Zenshuu.

After graduating from high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator. Her talent quickly flourishes, and she makes her debut as a director in no time. Her first anime becomes a massive hit, sparking a social phenomenon and earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. Her next project is set to be a romantic comedy movie themed around first love! However, having never been in love herself, Natsuko struggles to understand the concept of first love, and as a result, she's unable to create the storyboard, causing the movie production to come to a standstill. One day, she passes out while working on her storyboard and wakes up in the world of her favorite childhood anime movie "A Tale of Perishing."

(Source: Crunchyroll)

Hirose, Natsuko Main

Nagase, Anna Japanese

Braveheart, Luke Main

Ura, Kazuki Japanese

Memmeln Main

Suzuki, Minori Japanese

QJ Main

Suyama, Akio Japanese

Unio Main

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Justice Supporting

Park, Romi Japanese

Ultimate Exister Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

Mayor Supporting

Inada, Tetsu Japanese

Heartwarming, Destiny Supporting

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Fukushima, Naomi Supporting

Takano, Urara Japanese

Yamauchi, Mirai Producer

Ogawa, Takahiro Producer

Hosaka, Takanori Producer

Hagiwara, Mika Producer

Reviews

Mar 23, 2025

FenrirBlack22

Recommended

An absolute love letter to the cheesiest corniest most beloved beautiful story telling tropes and beats in all of anime. One of the best anime original anime I've ever seen and one of the best anime I've seen in a good while. Solid 9/10. It would have been a 10/10 Masterpiece it played the story too safe. It was predictable a lot of the time and very by the book. You could follow the three arc structure it had going episode by episode which while could be intentional seeing how the show was based on a movie within the story. If that was the case ... then bravo for such meta storytelling. An absolute love letter to the cheesiest corniest most beloved beautiful story telling tropes and beats in all of anime.
The characters were phenomenal. Some more than others. Memmeln felt very under utilized despite having her own personal tragedy and character growth but it was so short and felt like too easy of a change for someone with such deep seated anxiety and issues. The Bird Director was probably the biggest disappointment. She was neither an ally or an enemy. Just a random inclusion despite being such a significant figure when it came to "A Tale of Perishing". Her inclusion had a lot of potential as an antagonist but it never went anywhere and frankly if was removed all together nothing would change. Luke, Unio, Justice, and of course our heroine Natsuko win the gold star for not only being just great characters but each having their own well rounded character arcs and development. This show was not carried by the plot or the references to other anime, but these characters.
Shifting to the plot, it was very by the book. A character like Natsuko struggling with pressure that came with success and her own shortcomings sent to a world where she is given god like powers and omnipotence as she struggles to use said powers and knowledge to change a fate written in stone. She did everything she was supposed to do for a character. She struggled, grew, evolved, and in the end over came her short comings established in the first episodes. It was well executed, handled, and animated with incredible skill and grace. It was also safe. Nothing really stood out about her character or the story as a whole. The anime reference and easter eggs were a nice touch for any anime fans but overall the plot was standard, safe, and predictable. Everything from beginning to the last scene was exactly what one would expect from a series like this. It was amazing, beautiful, and exciting to watch as well.
In a lot of ways, Zenshu's predictability is part of its charm. It truly is a love letter to the 3 arc structure of story telling and all those movies, shows, and stories that follow it. It was not trying to rewrite the rules because it was celebrating them. This series is a celebration of anime and animation.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Mar 23, 2025

hazzinesaid

Mixed Feelings

Anime is often boring, though occasionally entertaining. Despite MAPPA's efforts to add artistic value to its works, the writing team repeatedly fails to deliver a cohesive story or an experience worthy of being remembered by future generations—or even something I'd recommend to my friends. Despite a massive budget and talented animators, the story remains weak, lacking logical consistency and relying on laughably dumb solutions to its conflicts.

That said, I can’t deny that the final episode was highly enjoyable. However, I would have preferred if we had gotten the director’s original vision, where character development felt more natural and the world-building and kingdoms were ... far more intriguing. As for the character designs, while technically well-executed, the color choices feel dull and inconsistent, making the characters look like a washed-out version of *Dragon Quest* designs—but worse. Even the protagonist seems like a recycled character from a previous installment, just with more garish colors.

I truly hope that one day, MAPPA creates an original work that can rival the quality of *Gainax* and *Trigger*, rather than continuing to churn out projects that lack creativity and solid storytelling.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 23, 2025

SentiOnikawa

Not Recommended

Natsuko Hirose is an extraordinarily-talented artist with a workaholic attitude going over budget and over deadline on her next big project: a romantic comedy. The only issue is, she has no clue what "first love" is, or how to contextualize the experience in a paletteable form. An unfortunate incident with some rotten food causes her to die during work and wake up in the world of her favorite movie: A Tale of Perishing.

She meets the remaining members of the Nine Warriors, that being an elf named Memmelm, a spell-slinging unicorn named Unio, the alarm clock named QJ, and the hero, Luke Braveheart. Also, there's ... a dragon who shows up midway through, and the impression you get is he's become so hopeless that he's now basically a lecherous drunk. That doesn't last.

Anyways, the main hero party fights a seemingly endless army of ant-shaped monsters called Void. What are the Void? Where did they come from? What do they want? Only the third question is ever answered, although the plot tends to imply a lot about them. The problem is that, by the end of Zenshu, what you anticipate would be a kind of resolution to everything where all the questions are answered, it would much rather have its happy ending while presenting more questions.

I do like the OP, and the show itself feels like such a love letter to animation in itself. The problem is that none of what happens in terms of character development or motivations really feels earned. The major story beats for A Tale of Perishing are effectively Luke Braveheart sinking further into despair until the end. Natsuko shows up, spends about 45 seconds drawing some character or thing from a show she watched, and the Void are defeated.

The animation and art are good, don't get me wrong. What hurts the show is that it takes way too many of the worst tropes from modern isekai and shamelessly parades them around as if to say "look! I'm totally different from that other show!" Everyone loves Natsuko because she can draw really well. No, you don't get it. I mean REALLY WELL. Oh, and Luke is in love with her because she... uh... she eats a lot! Yeah! And, she defeats all the big mean monsters!

Oh, and she can change anyone's mind by using her power to show them how cool she is and how awesome the world is. Yeah, Natsuko is definitely the greatest. /s

The ending itself is a letdown. Despite the tonal whiplash in some scenes, the ending is where I would have loved for the series to stick to the main theme of the in-universe movie. A Tale of Perishing isn't a hopeful film by any stretch, and despite its few moments of "fun" near the beginning, it slowly creeps towards a darker finale. Without spoiling anything, it cheapens Zenshu as a whole to undermine the main theming of AToP [i]and[/i] try to have its Disney moment. None of the resolution was earned, and none of the cast are helped by making it so that none of the stakes mattered.

Ultimately, it's 4hrs that you're better spent on anything else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Zenshuu. Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Mar 23	159 replies	by Ronninn »» 3 hours ago
	Poll: will the ending be happy, sad or bittersweet? deg - Mar 16	41 replies	by deg »» Yesterday, 10:05 AM
	SOMEONE TELL ME IF THEY THINK THERE WILL BE A SEASON 02 & MERCH Antisocialsempai - Mar 23	25 replies	by cawdinha »» Yesterday, 9:53 AM
	Poll: Zenshuu. Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) Stark700 - Jan 5	209 replies	by 1234SIYAM1234 »» Yesterday, 8:59 AM
	Poll: Zenshuu. Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jan 12	129 replies	by kagi-kun »» Yesterday, 12:34 AM