Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” dives even deeper into the isekai rabbit hole Natsuko Hirose has found herself in. All as she tries to survive and navigate her way in the world of her favorite anime to boot. Fortunately, there’s one thing that won’t change, and that’s Natsuko geeking out over everything in this dark fantasy world she’s in.

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND”: Details

Zenshu NA key art
Those artist and animator skills are really coming in handy for our heroine.

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” is the second episode (you can read my review for Ep. 1 here) of this isekai fantasy anime series. Said anime series is not the anime adaptation of any manga, but rather, it is its own original anime. MAPPA (Zombie Land Saga, Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man) is the animation studio behind this anime series. Crunchyroll is the company licensing this anime for its global release.

Production Cast

Ai Kondō is the director behind Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND”, with Kimiko Ueno as the writer, and Risako Yoshida as the storyboarder. As for Zenshu as a whole, we do still know that Mitsue Yamazaki is the director, with Kimiko Ueno as the script writer. Yoshiteru Tsujino is responsible for character design and world setting, with Kayoko Ishikawa also doing character design while also being the chief animation director alongside Etsuko Sumimoto, Kazuko Hayakawa, and Shuji Takahara. Sumie Noro is the assistant director, with Akio Shimada as the art director, Ayako Suenaga as the color designer, Kenta Fujita as the director of photography, Mutsumi Takemiya as the editor, Yukari Hashimoto as the composer, dugout as the sound producer, Makoto Tanimura (Sound Wing) as the casting manager, and Takahiro Ogawa as the animation producer.

Now as for that music: the opening theme song for Zenshu is “Zen” by Band-Maid. Meanwhile, “Tada, Kimo no Mama de” by Sou is the ending theme song.

Voice Cast

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” features the voices of Anna Nagase (Madeleine Morris in English dub) as Natsuko Hirose, Kazuki Ura (Ryan Negrón in English dub) as Luke Braveheart, Rie Kugimiya (Luci Christian in English dub) as Unio, Minori Suzuki (Alexis Tipton in English dub) as Memmeln, and Akio Suyama (Derick Snow in English dub) as QJ.

When and Where to Watch

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” made its its streaming and airing (aka. simulcast) debut on January 12, 2025. You can watch this episode only on Crunchyroll. In fact, you can watch this entire anime only on Crunchyroll due to it being an exclusive there.

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND”: Synopsis

Don’t worry. There’s still quite a bit of smoke and flames in this episode too.

Alas, Zenshu only just recently premiered. In fact, Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” only just made its debut a day ago as of this writing. Thus, you will all get the official synopsis of this anime from Crunchyroll rather than a spoiler-filled plot summary. Here’s that synopsis below:

The prophet of the Last Town, Elder Baobab, decides that Natsuko should join the Nine Soldiers, but her and Luke are at odds. Natsuko tries to figure out a way back home, but then remembers what happens next in “A Tale of Perishing” and realizes everyone’s in danger again.

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND”: The Good

Zenshu teaser trailer still 4
No, that light isn’t from friction from drawing so fast…probably.

Just like with the first episode before it, it’s the story of Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” that captivates me. All because of isekai. See, this episode and the one before it are both simultaneously love letters to the isekai genre while also redeeming the entire genre. If you have any familiarity with isekai anime, then you would already know that the vast majority of them are…not the greatest examples of anime. Honestly, they’re quite terrible. 99% of them are just vehicles for the same male power fantasy repeated over and over again ad nauseum, often to misogynistic levels.

It’s why the 1% outliers like Zenshu are like finding gold nuggets in a pile of pebbles, but even moreso for this anime. This anime takes all the stereotypical tropes of isekai (ex: giving the main character a magical power) and either actually does them well, turn them on their heads, or both at the same time. The main character Natsuko Hirose herself is the prime example of this. Not only being the rare example of a female MC in an isekai, but she also has an actually balanced magical power with clear weaknesses and interesting limitations. Her magic is the prime example of Sanderson’s Second Law of Magic, as it’s those weaknesses, limitations, and costs that make it far more interesting than the standard Gary Stu magic that populates isekai anime.

All with some excellent animation from studio MAPPA. Their animators deliver some very high quality and stylish animation in this episode. When you see some roughly sketched out storyboard missiles exploding in jaw-droppingly gorgeous explosions, you know you’re watching art in anime form.

Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND”: The Bad

Zenshu Ep. 2 "DEFEND" screenshot 1
It’s hilarious just how many different animation styles are in this anime.

Honestly, if you don’t like the isekai genre at all, regardless of how good it is, then Zenshu Ep. 2 “DEFEND” is not the episode for you. In some ways, you need an understanding of how terrible most isekai anime in general is to understand how good this whole anime is. The problem is that if that knowledge has turned you off to all isekai in general, then this whole anime isn’t for you.

In which case, may I suggest watching Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Solo Leveling, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, and/or Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II? Those anime have plenty of action in them just like this one, and aren’t isekai. Thus, you might be interested in those anime more than this one.

Tune back in to THS to find out more about Zenshu and other anime when we do.

Keep Reading:

Zenshu Ep. 1 “FIRST STROKE”: An Animator’s Isekai [Review]