Fall Impressions: Zetsuen no Tempest

Although I’m a big fan of BONES and have liked a lot of what I’ve watched from them, going into Zetsuen no Tempest, I wasn’t quite sure how interested or invested I would be in the story because I didn’t think it sounded terribly outstanding, and the mention of Shakespeare references brought back memories of that one Shakespeare adaptation no one likes (except for me I guess). Well, I feel pretty dumb now, having sat down to finally watch and discovering that it’s turned out to be one of the first shows this season that I’m actually really intrigued by, and one of the first that I can’t wait to see more of.

Mahiro’s sister, Aika, was murdered, and, after a year of no leads, he sets out to obtain the justice he believes has not been carried out. Somewhere along the way, he becomes involved with the self-proclaimed most powerful mage known to man who has been stranded on a desert island, and, in exchange for her help in finding his sister’s murderer(s), agrees to help her save the world. Joining Mahiro is his friend, Yoshino who was dating Aika at the time of her death, but is helping Mahiro out because of their friendship. Putting aside Mahiro and Yoshino, the mages are part of what makes the story as engaging as it is. Here we have a group that is supposed to protect and watch over the logic in the world, yet is looking to do something that appears to go the very logic that powers them and that they are protectors of. I’m interested to see what exactly their motivations are for doing what they are and what possible benefits would await them when they do. The Tree of Genesis, the source of their magical abilities, though, is one of the aspects of the mages that, by itself, is really intriguing mainly because one of the requirements in order to draw from it’s power is an offering of “the fruits of civilization,” or man-made objects. This aspect of the the Tree leads to some interesting questions regarding how it ties into what the mages are trying to resurrect. In towns where parts of the tree pop up, Black Iron Syndrome befalls the residents, turning them into metal. Since most of the offerings to the Tree  of Genesis look metallic in nature things and this syndrome turns people into metal, I’m curious to see if the metal people in affected areas will end up acting as a sort of final sacrifice.

Like All the Cool Kids (Fall Preview)

*Insert Pretty Picture to Draw People In*

As the curtain begins to fall on the summer season, the time has come to eagerly await  the upcoming fall season.

Since I’ve always admired them from afar, now that I have my own blow I thought I’d try out those cool looking “Season Preview” posts that I’ve seen other bloggers diligently put together. Even though it was a lot of work and took me forever, putting this together was pretty fun and I enjoyed doing it. Even though I was planning to put these in some sort of order, getting this out as soon as possibly trumps that, so everything’s pretty jumbled up. To be honest, though, since I have a pretty hopeful outlook regarding most shows a ranking probably would have been a pain in the butt. I tried my hardest to include all the shows on the season preview chart and to give some thoughts on each.

As for this upcoming fall season in general, I think it has a lot of potential. There are a few shows that have potential to set themselves a part from the rest, and few that look like they’ll by, at the least, an entertaining watch. Personally, though, I’m pretty excited for the shoujo adaptations coming out because I don’t think that enough good ones have been adapted. Overall, I have pretty high hopes for this season and I think it could possibly churn out a a few gems…and perhaps a few train wrecks.

While it may not be the best preview ever, I hope you enjoy skimming  reading through it.