Again, Yoshino quotes Hamlet: “Forty thousand brothers could not, with all their quantity of love, make up my sum.” In the play, Hamlet is talking about Ophelia, who had just died. More importantly, he was having a dig at Laertes, Orphelia’s brother. Laertes jumped into Ophelia’s grave to lament her death. Hamlet followed suit, and they tussled for a brief bit. Anyway, I wonder if Yoshino is also having a dig at Mahiro, i.e. “You think you loved Aika because you want to avenge her? You don’t even know the depth of my love for her.”
But there’s another layer of subtext to consider. Anyone who has read Hamlet might’ve noticed the incestuous undertones throughout the play. Y’know, what with Claudius marrying his brother’s wife, but more importantly, Laertes’ strange relationship with Ophelia. In this episode, we see Mahiro exhibit a certain level of possessiveness over his sister in the very first scene:
Mahiro: I wouldn’t allow her to have [a boyfriend].
Yoshino: You should allow that, at least.
Mahiro: No way… she’s my little sister.
Yoshino: Is that really a valid reason?
Mahiro: It is.
Of course, it’d be a leap to make the connection between this and incest, but there are parallels to chew on. For instance, Laertes always viewed the relationship between Hamlet and Ophelia with suspicion. Mahiro never knew (then again…) about Yoshino and Aika dating one another, but he probably wouldn’t have approved of it.
Still, more parallels between Mahiro and Laertes when the former quotes the latter near the end of the episode: “O anger, turn to heat, dry up my brains!” Laertes utters these lines upon the realization that his sister has turned to madness. More importantly, Laertes feels as though she’s gone mad as a result of someone else’s actions, i.e. Hamlet’s. Yoshino, on the other hand, seems to have conceded the belief that vengeance won’t amount to much of anything: “I’m not like Mahiro. Even if I were to get revenge, even if I were to kill her murderer, being irrational is still irrational. Nothing would change. Nothing would return. What can I do for a dead girlfriend anyway?” Like Hamlet and Laertes, it would seem as though Yoshino and Mahiro are foils to each other’s characters. Unlike their literary counterparts, however, Yoshino is not like Hamlet just quite yet.
In Hamlet, it is heavily implied that Ophelia committed suicide, but we never really know whether or not this was really the case. Anyway, she wasn’t getting a Christian burial because of this suspicion. In Zetsuen No Tempest, we’ve been told that Aika was killed by another, but the one image of Aika that we keep seeing over and over doesn’t really seem to suggest that there was any foul play involved in her death:
Her pose seems rather serene. Well, I could be wrong, but it’s one more thing to keep in mind.
One final thing: Laertes kills Hamlet at the end of the play, avenging both his father and (in his mind) his sister.
Notes:
• It’s pretty plainly obvious from these flashback scenes that Aika is/was Yoshino’s girlfriend, so it makes it doubly silly later on when the anime pretends as though this fact is a major revelation.
I suppose Evangeline had no way of knowing, but why should she care either way about it?
• Mahiro tells Yoshino that the giant eyeball (now referred to as a “fruit”) is just one of many. The fruits have been summoned by some crazy cult, and once the fruits coalesce, “[the] world’s logic will be completely overturned.” Well, I can’t think of any mythological basis for such a creature off the top of my head, but I’m sure someone else will have an idea. Since last week’s episode mentioned some sort of “Tree of Exodus,” which is itself a reference to something biblical, my initial inclination is to imagine that all this talk of fruits might have something to do with the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Why? I guess the irony here would be the forbidden fruit causing the world’s logic to go haywire, but shrug, this is all just speculation. In other words, don’t take any of it as fact.
• Mahiro tells Yoshino that there have only been “ten to twenty victims in the whole town.” Does that number feel a little low to anyone else?
• This week, Hakaze mentions a “Tree of Genesis.” I hope the different trees end up fighting like a shounen series.
• Mahiro gives off the impression that he doesn’t care too much about his sister’s feelings: “Don’t be stupid. The dead don’t feel happiness or sadness. I just can’t forgive the fact that Aika’s killer hasn’t received the judgment they deserve.” I don’t really buy it though, and if I’m right, why does he feel the need to act as though his quest for vengeance isn’t born out of anger and trauma?
• Mahiro says, “Besides, you never got along with Aika. You have no obligation to stick with me.” When Yoshino plays along, Mahiro squints his eyes slightly. Maybe he did suspect something after all.
• Not sure what to make of insects reacting to the scent of the fruits just quite yet.
• Yoshino feels he can see Mahiro’s true intentions, i.e. Mahiro doesn’t really give one damn about the world. He believes his friend would do anything to get revenge. In this case, Mahiro would more resemble Hamlet than Laertes.
• Why is Yoshino’s first instinct to run to school?
• Why do we get to see Evangeline take a bite out of a pickle?
Is this another example of the show’s “humor?”
• Hakaze: “I didn’t anticipate finding the killer to connect this way.” What does this even mean? Is this a flaw in the subtitles or just the anime being needlessly vague?
• The action scenes are lame since most of the characters just use magic to disappear and zip around the battlefield.
