If it was possible to give a series a standing ovation in blog form, I would do it. I mean, this series just was excellent from start to finish. I’ve seen series that have started strong and finished poorly and series that have done the opposite. But it’s a nice thing to see a series that caught my attention in the first episode and finished off in such a strong manner. I was worried this episode would be caught up in melodrama about Yoshino almost dying and having to decide what to do about the fate of the world, but instead they side-stepped that and just gave me a bit of a scare. The episode just went so well and by the end I was sad to see it end.

This episode just flew by for me. Once they showed that Yoshino was actually alright, I managed to relax a bit. I really thought we were in for chaos, Mahiro slaughtering the crew, and needing to heal Yoshino before delivering the finishing blow. Instead, it went pretty smoothly besides Hanemura having to go through a difficult fight. Just showed that while the tree was willing to let them try and kill it, it wasn’t going to simply roll over and die. Hanemura did a good job holding out until the Sword of Exodus came out.

On that note, holy crap that sword was huge! I guess it makes sense that something like that was waiting to be unleashed. The mage of Exodus had to be ready to make his move and the Tree of Exodus needed to fully awaken. While I’m sure that Aika had more power than Hanemura, I’m sure the Mage of Exodus regardless would need that blade. Something with enough power to fully sever the Tree of Genesis from the world. It would have been pretty epic to see Aika go up against that Tree, but in the end had a pretty good fight regardless.

Most of the episode really did cover the aftermath. A little mention to the state of the world, but really we care more about the characters anyways. Long as the world hasn’t exploded or WW3 broken out, it’ll be fine. Certainly is thanks to Mahiro’s plan going so smoothly. With almost no deaths from the destruction of the Trees there really isn’t anything to do. People might be upset that their god has vanished, but what can they do? There isn’t any evidence really about who did it and now that the Tree is gone it isn’t coming back. People will just have to move forward.

In that sense, the whole epilogue here was about people moving forward. Hakaze was cute with running off after Yoshino. Her role as Priestess is over and now her life is truly getting started. It’s going to be tough since now she really is just Hakaze. Though I can’t agree with the old women that she can’t cook. You get trapped on an island alone for several months and you will learn to cook something XD. It may not be fine dining, but she found a way to stay alive. Now she has a chance to find her own way and will be interesting to see how she turns out.

The same goes for Mahiro and Yoshino, both are starting to move forward now. Mahiro especially has come a long way from the guy that was filled with rage at the start of the series. Of course he’ll never change in the respect that he’ll always stick by his beliefs. You really wonder what kind of things he’ll accomplish. Mahiro really does give that impression of someone who can accomplish whatever he wants. If he wants to make the world a better place, damn it he will. He has all the talents needed and an ability to lead others. I also like the fact that he’s going to go meet with that girl he saved before. It’s finally time for him to move forward with his life. Kind of hilarious that even while saving the girl he managed to exchange mail addresses XD. Well hopefully things go well between him and this girl. I like that he’s going to write his own story and decide how it turns out.

Wish the best for Yoshino as well. Aika is gone and he’s just going to have to move forward. It is amazing that he managed to go out with someone with that personality XD. He certainly put up with one crazy girl. Of course he also has a pretty persistent one after him right now. I don’t think anything will happen in a hurry, but Yoshino deserves the chance to find some happiness in the present. Having Aika’s death mean something might be nice, but he still has to live his own life. It’s a bit less settled for Yoshino, but with Mahiro as a friend I’m sure his life won’t be boring.

Aika still has presence in the last episode though with that video message. It was certainly just like her to tease like that right at the end. I mean geez she’s about to take her own life and can still joke around like that. You can tell she hoped both of them would be alright and be happy. It’s why she gave up her life after all. Though in the end I agree with Mahiro’s thoughts. Aika felt like her life was scripted out and she was just playing her part. Even if she was going to die that was just what she had to do. Maybe that is why she gravitated towards Shakespear so much. Even if she thought it was the right thing to do, I can understand Mahiro not accepting that. She did something terrible in taking her own life, but nothing can be changed now. All they can do is accept the result and try to make the world a better place.

What a shock that Hanemura’s ex-girlfriend really exists XD. Well maybe more shocking that she is just a normal girl. It was so easy with her being off-screen to say there was something suspicious going on, but in the end she is just a person. I don’t think Hanemura has to say he saved the world to win her back, but just be the person he is now. Seeing him like before it’s easy to see that he would get dumped. But now he’s faced off against a power that could have destroyed humanity. I think he can show a bit more confidence around the girl that he cares about. Though hilarious that they couldn’t let us see her face XD.

Looks like Yamamoto is still on the hunt XD. Wish Samon and company luck in that respect. Sorry to Jun, but I don’t think she’s particularly interested in that odd guy. Everyone has to find their place in the world again. Tough times for the Kusaribe clan who now have lost what gave them an identity. But appears they’ll have some help finding work so in the end life will go on for them. Just a change with magic now going to simply be a thing of stories.

Final Thoughts:

Now to tackle the series as a whole before the big review! Again I’ll just say this series really caught me offguard. I didn’t expect it to pull me in so much and keep my attention throughout. I thought the Shakespeare in the first episode gave the series a pull and the story itself kept me watching until the end. They didn’t just recite plays the entire series, though in some ways they did have a role to play.

The main characters were strong throughout. Mahiro and Yoshino remain a great duo. They had their conflicts, but you could see that neither would get as far as they did alone. Both of them have strong qualities that allow them to be more than you would expect. Mahiro had a great voice actor and really brought passion to his scenes. He probably remains my favorite character. It was just so much fun to watch this guy doing whatever he felt was necessary to achieve his goals. If he had to blow up a tree and risk the world he would. His focus on revenge was pretty impressive. But I never doubted that he cared about his friend. I just respect a guy who stands unflinchingly behind his beliefs. No matter how things turned out, he wasn’t going to betray himself.

Though another character I completely loved in this series was Aika. This girl was dead from the first episode and yet was such a driving force. The flashbacks for other characters might have been annoying, but she just took over the screen when she got a chance to appear. You were always wondering about Aika. Wondering about what really happened to her and how closely she was tied to the events of the series. The mystery surrounding her helped make her more compelling, but she was a fun character throughout. A bit tragic in how she was given such incredible power at such a young age and how it affected her. In the end she was ready and willing to take her own life to give those she loved a chance.

Yoshino and Hakaze were both great characters as well. You always wondered what Yoshino was capable of when push came to shove. He lost the person he loved and was still finding out how to live in the world after that. He accomplished a lot with his clever thinking and ability to bring out Mahiro’s humanity. Hakaze was an interesting character, from the girl trapped on an island to the one who travelled through time and had to learn the truth of the world. Her falling for Yoshino was comical at times, but she also was a person who would blame herself for what happened. In the end magic disappearing may be good for Hakaze. She’ll get a chance to stop feeling like everything is her fault in some way and can just live the way she wishes.

I liked where the story went. The whole alien thing was a bit weird, but the rest of the anime did a great job keeping me interested. The story revealed its mysteries at the right time and made its characters people you wanted to see happy. It wasn’t like the series had some big antagonist, but rather just forces at work and people who had to try and survive.

The effects were pretty good as well. The magic was pretty interesting both for the Kusaribe type and the Exodus magic. They were impressive visually and made sense for the story. I liked the early Mahiro vs. Natsumura fight as much as Aika vs. Hakaze, which was pretty damn crazy. The series might have been more about the characters than action, but the action itself was still good.

Zetsuen no Tempest was a great series. I really don’t think it had any big blunders and is a good example of what a good action/drama series can be. I’ll certainly miss the show, but it ended in the right way and for that I’m appreciative. Will go ahead and do my full review sooner or later.
Score: A+