This week I am review Blast of Tempest, also known as Zetsuen no Tempest. Now I really enjoyed this show, but it will not fit everyone’s tastes. It is a fantasy, sci-fi, slice of life, action, and mystery anime, told in Shakespearian style focusing on revenge and magic. The original concept is based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. It also adds very tragic elements in a similar way to Hamlet.
The story centers on three main characters, Kusaribe Hakaze, who is trapped on a dessert island and a powerful magician of sorts, Fuwa Mahiro, who is a high school age boy out to avenge his sister, Aika’s, death, and Takigawa Yoshino, who is an old friend of Mahiro. Yoshino and Mahiro wander around Japan as Mahiro is trying to gain information on his sisters death. They are being guided by Hakaze through a magic walky-talky of sorts. She is having them find a way of getting her back to prevent the end of the world from occurring. Her clan is trying to awaken an ancient evil known as the Exodus Tree. Together they travel and witness the destruction of the tree and fight members of her clan on the way.
Now, from that description you can’t understand anything about the show. There are far too many layers. The plot of the show is heavily driven by dialogue and nothing can be summed up by appearances. The visual style of the show also reflects the complexity and heavily symbolic nature of the series. Often times mixing beauty and tragedy together. The series flows like a Shakespearian drama, with a bit of Japanese flare. The main characters are constantly paying tribute to Shakespeare, through quotes and literary allusions. If you enjoy the insanity and absolute brilliance of Shakespeare, you will thuroughly enjoy this show. Conversely, if you dislike classical stories or just Shakespearian drama, you my not enjoy this show very much. I recommend it loosely, because of this.
The only major complaint I have with the showis that the second season though pretty enjoyable, fails to continue carrying the depth and power of the first season. I still recommend watching it, but you will mainly remember the first season. The show does however have the best use and explanation of magic as a concept that I have ever seen.
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I started this series but dropped it by episode 2 for not knowing what the heck was going on. I might have to pick it back up, though!
It’s an unusual series. The first season frequently has that “what’s happening?” vibe to it, but I think it’s pretty terrific. The second season has a total flip in tone and isn’t nearly as good.