The Familiar of Zero Discussion Thread

[Classical]

All right. Ever since I ordered the show a couple of weeks ago I have been looking forward to watching The Familiar of Zero. I figured why not start a discussion thread. I plan to watch about two episodes a day but I may not get to watching it on some days at all. Regardless, if anybody wants to post their thoughts on a particular episode (or episodes) before me, please feel free to do so. I have no problem with someone doing that. That aside, I'll be posting my impressions of the first two episodes sometime in the next few minutes (hopefully).

Note
As usual, please try to follow these three easy forum courtesy habits when replying:
1) If you're the first person to post about an episode in any given week, please respond to the root post (this post) and indicate in the subject line which episode you're posting about.
2) If someone has already posted about an episode before you, please respond to that post (or a relevant reply to that post). Keep in the right subthread.
3) Don't use the blue "Post Reply" button because it causes your reply not to correctly inherit the subject line of the post you're replying to. Just click "Quote" to the post you want to reply to.
4) One last thing, please don't post spoilers about future episodes in a post discussing an earlier episode without spoiler tags (ie don't talk about episode 5 in a post discussing episode 1 without using spoiler tags). Thanks.

[Classical]

Episode 1: Zero Louise

-We start off seeing a beautiful young girl waking up and getting ready to get dressed. She looks so cute!
-It's a rather interesting opening. It's the kind of opening that screams "cheese," but it's good cheese. Not a bad song either.
-We know go to a classroom where students are apparently learning stuff about magic. This rich looking blonde guy tries to kiss up to the teacher.
-The teacher teaches the students some basic alchemy spell. Some hot dark-skinned red head asks if the teacher turned the rocks into gold.
-The teacher asks the pink-haired girl to perform the spell in front of the class. Apparently her name is Louise something-or-other. Her name kind of reminds me of Lelouch's.
-Anyways, the students get all paranoid about Louise trying out the spell. The teacher ignores the students and tells her to go on and try it. Suffice to say, Louise blows the place up. :sdsmiley:
-Louise the Zero is the name the students give her. Poor Louise.
-Perverted principal is perverted.
-Louise gets off the hook because it was partially the teacher's fault. This whole sequence of events gets me to thinking about high school again. Those were the days.
-Anyways, Louise boasts to the red head about how she's going to summon the most spectacular familiar ever. She doesn't seem too sure she can do it though.
-Guiche gets a weird familiar. The guy is so stuck up. Everyone else summons their familiars except Louise. Louise is forced to go thanks to Kirche.
-Zero Louise summons an explosion!? Oh wait. It's a human boy.
-This whole sequence of events confused me at first. How could the guy not understand Louise and vice-versa since their speaking English (I'm watching the dub)? Then a little bit after it made more sense to me.
-The guy is confused as to what's going on. He thinks it's some kind of crazy cult that's surrounded him. Louise kiss the guy and makes him her familiar. What a lucky d00d. The guy is now bound to Louise forever I guess.
-Louise trys to shut the guy up by casting a silencing spell on him. She fails to do even that right. Fortunately, the guy can now understand her and she can understand him. Apparently his name is Saito.
-Saito ditches Louise and runs into Guiche who is talking to some chick. He eventually gets caught.
-Very interesting ending animation. It's kind of cute.

Well, this first episode was pretty fun to watch. Louise really is deserving of her name "Louise the Zero." I feel bad for Saito. It's not fun waking up to find out you're in an unfamiliar world.

[Fencedude]

Not a bad song either.


I'd argue that the openings are one of the three things that are indisputably good about Zero no Tsukaima.

[Draneor]

Apparently her name is Louise something-or-other. Her name kind of reminds me of Lelouch's.

Like many characters in Zero no Tsukaima, Louise is named after a real political figure of sixteenth century Europe: Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_la_Valli%C3%A8re). What's more amazing is--at least in the official artbook--Japan got the Latin spellings right.^^

Although you might not think it, there are many references in Zero no Tsukaima for European history buffs.

[Classical]

Episode 2: Peasant Familiar

-Now Saito is pretty much stuck in the world that Louise is in.
-As a familiar, he has to do many things that aren't fun. He's basically a servant. Saito doesn't like taking order from Louise, but if he wants to survive, he's forced to comply with her requests.
-At the dining room we see yet again another of the differences between peasants and nobility. Saito is forced to eat on the floor. Poor guy.
-It's a day off for students of the academy. We meet Siesta. She seems nice and is kind of cute. It seems Saito has become quite popular. Guiche demands that she bring him his food. What a jerk. However, Saito tells Siesta he'll take care of it.
-Guiche is trying to score points on Montmorency. Wasn't he just trying to score points on another girl the other day? What a loser.
-Saito starts to have some fun with Guiche. He reveals that Guiche was hanging out with some other girl yesterday to Montmorency. Montmorency wonders what's going on.
-Guiche tries to walk away with Montmorency to avoid getting in trouble. The girl he was talking to yesterday shows up looking for him. Saito guides her in the right direction. :devil:
-Heh, Guiche got himself into some hot water. Serves him right. The girls ditch him.
-Guiche challenges Saito to a duel. Louise comes in and gets pissed at Saito for getting into a duel. Saito refuses to back down. Heh, the guy has spunk.
-Anyways, Saito and Guiche face off. Guiche kicks Saito's butt badly with magic.
-Tsundere alert! Does Louise care for Saito?
-Saito picks up a sword Guiche gave him to show that he's not giving up. Suddenly, Saito gets uber powerful and manages to beat Guiche.
-Saito falls asleep on Louise.
-Apparently Saito has been asleep for 3 days. Louise has been watching him all this time.

Heh, this was a really fun and hilarious episode to watch. I loved the whole Saito/Guiche confrontation. It was really amusing to watch. Not having seen the show before, I have to say it's turned out to be pretty fun so far.

[Classical]

Not a bad song either.


I'd argue that the openings are one of the three things that are indisputably good about Zero no Tsukaima.

I'd ask what the other two are, but for the sake of possible spoilers I'll hold my curiosity in check. I haven't seen the other two openings, but I must say that this first opening is very appropriate for the show based on what I've seen from the first two episodes.

Apparently her name is Louise something-or-other. Her name kind of reminds me of Lelouch's.

Like many characters in Zero no Tsukaima, Louise is named after a real political figure of sixteenth century Europe: Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_la_Valli%C3%A8re). What's more amazing is--at least in the official artbook--Japan got the Latin spellings right.^^

Although you might not think it, there are many references in Zero no Tsukaima for European history buffs.

That's an interesting tidbit. I didn't know some of these characters where named after historical figures. I know a fair amount of European history so I guess I find out how well versed I really am in it as I watch the show. I do already get some of the magic references, like the basice elements.

[Draneor]

I didn't know some of these characters where named after historical figures.

It also helps if you are familiar with the works of Alexander Dumas, whose novels included many of these people. Anyway, it's clear the author of the Zero no Tsukaima novels did a lot of research. Some of the terms (s)he uses for certain things are quite obscure.^^U

I do already get some of the magic references, like the basic elements.

That--as you will quickly become aware--is actually based on the Japanese theory of the five elements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_elements_(Japanese_philosophy)) which came from India via China. I admit I don't know if the Greeks--from which the Western five elements tradition is derived from--borrowed the idea from the Indians, if it's vice versa, or if it's just ideas developing convergently like many other things (say pottery or bronze working). Anyway, while the two are close, there is a key difference between the two systems.

[martod]

I didn't know some of these characters where named after historical figures.

It also helps if you are familiar with the works of Alexander Dumas, whose novels included many of these people. Anyway, it's clear the author of the Zero no Tsukaima novels did a lot of research. Some of the terms (s)he uses for certain things are quite obscure.^^U


Yet the author still includes a character named Julio Cesare. You don't have to be an expert on European history to know that Julius Caesar predated the Renaissance era by 1500 years. It's jarring considering all of the other references are from around the sixteenth century.

[martod]

-This whole sequence of events confused me at first. How could the guy not understand Louise and vice-versa since their speaking English (I'm watching the dub)? Then a little bit after it made more sense to me.

In real life the characters(aside from Saito) would not be speaking Japanese in an alternate version of Europe--they just speak it because that's what the audience understands. Saito, of course, would in real life be speaking Japanese. I like how the anime did it over how the novels did it. In the novels Saito understands the language of the alternate universe instantly. The anime gives him a reason for being able to speak Louise's language.

[einhorn303]

or if it's just ideas developing convergently like many other things (say pottery or bronze working). Anyway, while the two are close, there is a key difference between the two systems.

Pretty sure it´s this. I don´t think ancient Greece had all that much contact with India.

The real key difference, imho, is that while the Chinese/Indian elements are more a matter of philosophy, the Greek elements are a matter of science (well, primitive ancient science). The Greeks even linked each element to a different bodily fluid (Bile/Fire, Black Bile/Earth, Blood/Air, Phlegm/Water) and tried to explain sicknesses of the body with an ¨inbalance¨ in these four humors. Which is what led to the modern fantasy concept of a person´s ¨element¨ affecting their personality...Ice mages being cold, fire mages being impulsive and boisterous, etc.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Well, this has been sitting in my backlog, might as well get to it!

