The title is a little misleading. Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem! sounds like the protagonist has no interest in helping stem an outbreak of zombies. Mizuha, like most isekai story main characters, was just an ordinary person, so isn’t thrilled about getting thrust into a dangerous situation. But she’s not indifferent to the problem as the title of this one-volume light novel might suggest. It’s more like I Wouldn’t Mind Stopping a Zombie Apocalypse So Much If It Didn’t Involve Calling Me a Priestess or Requesting My Spit!
Yes, spit. Miracle spit.
Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse starts off with Mizuha waking up on a smelly island. Right after, a zombie emerges from the poisonous muck. In desperation, she shoves the zombie away, and suddenly the zombie turns into a person. His name is Lex, a knight of the Grantz Kingdom. He deduces that Mizuha is a holy priestess sent to save them all with her power of purification.
The author mentions in her comments that she did not want to write a grotesque story but a more humorous one. Again, the cover is slightly misleading in this regard because of all the blood and the determined looks of Mizuha, Lex, and Grantz Kingdom’s Princess Cia. Yeah, yeah, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover (or even its title), but this isn’t a dystopian novel about a struggle. Mizuha can revert zombies by touching them (usually smacking them), but she can also spit and revitalize the earth and water. She manages to discover both of these abilities shortly after coming to this land, and she’s very insistent that no one calls her a priestess or sees her spit.
At first, it seems odd to be hung up about being called a priestess when you’ve been taken away from your friends and family. It’s later in the novel that Mizuha’s personality becomes clearer; her deadpan personality is easier to grasp once more people are around. Many are, for lack of a better term, the obsessive or admiring types, so it makes sense why Mizuha would rather not have a bunch of people with a screw loose or two fawning over her.
I was quite confused on the state of the world. Lex mentions that he thinks everyone has turned into zombies…but I guess the apocalypse only applied to Grantz Kingdom? I’m gathering that it’s a city-state, as most people live behind walls, but I was a little shocked that Mizuha didn’t have to do much traveling. Even with Attack on Titan-style walls and the reason behind the outbreak, it would seem odd that at least some corrosion of nature and wildlife hasn’t spread to other countries that would require a full day — or even a multi-day — journey.
Because of that, much of the novel is about reclaiming or defending the castle. People can be purified by a Mizuha slap, but they can be reinfected if they come in contact with a zombie. In some cases, it’s two steps forward, one step back. The situation may be more dire than in other stories, but Mizuha actually is luckier than a lot of heroes from Earth summoned to another world. With basically no training, she can heal 100 zombies in a day (perhaps more) in a day (and only needs to touch them to do so), plus grow apple trees with some saliva. There are some scary missions against large or overpowering zombies, but a lot of the day-to-day cleansing and restoration is skipped in favor of character interaction. Again, that’s going to be the big question for readers of Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse: do you want a light novel that’s closer to horror or a more casual take on an isekai story? Even the art feels more easygoing than some other Cross Infinite World books, with more of a manga fanart feel that includes an oddly angled Mizuha being snuggled by a girl.
If you do dive into this light novel, Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse does have one of the more unique final battles and resolutions in the genre. Really, the further I went into the story, the more I liked it. More interesting enemies, more interesting allies, more interesting Mizuha. If this were to ever get a follow-up, I’m sure I’d like it even more than this one. Perhaps we’d get to see more of this other world in this another world story.