Zetsuen no Tempest ~The Civilization Blaster~ ? 07

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............Can't think of much to say about this episode.

The biggest ongoing porblem with Zetsuen no Tempest is it's pace. Optimists see it as laying the groundwork, but even they can't put a positive spin on the slow progression. It certainly doesn't help the series' case when flashback episodes like this keep popping up.

I've already mentioned that I quite like how Aika is made to be such an imoprtant character in Zetsuen no Tempest. She is the reason why the story pretty much exists and she drives both of the characters. One of the only times that I've seen a dead character play such an important role.

The problem with this episode isn't the quality, but rather the placement. On it's own, the episode is good. There is a bitter-sweetness about it created by the secrecy of Yoshino and Aika's sneaking around and by Mahiro's own feelings for Aika. It also highlights the awkwardness of the relationship between our two male leads.

As I said, the episode was good but poorly placed. Had the pace been faster and had there not been a flashback episode recently, this would have been a better episode. What's killing Zetsuen no Tempest now is not the content but rather the composition. It's not flowing as nicely and steadily as it should.

Unlike a few other series this season, Zetsuen no Tempest has maintained its quality. Unfortunately that quality has been mediocre. It's not improving, but at the same time it's not sinking at an unreasonable speed. Best way to sum it up: perfectly boring. There's no excitement or memorability with the episodes. They're simply fine, which is a little frustrating.

I really do hope the pace picks up from the next episode. We've had enough character development and we've learnt enough from the past. Now it's time for the series to deliver something exciting and memorable.