Episode 1: Zero Louise

-It's a rather interesting opening. It's the kind of opening that screams "cheese," but it's good cheese. Not a bad song either.

Totally irrelevant question, but did the side character names change from katakana to romaji in the original, or did Geneon go to the trouble of doing that?

-Elemental magic! The stuff I'm sick of from every other JRPG I play. Wheee!


-The teacher asks the pink-haired girl to perform the spell in front of the class. Apparently her name is Louise something-or-other. Her name kind of reminds me of Lelouch's. Louise de la Valliere??? She's the title of one of Dumas' musketeer novels--or one third of the last musketeer novel, depending how you look at it.

[edit: You all already know this. :P ]


-Perverted principal is perverted. "A familiar is a magician's eyes and ears," just as his is creeping from under the secretary's skirt! LOL.

-Kirche is a playgirl! She can't keep track of her assignations....


-This whole sequence of events confused me at first. How could the guy not understand Louise and vice-versa since their speaking English (I'm watching the dub)? Then a little bit after it made more sense to me. Hmm, I was watching the sub and they put a lot of reverb on his voice, so it was clear something was up.

-She keeps him on a bed of straw?!

- I like how Louise thinks his name is one long arcane fantasy creature type name.


-Saito ditches Louise and runs into Guiche who is talking to some chick. He eventually gets caught. Heh, he thinks he's been kidnapped by some kind of fantasy maniac!

[Isuzu Inugami]

-Ahahah!! She put a chain on him!

Episode 2: Peasant Familiar

-As a familiar, he has to do many things that aren't fun. He's basically a servant.

Somehow I don't think other people's familiars are told to do the laundry and so forth....

-He's a familiar, not a guy, so it doesn't mean anything for her to strip in front of him! :blush1:


-It's a day off for students of the academy. We meet Siesta. She seems nice and is kind of cute. It seems Saito has become quite popular. Guiche demands that she bring him his food. What a jerk. However, Saito tells Siesta he'll take care of it.

Revenge time for last night! I'm kind of impressed how proactive Saito is being in this world he doesn't really understand yet.


-Heh, Guiche got himself into some hot water. Serves him right. The girls ditch him.

His social links just went negative. :catgirl:


-Tsundere alert! Does Louise care for Saito?

It seems kind of soon for that--but he is her familiar/valuable property.


-Saito picks up a sword Guiche gave him to show that he's not giving up. Suddenly, Saito gets uber powerful and manages to beat Guiche.
-Saito falls asleep on Louise.

The school headmaster is kind of alarmed by the seal that showed up on him; now it activates and powers him up... but exhausts him afterward. And was whassname, Longueville watching all this while being shut out of the discussion about the seal? I get the idea she's going to be the one who knows all of what's going on, rather than the headmaster.

[Draneor]

Totally irrelevant question, but did the side character names change from katakana to romaji in the original, or did Geneon go to the trouble of doing that?

Yes. That effect was in the original opening. They also had them in the artbook. I admit I haven't checked to see if they changed their minds from when the artbook was published to when Geneon released it domestically.^^U I can't imagine why they would want to though (given it's clear someone put a lot of research into this).

[Classical]

It's a day off for students of the academy. We meet Siesta. She seems nice and is kind of cute. It seems Saito has become quite popular. Guiche demands that she bring him his food. What a jerk. However, Saito tells Siesta he'll take care of it.

Revenge time for last night! I'm kind of impressed how proactive Saito is being in this world he doesn't really understand yet.



That's one of the things I've like about Saito so far. He doesn't really understand the world around him but he's been very proactive.

[Classical]

Episode 3: Feverish Temptation

-The life of a familiar doesn't look very appealing. Saito is outside washing Louise's undies. Then again, some people would kill to do something like that. :sdsmiley:
-Saito gets thrown outside with the rest of the familiars. I can't imagine he'll be able to get a conversation going with anybody.
-It seems that Kirche has taken quite a liking to Saito.
-Louise starves Saito, but lucky for him he's become popular with the peasants working at the academy. It was a nice scence. The crazy chef tries to kiss Saito though, but Saito tells the chef that he don't roll like that. It's funny how the peasants perceive Saito's actions as those of a modest person.
-Apparently Louise bought an uber expensive elixir to prevent Saito from dying, according to Siesta.
-Kirche shows up in her sexy clothes and tries to rape Saito as he heads back to Louise's room. Louise catches Kirche and Saito.
-Saito explains the whole situation to Louise, and Louise tells him to stay away from her because they're mortal enemies.
-Anyways, the next day Louise goes shopping with Saito to buy him a sword so he can "defend" himself from Kirche. As the viewer can see, Kirche is some kind of sexual predator. A sword's not going to work Louise. Anyways, the town is 3 hours away on horse!
-LOL at Tabitha "muting" Kirche. Use an "Echo Grass" Kirche. I like Tabitha, and we haven't even seen much of her yet. She kind of reminds me of Yuki Nagato.
-Louise can't afford to buy a fancy sword because she doesn't have enough dinero. As a consequence, they buy a cheap old sword.
-Back at the dorms, Kirche tries to rape, er, talk to Saito again. Saito refuses the offer for the fancy sword, and Kirche and Saito get caught together again by Louise.
-Louise and Kirche get into an argument. Someone calls both of them a name. Gasp. It's a talking sword. I like the sword. It's got spunk.
-Things just get weirder for Louise.

This was another fun episode to watch. Lots of funny moments.

[The Great Bear]

-It seems that Kirche has taken quite a liking to Saito.

Kirche takes a liking to anyone male. With a heartbeat.

[Classical]

Episode 4: A Maid's Crisis

-Some guy in fancy clothes makes a request to the principal of the academy. It looks like it's something serious, and the principal is forced to comply with the request.
-Siesta has a little chat with Saito and thanks him for giving her strength.
-Apparently, Siesta is going to move to the nobleman's house to become his mistress. Poor Siesta.
-Saito heads over to the noble's house to try to rescue Siesta. The nobleman makes Saito a deal. If he can find a certain book for him, he'll let Siesta go.
-It turns out that Kirche has the book Saito needs, and if Saito agrees to Kirche's "invitation" then he can have the book. Saito surprisingly refuses. Atta boy Saito.
-Saito instead takes the fancy sword that Kirche bought and tries to rescue Siesta through force.
-Louise finds out and hurries along with Tabitha and Kirche to rescue Saito because he's in danger, and his actions affect Louise as well.
-Saito is losing the battle against the nobleman because he can't manage to do what he did against Guiche. Louise manages to save Saito from certain death by failing at magic again.
-What Saito did was a serious crime and Louise is going to get into deep trouble as well because of what he did. However, Kirche offers to give her family heirloom to the nobleman if he forgives Saito's transgression and lets Siesta go.
-The nobleman accepts the offer and lets Siesta go.
-It turns out the book was a porn magazine. I had a feeling it was going to be something like that based on what the nobleman said earlier. :sweat: Louise and Kirche wonder how Saito and the magazine are alike.

This was another good episode and I find myself enjoying this show quite a bit.

[Classical]

-It seems that Kirche has taken quite a liking to Saito.

Kirche takes a liking to anyone male. With a heartbeat.

That got me to thinking about when Kirche explained to Saito about what she thought was so appealing about him. I couldn't help but laugh. She's not very romantic, is she? :sdsmiley:

[Draneor]

That got me to thinking about when Kirche explained to Saito about what she thought was so appealing about him. I couldn't help but laugh. She's not very romantic, is she? :sdsmiley:

Kirche has other assets, so she doesn't need to be romantic. She's very much like a female dog in heat (I should note I loathed Kirche with a passion).

[Fencedude]

Kirche has other assets, so she doesn't need to be romantic. She's very much like a female dog in heat (I should note I loathed Kirche with a passion).

Thats not very fair to Kirche, she just...likes sex.

(also Kirche/Tabitha is the best pairing in the show)

[Draneor]

Thats not very fair to Kirche, she just...likes sex.

Louise would beg to differ.^^

[Fencedude]

Thats not very fair to Kirche, she just...likes sex.

Louise would beg to differ.^^

Louise is hardly a poster child for rationality.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 3: Feverish Temptation

-The life of a familiar doesn't look very appealing. Saito is outside washing Louise's undies. Then again, some people would kill to do something like that. :sdsmiley:

Does she not have servants for this?? Because I'm sure Montmorency's frog isn't doing her laundry!


-Louise starves Saito, but lucky for him he's become popular with the peasants working at the academy.

He's the hero of the working classes!

-Apparently Louise bought an uber expensive elixir to prevent Saito from dying, according to Siesta.

He makes some comment about rich nobles, but it turns out she's down to her last 100--maybe it's just something to make this episode flow, but given her lack of servants, I'm starting to wonder if she's a fairly poor noble....

-Tabitha has a dragon for a familiar! "We're looking for two people on horseback. You can't eat them." LOL.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 4: A Maid's Crisis

-It turns out that Kirche has the book Saito needs, and if Saito agrees to Kirche's "invitation" then he can have the book. Saito surprisingly refuses. Atta boy Saito.

Idiot! Err, I mean, what an upstanding young man.


-Saito instead takes the fancy sword that Kirche bought and tries to rescue Siesta through force.

Take the magic talking sword, you fool! What are you thinking?

