Zenshu episode 8 release date and time, where to watch, and more

Zenshu episode 8 will premiere in Japan on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 11:45 pm JST. It will be broadcast on TV Tokyo and other Japanese television channels. Shortly after its release, the episode will be made available to stream online on Crunchyroll for international viewers.

Episode 7 of Studio MAPPA's Zenshu anime provided a much-needed backstory of the protagonist, Natsuko Hirose. The opening moments saw the progression of Natsuko's journey as an animator from other people's perspectives. She went from an elementary school student obsessed with the A Tale of Perishing movie to a successful anime director hailed in the industry as a certified genius.

Note: The article contains spoilers for the anime series.

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Zenshu episode 8 release date and time

As per the anime's official website, Zenshu episode 8 will be broadcast in Japan on Sunday, February 23, 2025, at 11:45 pm JST. The English-subtitled version of the episode will be made available for international viewers at the following times in their respective time zones:

Time Zone	Release Day	Release Date	Release Time
Pacific Standard Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	6:45 am
Central Standard Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	8:45 am
Eastern Standard Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	9:45 am
Greenwich Mean Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	2:45 pm
Central European Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	3:45 pm
Indian Standard Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	8:15 pm
Philippine Time	Sunday	February 23, 2025	10:45 pm

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Where to watch Zenshu episode 8

Zenshu episode 8 will be released in Japan on television channels like TV Tokyo, BS TV Tokyo, and AT-X. It will also be available for unlimited viewing on various platforms, including DMM TV, Unlimited Anime, U-NEXT, ABEMA, Bandai Channel, Netflix, Anime Times, Hulu, d Anime Store, and many more.

Viewers in Japan can also purchase the episode from VIDEO MARKET, Rakuten TV, Milplus, TELASA, VIDEX, J:COM STREAM, and others. As for viewers in other countries, Zenshu episode 8 will be available to stream online on Crunchyroll.

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Zenshu episode 7 recap

A still from Zenshu episode 7 (image via MAPPA)

Natsuko Hirose's backstory was the main focus of Zenshu episode 7, which was titled First Love. The episode saw Natsuko develop from an elementary school student obsessed with A Tale of Perishing to a genius anime director who took the entire animation industry by storm. What's more, the majority of the episode was told from the perspectives of multiple people, all of whom witnessed Natsuko's journey over the years and fell in love with her.

The episode began from the perspective of a nine-year-old elementary student, Midori Ichihashi, who narrated the events of Natsuko's childhood and how she fell in love with the A Tale of Perishing movie, which eventually led her to become obsessed with drawing the characters of the movie from her memory.

Eventually, Natsuko developed the habit of carrying her sketchbook around with her all the time, in which she tried to capture every scenario that moved in her head. Seeing Natsuko give her all to something that she genuinely loved moved Midori as well, as she ended up being infatuated with Natsuko and claimed it to be her "first love."

Afterward, the focus of the episode shifted to the perspective of Shu Ninomiya, a high school boy on the track team, who became infatuated with Natsuko's shenanigans and eventually fell in love with her. However, his feelings weren't reciprocated in the slightest, as Natsuko only used him for drawing the action of running.

Natsuko and co., as seen in episode 7 (image via MAPPA)

Then, the episode shifted focus to Saburo Aoi, a college student who dreamt of becoming a great anime director one day. However, Saburo and his team at the Animation Research Club couldn't even come up with decent ideas for an upcoming animated music video for their music festival. Fortunately for them, Natsuko arrived in the nick of time and saved their project.

Natsuko drew up the keyframes for the video at light speed and even took over the project as the director. She completed the animated video in no time, which became her directional debut piece. Unsurprisingly, it ended up becoming a resounding success and kickstarted her career as an animation director.

Soon, Natsuko joined Studio Konkon, where she continued her habit of taking the entire weight of all her projects on her shoulders. Her progress was closely monitored by Saburo, who also ended up falling for Natsuko - claiming that she was his first love.

Ironically, Natsuko's creative genius hit a massive roadblock when she was tasked with working on a romantic comedy anime about first love. Having no prior experience with the subject matter, Natsuko began resorting to extreme lengths to find inspiration, as she even started mugging random people on the street to hear about their first love experiences.

The closing moments saw Natsuko meeting an untimely end in the real world due to food poisoning, following which she got isekai'd into the world of A Tale of Perishing. It was revealed that the events of the episode until now were just Natsuko reliving her past life in a dream. As she woke up being surrounded by her newfound friends in this fantasy world, the episode came to an end, creating immense hype for Zenshu episode 8.

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What to expect from Zenshu episode 8

Zenshu episode 8 is titled Confession. As stated in the episode's title, the next episode will see Luke trying to confess his feelings to Natsuko. However, before that, the episode will focus on where it ended in the previous episode as a mysterious bird made its presence known.

To confess before Natsuko properly, Luke takes advice from other people. Justice advises Luke to ask Natsuko out on a date. As expected, things go smoothly as Luke and Natsuko visit the hot spring. However, Natsuko might not be prepared for what is about to come in Zenshu episode 8.

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