Summary

• Undead Unluck season 1 had a stellar story and lots of great animation.
• Said animation, however, was very inconsistent and often paired with terrible pacing and overall direction.
• Season 1 largely failed to live up to the source material, and the anime needs a complete overhaul for season 2.

Undead Unluck is the latest Weekly Shonen Jump manga to receive an anime adaptation. The manga had always been something of an underrated gem, and with the studio and staff behind both JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and Fire Force working on it, Undead Unluck was quick to become one of the most hotly anticipated anime of 2023.

Undead Unluck season 1 has just finished airing, and overall, it’s hard to say that it lived up to its hype. The story was just as enjoyable as it was in the original manga, if not more so, but Undead Unluck’s inconsistent animation and bizarre editing and pacing made a lot of season 1 hard to watch, and that made what should have been an incredible anime often middling at best.

Undead Unluck season 1 was never the worst thing airing, but unfortunately, it was never as good as it could have been.

Undead Unluck Has One Of Shonen Jump’s Most Unique Stories

Undead Unluck's story can't be beat

The best thing about Undead Unluck season 1 is that none of its faults got in the way of its story. For starters, just like the original manga, Undead Unluck’s Negator power system is one of the most intricate of any manga, with the series always pushing the boundaries of what seemingly basic superpowers like regeneration can do while still keeping the basic form of said powers the same. That results in every fight having a lot of creativity that only grows as the characters further hone their abilities, and in that regard, they’re always fun to watch.

The cast of Undead Unluck also plays a big part in what makes the story so great. While season 1 ended before a lot of the cast could be explored, Undead Unluck does a great job of depicting characters like Fuuko, Andy, and Juiz as engaging and tragic figures with plenty of character growth, and Fuuko’s growth, in particular, is some of the best of any shonen anime, especially for a female protagonist. Whether it’s a comedic moment or a tense one, the cast of Undead Unluck always shines, and their interactions are often the highlight of every episode.

Undead Unluck’s Animation Rarely Lives Up To The Quality Of Its Story

Why Undead Unluck's animation rarely works

There were more negatives to Undead Unluck’s first season than there were positives, unfortunately, and one of the more notable ones was with the animation. The first few episodes of Undead Unluck featured a lot of creative and overall gorgeous animation, the artwork and cinematography easily ranking among the best of any anime airing at the time. Much of the staff behind Fire Force, which mostly consisted of veteran animators from Studio Shaft, worked on Undead Unluck, so it makes sense that it would have that same level of stellar animation, with Undead Unluck even suring Fire Force on occasion.

The problem with Undead Unluck’s animation, however, was how wildly inconsistent it was. While the first few episodes had consistently great animation, most episodes of Undead Unluck had very stiff and cheap animation, with many scenes having some combination of stilted imagery, recycled footage, and all-around ugly artwork. Undead Unluck was never the worst-looking anime airing during its run, but the moments where its animation lived up to its story were much too few and far between, and it ultimately ruined its potential to be one of the best-looking Shonen Jump anime in years.

Undead Unluck’s Direction Is Poorly Executed More Times Than Not

Why Undead Unluck's direction is so bad

What ultimately brought Undead Unluck season 1 down, however, was its incredibly subpar direction. Building off of the inconsistent animation, many episodes of Undead Unluck feature uninspired and overall bizarre direction that only ever conveys the story in flat and uninteresting ways. The most egregious example of this was in episode #14 where, for no reason, the sequence of events surrounding Andy’s final attack on Under Negator Rip was changed so that the explanation behind it, rather than be given outright, was conveyed via flashback immediately after it finished playing out, thus killing the tension through awkward and unnecessary pacing.

The absolute worst part of Undead Unluck’s direction is easily its overabundance of flashbacks. Nearly every episode is filled to the brim with recaps and flashbacks, even if it’s to something that just happened in the previous scene, killing the pacing. Episode #18, for example, was supposed to be the biggest episode of the season, but Undead Unluck's reliance on flashbacks turned episode #18 into a glorified clip show, so it ended up as one of its worst, by far, and the anime never truly learned to knock it off.

If there’s anyone who can be blamed for the inconsistent quality of Undead Unluck’s direction, it would have to be series director Yuki Yase. Yase is by no means an incompetent director, as his work on shows like Fire Force and Hidamari Sketch will show, and there are plenty of great moments in Undead Unluck. Unfortunately, Yase’s directing style was a poor fit for Undead Unluck, and as a result, it was quick to lose most of the hype surrounding it.

What Undead Unluck Needs To Improve On In Season 2

Season 2 needs to be better

Undead Unluck has been teasing a season 2 announcement for later in the year, and there’s a lot that needs to be improved on. Having more consistent art and animation is one thing, but above all else, Undead Unluck needs to stop having so many flashbacks and so much slow pacing, as repeating that will only serve to further kill its reputation. Yuki Yase being replaced as director wouldn’t necessarily fix all of that, but if he does stay on, then he needs to do something to try and draw more focus to what made his past projects so successful.

Considering everything that would be covered in a hypothetical second season, an uptick in quality might be easy to see happen. Everything that Undead Unluck season 2 would cover is generally considered to be when the manga truly starts to find its footing, so just from that, Undead Unluck season 2 would be far better than season 1, and with any luck, the animation and direction would improve in tandem. Undead Unluck’s creativity and overall quality make it deserving of a far more competent adaptation than season 1, and with any luck, that’ll be realized with an improved season 2.

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