Zenshu (TV series)

Zenshu
Key visual
全修。
Genre	Isekai
Created by	Mitsue Yamazaki Kimiko Ueno MAPPA
Anime television series
Directed by	Mitsue Yamazaki
Written by	Kimiko Ueno
Music by	Yukari Hashimoto
Studio	MAPPA
Licensed by	Crunchyroll
Original network	TXN (TV Tokyo) BS TV Tokyo, AT-X
Original run	January 5, 2025 – present
Episodes	8

Zenshu (全修。) is an original Japanese anime television series produced by MAPPA. It is directed by Mitsue Yamazaki and written by Kimiko Ueno, with Sumie Noro serving as assistant director and Yukari Hashimoto composing the music. Original character designs are provided by Yoshiteru Tsujino, while Kayoko Ishikawa adapts the designs for animation. The series premiered on January 5, 2025, on TV Tokyo and its affiliates. The opening theme song is "Zen", performed by Band-Maid, while the ending theme song is "Tada, Kimi no Mama de (ただ、君のままで)", performed by Sou. Crunchyroll streams the series.

Premise

The series centers on Natsuko Hirose, a prodigious animator and director. While struggling with the storyboard of her latest project, she reads that the director A Tale of Perishing died of food poisoning, only to suffer the same fate moments later.

Waking up in the world of A Tale of Perishing, she discovers that she has the power to bring her animations to life, in order to alter the storyline and bring hope to the world of the anime that inspired her to go into animation as a child.

Characters

Natsuko Hirose (広瀬ナツ子, Hirose Natsuko)

Voiced by: Anna Nagase (Japanese); Madeleine Morris (English)

An animator who got food poisoning and awakens in a world based on her favorite childhood anime film A Tale of Perishing. She discovers that her pegboard came along with her, which has also gained a will of its own, though only she can hear its voice. Using the pegboard, she can summon a magic work desk and use it to quickly draw something that she can temporarily bring to life. She also has control over her creations. However, there are limits: her powers only work in dire situations, she cannot draw the same thing twice, she is vulnerable while drawing, and she passes out for three days after using her powers. On most occasions, her face is covered by her long hair, which led the Nine Soldiers to believe that she's a gremlin when they first met her. She soon becomes a member of the Nine Soldiers and is good friends with Destiny, although she does not get along well with Unio. In her past, she lacked the ability to fall in love.

Luke Braveheart (ルーク・ブレイブハート, Rūku Bureibuhāto)

Voiced by: Kazuki Ura (Japanese); Ryan Negrón (English)

The main protagonist of A Tale of Perishing and the leader of the Nine Soldiers. He isn't all the caring as he at first mistreats Natsuko after thinking that she is a gremlin, but his views towards her changes upon seeing her unbelievable powers and that she's really a human being. However, he continues to be a rude and arrogant jerk towards Natsuko, which she understands and refuses to give him what he wants and he ends up insulting Memmeln when trying to make an excuse of not letting Natsuko join them, but he soon begins to warm up to her. He has feelings for Natsuko after seeing her face, but also knows Natsuko don't feel the same way about him until she does. He also has feelings for Destiny, though they don’t fall in love in the altered storyline.

Unio (ユニオ, Yunio)

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese); Luci Christian (English)

A small unicorn-like creature and a member of the Nine Soldiers. He can transform into a flying unicorn but without his horn, he is mostly powerless. Like Luke, he at first treats Natsuko like an outcast until learning of her true characteristics. He was originally meant to be the first to die in the storyline by sacrificing himself to destroy a Void army, but was saved by Natsuko after she creates a monster to destroy them instead. Nevertheless, he still doesn’t like Natsuko at all, who usually swings him around and throws him whenever she’s mad at him, and later wears his horn like a hairpin. They often get into heated arguments, and Unio almost always sees Natsuko as a threat to himself and his friends; however, it may be because he is jealous of Natsuko's relationship with Luke.

