That forces him to develop as a character, giving the audience more reason to get attached to him. By the end of the show, he loses most of his appeal, but was very strong starting out the show because he is our link to Tristain and its customs. I would say he’s bland (actually, he’s kind of a pervert, but that’s not entirely his fault), but again, his interaction with the world makes him an interesting character. He doesn’t get a backstory, but he’s fleshed out through the world he now inhabits. Saito: Saito’s easily the more interesting character of the two mains because of the wide range of situations he gets put into, whether it be avoiding amorous advances or slaughtering an army of 70,000. Yes, she is a stereotypical spoiled aristocrat, but that’s milked for comic relief, and can be weighed less against her as a whole. At the beginning, Louise was a great character in that while she as a bit of a jerk, she had a valid reason to be. By the end of the show, she gets reduced to fanservice as well. She doesn’t get a fight scene all to herself, though she usually plays a crucial role at the end of each season. Looking back, she doesn’t do much in her own show, outside of whipping Saito and blowing stuff up. Louise: Louise is your standard, run-of-the-mill tsundere. I-I-It’s not l-l-like I w-w-wanted to blow you up or anything. I normally say that J.C Staff does a great job with their characters, but by their standards, they could’ve done much better. That said, most of the characters in this show start out very strong, then slowly regress towards fanservice. It gets a little suffocating, but never such that you lose sight of the plot and who’s important to the story. Like Date a Live and A Certain Magical Index, the show keeps itself light-hearted by falling back on its female cast and fanservice. The Characters: Familiar of Zero is a harem. The first two seasons fit well, the last two not so much. The last seasons introduced strange concepts and plot devices that didn’t really contribute to the show overall. I will say that the first and second seasons were infinitely better than the final two. However, that means that you have to be paying attention to what goes on, or you will be very confused. That indicates a certain level of care and attention to detail that was refreshing to see. If it’s mentioned, it will show up in the anime at some point. The result is a compelling world that never fails to pay off on almost every plot device. The show takes time to flesh out Tristain, its society, its laws, and its customs. This brings me to, by far, the best selling point for The Familiar of Zero‘s story: how interconnected the storytelling is. Normally, that would mean the show lacks direction, and, to a certain extent, that is true, but it does such a great job explaining its plot devices that it’s able to compensate.
Enemies appear and disappear with the flow of the story. The Familiar of Zero also doesn’t have any central antagonist. Of course, there are some pacing issues, but it rarely felt rushed. The show’s broken up into four seasons, each lasting about 12 episodes, but it’s able to squeeze a lot in. One reviewer described it as “fast-paced”, and that’s a great way to describe it. This show’s story adopts a non-linear plot line. The rest of the show focuses on Saito and Louise’s relationship to each other and Tristain. He is Saito Hiraga, a Japanese boy called to this brave, new world, now stuck as the Familiar of Zero. While her classmates summon salamanders, dragons, and…. She decides to prove it the day all magicians summon their familiar, a magical creature that will be their servant. Despite this, Louise continues to press on, determined to show her peers that she can be a splendid mage as well. This lack of talent has branded her with the humiliating nickname, “Louise the Zero”. She has never been able to cast a spell properly, always blowing something up instead. Among the students is the daughter of a rich and powerful aristocratic family, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière, who, despite her social status, is hopelessly incompetent at magic. In a parallel universe lies Tristain, a magical country where young magicians can study to learn, well, magic at the prestigious Tristain Academy of Magic. Nevertheless, I will try to analyze as unbiasedly as I can. When I found The Familiar of Zero, I was introduced to the larger world of anime, so this a special one to me. It was limited to Yu-Gi-Oh, Naruto, and Dragon Ball.
Before I saw this show, I was very selective in what anime I watched. I have a special connection to this show, as it was my “gateway anime”, if you will. Today, I’m going back to the anime that started it all: Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero). This will be the last of the magical girl animes for a while.
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