-It turns out the book was a porn magazine.

From the '70s! Kind of tame stuff, by today's standards....

[Isuzu Inugami]

That got me to thinking about when Kirche explained to Saito about what she thought was so appealing about him. I couldn't help but laugh. She's not very romantic, is she? :sdsmiley:

He's very exotic to her. Something new and exciting and a bit perverted, maybe. :blush1:

[Classical]

-Tabitha has a dragon for a familiar! "We're looking for two people on horseback. You can't eat them." LOL.

Heh, that line was hilarious. I wonder just how much money Tabitha spends on feeding the thing.

[Classical]

-Saito instead takes the fancy sword that Kirche bought and tries to rescue Siesta through force.

Take the magic talking sword, you fool! What are you thinking?



I had the same reaction. At the very least talking sword-kun would have thrown off the guards and the nobleman a bit. They'd be "WTF! A talking sword!?" :sdsmiley:

[Classical]

Episode 5: Tristein's Princess

-Some chick in a cloak steals some stuff from a castle.
-Louise is having Saito train for the exhibition of familiars for the second year students. Louise can't just ditch the event because it's mandatory.
-Saito doesn't really have anything special to show off, with the exception of panty washing.
-Suffice to say, this exhibition is really important to Louise. Apparently, the princess of Tristein is going to be showing up.
-Extra guards are going to be needed to guard the princess. The secretary is acting a bit strange. Could she be..?
-The princess of Tristein shows up. She's purdy. Apparently Henrietta is here for a personal reason.
-Later in the day, Henrietta shows up at Louise's room. Loli versions (well, in Louise's case it's a more loli version of herself) of the two of them show up in a memory. Apparently they were good friends. The reason Louise hasn't gotten in trouble for the nobleman incident was because Henrietta was protecting her, just like she said she would in the past. That's a good friend.
-It seems that even Henrietta is fascinated by Saito. The reason Louise wanted Saito to perform well was because Henrietta was her friend and she wanted to impress her.
-Anyways, at the familiar exhibition Louise prevents Saito from making a fool of himself. It must be tough being the familiar of Zero. Tabitha wins the contest with her familiar.
-The cloaked woman shows up and tries to steal the "Staff of Destruction." Louise and Saito see her and they try to stop her. Louise doesn't want to run away and save herself.
-Louise tries to save Saito with magic but only winds up aiding the thief in stealing the staff. :sweat:
-The thief steals the staff and gets away. Apparently the Princess might be blamed for the incident due to the fact that extra guards were needed for her protection.

I like Henrietta, she's nice. I feel bad for her though if the incident gets blamed on her.

[Classical]

Episode 6: A Thief's Identity

-Louise, Saito, and Tabitha are called to the headmaster's office. They've been naughty children. Well not really. Anyways, Kirche is there too because "you don't need a reason to help people." She's probably just after Saito.
-Anyways, the secretary gathered info on a suspicious character in some woods. That's an awfully accurate illustration based on rumours. Not to mention she was able to get the info easily. The headmaster is impressed. It turns out the suspicious person is the thief, Fouquet.
-Anyways, no person is manly enough to go find and defeat Fouquet. That's quite a group of people you have there, headmaster.
-Louise volunteers and so does Kirche. Louise is worried about the whole incident being pinned on Henrietta. Tabitha tags along as well because she's worried about them. Aww.
-Apparently Tabitha is a knight!? Kirche specializes in fire magic and Louise, well, there's not much good to say about her. Poor girl.
-The secretary volunteers to tag along with them. Hmm.
-On the way to the woods, Kirche and Louise get into an argument. We find out that some peasants that can use magic were formerly nobles. Apparently the secretary used to be a noble. Hmm, interesting.
-Kirche tagged along to be with Saito. Saito accepts the fancy sword from Kirche. Louise says she doesn't care what he does, but she's actually uber ticked off. You need anger management classes Louise.
-The group finds a shack in the woods. No one is there. The secretary says she's going to "scout" the area around the shack. Tabitha finds the box holding the staff of destruction.
-Anyways, the huge golem shows up again. It has elemental resistance to wind and fire.
-Louise tries to take on the golem. The golem is about to smash her but Saito saves her. Louise says she wants to fight the golem to prove herself, and because it hurts her feelings when people make fun of her. Given her anger issues one forgets that Louise has feelings as well, and I do feel bad that she's made fun of.
-Whoa! Saito smacks some sense into Louise. That was an epic slap.
-Saito attacks the golem with the fancy sword only to have the cheap piece of junk break. Consequently, talking sword-kun tells Saito to draw him out.
-Saito gets all good at fighting again thanks to the inscription in his hand. Though his powers aren't enough to take down the golem.
-Instead, Saito tries to use the "Staff of Destruction" which turns out to be a rocket launcher!? He manages to defeat the golem. The girls are impressed.
-Fouquet shows up and tries to uses the rocket launcher on the group, only to have the misfortune of running out of ammo. So she was the secretary all along. Saito takes her out.
-Back at the academy, Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha are commended for retrieving the "staff." Saito asks where the staff was found. Apparently, in the past some guy in "funny" clothes showed up and saved the headmaster from a dragon by using the rocket launcher. The guy had two of them. One was buried along with him when he died and the other one was kept in the academy.
-Saito won't be recognized for his work (that's messed up), and he still hasn't found a way to get back home to boot.
-Louise shows up in fancy clothes. Some guys try to ask her to dance with them but she ignores them and heads straight for Saito. She asks him to dance but he doesn't like the way she asked him to.
-Louise then properly asks him to dance with her. They dance and Louise starts getting all red in the face. Saito says he wants to go back home, and Louise seems kind of sad about it. She wonders why he saved her. He says it's because he's her familiar.

Boy, this was a long post. Sorry about that. Lots of stuff happened in this episode. I actually have a bit more to say, but I'll save it for a later post.

[martod]

Kirche has other assets, so she doesn't need to be romantic. She's very much like a female dog in heat (I should note I loathed Kirche with a passion).

Thats not very fair to Kirche, she just...likes sex.


And using it to get what she wants, as in the weapon shop scene. I don't remember, but I thought at one point she essentially said she comes from a long line of people who slept their way to the top.

Louise is clearly jealous of Kirche's body. It would probably be the other way around if either of them could access Danbooru.

[martod]

Episode 3: Feverish Temptation

-The life of a familiar doesn't look very appealing. Saito is outside washing Louise's undies. Then again, some people would kill to do something like that. :sdsmiley:

Does she not have servants for this?? Because I'm sure Montmorency's frog isn't doing her laundry!



She's probably just giving him busy work. He doesn't have any obvious special powers, he can't be used as a pet(even though Louise tries to treat him like one), and he's not going to blindly follow her around all day, so she just tried to find something for him to do so he doesn't wander around irritating the nobles.

[Classical]

Prior to this episode (episode 6) Louise didn't feel like too much of a factor to me, and by that I mean that I didn't really get to thinking about her character much because most of the time there wasn't much of any other sides of her being shown. It felt like most of the time it was just her getting angry and yelling at Saito. The way I saw Louise was mostly as a person who had very few redeeming qualities. She sucks at magic, she has anger problems, she treats Saito like a pet, and she's stubborn. This episode reminded me though that she is a person with feelings. I think at least part of the reason she's so messed up is because of her lack of magical talent. The students make fun of her for it and she probably gets tired of that stuff. It doesn't help that a peasant became her familiar. She tries to not be a "loser" but things only get worst. It's only logical to feel frustration.

That said, at the end of this episode her concern for Saito felt more genuine than the other instances. Before it her excuse was that she was caring for Saito because he was her familiar. It was hard to tell if she cared for him as a person or as a thing. Though when Saito told her that he wanted to go back home she seemed kind of sad. It's still a little hard to tell for me at this point what she really thinks of Saito, but she must like him a little at least.

Pushing that aside, I'm starting to wonder how much of a "fluke" it is for things from Earth to be showing up in the world that Louise and the other magicians live in. I mean there's Saito, the porn magazine, and the guy and the rocket launcher. There must be some deeper meaning to this, or maybe I'm just reading into things too much? Still, there are lots of other questions left unanswered. Will Saito ever go back home? Does Louise have romantic feelings for Saito? Will Kirche ever get laid with Saito? The only way to find out is to keep watching. ;)

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 5: Tristein's Princess

-Louise is having Saito train for the exhibition of familiars for the second year students. Louise can't just ditch the event because it's mandatory.
-Saito doesn't really have anything special to show off, with the exception of panty washing.

...He's totally making fun of her by suggesting it! I'm sure he sees more than he lets on, and tweaks her more than she realizes.

-Later in the day, Henrietta shows up at Louise's room. Loli versions (well, in Louise's case it's a more loli version of herself) of the two of them show up in a memory. Apparently they were good friends.

Louise is hyper-deferential to the princess. I think Henrietta is disappointed--they had a less formal relationship in the past and I think she misses it.

-Anyways, at the familiar exhibition Louise prevents Saito from making a fool of himself.

Well... she tries, anyway....

-I love when Tabitha flies around the side of the castle and notices, Hey, there's a great freakin' golem punching in the other side of the castle! You'd think people would have heard the ruckus, at least....

