#BLAST OF TEMPEST SERIES#

You know why? To make it appear as though the characters actually matter, that’s why. And why does it need some puny little kid to wield it? It already moves and floats on its own. What?! And all the characters knew what it was, even though there was no mention of it even once before that. Like the end where a super magic sword appears from nowhere to end the Tree of Genesis. For a universe in which logic is so crucial, there sure were a lot of illogical things that happened.

#BLAST OF TEMPEST SERIES#

This might not have bothered me as much had the series not made such a fuss over logic. At the whim of the writers, characters can accomplish anything, regardless of how absurd it is (I quit watching Heroes many years ago for the same reason). As I stated earlier, this is one of those shows where wild stuff emerges from a lack of discipline in its construction. The story twists and turns quite a bit, and it does tend to be unpredictable, but I attribute this to the writer’s blatant disregard for coherency and consistency. At least, that’s the impression it left on me. In any case, the audience is essentially left with one incomplete shounen, coupled with one incomplete rom-com. It’s almost as if an entirely different set of writers had been brought in for the second half. Personally, though, I felt I had been the victim of bait-and-switch.

Had the transition been less abrupt, I think they could have gotten away with it. Season one is essentially a shounen drama, but the series then instantly changes into a rom-com at the very start of season two. The two main characters (Yoshino and Mahiro) inexplicably become the most (superficially) vital characters to the story, while the most powerful mages, characters in the government, and even the Princess herself become, for all intents and purposes, useless. But as I stated earlier, the actions of the characters fail to have any real bearing on the major events in the series. Meanwhile, two average school boys are contacted (through magic) by the Princess and become involved in a series of events that will determine the fate of the world. Seriously, am I really expected to believe that Samon, who is built up as being exceedingly meticulous and thorough, is careless enough to make such a remedial error? I’m insulted. And she was only on the island for four months before the events of the series, so why didn’t he just continue to keep her asleep with magic somewhere nearby where he could get her quickly?! Because lazy writers need a paycheck, that’s why. BUT, it turns out that he kept the princess asleep with magic for two years before placing her on the island. So why did they leave the Princess on an island instead of just killing her? Here’s the series’ logic: Samon (the main bad guy, who ends up not actually being a bad guy at all…or even important as a character) might need her still alive to stop the Tree of Genesis from fully reviving if his plan fails. But, oh yeah, she’s still a human and can make things, so she uses magic anyway (le sigh). When dissention arises within the ranks of one prominent mage clan, their Princess – the most powerful of them all – is marooned on a small island with no access to manmade objects, and therefore no ability to use her magic. Once time travel was arbitrarily introduced, I realized that anything could happen in this series, and for no other reason than “just because.”īlast of Tempest takes place in a world where magic is accessible through an earthbound deity called the Tree of Genesis, who requires sacrifices of manmade objects, especially weapons, in exchange for magical power. While not everyone feels the same way, I personally became extremely apathetic regarding the future of these characters and the outcome of the show.Īt some point it became obvious that the writers were playing fast and loose, disregarding any real “rules” established by the series. As a number of harsh critics have pointed out, Blast of Tempest fails to deliver a scenario, story, or world, where the decisions of the characters actually matter: fatalism. In general, however, I found myself less and less interested as the series progressed. I felt that it started out strong enough, and, at least at the beginning, the characters seemed deep and interesting. I really wanted to like this show, but ultimately I had to force myself to finish it.

Blast of tempest