Pinguino

I love manga, anime, games and sometimes drama and manhwa. My main language is Italian, but I write in English as an exercise. I can quite understand Japanese. I do this blog to write about things that really interested me or bother me or I’m obsessed about to the point to want to share my opinion.

[lyquynhnhu]

Zenshu has ended

It really ends like Your Name. There is the separation, but it seems Natsuko and Luke can meet again.

Natsuko keep Unio’s horn in real world, so it’s wasn’t all a dream like many thought. I considered it a partially happy ending, instead of bittersweet, because it was kind of open ending.

Although, a season 2 seems impossible because of the “oshimai” word they put at the end. Unless a sequel will have a different title (I’m delusional).

However, the bird director didn’t do much during the entire anime except saying “it’s all useless”. And in her last appearance she said that “happy ending isn’t the only entertainment”, which is quite suspicious. Does she plan to do something to recreate the original ending, again? We know very little about her background, but in episode 11 preview she said that she enjoy “the beauty of living thing perishing”. When she was alive she was probably a very controversial artist. The ending of Tale of Perishing could have worked in a story with a apocalyptic setting from the beginning, instead of torturing the protagonist of the story by making him losing one by one his found family.

Anyway, Zenshu went from an anime I didn’t plan to watch to one of my forever favourite original anime. I really like the story, the direction, the animation, the pacing, music, comedy and the use of reference from anime of the past and the innovative use of anime tropes. It was very difficult to predict what could happen in every episode. The love story between Natsuko and Luke was even handled better that many shojo manga.

However, it has some flaws. I understand that the anime have a limited number of episode and I think the main themes were handled well. But if it were 2 cours, it could have been even better.

For example, I still don’t get why Natsuko loved the original movie so much. I mean, what part of the movie make her fall in love with it? I get that Luke had a great impact on her and that he is her first love. But we know very little about the original movie. Only some events and the ending were revealed. Did the movie even had a part that tell about Luke past and that he hated being a hero? I don’t think so.

The second thing is the lore. In the end, it was never explained how the Voids appeared in the world, where they come from, what they are. I get that the Voids origin wasn’t important for the anime plot and that they may had some symbolic meaning in the original movie, but I would have liked more worldbuilding. Even Natsuko said that there are some things she didn’t know about the world because they weren’t on the official guide. She was surprised when she discovered the truth behind the Nine Soldiers existence. I would have appreciated a whole flashback episode about Luke past and his relationship with his companions and more Nine Soldiers anecdotes.

The third thing, like stated above, the bird director role. She didn’t do anything except scaring Natsuko. And then she just observed whatever was happening without doing anything. This aspect feels unresolved.

Anyway, the way Natsuko saving everyone even reviving the deceased Nine Soldiers… she basically rewound the time of the movie. I mean, in the new “timeline” the movie hasn’t started yet. It’s not confirmed the Voids ceased to exist. Or by defeating the Ultimate Void, everything connected to the Voids was correct (it reminds me of Miraculous Ladybug). But the original story can still repeat again. The bird director is still in that world and she is dangerous.

About the episode, Natsuko saying goodbye to Luke felt really fast. Luke didn’t even had the time to realise what happened and he had to separate from Natsuko. I’m so sad for him.

Well, the ending was quite open and I have some idea for a sequel. First of all, this ending remind me of the ending of the first season of Magic Knight Rayearth. The girls return to earth, but felt something missing in their everyday life. And so, season 2 happened.

Now, my idea is that after the Hatsukoi movie (that was a success) Natsuko used her isekai experience as inspiration for other projects, some successful and some less. I think that her works mainly have happy ending and the critics probably says that her projects are good but predictable. Moreover, she start to have rivals. Her projects are getting less recognition because the audience are more interested in stories with more dark themes (I think this exactly what is happening nowadays, everyone wants story with a lot of deaths). Natsuko doesn’t want to follow the trends, but at some point, her inspiration ends. She doesn’t have a block, but she realise she is missing something.

At the same time, in the world of Tale of Perishing, Luke is trying to find a way to reunite with Natsuko with everyone help. But a new threat appears. The bird director became a more active antagonist and aim to make Luke suffer even more than last time to recreate her aesthetic of despair.

In the meantime, through Unio’s horn, Natsuko is having dreams about what is happening to Luke and co. She doesn’t understand those dreams, but it makes her worry and can’t concentrate on her work. Natsuko is considering taking a break and during her break, she is summoned again in Tale of Perishing where she began a Cold War with the original director, in which the director make Natsuko doubt about her happy ending aesthetic.

I’m not good imagining what can happen during a whole season, but what I want is Natsuko and Luke deepening their relationship, support each other during the various challenge, more interaction with the secondary characters, a bit more focus on the world building.

In the end, Natsuko confirms that she likes happy ending more. Even though she does enjoy dark stories, too, she doesn’t want to create such stories for commercial entertainment. In the original director official profile, it’s said that she didn’t have success in her later years. But Natsuko doesn’t care for success. Her being an animator is for love, not popularity. So, she will keep creating anime with love and if they don’t get popular, she is ready to accept that it’s the end of her career.

Also, she will get the power to travel between worlds using Unio’s horn.

[fluff-only]

Just something that confuses me a bit..

Luke was being all blushy when he met Destiny, because that’s the way it was supposed to be in the original story. But Natsuko is Luke’s first love right? So was that just because that was before the story was being revised as much? Or did he not actually fall in love with Destiny (yet)? Because technically Destiny is his first love right?

I thought maybe since Natsuko showed up in the story, things had already changed so that the meeting between Luke and Destiny would not turn out the way it should’ve, but it did! Its after that that things changed.

Don’t tell me he just got turned off by Destiny’s transformation!? Cuz i mean i understand having preferences but you cant tell me he actually fell in and out of love THAT fast!

I’d love to hear anyone’s thought abt this!

[lyquynhnhu]

I think that time and place play a big factor to fall in love.

Natsuko appears in a moment in which Luke was questioning the meaning of his life. In episode 1 he was sure Unio was going to die, and since he has already lost lots of his friends he was in panic. But Natsuko saved the day. Also, he thought that she was some kind of strange creature, but she was just a human.

Anyway, by episode 2 he was still cautious about her. After all, she was a stranger that came from a place that doesn’t exist. Her hiding her face make it difficult to understand what she is thinking. But after she saved the situation for the second time, he started to became curious about her. So, at first it was curiosity.

In the original movie, Luke met Destiny during Unio funeral. He was in a critical state, but Destiny gives him courage and confort him. But I think it was a one-side love, since Destiny was engaged.

When Luke met Destiny in the anime, she bumped into him and they were in a quite embarrassing situation. It’s official that Luke isn’t comfortable with women, especially his fans. But Destiny wasn’t a fan, she was also cute and innocent, so he is comfortable with her. Probably, when they were dancing she told him about her dream to build an orphanage, so she was also altruistic. In short, they were becoming friends/knowing each other.

He wasn’t in love with Destiny yet. At most, it was a light infatuation considering how they met. But it ends there since Luke was more interested in Natsuko and Destiny discovering her new vocation. So they just stay as friends, none of them interested in a relationship.

At this point, Destiny was already out of the picture. Also, I don’t think he was disappointed in her transformation. Rather, he could find strange her choice to keep wearing a mask. Anyway, there isn’t much interaction between them after that.

Meanwhile, his curiosity toward Natsuko increases day by day until he realises that he can’t stop watching her. He likes her despite her flaws and antics. And it’s the first time he felt that way, thus she is his first love.

With Destiny nothing happened because time and place changed drastically between the original movie and the events in the anime.

[lyquynhnhu]

Zenshu and the red thread of fate

Somehow, Natsuko and Luke relationship remind me of Your Name.

In Your Name, the two protagonist come from different timelines. I don’t remember well the plot, but the girl died in her timeline but was saved later thanks to the bond she created with the boy during the body swap. The concept of the red thread of fate was also a main theme of the movie.

In Zenshu, Natsuko and Luke comes from different worlds. Luke’s world wasn’t supposed to exist except for being the setting of the movie Tale of Perishing. Although for Natsuko Luke was her first love/love at first sight, she was aware that he doesn’t really exist. Thus her confusion after her reincarnation and her denial that Luke isn’t real, but just a drawing.

