Today we venture once again into a land of Magic and Sorcery though today will actually be my first post of something based on a Light Novel. A Light Novel is basically a Japanese young adult novel with a roughly 200 page length and in theses days a high probability of being turned into an anime or manga if it does well. Light Novel anime are numerous and the best known of all of them is The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Today though we'll be talking about a lesser known but still popular series.
The plot is this: In a magical alternate world where only the nobility are able to use Magic, Louise attends the prestigious Tristain Academy of Magic where she's known as "Louise the Zero" for her 0% success rate at anything magical besides causing explosions whenever she tries to cast a spell. Being a second year student though, she has to summon her familiar in front of her entire class and after causing another grand explosion, the dust clears to reveal that she has indeed summoned something much to the surprise of everyone; a human boy from modern day Japan named Saito Hiraga. And so begins the new lives of Saito and Louise, bound together for eternity by the magic of the familiar contract.
As far as it's visuals go, I think that Zero no Tsukaima is a beautiful looking series. As I was watching it carefully, I can safely say that there were no animation flubs and nothing seemed to be off model in any way. While the visuals aren't as outstanding as I'd like them to be for a fantasy series, they're good enough for me to enjoy the series purely for how it looks. Musically, I can't really say much besides how much I love the opening.
Now, this review will only be covering the first 13 episodes of the series since I haven't watched the other 3 seasons so my thoughts on the series as a whole will have to wait.
Personally, I really like Zero no Tsukaima. It's a fantasy series with a Harem edge that really doesn't go anywhere for the first season so I can appreciate that and it looks amazing which I think it should. I think it's length allows for it to get a lot accomplished in such a short amount of time. The characters are fleshed out enough given the time they have on screen and so are a lot of details about the world we've found ourselves in. We're learning about it at the same rate as Saito and the series never forgets that. When it takes the time to focus on other characters, it shows how they interact with each other naturally. Also, the cast while stereotypical is diverse enough to satisfy my needs from the flirty Kirche and the silent Tabitha, who get probably the most screen time apart from the main couple. There's the shy and submissive but certainly not spineless maid Siesta, the lecherous Guiche and the ever prideful and easily angered Montmorancy. Even the lovely Princess Henrietta is given some character and personality. Can't really say the same for the villains and antagonists but, what can you do? I like the air of mystery that surrounds Louise's summoning of Saito as well as the powers he gains through the Familiar Contract. The things I don't care for are very very minimal and can be chalked up to two things. Louise's treatment of Saito and all the fanservivce.
I know it was a really short post but I might decide to add to it during the week! I do want to say though how happy I am that the site has reached it's first birthday and that I look forward to writing for it for many more years to come! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROKEN INFINITE! DaWaRou~!
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