Junko Konno

Junko Konno (紺野 純子, Konno Junko) was an idol from the 80s whose popularity caused the idol boom of said decade. She died in 1983 in a plane crash. She's also a member of the idol group Franchouchou.

She is titled as the Legendary Showa Idol (伝説の昭和アイドル, Densetsu no Shōwa aidoru)

Appearance
Junko has short white hair that curls in near the bottom with her bangs are bunched together in the middle and icy-blue eyes. Like the others, she has grayish-blue skin and red eyes as a zombie and stitches all over her body with different skin tones in each section make her somewhat like a homage to Frankenstein's Monster.

Normally, Junko wears a navy blue sailor's dress with white accent lines and a white tie. She also supports white socks and black shoes. As an idol, Junko wears a purple and white top along with a short, white skirt.

Personality
Junko seems to be calm, collected, little shy, but also a little serious if not daring. This serious side is shown when she tries to escape the mansion, collaborates with Saki Nikaidō and Sakura Minamoto in going in the Hot Springs, and when it comes to idols. She seems prone to panic whenever something disturbing happens. Because of the different time period she lived in, her views of Idols contrast from modern times.

character concept
Junko is the revived representation of the 'Showa' idols of the 70's and 80's. Quiet, reserved and fearful, Junko is the image of what the artists showed to the public on the small screen.<!-- Hiding, but not removing

Episode 1
After their successful death metal performance in a death metal festival, all of the zombie girls regain their senses, she wakes up along with Ai Mizuno and Lily Hoshikawa but was frightened upon seeing Tae Yamada.

Episode 2
Tae Yamada's habit of biting and chasing after people scares Junko, motivating her to escape the mansion. However, she and Ai Mizuno accidentally startle each other when they run into each other outside, alerting Sakura Minamoto who had come looking for Ai. Although Sakura is against the idea of leaving, the three proceed to climb over the fence and head to town. Sakura's pleas to return to the mansion fall to deaf ears until a policeman notices the zombie bunch and opens fire at them.

Episode 3
During Kōtarō Tatsumi's briefing for a guerrilla performance, she points out she's more used to performing solo, a fact he promptly ignores. Junko and Ai Mizuno show very little enthusiasm in participating in idol activities and remain in the van to merely observe Franchouchou at first during the guerrilla show. However, after witnessing several mistakes, they finally decide to step in and help salvage the performance, with one young girl remaining for audience. Later in the evening, she expresses being glad having tried group performance and thanks Ai for helping out.

Episode 4
Junko becomes excited and blushes when Kōtarō Tatsumi reveals the location of their business trip is in the Ureshino Hot Springs, but quickly tries to hide it. Arriving in the scene, she is a bit doubtful about sightseeing being a good idea at first, but joins the group nevertheless. She walks besides Sakura Minamoto in most following slides showing them enjoying their time sightseeing and helps her splash water on a fish sculpture that is rumored to help with skin and health, although being much more reserved while half of their group is drooling against a display window of a bakery store. She also joins the foot bath with other zombies and assures that despite her solo performer background, she will do her best if others are serious about it as well.

After their sponsored event, Junko overhears Saki Nikaidō and Sakura arguing whether or not to sneak into the hot baths, and expresses her wish to join them.

Episode 5
Preparing for the Drive-In Tori commercial they were about to film, Junko expresses her dismay towards the chicken suits they were ordered to wear, though Ai Mizuno points out it's so they can get some real outfits in the future and Sakura Minamoto says it looks good on her. The rest of the shot goes without incidents for her until she has to help stopping Tae Yamada from biting the Drive-In Tori mascot, Cucco-kun.

Later, in Kōtarō Tatsumi's briefing about his plans to send the girls to participate in Gatalympics, Junko questions the glamorousness of the mud sports and appears totally devastated by the Franchouchou t-shirt design Kōtarō presents to them. The Gatalympics remind her of swimsuit only sporting events from the past, but when asked if she had participated in one, she was quick to point out she made sure not to stand out in them. Her performance in the competition itself was rather poor, on the bicycle track she was hardly stable on a bike to begin with and on the Tarzan swing she accidentally let the rope slip from her hands before even getting to swing on it.

Okoba, who has been watching the competition, recognizes Junko from somewhere and begins investigating the past of Franchouchou's members.

Episode 6
It is revealed that Junko died from a plane crash when she was heading to Saga for her first tour in Kyushu. -->

Etymology

 * The name Junko means "pure, clean, simple" (純) (jun) and "child" (子) (ko).
 * Junko's surname Konno means "navy blue" (紺) (kon) and "field, wilderness" (野) (no).

Trivia

 * Junko was 19 at the time of her death.
 * Based on the timeline, Junko's actual age is 54 as she remarked in Episode 6 that she would have been a grandmother if she was still alive.
 * Junko's death is similar to that of Kyu Sakamoto 's death on how he died in the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123.
 * Junko died three months after her nineteenth birthday.
 * Junko has same cup size and body type as Ai Mizuno, together having one of most slimmest figures in group.


