Shinzo, known as Mushrambo in Japan, is a loose anime adaptation of the Chinese classical novel Journey to the West. The first season is comprised of 21 episodes. The background of the series is that 500 years ago, the Earth was taken over by a species known as Enterrans, with humanity being wiped out in the process. The Enterrans took over the Earth and made it their planet, calling it Enterra, with many of the cities reduced to overgrown ruins. As the series goes on, the true history of the Enterrans and their origins are revealed.
The English dub of Shinzo starts off with a confusing first episode where the scene changes are abrupt and quick. This weird sense of editing is kind of explained in episode 2 where it repeats all of the same scenes but fleshes it out such that the flow and dialogue makes sense. However, this still doesn't justify it. Nevertheless, we are introduced to Mushra. We first see him tied up at a waterfall for a crime, and this scene will be repeatedly brought up in flashbacks through the whole season. A human girl, Yakumo, arrives to free him and they team up together.
Yakumo could very well be the last human in the world, but her objective is to travel to the city of Shinzo, where apparently the rest of the humans are. It is a stock standard save the world type of plot as Mushra battles enemies who want to cause Yakumo harm and hinder her journey. To round out the team, Mushra and Yakumo meets up with two other characters, a cat-like Kutal, and the more conventional Sago. They just sort of turn up and their reasons for joining are never fully explained, you have to accept that they're loyal to Yakumo and move on.
The group meets plenty of enemies targeting Yakumo, spurred on by the myth that if you devour a human, you gain immense power. When Enterrans are defeated, they turn into cards, which other Enterrans can then absorb. This absorption of power morphs their physical appearances, known as Hyper-Enterrans. The trio themselves also have this ability to transform into more powerful versions of themselves for combat. Most Enterrans have animal motifs as the first season goes through themes with insect Enterrans in the beginning, before switching to animals and so forth.
There are plenty of flaws with the plot. For one, the group forms too quickly for their friendship and loyalty to have any true meaning. Therefore, in the earlier episodes and arguably to the last episode, the group doesn't have any sort of charisma or chemistry at all. The early episodes feel segmented and hacked together making it confusing and poorly paced. The English dub did literally dice up and piece the scenes back together resulting in the same scenes repeating multiple times in various episodes.
There is a lot of repetition with flashbacks and stock footage, combined with a villain of the week type of episode format. Battle scenes are weak since they are over too quickly without much action. The fights are not fluid and has awkward scene transitions and editing, leaving them unsatisfying and boring. By episode 9 though, Shinzo takes the time to properly pace the fight scenes leading to a good atmosphere and even puts forward a few surprises. Despite the improvements, it is still subpar.
Sadly, the characters are one-dimensional. They do not develop much further than Kutal eating all the time, Mushra being rash and arrogant, with only Sago having some sense of responsibility. Despite all the danger towards Yakumo, it is a wonder that the trio often leaves Yakumo alone making it easy for their enemies to kidnap her. Very late in the first season is the plot expanded beyond just "reaching Shinzo". It gives their journey a more reachable objective and has a neat concept, even though it's a simple concept.
While it seemingly sets up a long arc in the traditional structure of defeating each of the Enterran Generals on their quest to Shinzo, it is surprisingly (and somewhat cheaply) cut short as the season nears its end. To top it off, the ending feels like a sham and really rushed in order to get the happy ending that it required (and a hint for the next season). Overall, Shinzo has plenty of neat ideas such as betrayal and even corruption of the protagonists' Hyper forms. However, the plot is severely underdeveloped, lacking substance and most importantly, not told in a coherent manner which makes the anime feel disjointed and boring as a result.
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