Episode 14

"“Since I’ve become the leader of Franchouchou, I’ve let my soul burn like a flame. And, from now on, I’m gonna let it burn even brighter and light the way for not just my group, but all of Saga. Because, then, if anybody feels lost, my light can show ‘em where to go, just like Ikimari’s lighthouse over at Uranosaki!”"

“The SAGA of an Almost-Broken Radio” (ぶっ壊れかけのレディオ SAGA Bukkoware Kake no Redio SAGA) is the second episode of the second season of the Zombie Land Saga series and is the fourteenth episode overall.

Synopsis (Kotaro’s Diary)
(Note: This is an unofficial English translation of the synopsis from the website.)

"I'm awaken like a zombie, and they seem to be relieved. I often make myself drunk to hide my pale face, but it's not the time to keep on whining. To make Franchouchou shine again, I need a big stepping stone. An eye for an eye, a teeth for a teeth, a legend for a legend. Receive the fiery passion as if it were the dragon's flame. Even if the body is destroyed, the soul will never be"

Plot
Franchouchou is back! The girls are training again to become the biggest idols in Saga! Saki, more motivated than ever, leads the other girls in her legendary crush.

Kotaro then summons the girls to the basement, where he grants them a fake interview about their return to public life. Saki, annoyed by Kotaro's behavior, immediately stops him and reminds him that his month-long stoppage is his fault. Ai asks him for explanations about his behavior, a question that Kotaro avoids completely.

To change the subject, he immediately announces that they will participate in a television program in order to announce their return to the public arena and thus reach a fairly large audience. The girls will visit and present the Yutoku-Inari temple in Kashima. Kotaro also tells them that another celebrity is invited to participate in the show, the rocker and radio host White Ryu. Saki is a huge fan of the latter and therefore excited to spend the day with his longtime idol!

On the same day, Franchouchou arrive at Yutoku-Inari and introduce themselves to the film crew of the show. Then White Ryu arrives, sitting on the hood of his car, driven by his assistant. Saki is in awe of the old rocker with the pompadour cut, the other girls seem not so fascinated by the character.

Therefore, the group begins the visit around the temple, Sakura is the presenter of the program and tries in some way to animate it correctly. Luckily for her, Ai and Lily are very comfortable doing this type of exercise and are very good at hosting a TV show. Saki accompanies White Ryu throughout the day, who at one point during the visit wishes to free the gobies kept in the aquarium by an old woman, the latter will prefer to sell them miniatures of her gobies. The girls are quite taken aback by the scene, except for Saki and Ryu who seem to be pleased to have obtained these miniatures.

After visiting the temple, the film crew believes they have enough footage to show on their show. However, for White Ryu, this is not enough. To end the visit in style, he must explore the back altar, the Myobu Shrine. To get there you have to climb many steps, for the Franchouchou girls it is simple because being zombies, they no longer feel as much fatigue as when they were alive. Therefore, both the film crew and Ryu have a hard time climbing to the top, Ryu collapses on a bench once he arrives.

The filming day ends and the show crew is quite satisfied with Franchouhou's performance as opposed to White Ryu, whose director doesn't understand much of what he says. Saki gets angry hearing these words but she is repressed by Sakura, Saki tells her that to understand Ryu's words, uou should not use your ears but your heart! And that's why he escapes from the van to say goodbye to his longtime idol. She takes the opportunity to tell him that she will be listening to his show again and that she will catch up with the ones she missed, but White Ryu sadly announces that he will be leaving the show soon.

This sad news affects Saki a lot, Lily wonders if Saki was in love with this old rocker. A conversation about love and idols between Franchouchou follows. For Junko, love for an idol is forbidden. Ai tells her that back in her time, idols hid their romantic relationships, a revelation that surprises Junko. As for Ai, she doesn't seem to be against dating idols. After this discussion, she suggests that the girls leave Saki alone, while she recovers from her emotions.

However, Saki can't sleep, she loses herself in thoughts of her. Sakura is worried about her friend, but Saki reassures her and tells her about her past as a criminal, that she fought against everyone and that she thought she was forever alone. But thanks to the show and White Ryu's words one night, she finally finds someone like her. That person is Reiko, with whom she will found the Dorami motorcycle gang. Ryu, therefore, is very important to Saki because she thinks it is thanks to him that she is no longer alone and lost in Saga. She therefore decides to flee the mansion with Sakura to find Ryu and persuade him to continue hosting the radio show.

Sakura and Saki arrive at the recording studio on time, after pedaling hard. White Ryu welcomes Saki and Sakura carefree to his show. Saki begs her to continue hosting the show, a show that saved her in the past and may continue to save lost people like her in Saga. Ryu reminds her that the important thing is the show, not just him and that he wanted to bequeath it to such a passionate person. This passionate person according to him is Saki, who agrees to repeat the show of her idol. After filming the show, Ryu and Saki say their goodbyes. Saki confesses her feelings to him, but he reminds her that it is not to him that she should direct this passion, but to those who are lost and to Saga. White Ryu tells her that they will meet again when she grows up to be a holy woman.

