I skipped volume 3 of Zom 100, because Alex and I watched the anime adaptation. I didn't need a rehash of Akira's run-in with his old boss and subsequent (brief) reversion to a shuffling wage slave. Volume 4 consists of several smaller adventures, which gives it a brisker pace then previous volumes.
The most notable development is the addition of a new cast member in the form of Beatrix Amerhauser. Beatrix s a German citizen and major Japanophile (which creates a situation where the foreigner is often the one explaining the history of a particular area or concept to the locals), who finally was able to come visit the country just as the zombie outbreak began. She's introduced by tearing a bunch of zombies to bits with some Sengoku era armor she found somewhere. As it turns out, she's trying to deliver a bunch of fish to a sushi chef she was able to speak with over the phone, because she really wants to try genuine sushi. So on the one hand, she's fairly strong and alert to danger, but on the other, she tends to think with her heart and charge in like Akira.
Either way, Akira has "pigging out at a nice sushi restaurant" on his bucket list, so he insists they help Beatrix. That done, there's the obligatory hot springs story, with the added complications of zombies having infested all of the known baths in the town. They eventually stumble upon an undisturbed spring and, obligatory scene where Akira jumps in only to learn Shizuka's already in there aside, there's an actual heartfelt conversation between the two, where Shizuka apologizes for dismissing comments Akira made about the value of love earlier.
Shizuka's gradual opening up is the other major development. She's trying to buck the habits she learned from her domineering, perfectionist father, who pushed her into investment banking against her wishes to be a doctor. To allow herself to do things for enjoyment, rather than focus entirely on what's necessary. She's not always successful, but the audience sees her unbending a bit, while remaining the most levelheaded of the group. It's Shizuka that comes up with the plan to actually reach the sushi restaurant, but you can tell she gets into her idea a bit, lets her theatrical side show through.
After that, the cast help a man that's trying to build an elaborate treehouse to live in, fulfilling another of Akira's bucket list. The builder, who used to run a carpentry firm, has a lot of regrets that he never built a treehouse with his son, too focused on work. Now it's too late. This reminds Akira of his own guilt over getting so swept up in a job he ultimately hated that he neglected visiting his parents for years. Once they reach the village, which is normally isolated enough it was relatively easy to keep zombies out, Akira throws himself into trying to repay his parents by trying to look after them, do things for them, check on their health. None of it really works, leaving Akira stymied as to how he can show his gratitude.
(The sushi chef admitted he worked through his daughter's wedding and his wife's funeral, which would seem to tie into this idea of worrying about things that don't matter to exclusion of what does. But, he says that serving sushi to four such dedicated, appreciative customers makes it all worthwhile. Maybe the difference is the sushi chef was doing what he loved, while Akira and the carpenter weren't.
Or, given that the chef says they're sure to be his last customers and decides they'll drink all the sake, he may be planning to step outside and get eaten the next morning. At which point guilt no longer really matters.)
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