First, the plot. It's the element that everyone praises about this show, so I'll give it special attention here. Mahiro (Hamlet) and Yoshino (Romeo) are best friends, but the death of Mahiro's sister Aika (Caliban / Juliet, I'm pretty sure) sends Mahiro over the edge and his lust for vengeance divides the two. Then, Mahiro finds a message in a bottle that allows him to communicate with Hakaze (Prospero), a powerful mage who promises to find Aika's killer if Mahiro helps her get back at her own family for throwing her on a desert island. Fair enough.
It's the part where characters people are turning inexplicably to metal, government agents with shotguns attack Yoshino, and giant 'fruit' start popping out of the earth and ocean that everything starts to go wrong. I say 'fruit', because that's what the show calls them. In reality, they're giant rocks with eyeballs popping out and trees on top, plus a couple giant chains stuck to them that get yanked out of the ground with them. Did I mention that they appear in the dozens at a time and fly through the air? Yeah, this show is weird.
Crazy is a natural part of anime - some of my favorites are the wackier ones - but the problems arise when none of these events are explained except in the loosest of terms, and after about three episodes of action and plot, the show comes to a SCREECHING halt. About three episodes in a row are spent almost entirely in flashbacks, mainly illustrating how Aika was a crazy horny b*tch with... well, I won't spoil it. But it shatters the pacing completely and gives essentially no meaningful insight into the characters.
So, Story is a 4/10 - it tries really hard to be several things at once (action, psychological, dramatic, occasionally comedic) and it backfires SPECTACULARLY.
Artistic style in Zetsuen no Tempest is very good, honestly, not much you can knock it for. It's pretty, it's effective, and it feels distinct from other similar shows. The only drawback is the occasional overuse of certain repeating scenes (like the chanting at the Magic Tree). 8/10.
Sound design is a controversial element for the show - it uses a lot of classical music, which I find fits the show perfectly, and had my blood pumping quite a lot. However, the melodramatic music when they're showing how nuts Aika is for the 47th time, or the tension they try to build when Mahiro acts like a psychopath AGAIN gets old very, very quickly. The best moments hit a 9/10 easily, but the worst are a 5/10, so 7/10 seems like a good compromise.
Character design in Zetsuen no Tempest is, well, pretty terrible. Their characters are 'inspired' by Shakespearean protagonists, but in truth it's only in the loosest of terms. Mahiro lacks the core qualities of Hamlet - his indecisiveness, his pensiveness, the resentment and guilt that make him such a compelling character. Mahiro is your typical Shonen hero, reckless with a devil-may-care attitude and a chaotic rhythm to his behavior, and that's fine, but it's NOT BLOODY HAMLET.
Yoshino is Romeo only in that he had a tragic romance, but Romeo is defined by his ability to bounce back after a bad breakup (Rosaline at the beginning of the play, I believe). He's passionate, optimistic, and is lead by his heart, not his head. In contrast, Yoshino is a cool, calculating and dour figure who is defined by apathy and his ability to outsmart his opponents. So, not Romeo in the slightest. I could go on, but I assume you got the gist. 6/10, for not following their inspiration in the SLIGHTEST, and for reverting to type instead. You could replace the protagonists with Natsu and Gray from Fairy Tail, or Ichigo and Ishida from Bleach and you wouldn't notice much.
Enjoyment is a sticky category. You see, I still enjoyed the everloving HELL out of this anime, for the most part. My girlfriend grinned every time they quoted Shakespeare, and there was a lot of unintentional comedy with some of the shots. One quick shot of a cat turned into metal with a weird expression had us in fits for the rest of the episode, and the fact that I anticipated ALL of the plot twists by basically saying whatever I thought was the most ridiculous thing I could think of at that moment led to no end of fun. 8/10, because fun is fun no matter what.
Overall, the show merits a 7/10, Good. The visual and sound design are attractive distractions from the silly plot, overblown drama, and flying-rock-eyeball-fruit-things, but if you're looking for depth and a compelling narrative, look elsewhere.
I know this review will get me no end of flak, but honestly, to those of you who watched the first season completely, tell me that Yoshino's solution to Hakaze's 'problem' isn't absolutely ludicrous.
