The Franchouchou Mansion (フランシュシュの館, Furanshushu no yakata), formerly known as the Saga Sagako Busters Headquarters (佐賀 サガコバスターズ本部, Saga Sagako basutāzu no ajito), is the main setting of the Zombie Land Saga anime. It is located in Karatsu city, Saga.
It formerly served as an operations' room for the Busters and their Sagako hunt, and as a home and idol training area for Franchouchou's zombie idols. It is based in the Museum of History and Folklore of the city of Karatsu.
Description[]
History (Real Life)[]
The port of Karatsu was developed as a shipping port for the Karatsu coal field with the opening of the Karatsu line in 1902. This building was constructed in 1891 on land reclaimed from the coast as the Karatsu branch of a Mitsubishi joint-stock company that exported coal.
In 1978, the city of Karatsu designated the main building as an important cultural property of the city, restored it during the following year and returned it to its original condition. It was designated as an important cultural property of Saga Prefecture in 1980, and is now the Karatsu City Folklore Museum.
Appearance[]
Exterior[]
It is a two-story western-style building with 23.3 m frontage and 18.3 m side walls. There is a terrace on the first and second floors facing the sea. The building was designed by the Mitsubishi Marunouchi Building Office. At the time, Mitsubishi's architectural advisor was Soda Nadakura, who was from the city of Karatsu, and was said to have participated in the design of this building.
On the first floor there is a parking lot, entrance hall, corridor, stairs, calculation room, utility section, coal transportation section, second floor reception and dining room, type room, meeting room, conference room. General manager, general affairs section room, branch manager Floor plan is for bedroom. At the time of construction, people in the neighborhood called this building “Mitsubishi Goten.”
The base of the building is a red brick (Akarenga) pile base, and on top of this is a granite blow stone (Kakogan) (Saoi), and the veranda pillar base is also a granite finish. The large roof is built on a purling, with a large gable 1 in front and stepped gables on both sides, and there is a tower roof with a weather vane after the gable.
Interior[]
Looking inwards, the floor is the entrance hall on the first floor, the corridor is terrazzo 2 finishes, all the others are etched; the ceiling is the first ceiling and the second floor is a raised ceiling.
The stair railings are finished with a potter's wheel, and the detailed design is expressed in rich decoration. The windows in each room are high and low windows, and the outer wall is covered with clapboard, and part of it is painted with white plaster. The inner wall is plastered with a sliding wooden base.
History (Anime and Manga)[]
Zombie Land Saga Gaiden (1989)[]
The mansion is destroyed by a giant curse that manifested inside the mansion
The mansion was used by the Saga Sagako Busters as their headquarters to hunt Sagakos in Saga. Here they kept all their equipment to fight against curses. At that time, the mansion looked well cared for and quite clean both inside and outside thanks to the actions of the group and their leader, Tae, who was very strict with the maintenance of the house.
Eikichi and Tae return to the Busters' headquarters. Now in rubble
At the end of August of that year, during a thunderstorm, the house was destroyed by a huge Sagako that manifested itself through lightning. The Busters inside were almost crushed by the debris, but luckily, they managed to get out and rescue MJ. The onions with the Sagakos that were in a room were not affected by the mansion's collapse, luckily for the Busters.
Around 1990 the mansion was rebuilt again, but without the Busters, it would remain abandoned for a few years until an unknown date when it would be occupied by Kotaro Tatsumi and Franchouchou.
2018-2020[]
At present, the mansion is in a dilapidated state outside and inside. Still, Kotaro is determined to stick with his zombie idol plan to save Saga and remodels what he can of the old mansion to make it habitable. At least for zombies. The idol group will live in this house for almost 2 years, training and living their post-death lives as idols that make Saga popular.
The inhabitants of Saga help in the reconstruction of Franchouchou's mansion
On February 17, 2020, the mansion is swept away by the sea by a gigantic storm and the next day it collapses after spending several hours floating in the sea. The inhabitants of Saga, in gratitude to the group for their help after the flood, help to rebuild their house in a better quality so that Franchouchou and Kotaro can continue living.
Notable Areas[]
- Kotaro’s Room
- Living Room
- Attic
- Bathrooms
- Kotaro’s Bathroom
- Second Bathroom
- Dining Area
- Basement
- Training Room
- Franchouchou's “Bedroom”
Gallery[]
Exterior[]
Training Room[]
Living Room[]
Exterior Corridor[]
Bathroom[]
Kotaro's Room[]
Attic[]
Balcony[]
Franchouchou's “Bedroom”[]
Basement[]
Trivia[]
- Despite having multiple rooms, as a mansion would normally have, the girls are only given the living room to act as their makeshift bedroom.
- The attic is used by Junko and Sakura when they were going through their depressive episodes.
- The floor of the basement wherein Kotaro holds his daily morning assembly has a giant stain resembling the Saga Prefecture, similar to the birthmark on Romero’s body.
- As of Episode 18, Maria Amabuki is the first non-zombie outsider to enter the premises of the mansion.
- Maimai Yuzuriha became the second in Episode 19 to enter the premise of the mansion; albeit she was kidnapped by Kotaro after the latter assumed he had indirectly killed her, but in fact, had knocked her unconscious.
- The mansion was used in the 1980s by the Saga Sagako Busters to hunt curses in Saga.
- The mansion has been destroyed and rebuilt 2 times:
- In August 1989, the mansion was destroyed by a curse that manifested itself within it and was rebuilt in the early 1990s.
- On February 18, 2020, the mansion collapsed after being in the sea for several hours and was rebuilt after Franchouchou's benefit concert.