Saki and Sakura stop near a river and wait for the sun to rise. Saki is a little depressed to see her idol always leave, but Sakura reminds her that they will meet again one day, but when they become women, which will never happen, she reminds Saki because they are zombies. As she says these words, Saki breaks down in tears. She realizes that she will never grow back and she will never be able to experience life experiences as an adult woman.

Sakura, panicked at seeing her rebellious friend cry, she starts crying too! Therefore, Saki tries to comfort her, but Sakura cries so much that her body becomes completely dehydrated. In the distance, in the truck, Kotaro and the girls observe the scene and keep watch.

A few days later, Franchouchou performed again at the Geils hall and Saki took on the most famous title of White Ryu, "Do you hate windy days?" Franchouchou now presents the show Ryu, who is now experiencing new adventures towards new horizons.

Characters

 * Kotaro Tatsumi
 * Romero
 * Franchouchou
 * Sakura Minamoto
 * Saki Nikaido
 * Ai Mizuno
 * Junko Konno
 * Yugiri
 * Lily Hoshikawa
 * Tae Yamada
 * White Ryu (debut)
 * Officer Suenaga (cameo)
 * Journalists
 * Arata Ookoba
 * Inubashiri
 * Death Metal fans (non-speaking cameo)
 * Metalhead A
 * Metalhead B
 * Dorami Biker Gang (non-speaking cameo)
 * Maria Amabuki
 * Mikigawa
 * Sayama
 * Reiko Amabuki (flashback)
 * Takeo Go (mentioned)

Locations

 * Saga Prefecture
 * Abandoned Mansion
 * Unnamed police station
 * White Ryuu’s radio tower
 * Restaurant Anrisu (mentioned)
 * Geils Deathmetal Stadium
 * Kyoto Prefecture (mentioned)
 * Yoshiwara’s Kuro Inari Shrine

Songs

 * ”Do You Hate Windy Days”
 * ”Do You Hate Windy Days” (Franchouchou’s version)

Instrumentals

 * TBA

Trivia

 * This episode takes place in early May of 2019.
 * Kotaro’s diary entry for the episode is written sometime after he got his passion back from the previous episode and sometime before the morning assembly of this episode.
 * The last line of his dairy entry also foreshadows Franchouchou being delegated ownership of White Ryuu’s radio show via Saki’s burning passion as an idol.
 * It is revealed that Saki met Reiko after listening to White Ryuu’s advice on his radio show.
 * It is revealed that Saki has a crush on her childhood idol, White Ryuu.
 * As of this episode, Franchouchou have taken over as the new hosts of White Ryuu’s radio show.
 * It is revealed that, despite still having the ability to eliminate bodily fluids, the girls are more prone to dehydration and at a faster pace than that of regular humans. As shown during the scene wherein Sakura starts crying, her entire body immediately dries up.

Dub Differences

 * The English Dub of the episode aired a week after its initial release on July 22, 2021 for unknown reasons.

Cultural References

 * The line “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, (and a legend for a legend)” in Kotaro’s diary entry for the episode is a reference to Hammurabi’s Code.
 * This episode touches upon the fact that real-life idols should be careful regarding their romantic pursuits while on the job.
 * The title of the episode is a reference to a song by Tokunaga Hideaki titled "Kowarekake no Radio."

Continuity

 * This is the second episode to be centered around Saki, with the first being “Episode 9”.
 * This episode has a handful of callbacks from “Episode 5”.
 * This is the second time Kotaro gets physically assaulted by Saki.
 * This is the third time Kotaro and Saki openly express their excitement for one of Kotaro’s new gimmicks.
 * This is the second time Saki shows her idolization for an infamous icon that heavily influenced her life.
 * This episode also has a handful of parallels from “Episode 9”.
 * With both episodes being centered around Saki.
 * Both episodes revealed parts of Saki’s backstory.
 * Both episodes involved Saki’s best friend, Reiko Amabuki, and her daughter, Maria Amabuki, in one way or another.
 * Both episodes end with Franchouchou performing a song led by Saki with the Dorami Biker Gang being seen in the audience.
 * Officer Suenaga (under the guise of “Dirty Harry of Saga Cops”) recalls meeting Yugiri as the bartender of Arinsu.
 * This is the third time wherein Franchouchou performs at Geils Deathmetal Stadium.
 * This episode parallels the previous episode wherein the girls perform their latest song onstage at Geils Deathmetal Stadium near the end of the episode.
 * This is the second episode to not have the word “Saga” at the end of the title, but instead, it’s put upfront.

Errors

 * The bike handle Saki leaves at the police station reappears next to her and Sakura after they have already left the station.
 * The bar Yugiri works at, Chinatsu, is recalled as “Arinsu”, and instead of being a bar, it is referred to as a restaurant. It is currently unknown if this is an error or an intentional change.
 * Saki and Sakura’s make-up don’t come off when they started crying heavily.