The ninth volume of Zom 100 finds our heroes continuing their zombie apocalypse survival road-trip to Osaka. While some of the previous volumes have been short almost stand alone chapters, this volume is all one story arc, that ends on a cliff-hanger. Once the arrive in Osaka the gang find out that the zombies there seem to be stronger, faster, and have more heart than what they’re used to. Luckily they run into an old classmate from college of Akira and Kencho’s named Takemina, who saves them from the new zombie variant they encounter.

Even though the new type of zombies are introduced, they’re not featured much in the actual story. They find that within the grounds of Osaka castle is a whole community that is based on market trading, using cans of food for currency. Within the castle itself are the people who have hoarded the most cans, the big cats, they also may hold information on the potential vaccine, so Akira and co. want to meet them. The majority of the volume centres around the bar that the gang start up to gain cans and get an audience with the elusive can chief.

Every volume of this manga has been consistently brilliant. A mix of light-hearted comedy, horror, and some heavier themes sprinkled throughout. It’s still about a group of characters trying to complete their bucket lists before becoming zombie food, and at the same time there is some social commentary about capitalism, the work/life balance, and the difference between living and surviving. As the series has progressed it’s travelled all over Japan, and it feels like going on an adventure with every chapter. It’s funny, easy to read, and filled with great characters.

In this volume there’s a lot of funny hijinks as they open up their bar and try to make it successful, with wacky ideas and varying degrees of success. At the same time there’s a lot of commentary about greed and capitalism, with the richest in society getting richer by exploiting the poor. There’s a good balance throughout the story, and it does take some unexpected turns. It ends with quite a few unanswered questions and the next volume can’t come soon enough.

I really love this series, and it’s definitely one of my favourite series at the moment. Every time a book comes out I get it as soon as possible, and I eagerly await the next one after finishing it. There’s an anime and a live-action film coming out later this year, that will hopefully capture the magic of the manga. Before that volume 10 will be out, which has a lot to live up to with how this volume ended.

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