Zenshu Premiere presents Meta Isekai Adventure

SUMMARY

• MAPPA's Zenshu anime has a meta about Isekai.

• Hirose's creative crisis leads to a fantasy adventure.

• Episode 1 sets up the potential for a dramatic story.

WARNING: The following review contains spoilers from Zenshu season 1, episode 1, “First Stroke,” streaming now on Crunchyroll.

MAPPA's new anime, Zenshufollows a budding animator whose writer's block becomes the impetus for a fantasy adventure. Directed by Mitsue Yamazaki (Attack on Titan) and written by Kimiko Ueno (Delicious in Dungeon), the first episode of the anime provides a meta view of the Isekai genre. And if the Zenshu the pilot takes time to cook, the payoff in Act 3 makes the wait worth it.

Season 1, episode 1, “First Stroke,” begins with a typical office. Animator Natsuko Hirose's biggest obstacles are deadlines and high expectations. Then, a case of food poisoning brings him into the world of his favorite animated film. However, in order to save his favorite characters, Hirose must find the love that ignited his passion for photography. Unlocking this opportunity lays the groundwork for the right season.

Millennial Burnout Kills Anime Stars

Season 1, episode 1, “First Stroke”, introduces the audience to Natsuko Hirose (JP: Anna Nagase, EN: Madeleine Morris), a cartoon actress whose career exploded after graduating from high school. Fresh from directing a series of magical girls, the budding star tried her hand at directing a romantic film. Unfortunately, the movie is very late.

The bleak office atmosphere nurtures the writer's imagination

Zenshu's first act perfectly captures Hirose's creative crisis. The image of the young animator, hunched over his desk, hair disheveled from lack of self-care, is familiar to all creatives. Hirose struggled under the weight of perfection. Trapped in a cubicle shaped like a shoebox, he tore pages from an incomplete blackboard. A ruthless executive oversees Hirose's work, hiding the money in his mind's eye with a cheerful demeanor. Gossip to gossip suggests that the film will have a difficult ending.

Surprisingly, this workplace scene carries the most tension despite the fight scene at the end of the episode. Viewers get an intimate look at Hirose's spiral into procrastination. As Hirose looks at his phone, every comment on social media stops the pressure to produce a successful product, from fans who swear his work saved his life to trolls who want him to quit already. .

Hirose's demanding nature creates resentment among his colleagues. An official sends the film's teaser image to explicitly request a full review. When an overheard co-worker berates Hirose for her stubbornness, she squirms in her office chair, glaring at him like Sadaka Yamamura (he refuses to cut his hair until he finishes his board, which adds complexity).

Unexplained food poisoning raises questions

Hirose's composure quickly changes when he learns of Kamataro Tsuruyama's death by food poisoning (a heavy-handed foreshadowing of things to come). After recovering from the shock, he ate his bento box lunch while re-watching Tsuruyama's classic video. A Tale of Death. Unfortunately, he didn't know he was eating dead clams.

The tension of the lack of work space suddenly stopped as Hirose fell to the ground. A few people surrounded him, including a panicked executive, as the burnt artist passed out. In the final shot of Act 1, Hirose's eyes are glowing in the back of her head.

Hirose's death is not clearly confirmed, so it is hard to believe that the clams were the cause. Another scene shows Hirose as a child clutching her popcorn while watching History of corpseUnfortunate events unfolded. Suddenly, he wakes up in a desolate desert.

We've seen it before, and so has Natsuko Hirose

In the second episode of series 1, Hirose finds himself reincarnated in the world of his favorite movie, A Tale of Death. However, when he meets some of his favorite characters, his attitude reminds him of the dangers of the film. He warned the heroes of The Last City about this danger. In the end, it's up to Hirose to become the hero of her own story.

Waiting for the inevitable is boring

After being overcome by poison from an outdated clams bento box, Hirose wakes up in a desert littered with old crumbling buildings. However, his initial confusion is interrupted by a vicious insect-like monster called the void. Luckily, the brave handsome boy Luke Braveheart (JP: Kazuki Ura, EN: Ryan Negron) comes to the rescue and kills the beast.

The next story beats are very predictable. Hirose goes through the usual stages of Isekai disbelief. First, he suspects that he is in an anime movie with expert cosplayers. Then, Hirose entered the last city, the last refuge of civilization that was not destroyed by the void. After witnessing one of these Story of Perising shooting scene, Hirose feels that he is really in the world of the movie. Then, drop the other shoe.

Hirose remembers a sad incident A Tale of Death where an army of monsters is attacking the last city. Although the city won the battle, it cost the life of Unio (JP: Rie Kugimiya, EN: Luci Christian) (JP: Rie Kugimiya, EN: Luci Christian). Unio's death sends Lord Braveheart into a spiral of depression, setting the stage for the consequences to come.

Hirose cannot forgive Unio's death. The devoted fan urgently pleads with Braveheart, Unio, and the others to heed his warning, but his concerns are ignored. (Thanks to Nagase and Morris for their animated portrayal of Hirose. They captured the excitement and nerdy excitement in equal parts.

It's confusing to see Hirose being ignored despite knowing the anime. However, it is also very vague. We see what kind of dark fantasy show Hirose is into and the Groundhog Day the formula has been played before. However, we still don't see why Zenshu.'

A newly empowered artist asserts the third law

Everything plays as expected. The empty army arrives, the heroes enter the battlefield, and Unio orders Braveheart to retreat so he can sacrifice himself. Hirose watches the tragedy unfold in frustration and horror, powerless to change anything. Suddenly, the peg bar spoke to him from his hoodie pocket:

Natsuko! The new role must be downloaded.

Natsuko Hirose was moved by the call to action, and that's when the real fun began. He runs across the battlefield, whips his bars, and joins a line of magical girls. He flies to the temporary office using his office chair. Once set, the animator sketches at lightning speed, and the audience sees the creator's face for the first time. A pencil-wielding monster appears, wiping out the vacuum wave with a paper explosion. The day, and the Union, is saved!

The last act of Zenshu series 1 shows how important the anime is. Iron-clad knights, buff mayors, magical unicorns, and anthropomorphic animals are all possible, but the real heroes are the imagination of the artist. Now that Hirose's powers have awakened, viewers can eagerly await what he will do next in episode 2.