Zetsuen no Tempest Review

Zetsuen no Tempest is an anime heavily aimed at questioning reason. The entire series is driven by the main character's past, and ultimately the fate of the world rests on our two main characters.
Magic and reason somehow coexist in this series, the anime managed to bs the viewers into accepting this despite talking about logical and illogical reason throughout the entire series. Fuwa Mahiro and Takigawa Yoshino are childhood friends who met under not so friendly circumstances. They have an unorthodox type of friendship in which they care about each other but are willing to dispose of the other if need be. To be honest its hard to analyze their friendship properly because both characters are so interested in their own ideals and use distorted logic to explain their actions. Mahiro on one hand is the more ruthless of the two, he claims revenge for his sister's mysterious and unresolved death, Aika. He initially shows no care for the odd things occurring throughout the world despite helping to prevent it. He got into the world saving bit when he found a doll washed up by the ocean. This doll acts as a walkie-talkie of sorts communicating Mahiro and Kusaribe Hakaze. Hakaze is an extremely powerful mage who was locked away on a desolate island by leaders of her clan. The main reason weird things are happening around the world is because the leaders of her clan plan to activate a giant tree dubbed the Tree Of Exodus. They hope the will trump the other giant tree inhabiting the world, dubbed the Tree of Genesis. Why these two giant magical trees exists is somewhat explained near the end of the series. By activating the Tree of Exodus the clan members hope to prevent what they believe to be the destruction of the world by the Tree of Genesis, the tree they are ironically sworn to protect. Hakaze and Mahiro agree to help each other. Hakaze seeks to stop the Tree of Exodus and asks Mahiro for his assistance. He agrees with the condition that she help him by using magic to find out who killed Aika, his sister. While this is all happening our other main character Yoshino somehow gets dragged into the fray. His connection to Mahiro and especially that with Aika are his motivation to help save the world. He is a cunning individual with hidden motives, making him just as dangerous as Mahiro.

Mahiro is a ruthless character who cares only for his quest to avenge his sister. He shows compassion and sympathy for Yoshino who he considers his only friend. Yoshino sees Mahiro in the same way, but he has been keeping a secret from him. As they try to help prevent the destruction of the world, they find clues about Aika's unfortunate death. This eventually leads them to Hakaze's clan. From here the real story starts, and oh boy what a story it is... 

We have all sorts of constant plot twists that make this series incredibly enjoyable. Just when you think you have everything figured out the show takes a 360 degree turn that leaves you not only curious, but incredibly satisfied. All the characters are great and fit their roles perfectly. Enemies become friends and friends become enemies. This show takes on character relations to another level. English literature is quoted constantly, mainly those of great stories like The Tempest. Our characters often play their roles as if characters in a play, which was probably done on purpose due to the nature of the events occurring in the story. If I had a complaint about this anime it would be its slow start. Get past that and you will be immersed in a great anime about revenge, logic, and mystery. Anime like this is rare to find...

Score - 9.5/10