Blast of Tempest is definitely one of the more difficult shows to put my feelings about it into words. On one hand, I loved the character growth of the two main boys, the mystery behind Aika's death, and some of the cool ideas thrown around. But then I look at the less attractive parts of Blast of Tempest, like the absolute detachment I had to most of the other characters, Hakaze included to some extent, the lack of what felt like a substantial plot, and lack of a central antagonist, which stems mostly from the back and forth between what's actually the point of the plot. When these two worlds collide in my mind, I struggle to decide whether I really liked Blast of Tempest or just thought it was standard with a complete lack of direction plot-wise. Maybe the Shakespearean motifs flew over my head more than I thought or there was a much bigger message that I missed, but I just couldn't get behind the premise of the main story at all. But lets shelf that discussion for now as I'll hit my opinions on the technical side of Blast of Tempest quickly before moving to the interesting bits of this review.
Visually, Blast of Tempest is no special creation. It has its basic style with very little impressive animation to back it up, which isn't a huge problem since the show isn't very action or movement oriented. If I had to throw a single word at the animation quality, I'd simply say: average, but since we're talking about an early 2010's show, I'm actually a little disappointed, though that may just be my overall opinion on the show since I don't really know where they could have improved. Aesthetically, I'd say that they did a good job capturing a unique style for the characters that count, especially Aika, who just embodies this exotic and mysteriously alluring design, which is the entire premise of her character so I'd say they really nailed that one. The rest of the cast feels more plain, but that may be my best girl bias talking, although I'd say that the other three main characters are at least distinct from the other billion anime that use similar archetypes.
As far as sound design goes, again, super standard. There's nothing eye-popping (ear-popping?) about what this show does. Basic magic sounds, basic sounds, etc. Musically, Blast of Tempest is actually quite good. The first round of opening and ending songs are excellent, though they'd never place anywhere in my top 10. The following opening and ending songs in the second half are a bit lackluster, in my opinion, both visually and song-wise. The OST isn't super special, although the main theme is pretty good, especially when it's used towards the end to really drive home the emotions.
Favorite Character: Aika Fuwa
I'll split up what I liked and didn't like about Blast of Tempest into two sections, starting with what I liked. First off, I loved the mystery of the show. You never had the answers until the end and, although the eventual reveal was somewhat disappointing due to the nature of the plot, it was still an excellently crafted mystery that kept you feeling like you were missing one crucial piece of the puzzle. I also liked the way that Yoshino and Mahiro went through fantastic character arcs. They were both made to face their flaws and their trauma and find their own path forward. It was really moving actually, watching the two of them connect, drift apart to face their own internal battles, come back together to face their differences, and eventually forge an even stronger bond because of it. Lastly, I liked the initial setup of the story, which made the show seem like it was about a murder mystery with urban fantasy as the backdrop to eventually uncovering the answers. This fell apart quickly due to the direction the plot went, but at first, I was all for it.
Now for my gripes, I felt like Blast of Tempest was trying to tell two stories at once. One about personal trauma and moving forward when a tragedy has struck and a boring magical plot about two deities that no one knows who's good or evil. This whole dual plot continues to the very end, where neither is effectively concluded because of the way both plot lines were handled. Both plots didn't get enough time to effectively tell their stories, which is a shame because I would have loved to see the trauma storyline dove into in a much deeper regard, but that may just be personal preference since I'm a huge fan of character-driven stories. Another problem I had was that the story felt like it was concluding around episode 8, then just kept finding ways to keep going. That's effectively how weak the overall plot was. It felt like the overall premise was limping to a conclusion because there was airtime to fill. Additionally, I'm not sure why the Tree of Genesis was even letting the Kusaribe mages use its power since they were trying to destroy it. Seems really suspect to me.
Overall, I did enjoy watching Blast of Tempest, if only for the characters and watching those sweet, sweet Yoshino and Aika scenes. I'd say that it's deserving of an 80, but I just had too many issues with the continuity and overall story. There are more positives and negatives, of course, but I'd say that these are the main few that I wanted to express. If what I described seemed at least a little interesting, then you can't go wrong with Blast of Tempest, but if any of those issues are big deals then they may hinder your enjoyment here. I'd still say it's worth it, but there's just so much untapped potential that will, unfortunately, remain untapped forever. I'd have loved to see these characters in an entirely different setting, to be completely honest. But, this is what we got and for what that's worth, I'd say it's pretty good.