Manga Review - Apocalypse no Toride - A Zombie Manga that Stands Out?

The concept of zombies have risen in popularity, and most people cannot deny that this concept is interesting to watch. However, some mangas, movies, etc. try to capitalize on the popularity and do a poor job. Does this author of the manga do that? NO! Apocalypse no Toride is surprisingly interesting for a zombie manga, and I believe that it stands out from the rest of the zombie mangas. The manga is set in a zombie apocalypse where prisoners of a jail are suddenly "free" when it starts, where it focuses on a group of individuals in Cell 4 and their journey through the apocalypse. 

Story (8/10):

The story involves prisoners of a jail, and particularly focuses on the prisoners in Cell 4 - Maeda, Yoshiaki, Yoshioka, Masafumi, Yamanoi, Mitsuru and Iwakura, Gou. Of course there are other main characters that the protagonists meet along the way, but these four are the starting main characters. The zombie apocalypse begins and all hell breaks loose. Personally, I didn't really find a major flaw in the story because the story progressed well and the transition between the second-last chapter and the last chapter was reasonable. From the final chapter, we know that a cure has been found, but I assumed that some of the "zombies" are too far gone to become cured. I guess one plot hole the story had was the lack of explanation of the F-Virus Carriers and how the apocalypse started in the first place. Usually there would be some sort of explanation as to how it all started, but not in this case (which is somewhat disappointing). Nevertheless, the story overall was well done.

Characters (9/10):

The characters were all pretty interesting. In the group, we have very interesting characters with backstories that allows us to understand what caused them to be jailed. Some of these stories are pretty saddening, and as the story progresses, we see that these characters are not entirely "evil people", but rather people who just couldn't control their rage at one point in time. It was also refreshing to see the bonds the individuals of Cell 4 make to persevere through the apocalypse. So when a main character just sacrifices himself, it's somewhat disheartening, and you can see the sadness and grief from these characters. It really did caught me by surprise that a main character sacrifices himself to save the others. I didn't really expect it since main characters in typical zombie mangas always live, so that is one quality that differentiates itself from other zombie mangas.

The side characters are pretty interesting too. The person who can see 2 seconds ahead of time has redeeming qualities for a criminal. There was even some backstory to how he discovered his new power. However, it would have been interesting if we knew how this actually happened (but then again, this is manga).

Art (8/10):

The art is well done and there is attention to detail when it comes to the zombies infecting people. This manga is not the typical "hack-n-slash" zombie manga, but rather a survival zombie manga, so it was good to see high quality in the drawings. I also liked how the author drew towering masses of zombies and this reminded me of World War Z, but in the manga, it seems so much cooler.

There are also different variation of zombies, and it was easy to differentiate between them. (However, it's kinda weird how "zombie humans" evolved so quickly to become aquatic, or are there zombie seals? :O)

Enjoyment (8/10):

Each chapter had about 50 pages and there are 46 chapters, so it is a manga that will last you a decent amount of time. I usually get bored of long mangas, but this kept me engaged throughout the whole series.

Overall (8/10):

Apocalypse no Toride is a refreshing read, and stands out from typical zombie mangas. While there might be slight flaws in the storyline, the story progressed fluidly and was concluded in a suitable manner. If you like zombie mangas, this is definitely a manga I would recommend.