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 6: A Thief's Identity

-Louise volunteers and so does Kirche. Louise is worried about the whole incident being pinned on Henrietta. Tabitha tags along as well because she's worried about them. Aww.

Good for Louise here. She's more than just a selfish brat.


-Apparently Tabitha is a knight!?

Yeah, where did that come from? :sweat:


-Kirche tagged along to be with Saito. Saito accepts the fancy sword from Kirche. Louise says she doesn't care what he does, but she's actually uber ticked off. You need anger management classes Louise.

Well, Saito could have used a bit of a clue here too... I guess he really likes that sword, though.


-The group finds a shack in the woods. No one is there. The secretary says she's going to "scout" the area around the shack. Tabitha finds the box holding the staff of destruction.

Left there? Unguarded? Something's not right!

-Louise tries to take on the golem. The golem is about to smash her but Saito saves her. Louise says she wants to fight the golem to prove herself, and because it hurts her feelings when people make fun of her.

I like how all her frustrations just well up here and she pretty much loses it. Cutting through her armor of anger to show her inner, uh, anger... no, wait, I mean that in the good way!

Saito tries to use the "Staff of Destruction" which turns out to be a rocket launcher!?

Hmm, seems a number of things from our world get summoned into Louise's.


-Fouquet shows up and tries to uses the rocket launcher on the group, only to have the misfortune of running out of ammo. So she was the secretary all along. Saito takes her out.

CRAP! Does this mean no more Longueville in the show? Dammit, I like Longueville!

Apparently, in the past some guy in "funny" clothes showed up and saved the headmaster from a dragon by using the rocket launcher.

Even thirty years younger, Old Osman has white hair... Maybe "Old" was always his nickname, like Louise the Zero and Kirche the Fever.

The guy had two of them. One was buried along with him when he died and the other one was kept in the academy.

Hmmm, immeasurably powerful magical staff--think I'll keep one under lock and key at the academy and just bury the other one anonymously! :relief:

-She wonders why he saved her. He says it's because he's her familiar.

A nice balance to her comment a couple episodes ago that only a worthless mage would abandon their familiar.

[Classical]

I do already get some of the magic references, like the basic elements.

That--as you will quickly become aware--is actually based on the Japanese theory of the five elements (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_elements_(Japanese_philosophy)) which came from India via China. I admit I don't know if the Greeks--from which the Western five elements tradition is derived from--borrowed the idea from the Indians, if it's vice versa, or if it's just ideas developing convergently like many other things (say pottery or bronze working). Anyway, while the two are close, there is a key difference between the two systems.

*I spoiler tagged this post just in case for the sake of possible spoilers. Probably isn't neccessary though, as this post involves things up until the end of episode 6.

Speaking of the elements, my brother noticed something interesting the other day while we were watching the show. It seems that part of the opening showcases the elements of four of the characters. Obviously Kirche is associated with fire magic, Tabitha with wind magic, and Guiche with earth magic. Though with Montmorency it hasn't really been said which element she specializes in (at least from what I've seen up until episode 6). It appears her's is water magic based on the opening. Anyways, the more interesting realization from the opening is that the 4 characters familiars' who I've mentioned are of the elements that their masters use. Kirche uses fire magic so her familiar is of the fire element. Guiche uses earth magic so his familiar is associated with the earth property. I can't believe I didn't realize this sooner. The same things seem to apply to Montmorency and Tabitha. I think this is in part what Guiche meant when he said that the master's familiar matches their master in every way (or something like that, I can't remember exactly what he said). If that's so, I wonder what element Louise's is? Is it Void?

[Classical]

-I love when Tabitha flies around the side of the castle and notices, Hey, there's a great freakin' golem punching in the other side of the castle! You'd think people would have heard the ruckus, at least....

That scene was kind of weird because of that. The golem is rather large for others not to notice and, as you said, there was a lot of noise being made. Maybe there was some kind of spell the thief used?

[Classical]

-Kirche tagged along to be with Saito. Saito accepts the fancy sword from Kirche. Louise says she doesn't care what he does, but she's actually uber ticked off. You need anger management classes Louise.

Well, Saito could have used a bit of a clue here too... I guess he really likes that sword, though.

That's true. Saito should have realized by now that Louise isn't goint to be too happy about him accepting the fancy sword from Kirche.


-Fouquet shows up and tries to uses the rocket launcher on the group, only to have the misfortune of running out of ammo. So she was the secretary all along. Saito takes her out.

CRAP! Does this mean no more Longueville in the show? Dammit, I like Longueville!

The whole relationship with her and the headmaster was funny. I guess no more looking at what color her panties are.

Saito tries to use the "Staff of Destruction" which turns out to be a rocket launcher!?

Hmm, seems a number of things from our world get summoned into Louise's.

Which gets me to thinking, what's up with the green airplane in the opening? It must be another thing from our world summoned to Louise's world.

[Fencedude]

Yes, Monmon is indeed water.

[Draneor]

If that's so, I wonder what element Louise's is? Void?

I answered your question and provided some more background information about Halkeginian magic.

That's a pretty major spoiler you just guessed. That's also why I said there is a key difference between the Japanese system and the Greek system. The Greek system's fifth element is ether, of course. Going back to magic in Halkeginia, most magi can only use one element (Kirche: fire). Certain magi can combine multiple elements, however. The more elements you can combine the more powerful a magi you are. The ranks go as follows: dot mage, line mage, triangle mage, and square mage. There is a rumoured fifth ranking--pentagram mage--although none are currently known (I should mention I do not know what the official translations for these rankings are). As for what Louise is, keep watching.^^

[Classical]

Episode 7: Louise's Part-Time Job

-We start off with Henrietta thanking both Louise and Saito for retrieving the "Staff of Destruction." Henrietta offers her hand to Saito, but he's dumbfounded as to what he's supposed to do. Louise tells him to kiss her. Saito complies by grabbing Henrietta and kissing her on the mouth. I cracked up. He was supposed to kiss her hand.
-Henrietta offers both Louise and Saito a personal job. Apparently there's this one village where it's rumored that nobles are taking advantage of peasants. Henrietta wants them to investigate the rumor.
-Louise and Saito are making preparations at the village, but Louise doesn't like the peasant clothes she's wearing. She's so accustomed to her luxuries that she feels that buying expensive horses and spending the night at fancy inns are necessary. The problem also is that she doesn't have enough money to get want she wants. Louise needs to suffer a little.
-Anyways, Louise tries to get more money by gambling but fails. Louise, the only way you earn money by gambling is by winning the games you play. You don't magically make money. Saito regrets having left her alone because now she blew all the money away.
-This one weird guy (?) shows up and makes Saito and Louise an offer.
-Louise doesn't like that she has to work as a waitress at the man's bar, but Saito doesn't mind because they essentially kill three birds with one stone.
-The owner of the place introduces Louise to everyone, and he tells them that whoever gets the most tips will have the opportunity to wear a special outfit that makes the wearer irresistible and will help them earn so many tips that it's not funny.
-Suffice to say, Louise wants to be the winner. Let's just say things didn't go well with her. She's so stuck up she can't bow down and serve people. Not to mention they keep making fun of her smallness and chest size. Hey, some people like flat chests. Actually, one guy did like her flatness. Anyways, the fact that she's so used to the noble life really affected her performance negatively. She also got ticked off at Saito because he was flirting with the owner's daughter.
-It turns out the daughter knew that Louise wasn't really a peasant. Louise didn't really do a good job of hiding her status.
-This one noble who collects taxes shows up and kicks everybody out. Apparently he ruins people's businesses by putting up huge taxes if the owners don't comply with his requests. What a jerk.
-Louise, not having a clue that the tax collector has never tipped a waitress, tries to serve him. Well, her attempt didn't go well, at least at first.
-Louise reveals who she is, and the collector promises to give her money if she goes easy on him. She gets the cash, which, fortunately for her, counts as tips and wins the tip contest.
-She then wears the outfit and shows it off to Saito. Wow, she looks hot, and Saito thinks so too. He tries to complement her but doesn't do a very good job of it.

Louise should really trade places with Saito one day to see how it's like to live the life of a familiar. This was a sexy episode.

