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| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Watch | 7 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:1375#1552] |
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I suppose complete and utter indifference would sum up my feelings for Familiar of Zero. The series milks many of the typical cliches and character types milked up to pander to the otaku fanbase with an unwanted harem, Rie Kugimiya voiced tsundere, a doormat and somewhat perverted male lead and frequent moments of fan service. There are some signs of storyline potential in the series with Louise having unique magical potential in spite of her bottom-rung status with the student body, exploration of elements to the mentioned magical world and things from our world seemingly appearing within the magical world that Saito is pulled to. But this often plays second fiddle to the typical otaku-pandering plot and character elements of the series and the characters did not really have much defined to them that made me want to care for them. I suppose I'm not watching the later seasons to Familiar of Zero since it contains many of the typical otaku-pandering drek that I have grown to get annoyed with in recent years.
Last updated Sunday, January 03 2016. Created Sunday, January 03 2016. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
 Silence
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[series:1375#2939] |
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Louise is a violent girl who likes Saito, who is a very horny (but timid) boy. So Louise beats him up all the time since she cannot use magic. Well, I know its supposed to be funny, but I fail to see how that can be possible after the first time. Well, other than this sado-masochistic slant of this series, it is generally decent. The premise is certainly intriguing: while everyone else is summoning mystical creatures, Louise just rips Saito off the streets of Tokyo. That's trend setting for you. But right after this, the series dealt with Saito's reaction rather poorly. For someone who is placed in a completely foreign land with no hope to get back, Saito is really quite cool about it. There is bound to some frustration and anger when you can no longer see your family, and is now treated like a slave. But Saito just sort of accepted it. I do not know how realistic such an extremely easy-going attitude is. Saito's first fight had me respecting him a little, however cliche the situation. He is getting beaten to a pulp and yet he refuses to stay down. (Maybe he just LIKES getting beaten up) I expected his suppressed anger about his situation to surface, but this issue is only skimmed through. As the series develops, I certainly find the protagonists likeable, and their chemistry (in a twisted sense) is certainly existent. But neither of them, nor the side characters, blew me away. In fact, I find some of the side characters weak, especially the villains. (Of course Ward must tell Louise about Reconquisto, how else is our heroine supposed to know that he is a villain?) There are many illogical things in the series too. Like Saito's first encounter with the golem, his sword is around 1 - 1.2 meters long, and the golems leg is probably around 3-4 m in diameter. How is it physically possible for him to sever the leg in one swoop? When he shot down some dragons, they stop dead mid-air and dropped like a stone. Again a physical impossiblity. A nice idea, but poor execution. Could have been way better, but oh well. Last updated Thursday, November 05 2009. Created Thursday, November 05 2009. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 9 |
 Devil Doll
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[series:1375#752] |
[Score: 81% = "Rent+", best of the first three seasons]
Flat-chested female Harry Potter with busty rivals, season 1: Cool sidekicks and a background story with a lot of potential, emerging relations and developing characters. The two leads, the ever frustrated aggressive Louise and the clueless bigmouth Saito, are the source for hit-and-miss humor until the events force both to question their attitude towards each other.Average animation, weak songs, but the story narration and the relatively moderate amount of fan-service (compared to the sequels) more than makes up for this.
Last updated Wednesday, July 11 2012. Created Sunday, July 05 2009. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
 Dreamer
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[series:1375#2279] |
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I had watched this a while back, so here's the review finally. Art, Animation and Character Design The art and animation is above the norm. Rich with colors and plenty of smooth animation. The character designs were average. Saito is probably my fav character even if he get's horribly beat for minor mistakes and occurances.... brutal but funny and silly. Music Although the opening theme song wasn't annoying, it wasn't of my interest. However, to be fair, It was a decent piece befitting the anime. Episode and Series Stories Just when you thought they couldn't make another "magic" anime, here's comes another one. But.... what made this one stand out was the plot. Although there were fillers here and there, it didn't take away from the progress of the storyline, which was pretty good even though it's been done a million times over. There was some ecchi moments here and there which made for some good chuckles. From beginning to end (almost), the plot was already spelled out..... Saito want's to return home and will attempt it. With that said, the ending concluded quite nicely with plenty of action. Overall, good watch. Nothing "new" here but still worth the time. I think it could have done better if it was dragged out to a few more episodes. Last updated Monday, February 16 2009. Created Monday, February 16 2009. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 7 |
 Xenoknight
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[series:1375#2967] |
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Final review soon... Never forget Xenosaga. Last updated Thursday, October 09 2008. Created Wednesday, September 17 2008. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
 Alaunus
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[series:1375#2506] | |
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I was pretty into this series, though looking back I feel it was entertaining though I wouldn't go much further. Its funny at some moments, and has its own unique charm though was too short to really flesh out the characters to the point that rate it high. It has its perverse moments but since Louise is flat chested well, it wasn't really much heh. The fighting animation was quite good at various parts - Saito vs Guiche, Saito vs Golem. It pretty much had everything that would make a series good - comedy,romance,action though it was still too short. The 2nd season is out at least so thats good. Last updated Thursday, July 26 2007. Created Thursday, July 26 2007. | ||||||||
| Rent | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 |
 chibi
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[series:1375#2380] |
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It's hard for me to separate this series in my own mind from Shakugan no Shana, not the least because the voice talent lineup (especially Louise's) is essentially the same as Shana's. Both have a magical girl and an ostensibly ordinary boy who finds he has his own power that compliments the girl's from whom he gets no respect at first, but this changes as their feelings for each other develop. Zero no Tsukaima is a much lighter-weight version, with more fan service, romance, and humor, and less emphasis on the magical conflict. Likewise, the characters aren't very deep or complex, nor are the episode plots. I'm somewhat turned off by the number of times the characters are made to do something stupid because otherwise there wouldn't be anything happening, but if you're in the mood for some light-hearted entertainment in the genre this series is worth a look.
