Zetsuen no Tempest – 15
Samon and Mahiro go underwear shopping (no, really)
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Argh, I made the mistake of looking up the Fate/Extra CCC opening animation and now I’m super excited for the game coming out. OTL Seeing how Nasu likes to use a bunch of complicated kanji though, I’m not 100% sure that I’ll be able to understand/play through it… I’ll definitely attempt it though, since the opportunity to have Gil as a servant is WAAAAY too good to pass up. …This rant went on longer than expected. On to Tempest. |
Well, from the looks of it, Megumu IS the Mage of Exodus. He doesn’t require sacrifices to use his power and he doesn’t seem to get tired easily. Of course, this could be the logic defying part of being part of Exodus, but then he destroyed part of the Tree of Genesis, a being that’s pretty damn close to being the god of the world, with just a thought. Even more, he did it without any real negative repercussions, despite anybody else being hostile to it (like the army) being instantly absorbed. Maybe this is just because he’s the opposing force to Genesis, but you have to admit that he destroyed a part of a half awakened pretty damn fast when it took Samon and a bunch of other normal mages a huge amount of time or effort to have an effect on their opposing Tree. If he’s not the Mage of Exodus, I’d like to believe that Megumu is at least a special mage.
Pfft and then Mahiro’s interrogation happens. If I wasn’t highly doubtful that Megu could have killed Aika… well, there’s not really much proof, but I’m still highly doubtful. Yu-chan could have been made up, but is Megumu really that pathetic? Maybe she could even be like Yoshino’s girlfriend, but I’m still kind of doubtful. Tempest could pull a fast one on me, but I really don’t think that he was the one to have killed Aika. He’s too much of a weak willed guy to do it. Plus if he killed Aika, he could easily get rid of Mahiro by doing the same. I don’t think Samon or anyone else (minus maybe Yoshino) would be especially depressed if Mahiro was out of the picture. Mahiro threatened that Hakaze and Yoshino would do something, but if Megumu really was bloodthirsty, I don’t think that would have thrown him off much even with Hakaze as an opponent. Who’s the real culprit? Well, Megumu is one Mage of Exodus, who’s to say that there aren’t more? I imagine any of the mages under Exodus would be outside of however Genesis tracks murders since they would all defy logic by nature.
In a word, this episode was… blunt. Between Junichi telling Hakaze about her crush on Yoshino and Megumu calling Mahiro out as a siscon, the truth finally came out. Of course, Mahiro refuses to see it, but Hakaze’s reaction to realizing that she likes Yoshino was beyond adorable. Who knows how Yoshino feels about the situation (chances are he’s still hung up on Aika though), but Of course, Aika is already dead, but could it be possible that the Tree could do something like erase memories? I’m sure Hakaze will do what she can to suppress her feelings so nobody gets hurt (since she thinks the girlfriend is still alive), but all it would take is a small slip of her emotions and a blunt object to Yoshino’s head to create some amnesia. At the beginning of the series, I wouldn’t have thought this to be a problem, but then things like the missile on the island happened. Whether she wants it or not, the Genesis WILL interfere on Hakaze’s behalf.
Bishie sparkles? Man, Hakaze DOES have it bad.
So in her frenzy, it looks like Hakaze agreed to let Samon do something crazy. I’m not really sure what the gear is for, but it looks like Megumu is the badass from the OP. While I push all thoughts of Accel World design comparisons from my mind, I wonder if Hakaze would have agreed if she was in a different state of mind. From the looks of it, Samon is making a deal with the army to try to return the world to how it was (or at least returning part of it and studying the Tree.. or something). …Which is to say, use Megumu’s power to erase Genesis like he did earlier. Genesis isn’t really doing anything at the moment, and like Hakaze and Yoshino discussed, the world doesn’t really have to worry about anything now. I guess there’s always the question as to if it will deem humans completely unnecessary though. I imagine that happening especially if they keep reversing the progress it made regarding pollution. I see Samon and Takumi’s points on the unknown being dangerous. Hakaze might have agreed to it even without being distracted since she’s been questioning it, but I can’t help but think that the Tree itself might strike back at some point. It looks safe for now though. I don’t know how important the section Megumu took out was, but from the looks of this, the job could be rather simple. It didn’t even offer any real resistance the first time he did it. …Of course, nothing on Tempest is ever simple, so I’m expecting much bigger problems ahead. Things are going far too well for this show.
