Zero no Tsukaima (The Familiar of Zero)

Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière is a self-absorbed mage in a world of wands, cloaks, and royalty. Although she studies at Tristain Academy, a prestigious school for magicians, she has a major problem: Louise is unable to cast magic properly, earning her the nickname of "Louise the Zero" from her classmates.

When the first year students are required to perform a summoning ritual, Louise's summoning results in a catastrophic explosion! Everyone deems this to be yet another failure, but when the smoke clears, a boy named Saito Hiraga appears. Now Louise's familiar, Saito is treated as a slave, forced to clean her clothes and eat off the ground. But when an unfamiliar brand is found etched on Saito's hand from the summoning ritual, it is believed to be the mark of a powerful familiar named Gandalfr.

Wild, adventurous, and explosive, Zero no Tsukaima follows Saito as he comes to terms with his new life and as Louise proves that there is more to her than her nickname suggests.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Geneon Entertainment USA licensed the anime up until it's closure. Funimation later picked up the series until it was dropped due to poor sales. Sentai Filmworks later picked the series up and re-released it.

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Zero no Tsukaima
Sequel:	Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Le Blanc de La Vallière, Louise Françoise

Main

Kugimiya, Rie
Japanese

Hiraga, Saito

Main

Hino, Satoshi
Japanese

Derflinger

Main

Gotou, Tetsuo
Japanese

d'Orléans, Charlotte Hélène

Supporting

Inokuchi, Yuka
Japanese

de Tristain, Henrietta

Supporting

Kawasumi, Ayako
Japanese

Siesta

Supporting

Horie, Yui
Japanese

von Anhalt-Zerbst, Kirche Augusta Frederica

Supporting

Inoue, Nanako
Japanese

de Gramont, Guiche

Supporting

Sakurai, Takahiro
Japanese

Colbert, Jean

Supporting

Suzuki, Takuma
Japanese

Osmond

Supporting

Aono, Takeshi
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Matsukura, Yuuji

Producer

Iwasaki, Yoshiaki

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Takahashi, Tsuyoshi

Sound Director

Takashima, Daisuke

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"First kiss" by ICHIKO (eps )

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Ending Theme

"Honto no Kimochi (ホントノキモチ)" by Kugimiya Rie

Reviews

Apr 14, 2008

Pontifus

Recommended

I decided to watch Zero no Tsukaima because I wanted a leave-your-brain-out-of-the-equation sort of show, one I could sit back and watch without worrying about a negative outcome or depressing and/or disturbing complications. (Yes, for all my talk about artistic integrity and such, I do watch things for pure and simple fun sometimes.) Zero has most of that, but only to a point, and in the end I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of depth this show manages to pull out of nowhere. I went in expecting another Nanoha, or the first season of Shakugan no Shana all over again, and what I got ... was something more akin to the comedic romance and character development of Love Hina supported and sustained by the political intrigue of Last Exile or Simoun.

Plot: An incompetent mage summons as her familiar a young man from contemporary Japan, and hilarity ensues. It isn't quite as simple as that, however. Despite an early focus on slapstick comedy, ecchi, and outright silliness, Zero quickly introduces a thin political thread, providing bits and pieces of flavor to make the world seem more alive. This thread smoothly escalates into a significant driving force of the show's events, perhaps more powerful, even, than the central romance.

And speaking of that central romance, it moves along at a nice pace -- neither too slowly nor too quickly for a 13-episode series. Exactly how it develops is for you to discover, but rest assured that it does not remain stagnant for long periods of time, at least in this season, as in Shakugan no Shana and its sequel.

Characters: The cute, borderline-sadist lead; the busty, libidinous rival; the surprisingly forthright maid; the bookish, quiet Nagato Yuki clone -- these may seem like stock characters pulled from the harem romance pool, and they certainly begin as such. As in Love Hina, however, we discover that these characters have histories and unforeseen connections, sometimes in far darker ways than I expected of this show. What's more, many of these characters actually change over time, as characters in a story should. Sure, the cast seems a bit crazy at first, but give them a chance. It's worth it.

