Zetsuen no Tempest - 22

"Fuwa Aika"

Please, Universe, let Bones pull this finale off, just once!

Considering that the manga is ending right around the end of the anime, it's probably safe to assume that we're getting a more or less faithful finale, though there's always an off-chance that Bones will put its own spin on things. If they do, however, I really, really hope they're careful about how they go about it, because Bones is notorious for its endings and Zetsuen has been so consistently great that I'd hate to see the track record end badly. Luckily, a good ending doesn't make an anime (even if it does help leave a favorable impression), and we're once again treated to a real treat of an episode, even if not much plot progression occurs. In exchange, we're given a moment of inner reflection on the part of a cast heading off to war and how they, particularly Mahiro, Yoshino, Hakaze, and Hanemura, are trying to come to terms with the task entrusted to them by Aika.

In terms of badassery, Hanemura really stepped up his game this week; it was almost like he became an entirely different person, so much so that my jaw actually dropped. Despite being painted as a timid fool, I've always found Hanemura to be compelling in a way that the rest of the cast isn't, and this week I realized why that is the case: Hanemura is the most empathetic and natural of them all. He sticks out as a fool because he's so different from everyone else, in that he's overwhelmed by the absurdity of the situation while no one else seems to be fazed. Yet his down-to-earth nature allows him a vantage point that is uniquely his in this tale; he knows what everyone should be feeling and doing, and he's frustrated when people like Mahiro and Yoshino refuse to vent and acknowledge their human feelings in favor of "rationality". For all his floundering, Hanemura is certainly the straight-man act in this play, and I'm sure he's much more connected to all of this than he already is. There are no coincidences in Zetsuen no Tempest.

Or perhaps there are. Samon certainly seems to think so when it comes to Yoshino and Mahiro, two ordinary teenage boys whose lives were overturned by pure association with Aika. At what point then, does the line between fate and coincidence come into being? Is there such a line? Is it even healthy to obsess over the difference? After all, what matters most in this world are the consequences of events, not necessarily the causes themselves. At this point, the fact is that Yoshino and Mahiro are very much the focus of the stage, and that they have no choice but to embrace their roles, regardless of who or what was responsible for handing them that responsibility. Indeed, whatever the case, Aika is still alive, if only through the memories of these two boys who can "change tragedy into comedy", and I feel that that's exactly the way it should be. I have mixed feelings at this point about whether or not I want her to be Yuki-chan, because Aika has been present all along in absentia far more powerfully than she could ever be in the flesh; somehow, her tricking everyone feels both in character and out, and I don't know that I want her to ruin her impact by having staged it all. Still, the finale ticks ever closer, and it won't wait for me to sort my feelings out first.