[Classical]

Episode 8: Tabitha's Secret

-Louise and Saito arrive at the academy only to find it rather empty. Apparently it's summer vacation. Louise and Saito see Kirche and Tabitha. Kirche is going along with Tabitha to her parents home.
-Monmon and Guiche are still quarreling about being together. Guiche wouldn't have had so much trouble with her if he wasn't trying to hit on other girls.
-Kirche has an interesting little chat with Tabitha on the way to her home. Apparently Kirche caused trouble at her old school and was causing problems for her parents, probably because she was going out with so many guys. Her parents sent her off to Tristein to wash their hands clean of her. Poor Kirche, so horny and misunderstood(?). Though when Kirche mentioned that part of her parents wishing to get rid of the problems she causes them it seemed that that comment caught her (Tabitha's) attention. Maybe she faced a similar problem?
-Back at the academy Saito makes a steam bath.
-Kirche and Tabitha arrive at Tabitha's home. A butler calls Tabitha "Charlotte." Kirche wants to meet Tabitha's father, but it doesn't happen. Tabitha walks off to meet her mother.
-The butler tells the story of Tabitha, as Kirche is confused as to why Tabitha would change her name in order to attend Tristein.
-It seems "Charlotte" is Tabitha's real name, and that her father, a count, was murdered due to a quarrel involing his older brother as to who should be king of Gallia. The older brother assumed the throne, but the trouble didn't end for Tabitha and her mother right there.
-Since Tabitha was next in line to be ruler of Gallia, people were after her. Someone tried to poison her in fact, but her mother saved her by drinking the tainted drink instead. As a result she became mentally insane. I cried. :cry:
-That's why Tabitha's mother is so messed up and doesn't recognize Tabitha. That must be very difficult for Tabitha.
-Problems still didn't end there for Tabitha. The castle had her sent to complete difficult missions with little chance of survival to try to do her in, yet she managed to survive. What a tough life it's been for her.
-Charlotte assumed the name Tabitha, which was the name of a doll her mother gave her, and went to attend Tristein academy as the castle wanted her to go there to get rid of her.
-Back in the academy, Monmon tries to put something in Guiche's drink by telling him there's a naked lady flying around. LOL. The fool Guiche believes her.
-Louise caught Saito taking a bath with Siesta. Saito was just having a chat with her, but Louise gets jealous.
-Louise steals the tainted drink from Guiche and drinks it. Uh oh. I hope she's not dead. She'll probably be fine.
-Back in Louise's room Louise starts to act all strange and lovely-dovey around Saito. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.

Not much was known about Tabitha prior to this episode. I never knew she had such a sad past, but that makes her all the more awesome. She's such a mentally strong person compared to, say, Louise. This episode only made me like Tabitha even more. Also, Louise starts show signs of jealousy due to other girls liking Saito so much. I think she'll need the help from the magic potion she drank though to try to win him over. :sdsmiley:

[Classical]

Episode 9: Louise's Change of Heart

If there was one way to summarize this episode, it would be that Saito avoids trying to get raped by Louise. :catgirl: Thought that isn't very descriptive. :sweat:

-Anyways, due to the drink Louise drank in the last episode, she's been acting strange around Saito. She's getting easily jealous of him being with other woman.
-Saito wonders why Louise is acting weird and Monmon (this is the episode he starts calling Montmorency that. It's a nice nickname, though Monmon doesn't like it) tells him that Louise accidentally drank an aphrodisiac that she made in order use it on Guiche.
-Monmon tells Saito the effects should wear off in a couple of month to maybe around a year. Well, let's see here. There's two paths Saito can take. Either he deals with lovely-dovely Louise without having to worry about her getting ticked at him, or he cures her. Naturally, he chooses to cure her.
-Some point later in the episode Louise is lying on the bed when Saito comes and she's not wearing any panties. Saito, you lucky dog. Louise complains about not having any sex appeal because she's flat and small. I guess this is where I should come in and say that one of her physical qualities is that she has a delicious flat chest? :sdsmiley:
-Saito gets fed up with Louise acting weird and threatens Monmon to report her for making an aphrodisiac since doing such a thing is illegal, as he found out earlier in the episode. Siesta told him about such a thing, as she was jealous that Louise was all over him. She didn't believe that Louise drank an aphrodisiac.
-Monmon has no choice but to comply and tells Saito that there is a way to cure her, and that it involves obtaining an item from a certain lake she visited when she was younger.
-Guiche tags along in order to prove his faithfulness to Monmon, or so he claims.
-They arrive at their desitnation. Hey look! It's the flooded town we saw in the last episode.
-Saito has Louise act like an obedient, innocent little girl. She looks so moe right now. :beatingheart: Saito, Monmon, and Guiche wait until sunset in order for a water spirit to show up. The water spirit has the item they need to cure Louise.
-The spirit shows up, and initially refuses to give the group a part of itself in order to cure Louise. However, Saito says he'll do anything for the item needed, and so the spirit makes them a deal.
-The deal is that Saito and co. need to stop the people that are trying to prevent the water spirit from flooding the place.
-As soon as I saw the staff I thought it had to be Tabitha and Kirche. It appears they've reached an impasse because Tabitha needs to stop the water spirit from flooding the place.
-Suffice to say, Saito comes up with an idea to ask the water spirit as to why it's flooding the area in the first place. It turns out the spirit was guarding an important item, and it got stolen. It's flooding the place to get big enough to where it can eventually find the culprit who took the item.
-Saito vows to find the item, but the spirit believes he will eventully find and return it. Thus, the spirit gives Saito the item to cure Louise. Apparently, Gandolf (my guess it's the name of talking sword-kun, though Saito seems to have no clue) fulfilled a promise to the water spirit once in the past, and the spirit has faith that Gandolf will fulfill it again.
-When it's all said and done, Louise is back to her normal self, and takes her anger out at Saito. :catgirl:

Another enjoyable episode. I loved seeing Louise acting all lovely dovey with Saito and being obviously jealous of him when he was with the other girls. Saito made an interesting choice in choosing to return Louise back to normal. The little encounter between Saito and Guiche vs. Kirche and Tabitha was interesting to watch. Saito pulled out some cool moves during the battle. It got a little bit weird at the end with the water's spirit method to try to recover the item it was guarding. It seems more bad guys are going to be showing up soon.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 7: Louise's Part-Time Job

-Henrietta offers her hand to Saito, but he's dumbfounded as to what he's supposed to do.

He's kind of oblivious here... is he really so unfamiliar with hand-kissing? I guess he's never seen any western historical dramas....


-Louise and Saito are making preparations at the village, but Louise doesn't like the peasant clothes she's wearing. She's so accustomed to her luxuries that she feels that buying expensive horses and spending the night at fancy inns are necessary. The problem also is that she doesn't have enough money to get want she wants.

What does she need a horse for? (And how did she get here without one to begin with??) In any case, she needs a lesson in budgeting.

-This one weird guy (?) shows up and makes Saito and Louise an offer.

She gets scouted!

-The owner of the place introduces Louise to everyone, and he tells them that whoever gets the most tips will have the opportunity to wear a special outfit that makes the wearer irresistible and will help them earn so many tips that it's not funny.

Is it really magic, or is it just hot enough to encourage high tipping? Although it doesn't seem much different from the regular uniforms.... Come to think of it, the whole deal may be a scam, since the only people who win the right to wear it are pretty good at getting tips to begin with. :sweat:

-Louise really doesn't get the whole "waitress" thing. Although I'm kind of surprised she doesn't know how a glass of wine is poured.... Well, overanalyzing logic flaws in this show is probably a little meanspirited too....

-Louise reveals who she is, and the collector promises to give her money if she goes easy on him. She gets the cash, which, fortunately for her, counts as tips and wins the tip contest.

Heh, inadvertant victory!


-She then wears the outfit and shows it off to Saito.

Having won it, she has to try it out. :P

[Draneor]

He's kind of oblivious here... is he really so unfamiliar with hand-kissing? I guess he's never seen any western historical dramas....

Well, considering Saito is a Japanese teenager and hand-kissing is an archaic European custom... I think it's reasonable. Most, say Canadians, would not be familiar with Japanese, eighteenth-century noble etiquette either. Also, it's Saito.

[Classical]

The owner of the place introduces Louise to everyone, and he tells them that whoever gets the most tips will have the opportunity to wear a special outfit that makes the wearer irresistible and will help them earn so many tips that it's not funny.

Is it really magic, or is it just hot enough to encourage high tipping? Although it doesn't seem much different from the regular uniforms.... Come to think of it, the whole deal may be a scam, since the only people who win the right to wear it are pretty good at getting tips to begin with. :sweat:


You do make a good point about the uniform. Maybe the magic is in that it's so hot that it encourages high tipping. Well, regardless, Louise looks great in it. :blush:

[HitokiriShadow]

-Louise really doesn't get the whole "waitress" thing. Although I'm kind of surprised she doesn't know how a glass of wine is poured.... Well, overanalyzing logic flaws in this show is probably a little meanspirited too....


Attempting to analyze logic flaws in this series is going to result in an epic headache.

[Classical]

-Louise really doesn't get the whole "waitress" thing. Although I'm kind of surprised she doesn't know how a glass of wine is poured.... Well, overanalyzing logic flaws in this show is probably a little meanspirited too....


Attempting to analyze logic flaws in this series is going to result in an epic headache.

Yeah, I myself don't pay attention to the flaws of the show much, if at all. It's been really fun watching it that way. In fact, I quite like the show.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 8: Tabitha's Secret

-Kirche has an interesting little chat with Tabitha on the way to her home. Apparently Kirche caused trouble at her old school and was causing problems for her parents, probably because she was going out with so many guys. Her parents sent her off to Tristein to wash their hands clean of her. Poor Kirche, so horny and misunderstood(?). Though when Kirche mentioned that part of her parents wishing to get rid of the problems she causes them it seemed that that comment caught her (Tabitha's) attention. Maybe she faced a similar problem?

I wasn't really expecting them to bond like this, but they make an awesome team now that I think about it. I'll probably be slashing them in another episode or two.... :shy:


-Back at the academy Saito makes a steam bath.

Because HE IS JAPANESE! Actually, this bit is educational because I had wondered how people didn't burn themselves resting the oil drum/whatever on top of the fire; but here we see he's got a wood platform in there, so he's not sitting right on the metal. The things you learn, and the places you learn them....

