More rage-filled tsundere provided by yours truly, Rie Kugimiya.
Aw hell not this again
Zero no Tsukaima would be what I consider a "gateway drug" series; that is, a simple series that will get new viewers hooked into watching more of the same genre, as well as more anime altogether. It's easy to understand, the animations look good, there's fanservice, and the songs are decent. What more could you want?
Well, for the veterans who have suffered through 3 seasons of "I hope this franchise becomes decent later but I know it won't" (much like being a Red Sox fan), the beginning of this fourth season brings nothing but tidings of gloom.
Someone got too lazy with drawing new outfits for Index Louise
The sound is slightly worse than last time. I won't talk about the actual soundtrack because they just reuse everything from the older seasons (as perhaps they should), but the new OP (I'll Be There For You) by Ichiko isn't good. The OP's theme seems to be based upon the fact that people are interested in girls holding strong notes for a long period of time and disregards any real sense of melody throughout the entire song. After a remarkably strong showing in the OPs of seasons 2 and 3 (I Say Yes and You're the One), I'm rather disappointed by this flat and unoriginal tune. I won't talk about the ED (Kiss Shite Agenai) since ZnT EDs have always been and always will be crap until the end of time. Rie Kugimiya, you're not bad at singing, but don't quit your day job.
Dis OP...I dunno what to say, guys
The graphics are the same as always. They have the round faces, I don't see what more to say about it. Should it have changed over the seasons? I don't think so - continuity if always nice unless there's a big improvement over the last season, and I can't really find things to "improve" in terms of artstyle for ZnT.
And so we get into the plot.
Do I have to do this? Can't I get somebody else to do it?
....sigh....
Not sure if villains from Mask of Zorro or if I'm watching Assassin's Creed: The Animation
The plot is terrible. If this is following closely to the light novel adaptation, I'd have to say that Zero no Tsukaima is probably one of the worst light novel series out there. I firmly believe that the only reasons it has a strong following are:
a) It has Rie Kugimiya as a voice actor for one of the Four Tsundere Wonders (.....sigh)
b) It has one of the older, more well-known/classic harems (Zero no Tsukaima is, again, one of those "almost mainstream", "let's get into anime more" series)
c) Generalizing from (b), a high name recognition.
I just...it's actually really bad. I'm watching this because I like Henrietta and her implications to the plot as both a political power player and a heartbroken girl in need of a little something-something, but Jesus, I don't think I can keep on anymore. Let me list my complaints:
- From the fiasco that was Zero no Tsukaima season 3, I predicted that Louise and Saito would have a falling-out as the major focus of episode 1. To my despair, I was right. First 10 minutes in, stupid fight occurs. 10 minutes later, they get back together ezpz. I was flabbergasted at this lack of creativity.
- You know the evil king guy that looked like a penguin and was behind everything as the puppet master in season 3? The dude who seems really smart and powerful? Yeah...he gets owned in three episodes. By icicles. After dodging bullets from a pistol. Apparently the studio got tired of him, which in this global economic downturn is somewhat understandable.
- Now you may say, where the hell did that pistol come from? Well, that's the exact thing I said. Apparently another conveniently placed piece of modern technology fell from the moon another world, and this time it's a bit easier to carry than a 152mm howitzer. If you're reading this right now, you might marvel at how smart it was for Saito to bring a gun to a fight where nobody even knows what that means...until you realize that he only used this as a last resort weapon at point-blank range after tiring himself out for 30 minutes. Whatever happened to popping a cap in the king's face from a safe sniping distance?
I believe you Earthlings call this thing a "croissant".
- You know the harem that shows up in the OP that Saito acquired in season 4 (including, but not limited to: that elf girl Tiffania or whoever, Tabitha the Yuki Nagato clone, and Henrietta, the troubled-political-power-sheep-in-the-midst-of-wolves stereotype)? He doesn't really interact (other than a couple of greetings) with anyone except for Louise. Thanks for the fanservice guys. Really appreciate it.
This season doesn't deliver on the fanservice, it doesn't deliver in good plot advancement, and it doesn't deliver in simple coherency and logic for the viewers. Although it may seem like it, we are not dumbasses. Don't treat us as such.
I believe my level of involvement with this series can be summed up in the following dialogue that I had while watching episode 3:
Louise: Why are you doing this?! What is your objective?!
Me: FOR THE LULZ BITCH
Joseph: My objective is destruction.
Me: FOR THE LULZ
Status: Watching to complete the collection + Henrietta flirting scene fanservice. Don't watch if you're not a diehard fan or a rabid collector like me.
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