Every once in a while, you stumble across a piece of media that you never knew existed; an undiscovered masterpiece of fiction. Last year, this happened when I watched Dune: Part One for the first time, instantly became obsessed with Dune and read all six books (not that all of these were particularly good books, but anyway). This year, however, I have discovered something new to rant about: “Minecraft Parkour Civilization”, a series by Youtuber Evbo that combines Minecraft brainrot with shonen anime tropes – and to my surprise, it all works out to create a true masterpiece.

You may have seen clips of this series on Twitter, which is also where I first discovered it, since it’s gone viral over there recently. These clips are pretty tame, and very funny, but are only the tip of the iceberg. Over the course of two full-length movies on Evbo’s Youtube channel (themselves supercuts of a 20-part series), “Minecraft Parkour Civilization” will escalate and exceed all of your expectations for it. And I only wish I was joking.

As its name implies, “Minecraft Parkour Civilization” takes place in Minecraft, but not the same Minecraft that we all know and love. In Parkour Civilization, the ground consists of a grid of floating grass blocks suspended above the void. Miss any of these jumps, and you fall into the void and die. There are houses and buildings scattered throughout this world, yet even inside, there are holes to the void in the floor. In this world, you have to constantly do Minecraft parkour just to move around. But what’s more interesting than the floor is the sky – it’s totally covered, with rumors of another layer of Parkour Civilization above it. 

Evbo, the series’ protagonist, has lived in this strange world with few memories of anything else. This life of endless parkouring from block to block is all he has known. Like his neighbors, he is a Parkour Noob; a ranking at the very bottom of Parkour Civilization society. The Parkour Noobs, lacking skills in parkour, are kept oppressed by the Parkour Pros, those with actual parkour skills and the ones who control everything. They control the supply of food, for instance; forcing every noob to perform a 1-block jump for raw chicken or a 1-block vertical jump for raw beef – barely enough to avoid starving. Any infraction from the Parkour Noobs gets a punishment from the Parkour Pros, paid in a certain number of challenging parkour jumps.

In a world where death is always around the corner, constantly kept starving and oppressed, Evbo has a goal. An ambition. There is only one way to escape being a Parkour Noob – and that is to complete a seemingly impossible parkour course that leads up to the upper level, where the Parkour Pros are said to live. Evbo has been training his entire life to complete this course, and after risking his life in order to gain entry, is finally ready to enter the parkour course. And then … something unexpected happens, something that changes the trajectory of his life forever, sending him on a quest no longer to rank up for himself, but also to discover how the world of Parkour Civilization works, the truth about the upper levels, and about his past.

Yes, this all takes place in “Minecraft,” a medium that has many flaws. Minecraft parkour is just something you put in the background of Instagram Reels, right? And what’s more, Evbo constantly narrates everything that happens in a stereotypical slop Youtuber voice that can become annoying after a while. Likewise, many important characters go unnamed, simply being referred to only as “the old man” or “my friend” for example. But these flaws are only surface level. Intentionally or not, Evbo has somehow created one of the most engaging stories I’ve ever seen in this medium.

Let’s start with the worldbuilding. A world in which everyone is forced to constantly do parkour is inherently ridiculous. That is clear from the start of the series, but as it goes on we are slowly introduced to how this entire world only functions around parkour. Evbo slowly learns how parkour is used not just to travel but to buy items, farm animals, and to bribe guards. One of the highlights of this series is when he opens up a book, only to discover that “it was written in parkour”. Yet, despite this inherently absurd premise, the series always plays it straight. This obsession with parkour isn’t a farce, or brainrot or a repeated gag – it’s a set of rules for how this exotic and strange world works; a set of detailed, consistent, well thought out rules that keep the story moving.

Indeed, the worldbuilding of “Minecraft Parkour Civilization” is heavily reminiscent of a young adult dystopian novel. It boasts a literally layered world, with strictly defined hierarchies kept in place with strange (at least in Minecraft) technology. The caste system of Parkour Civilization is strictly enforced, with those on the top trying to make it impossible for those on the bottom to move up. And every aspect of this parkour world, no matter how strange it may seem, is designed to reinforce this oppressive system, to keep those on the bottom from knowing the truth. For instance – a bit of a spoiler warning – the reason that the Parkour Noobs are kept starving is to prevent them from being able to complete certain parkour jumps – jumps needed to level up and become a Parkour Pro. In other words, social mobility in this world is mere propaganda spread by the elites to give the lower classes false hope. And that’s just the start of it.

But despite all of the impossible obstacles thrown his way, Evbo, somehow, endures. The character he portrays is heroic, yet somehow feels real, authentic. He doubts himself, worries about his future and often despairs about his impossible situation. Yet, at his core there is an undying determination to overcome – to fight through his fear of falling, to push himself to do parkour jumps that he’s never done before. In that regard the constant Youtuber narration transforms from a weakness of the series into a strength, as it allows us access to Evbo’s thinking process, his hopes and fears. As viewers of this series, we grow alongside him; his struggles, failures and successes become our own.

Indeed, Evbo’s sheer determination brings us to my next observation about this series – it’s basically an anime. Evbo, who always fights through his hopelessness and despair, who always breaks through his limits, would perfectly fit into any “battle shonen” anime such as “Dragon Ball Z”, “Fullmetal Alchemist” and “One Piece”. What’s more, the very structure of the series resembles the progression of an anime series as well. Evbo constantly strives to rank up in the world, and always faces some sort of impossible setback or opposition that he has to defeat; this cycle of losses, setbacks, training and narrow victory repeats itself over and over again, as it does in a shonen anime. And as in every shonen anime, it proves thrilling and exciting to watch our hero beat the odds stacked against him. 

And let’s not forget “Parkour Battles,” a fighting mechanic that has “anime” written all over it. Evbo comes to learn that in a world governed by parkour, any fights to the death must be waged in parkour too. The way these “Parkour Battles” work is that each fighter builds a parkour jump out of on-hand Minecraft blocks; whoever fails their jump, or completes an easier jump than their opponent, takes damage. It’s an internally consistent, turn-based combat system, perhaps like “Yu-Gi-Oh!” (also I should mention that one character’s skin is literally Atem from “Yu-Gi-Oh!”) that allows for a dizzying number of attacks, power-ups and strategies; as many as there are different Minecraft blocks. This makes for unpredictable, thrilling fights that slowly escalate in intensity and spectacle as the series goes on; always leaving you eager for what will happen next. And of course, like any anime character, Evbo has his signature attack that he constantly uses. In his case, a 360-degree spin in mid-jump.

Now, I know almost nothing about Evbo, the man, as opposed to Evbo, the character. I have no idea if the person running the Evbo channel has watched any anime, or if he consciously chose to pattern his Minecraft story after one. But at the end of the day, all that matters is that Evbo, intentionally or otherwise, has created an unexpectedly good example of the genre – I say this without any irony whatsoever. If you love anime but think Minecraft is for kids, or if you play Minecraft but never watched any anime in your life, there is something in this series for all of you. “Minecraft Parkour Civilization” serves as a reminder to us: sometimes the best-written works of fiction can come from the most unexpected places. Give it a try, and you won’t regret it.