Memmeln (メメルン, Memerun)

Voiced by: Minori Suzuki (Japanese); Alexis Tipton (English)

A female elf who is a member of the Nine Soldiers. She is skilled with a bow and arrow, which have magical capabilities. When Luke tries to make an excuse about not letting Natsuko join them by saying an issue about women, Memmeln gives him a cold shoulder for that as she too is a woman. She and QJ are the only members who do not have any personal issues towards Natsuko. However, it is later revealed that she is part of a cult who seeks to awaken the Ultimate Void so it can end their immortality. She was originally meant to be killed by Luke following her transformation into the Ultimate Void, but this was changed when Memmeln decided to reconsider (due to Natsuko reprimanding her earlier for not caring about innocent people) and Natsuko created a character called Sir Exister from an anime called Uta-Men, who dances with Memmeln to make her give up her attempt to end her eternal life due to her now idolizing Exister.

QJ

Voiced by: Akio Suyama (Japanese); Derick Snow (English)

A flying robot who is a member of the Nine Soldiers. He can analyze situations and give advice, and can also fire lasers at enemies. He and Memmeln are the only members who do not have any personal issues towards Natsuko.

Justice

Voiced by: Romi Park (Japanese); Corey Wilder (English)

A dragon who was once a member of the Nine Soldiers, having quit due to being injured in battle and cannot fly for long due to their damaged wing. They seem to like Natsuko.

Destiny Heartwarming

Voiced by: Manaka Iwami (Japanese); Dani Chambers (English)

The mayor’s daughter and Luke's love interest, who wears a skimpy outfit. She was originally engaged with a rich chairman so she can start an orphanage. After being saved from a Void by Natsuko (she was originally meant to die at this point), who creates a wrestler character named Serval Cat Mask to defeat it, she becomes fascinated by her creation and begins wearing a wrestling outfit of her own, which is even more revealing than her previous outfit and also comes with a tiger mask, wanting to be a fighter too and in time develops a muscular body. She also starts an orphanage on her own after declining the chairman’s proposal and is now good friends with Natsuko.

Chingosman

Voiced by: Kentaro Tone

A former member of the Nine Soldiers who was killed prior to the events of the series.

Ganger

Voiced by: Masashi Yamane

A golem-like character who was originally a member of the Nine Soldiers. He was killed prior to the events of the series.

Capitan

Voiced by: Katsuhisa Hōki

A former member of the Nine Soldiers who was killed prior to the events of the series.

Admiral

Voiced by: Sayaka Ohara

A former member of the Nine Soldiers who was killed prior to the events of the series.

Baobab

A goblin prophet who can predict the future.

Naomi

A bar matron who looks like and shares the same name as Natsuko's coworker from the real world.

Serval Cat Mask

A wrestler character who wears a tiger mask. Natsuko created him to fight a Void. Destiny idolizes him. He is a reference of the series Tiger Mask.

Sir Exister

A handsome man from an anime called Uta-Men. He was created by Natsuko to stop Memmeln from transforming into the Ultimate Void and put an end to her ulterior motives. Memmeln idolizes him.

Meg and Sally

Two elves who aid Memmeln with her plans to unleash the Ultimate Void and end their immortality. Like Memmeln, they may have abandoned their plans as a result of Sir Exister influencing them.

Midori Ichihashi

A girl who fell in love with Natsuko, but their relationship ended when she moved away.

Shu Ninomiya

A boy who fell in love with Natsuko during middle school, but could not win her over.

Saburo Aoi

A director who serves as a rival to Natsuko, but also had feelings for her. Like Midori and Shu, he also failed to win her heart.

Naomi Fukushima

The president of the studio that Natsuko works at. She also has feelings for Natsuko.

