Franchouchou

"“Each girl is a unique and shining star I’ve hand selected for the mission of saving the Saga prefecture. And with you, we’ve finally assembled the perfect group.”"

Franchouchou (フランシュシュ Furanshushu), formerly known as Death Musume then Green Face, is an idol group founded by Kōtarō Tatsumi.

The group is made up of seven legendary zombie girls resurrected by Kotaro. His goal is to save Saga and revive the trend of local idols in the process, thanks to the Zombie Land Saga Project

Overview
They are presented with their aliases in public to avoid getting persecuted due to having their real identities exposed. Because they do not all come from the same period and some are unaware of the contemporary, they tend to show a conservative and old-fashioned stance. Tatsumi's original idea is to "support everyone's feelings beyond the ages" as a reason to collect members from different ages together.

At the beginning of the story, Sakura was the first to awaken her senses; then, the others, except for Tae Yamada, awakened their senses after the first performance. The group's names were provisional "Death Musume" and "Green Face" respectively in their first two performances, but was later changed to "Franchouchou" by the members of the group.

When performing as regular idols, they take on an appearance no different from ordinary people thanks to Kotaro's makeup skills; however, being makeup, it easily comes off with water or rain. In addition, they are unharmed by severe and fatal injuries such as gunshots, lightning, or traffic accidents in their current state.

The works that Kotaro offers them are always challenging. They practice singing and dancing in a studio located in a western-style mansion.

Origins
Before the group got its official name, they were initially called Death Musume, which later changed to Green Face, both names by Kotaro. However, the group members found the names unsatisfactory and ultimately decided to rename them to Franchouchou based on Tae's sound when she sneezed.

Real-Life Counterpart
The group were made up of the girls seiyu's: Kaede Hondo, Asami Tano, Risa Taneda, Maki Kawase, Rika Kinugawa and Minami Tanaka. In real life, they have made various presentations at various anime events in Japan, in which they stand out by wearing the clothes and things used by their alter egos in anime.

Members

 * Sakura Minamoto (Zombie #1) - the first zombie to awaken amongst the group of girls. She is confused as to what her faith was at first but has accepted it and is currently following Kotaro's lead in hopes of getting her memories back and, at the same time, finally living out her dream in the afterlife.
 * Saki Nikaido (Zombie #2) - the former leader of Dorami Biker Gang, a girl-only biker gang situated in Saga, The Dorami Biker Gang. After coming to terms with her death and resurrection, she decides that taking over Japan by becoming a famous idol group is not bad.
 * Ai Mizuno (Zombie #3) - the former lead singer of Iron Frill, the top idol group of the Heisei era. At first, she was against Kotaro's plan and wanted nothing to do with it, but has since then given in and decided that she is now willing to start her career from scratch.
 * Junko Konno (Zombie #4) - similar to Ai, she was also a pop idol in her time and was against Kotaro's idea to revive Saga. After having her eyes opened to the reality of their current situation, she finally gives his plan a chance.
 * Yugiri (Zombie #5) - a former courtesan of the 1800s who has been resurrected into modern-time Japan. She has decided that being confused over everything would not help matters and has agreed to go along with the group.
 * Lily Hoshikawa (Zombie #6) - formerly a child prodigy, she got into television for the sake of her dad's happiness. Unlike Ai and Junko, she is not against Kotaro's idea and happily goes along with his schemes.
 * Tae Yamada (Zombie #0) - the only legendary girl whose title and cause of death have not been revealed. Despite lacking the ability to communicate properly, Kotaro and the others still invite her to their group activities with welcome arms.

Allies/Companions

 * Kotaro Tatsumi - the energetic founder and producer of the group and Sakura's former classmate in high school. He is also the one to provide the girls with a place to stay and acts as their chaperone. Another reason he started up the project was to help Sakura live out her dream to become an idol, but he would never admit this.
 * Romero - Kotaro's pet zombie poodle and the group's mascot. He gets along with them quite well.
 * Bartender (Jofuku) - Kotaro's acquaintance who is also an affiliate of Yugiri. Later revealed to be the mythical immortal man Jofuku.
 * Maimai Yuzuriha (Number #7; temporarily) - The temporary eighth member of Franchouchou who asked to join after Kotaro indirectly knocks her unconscious and takes her to the mansion.

Notable Supporters

 * Death Metal fans - the group's very first set of fans who have since then attended their every concert.
 * Drive-In Tori president - can be seen attending their concerts following their successful commercial shoot for his business.
 * Takeo Go - like the president of Drive-In Tori, he can be seen attending the group's concerts following the time Lily sings him a song they wrote for him, which gets him back to watching television without any regrets.
 * Dorami Biker Gang and Korosuke Biker Gang - The two rivaling biker gangs have started watching their performance following the biker gang feud Saki intervenes with to save Maria from risking her life over a bet.
 * Reiko Amabuki - After Reiko witnesses Saki's intervention with the two biker gangs, she joins them in becoming new additions to Franchouchou's growing fanbase.
 * Little Girl and her Mother - The little girl was the only one who stuck until the end of the girls' guerrilla performance in "Episode 3". She and her mother continue to support Franchouchou by attending their concerts from their debut episode onward.

