Sankarea: Undying Love

Main characters

• Furuya Chihiro (降谷 千紘)
• Chihiro, a student fascinated by necromancy, discovers an old manuscript and creates a potion to resurrect his deceased cat as a zombie. While researching in an abandoned building, he encounters Rea, who mourns her life at a nearby well. He vows responsibility if she becomes a zombie. After she moves in, he studies her condition in a tent within his room. Though initially desiring his first kiss from a zombie, he later develops genuine feelings for Rea. After she bites him, he temporarily turns into a half-zombie. His mother, once briefly reanimated, may have influenced his obsession. Ultimately, Rea consumes his heart, but he survives with an artificial replacement.
• Sanka Rea (散華 礼弥)
• Rea is a teenage girl who consumes Chihiro's experimental zombie potion in a suicide attempt following years of abuse by her father. Though the potion does not immediately kill her, she becomes a zombie after a fatal fall caused by her father. She subsequently lives with Chihiro, seeking independence from her past. Unlike typical zombies, she exhibits unusual self-control in advanced stages of zombification, possibly due to ingesting the potion before death. Her physical strength increases as her reanimated body bypasses natural biological limits. After suffering memory loss from brain deterioration, she fully regains her memories upon consuming Chihiro's heart.
• Saōji Ranko (左王子 蘭子)
• Ranko is Chihiro's cousin, often referred to by him as "Wanko", though she occasionally insists on the more formal suffix "-san". Her romantic feelings for Chihiro stem from an incident in childhood when he protected her from a dog. She develops a competitive yet teasing relationship with Rea regarding Chihiro's affections. After confessing her feelings, Ranko recognizes Chihiro's preference for Rea but continues to harbor hope, sometimes taking extreme measures such as consuming what she believes to be resurrection pills—an attempt that fails when the pills prove to be mislabeled medication. Her persistence remains despite the unreciprocated nature of her affection.
• Furuya Mero (降谷 萌路)
• Mero is Chihiro's younger sister, named after filmmaker George Romero. While her brother studies zombies, she maintains a fascination with ghosts. Her memories of her mother are fragmented, recalling only bandaged hands and an inability to perceive temperature. These partial recollections lead her to subconsciously associate Rea with her mother, occasionally addressing Rea as such. The connection stems from Rea's zombified state and physical deterioration, which mirrors Mero's faint memories of her mother's condition.

Furuya family

• Furuya Jogorō (降谷 茹五郎)
• Jogorō, known as Professor Boil, is the grandfather of Chihiro and Mero and creator of the reanimation potion. A former respected zombie researcher in the United States, he abandoned his work for unknown reasons. Now senile, he retains extensive knowledge of zombies but rarely communicates coherently. His confusion leads him to mistake Rea for his first wife Sada from the Meiji period, though others dismiss these claims as dementia. His condition stems from prolonged poison exposure, though brief moments of clarity allow him to advise Chihiro on preserving Rea's consciousness. He reveals the potion's imperfection—it merely delays, rather than halts, her eventual decay.
• Furuya Doōn (降谷 呶恩)
• Chihiro and Mero's father and also the priest at the Shiryō-ji temple.
• Furuya Yuzuna (降谷 柚菜)
• Yuzune is the deceased mother of Chihiro and Mero. Following a fatal car accident, evidence suggests Jogorō temporarily revived her as a zombie. Mero's fragmented memories depict Yuzune with bandaged hands and an inability to sense temperature—traits mirroring Rea's zombified state, which triggers these recollections. The flashbacks imply Yuzune eventually succumbed to typical zombie behavior, likely due to developing a hunger for human flesh. Her final act was voluntarily separating from her family before complete expiration, though the exact circumstances remain unclear.
• Bābu (ばーぶ)
• Babu is Chihiro's reanimated pet cat who died in a car accident. As a zombie, his physical capabilities exceed normal feline limits, allowing him to overpower larger predators. Unlike living cats, his movements are no longer governed by biological constraints. While currently docile toward humans, he exhibits increasing nocturnal predatory behavior toward other animals. His condition demonstrates the inevitable progression of zombification—initial preservation of personality followed by gradual mental deterioration and eventual loss of control. Babu's degeneration mirrors Rea's potential fate, though she maintains greater self-control. His case provides Chihiro critical data on the limitations of the resurrection process and the need for further research to prevent complete mental degradation.

