Zetsuen no Tempest – 24 [END]
When fruit attacks
 |
Well, time to say goodbye to Zetsuen no Tempest. It was a fun ride. …I wish I could honestly say that this was the best anime I’ve ever watched that revolved around magical fighting trees and Shakespeare references, but there’s Romeo X Juliet out there too. …I think I still liked Tempest better by a small margin though. |
AHAHAHA IT WAS HIS ARM.
Man, I feel silly for worrying. Honestly. So in the end, nobody died! Yay! There were still some slightly worrying parts though, I guess. That last part with Hanemura losing and falling didn’t quite sink into the ‘depths of despair’ territory with me despite the obvious parallel situation with Megumu falling into the ocean. Sure the stakes were high, but it just didn’t feel like that desperate of a situation to me. Once Yoshino’s injury was revealed to be small and non fatal, the tension just kind of dropped from there. Since at that point, it was pretty obvious that everyone was going to make it through just fine. …And then lord knows where that giantass sword at the end appeared from. I guess it came from their hearts uniting as one as Aika put it? Or maybe it was the fact that the Kusaribe were supporting Exodus. …Though really, they’ve been doing that since the beginning with Samon trying to revive it.
Yeah, that didn’t really feel complete either. I assume those people in black were the Kusaribe or something. Everyone was obviously expecting something from Hanemura too, which I assume was what brought the sword out of nowhere. But… there was no moment where it felt like there hearts were ‘united’ or whatever. To be blunt, I don’t think it had as much impact as a scene as it was attempting. Aika’s words made sense and the scene certainly hinted towards that feeling, but where they all had a moment (or at least Megumu did), I wan’t emotionally invested.
I didn’t cry as much as I thought I would with Aika’s final words either. This is probably due to Mahiro and Yoshino’s ability to laugh in the end about it (…and also due to her joke at the end, but it was still a very Aika thing to do). Aika is dead now and despite it being a big issue before, it’s okay now. The characters had their moments of shock, but they’ve come over that now. Aika made her own decisions and there was nothing they really could have done to stop it. I’m not quite sure if what she did or if her way of thinking was ‘right’ (since I don’t think life can be quite compared to a play… as said by Mahiro), but it was right for the plot. Plus since everyone seems to be moving on, there’s no point in dwelling on it. I’m just glad she had the final word at the end of the episode.
So as a finale, it had it’s parts I didn’t quite click with, but overall it was satisfying. The problem with Genesis was solved, Mahiro and Yoshino got over Aika’s death pretty well, and everyone had plans for the future. Sure, crime rates were up again at the end and you just know that humanity is going to damage whatever Genesis fixed, but the future still seems to hold promise. Or at least the characters are satisfied and considering that they carried the plot, I’d consider this done for good. Mahiro said something about the dream being over, and since the Trees aren’t around, I guess it really is. They all had an adventure and they all seemed to have gained from it, but it’s time to move on. Sure, if their speculation is correct, Genesis and all of this will probably appear again in the future, but that’s waaaaay past what the characters are going to live to.
They mentioned a few times that this ending was a ‘beginning’ and really, I can’t deny that it wasn’t. Genesis has been defeated, but there are just so many new things that are happening. Like Hakaze dealing with being a normal teenager. …Or like Mahiro apparently meeting a girl. That was shocking for some reason, but admittedly, I still kind of think of him as the revenge crazed siscon sometimes. There were also the normal developments like Hakaze and Yoshino and the Kusaribe all helping Takumi in the end. It’s great that the alliances and relationships this built up didn’t disappear once the threat of Genesis was gone. I was also rather fond of the development with Megumu. He wasn’t even around half of the series, but he went from whimpy Yuki Kaji character into someone with a relatively larger amount of courage by the end of the series and it didn’t come off as rushed development at all. I’m glad he decided to try a relationship again with (the faceless) Yuu-chan. The story ended like the Tempest I guess in that absolutely everyone (or at least, the main characters) had some sort of happiness in the end.
