Zetsuen no Tempest Episode 1 - First Impressions ~ SUTORAIKUanime

What do you get when BONES, quotes from Hamlet, and several different seinen themes are combined together? ~~A massive crockpot full of random, inexplicable fighting and magic and sexy girls whose names I don't even remember~~ Apparently Zetsuen no Tempest, unless I missed the memo and I was actually watching No. 6!

In all seriousness however, given that I've never been a fan of anything seinen, I began watching this show with close to zero expectations. I must say that I'm pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show. I'm trying to figure out if the storyline is just extremely poorly executed, typical of BONES's recent works, or if it's just too complicated to be effectively fit into one episode, which is probably the case.

The story follows Fuwa Mahiro (Toyonaga Toshiyuki) and Yoshino Takigawa (Uchiyama Kouki), two childhood friends who appear generic on the surface, but possess some rather complex layers underneath their bland skin. The main premise of the show essentially revolves around Mahiro embarking on a journey in an attempt to hunt down his sister's murderer. ~~Many things happen and Mahiro suddenly has magical powers~~ The city falls under a curse known as the iron sickness, caused by Kusaribe Samon's (Koyama Rikiya) attempt to revive the Tree of Zetsuen to empower his clan's powers. While that in itself does sound like a rather complex theme, enough to engage viewers who have a thing for drama and magic, I'm skeptical as to how effective this formula will work before I completely lose track of the storyline. In regards to the characters, it's implied that Yoshino is psychologically broken, while Mahiro is the ultimate anti-hero trying to pull off a big stunt in order to get his reward. As the show is now, it's difficult to point a finger at any particular aspect, so perhaps it's best to save judgement until later on when the show's wings have hardened, since judging BONES shows too early usually ends up being detrimental.

Moving on from the actual premise of the story, and onto the art and character design of the show, and it's instantly evident that this is some real, quality BONES animation. Pair it up with an astounding orchestral soundtrack which creates an apocalyptic aura which truly makes this show just that much more entertaining to watch. With that being said, these subtle nuances certainly give the show a much bigger visual impact with hints of action, fantasy, and mystery all mixed in. Whether or not BONES can keep it up and develop these themes to their full extent is another story, but it's probably safe to say that Zetsuen no Tempest will surely not be a typical generic seinen adaptation.