The Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead anime has become a popular hit thanks to its effective combination of horror and comedy, as well as it's infectiously likable main character, Akira Tendou, voiced by Zeno Robinson. Despite taking place during a zombie apocalypse, Zom 100 follows Akira after a zombie outbreak forces him to quit his soul-sucking job. Instead of being in fear for his life, Akira is overjoyed to no longer have to work at his miserable job and takes the new opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest and complete his bucket list. The anime balances comedy, heart, and brutal zombie action wonderfully with the help of Zeno Robinson's performance as Akira.

Like many long-time anime fans, Zeno Robinson grew up listening to many great English voice actors. Jonny Yong Bosch's many voices, including Bleach's Ichigo, Christopher Sabot's work at Vegeta and Piccolo in the Dragon Ball series, and so many others, inspired Zeno to one day become a voice actor. Now, five years after booking his big role on Big City Greens, he's worked with many of the talented folks he idolized and is now voicing the main character of Zom 100, Akira.

Related: Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead Episode 8 Release Date & Time

Zom 100 is currently releasing episodes weekly on Netflix and Crunchyroll. The story follows Akira as he crosses items off his bucket list, helps those in need, and continues to be the happiest person in a world that's being ravaged by the undead. Zeno joined Screen Rant to talk about the anime, voice acting moments from his career that stick with him, and, of course, about zombies.

Zeno Robinson, An Anime Fan Who Made His Dreams Come True, Talks Zom 100

Screen Rant: What does a normal workday look like when you are setting up to voice a new character?

Zeno Robinson: The minute I discover I'm cast as a character if I don't know the show, I look up the show. I try to research the character. Who was this guy? I go to the wiki, I go to the personality section because first I got to get a feel for who they are, their personality, how they act, how they operate. And then, I look over the plot and their history. Where do they come from? Do they come from trauma? Do they come from wealth? Do they come from XYZ? Are they just a bright-eyed kid with a tragic past? [To understand] why they are the way they are.

If there's any kind of media out that I can watch, I watch it. If there's a manga out, I read it. If there's an anime out, before we start recording, I watch it. Then, I practice out loud my initial idea of what I want the character to sound like based on his character design and the original voices that I hear. For example, I did all of that with Akira. But the one we hear in the show is different than the Akira voice I auditioned with. Research changed how I wanted him to sound. We recorded the first trailer and honed the voice with the director, the producers, and Viz. Together, we created the English voice of Akira.

Speaking of Akira of Zom 100, he is trying to accomplish his bucket list in the heat of a zombie apocalypse. What are a few things that are on your own bucket list?

Zeno Robinson: I would love to go to Japan at some point. That's one, that kind of traveling. I've always been into music since I was a kid. Usually, my electives were between acting and music-making, so I had to pick one. But I'd always wanted to learn how to play the piano. I'm a creative at heart, so I'd love to paint. I'm working on a manga. I'd love to release my own sort of manga on my own. I wanted to make a video game. There are so many things I want to create. So, those are a few things on my personal bucket list.

For people out there who have "be a voice actor" on their own bucket lists, what advice can you give someone trying to become one in 2023?

Zeno Robinson: My advice is to just remember that you love it. It's a journey. There's going to be a lot of bumps in the road. The thing that's gonna make you not want to give up is remembering that you love it and never give up on that dream. And just study, practice, practice, practice, study, study, study. Take classes. If you can't take classes or can't afford to take classes, watch the greats doing it.

Study, watch, and listen to the amazing voice actors of today. Watch Bryce Papenbrook, Gerry Rosenthal, AJ Beckles, Anairis Quiñones, and Johnny Yong Bosch. Those who do it so much, [you should] study them, study their performances. How are they able to tap into their emotions the way they are? And can you do that? Everything's a feeling. If you feel it, the audience will feel it. So yeah, just remember that you love it and work hard to be the best artist you can be, and the doors will open for you eventually.

One Of Zeno's Favorite Performances Is From Attack On Titan Season 3

Speaking of other amazingly talented voice actors, what are some VO performances that you've heard during your youth that inspired you to become a voice actor?

