Episode 3

"You’re dead, but at least the others are trying to live. Will you join them or would you rather just sit and rot?"

- Kotaro to Ai and Junko, outside their training room.

Dead or Live SAGA (Dead or Live SAGA, Deddo or Raivu Saga) is the third episode of the first season of the Zombie Land Saga anime, and is the third episode overall.

Synopsis (Kotaro’s Diary)
"The event at Saga Castle was every bit of rousing as expected. Naturally, Sakura and Saki reached their full explosive potential. Yugiri and Lily both showed such spunk, and Tae is…just Tae. But, this in and of itself will not make them into real idols! I must make them resonate with the idol-ness to their core! This should be no problem at all if I can ensnare Ai and Junko into the process, seeing as they have the experience. One for zombie, all for zombie!"

- Kotaro Tatsumi,

Plot
Back at the mansion after the performance at Saga Castle, Kotaro congratulates the girls on their impressive and intuitive performance. But then Kotaro makes plans for another task: a “Guerrilla Performance”, where the girls will perform a show in a public area. He schedules them to perform at the Karatsu Station tomorrow morning. Yet, the girls say they can't train in less than a day to prepare, but Kotaro doesn't mind and suggests that they train all night.

Before the girl's training routine, Lily proposes that the girls choose a leader among themselves to be responsible for everyone in the group. Saki boasts of being their leader, as she has experience being the captain of her old motorcycle gang. Although speechless because of Saki's puzzling attitude, the girls decided to let Saki be their leader. Lily then recommends that they come up with a new group name, as she says Kotaro's dice are too bland. The girls provide suggestions, but they currently disagree. While everyone is lost in thought, Tae starts sneezing and interrupting the girls.

Lily is inspired by Tae's sneeze; she proposes they should be called Franchouchou. Impressed by the originality, all the girls agree, and from now on, they will be called “Franchouchou.” With all the needs met, the girls now continue with the training.

Later that night, the girls are in the park taking a break from training. Sakura, Saki, Lily, and Tae are spinning on a merry-go-round while Yugiri is standing. Sakura is currently lost in thought, worried about her upcoming performance and rushed experience. As she continues to think of herself, she ends up being thrown off the carousel by Tae. Sakura is sent flying through the air, where she suddenly remembers jumping off a stage to her delight, before crashing.

Sakura emerges again. She realizes and professes her determination to see through her idol role, even if they are zombies. But the girls already get the point, and they don't need her sympathy to motivate themselves, to their confusion that they steal the attention. Meanwhile, Ai Mizuno and Junko wait for the girls to return, and they are worried that they won't be able to put on a show. The rest of the girls return and continue training.

The girls practice dance and form, but they come across misprints. Ai leaves everyone a little upset, seeing that they are not going anywhere. Junko is still calmly in a suit. Outside, Ai, and Junko meet Kotaro, where, seeing the two try to give up too soon, they are ushered in. Ai tries to point out the difficulty of becoming idols, and she still doesn't think they will succeed because they are zombies. Kotaro then rebukes them by pointing to the other girls, who even show determination to live as long as possible. As he walks away, he asks them whether they are going to live or not, leaving the two girls speechless.

The day comes, and the group arrives at the station. The girls disembark, but Ai and Junko remain skeptical. As the rest of the girls prepare, they have no choice but to continue without them. The girls take positions, and Saki draws everyone's attention to start her public performance. Then they begin and begin to act.

But suddenly, they start to wobble, and the show finally wobbles, causing everyone to lose interest. Despite this, Ai and Junko eventually bond out of concern. The girls continue the show, inspired by a lack of audiences. When the show ends, the girls could attract a girl's attention, much to Sakura's relief.

The performance concludes, and the girls suggest they leave. After Saki gives her final statement to the empty audience, she runs over to the girl. She promises that they will do better next time. The girl smiles at her cheerfully and is then escorted by her mother. They wave goodbye to the girls as they leave.

Suddenly, a police officer approaches the girls, walking casually to prevent them from disturbing the peace. Kotaro arrives and yells at the girls to leave now. The gang returns to the truck, and everyone drives away from the area.

The girls return to the mansion at night, where Ai and Junko reflect on themselves. Sakura enters. She wanted to express her gratitude for helping to keep the show intact. But it also tells them that even if they are zombies, they will continue to believe that everyone will work hard to pursue their dreams as idols and then leave. Junko commented that it was still a mess even today. She was happy to feel the difference as a group. Then she leaves.

After reflecting on the words of both girls, Ai decides to motivate herself that she is “starting again.”

Characters

 * Kotaro Tatsumi
 * Romero
 * Franchouchou
 * Sakura Minamoto
 * Saki Nikaido
 * Ai Mizuno
 * Junko Konno
 * Yugiri
 * Lily Hoshikawa
 * Tae Yamada
 * Policeman A (cameo)
 * Little girl (debut; cameo)
 * Little girl’s mother (debut; cameo)
 * Iron Frill (flashback)

Locations

 * Saga Prefecture
 * Franchouchou Mansion
 * Saga Castle (mentioned)
 * Karatsu Station

Songs

 * “Mezame RETURNER”

Trivia

 * It is revealed that Kotaro knows English to some extent, albeit, not being able to spell “guerrilla” correctly.
 * Kotaro’s diary entry for this episode is written sometime after Saki and Sakura’s rap battle the previous night and right before his daily assembly with the girls the following morning.
 * While also simultaneously foreshadowing how Ai and Junko’s assistance is what helped the group push through their guerrilla performance.
 * This is the only episode to have the title written in English in both the original and English dubs.

Dub Differences

 * In the original, Kotaro compliments Sakura’s rapping by telling her she has “Good vibes and good rhymes” whereas in the English dub, he delivers it in a rap-like tone, telling her how “She got the beat, her rhymes were neat and that (she) bought the heat.”

Cultural References

 * The title of the episode is a play on words between the idea of ​​the guerrilla concert and the famous phrase “dead or alive.” It could also be a reference to the British band “Dead or Alive.”
 * Yugiri mentions “testing one’s sword on a passerby” when the other girls describe a guerrilla performance. This refers to Tsujigiri (辻 斬 り) a real practice, although removed years before its time.
 * Sakura insists on a group name that starts with “Fran”, then adds the sound effect that Tae made while sneezing. This is likely in 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 last line in Kotaro's diary entry for this episode, “One for zombie, all for zombie!”, is a reference to the original quote “One for all and all for one!” derived from The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas.

Continuity

 * Some girls keep forgetting that they are all already deceased, so food poisoning and the like would not really have an effect on them anymore.
 * This is the first time Yugiri mentions how they would presumably have a foul odor, considering that they are all decaying corpses.
 * This is the first time Yugiri slaps Sakura. Although it was in good faith, she mistakenly does this only after Sakura has figured it out for herself, due to Yugiri’s tendency to have late reactions.
 * This is the first of many times that the girls perform the song “Mezame Returner.”
 * This is the first time that the Death Metal fans are shown to be absent from one of Franchouchou’s performances.
 * This is the third episode wherein Tae’s Japanese voice actor is only credited as “???”.
 * Kotaro recalls the events of the previous episode in his diary entry for the day, as well as when he complimented Sakura’s rapping.

Errors

 * The gang only uses one black marker to write their group name suggestions on the board, but, somehow, every time it is used, the ink changes colors depending on what is being written.