 * '80s Hair: That is a  fluffy  head of hair on her. Justified, since she died in 1983.
 * Achilles in His Tent:
 * Together with Ai, she refuses to join Franchouchou's guerrilla show in Episode 3. Seeing Sakura's determination inspires them to the point that when Sakura bungles her lines, they join in to salvage what little of the performance they can.
 * She quits Franchouchou in Episode 6 after both Kotaro and Ai chew her out for refusing to take part in the photo shoot, feeling that the expectations for idols have changed too much for her to be comfortable with since she died. She spends a good portion of Episode 7 still depressed until Kotaro gives her a pep talk.
 * Backstory Horror: An eyecatch and Episode 5 show her having a fear of heights. Then you find out she died in a plane crash.
 * Be Yourself: Kotaro tells her this by saying she can still represent her period and not force herself doing things she doesn't want to do.
 * Catchphrase: She has a few variations but you can always, always, count on Junko to remind the girls, "Because we're zombies."
 * Corner of Woe: After being shocked at the drastic changes in the idol industry while she was dead, she barricades herself in a room (complete with warning signs and "do not cross" tape), and sulks in place for weeks, even growing mushrooms on her head. The trope is parodied slightly because the mushrooms are actually real and growing out of her flesh. This is actually Truth in Television as her undead body is producing mycelium.
 * Crippling Overspecialization: Junko is noted to be the best singer among the seven. However, she is also stated to not be an especially good dancer and has zero experience coordinating with a group, contrasting with Ai.
 * Exposed to the Elements: In Episode 10, Junko wears a sleeveless jersey when fishing in the waters of a snowy mountain.
 * Fish out of Temporal Water: The idol industry has changed significantly in the 35 years she was dead, and she has difficulty adjusting to what's expected of idols nowadays.
 * Frankenstein's Monster: Downplayed. While she is just a zombie, her stitched up and discolored skin from gives her the appearance of this.
 * Heroic BSoD: The reality of being chased and shunned by the living for being a zombie leaves Junko deeply disheartened to the point where she and Ai hardly have the will to perform. Like Ai, she also starts to recover after covering for Sakura when the latter flubbed some lyrics to a guerrilla performance, deciding she wants to try singing in a group.
 * Hidden Depths:
 * After Kotaro kicks down a door by its hinges to give her a pep talk, he nonchalantly asks Junko to fix the door after him. Surprisingly, she simply picks up some power tools and puts the door back on competently. Episode 12 reveals that she reinforced it for extra measure.
 * Though she doesn't ultimately catch anything, she appears to have a solid grasp on fishing, assembling a fishing pole and scrounging for suitable bait on her own. At the same time, she gives Sakura a surprisingly philosophical lecture you wouldn't expect from a girl who has spent so much of the series in abysmal spirits.
 * I Work Alone: Downplayed. Junko doesn't hate the idea of performing in a group, but she isn't sure she can work well in one since she had always been a solo act, which compounds her reluctance to cooperate with Kotaro's plan.
 * Idol Singer: Like Ai, she was already a professional idol before her death. In her case, she was one of the earliest idols to pioneer the industry, as it was during the seventies and eighties when the trope had first taken off and solidified in Japan.
 * Implausible Hair Color: She had grey hair even as a living teenager.
 * Last-Name Basis: Initially, she addresses her friends by surname, such as referring to Sakura as "Minamoto-san". By Episode 10, she's progressed to formal First-Name Basis, calling Sakura "Sakura-san".
 * Look Both Ways: A Non-lethal Played for Laughs version. As everyone prepares to leave, Junko leaves the mansion to rejoin everyone, only to get rammed by Kotaro's van purely  by accident  as she stands in front to try to stop him. Being a zombie, she's fine.
 * Ludicrous Gibs: Had to be reassembled from  a lot  of pieces after her death.
 * Luminescent Blush:
 * She is very prone to blushing, whether by embarrassment or at the crass comments of others.
 * When she witnessed Yugiri in full oiran headdress and attire, she was blushing in amazement at someone looking so elegant.
 * Meaningful Echo: Returns the words, "Don't worry, I'll back you up" to Ai who is about to break down on stage in fear of lightning.
 * Meta Guy: Junko serves as a low-key one. She and Ai both believe the whole "undead Idol Singer group" plan is doomed, but while Ai's complaints center around the others' lack of experience and legitimate industry difficulties, Junko is often the one to quietly remind the girls that they're  actual zombies  with all that that entails, remains nervous around the one member who has yet to regain her mind, and frequently comments on how ridiculous the situations they get into are.
 * Older Than She Looks: Mentally as well as from being an unaging corpse. Junko mentions to Sakura that even though she's always going to be nineteen physically, she still feels her chronological age.
 * The Perfectionist: She stands by the idea that idols must be figures of perfection for the fans to admire and showing any imperfection in front of them is unforgivable. Just the idea of interacting with her fans makes her uncomfortable because they might find flaws in her person outside the stage.
 * Running Gag: Her overall relationship with Tae. If Junko is present but doesn't have speaking lines in a given scene, she's probably either being chased by Tae or is otherwise cowering from something Tae is doing. The Irony is that Shrinking Violet Junko is likely targeted so specifically  because  she always reacts so fearfully, thus triggering Tae's predatory instinct.
 * Screw This, I'm Outta Here!: She runs away from the mansion together with Ai very shortly after reawakening, mostly because she's terrified of Tae. Like Ai, she reluctantly returns after realizing she has nowhere else to go.
 * She's Back: After spending the majority of the seventh episode sitting in a room and growing mushrooms out of her head, Junko makes a dynamic re-entry by jumping over an iron gate, (almost) stopping a moving van, and getting up to declare herself an idol once more.
 * Shrinking Violet: She is very soft-spoken and reserved, and is deeply intimidated by Tae. She's also very uneasy about the idea of photo sessions with fans, both because of her shy nature and because idols didn't directly interact with their fans that much when she was alive. The band decides to circumvent this and begin marketing by just handing out signed "candid" photos of her as "The Shy One" of the group, as opposed to doing meet-and-greets.
 * Singing Voice Dissonance: Junko's soft, meek voice drops to a husky contralto when she sings.
 * Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: She is frequently shown to get nervous when dealing with heights. The fact that she died in a plane crash likely contributed to this fear.