Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Undead Unluck’ on Hulu, An Anime That Brings Two Misfits Together for a Comedic Action Adventure

Undead Unluck, now streaming on Hulu, is an adaptation of a long-running manga series from Yoshifumi Tozuka that’s attracted a large fanbase over the past three years. Its 18-volume manga run is still going, and now it’s gotten an anime adaptation from legendary animation studio David Production and TMS Entertainment. This slapstick comedy manga is equal parts action-packed and hilarious in some situations, with two strong leads that fans have become very close to over the years. With one person who has terrible luck and another that’s immortal, it’s a lengthy tale that’s a breath of fresh air — and the cure for the common shonen series. Is it worth jumping into, then? Read on to find out.

UNDEAD UNLUCK: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A spiral appears on a dark screen, revealed to be what looks like an engine on a plane. Then, the screen switches to a black-haired girl in a school uniform trudging through a city completely filled with snow.

The Gist: Undead Unluck follows a woman named Fuuko (Moe Kahara) who’s been living on her own in complete isolation for a decade. She decided to go away to live on her own after a violent incident that happened when she was a little girl that ended up killing 200 people, including her parents. She makes the decision to end her own life after she finishes her favorite manga series, blaming the fact that no one can touch her for part of her desire to give up on living — if they do, her “unluck” ability will bring them fatally bad luck.

When she meets an immortal man named Andy, things completely change for both of them. This “undead” man can regenerate himself even from the brink of death, so he’s looking forward to finally shuffling off this mortal coil in the most exciting way possible. Andy and Fuuko work together to help each other out, but soon find themselves in the sights of a mysterious organization called the Union, which seems to want to recruit them for reasons currently not known.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? In terms of style and tone, Undead Unluck feels like shonen action series with comedic elements from the ’90s, much like Yu Yu Hakusho or even the more recent Bleach. While there are two leads wishing for a similar fate, there are plenty of situations to laugh at and leads that mean business when it comes to combat — if you’ve been keeping up with shonen manga for the past few decades, you’ll feel right at home here.

Our Take: There’s a certain type of shonen series, like One Piece or Naruto, that dares to try a few things that are outside of the norm while peppering episodes with large doses of humor and well-choreographed fights. That’s how Undead Unluck is. It introduces two very unique protagonists with abilities that seem more like curses than things that could aid them, and also gives them some very unorthodox protagonistic designs. From the get-go, you know something’s different here, and all for the better.

The beginning of the first episode dedicates itself to showing you just how ready Fuuko is to have some sort of human touch, and how lackadaisical Andy is about dying. He simply does not care when Fuuko first accidentally stabs him in the face. And when he touches her and he accidentally falls off a bridge and is slammed into by a train, Fuuko sheds real tears for him, though it’s played for comedic effect…because Andy can’t die! He just heals from it.

The anime takes these moments that could easily be harrowing and scary for many and turns them into hilarious segments that have you laughing out loud. They’re so nonchalant it’s hard not to crack a smile. With how melodramatic some series can be, you need shows like this to add a little levity, much like Spy x Family does with its otherwise dramatic spy premise.

Even though you don’t learn a ton about either Fuuko or Andy during the first episode of Undead Unluck, you want to know more, and there are plenty of reasons to stick around and figure it out. This is going to be one wild ride, and the first episode sets it up for some of the funniest moments of the anime season just yet.

Sex and Skin: There are some jokes about Andy having sex with Fuuko, but no sex and skin to be seen in this episode.

Parting Shot: After a battle, Fuuko and Andy face each other as Andy thanks Fuuko for the “assist” with her “unluck” ability after their most recent scuffle. She jokes that she’s not sure she’d call it “nice” as her hat floats by and the screen focuses on the logo on her hat that says “Good luck.” Fuuko then bestows Andy with his name: “Andy,” because he’s “Ahn-dead.”

Sleeper Star: Not entirely a sleeper star, but a show-stealer. The moment Yuichi Nakamura bursts on to the scene as Andy, you know he’s a voice who’s going to have your attention every moment he’s on screen. He gives Andy an undeniably brutish personality – truly the voice of a man who’s ready to die, but can’t stop being brash since he knows he can’t. His deep, clear, bassy voice makes for an excellent character.

Most Pilot-y Line: After closing the book of a manga volume, Fuuko proclaims: “Okay! Now that I’ve seen my favorite manga to the end…it’s about time I end myself!” It’s the reason she ends up meeting the immortal man who changes her life — and vice versa.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The first episode of Undead Unluck is an extremely promising start for the anime adaptation of a long-running manga series — and it’s got all the hallmarks of a great performer. It looks fantastic, features excellent voice actors, and it has a good foundation to build from. Its two leads couldn’t be any more different, but manages to retain electric chemistry. How could they possibly help each other out with their two bizarre “abilities”? It’s going to be a wild ride learning what they mean to each other as the series continues, and we can’t wait to see what happens.

Brittany Vincent (@MolotovCupcake) has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech.