Zetsuen no Tempest – 22
…The battle planning just wouldn’t be complete without that giant log.
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…The characters should have pissed off Megumu earlier. His outburst and subsequent asskicking of Yoshino and Mahiro pretty much made the episode for me. Man, that training with Junichi really payed off. The rest of the episode? Well, at least they have a plan in motion… |
I had wondered about the other characters blaming Hakaze for being the cause of death since her going into the past was the reason Aika figured things out and killed herself, but luckily nobody threw around blame here. Really, when they were blaming Hakaze because of her link to Genesis earlier in the series, it bothered me. I’m glad it was Mahiro of all people too who said that he and Yoshino might as well be to blame as well if Hakaze was going to put it all on herself.
Mahiro went beyond pretty much every expectation I had for him earlier on in the series. As brash and irrational he seemed in the first half, as we got to know more about his character in the second half, he turned out to be a pretty rational guy. That line about him going any further being irrational being proof. He accepted the fact that Aika’s boyfriend was Yoshino fairly easily, so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that he was able to accept Aika’s death as well. Like how he accepts some of Yoshino’s actions and betrayals because they turned out for the best, it looks like he put the same kind of trust in Aika’s actions as well. Yoshino took things well as well. Of course, Yoshino is known for taking things well, so this wasn’t anything really new. And so the world finally makes sense again for the two of them… Though of course, they’re not out of the plot yet just because their reason for joining it is gone.
Yoshino noting how Mahiro was acting like he first did at the beginning of the series was interesting. Just because his original motive for finding the murderer is gone doesn’t mean that Mahiro is unmotivated. He’s not just an empty shell now that he can’t exact revenge. He just really wanted the world to make sense again for himself. I don’t think his actions of ‘taking responsibility for his imouto’s actions’ are really necessary (or maybe that’s just his way of rationalizing his involvement from here on), but even though he’s a regular person doesn’t meant that he’s no longer involved with the plot. I liked Samon’s explanation of how the two were just in the right place at the right time. They didn’t really need to be special quite like Hakaze or Aika are, but they’ve become important through a series of events and they’re not running away from that. I’m kind of curious as to what they intend to do in the final conflict since Kusaribe magic apparently doesn’t work around the core though. I assume this extends to talismans as well, so unless they’re going to do something like distract the ships, I can’t see what else they would do.
…And then there’s Megumu. Dear lord his outburst was awesome and I guess as people, Mahiro and Yoshino needed him to hit them. Sure, they both have unusual personalities, but on the inside, there’s no way that the truth behind Aika’s death didn’t affect them. I mean, look at how they reacted at the end of the last episode, let alone the rest of the series before this. They probably won’t show any change on the outside (since they were keeping their feelings to themselves anyways), but I’m sure Megumu yelling at them helped them in it’s own way. Besides, the scene just wouldn’t have felt right without his emotional outburst. I mean, I know we had the three main character’s reactions at the end of the episode in the past (plus everything else that’s happened), but someone needs to mourn that results of Aika’s actions really screwed Yoshino and Mahiro over.
Anyways, back to Megumu. Even now, he seems to fit the Yuki Kaji character stereotype (since all of the pathetic characters he’s played have always seemed to become badasses at one point or another).Funny how a character who wasn’t even introduced until the midway point of the series is now possibly THE most important character. Without Megumu, there would be no defeating the Tree. …Which I imagine will be difficult considering that logic itself sides with it.And of course, Tempest has the rest of the world siding with Genesis, so we now have an ever bigger enemy than just Genesis itself. You might blame Hakaze as the one who caused this rift due to her fighting Megumu publicly, but personally, I think Genesis would have the world on it’s side anyways since it’s earlier actions all seem like it was more of a benefit to humanity and it can twist things like that.
I know that we have the final battle to get through and all, but this episode also really raised the question as to what will come after all of this? It’s kind of hard to predict what exactly will happen and the characters don’t really have a past defeat of the Tree to draw from. If anything though, I imagine that this fight with Genesis will have more of an impact than any before internationally. Since it’s only in recent history that the entire world has been as interconnected as this and I don’t think Genesis has made an appearance like this in a recently. Will it cause wars? Who knows. I’m curious to find out though.
I’m glad that we’re still getting flashbacks of Aika now too. Especially ones that are showing off her character thoughts more. The one this episode with her first meeting with Mahiro and Yoshino was great here. While they could have shown this earlier, I think it’s rather fitting that they show it after the results behind her death were revealed. All three of them had a rather odd relationship with one another, but it worked really well for them.
I’m not entirely sure how many episodes of Tempest we have left, but now we definitely have a pretty good idea of what’s coming up for the ending. This seems awfully straightforward for this show, but other than maybe having a few character deaths, I can’t think of any other places this plot can throw twists in (watch me be wrong). Will it end as a tragedy? Probably not considering the fact that the Tempest seems to be getting the most emphasis and that ended well, but with the prospect of more war coming up, who knows.But hopefully we get a universally happy ending. …Because whatever is written in those goodbye letters to Yoshino and Mahiro is almost guaranteed to make me tear up regardless to how the fight with Genesis goes.
