Zetsuen no Tempest: O cursed spite, that I was ever born to set it right

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

So a guy's going along with his normal life, he's got a loving sister and a great best friend, when all of a sudden, his wonderful life is brought crashing down when his parents and sister are senselessly murdered. So what's a guy to do in this cruel, uncaring world?

Team up with the world's strongest mage to both save this world, both from the plot to wreak havoc by a rival mage clan, and from its broken status. And, more importantly, find the guy who killed his family and make him pay.

So, why should you really care?

a) Zetsuen no Tempest marks the return of director Masahiro Ando to Studio Bones. If this doesn't quite mean anything to you, the last thing they worked on together was a certain film called Sword of the Stranger. The fights to Zetsuen no Tempest are amazing, showing off Ando's incredible eye for choreography with the added aspect of magic. These alone are pretty much worth watching the show for. If you're worried that the shonen aspects will mean calling attacks and lots of yelling, fear not, because these elements are completely absent.

b) Unlike a lot of shonen action things, Zetsuen no Tempest starts by racheting the drama as high as it goes. Rather than introducing a lofty threat and slowly working our heroes up to the real issue, the threat of the world's end is an imminent one that the show is obviously getting straight into. This is complemented by the fantastic soundtrack from Oshima Michiru, who I am pretty sure some of you guys should recognize from the first FMA or Xam'd, both of which have fantastic soundtracks. While the story isn't something you haven't seen before, the series is serious and earnest enough I think you won't just be yawning before the next fight.

[s]c) You are a fujoshi.[/s]

This is possibly my favorite show for fall so far, though that spot will probably be taken by Magi.

[goldenspines]

How all occasions do inform against me,
And spur my dull revenge!

I'd give the first episode a solid B. I like its potential for an interesting story, but honestly, I'm not sure yet. I need to see a few more episodes.
But the animation is nice, at least.





I'm only following this anime for the Hamlet quotes. *is shot*

[Falx]

I feel like this is what K should have been like. I liked the reveal of who the dudes girlfriend was.

[Vii]

It's on Crunchyroll, too.

[MangaRocks!]

Aargh!! I want to watch this quite a bit (especially after Hat's notes about the fight scenes, music, and etc.), but I've enjoyed everything I've read by Kyou Shirodaira (the mangaka of the story this anime is adapting) enough to really want to read the manga first-- even over and above my usual source-first tendencies. However, only 18 chapters of it are available in English right now...

...Although, it looks like there's close to 40 chapters of it out in Japan (yet another reason I should just go ahead and learn Japanese myself at some point, I guess ), which means that even if the anime goes two-cour, they probably have enough material to stick to the manga's story without much filler, and to (hopefully) not throw in an anime-only finale or something... but I'm not sure I can completely trust that...... :?::?:

...................Gah! Forget it-- I give in. *goes off to read the chapters that are available and then throw caution to the wind and watch this anyway*


EDIT: Okay, so I read the 18 chapters and then watched the first episode. My thoughts on the story itself are here; and, as stated there, I'm enjoying the manga quite a bit.

As for the anime... well, I can't really comment on it yet. Yes, the fights and music are excellent. And yes, I could nitpick a few things in terms of its adaptation (several invented scenes, some snipped details, etc.), but nitpicking is really all it would be at this point, since it wasn't that big of a deal. So, unless something does become a big deal, I'll reserve my judgment on its adaptation until they get to the [spoiler]battle of wits.[/spoiler] That part they had better do justice.

[blkmage]

Very pretty production and animation, but I'm not convinced on the story front just yet

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 2:

*Sigh*... Well, I said that I'd reserve my judgment on this until they reach one particular point, so for now I am still reserving it, but I do have to say that so far this adaptation has been kinda loose... so unfortunately that's not really helping me keep my hopes up for how they're going to handle that section.

You know, I think the thing that probably bothers me the most about this is, it's not (yet) a *bad* adaptation (unlike several others that I could mention...)-- in fact, it's done some things rather well; however, the problem is that it's also done just kind of so-so in a few other places, and I personally believe it would be a lot/even better if it had stuck closer to the source in those areas (like, for example, what this season's Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun has done, at least so far-- that's the kind of adaptation quality that I wish this one had).