Zeno Robinson: So many! Almost the entirety of the Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood dub was what made me go, "I want to do that." The feelings that it would produce in me, the goosebumps I would get at the end of every episode that would leave me on a cliffhanger, made me think, "I want to make someone else feel what this show made me feel." So that would be one. Jay Michael Tatum has an incredible speech and Attack on Titan. It gives me chills to this day, every single time. He's so good.

All of Code Geass, Yuri Lowenthal. I was honored enough to have worked with Yuri Lowenthal in my first-ever voiceover job. Before I knew who he was, I knew who he was, you know?

I played a lot of video games, too. Haley Joel Osment was Sora in Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2. He was 14 in one, then 19 in the second and his voice got all cool. Dot Hack. Oh, my god Dot Hack Gu. It was Johnny Yong Bosch and Yuri Lowenthal at it again. I can go on for hours about who I grew up watching that inspired me as a kid. Hearing Goku going Super Saiyan for the first time, Gohan going Super Saiyan 2 during the Cell saga. Tales of Symphonia. You know, that's, that's Scott Menville as Lloyd Erving. There are so many.

Johnny Yong Bosch on Bleach. I was a big Bleach watcher. When Ichigo found his resolve; when he went Bankai for the first time. Johnny Yong Bosch yelling Bankai. Anyway, that probably ate up so much time. But like I can go down the Rolodex for things that inspire me now. Miley Flanagan's Naruto is incredible!

Justin Briner's Deku in My Hero Academia is one from more recent years. Before I was acting in anime, I was watching [people who are now] my peers. Have you heard Sean Chiplock as Subaru in Re: Zero? It's freaking freaking insane. I'm trying to throw a black voice actor in there, but we weren't doing a lot in those times or in that era. But just know, I really love this stuff and grew up watching it. All these performances, all these people who get to do all these incredible things, have inspired me to be who I am today.

Zeno Was Ready To Destroy His Voice For Dragon Ball

Johnny Yong Bosch returned to voice Ichigo in Bleach: Thousand Year Blood War, and I often hear how his work inspired a lot of English voice actors. I bet someday your work will do the same. A voice actor in the future will talk about how your performance as Gamma 2 in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero inspired them. Your big moment in that movie makes me cry every time. It's up there with Briner's Deku anime screams.

Zeno Robinson: What's crazy about that scene was we did one scream that [Christopher] Sabot directed. I think he directs a lot of the Dragon Ball stuff now. And I did a scream and he was like "...you good.?" And I was like, "One more. I can do that." And he was like, "Are you sure, you don't have to do it?" Because he's trying to protect my voice. And I'm like, "No, this is Dragon Ball. If there's anything I'm gonna lose my voice over [it's this.] I've been watching Dragon Ball screams for the entirety of my life. This is the one opportunity I get to go all out. If I'm going to break my voice, I'm gonna break it on this. I can do one more. I can do a better one." And we did it. And I think that [second one] is what we heard in the movie.

A lot of people ask, "How did you prepare for that?" I did a panel with; her name escapes me, but we established that we've had a lifetime of study, we've had a lifetime of learning. I've been hearing these anime screams for the entirety of my life. And so it was all that I had put into the end of [that scene in Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.]

In Zom 100, we see Akira experience the worst job of his life. What is the worst job you have ever had?

Zeno Robinson: I've been privileged enough not to have had to work too many jobs. But I remember that feeling when working retail. I worked retail for about a year after I had dropped out of school. I dropped out of school because I had a credit left to get my degree. And I said, "That's stupid. I'm not coming back to this establishment." And so I was working retail. The first day was great, kind of like Akira! I was like, "Everyone talks about how bad retail is. It's not that bad." Then, by the third weekend, I said, "I can't do this. If I'm here longer than a year, I don't know what I'm going to do." And so I told myself, that I had to do something for my career within this year, or else I was gonna go crazy. And right before the year mark was when I booked Big City Greens, and I was able to quit. But that was my miserable experience.

What are some scenes that you've helped bring to life that stick have stuck with you?

