Zetsuen no Tempest

[Kraco]

Now that she's back, she displayed classic lovestruck moron behavior, enough that her subordinates are actually concerned.

Don't call her a lovestruck moron. She's so cute being so much in love, but it's not like she hadn't been thinking of the consequences, even if she couldn't help herself. She actually, eventually, admitted her condition and then stepped forward to reveal it to Yoshino with all the facts. Such actions speak highly against being a total classic lovestruck moron in anime style.

[Kraco]

Episode 18 720p | 1080p - HS





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Not that I'd have turned to believe in Ryll's diagnosis at any point, but I was still pleased Hakaze's plan wasn't entirely coloured by her deepening love and thus wasn't as straightforward as it could have been. No doubt her feelings for Yoshino were the basis for what she's doing now, but then again, she had to do something, and it looked like she wasn't at all sure what to do ever after having been brought back from the island. Now she's doing something again (fawning over Yoshino doesn't count). Looks like Yoshino also decided to do something and face Mahiro. I can't see that ending up all too well, after seeing Yoshino's lunatic eyes when Hakaze was pressing him. It was pretty weird seeing him like that, considering he has been a veritable icicle up until now, at least compared to everybody else.

Aliens... That came out of nowhere.

[Archangel]

And suddenly the tree was aliens

Best. Show. Ever.

[Buffalobiian]

I can't tell you if I would ultimately like Hakaze or Aika better, but I will have to agree with Hakaze that she would be the cuddlier of the two.

The other thing I've liked for a while now too is the costume design (for the main cast anyway).

[animus]

Man the ending of this episode was giving me the creeps that Hakaze was gonna die (and I wouldn't want that).

[Kraco]

Man the ending of this episode was giving me the creeps that Hakaze was gonna die (and I wouldn't want that).

I was also getting that feeling when the fight with the Exodus mage was getting longer and longer. We even got that farewell flashback scene with Yoshino. Fortunately it didn't turn out that way. I'd much rather see Yoshino get together with Hakaze than be stuck with Aika's memory forever. As a character Aika has been built remarkably through the numerous flashbacks and she's interesting, so that's not the problem, but she's still dead, while Hakaze is very much alive. Unless Aika is the original Exodus mage and was somehow able to perfectly fake her own death, but I wouldn't be sure I'd like such a plot element.

[Yukimura]

Wow, Hakaze went from lovestruck airhead stalker to Stage 5 creepy obsessed manipulative stalker in one episode. The only outcome of her pressing Yoshino to the point of breaking down like that seems to have been that she got to hold him and comfort him while he cried like a whiny bitch even while pointing out how utterly pointless his crying was to himself. As far as I can see the only one who actually benefited from his breakdown is Hakaze (and 'Hakashino' fans.


I choose to believe that Hakaze needed/wanted to see Yoshino get all emotional a) to make herself feel better about being all emotional around him, b) to have a demonstration that he's over his old girlfriend and thus eligible from an external point of view, c) to provide an opportunity to express her love towards him through offering him a shoulder to cry on, and d) to start him moving towards a point internally where he is actively and acutely feeling an emptiness that could be filled by entering into another relationship, perhaps with someone he's grown close to recently and who is more than willing. All this only served the purposes of giving Hakaze the go ahead to kick her campaign for Yoshino's heart into high gear with the certainty that Yoshino is or will soon be fertile soil for her affections.

Her behavior, while understandable given her obsession, reeked of emotional manipulation to me mainly because the first person you open up to about your grief over a lost loved one should NOT be to a person who is obsessed with you and wants to be your waifu come hell or high water. Such a person is more than likely too caught up in their own desire to be with you to properly manage and respond to your emotional well being in the face of the feelings you're finally starting to come to terms with.

Now all that said I am willing to give a slim benefit of doubt to Hakaze that maybe she realizes that by opening up Yoshino like that she's probably turned him into a raw, pulsating, mound of manpain that should under no circumstances be entering into any new relationships for a while. If the next few eps demonstrate she's content to give him space to work his shit out before renewing her labbu labbu assault I'll give her some props.

