Ishura

Marinate1016★ 8

Ishura is probably the most unique action anime I’ve ever seen. A slow but rewarding burn that has one of the coolest premises you’ll find and an immense amount of worldbuilding. This was one of the best shows of Winter 2024 and it’s a shame it flew under the radar. While not an expert in the field of battle royale anime, I’ve seen a few and Ishura stands head and shoulders above the rest. What makes it so good to me is the wide range of characters with unique abilities who are all very OP and have unique fighting styles. Additionally, there’s the perfect amount ofcharacterisation for each member of the cast. By the time they’re all introduced it really feels like we’ve established a connection with them. Every character is set up with their own episode that shows us their motivations, their abilities, their backstories and just what makes them tick. While at times it may seem a little tedious because you just want to get to the big battle royale, it was definitely a great decision because it made the fights at the end of the series that much more meaningful. The other big thing for me is that every character is strong. I mean the diversity of abilities in this series was shocking. The victor in a fight is just determined by how they match up with a particular opponent which made things fun. Ishura has no main character, at least not yet, so the story kind of goes from one viewpoint to another depending on the episode. I liked this because it developed a rather large cast in a short period of time. While a couple characters felt underbaked, most of the cast I felt a nice attachment to and liked. Also made it difficult to choose who to root for because of the various goals of the characters. In a way, this 12 episode season felt like the longest character selection screen. The worldbuilding is also really good in this. The magic system is nuanced, the political situation is interesting and there’s a ton of fantastical elements in this that just work really well. You can tell the author put a ton of time into fleshing out the world, characters and making you feel apart of a living breathing universe. It’s a bit frustrating at times though, because while you can tell the world is vast and detailed, sometimes I felt it wasn’t being utilised to its full potential. I’m sure that’s intentional as this is just adapting the first book I believe and there’s a ton more story to go. It just can be a bit slow at times. Nevertheless it has all the makings of a cool fantasy world. The only downside I really have is that the story really just got going at the end. Like we spent so long building these characters up for a big battle and then the battle happens in a couple episodes and that’s it(not the end of the story, just the season). I wanted more! This world is so unique and the anime was a blast to watch. This is more a testament to how much I liked the show rather than a serious complaint though. I do understand it takes time to develop characters and appreciate the author’s intent. Animation and fight scenes are really good. There’s some cgi, but it’s not distracting and the direction during the big set pieces is more than good enough. Ishura is a must watch if you’re a fan of action anime, battle royales or if you just want something different to watch. I watch everything every season and I really can’t think of a show that’s been quite like this one. I had a blast watching it every Wednesday and I’m looking forward to reading it now. Ishura gets 8 out of 10.