Temporary Supporters

 * Founder of Pharmaceutical Agency - she was excited to have the girls help advertise her product. She became traumatized and had her memories of the event in episode 4 wiped due to shock from witnessing the actual identities of the idol group.

Notable Rivals

 * Iron Frill - as of “Episode 15”, Iron Frill has been classified as Franchouchou’s main rival group.
 * Light Oozora - Lily makes herself a new rival in Oozora during their performance at the talent show, Japanese Got Performance in “Episode 17”.

Casual
T-shirts with each number that was used from the beginning of the series until the middle of it. Designed by Kotaro, No. 2 (Saki) and No. 5 (Yugiri) are written in Chinese numbers, No. 6 (Lily) is written in a flat pseudonym, No. 0 (Tae) is written in Katakana.

There are other shirts designed by Kotaro for advertising and sales, but most of them look pretty ugly.

Idol Outfit #1
A modern idol outfit consisted of a red jacket with a plaid decoration, a skirt with the corresponding color for each girl with cotton inside, and knee-high boots. They were prepared by Kotaro when he participated in the big stage of Saga Rock in episode 7.

Idol Outfit #2
Costumes for the song “To My Dearest,” which was performed in a mini-live with Lily as the main theme. Members other than Lily wear fluffy white costumes. Also, they all have different hairstyles. Lily has one, and the other girls have a ponytail, and the impression is quite different as in a Disney movie tone.

Idol Outfit #3
The costume that they wear in the song “Tokkou Dance” with Saki as the lead singer. A women’s style with special clothes in a lewd fashion called sailor clothes with long skirts. Only Saki’s costume, the center's costume, is a black sailor, and the special attack clothing is also embroidered. The hairstyle is side up for Saki and the ponytail for Sakura.

Idol Outfit #4
The costume that was worn in Arpino’s live solo in episode 12. A white swallowtail dress with a skirt.

Saga Jihen Outfit
The costume used in the MV for the new song “Saga Incident”. Yugiri, the center, is a Kakai costume, and the six girls have clothes reminiscent of the first students of the Meiji era.

Living Space
Kotaro and the girls live in an old and abandoned mansion located in what seems to be in the middle of nowhere. Its real-life counterpart is the Karatsu City History and Folklore Museum located in the Saga Prefecture.

Transport
Their only mode of transportation is Kotaro’s van, which transports the girls to their concerts and helps them bring their props and other equipment. The van is a 5th generation Toyota HiAce, which has been in production since 2004. The taillights, door handles, wheels, headlight location, and back mirror are modeled accurately. Even the curves of the windows were replicated. The light bus versions also have 1-2 seat configurations, as shown in the show.

Merchandise
Their first article of merchandise is revealed to be, according to Lily, “the ugliest T-shirt (she) has ever seen,” as shown in the fifth episode. Despite making the girls wear it during the Paralympics, Kotaro himself does not wear it during his turn in the mud biking round. Their next wave of merchandise is shown in the sixth episode, which includes a custom-tailored face towel with a chibified Romero on it. It is also revealed that Kotaro designed and written all their merchandise and songs as he is responsible for their budget.

Goal

 * Tourism in Saga prefecture experienced a surge during the anime run, with the Franchouchou (Karatsu City Historical Museum) house in real life attracting a thousand visitors in a single day, more than triple the expectations of the staff!
 * It came out of nowhere to become one of the most popular anime of fall 2018. The week of vol. 1, Blu-ray went on sale in Japan, sold around 12,500 copies, quickly putting it ahead of the other fall 2018 anime Blu-ray released alongside SSSS.GRIDMAN in second place with approximately 8000 copies.

Season 1

 * Episode 1: Started on Friday the 27th April, 2018.
 * Episode 2: Started after they woke up, which is April 28, and the second concert is one day after they woke up, on April 29.
 * Episode 3: Started on April 30, and the guerilla concert is the next morning on May 1.
 * Episode 4: Saki mentions that they were locked up for a month, we could assume that an approximate date of May 20.
 * Episode 5: No date was mentioned at the beginning of the episode, but the Gatalympics was also mentioned, an event that only happens once a year, and in 2018 it happened on May 26.
 * Episode 6: Started between July 5 and 8.
 * Episode 7: At the beginning of the episode, it was mentioned that Junko has been locked up for two weeks, and the Saga Rock concert is on July 20.
 * Episode 8: Lily's song takes place on Friday, August 17, almost a month after Saga Rock.
 * Episode 9: Started sometime between September and early December.
 * Episode 10: Started 18 days before Arpino, on December 3.
 * Episode 11: Started between December 12 and 17.
 * Episode 12: Started between December 17 and Friday December 21, when it is performed in concert at Arpino.

