Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho

This review will contain significant spoilers to illustrate several lapses of logic within the show.

I thought I'd put in my two cents to this show to help contrast some of the more positive views. Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho (or GoZ as I'll refer to it) is in every sense a mediocre fantasy show. It does very little to distinguish itself from it's peers of the fantasy genre and has multiple lapses in logic and commonsense.

GoZ is a action magic fantasy that follows the story of three characters. Two witches, named Zero and Albus as well as a unnamed mercenary. Zero is a somewhat ... special witch as she is the author of the titular Grimoire of Zero that has spread magic into the kingdom in which the GoZ is set. Zero is searching for 13, (and her grimoire) we do not know her reasons for searching for him, who then comes Albus, who is as far as we know is a fairly average young witch who originally was seeking the mercenary's head as he is a beastfallen, who's bodies apparently hold special and useful properties for witches. Zero resolves the issues and hires the mercenary as her guard. Doesn't sound to bad at first. It goes to shit later in the show, when you start asking questions.

We learn Albus is apart of a coven or witch group called the Sorcerers of Zero, who we later learn, who's members have all signed a blood contract with a mysterious man only referred to as "Him". What does that contract entail? Death, if you threaten his safety, you will die. Pretty hefty contract for people to make with a person they've never seen nor met. Lapse in logic: 1, bad writing: 1. So the Sorcerers of Zero are idiots, that much is certain. At least they're nice idiots? Not really, the Sorcerers burned a village to the ground for the unjust murder of a kind witch, named Sorena, who you will later learn of. They ignored all innocents and indiscriminately murdered an entire village. Though this has happened in history so I won't deduct any points from it, I just thought it'd nicely illustrate the sort of characters in the Sorcerers Of Zero.

Anyways, onto the next issue. Throughout their journey, the trio grows closer. At one point Zero is giving the mercenary a bath, how cute. At that point she takes it upon herself to cast a spell on the mercenary's body that will redirect all damages he takes unto her. Yes, she decided all injuries the man / creature she hired to protect her safety shall be redirect to her. Seems a little ironic and counter intuitive. Lapse in logic: 2, bad writing: 2. Sure you can say that it's sweet and all, that she cares for him, but frankly it's a stupid move, driven by bad writing.

Next issue. We learn Thirteen is Zero's enemy and throughout the trio's encounters we learn Thirteen's motive for doing what he's doing. Which is indiscriminately murdering witch's. He's doing it for Zero, but he won't listen to Zero who tells him she doesn't want this. Until like the third time she verbalizes this in which he magically decides 'oh she was serious. Guess I'll stop murdering witches and shack up with Zero and her mercenary." Lapse in logic: 3, bad writing: 3.

And again, next issue. We later learn Albus (which is a man's name if you ask me) is actually a girl, and not just any girl, the granddaughter of that good witch who was unjustly murdered. Why is this relevant? Throughout the trio's journey Zero reveals she's looking for her grimoire and 13. Albus says that the sorcerers have it, and when they arrive to the sorcerers hometown, which has been freshly massacred, says that perhaps Soreana's granddaughter had escaped with it. Wait what? That's her. Why would she lie to the hero which her group named herself after? Lapse in logic: 4, bad writing: 4.

Second to last issue. The world itself. We have plenty of witches in the story who apparently all learned their magic from "Him" and the Grimoire of Zero, and if that is the case, why are there witches that predate Zero, such as Sorena. Sure you can just say she popularized or modernized magic, but near the climax of the anime the trio plan to eliminate magic from the kingdom because Zero apparently has the ability to cancel out magic. Talk about plot armor. This also leaves more questions asked. Can Zero cancel all magic? Or just magic based on the Grimoire of Zero? Why can she do this? Can other witches do it? Frankly these things left the viewer confused. Confused and with unanswered questions Bad Writing: 5.

My last major complaint is one that is simply cliche. Throughout the first half of the show we learn that there are two important characters, whom we haven't seen. The aforementioned 13, and "Him". 13 was a peer and teacher of Zero. "Him" is the founder of the Sorcerers of Zero. "Him" slaughtered everyone in Zero's previous abode to steal the Grimoire of Zero, and followed up by creating basically a cult named the Sorcerers of Zero. If you hadn't already figured it out. "Him" is 13. I won't detail his frankly idiotic master plan, but the fact that "Him" and 13 are the same person is comically bad writing: 6. It was visible from not miles away, but light years.

