The Apocalypse is one of my favorite books from the Holy Bible. There's something so enticing and exciting about the world ending. It raises many questions such as: What am I going to do? How much time do I have left? And the people whom I love, what about them? And many, many others.
Zetsuen no Tempest (or Blast of Tempest/the Civilization Blaster if you prefer) is about the world ending, vengeance, and much other stuff that I'm not afraid to say that I adore. Its premise reminded me of Kara no Kyoukai: the Garden of Sinners (which is just as good as this series) but a bit more perplexing.
Zetsuen no Tempest has many genres and manages to blend everything perfectly together. Drama, romance, tragedy, and comedy. Yes, comedy. It may not be tagged as such but you know the drill. Drama is time till tragedy (?) and comedy is tragedy plus time. The tragicomic story begins with a murder and mystery, I mean MANY mysteries. The murder of the beautiful Aika Fuwa and the mysteries which are, you know, far too many to list.
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The Tempest and Hamlet are the main inspirations for this great series. And if you haven't read/watched'em you surely should. Zetsuen no Tempest has a confusing and complex story that is hard yet easy to understand. Pretty contradictory isn't it? Well, you should forget such words when reading this story because the story is just too wonderous to be tainted by such trivial (buzz) words like 'contradiction' and its many synonyms.
The Civilization Blaster feasts on contradictions like ravens and vultures feast on a dead corpse. And I mean it in the best way possible. Every contraction is killed on sight, just kidding, it takes some time for this to happen. And if it didn't, it wouldn't be fun. The Status Quo is shaken and jolted left and right constantly. So you shouldn't expect anything to make sense at first. Even though it eventually does indeed do.
This series is pretty unique in the romantic department. Instead of a love triangle or a/n (unnecessary) harem, rather we have a love polygon featuring all of the main cast. Mahiro loves Aika (yes there's some pseudo-incest in this series). Hakaze loves Yoshino, Aika loves Yoshino, you know what screw it, this series should be called 'Everybody Loves Yoshino' because believe it or not, they do. Now on a more serious note. This series features a pretty uncommon romance, no melodrama, mature ways of dealing with relationships, and a really satisfying conclusion (or an unblissful ending, depending on which pairing you were rooting for, of course).
It's impossible to talk about the English poet and dramaturge William Shakespeare without talking about plays. And Zetsuen no Tempest obviously has many allusions to plays. Mahiro is based on Hamlet. Yoshino is based on Horatio. Hakaze is based around Prospero. And Aika is based on Ophelia. They're all expires of said characters but they still manage to be characters on their own, if you know what I mean.
Even though this series questions the logic of nearly everything. It is pretty simple to understand once all pieces are put together. Don't expect everything to be answered right away and you should also expect some questions to be left unanswered, because, you know, that's how life works. And Zetsuen no Tempest touches heavily on the 'life and death subject. Sometimes saying some beautiful and touching things and sometimes reminding us of Shirou Emiya's (in)famous quote "People die if they are killed'' or the apotheotic hero Kenshiro Kasumi's illustrious "You are already dead." No seriously, every time someone talks about Hakaze's life status something not so smart comes out of their mouth. According to this series logic says stuff such as:
"Although you are alive, you are also dead" and "Considering the fact that you were also meant to be dead, but currently live" makes total sense. And no, I'm not mocking the series, no sarcasm here I swear. It makes complete sense, and that's just another reason to love this series. Because it is pretty hard for such a thing to happen in an unconventional yet satisfying way.
TL;DR:
β’Confusing doesn't even begin to define it;
β’Shakespeare quotes errwhere;
β’Unique and remarkable romance;
β’Meaningful quotes;
β’Simple and easy to understand.
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"π²π½πΆπ πππππΉ πππ πΆππ πΆ πππΆππ, ππ½πΎπΈπ½ πΈπΆπ πππππ πππ ππ? π²π½πΆπ πΉπ πππ π ππΆπ π»ππ? οΏ½?πΆππΎππ πΆππππ½πΎππ πΆπ»πππ πππππππ'π πΉππΆππ½ πΎπ π»πΆπ πππ ππΆππ." - Fuwa, Mahiro (ζΏζ)
This series has no actual protagonists. Just like Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu and Fate/Zero, we have both sides of a story that have just as much importance as the other one. But Mahiro is obviously meant to be the closest thing that we have to a hero. Or should I say a nominal hero?