Natsuko’s action, at times, felt contradictory at the beginning of the anime. She could just reveal the whole plot to the other members and think to a solution from that. After all, she joined the Nine Soldiers for her own survival, so using her knowledge to save herself would be more logical. But it was later revealed that she was cautious because she doesn’t want to hurt them or make them feel guilty. She considered herself a “spectator” and between her unconscious desire to save them from their bad end and her bad habit of doing everything by herself, she keep distance with the others (this was clear in episode 6).

At first, I thought that Tale of Perishing was just an anime she watched during her childhood that for some reason she liked it a lot even though it was bad, and inspired her to pursue drawing and animation. Like, it was something nostalgic for her, but nothing more that that. It was her starting point, but the road is long and she could meet other things along the way. But with recent episodes, we discovered that Natsuko’s life always revolved around Luke.

We don’t know how Natsuko was before watching the movie (Midori only said that she was strange before, but stranger after that), but Natsuko became who she is now for Luke. She dedicated her whole life to be able to draw Luke in every kind of situation at 360 grades. Her following the original director footstep and getting employed by the studio that produced the movie was all to be closer to Luke. For her, becoming a “master of animation” had probably the meaning that she could be closer to the world of Tale of Perishing.

However, it seems that after getting the job, although her talent and skilled got recognised, between deadlines, stress and expectations, she was losing/forgetting her original purpose. It can be said that she already achieved her ambition to be a “master”. Or at least, she is on the right track, but there is nothing after that. She arrived to her destination, but it wasn’t what she expected. Her love for anime before and after joining the industry changed to the point she wants to escape.

Childhood dreams and ambitions don’t always come true the way one wants. Natsuko wanted to become a “master of animation” as fast as possible. She neglected social relationship (has no friends) for it. She couldn’t adapt to her coworkers pace, that’s why she grew to believe that doing everything by herself is faster. She enjoy her success, but success has a dark side too. In her official profile, Natsuko is described as a person who lose sight at her surroundings when she have something she like. She became obsessed with the idea of being a “master” and take over every challenge she is given like the Hatsukoi movie. She didn’t like the concept and doesn’t have romantic experience, but she accepted the job anyway. She did all that research for first love because it was her job. She wasn’t creating something she likes and she couldn’t come up with any idea.

In that particular moment of her life, Natsuko needed salvation. And here is where fate come in action. Natsuko watched Tale of Perishing all the time during her school days, but probably have less time to do it after getting the job. She felt the need to rewatch it after reading the article of the director death and when she collapsed she grab the pegbar that was originally used by the director to create the movie. She was reincarnated in Tale of Perishing to rediscover her original passion for drawing. Luke kind of gave meaning to her life when she was a child and as she was losing that meaning, she is brought to him to reawaken that.

On the other hand, Luke lived in a world with constant wars. From what I understood, the Void hasn’t appeared yet when he was born. Memmeln said that she has fought for centuries and I read somewhere of the “lore” of Tale of Perishing that the 9 countries were at war with each other before the Voids. Probably, in his country, there was a legend about a “legendary hero” and he became that hero by being chosen by his sword (something like Excalibur).

However, Luke doesn’t like to be born like this. He hated his fate. And his role lead him to meet failure and lose his companions and found family. Luke has no family with Unio being the closer thing to a family. He respected Justice a lot and has fond memories of the deceased members. The only one he wasn’t very close seemed to be Memmeln, with him having no idea of her hardship. The Nine Soldiers weren’t a group of warriors brought together only to fight the Voids, they were friends and family. Losing them was very traumatic for him.

And then Natsuko came becoming his salvation in a moment of his life in which he was questioning the purpose of his existence.

Natsuko and Luke come from different worlds and timelines, but a miracle made them meet each other becoming each other’s saviour. In Your Name, too, the main characters could meet and fall in love thanks to a miracle. And they feel incomplete once they were separated.

Personally, even though Luke’s dream is to go somewhere far away, I can’t see it possible for him to go to real world. If it happens, he would be alone because it would be difficult for Unio (an unicorn) to exist in real world. And I can’t see him leaving Unio, either. The only way is for Natsuko to stay (imagine if the real plot twist is the confirmation that Natsuko really died in episode 1). Natsuko only presence change Luke world and she can introduce new thing to that world. It’s not needed to go far. And Natsuko can still keep drawing. She won’t become the “master of animation”, but she can draw anything she wants and do it for a good purpose: to make the people she cares happy with her art and doesn’t need to worry about haters.

Also, to me Tale of Perishing “movie” and the “world” are different things. I don’t think that Luke can be saved by doing a remake of the movie from real world. A remake feel like creating a parallel world, changing nothing in the world they are now. (And realistically, it’s unlikely Natsuko can get the movie rights and founds to do a remake of a movie that most people hated all by herself. No one would sponsor this)

The “world” has its own existence. It’s indeed based on the movie, and with no interference the characters are bound to behave in certain ways in certain situations like it’s natural. But even the original director can’t control the characters like marionettes or expel Natsuko. If she could, she would already have.

Natsuko was too convinced to be a “spectator”, because she was too aware that Tale of Perishing is a movie (professional deformation. Is she wasn’t working in anime industry, she probably wouldn’t be so fixated on fictional vs real). The movie can belong to the director, if the original movie wasn’t created in the first place, Natsuko wouldn’t be the person she is right now. It’s not a matter of it’s right or wrong to change the story. She now belong to that world and has every right to do what she wants to survive and save the people she loves.

It’s really like Natsuko and Luke are connected by the red thread of fate and it works as a circle.

Natsuko find a purpose in life in drawing thanks to Luke

Luke (as gadget) was always by Natsuko side (well, she keep him by her side all the time to be correct), her unconditional love for him that made her never give up

When she was about to quit drawing, she find a reason to draw again to save him

At the same time, Luke needed to understand the meaning of his life and found that in Natsuko (he doesn’t like his world, but she likes it, so he will fight for her)

Her drawing saved him both literally (she saved them in a lot of situation without anyone getting hurt) and emotionally

”Drawing” is the mean that represent the thread of fate and they meet each other in their most critical moments. If they get separated they would miss each other too much, so I really hope for their happy ever after.

[lyquynhnhu]

Only 1 episode left

After this episode and episode 12 preview, I doubt that the anime will have the same ending as the movie. But, even at this point, it’s really hard for me to imagine the ending.

The background for the anticipation of episode 12 is Natsuko office. I don’t want her to be back to reality. In this episode, Natsuko said that she was relieved to have died (not confirmed if she really is dead or in coma), so che could escape from the expectations and work stress. But if after saving Tale of Perishing she will return to reality and start living in a more relaxed way, not trying to keep her reputation as a genius, etc. In a sense, she would start a new life (correct her life), living differently from what she used to do.

At the same time, this episode emphasises that Natsuko’s life have always revolved around Luke. All the study she did, like when she forced her classmates to run, was to study movements for Luke. She wanted to know everything of him in 360 grades.

Natsuko and Luke are complementary. Luke found a reason to live with Natsuko, while Natsuko seemed to not be interested in anything before watching Tale of Perishing. In a sense, Luke became her reason to live. I was right about the voice from the pegbar being Natsuko childhood voice. And I guessed right about the scene of Natsuko being in a cinema watching her past. I noticed that when Natsuko took the pegbar from her childhood self, in the screen was projected the scene from episode 8 when Luke confessed to her. Is this foreshadowing for an happy ending?

Also, in the narration of episode 12 preview by Natsuko, she said that she have to stop being a spectator. Until now, she never noticed that she was changing the movie and that wasn’t her intention. But now she wants to actively do something to save Luke. I remember in episode 2 Natsuko wanted to be back to reality because she doesn’t want to come to hate the movie. Knowing how the movie ended and that she will witness it in first person, she knew it that she was going to hate it.

In this episode, Natsuko experienced a moment of despair acknowledging that she isn’t a genius and that she isn’t an “original creator”. She is good at drawing and doing adaptations, but that’s it. A part of me feels that the Hatsukoi** movie was a bait and that she is not supposed to complete it. This project represents a challenge for her, both for the theme of love and for it being something totally original. And she is facing these challenges after the reincarnation.

On the other hand, Luke’s despair was really hard to watch. Basically, the plot was created to torture him. There are way and way to write a tragedy, but even in tragedy the characters fight for some purpose. But on this case, Luke and the Nine Soldiers were destined to fail from the beginning. They protected a fake hope. They died in vain. Don’t know how the other members were chosen, but Luke and Unio lives were already decided since birth. Luke said that he wants to go somewhere where he can stop being a hero, but he also wants to go with Unio. So I don’t think he can go to reality, how can they explain the existence of Unio? That’s why I prefer Natsuko to stay.

