NEW YORK, January 26, 2024 – The new anime series Zenshu, currently streaming on Crunchyroll, isn’t afraid to poke fun at the tropes of its genre-and the animation industry itself. The 12-episode show centers on a talented animator transported to a world ripped straight from the isekai playbook, but with a delightfully self-aware twist.
A Meta Take on the ‘Isekai’ Boom
Zenshu is a turbulent romantic comedy with adventure elements that parodies both popular films and the isekai genre-where characters are transported to or reincarnated in alternate worlds-and the animation industry itself. The series was produced by MAPPA, the studio behind hits like Jujutsu-Kaisen, Yuri!!! on ice, Chainsaw Man, and Lazarus.
- Created by Kimiko Ueno and Mitsu Yamazaki, Zenshu offers a satirical look at anime conventions.
- The series follows Natsuko Hirose, a perfectionist animator struggling to direct a romantic comedy despite having no experience with love.
- Zenshu playfully references other anime and manga, appealing to dedicated fans of the medium.
- The show’s unique premise-an animator *within* an isekai world-sets it apart from typical genre fare.
Created by Kimiko Ueno and Mitsu Yamazaki,the story revolves around Natsuko Hirose,a prodigious talent who quickly rose through the ranks of the animation world after school. Her directorial debut, Sukeban Magical girl Dark Academy, was a massive success. “Zen Shu-getting everything sorted” perfectly describes her meticulous approach. But when she’s assigned to direct the romantic comedy Hatsukoi First Love, Natsuko finds herself completely lost. She attempts to redraw a scene during a second attack, she fails, prompting a mysterious voice to warn, “No archive recordings!”
A Story of Decline is filled with familiar isekai elements: an open-air market, quaint cafes, animal people (human-animal hybrids), and diminutive human characters. Fans of series like Water Mage or My Status as an Assassin Obviously Surpasses the hero’s would feel right at home. Leading the fight against the Voids is the dashing Luke Braveheart, a childhood crush of Natsuko’s, alongside his companions: Unio, a blue and white unicorn; Memmeln, an elf with pointed ears; and Q, a robot.
Ultimately, Zenshu is a clever inside joke in the vein of Animation Runner Kurumi and Pompo the Cinephile.The more familiar you are with anime and animation, the more you’ll appreciate its humor.
Zenshu (12 episodes) is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.
