Feed the Anime

by ZafiraMente

Summary:

I think the whole Newsflesh universe would translate really well to anime - it allows for far more narration than traditional TV, and the costs of realistic special effects and locations would be eliminated!

This is an adaptation of the book to anime form.

Notes:

I have never written a screenplay, I just used my general knowledge from seeing scripts before and winged it. ;)

Please forgive formatting errors. This is not my day job, but I'd love to see someone get inspired and make this a reality!

Card that says:

Book I

The Rising

• You can’t kill the truth - George Mason (first, then overlapping then fades before Shaun’s stays, before the whole screen goes black with the red feed symbol)
• Nothing is impossible to kill. It’s just that sometimes after you kill something, you have to keep shooting it until it stops moving. And that’s really sort of neat when you think about it. – Shaun Mason

EXT:  Freeze frame in: a young woman wearing large dark sunglasses with short dark brown hair sits astride a motorized dirt bike, wearing reinforced garb with her helmet on her lap. The bike and helmet both have recognizable camera housings. She’s gazing with a bemused expression to something in the distance.

GEORGE (Voiceover – her voice is low, definitely an alto, not a soprano.)

Our story begins where countless stories have ended in the last twenty-six years: with an idiot – in this case, my brother Shaun – deciding it would be a good idea to go out and poke a zombie with a stick to see what happens.

[you see from the perspective of GEORGE that there is a figure poking a zombie with a long stick that will later be revealed as a hockey stick]

As if we didn’t already know what happens when you mess with a zombie: the zombie turns around and bites you and you become the thing you poked.  This is no longer a surprise. It hasn’t been a surprise for more than twenty years, and if you want to get technical, it wasn’t really a surprise then.

Maybe that’s where we really should begin.

[Fade with static and modem squeal]

[Stick figure demonstration of the zombie apocalypse]

GEORGE Voiceover:

There was no warning when the outbreaks began. One day, things were normal; the next: people who were supposedly dead were getting up and attacking anything that came into range. This was upsetting for everyone involved. Well, except the infected, who were past being upset at that sort of thing

[fade into white screen with stick figure hospital bed. Things that are red are colored, everything else is black and white. The ecg blips while a stick figure holds its hand. The line goes flat. The figure bows their head to cry. The figure in the bed goes ‘grrr’, pops out and jumps on other person, splash of red, they both go ‘grrr’. A sobbing stick figure downs an oversized bottle of pills labeled with the skull and crossbones, sleeps then goes ‘grrr’. Stick figure downs in pool (garlgy sounding grr), gets pulled out by other stick figure, mouth to mouth, bite red splash, ‘grrr’

GEORGE [Voiceover]

The initial shock was followed by people screaming and running

[stick figures running in a mob running around the screen with their arms up, followed by infected with their grrrs]

Which eventually devolved into more infection and attacking, that being the way of things.

[grrr stick figure biting two people who go grrr, they then bite two, etc etc, pulling back to show cities, then counties then states then countries, red spots filling up the world.]

[voiceover as the screen fills with red, which then fades back into the original scene. GEORGE on the bike.]

So what do we have now, in this enlightened age, twenty-six years after the Rising? We have idiots prodding zombies with sticks, which brings us full circle to my brother.

[Camera starts panning in a circular fashion to finally focus on SHAUN.  He’s casual grunge. Short brown hair that is lighter in general than GEORGE, but looks like it has been frosted on top of the lighter color. It may be longer than hers is, but not by much. He’s wearing cargo pants, a white long-sleeve t with a red and brown striped cardigan. He’s holding an old hockey stick and is poking an incredibly sluggish zombie that looks wasted – it barely has the strength to stay on its feet it seems.]

And why he probably won’t live a long and fulfilling life.

(GEORGE makes a sound of annoyance/unhappiness.  It’s enough that SHAUN hears her and knows her annoyance with his activities. He flips her off, without taking his eyes off the zombie in front of him.)

SHAUN:

Hey George, check this out!

[he pokes the zombie a little more, seeing if it will be able to keep its balance. It takes a swipe at him while moaning softly. SHAUN knocks the hockey stick between its hands]

We’re playing patty cake!

GEORGE:

(she sighs with annoyance) Stop antagonizing the locals and get back on the bike!

(SHAUN flips her off again)

SHAUN:

I’m being friendly, right buddy? (he flashes the zombie a smile that likely gets quite a few hearts racing and gives a mischievous wink, presumably to some camera that is positioned somewhere.)

[what appears to be a drone shot hovering not too far from him, zooming in on the zombie, then freeze.)

GEORGE VOICEOVER:

This buddy was probably old enough to be near his final death, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a healthier pack roaming around the area.