As for Unio, I’m liking him more and more this latest episode. He was annoying, but he got a great character development. Especially now that he acknowledges Natsuko being the one able to save Luke. This is a reason more to reject an ending in which they would separate.

In the next episode Natsuko will have to come up with something to save Luke, who is transforming into the Ultimate Void. But is there enough time to confront the original director, too? Or the director is only interested to see the ending of the movie and even if it won’t end the way she wanted, she is just uninterested to what come after?

And Memmeln friends are still working on reviving QJ. Hope the original team being together again.

Anyway, I’ll be the one feeling empty without this anime airing every Sunday. Really, it’s probably since Bubby Daddies (it airs 2 years ago) that I’m not so invested in an original anime.

**I just have this idea while writing this, what if to save Luke Natsuko will draw a romantic scene in which she confessed to him that he is her first love? And when Luke turn back normal, she will confess again in person, for real.

[lyquynhnhu]

Episode 10 was hard to watch

This episode was hard to watch, I could really feel the stress and despair.

Basically, the Nine Soldiers exist for nothing. They are nothing more than a temporary hope for the people, Baobab never expected them to save the world. They are sacrifices. The lore of Tale of Perishing is really bad. Although the story was created with a bad ending in mind, this reveal emphasises how bad written it was. Literally, everything was useless. Their existence is useless.

With every episode, I start to appreciate Unio more. In this episode he got a bit of character development during his conversation with Justice. At the beginning he was really annoying, but with every episode it’s shown that he really care for Luke.

As for Memmeln, I think she and the two elf are trying to resurrect QJ. The “puzzle” they were doing is definitely pieces of QJ (recognise his antenna) and in the previous episode when he exploded it was shown that his pieces fall to the ground. They weren’t wearing the robes like the other cultist, so they have nothing to do with them.

As for Natsuko, she was really in crisis. She is once again in an artistic block like during episode 1. The Voids copying her drawings now is suspicious. I think the director is behind it. This copying thing started in episode 8, and in the same episode Natsuko showed the director the pegbar. Probably, the director didn’t know about the pegbar power before, but after she discovered and since the pegbar was originally hers, she is taking advantage of it now.

As for episode 11 preview, the title is worrying. Luke desperate expression looking at the pegbar disappearing is very sad.

The only positive thing seems Unio being “still alive”. I mean, he didn’t disappear completely. He still exists somewhere.

Natsuko didn’t appear in the preview, but according to last week interview, in episode 11 she will come to terms with her past self. Maybe we will discover the origin of the voice from the pegbar. I did suspect it to be Natsuko past self voice.

I’m not sure Natsuko will awaken in the real world. Instead, I think she will found herself in a kind of limbo reviving her past memories. Maybe she will be seated in a cinema (like in the opening) watching her past. Don’t know how to describe it, the most similar scene that comes to my mind now is the ending act of Fontaine of Genshin Impact (the Furina trial in the theatre).

After coming to terms with her past, she will be given the choice to return to real world or save Tale of Perishing. Natsuko thinks she can’t do anything to save the world, having lost her powers, but if she still have Unio’s broken horn, it could come in handy.

This would be a hard choice, because choosing to save Tale of Perishing means she has to give up the real world forever. I really want an happy ending for Luke and Natsuko, but her returning to reality is more realistic because she has her movie to finish to close her character arc. But, at the same time, the movie wasn’t her idea. She was given the job from her boss, more like a challenge.

I think it’s not bad for her character arc to choose to save the world creating something original capable to change the course of the original plot, defeating the director, and at the same time finding true love.

in short, the “Hatsukoi” movie was a misleading narrative device from the beginning.

And Luke deserve to be happy, since he was born/created as a “legendary hero”, forced to live in battle and lose his friends all to keep a false hope. He wasn’t wrong saying it’s all the Soul Future fault.

[lyquynhnhu]

Episode 9 thoughts

I appreciate the recap from Luke point of view and how he fell for Natsuko. I was waiting for an episode from his perspective.

I wondered, if Luke was always able to use the powerful technique he did in episode 6 and 8, why didn’t he used it in episode 1 and 2? Well, it seems that power comes from his feelings for Natsuko, so it make sense that he didn’t use it before. Maybe he wasn’t even able to do it in the movie.

Finally, Natsuko reveals the full story of “Tale of Perishing”. To QJ only, though. Why didn’t she reveal it from the beginning instead of keep it a secret and only tells bit of it? Well, she did tell something in episode 2, but Luke made her angry so she refused to reveal further. Also, regarding episode 2, she knew about the flying void, but she didn’t explain how to defeat them. My theory is that that specific battle wasn’t shown (only narrated during Unio funeral to contextualise the poor harvest) or there was no battle at all. Episode 2 was titled “Defend”, so it could have been a defence battle and voids just retreat after ruining the harvest to weaken their enemies.

In Natsuko’s defence, she does admit several times that she never understood the original movie and once the story stopped following the plot, it was probably hard for her to logically imagine future outcomes. She doesn’t even noticed that she is changing the story, but at the same time she realise that since Unio and Destiny didn’t die, the probability of Luke falling into despair are low.

Natsuko is indeed in a complicated position (but she is not aware of it). Since she loves the original, she has no desire to change it. At the same time, she tried hard to save the characters from the tragedy. She is indecisive, and her indecision is her fault. She has also difficulty to understand her own situation. She is not sure if she is dead, reincarnated, dreaming or if she can considered that world as a different reality. If the characters are just “characters” or real people.

By the way, reading this week interview, it seems in episode 11, Natsuko’s will finally take a decision about her relationship with the movie. Maybe we will understand what she like about this movie and if she has always wanted to change it to give the characters an happy ending.

QJ is MVP this episode. In the original movie he didn’t seem relevant, at all. Always in recharge when void attack and probably forgotten near the end. He was suppose to be the last survivor, but he decided to sacrifice to change the future. Didn’t expect this, since the preview suggests that Unio was the one about to die. Hope no other character die, Unio already at risk 2 times. A 3rd time is too much.

The thing that most attracts my attention in the preview of episode 10 is Baobab talking to Natsuko. I was already suspicious of her from the second trailer and in episode 3 she was trying to tell Natsuko something but stopped because that was a day to celebrate. They never resume the conversation after that.

The new key visual is very impactful. “It’s all you fault” is directed to who? Instead of Luke, it seems it’s Natsuko who says it. To the original creator? But if the original director never created the movie, that world wouldn’t exist either. Or are the movie and that world separate things, but the bird is forcing the original plot? Anyway, Natsuko looked really angry.

The original movie was sure a tragedy. It makes no sense watching a story that end with the end of the world (ok, the title implied it, but at the end it feels just a waste of time). No wonder it gave depression to the viewers.

I can’t imagine what will happen in the last 3 episodes. How will they wrap the “original ending” storyline and “Natsuko and Luke first love” storyline.

This episode seems also to imply that Natsuko is not capable to draw original things. All her drawing are from the posters we saw in the studio where she worked. And when working on “Hatsukoi” she said that “nothing can be born” (literal translation from Japanese). Maybe not having romantic experience wasn’t her only issue. She probably only worked on adaptations or stories written from someone else, never on original concept.

From one of the interviews, they said that “Zenshu is a rom-com”, emphasising it. Not it’s an isekai with romance as subplot. The romance is the main genre. And I never seen a rom-com in which the lovers get separated. I don’t want Natsuko to save the world and return to reality. Even during peaceful time she never made an effort to return to reality. She has given up it until the bird director told her to go back. And I think the director said that only to get rid of her, maybe it’s not even possible.

[lyquynhnhu]

Episode 8 reaction

This episode went so fast. And next episode looks very worrying. This episode focused on Luke confessing his feeling to Natsuko, but there was also little focus on Unio (Luke considers him his family) and from the preview I fear he will sacrifice himself like in the original movie.

The bird is confirmed to be the original director and Natsuko’s pegbar was hers. Maybe is because of that that Natsuko is able to use “magic” to change the plot, but it doesn’t explain why the pegbar talks to Natsuko and activates when it wants.

And what does it means that the director had to “cut some scenes”? Is she controlling the voids just to make the movie end in tragedy? Maybe she doesn’t realise that she is in a real world based on the movie. She is the type of reincarnator too fixated with the original plot. Well, in her case it’s her movie.

