Volume 1

This is the first volume of the Sankarea manga.

Chapters

 * Chapter 1: If I... became... a zombie
 * Chapter 2: It was... working
 * Chapter 3: Sanka... Rea
 * Chapter 4: A normal... girl...

Synopsis
“I Only Like Zombie Girls”

Since he was little, Chihiro has felt an unusual emotional connection to zombie movies. It's not that he feels bad for the survivors – instead he fantasizes about comforting the poor undead girls they slaughter! When his beloved pet passes away, he decides to brew up a resurrection potion in secret. But he's discovered by popular girl and local heiress Sanka Rea, whose life isn't as perfect as it seems… and Furuya suggests that she could serve as a test subject!

Chapter 1
The story begins by introducing the characters on their daily commute to school. Yasutaka questions the need to have separate paths to school despite being close with each other. He also adds that a prominent figure has started school this year, the academy principal's daughter, Rea Sanka. Yasutaka begins praising her looks and her upbringing, which Chihiro dismisses. Seconds later, Ranko appears with zombie DVD's in her hand. Chihiro forgot he promised to retrieve the DVD's last week, much to Ranko's dismay. When asked about their relationship with each other, Ranko claims she is Chihiro's older sister, to which Chihiro immediately rejects. Mogi asks if Chihiro likes zombie related topics, and trembles thinking about it.

Later that day at 11:00 PM, Chihiro travels towards an abandoned hotel on a bike with a box on tow. Inside the box is the carcass of Bub, Chihiro's pet cat who died three days ago after it got hit by a car. Chihiro found a book last year containing instructions for reanimation. He is skeptical about the book, but his interest in zombies pushes him to try it out to revive Bub. Unfortunately, the recipe requires a poisonous plant, and Chihiro is unsure of which plant to use. Moments later, footsteps are heard outside the hotel. Taking a peek, Chihiro discovers Rea outside. After a brief pause, she begins to scream and complain about her lack of freedom in the Sanka family and her father's questionable hobby. This causes Chihiro to spit his drink, revealing his presence.

Moments later, they find themselves sitting on a couch in the building, albeit keeping an awkward distance away from each other. After a while, Rea begs Chihiro to not show what he saw today. Chihiro replies by asking if he can show what he saw yesterday, much to Rea's distraught. Seeing her state, Chihiro attempts to cheer her up, and reveals his plans to revive his pet cat. Hearing his reasons, Rea volunteers to help Chihiro's experiment. Chihiro jokingly asks Rea to be a test subject, and proceeds to poke fun at her gullibility. Rea then asks if he will take responsibility if she became a zombie, leaving Chihiro without a response. She tells him to think about it as she heads home, but not before asking if he will be here again tomorrow.

Chapter 2
It has been a few days since Chihiro first encountered Rea, and she has been coming over to help his experiments every night. She has not seen a zombie film before so Chihiro decided to bring 'a real rough one', though she seems to be very invested in the movie. Chihiro is unsure of what poisonous plant to use this time as it has been 5 days since he began attempting to resurrect Bub. Rea seems to have an idea of the kind of plant needed and heads off to pick a few. It has been a while since she left and Chihiro is worried she may have gotten lost or slipped and fell into the river. He looks out the windows and is shocked to see Rea climbing a steep cliff, and rushes over, arriving just in time to rescue her. Questioning her reckless actions, she replies by saying Chihiro can bring her to life as a zombie is she dies, and begs that he does so. She reveals that the plant she obtained were hydrangeas. After mixing all the ingredients together, Chihiro removes Bub from the box and pours the concoction into his mouth.

With no signs of Bub ever coming back to life, Chihiro decides to end his experiments once and for all. He notices Rea is dragging her leg a little. Rea states that she twisted her ankle, but reassures that she can walk home on her own. Dubious, Chihiro carries Rea and places her on the back seat of his bike and cycles home. Not a single word was exchanged between the two throughout the entire ride. Chihiro drops Rea off some distance away from her mansion. Inside the mansion, Danichiro is seen with binoculars, seemingly in disbelief of the scene he just saw. After arriving, Rea is greeted with a loud slap. Meanwhile, Chihiro arrives and is greeted by a naked Ranko glaring through the bathroom window. After being clothed, Ranko begins asking Chihiro what he was up to at this late hour. He makes up numerous excuses but fails to satisfy Ranko's question and she attempts to open the box Chihiro brought home. As soon as the lid opens, Bub pops out and leaps out the window. Chihiro realized that the potion actually worked.

Back at the mansion, Rea is seen talking to herself, saying that she is not allowed to leave the house ever again. She pulls out a small bottle containing the reanimation potion, and drinks it in an attempt to commit suicide. She then flashbacks to her restrictive father and her trapped life.

