Just how many of them are there, exactly?
Summary:
- After 5 episodes of Ishura, over 20 characters have been introduced, and some fans are confused.
- The series is (technically) an isekai, as some of the characters are “Visitors” who were too powerful to be contained in their own worlds.
- The introductions are finally over, and if you still follow the series, the storylines coming together will be incredibly rewarding.
Five episodes of Ishura have aired, and if the next episode (titled “Gathering of Factions”) is an indicator of anything, the plot is actually going to start. That said, there have been so many characters and plot points introduced so far that many fans are confused, especially since we got even more of them this week.
It’s easy to get lost in the anime: over two dozen named characters have been introduced so far, and some people probably don’t even remember half of them — especially if they watched these episodes weekly. Here’s a reminder of what has actually happened so far — and who the characters are.
The introduction to the setting
The first episode focused on the girl named Yuno the Distant Talon. She lived in Nagan Labyrinth City with her friend Lucelles. The city itself is revealed to be a giant Dungeon Golem, inhabited by a number of smaller mechs — who promptly slaughter the citizens, including Lucelles.
Yuno is then saved by Soujirou the Willow-Sword, a powerful swordsman who only looks for people to fight. He’s a “Visitor,” presumably, from our world — Visitors are said to be so strong that they were pushed out of their own world into this one.
Among the Visitors mentioned are Rosclay the Absolute, Toroa the Awful, Krafnir the Hatch of Truth, Kazuki the Black Tone and Lucnoca the Winter — none of whom have yet made an appearance.
Yuno and Soujirou then depart for Aureatia, the only surviving human (or “minia”) kingdom in the world. While it’s technically a monarchy, it’s ruled by the Twenty-Nine Official, or “Generals” — who are hosting a tournament to find a candidate to fill the position of a Hero.
Despite the actual Hero defeating the True Demon King prior to the series’ events, no one really knows who either of them was — or where the Hero went after that.
Aureatia is also on the verge of military conflict with the New Principality of Lithia. Lithia is ruled by Taren the Guarded (formerly of Twenty-Nine Officials) and has recently seceded from Aureatia, prompting the conflict.
Taren employs an army of wyverns as an Air Force — something previously unheard of in history. That army is ruled by Regnejee the Wings of Sunset — who is friends with Taren’s adoptive daughter, Curte of the Fair Skies.
In search of strong fighters
Taren also employs the service of other powerful individuals — one of them is Dakai the Magpie, a Visitor bandit who wields a magic blade and has an inhuman reaction. She also sent one of her subordinates, Lana the Moon Tempest, to employ mercenaries who can fight for Lithia.
Among these mercenaries are Shalk the Sound Slicer, a skeleton in search of a resting place of a True Demon King, and Higuare the Pelagic, a mandrake gladiator slave turned mercenary. However, Lana has concluded that rumors of an all-powerful mage called “the World Word” are a myth.
Despite that, Kia the World Word exists — she’s an elven girl in a remote village. She’s taken to Aureatia by her teacher, who is actually Elea the Red Tag — one of the Twenty-Nine Officials — under a false identity. Elea wants Kia to fight for her in the upcoming tournament, as she wants to extend her influence over the country.
Inner workings of Aureatia
Other Twenty-Nine Officials include the aforementioned (albeit not shown) Rosclay the Absolute, who is considered a national hero, and Harghent the Still, who is jokingly called Harghent the Wing-Plucker for his endless crusade against wyverns.
Harghent encounters a dragon, Vikeon the Smoldering, who, despite being wounded, almost kills him, before being defeated by Alus the Star Runner — a three-armed wyvern who is somewhat of a rival to Harghent.
Aureatia also seems to want to deal with the Lithia crisis in an underhanded way. Two of the officials, Jelki the Swift Ink and Hidow the Clamp, are considering assassinating Taren before the war breaks out. For that, they employ multiple assassins that work in different ways.
One of them is a girl turned into a living weapon revenant, Nihilo the Vortical Stampede. The other is Kuze the Passing Disaster, a paladin who doesn’t actually do any of his assassinations himself — he’s just focused on protecting those who he loves.
After he fails to protect his friend, Ripel the Frost Leaf, we are shown that Kuze actually has an invisible angel with a power of instant death on his side — Nastique the Quiet Singer.
Who is this anime for?
This extremely complicated setup is actually incredibly fun once you have figured it out — following multiple plot lines slowly wrapping up together is rewarding in its own way. Ishura requires the viewer to enjoy both political intrigue and over-the-top action, and might be hard to get into if you want to watch something with your brain turned off.
That said, if you have followed it so far, the introductions are finally over: the plot is about to start, so make sure to remember who is on which side.