His thirst for vengeance may make him look like an antagonist. But he's, in fact, just a well-intentioned extremist. I mean, you couldn't and shouldn't expect someone to be calm, quiet, and have a black and white morality when the person you love/d the most is found dead before your eyes, in your own house, on a casual and erratic day of your life. But Mahiro is not a villain, of course. He just looks like one (red eyes are never a good sign). Or the closest thing to one, actually.
Aika's death hits him hard, but he has his ways of dealing with such tragic and undeserving misfortune. Being a sis-con and having wrath as his main cardinal sin are some of the flaws that I found about him. But that doesn't make him a bad character at all. He's my personal favorite character because of his steadfast and ardent personality. His ability to fight with fists and brains. His more than come-hither and endearing design and slinky fashion sense. And also for being an ideal model of how you should write a (pseudo)main character for a Shounen series.
"π»ππ πππΈπ½ πππΎππ½π πΈπΆπ πΆ ππΎππ ππ π ππππΎππ πΈπΆπππ?" - Takigawa, Yoshino (γγΈγγ―γ»γ·γ³γγ³γ°)
The cold and emotionless (pseudo-)protagonist of the series. He shares the spotlight with his best friend, Mahiro, as the only characters that can be said to be the main characters from this series. But remember there are no actual main characters in this series.
Book smart and street smart, Yoshino is cunning, astute and one of the smartest characters in this series, if not the smartest. He's able to deduce, analyze and solve everything that comes his way. His unbeknown casanova status and his inability to display emotions, no seriously he rarely does, are some aspects that irked me about him, but they didn't make me dislike him as a character nor as a person.
Charming, intellectual, and able to heuristically figure out a copious amount of mysteries, riddles, and enigmas. Yoshino Takigawa is how you should write a (quasi-)protagonist of a Shounen series.
"π―π ππππ ππ½π ππππΆπ πππ πππππΉ, πππ ππππ π·ππΎππ πΆπ·ππ ππ πππΎπππβ¦ πΎπ» πππ πΆ πππΆπππΉπ, ππ½πΆπ πΎπ πΎπ?." - Kusaribe, Hakaze (γ姫ζ§)
A fierce and strong redhead, and the Ohime-sama of the series. The princess of the Kusaribe clan. Said to be the strongest magician of all time. Of all time! Hakaze is put on a barrel and tossed into a deserted island for reasons that are subsequently unraveled later on. Her roΠ²Ο ΡΡ( Ν‘Β° ΝΚ Ν‘Β°) and vigorous personality are just too amazing to not comment on. She's upfront and direct about her opinions and feelings but not so much when the subject in question is love or romance. She's kind of a damsel in distress but not exactly one. She's more like a badass in distress. Since staying still and doing nothing is not her thing. Just like every female (and/or male, if I may add) character in this series.
Love hits her hard, but not in an unhealthy way and she becomes not as great as she used to be because of this, but just a little bit and she still remains a good character. Despite what some detractors may say about her, her (quasi-)tsundere antics were cute and rarely annoying. What a woman indeed. Hakaze is a shining example of how to write a female character.
"π₯πππ π·ππΈπΆπππ πΎπ'π πΎπππππΎπΈπΆπ, ππ½πΆπ πΉππππ'π ππΆππ πΎπ πππππ." - Fuwa, Aika (ζ)
With the quote above the beautiful, gracious, and snarky star of the show managed to define the entire series in a single sentence. Aika is how you should write a female character. Strong, independent, and witty, oh so witty. She's a really mysterious character and she always manages to steal every scene she's in. There are many things to be said about her. But I don't want to ruin the story for you with spoilers.
She's a posthumous character. This series begins with a tragedy, the tragic death of Mrs. Fuwa. Whodunit? Whydunit? And Howdunit? The answers to these questions are going to blow you away. While Mahiro is my favorite, I have no shame or remorse to admit that she's easily the best character from this series. She's just too magnificent not to love/adore. And the only flaws I found about her are the same as Yoshino's, minus the casanova part, obviously. Definitely the best girl from this franchise.
"(γ£ββ‘β)γ£π΅πππ·π ππ½πΆπ πΉππ'π ππ½πΆππ πΆπππ'π π·πππ·π πΆπ πΆππ(γ£ββ‘β)γ£" - Descartes, Junichirou (ιοΏ½?)