Also, Natsuko being dead or not not confirmed yet. The director doesn’t know how to return to reality, she probably said that to make Natsuko disappear so that she will not change the story further. But saying it makes Natsuko doubt about her condition. But at least she knows that that world is not fictional, although she is a bit in denial.

Talking about denial, I like that once he realised his feeling, Luke is not in denial about it. The scene in which Unio spit the beer, I thought when I saw the preview last week, he was shocked because Luke told him he is in love with Natsuko (since Unio doesn’t like Natsuko). But Luke just tell him he wants to marry her, without saying he was referring to Natsuko, but Unio knew very well from the beginning. It was hilarious.

Luke is really cute. It’s really rare that the guy is so direct with his feelings. But he forget to consider Natsuko feelings. He doesn’t know what Natsuko thinks of him, after all.

The onsen part is hilarious, and we get a bit of lore about the Nine Soldiers. Also, it was the first time Natsuko seeing Luke real power. In episode 6 she was too far to see it. Maybe a similar scene was in the movie and probably one of Natsuko favourite scene. Seeing it in live, made her realise that Luke was indeed her first love. It’s confirmed he was her favourite character.

Anyway, I’m more and more confused about the original Tale of Perishing. Natsuko liked it a lot and by extension all the director movies. However, like the director pointed, she is changing/ruining the original and Destiny is an example of it. But Natsuko likes the current Destiny more. If you like the original, you’re not supposed to change it.

Also, if the movie is supposed to be really bad, why is the director so famous for it? My theory is that in Natsuko mind “animation” and “story” are two different things. Animation in the sense of sakuga, representing the expression of the characters and art. While story is secondary in importance for her. You hear that a lot “anime carried by animation, while story is mid”.

Anyway, I’m worried about the next 4 episodes. Don’t want a tragedy ending, a sad ending or realistic ending (that Luke and Natsuko will get separated). After building a so cute love story, I really need an happy ending. I mean, I read the interview of yesterday and it was said Luke didn’t want to be the legendary hero. He deserves happiness and if Natsuko leaves him for real world, he won’t be happy. And Natsuko, she can use her experience to finish her movie, but her first love will end with heartbreak. I don’t think that’s the kind of message the anime aims to give (I hope).

Yes, in episode 7 we see some example of “first love” that end before even starting. But in their case, I don’t think it was romantic love, rather a crush, an infatuation, a fling (how you call it).

In the case of Natsuko’s elementary school classmate, she was probably touched by Natsuko passion for what she likes. It was Natsuko love for the movie that reached her making her feelings like she was in love. But she wasn’t in love with Natsuko as a person.

In the case of the middle school guy, he was a young boy in that kind of age in which he wants to experience love. Natsuko used him, but at the same time encouraged him to give his best with running. She was the first girl to give him some attention and mistakes it for love. After all, he doesn’t know her well. His was just a fleeting infatuation.

In the case of the university senpai, he fell for her talent like Natsuko fell for the original director talent. Again, he doesn’t love her as a person. It was the kind of first love you feel when meeting something extraordinary or love for a muse, something like that.

Natsuko’s boss first love is unreliable. She admits to have had 108 first love. In the sense that she felt the sensation of falling in love many times in different circumstances.

To sum up, they were all “first love” in the sense of something extraordinary that makes your heart feel the “tyunk”, but not romantic love for the person itself.

I really wish, in Natsuko case, her first love = true love.

[lyquynhnhu]

Unpopular opinion for the ending

After reading everywhere that the majority want for Zenshu’s ending:

Natsuko going back to her world and realise that was all a dream

Luke dying like in the original movie

Natsuko meeting a person in real world who resemble Luke and fall in love (Why? I don’t understand! They are different people)

In my opinion, it makes no sense that the anime will end in tragedy like the original movie. The title means literally “remake everything”, so at least it should end in the opposite way of the original movie. That’s the minimum.

As for the first point, Natsuko returning to real world does make sense. Even though for me it will be a bittersweet ending.

It makes sense because:

Her lifelong dream is to become a master animator

she has a unfinished job to do

A theme of the anime is that she need to learn about love so that she can represent it in the movie she is working on

However, she can also decide to stay in the isekai:

If she keeps her power, she can animate everything she wants

If becoming an animator was only a mean to feel connected with the movie that impacted her so much, she has no reason to go back

does she have anything she care/she miss in the real world apart her job?

So, to resolve all this point, my hypothesis for an ending is:

The bird director was right, for how much Natsuko tries to correct the story, the end of the world will happen anyway because she is the “god” of the world and is omnipotent

Natsuko is about to lose the battle, but she came up with a last method to save everyone thus rewriting the story. Although she loved the original, she thinks that it isn’t wrong to create her own version of the story

Natsuko will draw a time-machine (Steins Gate reference maybe) and send Luke and everyone in the past at the beginning of the movie, when the Nine Soldiers were just founded. And they keep the memory of the “future”

Natsuko can’t go with them, she will awake in the real world

Thanks to the isekai experience, she is able to complete the “Hatsukoi” movie and began to relies on her coworkers. The movie will receive mixed critics, but she is satisfied with the results anyway because she could create the story she wants (not sure if she will go for an happy ending or one in which the couple will separate)

After this movie, Natsuko decide to go on hiatus. After awaking she was absorbed in work and had no time to settle her feeling or feel heartbroken because she had to separate from everyone. She wonders if what she experienced was a dream or not, but prefer to think it was real. She wonders if the time travel really worked

in the meantime, the time travel worked. Luke and co still remember of Natsuko and with the knowledge of the future they managed to prevent all the void attacks without losing anyone

The bird director just observe the new timeline and thinks that nothing will change anyway. She thinks the character are just postponing the inevitable tragedy, but she began to get annoyed that they managed to survive for very long

The bird director try to test the characters, put them in dire situation to trigger the tragedy, but they never lose to her. The director realises she is losing control of the world

On the other hand, while on hiatus, Natsuko reflect about her purpose in life. Since she was a child, her dream was to become a master animator and she did achieve that dream. She even got promoted to director. But why did she tried so hard to become an animator in the first place? She loves drawing, but once she entered in the “industry” she lost her way. All she does is working

To clear her mind, she decides to watch A Tale of Perishing once again. When the movie was about to enter the “depressing arc”, the movie stopped. Natsuko thinks there is some problem with her TV, but the screen began to flash and when she open her eyes she is once again in the world of the movie

Like the first time, she is in a desert, but the void doesn’t attack her. She began to walk toward “Last Town” but the the town is not called “Last Town”. She wonders in which point of the movie she is

Then the void alarm rings and she see from afar Luke and Unio going to fight the voids, she goes to a place to see the scene better and then spotted Justice (can still fly) and the Nine Soldiers that were supposed to be dead. That wasn’t a scene of the movie she is familiar with. The situation seemed very dangerous and she fears someone could die, her power awakes and manages to destroy the void army.

While Luke was elaborating what happened, Natsuko appears behind him. It took him some time to realise he wasn’t dreaming and that Natsuko has really return. On the other hand, Natsuko didn’t expect him to remember her

After exchanging information about what happened during the separation, the bird director pay Natsuko a visit. The director declares that she has lost control of the characters and the world. She also states that the world seems to love Natsuko, that’s because Natsuko love the movie more than anyone even the original creator

The director declares she will leave the world and she doesn’t want to have anything to do with it. However, this won’t end the menace of the void and the Great Void. It’s up to Natsuko to find a way to save everyone and she is not going to give her useful information about the origins of the voids. Natsuko accept the challenge. The real “rewriting” has just began

[lyquynhnhu]

Episode 7 is fantastic

So, since she was a child, Natsuko was a person who is dedicated to her passion and seek perfection in everything she does. She even copy the entire guide of A Take of Perishing and follow the movie director lifestyle like a Bible.

And I was right when I wrote in this post that she was not cheering to the boy in the athletic club, instead she was yelling at him to run faster.

Anyway, I’m even more curious about A Tale of Perishing’s plot. Natsuko likes the movie even though she doesn’t understand it. The university senpai considered it his “favourite movie” and said that Natsuko has good taste in anime. Natsuko’s boss stated that Natsuko is a genius on the level of A Tale of Perishing director. So, is the movie that bad? From what was shown in the anime, I though it is indeed bad (for example never explaining Memmeln betrayal), but if it is really so bad, why it is still famous?