Kametaro Tsuruyama

The director of A Tale of Perishing, who died and apparently reincarnated in the world based on the anime, but as a bird. Natsuko idolizes her. She is annoyed with Natsuko for changing all of her hard work and wants the storyline to play out as she wrote it.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Storyboarded by	Chief animation director	Original release date
1	"First Stroke" Transliteration: "Shisen." (Japanese: 始線。)	Sumie Noro	Kimiko Ueno	Mitsue Yamazaki	Kayoko Ishikawa	January 5, 2025 (2025-01-05)
Natsuko Hirose is a young animator who became famous following the widespread success of her first series and is currently struggling with her new project. Natsuko learns on the news that another animator died of food poisoning. As she rewatches her childhood anime A Tale of Perishing while eating lunch, she gets poisoned as well. Natsuko wakes up in a desert-like place and is attacked by an insect-like creature, but is saved by Luke Braveheart, Memmeln, Unio and QJ, a group called the Nine Soldiers and the main characters from her childhood anime. They mistake her for a gremlin due to her hair covering her face and leave her to travel on foot to the Last Town. Natsuko realizes she is inside the anime and, knowing what happens in the storyline, tries to warn Luke about the imminent Void army attack on the Last Town, which he ignores. He also notices Natsuko is hungry but does not give her any food. The Void army soon appears and advances towards the town. Natsuko knows Unio is going to create a suicide bomb to defeat the Void army. She realizes she has her pegboard with her, which speaks to her, telling her to draw before transforming into a magical animation work desk. Natsuko draws at rapid speed and creates a giant being which blasts away the Void army and prevents Unio's death. Astounded by Natsuko’s unusual abilities, Luke asks Natsuko who she is and where she comes from. Natsuko says she is an animator and comes from reality before she faints and her hair parts, revealing to Luke and his allies that she is a human. Misunderstanding what she said, Luke believes that Natsuko comes from a kingdom called Reality and she is an "anneemator".
2	"Defend" Transliteration: "Shishu." (Japanese: 死守。)	Ai Kondō	Kimiko Ueno	Risako Yoshida	Shuji Takahara	January 12, 2025 (2025-01-12)
A flashback from Natsuko's childhood reveals that in A Tale of Perishing, there are nine countries that have glowing crystals called Soul Futures, which are being targeted by the Voids. Should all nine be destroyed, a powerful monster called the Great Void will appear and destroy the world. In the present, Natsuko awakens after being passed out for three days. Luke gives her food and questions her on her origins, becoming very surprised when she reveals knowledge of his personal information. Natsuko then attempts to show off her powers, but her pegboard doesn't activate, indicating that her powers cannot be used all the time. Unio joins the conversation when he assumes that they are fighting. Last Town's mayor calls the Nine Soldiers and Natsuko for a meeting. Natsuko is amazed by the mayor's appearance. Baobab, the town's prophet, arrives, and she and the mayor question Natsuko about "Reality" that she came from, but her explanations make her appear crazy. Natsuko begins to question that she did not die and was instead teleported to the anime world. Baobab warns them that only one Soul Future remains and that its destruction will unleash the Great Void. She suggests to have Natsuko join the Nine Soldiers, but Luke and Unio are against this as they both continue to insult her and Luke makes an poor excuse against her about women while Memmeln is next to him. Seeing what a stuck-up jerk Luke is, Natsuko leaves and returns to the place where she previously woke up, wanting to go back to the real world, but finds that she cannot leave. She decides to go see Luke, who questions her further after remembering that she correctly predicted the earlier Void attack. After warning them of the upcoming aerial Void attack, Natsuko agrees to join the Nine Soldiers, hoping to eventually find a way back to the real world. While visiting a bar and talking to the bar matron Naomi, Natsuko realizes that Naomi shares her boss' voice and looks and ponders if other teleported humans may have entered this world too. The next day, the Void invasion happens and Natsuko's pegboard finally activates, though only she can hear its voice. Her tool restricts her from creating the same thing twice so Natsuko creates numerous homing missiles that take out all the flying Voids and destroy their mothership. She then passes out for three days again and after waking up, Luke gives her food and Natsuko's hair is tied upwards so her face can be seen.
