Salted Fish Zombie Chapter 39.2 Discussion

Note for this review, I've actually read further but started over when I wanted to finish reading it (to refresh my memory). I haven't completely finished it, though, so my rating/review might change in the future... but I'm not expecting it to.

TL:DR version: Weird, quirky MC (who confuses everyone around him by sincerely complimenting the supernaturally deadly and grotesque but has no idea why humans find it unsettling) travels through emotionally fraught, pain-filled horror worlds like he's a particularly empathetic and compassionate tourist. Cue stupefaction from the people around him as they scramble to survive and not get paralyzed in fear. Highly recommend!!

Full review

I really love this series. The MC is... eccentric (more on this below, I just want to touch on the instances/worlds first). Even more than the MC, though, the main thing that sticks with me are the emotional impact of the worlds they visit - they're all horrific in a way that includes the suffering and sorrow and weighted histories of the entities inhibiting that world. For those who have read the Scarlet Cloak arc of "The days I clear escape games pretending to be an NPC", it's similar pathos.

It's common for the dangers the characters face to be rooted in grief and/or rage, and it's rage that comes from the cruel experiences of the entities. The backstories of the different worlds often make me feel a lot of pity (which is easier as a reader than it would be for the characters involved, of course) and it's pretty common for me to cry when we're introduced to the reasons behind the instances. It's part of the reason why I love the MC - it's common for him to sympathize with the various broken souls they meet, even while trying to avoid getting eaten/mauled/smashed/absorbed/etc. He gives love to spirits and creatures whose lives were tortured and/or cut short and treats all of the entities like everyday people.

Now for the MC's quirks - in addition to being a zombie, he's got an odd sense of aesthetics and is closest to the odd and bizarre while being estranged from humans. Avoiding spoilers from later in the series (which is also why I'm not going to mention the ML, since it's so long before he shows up), it seems early on that those eccentricities stem more from his time as a human as compared to his time as a zombie. He was an orphan in life, and combined with the fact that he was already malnourished to the point it affected his growth before he became a zombie, you can tell he hasn't had a happy life.

Add onto that the whole "zombie apocalypse" thing (especially since he mentions early on that his abilities come from him absorbing energy from thousands of zombies), his life post-zombification must have been tough as well, regardless of whether it's purely from the environment around him or if people and their ill intentions contributed. Its not surprising he's bad with people and sympathizes with the "scary, horrifying mosters" that everyone else reacts with violence and hatred towards.

One of the funnier parts of the story is watching how others react to his very much "go with the flow" attitude - he's got a bad habit of breaking the tension and disrupting the horror atmosphere by doing stuff like having a picnic with instance entities while withstanding supernatural seiges, making fairy lights out of skulls purely for decoration, or loudly and enthusiastically scarfing down food while a big baddie is giving their "abandon hope, all ye who enter here" speech. He has an effect on his fellow travelers much as he does on the residents of each world.

People who have a lot of issues dealing with gore (especially relating to animals) should probably think about skipping this one. I will note, as someone who unironically goes to doesthedogdie. com when I seen an animal in danger in a horror movie, that thecl deaths are never purely gratuitous - when an animal (or child) is ab*sed, damaged, or killed in an instance, it's always related to the backstory and generally includes some bittersweet vengeance as well.

So, is the story perfect? No. But I do love a ton of elements of this story and it has a punch to the heart that I don't necessarily expect in horror/survival/escape world building. It's a 5/5 from me!