-Since Tabitha was next in line to be ruler of Gallia, people were after her. Someone tried to poison her in fact, but her mother saved her by drinking the tainted drink instead. As a result she became mentally insane. I cried. :cry:

That was pretty dark. And she ended up trading names with the doll her mother holds.... Whoa....


-Problems still didn't end there for Tabitha. The castle had her sent to complete difficult missions with little chance of survival to try to do her in, yet she managed to survive. What a tough life it's been for her.

So that explains her unexpected rank. She's pretty tough. And no wonder she ended up with a dragon familiar--she needs it!

-And at night she has nightmares, and Kirche... Kirche....! :bigsmile:


-Back in the academy, Monmon tries to put something in Guiche's drink by telling him there's a naked lady flying around. LOL. The fool Guiche believes her.

Well... but who wouldn't look, just to be on the safe side? :sweat:


-Louise caught Saito taking a bath with Siesta. Saito was just having a chat with her, but Louise gets jealous.

Siesta is seriously bold! She even makes him look, since "it's too dark to see anyway." Hmmm....


-Louise steals the tainted drink from Guiche and drinks it. Uh oh. I hope she's not dead. She'll probably be fine.

I'm sure she'll be fine, but someone is likely to end up dead, by the end of it all.... :P

Kirche is a character type I like, and Tabitha is a character type I like, and seeing them bonding like that is just... woot! Screw Saito and Louise, I want the Tabitha/Kirche show! Oops, technically I think I just slashed them.... :sweat:

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 9: Louise's Change of Heart

If there was one way to summarize this episode, it would be that Saito avoids trying to get raped by Louise. :catgirl:

....And keeps wondering if he should....

-Saito wonders why Louise is acting weird and Monmon (this is the episode he starts calling Montmorency that. It's a nice nickname, though Monmon doesn't like it)

He just up and says stuff, and everyone else is left to adjust to it. Heh.

Well, let's see here. There's two paths Saito can take. Either he deals with lovely-dovely Louise without having to worry about her getting ticked at him, or he cures her. Naturally, he chooses to cure her.

Well... eventually it's going to wear off, and that's when the piper will be paid.... Better to leave a record of unimpeachable behavior, etc. etc. Not that it will make a huge difference with Louise, who is going to be horrified at herself no matter what....

I guess this is where I should come in and say that one of her physical qualities is that she has a delicious flat chest? :sdsmiley:

The high-performance models are streamlined. :devil:


-Saito gets fed up with Louise acting weird and threatens Monmon to report her for making an aphrodisiac since doing such a thing is illegal, as he found out earlier in the episode. Siesta told him about such a thing, as she was jealous that Louise was all over him. She didn't believe that Louise drank an aphrodisiac.

Interesting how jealous Siesta has become. Of course, she did just show off her body to him last episode.

-Saito has Louise act like an obedient, innocent little girl.

All I can think is, oh man, is she going to pay him back later!

-As soon as I saw the staff I thought it had to be Tabitha and Kirche.

Heh, yeah, not a huge surprise, but a nice bit of conflict nontheless. Alas, they're all so reasonable they start to cooperate quite soon.

-Saito vows to find the item,

Eventually! Since spirits have no sense of time. Dirty pool, Saito!

[Citizen Klaus]

Episode 7: Louise's Part-Time Job

-Henrietta offers her hand to Saito, but he's dumbfounded as to what he's supposed to do.

He's kind of oblivious here... is he really so unfamiliar with hand-kissing? I guess he's never seen any western historical dramas....


I'm guessing that the creators also assumed that viewers wouldn't be familiar with European customs and, particularly, history. Watch episode 11 and see what I mean. If you have even the faintest understanding of post-renaissance British politics, it's cringe-inducing.

[Draneor]

I'm guessing that the creators also assumed that viewers wouldn't be familiar with European customs and, particularly, history.

Couple things. The original plotline comes from the light novels (as such it's not so much viewers as readers). More importantly, Zero no Tsukaima appears to be set in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century. Hand-kissing did not start being practiced until the seventeenth century in Spain and it was not common elsewhere until really the eighteenth century. If this was supposed to be historically accurate, this would be an anachronism. But to be honest, Zero no Tsukaima is not even trying to be historically accurate so I can't hold it against them.

Ancient Greek name for the British Isles? Check. Partly nonsensical Germanic runes? Check. Random names picked from the entire history of Europe, from Ajax to the name of a WWI German battlecruiser, but especially any name used in certain Dumas novels--regardless of the context? Check. Names from the Völuspá? Check.

Basically, a bunch of random names/terms from European history and lore were used. I wouldn't read more into it than that. Final Fantasy did the same thing.

[Citizen Klaus]

I'm guessing that the creators also assumed that viewers wouldn't be familiar with European customs and, particularly, history.

Couple things. The original plotline comes from the light novels (as such it's not so much viewers as readers). More importantly, Zero no Tsukaima appears to be set in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth century. Hand-kissing did not start being practiced until the seventeenth century in Spain and it was not common elsewhere until really the eighteenth century. If this was supposed to be historically accurate, this would be an anachronism. But to be honest, Zero no Tsukaima is not even trying to be historically accurate so I can't hold it against them.

Ancient Greek name for the British Isles? Check. Partly nonsensical Germanic runes? Check. Random names picked from the entire history of Europe, from Ajax to the name of a WWI German battlecruiser, but especially any name used in certain Dumas novels--regardless of the context? Check. Names from the Völuspá? Check.

Basically, a bunch of random names/terms from European history and lore were used. I wouldn't read more into it than that. Final Fantasy did the same thing.

I'm aware that ZnT is adapted from a light novel series, but I thought I'd word it the way I did for simplicity's sake. And I wasn't referring to Louise's and Saito's relationship, just the general plot.

That said, what did it for me was when they featured Cromwell driving out the British royalty. It's just one of those details that yanked me straight out of the story. If you're going to do a fantasy universe, be a bit less blatant about your borrowing. At least change the names.

[Classical]

-Kirche has an interesting little chat with Tabitha on the way to her home. Apparently Kirche caused trouble at her old school and was causing problems for her parents, probably because she was going out with so many guys. Her parents sent her off to Tristein to wash their hands clean of her. Poor Kirche, so horny and misunderstood(?). Though when Kirche mentioned that part of her parents wishing to get rid of the problems she causes them it seemed that that comment caught her (Tabitha's) attention. Maybe she faced a similar problem?

I wasn't really expecting them to bond like this, but they make an awesome team now that I think about it. I'll probably be slashing them in another episode or two.... :shy:

Tabitha and Kirche really do make an awesome pair.


-Problems still didn't end there for Tabitha. The castle had her sent to complete difficult missions with little chance of survival to try to do her in, yet she managed to survive. What a tough life it's been for her.

So that explains her unexpected rank. She's pretty tough. And no wonder she ended up with a dragon familiar--she needs it!

-And at night she has nightmares, and Kirche... Kirche....! :bigsmile:

I can't believe I forgot about when Kirche hugged Tabitha when she was asleep. That was a nice moment between the two.

[Classical]

Took me a while to get to watching this episode and episode 11 (You can thank Persona 4 for that), but I finally did.

Episode 10: A Princess' Request

-Henrietta is going to be marrying the Emperor of Germania for the sake of her country. However, before she does she makes a request of Louise and Saito. She has them retrieve a letter that she sent to the Prince of Albion, Wales. Guiche joins them for the ride.
-This one guy assigned to be their escort shows up, and his name is Wardes. It turns out they go way back, and that they're engaged!? I guess it might be too late for Saito to get Louise.
-The group makes their way to this port town, and the escort Wardes, asks Louise to marry him soon. Saito is getting jealous.
-Wardes challenges Saito to a duel, and Saito winds up losing.

This turned out to be a pretty awesome episode. The tension between Saito and Louise continues to grow, especially due to Saito vowing to protect Louise. We find out the history between Wardes and Louise, which I though turned out to be pretty interesting. It was also interesting to find out about the void element, and what role the legendary Gundolf plays in the story. I have to say I never expected talking sword-kun and Gundolf to go way, way back. Louise just seemed so moe when she was being held by Wardes. Also, I don't trust Wardes. There's just something fishy about the guy. Ooo, and Fouquet showed up too.

[Classical]

Episode 11: Louise's Marriage.

-The tension between Louise and Saito just continues to grow. Dang it Saito! Just kiss Louise and run off to some far away place already.
-Fouquet appears and tries to delay Saito and Guiche from returning to the inn.
-Louise and Wardes board the ship. Wardes says Guiche and Saito headed back to the academy. Pssh, what a liar. It's pretty much apparent what he's trying to do now.
-The view of the two moons, it's so romantic. Reminds me of Final Fantasy IX.
-Hmm, Final Fantasy airship. Not to mention a floating continent, which also shows up in a couple of the Final Fantasy games.
-Saito and Guiche get ditched, but they meet up with Kirche and Tabitha. They managed to find a way to get to Albion.
-Louise and Wardes find the Prince. A little while after, Louise finds out who Wardes really is.
-Louise is put under some control spell, and is forced to marry War...wait! Saito comes in just like in the movies and saves Louise.
-The Prince dies. Saito starts to overflow with power and chases off Wardes.
-Saito kisses Louise at the end. I'm such a sucker for romance. :shy:

This was also a really great episode. There's so many things I liked about it. I think it's pretty much a given that Louise and Saito have the hots for each other. The kiss at the end was a nice payoff. This episode only confirms how much I like Saito as a male lead. The show feels more (Final?) fantasy-oriented (that's not to say that it wasn't fantasy-like to begin with) which I happen to really like. My suspicions about Wardes were confirmed. There's one little thing that bugs me, something I can't just overlook. Did Saito and co. take the flying ship to reach Albion? Or did they "dig" their way to the top with Guiche's familiar (which of course shouldn't be possible considering Albion floats in the sky)? Maybe I missed it, but it doesn't seem like how Saito and co. really got there was addressed.