3	"Destiny" Transliteration: "Unmei." (Japanese: 運命。)	Yasufumi Soejima	Kimiko Ueno	Yasufumi Soejima	Kayoko Ishikawa & Etsuko Sumimoto	January 19, 2025 (2025-01-19)
Natsuko recalls the previous events as the townsfolk cheer for her. During the Harvest Festival, Memmeln dresses Natsuko in a gown, which she finds uncomfortable. Natsuko then gets into a fight with Unio. A ceremony for the Soul Future then takes place. While enjoying herself, Natsuko predicts that the next attack will occur on a rainy day, but Luke is still cautious as he is swarmed by admirers. Memmeln leaves to take part in a choir while Unio has difficulty getting attention. Luke meets Destiny Heartwarming, the mayor’s daughter who is going to be Luke's love interest, who is hiding from a chairman and his wives. Natsuko recalls future events involving Destiny and that she will die at one point. Destiny later speaks with her father, who is concerned about her engagement to the chairman as she had hoped he would help her accomplish her dream of running an orphanage. Luke meets Destiny again and begins developing feelings for her as they dance. That night, while mysterious robed figures confront a mantis-like Void, Destiny interacts with Natsuko, who has changed out of her gown. When the chairman finds her, Natsuko convinces Destiny to start an orphanage without the chairman’s help. Voids begin entering the city and Natsuko discovers that one of the priests is a Void in disguise and does a fast dance to blow its cover; it is the same Mantis Void from earlier. The Void attacks Destiny, and Unio and a drunk Luke try to save her. Natsuko's powers activate and QJ protects her while she draws. She creates a wrestler named Serval Cat Mask, who fights the Void in a wrestling match with Natsuko as the host. The Void loses the fight and Natsuko falls unconscious again. While eating a meal with Luke, Destiny arrives in a revealing wrestler’s outfit that comes with a mask due to her admiring Natsuko's creation and wanting to be a fighter as well, having also decided to start an orphanage on her own after turning down the chairman’s proposal, and is now friends with Natsuko. Memmeln was absent from the Void attack; she is hiding something, which Natsuko notices.
4	"Eternity" Transliteration: "Eien." (Japanese: 永遠。)	Iho Ishikawa	Kimiko Ueno	Mitsue Yamazaki	Kayoko Ishikawa & Kazuko Hayakawa	January 26, 2025 (2025-01-26)
Suspecting that someone helped the Mantis Void from before, Natsuko secretly follows Memmeln, knowing that she is part of a group of mages that were responsible for transforming the Mantis Void into a priest to make it destroy the Soul Future, but doesn't know their true goal. In the original storyline, the Ultimate Void appeared after Luke saw through the Mantis Void's disguise and slayed it, but it was revealed to be a transformed Memmeln. Luke tags along with her and she reveals Memmeln's secret. Following her and the elves from before to a secret cavern, they witness a cult performing a ritual (revealed to be the "choir" that Memmeln was attending) to awaken the Ultimate Void. When Unio arrives, Natsuko warns Luke against telling him to avoid panic and they leave afterwards. Luke argues with Natsuko over how to resolve the situation. The next day, they ask Memmeln about her motive and she explains that she and the cult are helping the Voids because they are tired of living forever as elves and want to end their immortality. Luke is hurt by this discovery while Natsuko reprimands Memmeln for not caring for others. Memmeln leaves that night, but Luke forms a plan to stop her scheme. Luke disguises himself as one of the cultists to enter the ceremony. Memmeln transforms into the Ultimate Void itself, which is when Luke will kill