I imagine the Hakaze lovers in the audience will vehemently disagree with me and claim that Yoshino needed to have a breakdown in order to move on and that Hakaze is a totes superbestfriend and prime waifu material for pushing him to express his feelings when no one else would (or could since he hadn't trusted anyone else with the knowledge that his girlfriend was dead) and that all is well and good because Hakaze is so nice, and cuddly and wonderful and Yoshino is lucky to have her fawning over him and there's no way she'd take advantage of his potentially fragile emotional state to press her love agenda too soon but they belong together, etc. To all of you I say, you may well be right, and probably are given how rarely romance in anime actually takes a cynical route, but I'm calling it like I see it because someone should speak out against this happy-go-lucky, destined-pair-is-destined, cute-plucky-girl-always-gets -the-man-she-wants version of romance and it probably has to be me.

TL;DR I don't support the Hakaze x Yoshino ship and I would prefer it most the romance subplot between them were killed off by Yoshino deciding that Aika was his one true love and that he must be forever alone from now on.

+9000 points if Yoshino chooses to forsake Hakaze and die at the end to 'reunite' with Aika Romeo x Juliet style.
+9001 points if Hakaze and Mahiro end up together somehow for the lulz.
+Infinity points if Hakaze x Mahiro happens AND Aika somehow manages to not be dead and Aika x Yoshino is revived.

[Kraco]

I won't actually disagree with your facts, but I'll have to point out that it wasn't so humanly strange for Hakaze to press Yoshino like that, especially considering Hakaze is the princess of the clan and up until Samon's betrayal I reckon she was quite a pope among her people, at least superficially. Thus I have no doubt whatsoever she did what she did with the best of intentions, even if the deed was very brutal and painful. She couldn't understand how Yoshino could have forced himself to stay so calm and composed for so long and wanted him to be able to grieve like she, or most, would have. While I don't agree with Ryll on her being a total moron, I do admit she's not the brightest person around, so her clumsiness in addition to her upbringing in the high position resulted in her behavior, which only reflected her own beliefs and didn't much consider Yoshino's feelings or needs. But that's something that happens all around us every day in RL; people who think they know what's best for you form a grand portion of mankind.

With Hakaze knowing Aika is long dead, I don't see anything in particular wrong about wanting to win Yoshino's affections either. She's genuinely in love with him, so in my opinion she's completely free to try to gain Aika's former place for herself. It's not like Yoshino didn't like her company or would have particularly tried to stop her actions at any point. Although with such a crazed expression on his face, I half expected him to strangle Hakaze...

Looking at Yoshino during the last parts of the episode, he didn't look any worse for wear, either. Moreover, it looks like he finally intends to sort things out with Mahiro. So, judging by the results, Hakaze's actions, although highly self-righteous, might have turned out perfectly okay.

[Buffalobiian]

I'm pretty much with Kraco. Hakaze thought that Yoshino should grieve.

[shinta|hikari]

Hakaze allowed Yoshino to cry when he should. She should be given a medal for managing that.

[Kraco]

Hakaze allowed Yoshino to cry when he should. She should be given a medal for managing that.

Actually she didn't allow him to cry, she made him cry. It was only the end result that decreed whether that was a fair or foul act. It isn't quite a normal situation of a close one dying for Yoshino. They are still in the middle of a global crisis and there's also Mahiro's attitude to be concerned about. So far, no matter how you look at it, Yoshino was doing the right thing by suppressing everything. Only that allowed him to work not only with Mahiro but also with the government agents and finally fool Samon and save Hakaze. If he had been a crying wreck, none of that would have happened and he would be a chunk of iron now and Samon would have likely succeeded. Hakaze decided based solely on her own values, needs, and opinions that Yoshino should right now grieve like a normal person - no matter the outcome. But then again, she doesn't suspect Yoshino is the Mage of Exodus, so maybe she thinks his long battle is over already.

