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Note: this contains some light spoilers
Based on the premise, this should be a slice of life workplace show about people making anime, as both a love letter to the medium and simultaneously giving insight about it, when in reality it is an isekai.
Ok thatâs more the fault of the synopsis that you can find everywhere than the show itself, but yeah, an animator seemingly dies while working and gets transported to her favourite movie since childhood and main inspiration for pursuing her career. Over there she fights the monsters that serve as antagonists in the film alongside the heroes in a monster of the week structure, with her own transformation or in this case power up sequence, filled with a different anime reference each time.
So visually itâs a treat to see the different references to the likes of Nausicaa, Macross, Gundam, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Sailor Moon and more, and even more because they look like linearts/sketches, and yet they mix well with the rest of the visuals. Those look good as well, with polished artwork, backgrounds and special effects, even if the setting is a generic fantasy world. At least you can spot differences between the movie version and this in-story version, both in artwork and for some characters in their designs. The actual animation has its static moments but itâs otherwise also very polished most of the time. The 90s like power up sequence could have been shortened or omitted in some episodes though. I canât really say that the character designs were very special either, as they are generic fantasy designs. I guess the protagonist looks a bit different than usual with her long hair and hoodie, but even she is very pretty behind her usual looks, so even she doesnât stand out much. But overall, the visuals are very good.
As for the audio, the voice acting fits even though itâs nothing special and the sound effects are good. Canât say I appreciated the music, which I found fitting but forgettable and repetitive in its use, and the opening and ending were just generic modern jrock of which I wasnât fond of, but at least they fit the anime and their visuals were fine.
The plot follows a semi episodic structure and if you just want some action and anime references, youâll be pleased. The tone is otherwise messy, as it is supposed to be the end of the world with only one city left out of the nine kingdoms that are part of the setting of the movie, and the enemies can attack at any moment, yet the mood is very light and comical for the most part.
Thus your judgement of the initial episodes will depend on whether you find them funny or annoying. For me it was the latter, since besides the jokes about the plot being an isekai despite the protagonist not being a hikikomori, the rest seemed stupid to me. Especially that one episode where they found out about a traitor yet let them go, and changed their mind after suffering for what seemed like centuriesâŚwith a male idol. WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT? Iâm sure some people found it amusing but I personally think itâs one of the most stupid and worst written episodes I have seen in a while.
And itâs not like the others are much better, since despite not playing out like a generic RPG-like isekai, the show still feels like a self insert power fantasy, with the protagonist having an awesome power conveniently related to what she does in the real world, that can defeat all monsters and thus change the plot of the movie, and later on make the male main character from her favourite movie fall in love with her. Heck, she was making people fall in love with her since she was a kid.
At some point in the middle to the end of the series the tone becomes darker as the enemies become stronger by mimicking the protagonistâs creations, and with the heroes being defeated, which leads the main character to learn about teamwork, while also pointing out that the original plot of the movie canât be changed.
Basically, despite the protagonist seemingly changing the original plot for the better and happier, she ends up making everything take a worse turn in the longrun, in a seemingly dark and inevitable outcome, which is what I expected from HameFura but that one went on a completely different route. Anyways, I wouldnât probably have issues with this change if it wasnât so sudden, but it literally begins to happen out of nowhere after half a lighthearted episode. And the writing doesnât make much sense, why are those void fanatics still out there? Werenât they changed and saved thanks to that male idol?
Eventually, this would lead to an inevitable tragic ending, which would probably be not very popular among viewers, myself included. I mean I think Texhnolyze has one of the best finales in all anime, and that one is tragic as hell, but over there the characters are proactive and try to fight the obvious inevitable outcome. On the other hand, the characters in Zenshuu. are passively waiting for something to happen, before reacting to the change of events without being proactive on their own. Also, the idea of them not being able to change the outcome of the plot of the movie effectively makes them no more than passive plot devices, and I mean they are, but it is made worse in the context of this anime.
This next paragraph is a spoiler, skip it
But worry not, because the anime pulls out a troll by undoing the ending with no explanation whatsoever for a different one, the main protagonist inexplicably going back, despite seemingly dying at the beginning of the series, and finishing her second anime about first love out of screen, after finding it in the protagonist of her childhood movie, what a cringefest.
There are no more spoilers
Whatâs worse is that the romance doesnât have any buildup, thereâs no chemistry between these characters, the guy falls in love out of nowhere, the girl is put off at first but likes him back just because afterwardsâŚor well, turns out to be in love since childhood, which is worse because heâs not real. And the rest of the characterization also leaves a lot to be desired, since we are seeing alternative versions of the characters the protagonist knew her whole life, yet they are completely bland with close to no fleshing, no backdrops, no interesting dynamics not even between them, and no development nor catharsis whatsoever. That is reserved only for the main character in small doses, and in a way that feels forced, unearned and cringe worthy.
So, the anime has good animation, cool anime references, on paper develops the protagonist even if a little, the fights become better when they require teamwork and strategy, and if you only care about action and find its comedy funny instead of infuriating, youâll be pleased. It is otherwise another power fantasy isekai with very bad writing when you stop and think about it, despite not featuring elements that belong in a medieval RPG.
4/10
