Ranked #1039

Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo

In contrast to the previous two seasons, which were somewhat enjoyable, the third season was the most disappointing of all for multiple reasons. It manages to start off well however there were many possibilities that were available but were infrequently explored which could've potentially made this season much better or so. Unlike the first season, the third season seemed to not focus on the plot as much. It seems as though there was an excessive amount of romance cliches which strongly detracted from the season, such as the overly emotional and volatile tsundere (ex : Louise zapping Saito as comic relief), ecchi fanservice (ex : hotsprings, nosebleeds, yuri, breasts). Though the storyline does bring along some good results that are decent to the viewers such as the highlight of Tabitha's storyline, development of henrietta's character and Louise's insecure side and Saito shows his chivalry side. In addition, with the introduction of new characters, each character has a unique personality. More often than not, Louise and Saito bring out romantic moments which bring out a refreshing experience to the audience. Saito accompanies latterly his incredibly and heart-warming feats of courage and caring devoted and engaged in singularly towards Louise, while Louise introspectively loves him so, she cannot express it properly and openly until there is more character development.

One of the best aspects of Zero no Tsukaima are the animations, the character designs are fairly decent visuals, and the illustrations successfully convey the character's expressions to the audience without a problem while adding onto the humorous moments. There is also a fair amount of detail in the background which would enlighten the audience respectively.

The opening and ending themes are fairly decent and manage to fit well and the bgm is also well-accustomed to the particular moments. The voice actors are consistent throughout the series as well with their voice acting.

In conclusion, Zero no Tsukaima ~Princesses no Rondo~ is an above average sequel to the series with some intriguing moments. It seemed to ignore the most compelling and intriguing aspects of the series, the storyline. It could have been possible to focus on the two main antagonists and the overall objective of the antagonists while filling in the plotholes instead or it could of spent more effort on the relationship of Saito and Louise.

Hopefully, the next season will end this cliffhanger.

Though the enjoyability of this series is dependent on what exactly you are expecting.
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I don't care how well a formula works, when it's repeated three times with no changes, it screws over suspension of disbelief. Although enjoyable with some fist-pumping moments, the third season is definitely a letdown from the previous seasons and I hope they make a fourth season just to repent for the mess they created here. I will start out with the small stuff because I want to save the story until the end.

Art is the same as the last two seasons, it's nicely rounded out, and for being a cute/ecchi anime, the fighting scenes are better than expected, giving it a score of 7.

I've always really liked the Zero no Tsukaima soundtrack and music cues, so although nothing but the OP/ED changes, I will give it a 9.

Story was weird - I mean, it's built around the characters' backgrounds, sure, and then we have the interesting development midway, but nothing is really fleshed out and the end of the season feels more like facing just another Robotnik boss after shoving Sonic through a million winding tubes in Hydrocity Zone. I wish the general war/story/etc could focus almost entirely on how it affects the characters because that's what ZnT is based around. This random plot in the third season doesn't really excite me at all and I'd rather endure the agonizing fanservice. This gets a 3.

Characters, right. So the main reason I did this review was the rant about the characters, so get ready.
I seriously don't get why the makers of ZnT think it's all right to pull the same old romantic comedy junk without trying to develop the MAIN CHARACTERS one single bit. Yes, you can list all the things they've 'been through', but in the end, they're in the SAME GODDAMN PHASE that they were in at the end of Season 1. It's like they're daring each other - "are you willing to go this far for me?" or "you don't like me that much do you?" I mean...really? Being a Tsundere is one thing, but having chronic amnesia every episode is another. I thought I could endure it for season 3, but the first ten minutes of the very first episode almost literally made me spit out what I was drinking at that time because the fight that Louise and Saito had would be LUDICROUS to anybody else that had gone through what they had at the end of the second season. How does a life-changing event NOT lead to character development? ZnT is like the opposite of Clannad in the fact that almost all of the characters are completely inelastic except for maybe Agnes/Henrietta/Tabitha.
In summary, I hated the fact that after three seasons, the ZnT crew were still not up to the task of plotting out a realistic relationship of any degree. The only thing that keeps me from dropping the character score down to a 3 is the Henrietta/Tabitha development, which could go so many ways, so good for us, and the Colbert coolness factor, kicking the character score up to a 7.

Overall, I still did enjoy it - ZnT is mainly the anime where you get some smiles from the awkward moments and "aww"s from the cute moments and perhaps little else. I say perhaps because Saito's harem has ridiculous potential to not only enhance the viewer's experience but even the plot, both relationship and general, which gave me motivation to keep watching this thing. But anyways, watch this if you're a fan of ZnT, pray for a 4th season, and keep that suspension of disbelief locked in that cupboard. read more