I mean, in the article about the director death, it was written “the director of A Tale of Perishing died from food poisoning”. Doesn’t she have other famous works to be remembered? Also, the movie seemed to be quite old. I have the felling that when Natsuko watched it for the first time in elementary school, that wasn’t the first release.

And about Natsuko’s first love. I think there are 3 possibilities.

Animation itself - she spent all her life studying even the smallest movements. Maybe the movie had very great animation

The movie of “A Tale of Perishing” - she stated that she didn’t understand the plot, but when she thinks about it she is more emotional. She also dedicated to become like the movie director, if she only like animation to become a master she would study other directors, too

Luke - she draw Luke more than the other characters and she is always emotional when thinking about what happened to Luke at the end of the movie (Just what happened? I want to know, now!)

And at the end, the bird director finally appears in front of Natsuko. I had this feeling since the beginning, but differently from other isekais, where the main character is reincarnated as a villain/doomed character and have to escape a bad ending or in which the main character hate the original story and wants to change it, Natsuko like A Tale of Perishing. But by changing the events, she is distorting/destroying the original story. I think this will be the main conflict between Natsuko and the original director, rather than the Great Void.

Natsuko doesn’t seem to care that she is drastically changing the story. She, as an animator, seems to be more focused in the animation aspect more that the writing. The “Sailor Moon” anime she worked she was in charge of directing, but the concept of the story was probably written by someone else. In “First Love” case, she has to write the story herself on a theme she is totally unfamiliar with.

In these latest episode, there were fewer reference to iconic anime scene. But, after rewatching episode 6 I notices that when Unio kicked Luke, the scene remind me of when Conan (Detective Conan) kicked the ball to stop criminals. Especially in Conan movies, when Conan kicked the soccer ball is always quite epic.

While in this episode, when the university senpai declare that he will become a “Great Master” while looking outside the window (don’t know if this is the translation in English, I watched the anime in Italian sub), that sentence in Japanese has the same grammatical form of Luffy iconic phase “I’ll be Pirate King” in One Piece.

As for the next episode, I’m really excited. Never expected a confession so soon. And as I quite predicted, Luke seems to confess that he likes Natsuko to Unio first.

Even without summoning, the anime still keep to do reference in other way.

But I’m really afraid that Natsuko will return to real world once she find the meaning of first love. Please, have an happy ending.

[lyquynhnhu]

Haven’t watched the episode of today yet (still 2 hours until it released in my country), but I’ve seen the preview of episode 8 and the title is “Confession”… I’ve almost faint.

I mean, I knew the theme of love would be important in this anime, but I supposed it would be touched near the end. But not only we get an episode titled “Fist Love”, but also one about a “Confession”.

Well, “confession” have many meanings. It could be a “confession” about the the truth of that world or something else. But from the context and the images of the preview…

This anime is just full of surprise. Before episode 1, it was believed to be an anime about the work of an animator. Then it turned out to be an isekai. Then, it made me interested in the original story of “A Tale of Perishing” and how Natsuko would change the destiny of the characters. Then, we had 2 episode centred on Natsuko growth because of her tendency to do everything alone. And now it turned out to be a love story/shojo anime?

I mean, I really like how it is going. But in other anime the subplot I’m interested in is always secondary. But it’s not the case here.

Anyway, the 4 remaining episode will be quite serious because the suspicion bird made an official appearance and it will centred once again in the original tragedy, I guess.

I’m really enjoying this anime.

[lyquynhnhu]

Imagining Natsuko & Luke romantic development

From episode 6 preview we saw that Natsuko will recover from her failure and probably change idea about doing everything by herself. She also tie her hair in the last seconds of the preview.

We also see Luke and Justice talk to each other. I think they talk about the past and reconcile. But, I can imagine the conversation being like this:

“What’s you relationship with Natsuko? Are you close? Since when?” (Luke)

“Why are you asking? Are you perhaps jealous?” (Justice)

“That’s not it. Natsuko is a member of the Nine Soldiers and as the leader I have the responsibility to protect my companions from dangerous people like you”

After that:

Justice rejoins Nine Soldiers

Justice flirting with Natsuko to make Luke jealous

Unio doesn’t want Luke to realise his feelings for Natsuko and do everything to make him never realise

Luke is convinced that he is only curious about Natsuko because he can’t understand her (every time he moves her hair to see her face, it seems he wants to confirm that Natsuko is human and not some strange creature)

Luke consult with QJ to clear his doubts, QJ estimates that Luke is in love

Luke doesn’t understand love yet and consults with Memmeln and Destiny, but they are not of much help. Memmeln is a fangirl for her idol, Destiny admire Serval Cat and aspire to be like him. That are different kind of love

Eventually, Luke consults with Unio, too. Unio doesn’t want him to realise, but he wants Luke to be happy. So he explains to him what it means to be in love

Natsuko happens to overhear the conversation and start prying Luke to tell her about his first love and wants him to draw it, ruining the atmosphere

(Luke never tell anyone he is feeling this way about Natsuko, but everyone already know, except Natsuko)

Luke give up and tell Natsuko about his first love in a vague way. From his description, Natsuko try to draw it and she draw something very different from her

Natsuko is happy that Luke has found happiness, considering what happens to him in the movie. But somehow feels sad, too

Luke is embarrassed to be the only one telling her about his first love and ask Natsuko about her first love

Natsuko simply and directly replies that she has nothing to tell, having never fall in love. She add that she had difficulties in her job because of it. She also says that she wants to gather all the information she can to resume her job when she’ll return to her world

They both realise that they’ll never see each other again when Natsuko will return to her world

silence fall

Wait, I wanted to write something funny and humorous, why did it turned melancholic?

Seriously, the non-confirmation about Natsuko status is making me crazy. Is she dead or she is just in coma?

I DON’T WANT an ending like in Meiji Tokyo Renka anime.

[lyquynhnhu]

I was right guessing Luke wanted to ask Justice about their relationship with Natsuko, but he stopped midway.

Anyway, as of episode 6, I realised Natsuko and Nine Soldiers look more like colleagues than friends. Natsuko is like an employee just being transferred to another department. She is used to work in a certain way, and keep doing so. The only time Natsuko and Luke “worked together” is in episode 4. But in the end Natsuko solved the problem on her own way again. She also did all the work to bring the children to the orphanage alone.

Luke seems to consider his companions like friends. But Natsuko is still an outsider. They have very few interaction and they mostly talk about work. Yes, Luke is interested in her because she is resourceful, creative and solved problems many times (and because she is cute). He still like her despite her flaws, but he admit that he knows very little about her.

As for Natsuko, it’s still unclear to me if the considered the Nine Soldiers as “characters” or “real people”. Natsuko seems to like every shade of them, even if it’s something out of character (in comparison to the original movie). For example, Destiny transforms from damsel in distress to a wrestler; Memmeln was supposed to be mysterious and emotionless, but now she is cute and an idol fan; and Luke behaving in ridiculous way.

So, the first half of the anime concluded the arc of “Natsuko has to learn about teamwork”, I guess. Now there are only 6 episodes left to cover:

Natsuko learning about love

Defeating permanently the Voids

Why Natsuko was reincarnated in that world and what is the suspicious bird (reincarnation of the original movie director or manifestation of the world fate or whatever) purposes

What is exactly Natsuko’s powers and why it activate only in specific moments (she can’t controls it, what are the conditions)

Luke backstory (want to know why he was chosen as the legendary hero), Nine Soldiers backstory

Natsuko and Luke relationship development (since the staff emphasises this a lot in their interviews)

Please do not a bittersweet ending. If Natsuko really returns to her world to finish the movie, it’s okay only if once she finished and is a great success she return to the fantasy world. An ending like Inuyasha.

It’s a pity there is no time to explore the lore of the world of A Tale of Perishing. Maybe I’m too used to reincarnation stories in which the original plot is unreliable. Like stories in which the protagonist is reincarnation as the villainess of a novel, but turned out she is a victim because the original protagonist is evil and she brainwashed the other characters to make them treat her like a saint.

I know the original movie concept is Voids suddenly appears and there is a prophecy that when the Great Void appear the world will end. But just what are the voids? Where they come from? Do they have a base or a nest, or they just appears from nothing? Is it really possible to annihilate them all? (I suppose the answer is no, since in the original movie it looks like Luke is the last survivor)

[lyquynhnhu]

A Tale of Perishing - analysis (part 2) + episode 6 comment

So, in episode 6 we learned that the 4 missing soldiers are already dead. And it was implied that the Nine Soldiers were formed quite recently. In the sense, Luke & co. are the first/original members of the party. I don’t know why, but during Memmeln episode I thought that she was a veteran and that the Nine Soldiers has changed formation many times.