Chapter 3
Rea wakes up in her bed, disappointed that the potion did not kill her. She heads to the dining room and greets her parents, who are visibly displeased by her previous actions. It is revealed Rea will be home schooled for a while, and she does not need to wear her uniform. Rea leaves the room to change when the butler enters. She overhears Danichiro's plan to prevent her from meeting Chihiro again. At the Furuya temple, Ranko and Mero questions Chihiro's morals when they discovered he turned Bub into a zombie. Chihiro accepts that he has done something dreadful, but is overjoyed that Bub is now alive. Ranko is concerned that Bub will go attacking people, turning them into zombies. Chihiro brushes it off, but Ranko is not convinced. Bub runs off somewhere and the two give chase, leaving Mero behind. Right after that, Jogoro goes outside to see what happened, and Mero explains the situation. Jogoro does not seem to mind that Bub came back to life, nor does he question it.

Chihiro and Ranko continue to chase after Bub as they enter a hole. Chihiro follows suit while Ranko struggles crawling inside. Chihiro ditches her and continues his pursuit solo, arriving near the closed-down hotel where he performed resurrection attempts on Bub. Meanwhile at Shiyou High School, Mogi and Yasutaka are seen watching a baseball match. Their session is interrupted by Rea, who wishes to see Chihiro. Neither boys have seen Chihiro all day, but now Yasutaka is wondering why Rea has business with Chihiro. As Rea resumes her search, she is spotted by a Sanka staff, who notifies Danichiro. Chihiro continues his search until he finds Bub eating hydrangea leaves. He notices the location is close to the place he saw Rea climbing the cliff. In what seems like déjà vu, he spots Rea walking along a path near the top of the cliff.

Returning to Rea's perspective, she continues searching for Chihiro, believing he is at his regular location. Her search ends abruptly as her father caught up to her. Danichiro claims that Rea will be forgiven if she returns home immediately. As he attempts to take hold of her, she snaps her arms back, as Chihiro continues watching from below. Rea states that her body and soul does not belong to him, and asks for freedom from her father. Danichiro is not impressed, grabs her arm and attempts to drag her home, but is stopped short when Bub appears. Being allergic to cats and germaphobic, Danichiro retreats while Rea approaches the cat. She wonders how Bub came back to life, and slowly realizes that the potion actually worked. Danichiro pulls out a whip and lashes towards Bub, but Rea blocks him. She narrowly avoided being whipped but loses her balance and falls of the cliff, before noticing Chihiro at the bottom at the last moment. She hit a lone branch sticking out of the rocks, tearing her lower torso before hitting the ground.

Chihiro calls out to Rea, hoping she is still alive, as rain starts pour. With no response, he reflects back on her words, begging to be brought back to life and taking responsibility. He then hears Rea call out his name and sees that she has arose as a zombie. Rea grabs his shoulders and tells him to take responsibility, and buries her face in his chest. Chihiro, still processing the events that just occurred, agrees.

Chapter 4
An hour has passed since Rea's 'death' and she is sewing her wound as she talks about her school activity, Meishin. Confounded, Chihiro questions her carefree behaviour. She replies by saying it's her first time in a boy's room. Even more confused, Rea looks out the window while Chihiro figures out what to do her. Rea sees Bub in a tree and points it out to Chihiro, who noticed that Bub's pupils have returned. Still unsatisfied, Chihiro asks what Rea meant by taking responsibility, to which she answers that she wants to 'experience everything as a normal girl'. Chihiro is unsure if it is worth becoming a zombie to experience normal activities, and Rea grabs his shoulders, asking if it is not possible. He responds by saying it is doable, noting that she has abnormal strength. Rea begins to lean closer towards Chihiro, in what appears to be an attempt to kiss him. This was halted by Ranko, who shouts out to Chihiro outside. He forgot he was supposed to meet with Ranko and vacates, entrusting Rea to not leave the room. Rea contemplates on the action she was about to do.

Outside, Ranko abuses Chihiro while he apologizes for ditching her. She is glad Bub is not causing trouble, but is concerned if Bub will stay alive forever. Shortly after, Yasutaku appears, seemingly in rage. He dashes towards Chihiro and bows down, begging to be introduced to Rea. Meanwhile, Rea wonders Chihiro's relationship with Ranko. Feeling down, she decides to take a shower. As she showers, Jogoro enters the bathroom and sees Rea. Believing her to be Sada, he pounces towards her while Rea tries to shove him away. She runs back upstairs, narrowly avoiding being caught by Mero, who arrived seconds later.

After convincing them that he does not know much about Rea, Chihiro returns home and finds a drenched half-naked Rea lying on the floor. As they engage in zombie related conversations, Rea points out that she finds it more difficult to move around. After a quick examination, Chihiro concludes she is experiencing Rigor Mortis. He realizes that her body is already dead and will decay unless he finds a way to preserve it.

Trivia

 * Anecdotes in the manga reveal that the series name was based on an actual zombie movie, with a Japanese title Sangeria (the original title was Zombi 2 or Zombie).
 * The original title was supposed to be "Sangeria: Her and My Undead Diary". This was later scrapped and changed to Sankarea.


 * End-of-volume comics also reveal that the series was intended as a one-off comic for Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine.
 * The story was completely different, and involved a girl who was killed by a murderer coming back as a zombie, and chasing down the man who killed her even as her body decomposes.
 * The drawings were also supposed to be more fairytale-like.