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General Info:
Series Name: Zetsuen no Tempest: The Civilization Blaster
Aired: Oct 5, 2012 to Mar 29, 2013
Producer(s): Bones
Genre(s): Action, Drama, Fantasy, Magic, Mystery, Psychological, Shounen
No of Episodes: 24
Current Status: Completed.
Moment of Reviewing: End Of Anime
Other Formats: Manga
Series Summary:
Yoshino Takigawa, an ordinary teenager, is secretly dating his best friend Mahiro's younger sister. But when his girlfriend Aika mysteriously dies, Mahiro disappears, vowing to find the one responsible and make them pay for murdering his beloved sister. Yoshino continues his life as usual and has not heard from Mahiro in a month—until he is confronted by a strange girl who holds him at gunpoint, and his best friend arrives in the nick of time to save him.
Yoshino learns that Mahiro has enlisted the help of a witch named Hakaze Kusaribe to find Aika's killer and of the existence of an entity known as the "Tree of Exodus." The witch's brother selfishly desires to make use of its power, in spite of the impending peril to the world. However, Hakaze is banished to a deserted island, and it is now up to Yoshino and Mahiro to help her save the world, while inching ever closer to the truth behind Aika's death.
Critical Review:
'Seems,' madam? Nay it is. I know not 'seems' - Williams Shakespeare. Quoted in the anime by Takigawa Yoshino, Fuwa Aika.
This was my favorite Hamlet quote from a totally captivating and explosive series that quotes Shakespeare's 'The Hamlet' and 'The Tempest' quite the number of times. It became my favorite quote not only because of the feels it conjured up in the scenes it was used in but also because of how it applied to me as a result of my initial impression on how disenchanting the synopsis of this series 'seemed' before succumbing to boredom and watching it.
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I absolutely love psychological shows especially the ones that tackle questions of right and wrong/good and bad, reasoning, logic and also past, present and future incidents. it's why Higurashi, Mirai Nikki remain in the list of my top anime and Shinsekai Yori remains the best anime i have seen so far.
Enter Zetsuen no Tempest. It's intriguing action coupled with its strong psychological concepts makes it undoubtedly one of the best anime I've come across since Shinsekai Yori.
Story: 9.5
What was portrayed as right (fate, the right order of the universe, logic) ends up being somewhat countered and counter-countered by the 'supposed' bad guys and main characters so hard it becomes hard to tell which side is actually right.
Episodes 1-12 were nothing short of mind-blowing. Literally. A 10/10 on its own. But the maker of this series sort of copying Shakespeare's habit of climaxing the story midway and following that with a 'falling action' in the next stage before climaxing with the resolution is what's keeping the story from reaching a 10 for me.
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Granted episodes 13-16 did explain a lot of things, i didn't expect it and as a result thought it was torture and unfair to drastically reduce that much action and tense atmosphere into a rom-com cheesy unnecessary subplot. Nevertheless, the resolution of events and ending didn't fail in living up to the expectations the series had set for itself.
There are quite a number of Hamlet quotes and truthfully some do seem cheesy and uncalled for at the beginning..but you get used to it and realize it actually helps with the flow of the story.
'To lose the woman you loved, not even being able to grieve..if not a tragedy, what is it?'
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Animation/Sound: 10
Beauty without a doubt. Little details such as slight movement of the eyes to pass across the strong emotions being felt, the environment and most notably the intricate designs on what is their shields is absolutely beautiful. Definite 10 imo. The combination with the background sound and music really increases the pleasure one gets from watching this.
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Characters: 10
Fraulein Yamamoto though a main side character is just a badass from the army.
Fuwa Mahiro my fav from the cast of characters is a blood thirsty avenger that actually thinks logically! No rash decision making, considers his options, listens to what has to be said but is obviously fueled by rage and revenge. It all makes him extremely unpredictable.
'O anger, turn to heat, dry up my brains! This mad thirst for vengeance must be quenched..no matter how cruel and
merciless i must become'
It's a rare occurrence to find an anime where all (main, sub-main, main side, side) characters are all level headed, able to think logically for themselves and proceed on acting based on their own judgments. No reliance on one character whatsoever. No doubt a 10/10.
My rating: 9.5/10
'O..what a cruel fate. I have become a victim, a detective and a murderer' - Made up quote.
It was indeed an extraordinary story. The anime does a great job of twisting convictions and even has the ability of engaging the viewer into a debate with themselves on their definition of right and wrong based on what they are being shown. It's also made me want to check out The Hamlet and The Tempest and i'm pretty sure i'll be quoting The Hamlet especially for the next few days xD
It should be higher..possibly a 10 but those few episodes after that climax in 12 made me incensed. As said before, though it did clear up what exactly was going on and help viewers realize what should be the right choice, i feel romance was focused on heavily in it. I'm not a fan of romance..others might enjoy it but i most certainly didn't.
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Nevertheless...Friendship, Love, Lies, Betrayal, Responsibility, Mystery, Tragedy, Despair..the series had no fault when it came to portraying all these. I highly recommend this to fans of the Psychological -especially one with mind boggling, lots of mystery- genre. You won't be bored.