So what do I feel about the series overall? Well, this wasn’t flawless storytelling quite like Shinsekai Yori was (well, it was in it’s own way, but still fell short in some aspects). It never made it quite to that level, but I can’t deny that it had it’s moments of brilliance.. I mean, this series made a 4 episode argument in front of a tree interesting. That’s an achievement on it’s own right there.
Despite the depiction of the world’s realistic reaction to things I can’t say that this was realistic though in either the characters or the storyline. Everything felt… scripted, I guess? Though that in itself is brilliant considering that this was like a tribute to Shakespeare and theatre. I mean, the main characters were based off of Shakespeare characters sure, but even then they all seemed like they had overbearing personalities that would be perfect for the stage. Of course, that’s an anime thing in general, but since they already drew the comparison in there with the constant Shakespeare references, let’s continue with this. Even more so in the fact that all of the characters (or at least Aika) kept saying things like how everyone was just acting to the scripts that the Trees had already written. A huge part of the show was that everything happened according to fate and that everything had a reason, so having the writing like that (intentionally or unintentionally) was a nice tie in. …Plus the dialogue was certainly long enough at times (again, I bring up that conversation that lasted 4 episodes).
The character interaction in the second half was undeniably fun (since everyone went from being enemies to practically living together). Where Yoshino and Mahiro felt like flat characters in the first half, the second half opened up sides that I wouldn’t have even guessed existed. The flashbacks we saw between the two of them and Aika suddenly felt so much more meaningful. And then let’s not forget when Aika showed up. Her thoughts and intentions were rather difficult to understand, but then a single episode was enough to change that completely. Actually, all of the characters had great moments to them and I wish that this had been longer, just to see more of how they acted when they got together. Because of that, I didn’t even mind the sudden genre change from some story about revenge and Aika’s death to the lighter comedy where everyone got along in the first to the second half. Plus it was a good switch over since nobody was ‘evil’ to begin with and it was more like they all had separate agendas.
Like I said above, this was a pretty good series and I’m glad I picked it up all the way back in Fall on a whim. Every issue I had with it either became less significant with time or lost in how great the characters were. The action of the first few episodes was kind of lost too, but that was okay. Especially since after Genesis revived, there really was no real reason to fight amongst themselves anymore. Overall, I think everything worked out well in the end.
So thanks for sticking with me these past two seasons and see you again in a couple of days for spring~
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
I was glad that the series was turned the way it was from the giant battle in the first half to the “We’re all on one big team” for the second half. It was unexpected and welcome, and really gave the show a depth that I don’t think a ‘two-sides’ battle would have had (I had seen a spoiler early on that “Evangeline joins the Kusaribe side” and thought it would be Kusaribe vs. Hakaze the whole time).
This was definitely a show that wasn’t on my radar at the beginning of Fall, yet it turned out to be one of my favorites that I looked forward to every week. I’ll admit I’m not much of a follower of Shakespeare, beyond knowing of the things he wrote – it just doesn’t captivate me – but this show did make it accessible by not only having the characters be somewhat like Shakespeare’s characters, but having them refer to the plays as they went.
While I thought the ending didn’t go far enough with Yoshino and Hakaze, I know that others thought it might have been a little too much, given that Yoshino had never really indicated he cared as much for Hakaze as she cared for him. I can see their point, as he doesn’t really seem like the kind of guy who would run to Hakaze the same way he ran to Aika on hearing of her death. But I also think that Aika’s ‘release’ of Yoshino may have freed him up to be more in love with Hakaze, and he finally realized that.
Also, great trolling with Yuu-chan… Good job, show, making us all wonder if she’s a really some important character, and then she turns out to be just a girl.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Seeing the teamwork during the second half was nice! It meant more character interaction anyways and I absolutely love watching that.