Last updated Thursday, January 04 2007. Created Thursday, January 04 2007. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:1375#628] | ||||||
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I've never really understood the world's fascination with magic, which took off with the Harry Potter novels. Japan seems, if anything, even more entranced by magic than the west, as is evidenced by the recent slew of magical anime series--Maburaho, Magikano, Negima (and Negima remake), and now Zero no Tsukaima. However, despite magic not being an automatic plus for me, ZnT is a show which quickly grabbed my attention, what with the boy who is snatched off the streets of Tokyo and transported to another world. It's an interesting twist, unlike the aforementioned series, in which magic has somehow come to this world. Another good point is that Saito has a brain and doesn't intend to be exploited (even if it is by a sexy girl). The comedy is pretty good, easy to follow yet still witty. Fanservice played for laughs is always a plus, too. ZnT isn't uproariously funny, but it remained reliably amusing, fairly unpredictable, had fun characters, and I was always looking forward to the next episode. With magic, fanservice and comedy, I'd be willing to bet this will be R1 licensed eventually. The final episode was missing something, like more clearly spelled-out answers to the questions of whether Saito is satisfied with the outcome of his attempt to return to earth, and which girl he will choose. But it was a fun show which seemed over almost before it began. Overall, I bet I'll rewatch it eventually, and my feeling is that this is one that should have been a twenty-sixer!
Last updated Monday, October 16 2006. Created Friday, September 22 2006. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Jan-Chan
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[series:1375#967] | ||||||
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While having a very slow start, this series has a fun and silly measure of charm. It probably should be considered as a very light and fluffy magic, comedy and romance series, similar in tone to the Harry Potter series. (One reviewer mentions that the magic academy resembles Hogwarts, which is not too much of a stretch.) It does have a bit of harem flavor in that Saito Hiraga, the bewildered high school student who is pulled into the magic world, has three young ladies who show an interest in him (with varying results.) Louise – The mage who originally summoned Saito as her familiar, treats him as her personal pet and domestic servant. And when your pet misbehaves, there are times when one has to take a riding crop and tan some hide! It is only later in the series, does she begin to treat him as something more than her familiar. Kirche – The passionate flame-mage from the country of Germania and bitter rival to Louise, has taken interest in Saito and delights in seeing Louise get angry whenever she cuddles up to him. Siesta – A fellow commoner and servant at the academy whom Saito befriends. She seems to be very fond of Saito and gets unhappy whenever she sees Louise & Saito being close. The animation is very good. The plot is very simple and charming. If one does not expect anything too deep or mind the loose ends, then this is a fun comedy/romance anime series that is well worth the watch. While personally I really enjoy this series, there is nothing original, unique or distinguishing about the story. As such, I just can not honestly rate it as a BUY (unlike the series  Flame Haze). Lets just consider this a very fun RENT++ and hope that they make a 2nd season. A short summary of the episodes.
Last updated Wednesday, October 11 2006. Created Wednesday, July 19 2006. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Forbin
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[series:1375#1573] | ||||||
Analysis : All Fansubs Watched
Owells, it's  Rune Soldier with the Magician is Louise!Edit : It's so Rune soldier! I like it but it isn't a tear grabber or a belly ache laugher, but I'll keep an eye on it. Well it's been a while since I updated but this show has been getting better and better. It's Rune Soldier with Louise instead of Louie. It's Maburaho except the Main Charater is Rin. It's very good. It's also very ecchi and it leans on the Loli side. I'm gonna watch this to the end! I will agree with Jan-Chan, it's a very high RENT but not quite a buy. It's too short and it is way too Loli for it's own good. I loved it though! Last updated Sunday, April 22 2007. Created Wednesday, July 12 2006. | ||||||||
Other Sites
| Name | URL |
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| Official Japanese Series Web Site | http://www.zero-tsukaima.com/ |
| Wikipedia (English) Listing for this series | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_no_Tsukaima |
