At first glance, novelist Keiso's Ishura sounds exactly like what many of you would be similarly comparing this to: mangakas Shinya Umemura and Takummi Fukui's Shuumatsu no Walküre a.k.a Record of Ragnarok, and you would be right in the broad sense: fighters from all walks of life gathering together for a fated battle that would redeem the last man standing as the triumphant winner regarded as a Hero. But, where the action-fantasy elements are what make both Record of Ragnarok and Ishura regarded similarly, Ishura has a finite twist to the series that at least makes the foundation for a traditional battle royale and turning it into a high-stakes fight to the death...albeit with some hits and misses.
(Cue the intro narration and music)
"The True Demon King has died. The enemy of the fear that filled the world with horizons of fear, it was defeated by a lone Hero. To this very day, that lone Hero remains unknown, both in name and existence. With the age of fear coming to an end, that person has to be chosen. But even then, the powers left behind writhe in multitude, and they cannot be subdued by ordinary strength...the strength of 100 Shura-like demons."
These Shuras are basically demigod-like people who have the capability to bring down kingdoms and nations, and yet, they wander free to do whatever life takes them to. But with the lone Hero being an unknown figure, the Shuras now go head-to-head in a battle royale to determine who's the strongest and be given the Hero title. "All the world's a stage, and the men and women merely players" of Shakespeare's quote resides in the largest nation of Aureatia, governed by 29 Generals who are tasked to select that Hero, but its supposed ally of the independent city of the New Principality of Lithia has a different plan in mind, to be ruled by fear and terror, separate from Aureatia's democracy. And that's where the plot of the Hero takes shape in a bloody mess of a fight.
Here are your candidates for the Hero title:
- Soujirou the Willow-Sword, the one who is Isekai-ed from his own Distant World, who can defeat golems with his sword, and exercises excellent swordsmanship that reduces widespread legends into mere truths: the last swordsman, the minia a.k.a human Blade. Accompanied by a fellow minia, Yuno the Distant Talon, who've lost everything from her previous inhabitant Nagan, to seek out revenge for those who've tormented her life with golems wrecking the Labyrinth City.
- Alus the Star Runner, the one who can handle weapons with exceptional aptitude, and possess unusual magic items, whatever the challenge is from labyrinths to enemies, he has conquered them all, surpassing all dragons: the Rogue wyvern. He has a close but strained relationship with the Hargent the Silencer, the 6th General of Aureatia, who saved him in his young self, but grew to the rebellious in the later stages.
- Regnejee the Sunset Wings, the one who possesses a genius intellect and a sharp battlefield acumen, rooting himself within the core of a nition, and commands a fleet of wyverns who are obedient to him: the Command wyvern. He is frustrated at Alus for leaving the wyvern army, and seeks revenge for going rogue, who is close with Curte the Clear Sky, Taren's blind adoptive daughter.
- Dakai the Magpie, the one like Soujirou, is a Visitor relative of the Distant World, and one who can stop bullets at the speed of sound with his remarkable eyesight and enchanted sword. And that's not all: his insight makes him valuable, as well as being a rebel in the most devious way: the minia bandit. He serves Taren the Guarded, once the 23rd General of Aureatia, and defected her way to form Lithia, seeking powerful Shuras to her rule.
- Nihilo the Vortical Stampede, a girl enough to defeat an entire army, and kept under bars in Aureatia because she is a bioweapon of mass destruction: the revenant tarantula.
- Kia the World Word, a young girl whose power perverts all laws of justice, who can dominate the world with a single word, but with her potential yet untapped: the wizard elf. She is taken care of by the 17th General of Aureatia, Elea the Red Tag, as a mentor of the kingdom's spy network, who proceeds like Taren to expand with greater allies, just like Lana the Moon Tempest which they would eventually meet for the same political agenda, but for Lithia instead.
- Higuare the Pelagic, the one who has dealt through duels with poison that no ordinary human being can stop, and his bizarre physique doesn't stop his infinite brillant swordsplay, yet obeys all and ruled by none like a free slave: the Gladiator mandrake. He is accompanied by another Shura, Shalk the Sound Slicer, who is an undead skeleton mercenary hired under Lana's recruitment to serve Lithia.
- Kuze the Passing Disaster and Nastique the Quiet Singer, the paladin assassin who works in tandem alongside the real Shura, who is an angel undetected and immune to interference to all but one, taking everything unseen as the embodiment of one: the Stabber angel.
Feel overwhelmed at the number of characters? Well, too bad, because that's the definition of a battle royale to showcase as many characters as possible to show that anyone could easily achieve Hero status, no matter their origins or achievements thus far. It's one for the taking as Aureatia and Lithia experience turmoil of their own as they grasp getting as many Shuras as possible over to each's side, which unwillingly sparks a war on the outset against the respective democratic and authoritative leads of the two cities. It certainly is a battle royale at the heart of it, and a bloody mess Ishura is one that I'm legitimately surprised at how it's able to capture the tension of a high-stakes death match scene, anytime, anywhere...that's if you can stomach through learning all of the Shuras involved, backstories included.
In terms of production quality, studio Passione is definitely not one of the studios coming to mind when it comes to action-fantasy shows. That's only when you take into account of the studio's chief managing director of Takeo Takahashi's directorial role from Summer 2015's Rokka no Yuusha a.k.a Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, alongside director Yuki Ogawa of Winter 2020's Interspecies Reviewers and Fall 2021's Mieruko-chan fame, then everything aligns together like cakework. The anime also having to integrate 3DCG animation from outsourcing to collab studio Sanzigen (i.e. BanG Dream! franchise), it's not the best, but it's certainly better than a studio trying to incorporate 3DCG by themselves, and then looking pretty bad. Sure, Keiso's LN may not be the best in the storytelling sense of having to put the characters first before the war showcase, but both directors took cues as much as possible to streamline the anime adaptation as it is, covering the characters for the 1st half, and then the rest of the story and plot for the 2nd half. It is what it is, so take it as you will about endurance when watching this show.
The show's OST is decent, though it does give off a sense of unnervingness, given its dystopian setting with the typical fantasy that relates as such. Sajou no Hana's OP song, definitely fits the show's vibes for a rather dark and gruesome show and is terrifying good to listen to. On the other side of the spectrum, Konomi Suzuki's ED song certainly paints a path of a sliver of hope, but otherwise, just decent and fine.
Sadly, Ishura as a show, being the way it's produced, it does not give and inspire confidence that its unorthodox way of storytelling is able to reel in people watching this show from its half-and-half character-plot methodology. However, that being said, if you can truncate through the character backstories, the plot will burst into a single colour: red, the colour of death, and make this show interesting from its own standpoint.
Still though, give Ishura a chance if the plotline of the show doesn't deter you from watching an underappreciated show.
