Right before the climax in each season of Zombieland Saga and the movie, Kotaro gives a motivational speech to Sakura (and in the movie also everyone else), and each time it's basically the core idea of the season/movie.
In the first season, he screams about he's never going to give up on Sakura, even when she's given up on herself. And the first season of Zombieland Saga is entirely about this idea, of rising up again (metaphorically) after dying (literally but also metaphorically). In episode 2, Sakura and Saki's rap battle was about how now they have a second chance at life so they shouldn't waste it. Ai, Saki, and Sakura end up reliving their deaths in the show, but thanks to their second chance at life, this time they don't have regrets. Ai could finish her performance now and Saki didn't leave everyone behind like back then, and Sakura gets to be an idol, the thing she never got the chance to do before. Or like how Lily had wanted to forget about her papa, but after learning about his regrets about her death, decided to reach out to him in song to show she would be alright, something she couldn't have done when she was dead. The theme of Season 1 is all about how they aren't letting death stop them from moving forward, they're dead, but they won't let themselves rot like zombies.
In the second season, Kotaro shouts about how Franchouchou's destiny is to become eternal idols loved around the globe. When Season 2 started, they are failed idols. No one has much expectations for them, and Junko has a couple episodes where she thinks she isn't good enough to stand by Ai, but thanks to a Kotaro pep-talk/screaming at her, decides to become someone who will inspire Ai to choose to stay with her. Everyone puts in the effort to pay off their debt, get better as idols, and get their name out there. And while they aren't global by the end of the season, they are loved by their community. Each of them had to take jobs at the start of the series and so they got to know their fellow Saga residents on a personal level. They become fixtures of the community, with Saki getting a radio show, performing at local schools, and just regular people the Saga residents see in their daily life. We also get Yugiri's backstory which shows that she was instrumental in helping Kiichi create a new Saga, even if no one else knows that other than Jofuku. But it just goes to show the fact they are integral to the community now, just as they would have been when they were alive. Jofuku even implies the reason they all died in Saga was because the curse would kill anyone destined to make Saga a better place. So when a natural disaster destroys Saga and they have to take shelter with everyone else, they do their best to cheer up the kids and support the other citizens in distress. That's why when their disguises break and it looks like their zombie secret will be revealed, the kids don't believe it. Because according to the kids logic, zombies are scary, but Franchouchou isn't, so they can't be zombies. Because of the goodwill they build in the community, they aren't zombies, they are idols. It's the same reason the reporter guy doesn't publish his article, because as Kotaro told him, no matter what state they are in now, they are idols in the truest sense of the word. The theme of Season 2 is that your actions determine what you are, because they are idols before they are zombies.
In the movie, Kotaro's speech is kinda subdued this time, so I wasn't sure if I should include it, but like what else would fit here? Anyways in it he encourages them to go after Tae, and talks about how they need to believe in themselves in the fight against the alien invasion because zombies are strong. In the movie, Tae doesn't want to accept that she became a zombie, cutting herself away from the rest of the group by quitting and lying about being a normal human to the others. And while the quitting was kinda rude, she had good reason to lie, since those who once accepted Franchouchou become frightened of them once they reveal themselves to be zombies. At one point the girls even lament that zombies are probably scarier than aliens. However even when Tae pushes them away, Junko tells her that Zombies should rely on each other. And it's not just Tae, even after being revealed as Zombies, Franchouchou risk their lives to help the people who were scared of them so they can escape while Franchouchou acts as decoys, since zombies are a lot sturdier than the humans. And it's because they are zombies with no body heat that they can escape the Alien surveillance to organize Saga to coordinate a distraction so Tae can sneak into the mother ship. It's when they follow after Tae that Kotaro gives the speech, telling them to fight. Back in Season 1, Kotaro warned Saki that violence was a big no go when it came to idols, and so she resolved that issue as an idol. But in the movie, they fight not as idols, but as zombies. Sakura uses her separated body parts to help them reunite after splitting up. Ai and Junko do their electric mode which only works since they are zombies. Honestly I think Saki (Legendary Biker who took over all of Kyushu), Yugiri (Lethal Swordswoman), and Lily (She likes heavy machinery) didn't really need to be zombies to fight, but technically they wouldn't have even been here at all if they hadn't been revived, so let's go with that. And its only when Tae does the zombie act of nibbling on Sakura's head that she can sneeze out the power core, which means no one has to sacrifice themselves and they can all get home safely. And at the end of the movie, Tae is thankful that she could exist in this era to meet the rest of Franchouchou, but this could only happen because all of them are zombies. You might think the theme of the movie is that they are zombies which is what makes them strong. But it's not, they never give up, which is why they fought back at the rooftop of the space center even when they were despondent about being feared as zombies despite everything good they've done, or when they were brushed off by Tae. They are beloved, which is why everyone was willing to follow their instructions in a crisis. And they're an idol group, which is why they followed Tae since it's only Franchouchou if they're all there. The theme of the movie is that they are both zombies and idols, there isn't a single unnecessary aspect.
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