• The anime makes a big deal out of associating Samon with cobwebs. I have no real idea as to what this really represents just quite yet.
The “exodus” thing is actually a clever translation of the titular “zetsuen”, but it would’ve been better if they’d put in a translator’s note or something. They might be afraid of accidentally spoiling something with that note but it still seems like a mistake. On that topic, I think what Hakaze’s trying to say is that she didn’t think Aika’s killer would have some kind of connection to current events with the magicians and cults and so on.
I don’t know what’s going on with the fanservice but there’s more of it than I’m used to. The humor I remember in the manga is more side-comments calling out the absurdity of events.
As it’s hard to say too much without spoiling things, what I’d throw in is that the manga did a better job here of making Yoshino come across as a bit scary and crazy (in a quiet, understated way), and so I think Evangeline is supposed to find the revelation shocking insofar as what it implies about Yoshino’s character (that he hid it from his obsessed friend for so long and so well, including after her death…). Not that that comes across well here.
All in all I’d say this second episode didn’t do much to improve upon the first. For something with a big stage to setup they’re taking their time about it more than they have to.
Ah, that would’ve made more sense.
Not sure exactly what you’re alluding to. Evangeline in her ridiculously short skirt? If so, I dunno, I guess I haven’t really thought much about it.
Hm, is there any reason to believe the adaptation might not want Yoshino to come across as scary or crazy? On the other hand, another commenter mentioned last week how Yoshino’s a good liar, so maybe the adaptation is trying to be subtle about it… to the point that few will actually notice that anything’s going on beneath the surface.
Yeah, I heard the series will only be 12 episodes long. After two episodes, it’s hard to see the big picture other than a few allusions to Shakespeare.
12 episodes? I’d suggest dropping it if that’s the case, seems a hopeless adaption. I think the good parts fit into 24-26 with room to spare, but at this pace and 12 episodes…get out while you still can.
Even as someone who knows the big picture it’s doing a pretty terrible job of establishing any kind of atmosphere or momentum.
FWIW the “fanservice” was what I thought you were getting at with the pickle, and more generally the choice of angles with her. Like Yoshino’s “craziness” it may be underplayed a bit too much here (to the point you’d have to be looking for it to see it, perhaps?), but it seems a bit more than I’m used to all the same.
Ah well, it still seems more interesting than most of the shows this season, so I’ll just stick around to see how it all plays out.
Oh, the pickle thing just felt like a non sequitur to me. At first, I thought it might’ve been a clue that Evangeline may have visited Yoshino’s home, but Yoshino failed to eat celery, not pickles.
I think the pickle thing is because she was thrown into a grocery stand by Yoshino earlier. The humor is much more cartoonish than the tone implies.
…good lord. I guess that makes sense — hell, I even went back to rewatch the scene — but that is so dumb.
Poor girl, no wonder she died, that is one terrible period she had there.
Just give her a cookie and have her walk it off.
Two episodes so far and I think that we have the right to call it a bad adapation of the manga. I can’t enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Crynchy’s translations add up to that and I find my self reading the respective chapters after every episode.
They added too many unnecessary things. First we had the bullies (oh teh drama). Now we had Evangeline’s fanservice scenes. I could turn a blind eye to that, but in order to do that, they moved the whole scene between her and Mahiro from Mahiro’s home to the school grounds for no apparent reason.
Anyway. Excellent review!! I’ll follow you from now on.
You really think this particular addition is a negative thing?
I do think so. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not because I consider a matter like this to be insignificant, I just didn’t like the way they handled it. Actually anime with this theme, like “Minding my own business” for example, are more that welcomed.
Bulling is and will always be a sensitive issue, and it’s not cool when they use it thinking that they can add more depth to a character just with that and so they add it just for the sake of it. And I’m saying this because a few seconds later Yoshino reminisces about that past, when Mahiro was still with him and they could beat more that five guys together and get away with it. It kind of gave me a “but then I was a cool guy/was with the cool guy” vibe.. And of course, in episode two, we had the “look, the bullies met their nemesis in front of arcade” scene. Voilà . Problem solved.
Those are interesting points, but I’m not sure I agree with you just yet. In the scene where he’s reminiscing about the past, he also recalls being scolded by Aika. They were on a self-destructive path, and it seems that she was right in a way. Yoshino was arrogant enough to take on five guys and he lost. As for the bullies getting their comeuppance… well, the scene was so short, I’m not sure if it added much of anything, positive or negative.
I’m spoiled with the manga but I’ll let you know one of your wishes comes true….
anyway this series really is tries to resemble Shakespeare in any out of joint way possible… and I haven’t read any work of Shakespeare…at all.
Do you get a different understanding of the series from have some previous knowledge on his works? Is there any with a pickle as a central character?
I think is also pretty clear how messed up the two main characters are, big brother has had more screen-time showing his disturbed attitude but that other guy can’t be trusted either…. we were told he can lie like is nothing, telling us we cannot trust whatever this guy says, nor the motives he says he has, at least that makes him a bit more interesting than what he would be otherwise.