Zeno Robinson: For me, the Hawks backstory episode [in My Hero Academia S6], in its entirety. It's something that sticks with me because I went through three different versions of Hawks's voice. There's his regular voice, then his damaged voice, and it was kind of cool being able to play with that reveal. And his thing against Twice was a big deal.

I played this character named Hunter in The Owl House. He goes through a lot during the show, and there's a scene where he breaks down crying. And that sticks with me a lot because that's something that I haven't really had to do. I loved being able to play that scene. As well as in Re: Zero, I play a character named Garfiel, and he has one of those angry and emotional anime scenes I'd ever done up to that time. And it really focused on him. That really sticks with me because I charged so much emotion into that scene, and that show itself is already so nuanced and layered.

I'm working on Persona 3 Reload, and I play the character Junpei. The people who have played the game know he has this crazy arc, and there's a scene in there that I think will always stick with me. I was going through it with him in a different way, but I was experiencing the same thing Junpei was experiencing in that moment. And so that will always stick with me. I'm getting a little emotional just thinking about it.

One more I gotta bring up was Ogun's flaming ink scene in Fire Force. I just love that scene. As a black anime fan, and playing a black character in a cool show like Fire Force and, he gets this really cool moment. Like Ogun's flaming ink scene will be one of the top three things I've ever done in my career.

Speaking of favorite things, what are your favorite zombie movies and/or shows?

Zeno Robinson: My current favorite pieces of zombie media? Well, I was a big zombie fan. Like back when zombies were huge, I was all over it. I was into Left 4 Dead 2 with my homies almost every night. I would bring the Xbox to the homie's house, and we'd all play Left 4 Dead. That was my experience.

The Last of Us is, and this is before the show even came out, was like one of my favorite video games ever. It would be a dream job to be on The Last of Us 3 or something. I love their take on the zombie apocalypse and the weight that it has in the world. I love both the games, and the show was brilliant, too.

And I was a big Walking Dead person. But you know, everyone who watched The Walking Dead was like, "If they kill x, y, z. I'm not watching the show anymore." So I had my hard-limit character, then they killed my hard-limit character, but I love The Walking Dead. I love the Telltale Walking Dead series, too! That was one of my dream things. I really wanted to be in the Telltale Walking Dead game. I auditioned. I never got to be in it. But I really love Clementine. She's one of my favorite Walking Dead characters. So yeah, I love that show.

Don't lose hope. Telltale Games is back and making games again.

Zeno Robinson: I know! They're doing The Expanse, and I'm excited. I'm so happy they're back doing the Wolf Among Us. I'm so happy they're back. I'm so excited to play whatever they got going on. Their Walking Dead game was one of the few pieces of media that made me cry. It's hard to get you to cry unless I'm acting. But it's really hard for me to cry, but The Walking Dead was one of those things I could do it.

In the event of a zombie apocalypse, what are some things that you would do differently than your Zom 100 character, Akira?

Zeno Robinson: I don't know, because I would do a lot of the things that Akira [does]. Actually, I feel like I would take things a little more seriously. [laughs] I would actually be scared for my life. I wouldn't see it as an opportunity to turn [life] into something great. I'd be like, "Oh my god, everybody, I need you to give me that crowbar. I'm locking myself in my house with my games, and I'm never coming out until I need to come out." I wouldn't take it as an opportunity to do all the things I never got to do. I think I would treat it like a life-or-death situation. Would it be The Last of Us over here? So that's one of the things I would do differently. I'd take things way more seriously. But that's what I admire about Akira. The way he's able to flip that situation is so brave and admirable.

About Zom 100: Bucket List Of the Dead

In a trash-filled apartment, 24-year-old Akira Tendou watches a zombie movie with lifeless, envious eyes. After spending three hard years at an exploitative corporation in Japan, his spirit is broken. He can't even muster the courage to confess his feelings to his beautiful co-worker Ootori. Then one morning, he stumbles upon his landlord eating lunch which happens to be another tenant. The whole city's swarming with zombies, and even though he's running for his life, Akira has never felt more alive.

Check out our previous interview with Zeno Robinson for Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero as well.

Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead streams new episodes weekly on Netflix and Crunchyroll.

Sources: Screen Rant Plus