This means Natsuko didn’t reincarnated at the beginning of the movie, but in the middle?

I supposed the original movie was about Luke falling into depression after losing one by one his companion and never recover, but in episode 1 he looks quite normal. I understand he wants to fight to not make his friends’ death be in vane, but the original movie was described to be very depressing and right now the way I imagine the movie the depressing part is only at the end starting with the death of Unio, then Memmeln betrayal and Destiny being killed last.

The first part of episode 6 seems to depict the beginning of the movie. The party was just formed and they managed to defeat the void. This victory make them gain confidence and high morale. At that time, voids have just appeared and they have already eaten some Soul Future.

During the fight defending the 8th one, Ganger (the golem) died and Justice defected because unable to fight anymore. It seems that was the last appearance of Justice in the movie. But what about the other heroes? I mean the mermaid, the dwarf and Chingosman?

If I don’t remember wrong, they weren’t during the 8th Soul Future battle. The 2nd trailer really deceived me. Chingosman burning in front of Luke seemed a very impactful scene in the trailer, but that already happen before episode 1 of the anime and Luke seems to have recovered.

It’s quite sad to not have more details about the the others characters.

Speaking of episode 6, from the preview, I already deduced that Natsuko wanted to get her revenge on her own. Well, it’s in character for her and it seems the next episode is entirely focused on her past. She was quickly convinced to collaborate by Memmeln, just because she likes to discover hidden characteristics of the characters.

I quite feel bad for Unio, his horn got broken and I realised it was foreshadowed in the previous episode. But, he never said anything when Natsuko used to throw Unio taking him by the horn.

Now the anime is turning more serious and once finished with Natsuko character development storyline it’ll shift to “Natsuko interfering and changing the original story will be effective or useless?” storyline.

Also, before every episode they release an interview and each of them end with “pay attention to Natsuko and Luke relationship”. This emphasis on their relationship development make me excited because I really ship them, but also feel fear. I really fear a separation ending. Because Natsuko returning to her world to finish her job make sense for the story, but emotionally I refuse to accept it.

The next episode is also titled “First Love”. Since I watched the first 3 episode I realised “love” is an important theme of the anime. Not only because Natsuko was working on a movie about first love, but also because in the character profile on the official site they have to add the info about “first love” for the main characters. It was indeed a hint.

From episode 7 preview, it seemed Natsuko was quite close to a boy/classmate/childhood friend. But according to her profile, she has zero experience with love. From a first watched, it seems Natsuko was cheering for the boy who was running. But later, it seems that she was just yelling at him to run faster so that she can draw him run like a professional athlete.

Anyway, Natsuko first love is obviously the original movie. She stated that she drew Luke a lot, since he is the protagonist and thus he have more screen time. But she also like all the others characters too. Memmeln have noticed that Natsuko is fighting to protect something.

However, there is one thing I don’t understand. If the purpose of Natsuko reincarnating in A Tale of Perishing is to change the story to save everyone from their destiny, why did she reincarnated in a point of the movie when half of the main character are already dead?

[lyquynhnhu]

Imagining Natsuko & Luke romantic development

From episode 6 preview we saw that Natsuko will recover from her failure and probably change idea about doing everything by herself. She also tie her hair in the last seconds of the preview.

We also see Luke and Justice talk to each other. I think they talk about the past and reconcile. But, I can imagine the conversation being like this:

“What’s you relationship with Natsuko? Are you close? Since when?” (Luke)

“Why are you asking? Are you perhaps jealous?” (Justice)

“That’s not it. Natsuko is a member of the Nine Soldiers and as the leader I have the responsibility to protect my companions from dangerous people like you”

After that:

Justice rejoins Nine Soldiers

Justice flirting with Natsuko to make Luke jealous

Unio doesn’t want Luke to realise his feelings for Natsuko and do everything to make him never realise

Luke is convinced that he is only curious about Natsuko because he can’t understand her (every time he moves her hair to see her face, it seems he wants to confirm that Natsuko is human and not some strange creature)

Luke consult with QJ to clear his doubts, QJ estimates that Luke is in love

Luke doesn’t understand love yet and consults with Memmeln and Destiny, but they are not of much help. Memmeln is a fangirl for her idol, Destiny admire Serval Cat and aspire to be like him. That are different kind of love

Eventually, Luke consults with Unio, too. Unio doesn’t want him to realise, but he wants Luke to be happy. So he explains to him what it means to be in love

Natsuko happens to overhear the conversation and start prying Luke to tell her about his first love and wants him to draw it, ruining the atmosphere

(Luke never tell anyone he is feeling this way about Natsuko, but everyone already know, except Natsuko)

Luke give up and tell Natsuko about his first love in a vague way. From his description, Natsuko try to draw it and she draw something very different from her

Natsuko is happy that Luke has found happiness, considering what happens to him in the movie. But somehow feels sad, too

Luke is embarrassed to be the only one telling her about his first love and ask Natsuko about her first love

Natsuko simply and directly replies that she has nothing to tell, having never fall in love. She add that she had difficulties in her job because of it. She also says that she wants to gather all the information she can to resume her job when she’ll return to her world

They both realise that they’ll never see each other again when Natsuko will return to her world

silence fall

Wait, I wanted to write something funny and humorous, why did it turned melancholic?

Seriously, the non-confirmation about Natsuko status is making me crazy. Is she dead or she is just in coma?

I DON’T WANT an ending like in Meiji Tokyo Renka anime.

[lyquynhnhu]

Opinion after episode 5

From the preview I thought the Sailor Moon reference would have been the main Natsuko’s creation of this episode. But it turned out I was totally wrong.

Also, we learned that one of the Nine Soldiers already died before the story. Does that mean Luke, Unio, Memmeln, QJ and Justice are the only one alive? Or the others defected like Justice? That’s why none of them appear in the opening (I’m of the opinion that the opening should show all the characters, even as silhouettes)?

By the way, Natsuko seemed to accepted very easily that the story is moving differently from the movie. However, her bad tendency to do everything alone is manifesting and she meets her first failure.

In the meantime, we meet Justice and we will learn more of her backstory in the next episode. And it seems there will be a “love triangle” between Natsuko, Luke and Justice. Maybe love triangle is not the right definition, but Luke is definitely jealous and misunderstood that scene between Natsuko and Justice.

Also, it was very brief, but the suspicious bird of last episode says that it doesn’t matter how many time Natsuko will change the story, nothing will change.

I like how the episode was well balanced between funny and serious moments, introduced bit of backstory, some lore, touch Natsuko problem of doing everything alone and slowly develop Natsuko and Luke relationship.

But, I thought that there would be an episode for everyone of the Nine Soldiers. But supposing the others are all dead, this ruin my theory. Also, after studying the trailers, where it was shown the deaths of Chingosman and Admiral (the mermaid), I thought that happens later in the original film. However, from the staff interview it seems that the remaining heroes have some secrets that will be revealed in future episodes. So they must be alive.

The one who died, Ganger, was a golem. Maybe golems don’t “die”, he is just inactive but it’s unknown how much time it’s needed to be activated again (?). I mean, all heroes voice actors were already announced. They don’t usually announce in advance the voice actors of minor characters who appears only in flashbacks.

Also, in all this kind of reincarnation isekai, the story never follows the original source and there is always a bigger mystery to be revealed.

The more I think about it, the more I want this anime to be 2 cours. Since they didn’t resolve the thing with Justice this episode, we have less episode to cover the others characters.

For me, they could do cour 1 about Natsuko overcoming her problem of doing everything alone, while introducing the members of the hero party, their backstory and relationship (for example we know Luke admired Justice), with a cliffhanger at the end of the first part introducing the main antagonist and it’s objective (suspicious bird*). And cour 2 about world building, lore and mystery (for example, what are the voids? Why did they appear in the world?). In between some filler episode for more character relationship development and Natsuko understanding love (her flaw to do everything alone isn’t her only problem).

I like the anime as of now and probably the remaining missing heroes won’t be relevant, so no backstory for them. The story can be closed in 12 episodes, it’s just me who prefer slower pace and more characters developments and just want more. Also, I’m really curious about the choice of 9 heroes instead of fewer if they don’t intended to introduce all of them. Maybe because “Seven Soldiers” sounds bad?