Just wanted to post this marvelous quote for no reason at all. It was just too bloody awesome for me to forget about it. He's a nice character though, just like everyone from the supporting cast. But Megumu and Samon are also noteworthy characters, the former has the biggest development in the series, while the latter is great. Saying anything else about him would be too spoilerific so I decided to refrain from doing so. Evangeline and Matsumura are also pleasing in their own distinctive ways.
The friendship between Yoshino and Mahiro is realistic and amazing. They're fighting against the greatest threat the world has ever known, but that doesn't tarnish their friendship, not even a little bit, I mean why it should? They deal with nearly everything together as one, physically and psychologically. There's some low-level homoeroticism between them. But I can assure you that it won't bother you much, like in some sports manga that tends to overdo it, which is something that I, personally, have a strong dislike towards. They're best friends and know each other since 4th grade after all, so some occasional touching and some ambiguous lines should be expected to happen between them.
The interactions between the main cast as well as the supporting cast were a wonderful thing to sit through. Amazing dialogues and some delightful monologues. Friendship, romance, betrayals, and very realistic, believable, and human-like characters. This series lacks nothing!
The only problem is that character development takes some time to set foot in but when it does, oh boy, it sure does. The entire main cast develops. Especially the main duo, Mahiro, and Yoshino. But it takes some time, so you should expect them to be kind of static for quite some time.
TL;DR:
β’Aika is the best character from the franchise;
β’Mahiro is nearly a villain but in a good way;
β’Yoshino is very, very smart and cunning;
β’Hakaze is better on the first part of the story;
β’The supporting cast is beyond amazing (especially Junichirou and Megumu).
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The art of Zetsuen no Tempest is beyond beautiful and Ren Saizaki is a fantastic artist. The characters all have unique and eye-catching designs. There are handsome lads and beautiful ladies. Every character changes clothes lots of times, and that's something worth pointing out. It's not every series that does that, especially if we're talking about a Shounen series. The drama scenes felt so raw and touching and the comedic scenes were very funny, especially with the characters adopting some chibi attributes every once in a while.
The action scenes were a spectacle. But more importantly, the fact that everyone was very charming (and almost superhumanly smart) and realistically drawn (I'm talking about body and face proportions) makes Zetsuen no Tempest a feast for the eyes of those who enjoy appreciating good-looking pieces of art. And let's face it, the Civilization Blaster is a work of art in the art department. And somehow it managed to get better and better as time went by.
TL;DR:
β’Awesome art and character designs;
β’Bishounens and Bishoujos;
β’Well choreographed fight scenes.
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Zetsuen no Tempest ~the Civilization Blaster~ is very often called a 'pretentious' series, and while I can't deny it, this doesn't change the fact that this is a unique and refreshing series. It has a great cast of characters with distinct personalities and amazing interactions between them. Everyone is a badass (physically and intellectually).
It covers a multitude of genres (Action, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Psychological, and many others). But the main charm of this story is the dialogues, they're so captivating, enthralling, and entertaining to read. While the action scenes were fun to watch/read, the psychological battles featured in this manga are my favorite aspect of this series.
Clever, well-thought-out, engaging and I even dare to say breathtaking. Zetsuen no Tempest is a marvelous story that contains lots of tactics, planning, logical thinking, psychological warfare, and much other stuff that are far too many to list (and all great in their own ways). It intrigued me, it fascinated me, and more importantly, it entertained the hell out of me. Shakespeare would sure to be proud of two of his works coming together and becoming such a great and compelling story as this one.
Pretentious? Maybe. Magnificent? For sure. Zetsuen no Tempest sure was a blast to read (and re-read). The mysteries, the plot, the arguments, oh the arguments. Everything was beyond perfect. A must-read for fans of mystery, drama, and romance, that's for sure. And finally, I can say what I really mean: Zetsuen no Tempest is an enigmatic and perplexing masterpiece. And one of my favorite series of all time.
TL;DR:
β’Smart and well thought out series;
β’Many great elements;
β’Certified work of art/masterwork (but a bit pretentious).
Story - 10/10
Characters - 10/10
Art - 10/10
Enjoyment - 10/10
Overall - 10/10
Similar recommendations for those looking for stories centered around tragedy, mystery, drama (and some comedy (?)):
Fullmetal Alchemist, Mawaru Penguindrum, Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch, No.6, Kara no Kyoukai: the Garden of Sinners, Pandora Hearts (and Caucus Race) and Steins;Gate.