There’s also the question as to why the team is making such a big spectacle of it. The outfit plus the fact that they sent out a letter/message beforehand. Clearly they want this to be a big deal. Is it to draw out other possible Mages of Exodus? Is it because they want to sway people towards giving up Genesis? I’m curious as to why they’re doing all of this, when they could just as easily send Megumu out in his underwear on a bicycle or something (…theoretically speaking, though it would be entertaining if they actually did that).
Now that the storyline has given us a tiny lapse of room to relax before things inevitably start up again, it’s kind of fun watching the characters interact. They’re pretty much the same as when they’re not fighting for their lives, but I never thought I’d see Mahiro and Samon casually sitting down for a meal together. Or Hakaze yelling over the phone to Samon while dealing with a romantic crisis. Even without all of the constant drama with the Trees and Aika’s murder, Tempest was surprisingly entertaining just with the characters. Even more surprising, the comedy was actually funny. Maybe it’s because the story has been so focused on dark, pretentious things like fate that the comedy feels great, but it’s good to know that Tempest is able to explore genres a bit. Of course, this leaves me with a bit less to say, but there’s no denying that this episode was fun.
It looks like an Aika x Yoshino flashback next episode? It’s been a while.
About Karakuri
University student and the one at Metanorn who's known for wearing glasses. Likes blood, insanity and plot twists, but also plays otome games and adores cute romance anime. It balances out... somehow.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
So basically, Junichi’s part in this whole show is to be the mirror that the characters don’t have, to make them realize things about themselves. I hope he can break out of that role and be more of himself sometime, cause he seems a bit more interesting than that.
I hope that Hakaze can manage to confess to Yoshino. I’d rather that happen than she turns into Blunder Woman around him, after being Wonder Woman the rest of the time. And maybe if she confessed, he’d get past mooning over pictures of his year-dead girlfriend.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
He does tend to give off the ‘insightful’ character vibe, doesn’t he. He was certainly interesting in the first half, but I think it’s because he was playing neutral. Now that everyone’s working together, he doesn’t really have so much of a side anymore…
I honestly don’t know who to support in this to be honest. I love Hakaze (and yes, I hope she doesn’t turn into blunder woman), but Aika and Yoshino just seemed to work well together. Though I guess it is about time for Yoshino to get a move on in his life.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
The part about Genesis being able to erase memories is an intriguing one! If that could happen, then the creators can just turn the entire series on its head XD and yeah the comedy was really good here! Especially Mahiro and his snappy remarks and Samon’s replies lol
I want both Evangeline and Jun to have more of an actual role in Tempest 🙁 i hope they play a major part sooonnn
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Early in the series I managed to read a spoiler that was saying “Evangeline eventually switches sides with Samon” and was thinking that it was OMG some huge betrayal, and now it’s like “Oh, yeah. That’s no problem.”
The show’s got a pretty big cast, so it’s not surprising that people are fairly minor characters. It’s still kinda weird that *everyone* is on the same side. Even the supposed Mage of Exodus is on the same side as Samon who’s on the same side as Hakaze.
POWUH: iLurker with 4 comments
I knowww everyone being on the same side is something that rarely ever happens in anime! one of Tempest’s best points is that we dont have any real villain XD
in the manga when Mahiro and Samon are talking about not giving up and chances and all that in the car, Samon actually says that he if this were a story he would be the antagonist…and that he always felt like a villain no matter what he did or what side side he chose :/and the panel shows a cute picture of Samon with devil horns and flaring hair with Natsumura and Tetsuma as his evil minions XD
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahahaha no huge betrayal, but yeah, I’m surprised how… easy it was to get everyone all on the same page. Especially Samon and Hakaze (and by extension, Megumu)
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
That’s how it looks right now but we don’t know if they’ll be forced to betray each other later on. Currently, the Tree of Genesis has everyone living in a state of “peace”. Not to mention there’s no telling what Mahiro will do when (not if) he finds out Yoshino’s secret. He doesn’t want to admit to anyone or himself but he really cares for Aika. He’s just bitter that he realized it too late.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
But there’s nobody who’s going to be a ‘bad’ guy. Samon was the ‘bad’ guy before he could explain, but changed from ‘bad’ to ‘a guy with a different opinion of how things would happen’. In the end, what happened was between what Hakaze thought and what Samon thought, it seemed.