[Zoom out to santa cruise boardwalk sign/ferris wheel in the back, all looking as abandoned as you would think, then pan around the city, emphasizing shadows and hiding places everywhere]

Santa Cruz is zombie territory. You don’t go there unless you’re suicidal, stupid or both.

[camera goes back to GEORGE, not that far away from SHAUN, but definitely not right next to him. She has moved from leaning on the bike to sitting astride it. You can see her movement is a little affected by the bulkiness.

GEORGE:

(hissing in annoyance, but trying to not yell) Shaun Phillip Mason, you get back on this bike right now or I swear to god, I am going to drive away and leave you here.

[SHAUN literally wedges the hockey stick into the ribcage of his friend, anchoring him into place more securely, so he can lean on the stick and turn his head and smirk at her.]

Really? For me? [he does the “for moi” gesture with his free hand) Because ‘My Sister Abandoned Me in Zombie Country Without a Vehicle” (he prints the headline with his free hand) would be a great title for my memoirs!

GEORGE:

(snapping angrily, not even trying to hide it) A posthumous one, maybe. Get back on the goddamn bike! (she is talking as loudly as she dares, really getting antsy now, looking around.)

SHAUN (offscreen as GEORGE is scanning the area.)

(laughing) in a minute!

[freeze on shaun’s laughing face]

GEORGE (voiceoiver)

In retrospect, that was when everything started going wrong.

[drone zoom out then in on a group of zombies] The pack had probably started sometime after we had hit the city limits. Packs of infected get smarter and more dangerous the larger they become.

[you see an infected note them on the bike zoom past and it start to walk after it, moaning, others slowly joining it.]

[cut to stick figures]

Groups of four or less are barely a threat unless they can corner you,

[Three grrring zombies have stick figure with stick hockey stick poke them and somersault over them, with a big smile on his face, until there is a black line signifying a wall, at which point the grrs get the hockey stick dude]

But a pack of twenty or more can breach a structure.

[lots of grrrs around a house that looks like it has been broken in two, horizontally, with blood. The people inside also have grrrs]

You get enough together, you could be well and truly fucked.

[back to shots of different zombie groups that have been slowly shambling their way towards the Masons since their bike drove past.]

The zombies that look the scariest

[zoom in on a zombie missing the skin from its face, zoom to another one that looks gaunt and stains of old blood over everything]

Are actually the easiest to deal with. They move slowly.

[they lurch towards the Masons with difficulty]

Fresh ones are the worst.

[close up shot of a face that seems almost normal, except the pupils are fully blown, and pull out to see a slightly stiff way of walking. If you could ignore the blood on its hands and face, you could almost convince yourself that the person might really still be in there somewhere.]

Really fresh ones still look like the people they used to be, and it’s harder to kill something that looks like people.

[graphic shot of head shot to fresh zombie]

Worst of all, they are fast.

[cut to human looking zombie with a gangly run towards the masons]

The only thing worse than one of them, is a pack of them.

[from different directions now, there are more people-looking zombies starting to gain speed as they hunt the Masons. Shots of all those and then zoom back to GEORGE as she is clearly unnerved by number of fresh zombies. She shoves her helmet on, not bothering with the chin strap]

GEORGE:

(her voice is now sharp and edging on scared) Shaun!

[SHAUN looks around, recognizing the tone in her voice and seeing the assembled group, with a predatory glee.]

SHAUN:

Whoa!

[While SHAUN is looking at the others that are gathering, the one he is playing with stops effectually clawing at the air, aided by the presence of other zombies and grabs the hockey stick and yanks it out of his hands, stunning him for a moment as it grrrs as grabs for him.]

[GEORGE]

SHAUN! (strangled scream)

[GEORGE] (voiceover, mild)

There’s not much worse than getting cornered by a pack of zombies in downtown Santa Cruz.

[We see SHAUN trying to pull back but he is not quite fast enough, but the zombie grabs onto his arm]

Losing Shaun would qualify.

GEORGE (voiceover):

You see, I’m not an idiot.

[cut to screen showing GEORGE like a paper doll, adding each level of gear as it is stated]

I was wearing full off-road body armor, leather jacket with steel armor joints at the elbows, Kevlar, motorcycle pants with hip and knee protection and riding boots.

[The helmet goes on top with a little “ding”]

Shaun on the other hand….

[SHAUN’s paper doll puts on pants, Kevlar (which is the long-sleeve white t-shirt) and the sweater]

I barely convinced him to wear Kevlar, and forget about goggles.