Other characters

• Sanka Dan'ichirō (散華 団一郎)
• Dan'ichirō is Rea's controlling father who exhibits obsessive behavior toward his daughter, including extensive surveillance and inappropriate photography under the pretext of documenting her growth. His fixation appears connected to Rea's resemblance to her deceased mother, who died in childbirth. A skilled fencer, Dan'ichirō initially resents Chihiro's relationship with Rea but ultimately acknowledges him as her protector, albeit with strict conditions regarding their conduct. Following this confrontation, he departs for the United States to research methods of halting Rea's physical deterioration. His actions reflect a complex psychological profile combining grief, possessiveness, and distorted paternal affection.
• Sanka Aria (散華 亜里亜)
• Aria is Rea's stepmother and Dan'ichirō's wife, formerly a maid trained under the Sanka family's tradition of grooming select staff as potential spouses. Despite this preparation, Dan'ichirō married Rea's mother instead, only wedding Aria after his first wife's death in childbirth. Their marriage remains strained as Dan'ichirō focuses exclusively on Rea. As chairwoman of Rea's school, Aria maintains a professional demeanor but privately resents her stepdaughter. Her attempts to gain Dan'ichirō's attention prove unsuccessful, and she develops alcohol dependence. After learning of Rea's condition, she unsuccessfully propositions Chihiro, who rejects her advances while stating his exclusive attraction to the undead.
• Kurumiya Darin Āshento (来宮・ダリン・アーシェント)
• Darin is Jogorō's former assistant and a researcher for ZoMA, specializing in zombie experimentation. Though less knowledgeable than Jogorō, her reliable mental state makes her a frequent contact for Chihiro and Rea. She initially views Rea as a research specimen, but their relationship evolves as Rea treats her with genuine friendship. Darin's fascination with zombies stems from childhood neglect—her father only acknowledged her during research discussions. She administers controlled zombie-poison doses to enhance her physical capabilities, suppressing pain receptors at the risk of self-injury. Her studies reveal that Rea's partial pre-death potion consumption explains her retained personality, unlike traditional test subjects revived post-mortem.

Manga

Written and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori, Sankarea: Undying Love was serialized in Kodansha's Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine from December 9, 2009,[4] to September 9, 2014.[5][6] Its chapters were collected in eleven volumes, published between July 16, 2010, and November 11, 2014. The fifth volume's limited edition was bundled with drama CD, telling an original story.[7]

Kodansha USA licensed the manga for English release in North America.[8] The eleven volumes were released from June 11, 2013, to March 24, 2015.

Volumes

Anime

A 12-episode anime television series based on the manga was announced in the October 2011 issue of Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, and aired between April 5 and June 28, 2012.[35] Two original video animation episodes were released with the limited edition of the 6th and 7th volumes of the manga on June 8 and November 9, 2012.[36] A special episode was released with the 6th Blu-ray Disc and DVD volumes on November 30, 2012.[37][38] The opening theme is "Esoragoto" (絵空事) by Nano Ripe and the ending theme is "Above Your Hand" by Annabel.

The series has been licensed in North America by Funimation, released the series dubbed in English on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on October 1, 2013. It was then discovered that the release contained the edited version, Funimation has since recalled and postponed a release on Blu-ray/DVD with the uncensored material, no news of a proper release date was announced until Funimation announced a March 31, 2015 release for the uncut complete series.[39] Customers who have received the edited version can opt to return their copy for refund or exchange their copy for the unedited version when it is distributed.[40] MVM Films has licensed the series in the United Kingdom.[41]

Episodes

Novel

A novel adaptation was published by Kodansha under their Kodansha Ranobe Bunko imprint on July 2, 2013. The novel, titled Sankarea: All Night-Rea Long (さんかれあ　おーる・ないとれあ・ろんぐ), was written by Ryō Suzukaze and illustrated by Mitsuru Hattori.[42][43]