Ishura

After the demise of the demon king, the resulting power vacuum has broken the balance of the world. Eager to claim this power for themselves, self-proclaimed demon kings from various worlds assemble in the New Principality of Lithia to fight for it. Among them, master swordsman Soujirou Yagyuu seeks to take this coveted position for himself. Joined by Tooi Kagizume no Yuno, a young girl he saved from an army of golems that destroyed her city, Soujirou enters Lithia to battle his way to the title.

At the same time, the leaders of the Aureatia Kingdom seek to destabilize Lithia by launching bandits after the convoys of merchandise transiting through the principality. Enraged, Imashime of Taren, the founder of Lithia and defector from Aureatia, sends vicious thief Kasasagi no Dakai to investigate the origin of these attacks. With war on the brink of eruption, no one can predict what influence the contenders for the demon king's throne will have on the coming conflict.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yagyuu, Soujirou Main

Kaji, Yuuki Japanese

Hoshihase Alus Main

Fukuyama, Jun Japanese

Tooi Kagizume no Yuno Main

Ueda, Reina Japanese

Seijakunaru Harghent Main

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Rankai Ryoureki Nihilo Supporting

Takahashi, Rie Japanese

Toorika no Kuze Supporting

Miki, Shinichiro Japanese

Umitaru Higuare Supporting

Sugita, Tomokazu Japanese

Sekaishi no Kia Supporting

Yuuki, Aoi Japanese

Sekki no Tsubasa Regnejee Supporting

Morikubo, Shoutarou Japanese

Narrator Supporting

Hashi, Takaya Japanese

Tanaka, Shou Producer

Vig, Julien Producer

Saitou, Kazuhiro Producer

Satou, Taira Producer

Reviews

Feb 4, 2025

Estagon

Recommended

A slow burner. First a set-up, then the action. But oh, what action! And the worldbuilding is awesome, this is an ACTUAL fantasy.

Just be aware that the first half of the anime is about the set-up and you'll be good to enjoy one of the best fantasy anime I've watched!

Plot: 9/10 (multiple POWs and deeply intricate under the surface)

Characters: 10/10 (it's all about the characters. Not one of them is lame)

Pacing: 4/10 (I won't lie, I was about to drop it due to the super slow start I was unprepared for)

Execution: 10/10 (damn, it got me invested in the bond between a wivern and a ... blind girl... That's some good stuff)

Overall score: 9/10 - Must watch

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 8, 2024

AmirKazeXD

Mixed Feelings

what every anime season have in common, Isekai's. but what if I tell you that Ishura is one of the most unique and interesting Isekai's I ever watched, but why I did not rated it a 10/10, you may ask?
let's start with the positives:
- character designs: every single one of the characters, have a very good design that goes well with their morals, we have different races (like Human, Wyvern, Dragon and more...) but each of them look well.
- animation: studio Passione is one of the studios that I think have a lot of potential to become one of the best studios. the animation ... looked so fluid and high-detailed at the same time. and enjoyed the one-on-one fight scenes really.
- OST: it was good and really goes well with this show.
- Voice acting: Japanese VA's are amazing, they really worked awesome in this series.
and now let's go with the story, which I have mixed feelings about: most of the characters are not well developed and they feel shallow even tho they have good designs, but some story-line are really better and have a very good depth, it is like the author liked some of the characters more than the others, so it causes another problem, making some of the fights, shallow, pointless and boring.

but overall I can say that I enjoyed watching this anime fully, hope it gets better in the second season.

Final score: 7

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Jun 17, 2024

AeroGunz

Not Recommended

“Ishura” is what happens when surface level writing meets a pretty solid idea.

This show is the perfect example of 2 things:
1. False advertising
2. Having lots of plot and almost no story at all.

Let’s start with the first point.

The first episode in any show is one of, and according to some, the most important. It has a simple, yet important function: it must aim to capture the audience's attention, establish characters, locations, set the tone for the rest of the series and, if the show will have an overarching plot, present the main goal for the main character. It’s a kind of a promise between the ... viewer and the show itself. Simple but by no means easy. A lot of shows struggle with this, not only anime.
In the case of “Ishura” the first episode lies to You in a big way. I will try to avoid spoilers for the episode but I need to talk about some things within it. If You were to trust the first episode as Your gateway into this anime You would think that it’s some kind of isekai powertrip focused on grand “Shadow Of The Colossus” type fights with a cringy, edgelord as a protagonist or at least one of them. The episode clearly shows the dangers of the world and introduces cringe personified as a character. I’m not even joking. Remember Shadow from “Eminence in Shadow” or Sasha from “Seikon no Qwaser”? Yeah. That kind of garbage character we’re talking about. The type that makes You feel secondhand embarrassment when he speaks and makes You question Your decision to watch the series. We see him destroy the golems that just slaughtered an entire city and I guess that was supposed to be a demonstration of the power scales but it makes no sense. A town full of scholarly type wizards, who have to spend a lot of time changing before the spell takes effect, being massacred because of a surprise attack by automatons who are rather resistant and strong doesn’t really showcase the difference between normal people and our edge lord. It’s like forcing high school teachers to fight against a well trained SWAT unit. Yes the show builds the power scales a bit later but a lot of it is done in the last 3 episodes so it makes even more sense.