I just picked it up because nobody else wanted to blog it. I thought OC might have since I pointed it out to her when it’s anime announcement was made, but obviously, she took Psycho Pass instead. …And really, I thought it would have an absurd amount of BL vibes from the description. It didn’t. The Shakespeare was a bonus since that’s pretty much the only thing I paid attention to in high school English.
I wish there had been more Yoshino and Hakaze, but I guess he only got over Aika a couple of episodes ago. No need to push it.
Ahaha I really never thought Yuu-chan was anyone important. I was distracted from my waiting for the Aika reveal.
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 163 comments
Honestly, after watching the 4-episode argument next to a barrel, I felt like I was watching something extraordinary. Episode 13, was an interesting wrap-up, and then… episode 14….
Honestly, I was really worried the series had jumped the rails after watching episode 14 and 15. The tone just switched entirely, all that brooding atmosphere the show had been building got chucked in the bin and the episodes were just too darn lighthearted to match up with what I was watching up to that point. It was really jarring.
Honestly, I was worried the show was going to totally go down the drain at that point and make me regret investing so much in Yoshino and Mahiro in the first 12 episodes.
The show didn’t go down the drain. But it didn’t achieve greatness either. In the end, the whole second half of the show was sort of like this final episode. Not great, but acceptable.
Given what I was afraid was going to happen to the story around episode 15, I can live with “acceptable.”
POWUH: Metanorn Lover with 167 comments
The author meant it to be spectacular but Mashiro wouldn’t allow anyone to write his scripts for him.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
I never thought I would think so highly of a series that spent 4 episodes arguing next to a barrel. xD
Uh, I didn’t mind the jump so much right after. I mean, I liked the character interaction. Though I definitely think that the series lost something after the first half. It had moments, but I never really got back the same level of enthusiasm that I had the first half.
Yeah, in the end, I have to agree that this never really achieved greatness. I don’t hate it, but it was good for what it was. I’m just glad that it didn’t try anything too overly ambitious and fail at it. It did some less risky moves and pulled them off okay, and I can live with that.
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
An brilliant anime that deserves a lot of praise. Personally, I’d put Zetsuen no Tempest alongside Shinsekai Yori for being mysterious and compelling. It managed to keep its formula despite dramatically changing tone halfway through the series and I came to appreciate all the Shakespeare quotations because they were a vital part of the storytelling. Speaking of which, when you think about it, it all felt like a modern 24 part play.
The characters were well fleshed out and bearable, even Yuki Kaji’s role was surprisingly tolerant given his type cast of playing weak hearted males. Having all of them together in one cause other than splitting up and doing their own thing is something that isn’t often shown. The biggest role to praise is Aika. Though being a character that is cast as deceased, she has the biggest influence over them and the story. She is Kana Hanazawa’s most unforgettable role other than Akane Tsunemori.
I’m glad I started watching because it was on my “most interesting anime” list for Fall 2012 along with Psycho-Pass because of their synopsis, both of which turned out extremely well. The author himself deserves an award for making 4 discussion fueled episodes absolutely irresistable because usually drawn out dialogues would have diminished the story.
As for the ending, it was good to make sure that everything was final barring any indication that the story was continuing. It had an ending worthy of a masterpiece and should remain as such.
*whispering quietly*: Now I wonder if The Record of Fallen Vampire will be animated since it’s from the same author of Zetsuen no Tempest.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
SSY was better I’d say, but both accomplished good things. Yeah, it was an interesting story structure.
Aika is my favourite HanaKana character to date. As for Sawashiro… well, Hakaze was cool, but you’ll see my absolute favourite role of hers during the summer xD
See, I thought this would be an angsty BL fest from the art and synopsis I saw. I’m glad it didn’t turn out completely like that to be honest.
The ending was an open ended one that I actually liked. These things are generally a hit or a miss for me. This was definitely a hit.
Eh, Record is old now and I don’t think it was ever as popular as Tempest was. I wouldn’t hold my breath.