*When watching the trailers I noticed the bird in a scene where the city was burning. And I’m also suspicious of Baobab because of the trailer and episode three (her gaze when asking Natsuko how she know the future).

[lyquynhnhu]

A Tale of Perishing - analysis (part 1)

Just watched episode 4 of Zenshu and it was hilarious. To be honest, it’s since episode 2 that I’m curious about the original movie plot.

What we know is that “A Tale of Perishing” was an original anime in movie format. Just from the title it’s is expected to be very dramatic. Natsuko stated that the plot was depressing, the type of angst for angst sake.

Natsuko gets reincarnated at the start of the movie. At this point 8/9 country of that world have already perished. Only 1 city survived, the Last City.

The movie probably just introduced the hero party and soon after the enemy army attacked, like it happened in episode 1. Then Unio sacrificed himself to annihilate the enemies. This means that Unio just died before getting to know his character. However, from the bit of the movie that Natsuko watched on her computer, he was alive. Maybe Unio appears only in flashbacks.

Before Unio funeral, there is the voids attack from the sky. And somehow, Luke, who was devastated by the death of his best friend, somehow managed to defeat them. However, in episode 2, QJ stated that Luke has 3% of possibility to win. Like, in the movie he was mentally unstable but manages to win, while in the anime he was physically and mentally alright and still struggle? My theory is that Luke is able to trigger some special power under dire situation. But since Natsuko resolved it all, the condition to awake such power are not met.

So, after this attack, the city has time to held Unio funeral. There, Luke meets and fall in love with Destiny. We know that Destiny would died, but I think that happened further in the movie. In fact, I think that others of the Nine Soldiers died before she did. After every loss, Destiny stay with Luke to comfort him and give him courage (while also attracting problems). The Memmeln cult stuff probably happened in the middle of the movie. Destiny is probably the last one to die and Luke completely broke.

It’s unclear if the movie ended with Luke saving the world or the enemies winning. It’s probably the former, but it’s not totally an happy ending since almost all the cast have died.

Anyway, since it was an anime movie, the duration is limited and many parts got cut. For example, Natsuko know nothing about the choir and had no idea why Memmeln transformed in the Great Void.

As for Memmeln, she lived more than 200 years always in battlefield. But the void are supposed to have appears not many years ago. On the official site, it’s written that Luke and Memmeln come from different countries before the country falls. Since Memmeln lives long, maybe her country fell century ago while Luke’s fell when he was a child.

Memmeln says that she joined the cult recently. She realizes for a long time that her life is hard, but doesn’t consider taking her own life maybe because of her responsibility as a hero. The Nine Soldiers seems to have been chosen by a prophecy. Unio said that Luke was destined to be become the legend hero the day he was born. Memmeln doesn’t choose to be a hero, but she cares for the world and the people. If she died, void would continue to attack and the people would suffer more with one less hero protecting them. With the cult, she found people who think like her. By awaking the Great Void, Memmeln believe that the world would end peacefully and equally ending everyone suffering. Her decision is quite selfish and drastic, but her decision comes from her particular circumstances.

The cult doesn’t control the void attacks, they just want them to get the last Soul Future. Memmeln doesn’t want to create panic, that’s why transforming into the Great Void and attack Luke was her last card. But she regret it. In the anime she detransformed back because she was having second thoughts, while in the original movie she is easily defeated by Luke. Probably she didn’t even try to fight seriously.

In the movie, all her motives are cut. Nor Luke nor the audience understand this twist of the plot. No wonder the movie was rated bad. I’m quite convinced that the movie condensed the story too much. Like, there are 9 heroes, but they died without getting development. It’s already difficult to develop everyone with 12 episodes (I think Zenshu have only 12 episode, wish it had more), and the movie was 2 hours long.

I think from episode 5 to 9 the anime will introduce the remaining 5 heroes. In the preview we see the dragon who was also in the opening. Usually, in the opening should appear all the characters or at least the silhouettes. But the dragon is the only one that appears.

I really wished this anime has 2 cours.

[jadenoryuu]

I so wish that it was longer as well, this anime is soooo good!

I agree for the most part with this analysis, sans a couple of points:

The movie was a complete tragedy. After Destiny's death (that I think was the last companion standing, too), I think that Luke snaps and becomes he himself the vessel of the great Void (given his expression in the close-up of his face). Maybe somewhen during the possession he gets a bit of lucidity and so sacrifices himself to save the city? Still, he dies at the end, like the rest of the 9 Soldiers.

Memmeln is the second last to go. Natsuko in the 4th episode states how the fake Great Void was a pivotal plot point/ twist, and usually something like that is reserved to a part close to the end to deal more psychic damages.

From the TV Trope page of the anime, I also discovered some interesting things:

You are right and starting from next episode there'll be introduced the other heroes, since the title is "Justice" and the Japanese VA of Edward Fricking Elric is dubbing a character with that very same title name (hilariously, Unio's Jap VA is Alphonse Elric, can't wait to see them interacting). Plus, give the "Next Episode Title"'s background (the reddish stony place with arched doors) is the same shown in the opening with the dragon(born) hero, so this is a further argument supporting his appearance.

It's likely that some of the names of the other heroes will be "Captain" (VA: Katsuhisa Houki) and Chingosman (VA: Kentaro Tone). My hypothesis is that the former is the dwarf and the latter the "plant man" (whose Soul Future was shown as eaten by the Voids in the flashback).

[Trivia: the Sukeban Magical Girl, from Natsuko's first original series, is dubbed by the very same Kotono Mitsuishi (in Japanese) and Patricia Acevedo (in Latino America) who both voiced Sailor Moon.]

If you want op, next time I could add some of my speculations about how things are gonna go? All of my mutuals and friends on discord still haven't watched (or aren't interested in) the anime, so this is the first time I get to gush about it and your analysis was soooo good!

(^～^;)ゞ

Thanks for coming to my counter TED Talk and hope to read your answer!

(ﾉΦωΦ)ﾉ*.✧

[lyquynhnhu]

Thank you for liking my post. I never expected a reply. I've never been good at writing essay or do text analysis at school and english is not my first language. I just enjoy guessing the lore of anime a really like.

By the way, Memmeln being the second last to die make sense. I just suppose that Unio was the first and Destiny the last.

As for the movie being a total tragedy… There was a scene in the first episode after Natsuko collapsed and she as a child was at the cinema watching a scene of the movie with the 9 heroes together. I thought that was the last scene of the movie. Also, I just remember that according to the prophecy the Nine Soldiers are supposed to become the new light of humanity. This could mean that their deaths/sacrifice serve to revive the Soul Futures. So, maybe that scene in the original Luke die defeating the Great Void but after that he reunited with his companion in the afterlife.

As for the remaining heroes, I watched the episode 5 preview in which Memmeln list the names of eight of the Nine Soldies except for Justice (the two you mentioned are included - by the way all the cast was already announced before the anime aired and can be found in Wikipedia along with the seiyuus).

So, next episode will be about Justice, the title of the episode is also "Seigi" (it means justice in japanese). And in the preview we see Natsuko summoning the Sailor Moon homage. And Sailor Moon is iconic for the concept of "champion of justice". Also, it’s funny the way they use the titles in Japanese and in the same episode a character with the name in English appears. Episode 3 was “Unmei” meaning “Destiny” and Destiny character was introduced.

I didn't know about Sailor Moon original seiyuu voicing here. I appreciate that they are not only making tribute to old animes from a visual point of view, but also from the seiyuu side. To be honest, not having watched the original anime for the reference for episode 1 to 3, I didn’t get it at first. After doing a research I discovered that the Tiger Mask (manga) inspired wrestler to wear a tiger mask. I thought it was the opposite, that is a famous wrestler inspired manga and anime to create wrestler character wearing a tiger mask.

With episode 4 it was different, since I’m familiar with Utapri, Idolish7 and many idol anime. And Exister seiyuu is Mamoru Miyano, he voiced a character in Utapri.

Anyway, I wanted to integrate this in my post, but I’ll write it here. I read many comments that said summing an idol to save Memmeln was stupid idea and it make no sense. I rewatched the episode many times, and here’s my explanation to why Natsuko decide to summon an idol.