her. Natsuko's pegboard activates and she begins drawing. At this point, Memmeln changes her mind about this after recalling Natsuko's words and stops the ritual, returning to normal in the process as Luke directs everyone's attention towards whom they think is the Ultimate Void; it is actually Natsuko's creation: a charming man named Sir Exister from an anime called Uta-Men, who hands them flowers and dances with Memmeln before disappearing. Natsuko shows Memmeln the drawing of Exister before passing out. Memmeln decides life is worth living if she can fangirl over the drawing forever, and her cult now idolizes him. As Luke and Unio are in the garden, a mysterious bird is watching them.
5	"Justice" Transliteration: "Seigi." (Japanese: 正義。)	Shinji Imada	Kimiko Ueno	Shinji Imada	Kayoko Ishikawa, Yuka Kudou & Chen Weining	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02)
In the past, Natsuko has shown little regard for her coworkers. After defeating many Void with the help of Natsuko's creations, the Nine Soldiers are cheered on by the townsfolk for their recent victories, especially Natsuko. Unio grows jealous of Luke's attachment to Natsuko. The group meet up with Destiny, who has been training to be a fighter and has opened an orphanage called Serval Cat House. Luke, Natsuko, and Unio head to the slums to find orphans. One of them steals Natsuko's pegboard, but is stopped by Luke. Others reveals themselves to them. As they entertain the kids, Natsuko shows them Serval Cat House, though Luke is confused by her dramatic behavior. They meet a dragon named Justice who is being threatened by thugs, who are forced to leave when Luke shows up; Natsuko recognizes Justice as a former member of the Nine Soldiers, and Justice also takes a liking to her. While bringing kids to the orphanage, an exhausted Natsuko meets up with Justice and reveals how he quit after an injury from a previous battle that result in the death of an ally named Ganger, and also sees that he cannot fly. Luke and Unio watch them from a distance. Destiny is grateful to them for bringing the kids to her orphanage. QJ warns them of slime-like Voids approaching the city; as they run to stop them, Natsuko hears the mysterious bird saying her actions are of no use this time. Justice watches them from nearby. While confronting the Voids, even Natsuko herself doesn't recognize them. Her pegboard activates again and ignoring Luke's orders to wait, she creates a samurai character to attack them as Luke and QJ join the fight while the others head back to town to protect it. The Slime Voids are more powerful than they expected and the samurai character is destroyed, proving the bird right. The Slime Voids proceed to attack Natsuko.
6	"Change" Transliteration: "Henka." (Japanese: 変化。)	Kiyoshi Matsuda & Yasutomo Okamoto	Kimiko Ueno	Teruyuki Omine & Hiroshi Kobayashi	Kayoko Ishikawa & Etsuko Sumimoto	February 9, 2025 (2025-02-09)
A flashback reveals all previous members of the Nine Soldiers. In the present, the Slime Voids infiltrate the Last Town and form a cocoon on the tower with the Soul Future, intending to form a much stronger Void to consume it. Natsuko is injured in the battle, and Memmeln and Unio heal her wounds. After recovering, Natsuko is determined to stop the Void, but Luke scolds her for her stuck-up behavior. Luke later visits the graves of the deceased members of the Nine Soldiers and meets Justice, who informs Luke that victory isn't always possible even for heroes, but Luke is still determined to win against the Voids and expresses frustration and hypocrisy with Natsuko. Unio, who was eavesdropping on them, is annoyed with Justice's mockery. While at the bar, QJ warns Natsuko about her reckless actions, and Memmeln convinces her to accept help from others. They then form a new plan to defeat the Void. As the townsfolks evacuate, Baobab creates a forcefield around the Soul Future. As the Nine Soldiers prepare for battle, Natsuko is again told by the bird that she will fail, which she dismisses. A centipede-like Void emerges from the cocoon; it proves to be very fast as it eats QJ and Memmeln and injures the others. Unio loses his horn, taking away most of his powers, which Natsuko finds. Once Natsuko's powers activate, she creates floating stairs for Luke and Unio, but cannot see them from down below. Justice arrives to help and Natsuko, now wearing Unio's horn like a hairpin, has him help carry her and her desk despite his inability to stay in the air for long. The Centipede Void reaches the top of the tower and breaks through Baobab's forcefield. QJ and Memmeln escape from the Void's stomach and Unio uses all of his strength to kick Luke towards the Void, who slays it before it can devour the Soul Future. Justice finally tells Luke about his broken wing and sees that Natsuko has changed him.
