Welcome to MAPPA’s new era: ‘ZENSHU’ Episode 1 Review

After graduating from high school, Natsuko Hirose starts her career as an animator. Her talent quickly flourishes, and she makes her debut as a director in no time. Her first anime becomes a massive hit, sparking a social phenomenon and earning her recognition as an up-and-coming genius director. Her next project is set to be a romantic comedy movie themed around first love! However, having never been in love herself, Natsuko struggles to understand the concept of first love, and as a result, she’s unable to create the storyboard, causing the movie production to come to a standstill. One day, she passes out while working on her storyboard and wakes up in the world of her favorite childhood anime movie “A Tale of Perishing.” This is a mostly spoiler-free review of ZENSHU. The first episode debuted Sunday, January 5, 2025 on Crunchyroll. A big thanks to Crunchyroll for the early access!

When Crunchyroll unleashed a wave of new trailers last month, there was one that a friend sent my way, fellow BNP writer and anime fan Mikkel, that spoke to me–that reaaaallly spoke to me. The trailer that I saw was flashy, brilliant, and followed an anime fan…achieving her dream and the fantastical events that followed. The story follows an up-and-coming genius young anime director a…