[SHAUN’s paper doll has oversized goggles on, then pulled off]

He says they “spoil the effect”.  Of course, unprotected mucous membranes can spoil a hell of a lot more than that.

[cut to current situation with him struggling with zombie]

There is one advantage to what he’s wearing.

[The zombie gets its claws into SHAUN’s sweater, and he senses his opening, pulling away hard and the sweater rips down the arm, allowing him to get away.]

Wool tears.

SHAUN: (gleeful horror)

Shit George, look at ‘em all!

[he pauses for a split second to look around]

GEORGE:

Yeah, I see them. (she is not nearly so excited, there’s definitely a current of fear) Now get on!

[SHAUN hops on the bike and immediately it is off.  GEORGE weaves through streets, expertly picking ones that would eventually lead them out of Santa Cruz. SHAUN hangs on with one arm, moving easily with GEORGE and the bike, it’s clear they are used to riding with each other.]

GEORGE (voiceover)

All my protective gear won’t do us a damn bit of good if we didn’t get out of there, fast. I prayed that God had the time to preserve the life of the clinically suicidal. 

[they come out of some of the smaller streets from downtown, SHAUN whooping and still holding on with one arm as he turns around to look at the zombies giving chase. He blows kisses and otherwise hams it up for the cameras. GEORGE struggles with uneven road and potholes.]

GEORGE:

Hold on with both arms, idiot!

[a bigger pothole jostles SHAUN to punctuate the point, and it’s enough that he brings his other arm around his smaller sister’s waist.  His eyes scan the situation]

SHAUN:

Spoilsport. (he pauses) Are they trying to herd us? 

[drone shot pull up and you can see that zombies are approaching from three sides, the direction they are going is the only open route.]

[cut to stick figure white screen with a hill drawn on the right side]

 GEORGE (voiceover)

When you’re being chased by zombies, hills are either you best friend or burial ground. 

[stick figure on motorcycle moving across flat ground, then going up hill, the grrrs losing ground as they go up]

The slope slows them down, which can give you time and space to escape, which is great.

[the white shifts, the bike figures say “yay” as they go up and then down the other side of the hill, driving off screen.]

Unless you hit a peak

[scene rewinds and the bike is heading up the hill, but now on the other side, there’s another horde of zombies.]

And find out you’re surrounded with nowhere else to run to.

[the stick figures converge with a splash of red and a grrrr, back to scene with SHAUN still behind GEORGE, the ground now starting to incline]

SHAUN:

(worried) Georgia we’re going up a hill!

GEORGE (voiceover)

SHAUN is not as dumb as he pretends to be, and he knows more about surviving zombie encounters than I do. He only calls me “Georgia” when he is unhappy.

GEORGE:

Hold on!

[they continue to go up the hill, more zombies in massive decomp reaching for them from the streets. GEORGE leans forward and SHAUN with her, the latter looking very worried and GEORGE’s face tight with determination.]

SHAUN:

GEORGIA! [he can see now that zombies are cresting the hill and coming to meet them. It’s a steep hill and they were obscured from view until they got to the top, demonstrating the dangers of hills]

GEORGE:  

(to SHAUN) Have you ever wondered how the wright brothers felt?

[GEORGE guns the engine]

GEORGE (voiceover):

It’s amazing what you can use as a ramp, given the right motivation.

[as she speaks, she goes up a makeshift ramp and shortly thereafter, the bike takes to the sky. There’s about fifteen zombies below as they fly over, there’s slow motion as SHAUN’s face openly shocked and arguably thrilled and the zombies are slow to react to attempt to grab them. The ramp launches them over the zombies entirely. Give a different shot of the bike sailing over, showing the beauty of the maneuver.]

GEORGE: (voiceover)

Large groups may be good at tactics, but they can’t predict suicidal charges.

[and suddenly with a horrific amount of shaking and struggling by GEORGE to keep control of her bike, they come back down, over the zombies blocking their exit. GEORGE grimaces in pain and concentration. SHAUN is whooping and cheering. GEORGE almost loses control of the bike, but she manages to keep it under control. GEORGE looks back at SHAUN, still cheering.]

GEORGE (mutters):

Asshole.

[the bike picks up speed again and easily leaves the horde behind.]

[Commercial break, title card]

[print on card]

We have what basically amounts to walking corpses, dude.
Don’t suck all the fun out of it.
- From @HailToTheKing Official twitter of Shaun Mason 1/2/39

Notes:

So this is essentially Ch 1 from the book, up to the first commercial break. I think it would be about 10 min of screen time :)

Also, I considered instead of stick figure explanations, using chibi-type figures to do it, but I thought the stick figures were more unique :) Let me know if you think it would be better with chibi zombies :D