[martod]

-Some point later in the episode Louise is lying on the bed when Saito comes and she's not wearing any panties. Saito, you lucky dog. Louise complains about not having any sex appeal because she's flat and small. I guess this is where I should come in and say that one of her physical qualities is that she has a delicious flat chest? :sdsmiley:


You don't have to. The creators of ecchi art, official and otherwise, have made it clear that Louise is the sex symbol of FOZ. The inferiority complex is just supposed to make her cuter/more tsundere.

[martod]

-Saito kisses Louise at the end. I'm such a sucker for romance. :shy:


I love that scene. Louise just wants to be loved. And now that she's been betrayed by one of the scant few people in the world who treated her with respect, Saito fills the void.

[KBabe]

Is this the complete collection of just the first season? I want to buy it but I'm not sure how many episode are in the series.

How good is the eng dub?

[Classical]

Episode 12: Zero Treasure

-Up until now things were going okay between Saito and Louise, but Saito's little mistake (ie where he messed up a pair of Louise's panties) came to bite him in the back.
-Louise gets ticked at him and Saito gets mad at her too.
-Saito decides to go with Siesta to her village.
-Saito and Siesta decide to go look for the legendary dragon. They meet up with Louise, Colbert, Kirche, and Tabitha along the way.
-It turns out the dragon was an airplane. Saito might be able to go home on it even. In order to do that Saito has to fly into the solar eclipse. Saito is excited at the prospect.
-Reconquista starts making their move on Tristein.

Despite a few hiccups here and there, this episode turned out to be pretty good. It's just fascinating to see Louise be saddened deep down inside about Saito leaving even though she won't admit it. It was also cool to see what the "dragon" and the "dragon's blood" really were.

[Classical]

Episode 13: Louise the Void

-Hmm. It seems that someone at J.C. Staff decided to have fun with the opening by adding sound effects in various places.
-Saito learns that Tristein is preparing for an invasion from Reconquista, and the Louise is fighting alongside Henrietta.
-I must say that Henrietta is awesome.
-The fighting between Reconquista and Tristein starts. Let's just say things aren't going too well.
-Saito tries to fly off on the plane, and he manages to take to the skies with a little help from Tabitha.
-The plane is awesomely fast compared to the flying dragons. Saito kicks butt everywhere. Then the final boss, Wardes, shows up and gives Saito a handful.
-Somewhere else, Fouquet is attacking Tristein's soldiers by ground. Tabitha, Guiche, and Kirche team up to fry Fouquet's golem.
-Louise jumps onto Tabitha's dragon trying to reach Saito. She jumps off the dragon onto Saito's plane. That was really awesome, but insane.
-A very touching moment ensues where Saito declares himself the "Familiar of Zero." Louise's void powers activate, but in order for her to cast a spell Saito needs to buy her time.
-Things were going for the worst but Saito bought Louise enough time for the spell. It seems like everything gets engulfed in a bright light.
-The leader of Reconquista tries to take control of Tabitha and Kirche, but amusingly enough Guiche stops him by whacking him on the head. :sweat:
-Tristein emerges as the victor afterwards.
-Afterwards, Saito and Louise survive the plan crash. They're together and alone. Louise wakes up.
-"Idiot. Stupid dog!" :smooch: <3. Holy crap, that was awesome! I wound up replaying that scene a few times. Louise, you're so cool! :beatingheart:
-Afterwards, we get to see a little epilogue of sorts. Things seem to be back to normal.

I felt this was a pretty good ending to the first season, especially due to the Saito x Louise moments. It managed to be a very entertaining episode. I loved it. Louise finally got the guts to kiss Saito back (I need to make an avatar of that moment). Seasons 2 and 3 need to be licensed, and there needs to be a fourth season. Anyways, I'm thinking of posting my overall impressions of the show some time later on.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 10: A Princess' Request

-Henrietta is going to be marrying the Emperor of Germania for the sake of her country.

Oh how I hate the forced/political marriage subplot. Characters betraying their natures out of some vague sense of noble sacrifice and duty just irritates me.

-This one guy assigned to be their escort shows up, and his name is Wardes. It turns out they go way back, and that they're engaged!?

Gaaah! Two in one episode! :rolleyes:

-Wardes challenges Saito to a duel, and Saito winds up losing.

-And later on Louise catches him crying (!). She thinks it's over the duel, he says he just felt a bit homesick--is Saito being a little tsundere himself?

-Oh, and Louise says she's going through with the marriage to "I'll protect you" Wardes. Gaaaah! Of course he stinks of being bad news.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 11: Louise's Marriage.

-Louise and Wardes board the ship. Wardes says Guiche and Saito headed back to the academy. Pssh, what a liar. It's pretty much apparent what he's trying to do now.

I'm getting a bit irritated with Louise at this point. The guy's an ass! You can't get Saito's "I'll protect you" out of your head! This situation is just wrong for you!


-Saito and Guiche get ditched, but they meet up with Kirche and Tabitha. They managed to find a way to get to Albion.

They wait for the next ship, tomorrow. Gee, if only they knew someone who had a large flying animal familiar that could ferry them right up!


-Louise is put under some control spell, and is forced to marry War...

The church needs to train its priests to be on the lookout for no-pupil brides when performing marriage ceremonies. Or maybe it's just not a common problem....

-Saito kisses Louise at the end. I'm such a sucker for romance. :shy:

That was a nice acknowlegment of a growing relationship--I was kind of surprised by it, though.... are they going to be all lovey-dovey now, or try to pretend it didn't happen?

Did Saito and co. take the flying ship to reach Albion?

Yeah, I'm pretty sure they did. I thought they were asking about when the next ship left, and then cooled their heels overnight. I guess that's how they got Guiche's familiar up there.

[Citizen Klaus]

Episode 11: Louise's Marriage.

-Louise and Wardes board the ship. Wardes says Guiche and Saito headed back to the academy. Pssh, what a liar. It's pretty much apparent what he's trying to do now.

I'm getting a bit irritated with Louise at this point. The guy's an ass! You can't get Saito's "I'll protect you" out of your head! This situation is just wrong for you!


But it's right for her character. I can't imagine Louise easily acknowledging her feelings for Saito -- she's very proud and he's obviously below her station. Wardes is clearly the better match, by societal standards. Privately, he's as bent as the innards of a tuba, but isn't that how it always goes?

[Classical]

I'm getting a bit irritated with Louise at this point. The guy's an ass! You can't get Saito's "I'll protect you" out of your head! This situation is just wrong for you!


But it's right for her character. I can't imagine Louise easily acknowledging her feelings for Saito -- she's very proud and he's obviously below her station. Wardes is clearly the better match, by societal standards. Privately, he's as bent as the innards of a tuba, but isn't that how it always goes?

I have to agree with Citizen Klaus on this. The reason she doesn't go with Saito is because of her pride as a noble, and it's rather strong pride too as we've seen in previous episodes. Still, I do think it's messed up that she went with Wardes instead of Saito.

[martod]

I'm getting a bit irritated with Louise at this point. The guy's an ass! You can't get Saito's "I'll protect you" out of your head! This situation is just wrong for you!


But it's right for her character. I can't imagine Louise easily acknowledging her feelings for Saito -- she's very proud and he's obviously below her station. Wardes is clearly the better match, by societal standards. Privately, he's as bent as the innards of a tuba, but isn't that how it always goes?

I have to agree with Citizen Klaus on this. The reason she doesn't go with Saito is because of her pride as a noble, and it's rather strong pride too as we've seen in previous episodes. Still, I do think it's messed up that she went with Wardes instead of Saito.

It's not just that. It's also that Saito is her familiar, and she can't bring herself to look at him as another human and not a pet.

Plus, she's a tsundere. That's what tsunderes do. :P

[Citizen Klaus]

Plus, she's a tsundere. That's what tsunderes do. :P

True dat.

Shame that real-life girls never come back the way Louise did.

[Classical]

Plus, she's a tsundere. That's what tsunderes do. :P

Clearly that's the most important reason that she went with Wardes. :sdsmiley: As a tsundere, Louise has an obligation to be confused about the feelings she has for the person on her mind and as such, she has to stop thinking about that person through whatever method possible. Either by smacking herself or going off with some other guy. :sdsmiley: Now I'm craving some tsundere.

[Classical]

Plus, she's a tsundere. That's what tsunderes do. :P

True dat.

Shame that real-life girls never come back the way Louise did.

