General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Love You as the World Ends (君と世界が終わる日に)

Love You as the World Ends (君と世界が終わる日に, Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni) is a Japanese zombie survival drama series co-produced by Nippon TV and Hulu, set in an apocalyptic Japan overrun by zombies called golems. Season 1 aired on NTV's Sunday drama slot from January 17 to March 21, 2021, in ten episodes, and the story continued through four more seasons, two specials, and a theatrical film before the series concluded in March 2024.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Original title	君と世界が終わる日に (Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni); literal translation "With You on the Day the World Ends"¹
Season 1	NTV Sunday drama, 10 episodes, January 17 to March 21, 2021, Sunday 22:30; average Kanto rating 7.7%¹
Leads	Ryoma Takeuchi as Hibiki Mamiya and Ayami Nakajo as Kurumi Ogasawara in Seasons 1–3; Tina Tamashiro and Marie Iitoyo as double leads in Season 5¹^•²
Distribution model	Season 1 on terrestrial television; Seasons 2–5 as Hulu originals²
Theatrical film	Gekijoban Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni FINAL, released January 26, 2024, 115 minutes, distributed by Toho³
Series total	Five seasons, two specials, and one film, eight works between 2021 and 2024⁴
Conclusion	Season 5's final episode streamed on March 8, 2024, ending the series⁵

Spoilers

Premise

The story begins on the day Hibiki Mamiya, a car mechanic, plans to propose to his live-in girlfriend Kurumi Ogasawara. He is trapped in a tunnel collapse, and when he escapes days later the world has changed: the streets are deserted, bodies lie everywhere, and "living corpses" that turn violent and attack people for their blood roam the city. The area has been sealed as a quarantine zone, and Hibiki sets out to find Kurumi again.⁶^•¹

The zombies are called golems, and infection spreads through their bites. In Season 1 a golem virus causes a pandemic, and from Season 2 onward the virus spreads progressively across the world, with the series tracking the decay of society and the changes in Hibiki and Kurumi themselves.⁴ The show combines zombie survival, love story, and mystery, with present-day and flashback timelines interwoven.⁶

Story arc across the seasons

Season 1 follows Hibiki through the collapse of his city, his search for Kurumi, and a season finale in which Kurumi fires a gun at him and people at the garrison begin turning into golems one after another.¹² In Season 3, Hibiki kills the infected Kurumi with his own hands and loses his daughter Mirai, falling into darkness; Season 4 depicts the darkened Hibiki recovering a purpose in retrieving his daughter, and the film completes that arc as a story of settling his past.⁸

Season 4 introduces the city of Utopia, described as humanity's last hope, with water, food, housing, and even helicopters, and shifts focus to new characters including the foundation's daughter Akiha, played by Tina Tamashiro.¹⁰ Season 5, with Tamashiro and Marie Iitoyo (Kanae) as double leads, is set in Utopia's super-high-rise tower and depicts the series' largest final battle, split between the Tower, where politicians live, and the Under, its deprived lower world; former companions Akiha and Kanae reunite as enemies. Returning cast from earlier seasons included Kanata Hongo, Toshihito Kokubo, and Naho Yokomizo.⁵^•¹³ The final episode streamed on March 8, 2024, and ended the series.⁵^•²

Production and broadcast model

The series was announced as a joint production of Nippon TV and Hulu, and promotional material described it as the first full-scale zombie action drama in a Japanese terrestrial golden-time serial drama slot.⁷ Season 1 was written by Natsuko Ikeda and directed by Shintaro Sugawara, among other directors.¹

The release structure paired one terrestrial season with streaming continuations: Season 1 aired on NTV's Sunday drama slot, and Seasons 2 through 4 were then distributed exclusively on Hulu.² Director Shintaro Sugawara said the theatrical film was decided when Season 3 finished, with the producer laying out a plan for Season 4, the film, and Season 5 as one connected arc; the film's screenplay was handled by Kentaro Ushio, who also served as series composition writer for Seasons 4 and 5.⁸

Series chronology

The eight works were released in the same order as their internal chronology, so the recommended viewing order matches the release order:⁴

Season 1 (2021), 10 episodes on NTV¹
Season 2 (2021), 6 episodes on Hulu⁶
Special Edition (特別編, 2022)⁴
Season 3 (2023)⁴
Introduction (入門編完全新作SP, 2023), a one-hour standalone special broadcast on NTV's Sunday drama slot on March 19, 2023, before Season 4⁹^•¹⁰
Season 4 (2023), 5 episodes on Hulu¹⁰
Gekijoban Kimi to Sekai ga Owaru Hi ni FINAL (2024), the theatrical film⁴
Season 5 (2024), 5 episodes on Hulu¹¹

Despite its title, the Introduction special is not a digest or prequel; it depicts events between Seasons 3 and 4 as an independent story, following Hibiki and his companion Yuzuki as they meet the self-styled golem hunter Ace.⁴^•⁹

Reception

Season 1 averaged a 7.7% household rating in the Kanto region, with individual episodes ranging from 7.1% to 8.4%, according to Video Research figures.¹ The theatrical film received a 3.4/5 average from about 3,600 user reviews on Filmarks and 3.7/5 from 974 ratings on Yahoo! TV listings, with reviewers divided between praise for Ryoma Takeuchi's performance and criticism that the story centered on human conflict rather than the zombies.¹⁴^•¹⁵^•¹⁶

The series is available in full on Hulu, which carries all seasons; Amazon Prime Video carries only Season 1, and the film is available on several services for rental.¹⁷

References

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026