Omarumba★ 6

Ishura - to fight to the bitter end, however who expected the ending to be just that? Meatgrinder, aka Battle royale, is a trope/genre that was popularized by Mirai Nikki and the Koushun Takami manga with the identical title in its heyday. Each author has a different take on this type of genre, but basically it's about creating a situation with a large number of characters who for some reason must survive and reduce their numbers as the story progresses. So what makes the difference between a good Battle Royale and a bad Battle Royale? Let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet and takea look at two shows: Jigokuraku (aka Hell's Paradise), which got an anime adaptation in 2023, and a new show called Ishura, which we were treated to this past 2024 season. Ishura emerged as a web novel in 2017, and was even later acquired by ASCII Media Works under the guise of "Dengeki no Shin Bungei". The author of this creation is Keiso, a man who would go on to release a couple other works such as Gekitou in the future. Ishura received a warm welcome before the anime adaptation was announced, receiving good comments from critics, and in 2023 it was finally announced as an anime, produced by Passione, directed by Takeo Takahashi, and animated by Sanzigen, a studio that specializes in CGI graphics. Ishura is about creatures with powerful abilities that can be compared to demigods and even gods. The Demon King has been killed, but by whom - it is unknown. Now the now wandering souls of the heroes (aka Shuras) are free to do whatever they please, but the question of "who killed the Demon King" becomes cancerous for them, to the point that they decide to organize a contest like a gladiator battle to find out the true identity of the winner. Well, at least that's what Keiso, the author of the work, willed. The first season of the anime adaptation will adapt the first volume of the novel, and will focus on the story's characters and the political conflict between the Golden Capital and the self-proclaimed new principality of Lithia. There is no main character in this story, the plot focuses on all the characters, some of whom get screen time and reveal in an entire episode, as if to save their time. Accompanied by solving two major problems, solving a political dispute and finding Keiso's true hero, we are "very happy", I heartily apologize for the quotation marks, with battles as it should be.... battle royale? So, yes, Ishura is Battle Royale, and essentially the entire plot is a subplot to keep the viewer and reader in a state of anticipation of bloody battles and unforeseen moments. Battle Royale is good in that it allows the author to introduce a huge number of different characters and intelligently pit them against each other without depriving the rights of the target audience to enjoy the plot component at the same time. I'll call it the formula for a successful Battle Royale: spectacular battles + competent plot = good Battle Royale. For a perfect battle royale it is also necessary to have a logical conclusion of battles, balance, variety of characters, sharpness of the plot, but you do not think that all this is not in Ishura? Well, I won't be ironic, half of these things are really there. Back to the formula, does Ishura have the two main elements for a good battle royale? A competent plot is in place, even if it is a bit too rushed. The author brings us up to speed and does it very quickly, as if he is in a hurry, which makes our heads muddle after the first episodes. Spectacular battles? And there it is - the Achilles' heel of this show. Good battle royale must give the consumer a lot of emotions from battles, because that is the beauty of the genre. Starting to consume the product you bet on your favorite characters, which after a while begin to collide with each other, from which the viewer's eyes literally begin to move apart. In contrasting Jigokuraku I was not mistaken about this, for this work observes two factors of the formula of "good battle royale". The heroes, having appeared on the island with the purpose of fulfillment of the task, collide with each other spectacularly showing their skills and skills of battles, though the main character, Gabimaru, was made horribly invincible. Ishura, on the other hand, leaves you anticipating the same thing - but ends up doing exactly the opposite. Instead of spectacular battles, we literally get death with a single blow. Predictable? Hell no, but how frustrating it can be. The show is able to reveal a character over the course of an entire episode, only to end up with no trace of him in a measly few minutes. Keiso may have been going for realism, but Battle Royale isn't about realism, it's about spectacle. Imagine if on a gladiatorial battlefield everything would end with one blow, would the audience like it? I doubt it. As a bottom line, Ishura has a good story, but as a source of epicness the show is very weak. Omitting the moments with battles I want to highlight the excellent work of the previously mentioned Sanzigen and animators, the picture is colorful and CGI animation is smooth and good. Character design is done at an excellent level, for which first of all we should praise Keiso. Each character has some zest in his appearance, thanks to which he stands out so well. The musical accompaniment in this show is worth a special attention, but the fact that such a musical potential was mercilessly drained is worth the tears shed. Throughout the episodes, there are various musical compositions that reflect the emotion of the scene well, and this is a credit to Masahiro Tokuda, the man who also wrote music for shows like Deca-Dence and Platinum End. The opening splash screen of Sajou no Hana's "Shura ni Otoshite" shows all the characters in turn, and is generally good, I especially liked the wyvern scene. Konomi Suzuki's "Hakka" was also good, but it wasn't too memorable or special. To summarize, I'd like to say two of the most obvious things at this point about a show like Ishura. Battle Royale is a very handy tool for an author, but even with a hammer you need to know how to hammer nails so that they don't stick out crooked. I won't be pessimistic, but I don't have any hopes for a spectacular sequel, especially considering that there are already 10(!) volumes in the novel, it's scary to imagine where Keiso's imagination has gone. And the second most obvious thing is that if they would translate the rest of the volumes into English as soon as possible, it would be fun to see what would come out of it.