7	"First Love" Transliteration: "Hatsukoi." (Japanese: 初恋。)	Tokio Igarashi	Kimiko Ueno	Tokio Igarashi	Kayoko Ishikawa & Kazuko Hayakawa	February 16, 2025 (2025-02-16)
In the year 2006, a young girl named Midori Ichihashi tried to befriend Natsuko, but when they watched A Tale of Perishing, Natsuko became obsessed with it. Midori fell in love with her from afar, and when she had to move away, Natsuko gifted her a drawing of Midori and Luke. In middle school in the year 2011, a boy named Shu Ninomiya on the track team admired Natsuko always observing and drawing everything. When she drew him running and setting a record for the 100 meter dash, he tried to confess his feelings, but she ignored him, so he gave up trying to win her over. In the year 2014, an aspiring director named Saburo Aoi was trying to make a music video when a teenage Natsuko agreed to help. He was irritated when she ignored his designs and made new ones, but he fell in love with her when seeing the finished product. Unable to confess, he decided to compete with her, but was unable to graduate college while Natsuko rose to become an animator, leading him to cut ties with her. During the year 2019, Naomi Fukushima, the president of the animation studio, was secretly attracted to Natsuko. She assigned her to work on a romantic comedy, but Natsuko did not understand romance and started harassing people with romantic clichés. As her coworkers complained about her behavior, Natsuko suffered food poisoning in the first episode and Naomi tried to help her. In the present, the Nine Soldiers, including Justice, have a feast at Destiny's orphanage. Natsuko enjoys herself and wonders if the story was supposed to be this fun. The bird arrives and tells her it is not.
8	"Confession" Transliteration: "Kokuhaku." (Japanese: 告白。)	Im Ka Hee	Kimiko Ueno	Im Ka Hee	Kayoko Ishikawa & Chen Weining	February 23, 2025 (2025-02-23)
The bird keeps hounding Natsuko wherever she goes saying her actions are of no use. QJ deduces that the bird came from the same place as Natsuko. Destiny eventually catches the bird and they interrogate it by threatening to kill it. The bird rages against the changes Natsuko made to the movie and reveals she is Kametaro Tsuruyama, the director of A Tale of Perishing, who died of food poisoning in the first episode and reincarnated in this world. Natsuko is a big fan of hers, but questions how Kametaro got the form of a bird while Natsuko is still herself. Kametaro declares the movie is supposed to end with Luke dying and tells Natsuko to go back to reality as she escapes (even though Natsuko doesn't know how), insisting the ending cannot be changed. Luke asks Unio for relationship advice, but Unio is unhelpful until Naomi tells him to confess his feelings. Luke tells Natsuko he loves her, then weirds her out by confessing every time they meet. Natsuko on the other hand, begins to question her surroundings. As Unio becomes increasingly jealous, Justice tells him the next step is going on a date, so he asks her out to the hot springs. Natsuko was unaware of the hot springs since they were not in the movie, so Luke says Ganger made them. They bathe and have fun discussing the former Nine Soldiers, but a Void attacks and destroys the hot springs with a laser blast, forcing them to fight it while barely dressed. Natsuko creates a Gundam to fight the Void. It is destroyed, but allows Luke to slay the Void. At that moment, Natsuko falls in love with Luke.
9	"Hero" Transliteration: "Yūsha." (Japanese: 勇者。)	TBA	Kimiko Ueno	TBA	TBA	March 2, 2025 (2025-03-02)

External links

• Anime official website (in Japanese)
• Zenshu (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia