alive. The show explains its properties clearly. It is a recurring visual element, and it grounds the fantasy in something tangible.
The anime draws directly from the original manga by Mitsuru Hattori, which ran in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from December 2009 to September 2014 across eleven volumes. The adaptation stays faithful to the source material, following Chihiro and Rea as his new “zombie girlfriend.”
Where It Falls Short
The humor is uneven. Some jokes land perfectly, others feel forced. The show also struggles with pacing in the middle stretch, where the tension dips while the couple settles into their routine. The decomposition plot could have been handled more sharply.
Comparison Table
| Element | Strength | Weakness |
|---|---|---|
| Relationship chemistry | Warm, genuine | Some awkwardness |
| Plot setup | Unique, engaging | Middle episodes drag |
| Humor | Effective in spots | Uneven overall |
| Animation | Solid, detailed | Nothing striking |
| Voice acting | Strong, committed | Some filler roles |
Key Facts
- Network: TBS
- Season: 1, 12 episodes
- First aired: 2012-04-06
- Last aired: 2012-06-29
- Score: 7.8/10
The show earns its score honestly. It commits fully to its premise, delivers a touching core romance and handles its darker elements with restraint. The ending, which encourages readers to “Live like you’re dying — even if you’re already dead,” lands as a genuine message rather than a hollow one.
“Sankarea: Undying Love” is a solid, if imperfect, adaptation of a beloved manga. It respects its source, builds a memorable couple and delivers a payoff that fits its strange setup. It is not a masterpiece, but it is a recommendation for anyone willing to sit through a boy and his dead girlfriend.
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