Those are my major issues with the story, as for my other issues, let's dive into them.

The characters. The character's are not particularly bad or good, they're fairly average. What is however bad about them is their interactions. Almost every dialogue between the major, minor or extra characters fits one of three descriptions. Stupid. Cliche. Contrived. Those three words adequately describe this series' characters, and story.

The story. Routinely leaves questions asked but unanswered. Has several plot holes and previously mentioned fallacies. And to be blunt, is frankly average. Or it would be without all those glaring issues.

Art. Average, nothing good, nothing bad. Utterly mediocre.

Sound. Same.

Overall Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho is a bad anime. A very bad anime, with countless issues, more than I've likely identified. If you're new to anime or not someone who dives to deeply into things, perhaps this show will be for you, but anyone who likes to dissect content, anyone who is notices little details, or any person who has watched a decent amount of anime. Avoid this flaming pile of shit like the plague.

Like many shows relating to fantasy, magic, and witchcraft, I can’t say that Zero kara hajimeru Mahou no Sho looks any unique compared to the rest at first glance. I mean, if you look at it carefully, the show’s premise is pretty standard that involves a conflict between human and witches. The additional aspect of beastfallen (cursed humans with animalistic appearances) adds some slight intrigue to the story. But is this show really worth investing time in? Or is it just a show that panders to fans that wants a dose of fantasy in their life?

Adapting the light novel of the same name, Zero kara ... hajimeru Mahou no Sho (Grimoire of Zero) takes a very high fantasy approach with both its characters and story. The most noticeable character is a beastfallen dubbed as “Mercenary” by the witch Zero. They travel together with Albus, another magician and throughout their journey, they learn much more about each other. Still, the primary goal of their journey is to find the Grimoire of Zero, a very powerful spellbook that has potential to change the world. Now wait a minute. Witches? Magical artifacts? Journey? If anyone has seen enough anime, it wouldn’t be surprising if this show reminds them of fantasy adventures like Hitsugi no Chaika, Spice and Wolf, or even to an extent, Berserk. The fact is, this show appeals to a fantasy adventure while it tries to be a show that stands on its own feet.

The first few episodes of the series establishes the formation of the main trio. Zero encounters the beastfallen and is enlisted as her bodyguard. On the other hand, Mercenary shows fear for Zero because of her status as a witch. Throughout the journey, he also learns that she’s much more different than appears to be. Then, there’s Albus, the third member of the group and we learn much more about this young magician’s past. In the meantime, I think what can hook the audience into this show is the character chemistry. At its core, Zero and Mercenary always gets me curious as the two are so different. Yet at the same time, it’s really fun to see how far their relationship develop as they are put into compromising positions. For Albus, the character’s past is explored through the eyes of another character named Holdem. From first glance, I disliked the way his character is portrayed with his arrogance. As time went on however, the show reveals a different side of him that I thought as very appreciating. So in essence, characters in this series shouldn’t be judged on what they appear to be on the surface until we understand them better. If there’s one character that I genuinely dislike though, it would be Thirteen. Trouble always seems to follow with this guy and he stands as a dangerous obstacle during our main characters’ journey. His persona fits within the stereotypical type of antagonist that gives a sour taste. Not to mention, I really can’t stand some of his dialogues as they sound very forced.

Now if you’re wondering about the main story, the core of the show still involves the characters’ journey in this fantasy adventure. To be honest, the first half of the show feels like it suffers from pacing problems. I don’t mean that by adaptation standards but just in general as some episodes focuses too much on the characters’ lives. It can actually cause less interest for viewers as by the time I finished watching the 5th episode, it seems far less focused on finding the Grimoire. Still, I would also say that the story does improve later on as some episodes got me much more invested into characters such as Mercenary and Albus. The background story told by Holdem in particular felt like a highlight in this show as it not only gave insight about Albus’ past but also how the world viewed witches in general. While I dislike Thirteen as a character, I do find his role in this show to be very thrilling. The way he plays mind games with Zero and Mercenary adds a different dimension of drama that builds more and more. So in essence, the general flow of the storytelling has slow start but gradually develops as more episodes progresses. It will test the patience of the viewers especially those who are less interested in the characters and more invested into the plot.

