Animation/Visual style

As expected since MAPPA is working on Zenshuu the animation is extremely fluid and several creative shots make good use of the team’s skills. The combat animation is very cool and even the sketches and paper creatures look great. There's not much to say here besides top-class work. However a caveat here is that I didn’t find the visual style to be very unique, and the design of the world was largely generic. I guess that fits with the “forgotten XO’s movie” idea but I still didn't like it.

Plot and themes:

I found the overarching themes of Zenshuu interesting but I didn’t find them handled particularly well. The monster of the week format for the first half doesn’t work for me and many of the themes go very underexplored. Finally, the world-building is extremely shallow to the point where it goes beyond the point of being nothing and becomes actively distracting.

The aforementioned Monster of the Week episodes lack interesting monsters or solutions for most of them. They resolve with Natsuko drawing something from pop media and then the credits roll for the vast majority. They don’t bring anything to the table besides allowing the romance to progress a bit in the background. As such this time could’ve been spent on a more interesting plot device or exploring the many characters that lacked proper development in the show. I’m aware that for many people seeing references to animation history was cool and fun but I think this could’ve been integrated in a more interesting way than simply pointing at previous things. I would give a pass if this tied into a larger theme or arc around Natsuko being unable to create original media and overcoming that but it does not. They begin to improve on these towards the end of these episodes but the damage is already done in making me sit through the previous uninteresting fights.

In my opinion, the main themes of Zenshuu are First love, Oblivion/Depression, and feelings of inadequacy. Of these, the first is given the most screen time and is handled the best with a consistent and satisfying slow buildup and great integration through the vignette episode midway through the series. As for the last two they are certainly touched upon but I felt their integration to be weak despite the sudden heavy focus given to Natsuko's feeling of inadequacy. It’s a shame because I think both could’ve been the basis for an interesting show but ended up cluttering things and serving to push things out.

Zenshuu’s world-building generally occurs when characters have to pass through something for plot reasons or an offhand comment. As such things feel very empty and as a viewer, it’s sometimes hard to take the stakes seriously because of it. There’s no significant explanation for what’s going on or why people believe the things they do with one notable well-done exception over the course of an episode.

Character Design:
Character designs were at first annoying and then transitioned into being mostly nothing to me with the exception of Justice and Natsuko. While I’m aware it’s partially the “point” to have the 9 soldiers designs be scattered it still feels really bizarre at the start. As the series progresses they manage to work around this better and scenes feel a lot less weird but it was extremely distracting for me until I got used to them. Even after that, I found them to be pretty nothing with them being simple pastiches of other media. Justice’s design and VA are really cool and his swoon-worthy persona is accentuated by how he moves when he’s interacting with Natsuko. Natsuko is by far the standout with her hair covering her eyes serving as a unique design element and a great way to display her mental state.

Character:
As far as the characters themselves I find all of them besides the main duo to be extremely shallow even though many change throughout the story. Those that change feel less like a dynamic change taking course through the story and more like a switch being flipped to change them between modes. The prime example of this is probably a period late in the show where a character reverts their personality changes before immediately switching back again. However, the character who becomes convinced to give up their firmly held beliefs by kinda nothing and sticks with it is also not great. Unio is the closest to having a fully developed arc and I became a focal point for my attention, especially towards the end but things still feel shallow there.

Natsuko and Luke’s relationship on the other hand is handled really well. Watching the slow-burn romance is really fun and the way both Luke and Natsuko change as he realizes his feelings and she becomes more connected to the world is very cute. This dynamic was what kept me watching week-week and without it, I would probably have dropped the show.

Treatment of women:

Despite having a female protagonist Zenshuu has close to nothing to say about women’s role in society or their treatment. Destiny’s arc is kinda saying something about the way belief in powerlessness can reinforce it but it’s extremely shallow. A more critical observer may even find some distaste for the way the show seems to imply that situations like being trapped in an arranged marriage are easy to leave.

Sound: :
The sound design in the dark scenes stood out to me as a good way to show the change in tone.  There’s some good foley and other effects mixed in as well which I enjoyed. The sound is generally effective throughout the series but never massively stood out to me besides in the last episode. Besides that I found the OP to be a cool song and I added the artist to my music rotation so I would consider that a win. I can’t comment on the lyrics or how appropriate they are because I don’t speak Japanese so I’ll leave that to other people.

Conclusion:

Zenshuu is a very pretty show that often feels like it has the same issues as the poorly received old anime films it parodies at times. Worldbuilding and character development are shallow with the exception of the main cast and I found much of the early show to be quite a drag. Nevertheless, it manages to rally towards the end and create enough emotional impact through its main duo to push itself up to something interesting. As such my final rating is a 7/10,  If you really like isekai, are dying for a female lead slow-burn romance, or really want to see some references to old animation check out Zenshuu.