I’m still not sure what Wild Card Mahiro would do when he finds out that Aika was dating Yoshino. As someone said in a comment earlier, Mahiro is well aware that Yoshino does things behind his back, and he does things behind Yoshino’s back. It’s still that weird ‘not-friends’ relationship but there’s respect. I almost wonder if Mahiro would temper his anger at Yoshino for dating Aika (although there’s really no justification for anger, and it’s never really been clear that Mahiro is angry at Aika’s boyfriend, just her killer) with some admiration for Yoshino actually pulling that off right under his nose.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I can oddly imagine Mahiro admiring Yoshino for dating Aika behind his back. Yeah, I don’t think he’s angry or ready to kill the boyfriend per-se, but more like it’s something he didn’t know about his obsession, so it’s bugging the hell out of him. It might even be okay because it’s Yoshino, the guy who betrays Mahiro and things work out (where any other guy would probably be beaten up or something).
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yay! You’re back!Well, it seems like just about the only way for Yoshino to forget Aika. …Though if it happened to other characters too, then I guess the series really would change completely. Ahaha Mahiro’s brooding and sarcasm is great.
Both of them seem like great characters… I still think it’s a step up that Evangeline isn’t being defeated in battle every other episode (though she did do pretty well when she fought Nakamura).
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Megumu is officially the Mage of Exodus and apparently Aika’s killer if the evidence is concrete but he’s weak hearted and doesn’t have the drive to kill which makes me skeptical. And even though he has the power, everyone still suspects Yoshino so it makes me wonder if more than one Mage can exist at one time or if the power jumps to a different wielder from time to time given that Megumu has only had it for a year. The Tree of Exodus is the opposite of Genesis. While Hakaze has been a mage all her life, Exodus could pick any number for a period of time.
Yoshino’s logic and point of view on the world and humanity is nothing short of ruthless, if not nihilistic and too similar to Koko Hekmatyar. He says everything on his mind like it’s no big deal because in the end, it’s the truth and people have to live with it. It was appropriate that Hakaze said that he has “sang froid” which is French for “cold blood” (I knew someday my second language would be useful).
Junichi is becoming a person of interest in my suspicions. He disappears when both trees were going berserk and then pops up in front of those he abandoned a year later? I’d keep him under surveillance. Saying that the tree will kill people for Hakaze’s sake, he seems to know more than he’s telling. The worst kinds of enemy are the ones who are close to you.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
There’s never been any concrete evidence about who killed Aika. Hakaze and Samon, have been basing all her ideas about who Aika’s killer is on *lack* of evidence. First, There was no trace of anyone who had violated logic in her death. So that led Hakaze to believe that because the only people who could act to murder without violating the logic of Genesis are Kusaribes, that the murderer was a Kusaribe. Then when it was proven that there were none who had, then it was “Well, the only other person that could do that would be possibly a Mage of Exodus”.
The problem is that they don’t know what they don’t know. They *think* that there are no exceptions, but they’ve already thought of two exceptions. Who knows how many more exceptions there could be? Nobody, that’s who.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Oh there’s a theory. The Mage of Exodus switching about. I guess since it’s related to chaos, it’s possible (unless they say something different later).
Yoshino is kind of apathetic about things. It’s like he’s speaking as a 3rd party where he’s actually part of the people directly involved. I wouldn’t say it’s ruthless, but since he’s talking as if he’s not involved, things become… blunt I guess. Didn’t know about the cold blood meaning though. That’s new.
A year? No, Jun has only been gone for a month or so and according to Hakaze, he normally does that. I went on that huge suspicion theory a while ago, but I’m not really suspicious of him anymore.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I don’t know if it’s ‘apathetic’ or even ‘ruthless’. Yoshino strikes me as someone who is very practical and grounded, and doesn’t waste much time or effort investing in things that aren’t happening. So his narrative is very close to what things actually *are*. How quickly was he able to get on board with the idea of the trees, the fruits, the people dying from Dark Iron Syndrome, magic, etc? Because once you show him something exists, he believes it. He’s willing to throw away his prior narrative to switch to one that is more correctly describing the situation.
He’s also willing to do what it takes to further his means. He knew he wasn’t right about how to bring Hakaze back. But it was good enough to work, that’s all he cared about. And he doesn’t waste time with how horrible a situation is. He grasps that, and gets on with the business of getting on.
POWUH: Metanorn Regular with 102 comments
Lol, its the new year’s sale!! The underwear pt was funny
I really loved how everyone was “Koi?! Koi?!!!!!”
To be honest,Yoshino is pretty darn cute.lol
Everytime I watch the Ending w/ the song from
Sako Tomohisa,AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH XD Love it!!!!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
This episode was unusually funny for Tempest xD but as long as it worked out okay, I’m fine with the story taking it easy once in a while…
As for the rest of what you said, I agree completely! I’m just waiting for the OP single to come out~