Heh, it makes you wonder if Louise is really the pet here. :devil:

[Classical]

The Familiar of Zero was a show that I was interest in buying and watching, but at the same time I felt that purchasing the show without knowing much about it was a huge risk, so much so in fact that I wound up abandoning the idea of buying it. That, as you can see, didn't last for too long though. In the end, hearing a few of the dub clips in the dub discussion of the show (in these same forums) are ultimately what got me to buying the show. After having seen the entire first season I can easily say that I'm glad that I gave the show a chance. I never expected I'd enjoy The Familiar of Zero so much.

One of the reasons I like the show so much is because of the characters. I wound up very much liking Saito as a male lead. He wound up generating a lot of interest in the show for me. His way of disregarding the noble/peasant dynamic that dominates Louise's world made watching the show very fun. Tabitha and Kirche were also fun to watch, especially when they were together. Louise I didn't care for much, like/hate wise, early in the series. She started to grow on me in the later episodes of the series though, especially with her tsundereness. The smooch she gave to Saito at the end of the season pretty much sealed the deal in my liking of her character. Henrietta was also another great character.

The show itself provided a good amount of comedy moments, as well as moments of fanservice, both of which added to my enjoyment of the show. I also really enjoyed the fantasy elements of the show, especially later on in the series. The plot, while in many cases predictable, was very enjoyable to me. I just wish the people working on the show would have gone more in depth with some of the stuff going on, like the Reconquista. In the end, I still wound up liking the show though, despite some flaws. Looking at things as of right now, I'd rank the show somewhere near the bottom of my top ten (Yes, I'm serious), though in part that's due to the fact that I haven't watched many other shows that would be worthy enough of being on my top ten. That aside, kind of like Shakugan no Shana, I've developed an interest in wanting to read the light novels that The Familiar of Zero anime is based on. I don't know if I'll ever be able to read them in English though, as light novels don't do too hot over here in the U.S.

Now to the most important part: the second and third seasons of the show need to get licensed, and a fourth season needs to be made. I'd buy the DVDs in a heartbeat.

[rg4619]

The Familiar of Zero was a show that I was interest in buying and watching, but at the same time I felt that purchasing the show without knowing much about it was a huge risk, so much so in fact that I wound up abandoning the idea of buying it. That, as you can see, didn't last for too long though. In the end, hearing a few of the dub clips in the dub discussion of the show (in these same forums) are ultimately what got me to buying the show. After having seen the entire first season I can easily say that I'm glad that I gave the show a chance. I never expected I'd enjoy The Familiar of Zero so much.

I feel the same way. While I was initially unsure about buying this series, it ended up becoming the most enjoyable show I've seen this year.

This season's Toradora! might be a vastly superior piece of storytelling (and a much more balanced experience), but ZnT has the edge when it comes to sheer fun that never lets up.

I don't know if I'll ever be able to read them in English though, as light novels don't do too hot over here in the U.S.

Yeah, I read that the publisher has sat on the ZnT license for years now and is unlikely to release anything. Del Rey canceled Shana after two volumes, so I don't have much hope for the future of light novels.

Now to the most important part: the second and third seasons of the show need to get licensed, and a fourth season needs to be made. I'd buy the DVDs in a heartbeat.

Having just marathoned the second and third seasons, I can only say that they'll seriously divide fans. A different director took over, so it's almost like a different show in some respects. Personally, I consider the first season to be a must-have, whereas later episodes vary on a lower part of the spectrum, from mediocre to slightly above average (with Season 3 being less consistent than the second, but ultimately superior in most respects. Generally, I think most viewers prefer S2 over S3 though).

That said, I can't get enough of Louise and the rest of the cast, so I'd still buy the DVDs to complete a set.

[Classical]

Now to the most important part: the second and third seasons of the show need to get licensed, and a fourth season needs to be made. I'd buy the DVDs in a heartbeat.

Having just marathoned the second and third seasons, I can only say that they'll seriously divide fans. A different director took over, so it's almost like a different show in some respects. Personally, I consider the first season to be a must-have, whereas later episodes vary on a lower part of the spectrum, from mediocre to slightly above average (with Season 3 being less consistent than the second, but ultimately superior in most respects. Generally, I think most viewers prefer S2 over S3 though).

That said, I can't get enough of Louise and the rest of the cast, so I'd still buy the DVDs to complete a set.

Before I had finished watching this first season, I got around to checking out the staff credits for Zero season 2 and 3 and I noticed there was a different staff of people working on the show for seasons two and three. Honestly, that has me a little worried as to how the show is going to be for me should the second and third seasons ever get licensed. Still, like you, I find myself craving for more Louise and company so I wouldn't hesitate one bit in buying the DVDs despite my concern.

[martod]

Having just marathoned the second and third seasons, I can only say that they'll seriously divide fans. A different director took over, so it's almost like a different show in some respects. Personally, I consider the first season to be a must-have, whereas later episodes vary on a lower part of the spectrum, from mediocre to slightly above average (with Season 3 being less consistent than the second, but ultimately superior in most respects. Generally, I think most viewers prefer S2 over S3 though).


I don't. I thought S2 had way too much plot and spent way too much time on a minor character who never even appears in season 1. S3 is trashy, and the plot is starting to feel made-up-as-it-goes(which may be more the fault of the author than the director and anime crew). But S3 is much more fun, especially if you like ecchi hijinks.

Some people will prefer S2 and some will prefer S3, but most will probably say S1 was the overall best. Again, I haven't read the books, but I suspect this is the author running out of preplanned material and trying to extend the series in any way possible. This isn't to say the follow-up seasons are disasters. The characters are just as fun, you get to meet Louise's sisters, Tabitha has a bigger role in season 3. Best of all, Siesta is a much more active character than in season 1, and goes after Saito aggressively. I'd definitely watch a fourth season if it was made, but I won't be heartbroken if it is never made. I'd also prefer it to be made when the book series finally ends so they could have a conclusion to work with.

[HitokiriShadow]

I've been under the impression that the anime has been a rather poor adaption of the novels. Whether its just removing a bunch of material or making drastic changes, I don't know but I suspect the blame lies with the people in charge of the anime a lot more than the author of the novels.

That aside, while season 2 had its good points I think it was the weakest and season three was the best.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 12: Zero Treasure

-Up until now things were going okay between Saito and Louise, but Saito's little mistake (ie where he messed up a pair of Louise's panties) came to bite him in the back.

Ha ha, he played with the elastic band too much (why do they have elastic in fantasyland, anyway?)


-Saito decides to go with Siesta to her village.

Uh oh, she wants to introduce him to her family....


-It turns out the dragon was an airplane.

How did they get it back to home base without flying it? Interesting that Saito is sure his "Gudolf powers" include piloting skills.

It's just fascinating to see Louise be saddened deep down inside about Saito leaving even though she won't admit it.

Heh, tsundere, thy name is Louise.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Episode 13: Louise the Void

-Hmm. It seems that someone at J.C. Staff decided to have fun with the opening by adding sound effects in various places.

I was like, wait, was it always this noisey?


-Saito learns that Tristein is preparing for an invasion from Reconquista, and the Louise is fighting alongside Henrietta.

I love how she says it's obvious what she's going to do when everyone is wondering about signing up for the military. Poor Guiche doesn't really have a choice, but makes the most of it....


-Saito tries to fly off on the plane, and he manages to take to the skies with a little help from Tabitha.

I love how Tabitha goes off to war next, saying he shouldn't go alone; and Kirche decides she might as well come too, as long as Tabitha is going. Tabitha and Kirche need their own spinoff show!


-The plane is awesomely fast compared to the flying dragons. Saito kicks butt everywhere. Then the final boss, Wardes, shows up and gives Saito a handful.

Does anyone know a spell called "reload"?

-Louise jumps onto Tabitha's dragon trying to reach Saito. She jumps off the dragon onto Saito's plane. That was really awesome, but insane.

Yeah, that was crazy! Did you notice Tabitha gave her a little assist to make sure she reached the plane?


-A very touching moment ensues where Saito declares himself the "Familiar of Zero." Louise's void powers activate, but in order for her to cast a spell Saito needs to buy her time.

Her eyes go blank while she does the spell... I wonder how conscious of her void magic she is? Is she going to remember what she did?

-"Idiot. Stupid dog!" :smooch: <3. Holy crap, that was awesome! I wound up replaying that scene a few times. Louise, you're so cool! :beatingheart:

That was a nice bit, and quite Louise.


-Afterwards, we get to see a little epilogue of sorts. Things seem to be back to normal.

Back to Saito getting in trouble over dicey looking conversations with Siesta, you mean. Poor Louise taking it wrong, poor Siesta for it not being a situation where Louise would have been taking it right, and poor Saito for suffering Louise's wrath again. All she wanted to do was show off her medal.

Not a deep series, but definitely fun. Hopefully we'll see more of it licensed over here.

[Classical]

-Louise jumps onto Tabitha's dragon trying to reach Saito. She jumps off the dragon onto Saito's plane. That was really awesome, but insane.

Did you notice Tabitha gave her a little assist to make sure she reached the plane?

Hmm, I must have missed that. I'll have to keep an eye out for it the next time I watch the series. That explains how Louise landed on the plane without much of a problem.