Season 2

 * Episode 13: It starts on April 25, 2019 and finally the anniversary of the concert is on April 27, 2019.
 * Episode 14: Takes place over two unknown days in early May.
 * Episode 15: Takes place in the first week of June up until June 12.
 * Episode 16: Takes place during June 19 to 22, 2019.
 * Episode 17: TBA

Bagua of Franchouchou
There is a correspondence between Kotaro and the number of girls (assuming Kotaro is # 7) and their way of death and character.

It also predicts the possible cause of Tae's death and some other details of the death of other girls and explains why Kotaro changed her name.

Bagua is an ancient Chinese philosophical study that started around the same time as Confucius and Anqi Sheng, just before Qin Shi Huang and Xu-Fu, and was then brought to Japan with Buddhism.

The Eight Symbols

 * Tae: 0 (000), 坤 (Earth), death by earthquake or starvation
 * Sakura: 1 (001), 乾 (sky), traffic death
 * Saki: 2 (010), 離 (Flame), gas explosion flame death
 * Ai: 3 (011), 震 (Thunder), death by thunder
 * Junko: 4 (100), 艮 (Mountain), death by plane crash (If we refer to Saga's accident in real life, it crashed in the mountain ranges)
 * Yūgiri: 5 (101), 兌 (Lake), death by blades (兌 also corresponds to "metal" in the Five Chinese elements)
 * Lily: 6 (110), 坎 (Water), death from heart failure
 * Kotaro: 7 (111), 巽 (Wind), not yet dead

Philosophy
There is also a philosophical implication for teaching the eight symbols:


 * Tae: A person from 坤 (Earth) must remain moral and forgiving.
 * Sakura: A person from 乾 (Heaven) should look forward and be optimistic.
 * Saki: A person from 離 (Flame) should shine her light and personality on others.
 * Ai: A person from 震 (Thunder) must be educated through fear.
 * Junko: A person from 艮 (Mountain) must remain calm, peaceful and thoughtful.
 * Yugiri: A person from 兌 (Lake) must make and educate her friends.
 * Lily: A person from 坎 (Water) must maintain her virtue and conduct.
 * Kotaro: A person from 巽 (Wind) must reiterate his orders and guarantee the practice of his affairs.

Japanese Buddhism (which has many ties to Bagua and Taoism due to Chinese influence) classified the days into six groups: 大安, 友引, 先胜, 先负, 赤口, 佛灭 (I can't translate these, they are some ancient Chinese terms), and all the girls died in a day of Butsumetsu (bad luck "仏滅"), the worst of the worst days according to the Japanese Buddhist calendar.

Kotaro's old surname, Inui 乾 (Heaven), means northwest. Meanwhile, his current name Tatsumi 巽 (Wind), means southeast. He changed his name to make way for Sakura so she can take "乾."


 * They are opposite on the Bagua, Inui (乾 Qian) and Tatsumi (巽 Xun). Joining both surnames gives the name "heavenly wind."

Generally, [changing one's name or symbol] is strictly prohibited and would bring extremely bad luck, but in this case, all eight girls were already extremely unlucky, however, in Bagua philosophy, going too far to one extreme will take you to the other extreme, so the girls' extreme bad luck brings the group great luck.

Trivia

 * Their first temporary name, Death Musume, literally translates to Daughters of Death.
 * Whereas their second temporary name, Green Face, refers to the color of their skins without their human makeup.
 * In the third episode, Sakura insists on a group name that starts with "Fran-, “ then adds Tae's sound effect while sneezing. "Fran" is likely a reference to Frankenstein, as the girls share physical characteristics with the movie's appearance of the iconic monster, especially Junko, who appears to have been stitched again.
 * Additionally, the “chou chou” part of their group name is pronounced the same as the Japanese onomatopoeia for the kissing sound.
 * The name is also a play on the Japanese phrase Furanshūshū (腐乱臭衆), meaning "Decomposing Smell Group."
 * Tae's seiyuu was credited as "???" During the first two episodes, Kotono Mitsuishi was subsequently credited in Episode 3.
 * In addition, Kotono is the only one who does not appear during live performances.
 * Tae, at 29 years, would be the oldest amongst the girls in terms of their ages of death. In comparison, Lily would be the youngest, at 12 years.
 * Conversely, Yugiri would be the oldest in terms of the girls’ chronological ages, with Lily still being the youngest, at 19 years.
 * Franchouchou’s most performed song is “Mezame RETURNER,” with the song currently having four variants, with the first being “Electric Returner,” the second being Ai’s solo from “Episode 15”, the third being “Electric Returner (Type “R”)” from “Episode 16” and the fourth being Maimai’s cover from “Episode 19”.
 * Both of Franchouchou’s rivals so far hail from Tokyo.
 * As of Episode 19, there were eight members, with Maimai Yuzuriha, albeit a temporary member of the group as Franchouchou's No. 7.