Zetsuen no Tempest – 18
This episode, Mahiro’s fingers do their best ‘Genesis’ impression
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Yeah, the animation quality kind of took a dive this episode. The parts that mattered looked pretty good though, so I’ll give that to BONES. Despite the uh, QUALITY, the plot finally picked up and Yoshino’s character got really interesting really quickly. Plus there was some nicely animated Genesis vs Exodus action, so ignoring some of the hands this episode, it was pretty great overall. |
This is probably the first time we’ve seen Yoshino act so… emotional and yet, he revealed just how empty inside he is. He’s kind of right though in the fact that nothing would have changed had he thrown a fit and reacted to Aika’s death. The only thing that would have accomplished would be making himself feel better and getting the grief out. Though we’ve seen that Yoshino doesn’t think that way. He figured that the most logical thing to do would be to continue on as normal, and thus he did. Maybe that wasn’t the healthiest thing to do emotionally, but it helped him get by. There wasn’t any sort of denial, there was only acceptance. Which sounds pretty mature in text, but hearing how he also thinks that there’s no possible way to be happy without Aika in the world, you can tell that her death definitely hit him hard (not to mention those eyes he had when talking about all of this). This is also a pretty great explanation for all of the flashbacks we’ve seen over the course of Tempest. Yes, they were helpful to the plot at the time, but they also served as a huge hint to how in Yoshino’s mind, there’s not much else to life now that she’s gone. We hardly knew what was going on in his head, other than the Aika flashbacks because that was the main thing on his mind at the time.
He’s finally planning to tell Mahiro though (maybe, judgeing from how he was speaking at the end of the episode), so maybe Hakaze lending him a shoulder to cry on is helping him start to move onwards…
That line about the two of them having lost an important thing from the start was a good one.
As for the other recipient of the shocking news, Mahiro. …I have friends who clean obsessively when they’re upset, so watching him here was kind of funny in a way. He certainly seems to still want to deny the truth though, even when it’s shoved in his face. Maybe he might not think it’s a credible theory since it came from Megumu of all people, but even then, the arguments towards the fact are pretty undeniable. Everyone else seems to accept the fact pretty easily. I think Mahiro just needs a good talk with Yoshino about it before he truly accepts the fact that they were dating (which is what I assume his phone call at the end of the episode was about). Now to his credit, Mahiro doesn’t look like he’s out to kill Yoshino over it, I think it was just a shock to him since he’s been in denial for so long.
Hakaze has finally taken control of the situation, but the fact that she’s doing all of this for Yoshino’s sake is still kind of frustrating. At this point, I’m just glad the her existence is still important to the plot as a part of Genesis as opposed to being solely there to fawn over Yoshino (though that line is kind of blurring as well). As for learning about Aika’s relationship with Yoshino, it was great the her first reaction wasn’t glee that her love rival was dead, but instead an immense feeling of guilt. It makes her just that much better as a character and even though she’s ambitious, she knows where to draw the line. I’m glad that Yoshino doesn’t blame her for everything that happened to Aika too, where it seems like everyone else would in similar situations.
Psh. The next thing you know, they’ll be trying to convince us that Dragonball had something to do with aliens too.
Tempest has been a pretty interesting show with a ton of plot twists overall, but if Genesis and Exodus are aliens like Evangeline suggested… Well, in a show about mages and fate, aliens just seem kind of silly. It’s kind of like saying that something like Penguindrum was all caused by aliens. It just seems like a weird theory to throw in there. Though I guess Madoka Magica was technically all caused by aliens and that didn’t seem too weird at the time, so maybe Tempest could work with it without it being cheesy.
…And if you didn’t already link the magic in this show to FMA, then they’ve even thrown alchemy into the mix! Whatever that thing Evangeline found is, it looks important. Somehow. Personally, I think Hakaze’s plan to test the Tree of Genesis probably should have been implemented about 5 episodes ago after the Tree went wild, but now we’ll see if she’s expendable or not. Even if she doesn’t seem to be testing it directly for some reason. Her plan with pushing Megumu to his limits is interesting. …Though I’m not entirely sure what she’s accomplishing by doing this dressed up in front of a bunch of people as opposed to training with him in a gym (or considering that both of them can fly, in a secluded field) or something.
Interesting to note, apparently Megumu doesn’t have to sacrifice things from civilization in order to work his magic, while Hakaze still does. I wonder if this means something. You’d think it would be the opposite since Genesis is slightly more awakened than Exodus and you’d think that Exodus would need more help for it’s power. …Ignoring the fact that Genesis is the one who’s currently consuming civilization. What I’m saying here is that Exodus doesn’t need anything at all for Megumu to use it’s power while Hakaze does and Genesis is already kind of awakened.
