Zenshu episode 10: A Tale of Perishing slowly comes into fruition as Natsuko and Unio's fates hangs in balance

Zenshu episode 10, titled Chaos, was truly this anime's darkest episode yet. It not only lived up to its title in spectacular fashion, but it also left nearly every viewer shocked to their core by a dark twist in the series' protagonist, Natsuko Hirose's fate.

Zenshu episode 10 was released in Japan on Sunday, March 9, 2025, at 11:45 pm JST. The episode saw Natsuko's worst fears being realized. She discovered that the changes she made after reincarnating into the world of A Tale of Perishing were slowly reverting to the original events of the movie—only this time, the repercussions of her actions were far worse than she could have ever imagined.

Zenshu episode 10: The Last Town turns on Natsuko as she seemingly meets a tragic end

Zenshu episode 10: Brief recap

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Zenshu episode 10 started with a funeral being held for QJ, who sacrificed his life to save his friends from a Void attack in the previous episode. What's interesting, though, is the fact that QJ's funeral had a striking resemblance to Unio's funeral in the A Tale of Perishing movie. It was the first incident that led Natsuko to believe that all of the changes she made since her arrival in this world were slowly being reverted as per the original events of the movie.

Natsuko was visibly distraught due to QJ's death. She believed that if she hadn't told QJ about how A Tale of Perishing actually ended, he may not have sacrificed himself at all. As for the rest of the Nine Soldiers, they were hanging by a thread as well. Luke was solely focused on helping the citizens of the Last Town, especially since practically the entire town was ravaged by the recent Void attack.

Memmeln seemed to be up to something since she was seen performing a forbidden ritual with her choir friends once again. Unio, on the other hand, was solely worried about Luke's well-being. After coming across Justice at QJ's grave, Unio realized that the only one who could actually help Luke was none other than Natsuko.

Zenshu episode 10 then saw a rumor spreading among the citizens of the town. As per the rumor, some of the Voids that had laid waste to the town in their recent attack resembled Natsuko's creations. This rumor sparked a wave of distrust among the people towards Natsuko, who eventually started believing that she was a traitor and that she was actually trying to summon the Ultimate Void.

Natsuko, as seen in Zenshu episode 10 (image via MAPPA)

This belief led to a divide between the people—with one half forming a cult and calling themselves the Voidists, who were willing to support Natsuko in summoning the Ultimate Void. On the other side were the majority of the people, who wanted to hunt down and stop Natsuko from destroying their world.

Thus, the hunt for Natsuko Hirose officially began, as people of the town stormed the Nine Soldiers' castle. Alarmed by this sudden change in people's hearts, Luke and Unio tried to look for Natsuko all over the town and find her before the others could. As for Natsuko, she was seen being attacked by a group of people who managed to track her down and corner her.

Fortunately, the Voidists came to her rescue. Seeing the people of the Last Town tearing each other apart made Natsuko arrive at the grim realization that not only were things reverting to the original events of A Tale of Perishing, but this time, the situation was much worse than the movie.

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Zenshu episode 10 took a turn for the worse when Voids attacked the town once again—only this time, they had a striking resemblance to a figure that Natsuko had created and subsequently discarded in the last battle against the Voids.

When Luke finally arrived and tried to run away with her to protect her from the people, Natsuko came to the horrifying conclusion that since things were playing out according to the movie, her end was near—especially since in this world, she had replaced Destiny (Luke's original love interest), who was meant to die at the end of the movie.

Similar to the events of the movie, when Luke was trying to fend off the citizens of the town, Natsuko risked her life to protect a child from being killed by a Void. Although Unio came to Natsuko's rescue in the nick of time, both of them ended up getting swallowed by the Void. Upon witnessing this, all the citizens surrounded the Void and destroyed it with their spears.

However, given that Natsuko got swallowed by the Void before it was killed, the citizens assumed that they had finally managed to get rid of Natsuko and began celebrating their victory. As for Luke, he stood frozen in a trance upon witnessing the apparent death of the love of his life, leaving us to wonder if he will actually give in to despair and become the Ultimate Void. With this, Zenshu episode 10 ended on a heartbreaking and unsettling note.

Concluding Thoughts

Given that the anime still has two more episodes till it wraps up for good, it seems highly unlikely that Natsuko Hirose actually met her end in Zenshu episode 10. The climax of this episode did set the stage for Luke to assume the role of the Ultimate Void and destroy the world he once protected with his own hands.

However, such a development could be resolved within 5 minutes of the upcoming episode. This points towards the possibility of Natsuko still being alive and potentially returning to prevent her new reality from meeting a tragic end as foretold by the movie.