[Yukimura]

Kraco seems to get where I'm coming from, even if we don't agree on the merits or best outcomes. Hakaze pushed Yoshino to have that emotional reaction purely because it serves her purposes to have him express himself like that. It was necessary if he's going to let go of Aika and open himself up for a new relationship, but if Hakaze wasn't already gunning for that slot she wouldn't have bothered to press him into the position she did. One can look at the mess Mahiro is as contrast and notice that Hakaze hasn't said a word to him about how he should deal with his grief in some 'healthier' way than mindlessly seeking revenge.

Where I find fault with/condemnation for Hakaze is that she did not do what she did because she felt that as his friend she should try to help Yoshino face and express his grief to become a more whole and stable person, she did it because she wants to be his girlfriend and his hangups about Aika only serve as an obstacle to that objective so she wanted to smash them and then be nearby to pick up the pieces. This seems like textbook emotional manipulation and that is not the way I would like to see a relationship entered into. I don't think post breakdown Yoshino is in any position to make an informed choice about whether he should give a relationship with Hakaze a go.

But to give Hakaze credit and/or even more manipulator points it looks like she's going to give him space for a while without giving up on him completely, probably in the hopes that once he's come to terms with Aika's death he'll be receptive to a new relationship and she can swoop in on a white horse and sweep him off his feet. I would be okay with her if she does go that route, though I still hold out hope for a zombie Aika x Yoshino reunion of epic kuudereness.

[Buffalobiian]

One can look at the mess Mahiro is as contrast and notice that Hakaze hasn't said a word to him about how he should deal with his grief in some 'healthier' way than mindlessly seeking revenge.

I disagree about the comparison.

Mahiro is taking revenge precisely because he loves Aika and is expressing his anger/grief in such a manner.
Yoshino swept it all under the carpet despite arguably loving her even more.

Hakaze is one who doesn't really hide her emotions, and she doesn't think it's good for Yoshino to do the same. Perhaps the explanation is even simpler: she just thinks that Yoshino wants to cry but is holding himself back.

I would agree that she wouldn't have pushed the issue as much had the person not been Yoshino, simply because she cares for him overall. I disagree that there seemed to be any malicious intent.

[Buffalobiian]

HS - Episode 19

[Kraco]

Episode 19 720p | 1080p - HS




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That certainly went with less fists talking and more mouths talking than I expected. I guess I underestimated Mahiro's personality and maturity. But then again, I guess it was also Aika's effect on Mahiro that he could take it like a man. Those two really are bound to a ghost. It makes me a little sad to see Hakaze all lovey dovey when Yoshino still only loves a long dead person. And even sadder when Hakaze admits she knows fully well that's how it might continue for all eternity. Yoshino is quite a hard personality to judge, that much is absolutely true, so he could swing either way towards the end of the show. Or maybe Hakaze will die and he will be twice widowed... That would also suit his character.

As obvious as it was as a solution, for some reason I didn't think Hakaze would travel to the past to figure out Aika's murderer. That's kind of... a more direct than usual method for this show. But then again, it's Hakaze. She's the most straightforward person of them all in this story.

[Buffalobiian]

Answer: Aika is an alien!

[Archangel]

There's obviously something to the alien theory since it was referred to as "The Civilization Blaster".

Anyone know where the hell the plot is going from here? Because i sure don't, and i love it.

[David75]

Aika is the Key to wiping the human race from the face of the earth and she asks Hakaze to kill her before she returns to her timeline to prevent the massive genocide... and she also asks her to love Yoshino for her

[NeoCybercoin]

I.....I wouldn't be surprised if that actually did happen. Aika has been pretty much a mystery throughout the show with her Hamlet and Tempest quotes.

[Buffalobiian]

David's theory sounds pretty nice.

Aika being some "outsider" would help explain why she's so fascinated with classical literature like that.