Is this my all-time favourite shounen fighting anime? Attack on Titan, Future Diary, Fullmetal Alchemist, Rurouni Kenshin, My Hero Academia, Spy x Family, Chainsaw Man, InuYasha...? Maybe it depends on how strict you are about the term "fighting". Hard to say for sure, but this one's definitely up there. I definitely love it. Shows like The Promised Neverland, Assassination Classroom, Beastars and Death Note are also shounen but for me not "fighting anime", by the way.

Technically, it's a superhero show. Its heroes are "Negators", each with an ability that breaks (or "negates") one rule of the universe. Their names begin with "Un" (or in Japanese "Fu"). 1. UNDEAD can't be killed and will regenerate all damage so explosively that he can fly like Superman by cutting off his own feet and shooting into the sky on a rocket blast of blood. It's quite a weird ability, in fact, and he's found creative uses for it. 2. UNLUCK can't help cursing anyone she touches with ridiculously bad luck, so you might get hit by anything from bird poo to an incoming meteor. 3. UNJUSTICE can make you violate your sense of right and wrong. 4. UNTOUCHABLE can be never be touched, by anything, ever. She has an impenetrable barrier around her body and there's no limit to its destructive powers should she start extending it. There are more, of course. The show's careful about the rules for each Negator's abilities, which usually have loopholes or surprising consequences in situations you hadn't considered.

The downside is that a Negator's parents generally get killed. The child won't understand its powers at first. Negators generally have tragic past, sometimes to the point of making them suicidal.

Our heroes are Andy (Undead) and Fuuko (Unluck). Fuuko was going to kill herself because she'd lost everyone close to her and she was going to be alone forever. No hope of romance. Anyone she touches will die. Then, though, she met Andy, who thinks her power's amazing and would love to touch her as much as possible and get himself killed. Andy is bonkers, but glorious. He loves almost everything and almost always has a gigantic grin on his face, especially when doing something beyond all sanity. He also tends to be naked, because his regeneration powers don't extend to clothes. He doesn't seem to notice.

Fuuko at first has trouble with Andy wanting to be touchy-feely, but think about it. She'd been going to kill herself because she couldn't get close to anyone. Now, she's got the world's craziest man determined to be with her forever and protect her. Before long, they're inseparable. Their relationship goes from "a bit alarming and you'd run away too" to becoming one of manga's most lovable couples.

The show's deceptively hard-edged. It's basically great rollicking fun, but Andy has no problem with killing. Our heroes join an organisation called Union that disposes of Negators and could easily be mistaken for baddies (although the real villains are even more ruthless). They want to kill God. No, really. There's a reason why this is necessary, complete with clues, a plan and foreshadowing.

It's fundamentally a shounen fighting manga, i.e. goodies battle baddies. We've seen thousands of those. What makes this one great is its wit, craziness and emotional resonance. The cast are unique and compelling. The plots are surprising. The show's emotional range is powerful, with at least three BLOODY HELL episodes just in this first season and I've rewatched them already. It can be heartbreaking, although its trajectory is positive and uplifting. The Fuuko-Andy journey in the world-tower of books annihilated me. The zombie two-parter in eps.6-7 does things I'd never seen before in the zombie genre and might be my favourite ever zombie story. (At the very least, it's a strong candidate. It's not horror, though.)

The show only hits those heights occasionally, of course. It's mostly just a cool, funny adventure with lovable heroes. The anime's episode numbers have three digits (i.e. episodes 001-024), implying that they're planning 100+ episodes and I hope they live up to that promise. If they don't, though, I'll buy the manga. Hell, I might buy it anyway.