…Which brings us to Aika, which brings us to the fact that her death seems to have set everything off. …whcih brings us back to her murderer. I don’t think the claims that it’s Hakaze’s fault really have anything to them now since she’s not fighting against Genesis because of Aika’s death in a way. Maybe it’s Yoshino with his supposed heart of Exodus, but a lot of that seems to have also been caused by the death (though I don’t know how ’empty’ he was before Aika died. He seems pretty empty because of it). Whatever the case, Aika still has a lot to do with the storyline.
This was the best episode of Tempest in a while. Not that I’m saying that the others before this were bad, but in comparison, this just shone above them. Again, I’m glad that Hakaze is over her lovesick maiden phase. …Or at least she’s not bumbling over hiding her feelings anymore. I like this confident Hakaze better, even if she keeps saying things like she’s fighting Genesis for Yoshino’s love. Yoshino has kind of moved forward too in a way now that he’s had a good cry about his girlfriend dying on him. It seems like Yoshino and Hakaze have finally moved forward after a very long stand still and now I guess it’s just Mahiro left. Maybe his confrontation with Yoshino isn’t going to be as violent as I originally thought it would be, but hopefully all of the characters can start walking forward before this reaches it’s climax. …Whenever that’s going to be. Maybe it will result in a 4 episode dialogue standoff again. If Tempest can pull it off once, I’m sure it could do it again.
The next episode? More of this, apparently.
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
Yeah, I hope we don’t get another 3 episode dialogue standoff again. Especially now that everyone’s putatively on the same side again. They did pull it off before, but I don’t think they could capture that again.
I liked romance Hakaze, so nyeh! And I really do hope that Yoshino and Hakaze can end up together (I’d be surprised if anyone else ends up dead in this show, even if it *is* referencing Shakespeare all the time). I think it’s odd that we’ve gotten away from Hanemura’s girlfriend again, who is still a wild-card. I’ll bet she grows in importance again.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
True enough. I don’t know if there’s that much to debate anymore since everyone seems to agree that Genesis is bad news.
I like the idea of Aika and Yoshino, but I have to agree that Hakaze and Yoshino is also something I could support.
Mahiro can be foreveralone I guess as far as the plot is concerned.Well, it is named after The Tempest and everyone is happy in the ending of that one. I just hope that’s a foreshadowing for the ending. Oh yeah, Megumu says things about no one hearing about Yoshino’s girlfriend, but Yu-chan hasn’t really made an appearance either.POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Doesn’t everyone know that the other ship is totally Mahiro x Megumu? And there’s a three-way with Samon, Natsumura, and Tetsuma…
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Oh if anyone, I’m thinking Mahiro x Samon they’ve been spending a lot of time together lately….
But in all seriousness, I’m kind of shipping Nakamura and Evangeline after that battle they had back when Exodus was still being revived.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yoshino x Hakaze. Yes, I called it. Nakamura and Evangeline seem to be the best pairing right now especially after the fact the two of them fought each other almost to the death. Impressive transition.
POWUH: 800-899 and Flying Sage with 856 comments
I actually think the multi-episode dialogue standoff was the best this show ever was. All downhill after that was over. This episode was better than the recent comedy-centered ones, but nowhere near as good as the psychological fake-outs from the first course.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Well there’s certainly been less plot twists regarding motives ever since everyone decided that they’re basically fighting for the same thing… I just hope it can try to capture a bit more of what it had at the beginning of the show from here. …Though I guess it’s to be expected since they’re on to answering a lot of the questions we had before.
POWUH: iLurker with 9 comments
If you think aliens are silly, you don’t know Kyo Shirodaira tendencies to pull plots from nowhere.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Whoa, he wrote Record of a Fallen Vampire as well. I would have never guessed. ….And if I remember correctly, there were vampires from space in that. Maybe the theory isn’t so far off after all.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I was hoping I’d be the one to tell you that but it looks like the cat is out of the bag already. I read the first two chapters and I liked it a lot but haven’t gotten around to reading more because I’ve been preoccupied most of the time.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I have the entire series on my shelf. I wouldn’t put it anywhere near Tempest’s level, but knowing this would have been a big hint at the beginning of the series regarding how no one was really the villain. Between this, Record and Spiral, it seems that he likes playing that angle where no one is to blame.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The entire series. Wow, that makes me feel like I’m falling behind on a lot of mangas lately. I got to start back because there must be a lot of chapters by now. What rating would you give the full story and characters on a scale of 1 to 10? From what you’re saying, the author likes to create a neutral territory.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Uhhh… if Tempest is an 8, I’d give it a 6.5 or something close to that; maybe a 7. The twists are more predictable than Tempest and and the characters all seem really… typical and a lot of them are pretty one dimensional minus Strauss and maybe that blonde haired chick (not the loli).