Natsuko was going to follow Luke’s plan and draw the Great Void

According to Luke, Memmeln’s cult worship the Great Void and they would do everything he says

When Memmeln transform in the Great Void, Natsuko had to think to a plan B on the spot and her solution was to create something the cult could worship

The keyword here is “worship” and according to the many idol anime I’ve watched, idol are indeed people that are worshipped.

The choir is not an evil organisation that wished for the end of the world. Cults are group of peoples that search for salvation through a god. In this case, they choose to worship an evil god (or the only thing more similar to a god that exists in that world. Does that world have religions?). Considering they live in a world with constant war and in the verge or ruin with only one city still existing in the whole planet, it’s not illogical they lose hope. Natsuko basically give them a new god to worship and this god is all “life is beautiful and worth living”. What the cult needed is salvation and something eternal to believe in. And art is something eternal, and idols are connected with music which is a form of art.

Maybe it seems that the cult change values too fast, but it does happen to suddenly fall in love with a song, book, movie, etc. That’s exactly what happened to Memmeln.

Also, about Memmeln not get punished for what she did. From what I understood, transforming the void in the priest was the first and only attempt of the cult to help the void. Before that, they only try random summoning rituals. From a viewer point of view, her motivation are lame and resolution too easy. Even Natsuko didn't expect Memmeln to be a "poor written" character. In the movie she was supposed to be cool and mysterious (her motivation was neve explained, after all). But even Luke, who is supposed to be the leader, a rightful hero, didn't blame her but feel pity for her. Maybe it's just a matter of cultural perspective.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to next episode for more unconventional way to defeat enemies.

[lyquynhnhu]

A Tale of Perishing - analysis (part 1)

Just watched episode 4 of Zenshu and it was hilarious. To be honest, it’s since episode 2 that I’m curious about the original movie plot.

What we know is that “A Tale of Perishing” was an original anime in movie format. Just from the title it’s is expected to be very dramatic. Natsuko stated that the plot was depressing, the type of angst for angst sake.

Natsuko gets reincarnated at the start of the movie. At this point 8/9 country of that world have already perished. Only 1 city survived, the Last City.

The movie probably just introduced the hero party and soon after the enemy army attacked, like it happened in episode 1. Then Unio sacrificed himself to annihilate the enemies. This means that Unio just died before getting to know his character. However, from the bit of the movie that Natsuko watched on her computer, he was alive. Maybe Unio appears only in flashbacks.

Before Unio funeral, there is the voids attack from the sky. And somehow, Luke, who was devastated by the death of his best friend, somehow managed to defeat them. However, in episode 2, QJ stated that Luke has 3% of possibility to win. Like, in the movie he was mentally unstable but manages to win, while in the anime he was physically and mentally alright and still struggle? My theory is that Luke is able to trigger some special power under dire situation. But since Natsuko resolved it all, the condition to awake such power are not met.

So, after this attack, the city has time to held Unio funeral. There, Luke meets and fall in love with Destiny. We know that Destiny would died, but I think that happened further in the movie. In fact, I think that others of the Nine Soldiers died before she did. After every loss, Destiny stay with Luke to comfort him and give him courage (while also attracting problems). The Memmeln cult stuff probably happened in the middle of the movie. Destiny is probably the last one to die and Luke completely broke.

It’s unclear if the movie ended with Luke saving the world or the enemies winning. It’s probably the former, but it’s not totally an happy ending since almost all the cast have died.

Anyway, since it was an anime movie, the duration is limited and many parts got cut. For example, Natsuko know nothing about the choir and had no idea why Memmeln transformed in the Great Void.

As for Memmeln, she lived more than 200 years always in battlefield. But the void are supposed to have appears not many years ago. On the official site, it’s written that Luke and Memmeln come from different countries before the country falls. Since Memmeln lives long, maybe her country fell century ago while Luke’s fell when he was a child.

Memmeln says that she joined the cult recently. She realizes for a long time that her life is hard, but doesn’t consider taking her own life maybe because of her responsibility as a hero. The Nine Soldiers seems to have been chosen by a prophecy. Unio said that Luke was destined to be become the legend hero the day he was born. Memmeln doesn’t choose to be a hero, but she cares for the world and the people. If she died, void would continue to attack and the people would suffer more with one less hero protecting them. With the cult, she found people who think like her. By awaking the Great Void, Memmeln believe that the world would end peacefully and equally ending everyone suffering. Her decision is quite selfish and drastic, but her decision comes from her particular circumstances.

The cult doesn’t control the void attacks, they just want them to get the last Soul Future. Memmeln doesn’t want to create panic, that’s why transforming into the Great Void and attack Luke was her last card. But she regret it. In the anime she detransformed back because she was having second thoughts, while in the original movie she is easily defeated by Luke. Probably she didn’t even try to fight seriously.

In the movie, all her motives are cut. Nor Luke nor the audience understand this twist of the plot. No wonder the movie was rated bad. I’m quite convinced that the movie condensed the story too much. Like, there are 9 heroes, but they died without getting development. It’s already difficult to develop everyone with 12 episodes (I think Zenshu have only 12 episode, wish it had more), and the movie was 2 hours long.

I think from episode 5 to 9 the anime will introduce the remaining 5 heroes. In the preview we see the dragon who was also in the opening. Usually, in the opening should appear all the characters or at least the silhouettes. But the dragon is the only one that appears.

I really wished this anime has 2 cours.

[lyquynhnhu]

Zenshu First Impression

I watched the first 3 episodes of Zenshu and I love it. It since Buddy Daddies that I was so excited about a original anime.

Zenshu wasn't on my plan to watch anime this season and the only thing I knew about it was that "animation industry" was involved. But then it turned into an isekai.

I don't dislike isekai and I don't judge an anime before watching just because it's targed "isekai". In my experience, I've watched a lot of isekai, but I found interesting only few of them.

Most isekai involve a boy being summoned/dying accidentally and god send him in a random fantasy world where he becomes a hero and defeat a demon lord. Then there is the "reincarnation" genre, where the main character gets reborn while still possessing the memories of their past life. The first isekais I watched where set in a random fantasy world, but there are also story where the main character is reborn in the world of a game or manga.

Personally, I really like the sub-genre "villainess otome isekai" where the main character is usually a girl being reincarnated in a character of the game and have to change the plot in order to survive a bad ending.

To me, Zenshu seems a mix of the different kind of isekai genre.

the main character is a girl

she get reincarnated in a anime and she has to intervene to change the story (since the anime in question seems to be quite depressing)

the setting of the anime in question remind a random fantasy world where a hero party has to defeat a demon lord

Zenshu also remind me of Re:Creators, but reverse. In Re:Creators the characters were light novel author, mangaka, game programmer who meet the characters that they created and have the power to give the characters more powers by writing. In this case, Natsuko is an animator, but she didn't get reincarnated in a story che created. Nevertheless che have the power to change the story through her talent.

I like Natsuko character. she is really funny. From appearence she seems a shut-in, shy person. But she looks like that because she like to wear what she like. She is not hiding her face for some particular reason, but just because she is more comfortable like that. Also, she doesn't seem to have a sad past and want to redo her life. She was satisfied with her job, although she wasn't making progress.

As for the story, the world in which she reincarnated is based on a anime movie. A quite depressing one. "A Tale of Perishing" was a movie, more or less the duration is about 2 hours. It seems that in the movie many things happened in the limited amount of time of a movie, that's why Natsuko doesn't know some info because of the cuts, like the characters background for example. In fact, she does stated that there are still some parts unclear to her even after many years. It's unclear if the original movie has an happy or bad ending, but what's sure is that a lot of character died leaving the hero fighting alone.

Anyway, this movie is what inspired Natsuko to draw. Maybe the story was bad, but the animation was spectacular. Or the story was actually good, but only for few people. Like when a manga started good and is good until the last arc and the ending totally ruined the entire experience. Something like that.

Well, Zenshu is not only about Natsuko adventure in the behind the scene of "A Tale of Perishing". The theme of "love" is also hinted in this first episodes.

Before dying, Natsuko was working on a new story about first love, but she has no experience in love. She gets isekai in a movie she loved as a child and I think that in the next episodes she will rediscover her love for the story, for animation and her job. On the other hand I'm worried about the hints about her romance with Luke. It's not confirmed that Natsuko died. I don't want an ending like "Meiji Tokyo Renka" and "Irozuku sekai no ashita kara", in both the main couple get separated because they belong to different worlds.

For them, I prefer no romance at all instead of a bittersweet ending.