After the first episode the show changes entirely. It’s no longer a show about grand fights, to be honest most of the fights are pretty badly choreographed and cut. It becomes a war tale between two nations. Both run by assholes. To be honest the change was weird but I welcomed it. Anything to not have to deal with the edge lord from episode one. For the next few episodes you spend time learning the inner workings of the conflict and meet characters who will inevitably clash with one another. I would call it interesting but it goes for 5 episodes. Yes, You learn, more or less, what’s the deal with the incoming war and the sides but to be honest it’s pretty bad. I think the show uses the war arc as an excuse to play around more with power scales. You get to see some badasses at work so when they finally fight You would get a scene of their power. You don’t. The introductions to the characters last half an episode during which most of them do jack shit to demonstrate their power. Some are feared but You don’t see why. You are just told they are badasses and as proof You get some lazy scene with them winning over some weaklings. There is one exception with the dragon. That introduction shows us two characters and their solid (for this trainwreck of writing level) interactions. The rest are just bad. You only learn that everyone has just one trait that is masquerading as full character. A lot of things happen but they change nothing in how you see the world or the characters.

Before I get to the second point I would like to give definitions for clarity. I use the definitions for “plot” and “Story” as Lisa Cron describes them:
“What happens in the story is the PLOT, the surface events.”
“STORY is about how the things that happen in the plot affect the protagonist, and how he or she changes internally as a result.”.
I decided to add those definitions so that we are all on the same page because some people have different understanding of those terms and I like to make myself clear.

Now… Almost all characters we are introduced to are either edge lords or have the brooding tough guy act to the point You would think they are trying to get published by DC Entertainment. An interesting choice is that there is only one character who could be called morally good and even that is the fault of her being young and idealistic. Everyother character is a sociopath or an asshole in one way or the other. Among there we have: A treasure hunter who wields magical items like some kind of fantasy batman and cares mostly for himself, a depressing lookin guy who likes to play the good guy but does jack shit when his angel starts the killing spree (expect quietly telling her to not kill) one edge lord who likes to fight, another edgelord who’s a mercenary that oversells his skills, A naked girl in a giant mech spider who likes to kill but plays victim of her fate and others. Yes. This show introduces a lot of characters and that’s a problem in itself. The first 6 episodes of a 12 episode season are just introductory, short plots for them. You waste, and yes I will call it a waste because the shorts are pretty bad and tell you nothing that couldn't be shown during some kind of main plot event. The show sets up a damn tournament arc so why not use that? Oh yeah… that would require actual writing skills.

To be honest the fact that the characters are assholes with no, or weak goals allows me to not give a damn when they are killed. Yes You showed me a naked chick in a robot spider. So what? You want me to care about her goal, that was stated in a conversation just once? Why would I? I haven’t seen how bad she wants it. For all I know she wants to be integrated into society because she’s bored, wants to freely walk and kill people or some other not very people friendly reason. Why should I care about her? The show gives You a throwaway line about everyone's motives and wants me to care. Yeah… Eff off.

The most interesting part of the plot for me were the political intrigues. The true reason for the war was pretty interesting and solidifies the rulers as pieces of shit for sacrificing so many non combatants to reach their goals… or goal… there is an interesting twist towards the end of the arc.
Some characters have their own agenda while pretending to work for someone else, I can appreciate that sort of thing. The execution of this is subpar at best but it’s still better than most of the other things.

Now for the sad part. There is very little story here. The scraps of which could be attributed to just two characters who actually change a little and have actual reactions to what happens in the world. Those are the “normal” girl from episode one and the young elfish, seemingly all powerful, young girl that can bend the laws of the world. One learns that sometimes You need a powerful asshole to defeat another powerful asshole and the other, through her experience during the war, is determined to use her powers to bring happiness. Everyone else starts and ends as the same character. Nothing is learned, nothing is earned and nothing is lost.

I think one of the most annoying things that is 99% useless is the narrator that verbalises a lot of things that were shown just a moment ago. Some of his narrations give new info about the situation and a little bit of context but most are just useless. I have eyes for effs sake. Above that the narrations strip almost everything of their mystery and prevent, at least for the viewer, solid twists in the future.

I know I don’t have many positive things to say about the writing and yes, I do think the writers are incompetent but there might be a saving grace. Those 12 episodes with their structure, introductions and short plots could work as a prologue to something. The building stones are there. Covered in all the incompetent decision dust. The fact that this show has 12 episodes works to its detriment. If it had 24 I think it could grow to be something… I don’t want to say competent, I’m not that hopeful but solid. As it is, it’s just a waste of time that sets up a lot of things that don’t have a payoff.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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