And the male lead. Oh, the male lead. Saito's personality is what makes him simultaneously hilarious and divergent from the usual harem romance/datesim beta-male loser. We get the impression that he checks out every girl who crosses his path not because he's hopelessly desperate, but because he's a healthy teenage boy. Not that he's relegated to the role of lecher; he has his human and hero moments, too.

Setting: Our story begins in your average Harry Potter-inspired magic school, complete with magic wands and quirky professors, but soon expands outward to encompass an alternate-history, magically-endowed Europe plagued by the class politics of magocracy -- that is, magi over non-magi. Though the central country of the show is fictional (apparently located roughly in the Aquitaine region of France), several real-world European powers have fantastical equivalents, often bearing the Latin names of the modern countries they mirror: Gallia is France, for example, and Germania is Germany. This becomes clear when we see a map of the fictional land. This world maintains interesting links to our Earth, but I'll leave it at that for fear of dropping spoilers. It's ultimately a surprisingly cohesive fantasy setting, and one to which I wouldn't mind returning.

Art: Zero's art is reminiscent of Shakugan no Shana, also produced by J. C. Staff, and to a lesser extent Pani Poni Dash. It's a style that grew on me when I watched Shana. If you're a fan of more realistic art in your animation, however, be warned that you won't find it here.

Sound: Despite being largely digital, Zero's music never quite descends into full-on cheesiness, as Shana's music did at times, nor does it overwhelm you with anachronistic elements unsuited to the vaguely Renaissance-inspired fantasy setting. The opening theme is quite catchy, for a reason I can't place, and as a fan of Kugimiya Rie and Hino Satoshi, I have trouble finding serious fault in the voice-acting.

Verdict: I didn't think Zero no Tsukaima would end up being the kind of show I'd be quick to recommend, but, to my pleasant surprise, it did. If you're looking for a tale of politics and romantic comedy, and don't mind that the ride isn't entirely serious from beginning to end, give this one a shot.

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Jun 22, 2007

jet2r0cks

Mixed Feelings

I can’t say I liked Zero no Tsukaima as much as hormonal, pre-teen male otaku out there.

Plot-wise, I’d say it’s a revamped version of Maburaho. Other than being produced by JC Staff, the two series have other things in common. First off there’s the setting – both series are set in a magic school. There’s also the harem anime aspect – Louise, Siesta (my favorite!) and Kirche are all fighting over the token loser male character, Saito. Finally, there’s the ecchi. It’s a good thing that the ecchi in Zero no Tsukaima isn’t as heavy as Maburaho’s.

It was a stable ride for me during ...

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Dec 31, 2014

literaturenerd

Not Recommended

Overview:

Do you like Moe? Do you like S&M? Do you like obnoxious female leads? Boy do I have a series for you!

Plot: 3/10

Familiar of Zero is an anime about an ordinary boy named Saito that is forced to be a magical slave to an obnoxious twat that summoned him from Japan to the far away land of extremely generic fantasy Europe. Here he must learn to adapt to his odd new life and learn about the various types of magic users. I am not going to go really in depth with the plot honestly. It soon becomes a very generic harem show and the ...

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Poll: Zero no Tsukaima Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) sugarplumfairy - Apr 16, 2008	127 replies	by HiljainenSipuli »» Apr 1, 12:24 PM
Poll: Zero no Tsukaima Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) aero - Jun 10, 2008	54 replies	by HiljainenSipuli »» Apr 1, 11:44 AM
Poll: Zero no Tsukaima Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 ) aero - Jun 10, 2008	61 replies	by HiljainenSipuli »» Apr 1, 11:14 AM
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Le Blanc de La Vallière, Louise Françoise

Hiraga, Saito

Derflinger

d'Orléans, Charlotte Hélène

de Tristain, Henrietta

Siesta

von Anhalt-Zerbst, Kirche Augusta Frederica

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