Oh well; on to next week, I suppose...

[blkmage]

I hope they stop quoting Shakespeare soon, it's getting silly.

[MangaRocks!]

^ Well, the reason for all the quotes is because Aika was pretty much obsessed with Shakespeare's stuff to the point of memorizing and quoting it all the time, and thus both Mahiro and Yoshino eventually picked up the habit of quoting it as well. Aside from that, it also has overall plot relevance in at least one major way: [spoiler]Let's just say that there's a reason the word "Tempest" is in the series' actual title. [/spoiler] (Plus, I could also mention that the quotes seemed to work a bit more naturally in the manga, at least to me; however, I'm trying {and obviously failing } to not keep going on about that... :sweat:)

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I hope they stop quoting Shakespeare soon, it's getting silly.

Are you getting more sold on the story front? Because I'm absolutely loving the crazy high drama and slow world building and the music and the fights. The fights are so amazing. I love that they're done with people going high speed but don't turn into the Bleach/Naruto style of vanish then whatever.

It's not the best thing but I am definitely loving it and not even in a "Well, it's kind of crappy like SAO but also really enjoyable way".

[blkmage]

I like the fights and the production, but no, not feeling the story. The world is interesting enough, though, so I'm not quite that worried about the story being dumb or bad or whatever at this point and it's not a knock on the show just yet.

[goldenspines]

I hope they stop quoting Shakespeare soon, it's getting silly.

I don't know what you are talking about, that is the best part.

The best.

(granted, I have a very special place in my heart for the play Hamlet, so there's that.)

It's still the only reason I'm watching. The only character I actually care about is Hakaze.

[blkmage]

I've given up on the premise ever satisfying me, but I am much more curious about Yoshino now.

[Falx]

It's a bit melodramatic.

Ok no it's very melodramatic... but it's not all that bad. Island chick is amusing.

edit:

And in less than a minute my curiosity spoils several key plot points.

Which is a good thing in this case because hahahahahaha dropped.

It's like this author got plotting and writing tips from Kishimoto.

[MangaRocks!]

^ @Falx: Well, I'm biased here, because I'm loving the manga at the moment (though, granted, I've only read up through chapter 19 so far) , but I am curious as to what exactly you're referring to (because there's one particular section coming up that I thought was pretty awesome, at least. Then again, bias )...

[Falx]

[quote="MangaRocks! (post: 1594048)"]^ @Falx: Well, I'm biased here, because I'm loving the manga at the moment (though, granted, I've only read up through chapter 19 so far) , but I am curious as to what exactly you're referring to (because there's one particular section coming up that I thought was pretty awesome, at least. Then again, bias ]

Got your PM

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 4:

Hmm... I'm guessing that particular bit of backstory was entirely anime-original, but I actually didn't really mind (since it was a rather cute story, after all {...well, I mean in terms of the friendship, not at what happened to Mahiro, LOL }).

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Well that ending was incredibly d'awwwwww and I think I'm really beginning to find Yoshino a more interesting character. I am a little tired of Mahiro but I'm pretty hopeful.

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 5:

Well, I'd already given up on there being even a single episode without the addition of *something* anime-original, LOL , so the stuff that was invented here no longer even fazed me... especially since the stuff that was actually adapted was done pretty much perfectly. Plus, now they're starting to get to some of my favorite stuff from the manga so far (...oh man, you thought *THAT* was a twist? Well, it just keeps getting even better from here!). In other words, after seeing this episode, I think they could certainly do the next section justice if they wish to, so I'm (finally) hopeful that they will. (In fact, I'm kinda looking forward to next week now. )

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 6:

Hmm... I know what I said last week, but I do think that the [spoiler]fake kidnapping[/spoiler] addition was probably a bit unnecessary-- [spoiler]in the manga, the meeting that Yoshino had with them was on the day of the attack, right by the barrier; so while there were still some lies on Yoshino's part so Mahiro wouldn't know what he was doing, there was no need to stage anything close to a kidnapping to meet up (and also, with the usual disclaimer here that I've only read up until chapter 20 now of the manga, by the looks of the next-episode preview it appears that Aika's teasing might be a bit more intense than it originally was, too)--[/spoiler] but, then again, so have pretty much all of the other changes/additions, so whatever, I guess. At least the actual details of the dialogue/revelations/plans in both of this episode's meetings and such were accurate.

