Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU” has got to be one of the most satisfying finales I’ve seen in any recent anime. All because of the depth of emotion here as Natsuko and her new friends try to stave off the end of this fantasy world. No spoilers here, but let’s just say that this finale makes all of the main characters work hard for their happy ending.

Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU”: Details

Zenshu JP key art 2
This finale is as dramatic as this second key art makes it out to be.

Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU” is the 12th and final episode (you can read my reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, Ep. 10, and Ep. 11 here) of this dark 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

Mitsue Yamazaki, Sumie Noro, Iho Ishikawa, and Tokio Igarashi all co-directed Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU”, with Kimiko Ueno as the writer, Mitsue Yamazaki and Hiroshi Kobayashi as the storyboarders, and Kayoko Ishikawa, Manabu Akita, Zhang Yun, Chen Weining, Etsuko Sumimoto, and Shuji Takahara all as the chief animation directors.

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. 12 “ZENSHU” 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, Akio Suyama (Derick Snow in English dub) as QJ, and Romi Park (Corey Wilder in English dub) as Justice, and Manaka Iwami (Dani Chambers in English dub) as Destiny Heartwarming,

The other notable voice role in this finale is Yoshiko Sakakibara (Wendy Powell in English dub) as Kametaro Tsuruyama.

When and Where to Watch

Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU” made its streaming and airing (aka. simulcast) debut on March 23, 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. 12 “ZENSHU”: Synopsis

It seems appropriate for me to put the opening sequence here, since we don’t see it in this finale.

Alas, Zenshu only just recently ended. In fact, Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU” only just made its grand debut two days 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:

“Natsuko has to draw one final thing to save the Last Town from its greatest threat.”

Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU”: The Good

Even better, this is a version of Luke that hadn’t been in the in-universe anime film.

I can’t even begin to tell you all about how much I love the story of Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU”, and why it’s the best thing about this finale. To start with, let’s talk about the most important thing about it: its depth of emotion. The whole finale is basically an emotional roller coaster ride from start to finish. We get the highs of action and victory at the end, but not without going through some serious lows of tragedy and despair. Both end up complementing each other though, resulting in the anime equivalent of the most perfect dark chocolate in this finale.

Of particular note I want to point out is how the side characters react to facing that despair. Amazingly, everyone faces it with dignity and compassion. The Mayort tries his best to protect his people, Justice tries to protect Destiny and the kids, and Destiny tries to comfort the kids all the way until the end. Heck, even the shallow rich guy and his wives get a moment of that, with them all hugging in other in a genuinely touching embrace as the end nears. It really says something about how well MAPPA have developed these characters that you feel touched by all these acts of self-sacrifice and compassion throughout the finale.

Speaking of MAPPA, this finale wouldn’t nearly be as good without the efforts of their animation team. It’s quite appropriate given the anime’s themes, and the fact that Natsuko herself is an animator. They really put their hearts and souls into the animation here, really. The action scenes have that sparkle and glitter to it that exceeds even the previous episodes, and the quality of the animation jumps up during those fight scenes. All of this is why Zenshu is one of the best isekai anime in existence.

Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU”: The Bad

You can’t get the good without the bad though.

Alas, as amazing as the story of Zenshu Ep. 12 “ZENSHU” is, it does have its weak points. In particular, the part where the finale just skips to Natsuko back in the “Kingdom of Reality”. There is absolutely no explanation as to why and how Natsuko seems to have picked up where she last died. None whatsoever. It could’ve been that she had been in a coma all this time, but we just don’t know. It’s entirely likely that the animators ran out of time though, and couldn’t find a way to fit in the appropriate scenes. Thus, all we’re left with is guessing what’d happened. And honestly, what we got was pretty intensely epic.

In fact, it’s so epic that you might perhaps feel an urge to watch some relaxing anime to cool down with? If that’s the case, then may I suggest watching Spice and Wolf, Senpai is an Otokonoko, and/or Blue Box? All of those anime series are pretty relaxing to watch, and might be a relief after all that intense dark fantasy.

What do you all think? Do you agree with me about this finale of Zenshu being that good? What do you all think happened to Natsuko in between the timeskip? Leave your opinions below in the comments section.