…I have no idea what to expect next episode based on that preview though.
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: 400-499 with 445 comments
based on the preview it looks like the team decides to go out and have one final hoorah before they go up against the tree. I assume it is going to be very sentimental (especially between hakaze and yoshino)
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Sometimes I know what to expect based on the dialogue and preview. Other times, I wonder what exactly they’re trying to get across. The only real thing I got out of this one is that Hakaze is displeased for some reason and someone is going to shout MAHIROOOOOO really dramatically. …I give up. OTL
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
According to MAL there are two episodes left after this one. This was a nice episode, although it really seemed like a setup episode. We didn’t really get to see anything about how Hakaze got back to the island and came back to the ‘present’, but I guess that’s not really important.
I wonder how Hakaze felt, sitting there telling especially Yoshino about Aika’s decision to kill herself to get him and Mahiro into the whole thing with Hakaze and Samon. How torn was she between wanting to comfort Yoshino, wanting to snuggle with Yoshino, and the worry that he would hate her forever?
And that dinner flashback, with Aika getting the immediate indoctrination to exactly what Mahiro and Yoshino are about. She did adjust quickly, but that had to be pretty shocking.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Only two? Well, hopefully they manage to wrap things up well given the time limit… Yeah, I kind of worry about Hakaze returning since she’d be leaving a pile of bones behind and that would probably get some attention if they were found.
She must have felt horrible, I can imagine. I wish we could have gotten a better look at what was going on in her head there, but I guess Yoshino and Mahiro’s reactions were more important at the time.
…This is probably one of my favourite introduction scenes ever.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Well, remember that Hakaze’s bones needed to go back to the island with the barrel, because that’s where they were collected by Samon later. Thinking about it, it’s a tremendously silly chain of events, where Hakaze jumps ahead 2 years but her skeleton has to wait those two years in one year increments. Basically, there’s Hakaze + Skeleton when she goes to the island the first time, then she leaves her skeleton there, comes back a year later, leaves the island, goes, manages to convince Aika to kill herself while trying to do the opposite, goes back to the island, leaves her skeleton there for another year, Samon goes and gets it, brings it to Mount Fuji where he meets Yoshino and Mahiro, and then Hakaze reunites with her skeleton again!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Ahahaha… That’s actually kind of confusing when written down like that. At least she can’t claim that she doesn’t travel often xD
POWUH: and Vampire Lover with 11746 comments
Zetsuen, in my opinion, is the most entertaining anime alongside Psycho-Pass and Magi(In fact, all the shows left over from last season are doing great). Like Highway said above, there are only 2 episodes remaining so there may still be room for any kind of revelation to take place before they take the fight to the tree.
It’s amazing that no matter the news, no matter how provoking it may be, Mahiro and Yoshino always manage to keep their composure. A misguided person would say that they don’t even act human which Megumu was trying to indicate when he kicked their asses (Yuki Kaji’s signature character attitude was here) but there’s nothing you can do if it’s another person’s decision. Hakaze couldn’t really take the blame because everything fell into Aika’s logic as soon as she understood the situation, she only provided information from an alternate time. It’s like she’s waiting for permission to forgive herself.
The best parts were during the dinner where Mahiro, Yoshino and Aika were getting to know each other. It was interesting how they all pushed away the akward formalities that come with being introduced to others, especially that what they said about each other was true and couldn’t be denied. There was nothing to hide behind of and they were oddly straightforward. I’d like to see more of this in other animes.
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Shin Sekai Yori is certainly entertaining the hell out of me, but that’s another carry over from Fall.
Anyways, yeah they reacted pretty well to the news. Aika predicted that pretty well, but I’m still glad to have seen Megumu take out Yoshino’s internal organs xD I hope Hakaze doesn’t feel too guilty. The frantic shipper inside of me wants her and Yoshino to end up together.
Well I don’t think that Mahiro is one to pretend to be something that he’s not and neither is Aika or Yoshino, but it was an entertaining scene nonetheless.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
Since there’s no competition from Aika, I think Yoshino will end up with Hakaze. I really hope that he gets over the memory of Aika enough to be with her, and that Hakaze can get over her guilt regarding Aika. That latter is actually what I think the bigger hangup is.
I’ve enjoyed all 6 of the holdover shows I’ve been watching (even Little Busters! has been enjoyable), but Sakurasou is head-and-shoulders above the rest. My order:
1. Sakurasou
2. Zetsuen no Tempest
3. Robotics;Notes
4. Shin Sekai Yori
5. Psycho-Pass
6. Little Busters!
POWUH: Meta Team and Megane-chan with 3214 comments
Little Busters is going well? I barely even remember half the time that is carried over… I guess now’s as good a time as any to catch up.
POWUH: Meta Team and Spammy Tamer with 7115 comments
It’s going ok. It’s better than it was at the beginning, but it’s nowhere close to a resolution by the end of this season. Some arcs have been better than others.