It’s an extra thing to think about. And I like it when an anime gives me a reason to think. Does it improve the anime? Not necessarily, but it’s better than, say, watching a guy chase another guy around for half an episode.
No, I don’t recall a character in a Shakespearean play with a pickle, but I’m not a Shakespeare expert or anything. I’m just familiar with his more popular works.
By who, though? By Aika? Why do we believe her words entirely? I mean, yeah, you’ve read the manga so you probably know he’s a giant liar. From my perspective, however, I don’t know all that much about any of these characters, and as such, I don’t really have any reason to take any of their words too seriously.
In the manga nothing of what he has said so far has been disproved yet(as far as I’ve read) so I’m not spoiled in that aspect, I’m just assuming, we can’t trust Aika’s words either, since she called herself a liar too, and assuming those were honest words from her… otherwise we would be getting into a paradox.
Mahiro seems the kind if character easily driven by his emotions, so that would make him a bit more hones and open, but Yoshino is not, which would make him more mysterious… if you know what I mean.
so it makes it doubly silly later on when the anime pretends as though this fact is a major revelation.
I took that scene as a way to emphasize that this woman, who doesn’t even know Yoshino that well easily figured out that Aika was his girlfriend. so it kind of makes you look back and think that well, Mashiro probably has figured it out too.
Anyway, glad to see someone else pointing out the incestous implications in this show. After all that Hamlet, they sure aren’t being subtle about it.
Yoshino gave Evangeline a critical clue though: he stopped being able to see his girlfriend around a year ago. Does Mahiro know anything about that? Doesn’t Mahiro ask to be introduced to Yoshino’s girlfriend? I still have a feeling he suspects something, but I haven’t read the manga and I can’t tell which commenters have! For all I know, you guys could just be toying with me: “Hah, that dude knows nothing.”
You’d be surprised how mystified people look when I tell them that Hamlet had incestuous subtext. Most likely, they weren’t really any paying attention in high school.
(Posted spoilers.)
You guys are pretty harsh. I wonder if I’m the same when I read a manga first and then only the anime. But anyway, as someone who didn’t read the manga on forehand, I must say that I found the anime pretty good and captivating. The music was wel done too, especially the ‘sad-romantic’ one with his secret girlfriend (which was a nice twist on the classical girlfriend theme that so many other anime have, anyway). I also actually like the slow pace; it feels like a mixture of shounen and slice-of-life genre. And the references to shakespear. It all gives it a bit more of an edge above most other similar anime these days.
It could be it’s not an excellent adaptation of the manga as said by others (didn’t read it yet), but as an anime, it really is one of the better ones of this season, me thinks. I’m liking it and looking forward to it.
PS.Can someone delete that previous anonymous spoiler? It ruined my day. :-(
Well, the fear is that things won’t wrap up neatly by the end of the series. Bones tends to run into this problem.
I agree with you that it’s better than most shows, but it’s not flawless. I don’t know about others, but I personally tend to focus on the negatives of a show. It’s not personal; it’s just my blogging style. Still, I’m not as disappointed with Zetsuen no Tempest as those who have read the manga though.
Yeah, sorry, I don’t usually care about spoilers, so I didn’t think twice about the other comment. It might not be true though! Anyway, I think I should probably start policing them from now on though so other readers won’t have their days ruined.
is it really that hard to understand whats going on?
Two friends are shaken by a death.
That death happens to be Mahiro’s sister who was secretly hooking up with his friend Yoshino.
Mahiro swore on vengeance against the assailant and its become so bad he doesn’t even care so much that his sister is dead more so that her killer hasn’t been quote and killed.
They all loved the play hamlet.
A mage princess was banished to an island where she can’t use magic to stop the plans of a clan within her sect.
Desperate she a message in a bottle hoping for someone to pick up and Mahiro was the one who did,They made a deal he’d help her stop her renegade sect in exchange for her finding his sister killer. He disappears for a year more then likely chasing the clan.
His friend is left alone to grieve in silence until he decides to go visit aika’s grave where he meets a woman who is acting on her own to find more about his friend and his connection to magic.
After that his friend returns and saves him from the woman and he explains what’s happening to the world and the situation.
Okay, you’re an idiot. Nobody said they were mystified by the story, and nobody requested your plot summaries.
Finally got around to watching this episode. Not that there’s much evidence for it at the moment, but I’m suspicious of Mahiro, actually, in terms of Aika’s death. He seemed a bit possessive of her and not completely stable even prior to her death; perhaps he figured out she had a boyfriend and killed her in a rage, then re-arranged her afterward? He doesn’t know who it was, though, but he might blame that person for it – it isn’t his fault, it’s the boyfriend’s for sullying his little sister. This could also potentially explain why Hakaze was unable to track the killer, as she’s channeling her power through Mahiro, and his mental state could affect the efficacy of the magic. It would fit with Laertes blaming Hamlet for Ophelia’s death.
According to Hakaze, Aika’s death is somehow related to the cult. I wonder if Mahiro has had any ties to the cult before meeting up with Hakaze.
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