I was browsing Crunchyroll simulcasts and this series caught my eye. The rating was quite high, at a 4.8 (it is now a 4.7 at the time of this writing), so I decided to watch it. I went in knowing nothing about it at all and was not disappointed. You can visit the show page to watch it here.
Zenshu means “fix everything” in Japanese and is a reference to one of the central themes of the show. On the surface, the anime is about a young woman named Natsuko, a lifelong fan of movies and anime, who gets sucked into the world of her favorite movie and has to help the story along with her animation skills while coming to terms with her own shortcomings in the process.
The show is an ode to fans of Japanese anime and games with lots of deep cuts and classic throwbacks. The “A Tale of Perishing” world that Natsuko gets isekai’d into reminds me of Chrono Trigger and many other 80s and 90s JRPGs. She knows how the story should go inside out, being a die-hard fan since she was in elementary school. As she progresses through the story, in times of danger her “pin board” (a tool analog animators used to align keyframe pages) will glow and she must sit in her cubicle and draw something that will save the day.
I love that this show has a lot of heart, which it seems to wear on its sleeve. I find it to be cringe, but in the best way possible. Having the main character being called upon to save the day through her imagination and drawing skills really speaks to everyone’s inner child who went on early 2000’s tumblr and surrounded themselves in the escapism of fantasy and art.
The background song that plays while Natsuko is going through her “magical girl” transformation sequence is funny. “Zenshuuuuu… ZEN Shuuuuuu…. ZEN SHUUUUUUU~!”
The main character may seem really familiar if you’re an otaku, weeb, or myspace era internet user. She reminisces about drawing steamy fan art of the main character and geeking out about details of the anime world that she remembers as a teenager. She also walks around with hair covering her entire face because she’s an anti-social weirdo and I think that’s funny and relatable.
Most notably I was pleasantly surprised to feel like it has perfect pacing the entire way through. The plot of the show starts as a villain-of-the-day episodic adventure and develops its overarching plot into a climactic and dark ending that leaves us with a short but sweet epilogue.
The beginning episodes take their time establishing the world and character motivations, and as soon as you feel the itch to move the story along, some new development drives the story forward. Near the end few episodes, there is so much action going on, but the show drives on to resolve loose plotlines and construct a satisfying ending that doesn’t feel rushed at all. The show is only 12 episodes long (about half a cour), which is really appreciated for someone who is an adult and/or has a lot of things they want to watch.
I was even more surprised to find that this was an original anime from people at MAPPA. Anime original series are quite rare at this point. The ending feels decisive without closing off the possibility of continuing the story, but I hope they keep things at just one season to wrap things up in a nice bow.
The show is fun and looks great. I ultimately agree with its decently high 4.7 rating (which I feel roughly corresponds to a 7/10). Something that is impressive and fun–really good, just missing that light garnish of design, plot twist, or something else that would drive it into Anime of the Year territory. Cory recommends you watch this one! Even if you don’t like it, it won’t take long to finish.
