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This review may contain spoilers. I say “may” because I'm not sure if the discussed topics count as spoilers. Although they are light, you have been warned. From here on out, the review contains things people said about Ishura.

“A new seasonal isekai with no ecchi tags?!” I thought. “No way!” This was exactly what I wanted to watch, and the first episode was absolute perfection. Just like that, I'm hooked, eagerly awaiting the next episode...

Next episode: “What is happening?”, “Who is the main character?”, “Where is the mc from the first ep?” These questions rained down on the anime, while the light novel readers tried ... convincing people to keep watching. It's trying too hard. Is the payoff really that good? Sure.. let's wait another month and a half for the introductions to end and the fighting to start.

It’s pretty safe to say that the story’s connectivity is absolutely abysmal. The concept is great, introducing new main characters every episode, but it’s executed in such a way that it leaves a bad taste. It would’ve been completely fine if they released it all at once, you could then just binge watch it all and actually remember the backstory of the characters they’re introducing. Only then would it be more acceptable to watch.

The anime is missing a vital component any anime has to have, that being a connection between the main character and the viewer. Since we’re getting introduced to new main characters left and right, no real connection or affection is being built up. Many people won't care about these characters, as they're not relatable and little is known about their personalities. You can get a basic idea of how the main characters think, but it's not enough to drive the story forward. Kind of funny, but there’s pretty much no story to begin with.

I get that the anime is all about a tournament at the end, and, to say the least, it works pretty well in the manga form. I’ve played a lot of Tekken, so it felt like what they were going for is similar to fighting games. In Tekken 7, for example, you play through the story mode, discovering new characters, each with a unique moveset. Then, you move to VS battles to play online or offline. Not many cared about the characters' backstories, but those who did had the option to enjoy discovering the lore. Now imagine Tekken, but you have to wait a whole week for a new part of the story to release, and only after it's complete can you see the action and enjoy the fights. That doesn't work, does it? That’s how watching Ishura feels right now. Why should I wait that long? Time is a priceless asset, and it feels like it’s being wasted, achieving nothing and having no fun.

Animation plays a huge role in making a great anime. Unfortunately though, the CGI in Ishura is brutal. The first episode had some weird CGI, but it was so overshadowed by the epic story, characters, and all the chaos that it didn’t even matter. The second episode introduced wyverns with outrageous CGI, and it didn’t improve from there, only making the anime more uncomfortable to watch. That’s also when we find out the anime would introduce new characters every episode, making the episodes feel utterly disconnected from one another. I had to check if I was watching the right anime a couple times, because we kept going into episodes completely clueless. Nothing in a certain episode has to do with the previous one.

Then there’s episode four, eagerly awaited by anime fans, also known as the “fan service episode”. I initially chose this anime because I thought it was an isekai (even though it has little to do with the isekai genre), but more importantly, it had no ecchi tags. Well, I was dead wrong. This episode was about 20 minutes long, and I kid you not, at least half of it was fan service. It featured a guardian lady and a girl in a hot spring, completely naked. These scenes are usually brief and skippable (also considered to be a side treat by many people) but for some reason, they decided to explain the entire magic system of the world in that setting. If you were interested in the magic system, you had to sit through more than 10 minutes of an attractive naked lady explaining it. Are the authors so unconfident in their anime that they had to include this to maintain attention? It's hard to take the explanation seriously when it's so distracting and uncomfortable to watch. There’s also no guarantee the anime doesn’t come back with more of these sorts of scenes in future episodes.

That was the last straw for me. With everything combined, experiencing these last three episodes (2 to 4) was dreadful. I might return to watch the final episodes, AKA the tournament, but for now, I’m stepping away. I’ve had enough of its disjointed storytelling and random fan service. The chaos of the first episode was what originally drew me in, and the introduction of those two main characters was gripping. But sadly, it steered off course. Many people find this appealing, but it’s just not my cup of tea.