[A_Yellow_Dress]

MORE. BUTTERFLIES. OF. DEATH. XD

I was thinking that Hakaze's 'body' would be revealed to be Aika's but if it was already reduced to bones... Well, so much for that prediction. But it would have made the whole ordeal more personal for the guys... Oh well. Also, I expect the Yoshino/Mahiro shippers to be going crazy after this episode.

It's really quite a pretty show, but I'm still kind of wishy washy on the whole story. And the soundtrack. That thing is fun. XD

[GeneD]

Episode 5:[spoiler]Well the twist at the end was interesting, although I'm fairly sure it wouldn't be that hard for them to fake a body somehow...

I totally the blond guy was a girl in the OP.

I was also surprised Mahiro didn't electrocute those guys. I guess I had him pegged a little wrong.[/spoiler]

[blkmage]

At this point, I think I'm much more suspicious of Yoshino than Mahiro in terms of shadiness.

[GeneD]

Yeah, but I think it would have been more logical for him to do it.

[spoiler]Technically there wasn't any real reason I could see except plot that the guys couldn't just wait for them outside and then jump them when they came out or something. But anyway.[/spoiler]I'm not really clear on how I feel about Yoshino. I can see why you say you're more suspicious of him, though I'd be interested to hear if you have any specific reasons.

[MangaRocks!]

[spoiler]Technically there wasn't any real reason I could see except plot...[/spoiler]

Technically, there wasn't any reason at all (*cough*anime-original addition*cough*).

But as for being more suspicious of Yoshino, I agree-- there does seem to be some good reasons for that, especially in the more recent chapters of the manga so far (though [spoiler]at the moment, I doubt that he actually realizes that himself ).[/spoiler] All of the main characters are pretty interesting, though.

[blkmage]

The initial setup has us thinking that Yoshino's a nice guy and Mahiro is kind of a jerk. But then we start seeing Yoshino have a bit more awareness of his surroundings than the typical person and that eventually turns into Yoshino somehow coordinating some elaborate manoeuvres based on quick observations. That he's so eerily perceptive and can execute on his plans makes me wonder if he doesn't have some ulterior motive.

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 7:

Okay, that... actually wasn't bad. (At all!) I mean, yes, there was quite a lot of stuff added in; but it was all very much in-character, and basically just consisted of some elaboration on a few scenes and what might have happened around/in-between them-- thus it all fit quite well.

See, there are some kinds of changes/additions I'm totally cool with and others that are just plain annoying; and while this adaptation has already had a few of the latter , this particular episode was actually a really great example of the former! I'll admit it, I'm impressed.

(Now, if they can just keep it that way for the remainder of the season... )

[blkmage]

The Aika, Yoshino, and Mahiro subplot is much more interesting than the magic fighting right now.

[goldenspines]

So I finally had the time to catch up with this anime.

I don't really like Aika. I dunno why, but yeah, I just don't like her.

Hakase is my favorite character.
[spoiler] Even if she does turn out to be really dead. [/spoiler]

I agree with blkmage that I'm enjoying the characters' relationship stories a lot more than "we have to save the world" plot going on.

[MangaRocks!]

Episode 8:

...And here we go! I said that I'd reserve my judgment on the anime's adaptation until it got to a certain point (though, looking back, I suppose I haven't held to that very well, LOL... ), and that point has now arrived (well, the first part of it, anyway ). And I can very gladly say that I am extremely pleased-- because (for the first time so far) the anime's adaptation of it was absolutely perfect all the way through! In fact, not only was there not a single drop of filler in this ep., but also, because [spoiler]of the length of this sequence in the manga, I knew that to adapt it properly it would have to span more than one episode... and, indeed, that is precisely what is happening![/spoiler] All I can say right now is YES!

Now, if they just adapt the rest of this section the same way, I will finally be appeased (...well, I mean, unless they then really mess up the finale of the season or something {though I thankfully doubt that happening at this point}; but that would be an exception ).

So, anyway, yes, I quite enjoyed this ep.