20130809: Anime Series Review--Blast of Tempest

Blast of Tempest: The civilization Blaster

1. Japanese anime serial, two seasons, 24 episodes each 25 minutes, 2012.  Action, fantasy, mystery. Original title Zetsuen no Tempest.
2. Wikipedia gives fine details for character and episode descriptions.  Episode 13 featured a recap of the first 12 episodes, and the beginning and ending clips were updated.
3. IMDB rated the series as 6.8/10.0 for one critic.  The one review is a good one.
4. The series is set in 'modern' times on a world clearly not our own.  The basis of the story is that two great Trees battled one another in the past, with one winner, but both Trees badly wounded.  In the era of their recovery, human civilizations arose.  Those attuned to the Trees can practice magic.  The Trees are now awakening, and civilization is getting pulverized in the process.  A small number of specially trained individuals attempt to shape this awakening for the good of civilization.
5. This series is ruled by dialectic processes.  The Tree of Genesis versus the Tree of Exodus.  The two central human characters: Yoshino (intelligent, calculating, reclusive, quiet and courageous) versus Mohiro (entitled, unyielding, impulsive yet determined).  Physics versus magic.  Human civilization versus the sheer power of the two Trees.  Each Tree has a single human who is most strongly attuned to it; in a sense, the entire story is about the dialectic between those two individuals.
6. I usually do not care for flashbacks.  This series is one that I will cite in future as a huge exception.  There are perhaps 200 flashbacks (yes, around 10 per episode) in the series.  By the fourth or fifth episode, I lost my usual irritation at the flashbacks.  Well before the end of the series, I saw the brilliance of the execution, and welcomed every flashback as a well-timed back-fill of characterization or plot.
7. If you can, avoid reading spoilers.  I did, and the power of the final episodes was impressive.
8. Five stars of five.  I would recommend this series to anyone who likes anime or a long, good story.

Art: 10/10 Always between competent and exceptionally good, usually closer to the latter.  This was the most beautiful series I've seen in years.

Sound: 10/10 No complaints at all.

Screenplay: 10/10 Complicated, gripping, and brought to a satisfying conclusion in the last episode.

Characterization: 9/10 A few actions seemed a bit off, but not many.  There were around ten main characters, and well before the end I felt I knew them fairly well.  The last three episodes were exquisite for the final deepening and fulfillment of the characters.  The handling of interrelationships over time was a joy.