POWUH: iLurker with 6 comments
I’m glad that Yoshino finally shows some emotion as he was fairly unrelatable to many people. Looks like relations between the two best buddies will be finally put to the test.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
The question is, once the truth has been confirmed, will things turn out violent or for the better? But knowing Mahiro and that it’s human nature, he won’t take kindly to the fact there were secrets being kept from him.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I dunno, Mahiro is well used to the fact that he and Yoshino keep secrets from each other. They find out things, assess what the impact of knowing it is (and of not knowing it) and deal with it from there. The act of keeping a secret isn’t really a betrayal to either of them (like it is in so many relationships).
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Agreeing with Highway here. And to add to that, as stated by another comment a couple episodes back, Mahiro knows that Yoshino lies to him, but he still has faith in Yoshino since it seems to work out okay in the end. Mahiro is generally okay with Yoshino keeping secrets.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, as ‘generally okay’ as Mahiro is about *anything*. I mean, it seems like most stuff in the world pisses him off. But he doesn’t get MORE pissed off at Yoshino for hiding things from him.
Honestly, I can’t decide how I think Mahiro will react to the news that Aika’s boyfriend was Yoshino. It could go so many ways. Punch him in the face and then pick him up and hug him? Beat the shit out of him? Walk up and “Man, you got me, bro, I can’t believe you pulled that off”? I could see him doing any of these things.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Whatever is coming up between them, it should be good~. I’ glad we got Yoshino’s inner workings out of the way as well, since that was an issue people have had ever since episode 1.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Yoshino finally caved in inside and it was about time as I’m sure the grief was poisoning him. The reason he was able to keep himself composed wasn’t only thinking about what Mahiro would do but that he defines everything based on cold, hard logic which turns out to be true. Even if you do everything in your power to avenge someone’s death, in end you realize no matter what you do, it won’t change the fact they’re already gone.
It’s a good thing Yoshino set Hakaze straight about Aika’s death and that it’s something beyond her control even if she’s the strongest Mage of her clan. Unlike Yoshino who relies on logic, Hakaze is too susceptible to letting her emotions get the best of her with the end result of her not thinking clearly.
Mahiro looks completely undone so this could be a sign that he’s accepted Hanemura’s theory but doesn’t know how to express himself. With everything that’s happened, there’s no way he can deny it. This is the first time he’s so quiet.
I can’t accept that the trees could be aliens. Since the beginning of the anime, there was no material to even suggest that and from what I understand, they’ve both been around since humanity began.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
So? Even if before humans, if they arrived from extraterrestrial origins, then they’re ‘alien’. It doesn’t really matter, tho, because it doesn’t change the fundamental nature of what they are. A difference without a distinction, as it were.
With only 6 episodes left, I think the idea that Hakaze goes back in time and is the one who kills Aika is getting more and more remote… although at this point I wouldn’t put it past Mahiro to go back in time and kill Aika after finding out about her and Yoshino, if he could figure out how to do it.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I don’t even know if the manga is near it’s ending or not, so the things I know that happen next might get overturned for one of those fabulous anime-unique endings.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
I hope that doesn’t happen because having an ending to an anime that’s different from the manga version really leaves a bitter in the mouth. If things started the same way then it should end the same way as well.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
I believe that they said the manga’s main story has been announced to end next month. So I would guess they’ve got the plan for how the anime will end and it will be pretty much concurrent.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 154 comments
Yeah, I don’t know about y’all but I felt really bad for Yoshino. Seeing him just fall apart from the pressure of all those repressed emotions was hard to watch. It really did make him a better character though, as well as more thoroughly define him.
This show may not have the plot twists that made it stand out to me in the beginning but it is still fun to watch.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yeah, it seems they’ve replaced the twists with some solid character development and interaction. I’m fine with both though, overall.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Yoshino definitely had a lot of emotions locked up inside of him, so I really hope that the good cry he had with Hakaze helps him at bit. …He doesn’t have to love life, but I do hope that he finds some happiness somewhere.
Now that you mention it, Hakaze is a bit more emotional than I originally thought. She almost let self doubt kill her on the island, her arrogance caused the situation in the first place and now she’s definitely letting her feelings affect her now. She’s still a great character though.
If anything, I think Mahiro is… stuck. Which is why he’s so quiet. Like I said, he needs a good conversation with Yoshino in order to set himself straight.