Adapted by White Fox, it’s not unusual to see that the artwork has some resemblance to other fantasy series. Re:Zero is the first show that comes to mind as Zero has some resemblance to Emilia. However, I would say that Zero is like a dynamite that comes in little packages. She is short but has enormous potential as a witch. Mercenary has the animalistic look with his tiger-like face but barbaric human body. Similarly, Holdem looks like a generic wolf guy you’d expect to see in most fantasy anime. Albus is designed to look fragile and it’s sad to say, but the young magician really doesn’t stand out compared to the other cast members. Still, artwork of the show looks visually appealing if you watch it with a fantasy mindset. On the other hand, I’m not very impressed by the general world building as many places our adventurers’ wanders looks too dull and unoriginal.

For a show about fantasy adventure, it occasionally lacks the mystical feel but thankfully with the soundtrack, it retains its credibility on most parts. From my viewpoint, both the OP and ED theme songs are quite colorfully decorated. The ED theme in particular delivers a more charming presence of the main characters between Zero and Mercenary. I’m also impressed by the voice acting of nonhuman characters such as Mercenary and Holdem. In many ways, they sound very human.

Ah, Grimoire of Zero. This is a show that some people mistook it for Re:Zero’s second coming at first glance. On paper, it’s a fantasy adventure and one that mixes in humans, witches, and beasts. By storytelling standards, it’s nothing impressive to write home about. However, once I got invested into the characters, the show felt more special at heart. It’s not a golden egg in a treasure chest by any means but is still a fun ride if you’re feeling the will to take.

I'm kind of mad because I had my review started and than I accidentally closed the browser. I guess I'll be writing it again. Luckily, I wasn't that far.

Grimoire of Zero certainly has brought out mixed feelings among the viewers. Many people really like or even love the show, while many others, like myself, just like it. There are also the people who just don't care for it that much. It's good either way, but it does have its ups and downs.

The story is simple. Zero and Mercenary meet unexpectedly after Mercenary falls from a hill top above where ... Zero was camping out when he was being chased by witches, I believe (I actually forget the details concerning his fall from weeks ago). She forms a contract with him than and promises to turn him into a human, as long as he helps her find the Grimoire of Zero, which is a book she created that is filled with tons of magic spells and has spread far throughout the land. The book was stolen from her and she want sit back before it falls into the wrong hands. The two also meet Albus,a young witch in the group, the sorcerers of Zero. The three of them start their adventure and ht some of their initial walls. The first half of the show is a lot more character driven, which was a little dull at times because the anime seemed to be concentrating on simple stuff like that instead of on finding the grimoire of Zero and advancing the story. Luckily, the second half shows more of the conflict surrounding the war that is close to breaking out between humans and witches, and has many plot twists throughout the scenes. It could be a better story, but at least it was satisfying and ended on a really good note. The best part about it is that it feels like an old time fantasy adventure due to how the spells are cast and the backgrounds shown. The beastfallen designs make a nice touch though. I'd give a story a 7 since the quality rounds out nicely despite the ups and downs in the story.

The art is kind of like the story. It really makes the show feel like an older style fantasy adventure. The character designs, backgrounds, and other art pieces are not always the greatest out there, but the category as whole is good. A few of the background are done really well, especially some that I noticed in the final episode, while some others are just ok. The clothing is definitely of some typical fantasy designing, but it helps show the character's personalities really well and it is still designed nicely. The animation is pretty fluid too. Overall, a 7/10 in deserved.

The sound is my favorite part of the show. I expect a fantasy to have some really good music and Grimoire of Zero doesn't disappoint much in this department. The opening them is quite good, while sounding silly at the same time; it fits very nicely though with a few of the overall simple themes of the show, and it does have nice visuals. The background music is more fierce during the battle scenes and the more conflict based scenes. Other times, it is just some good music that compliments the mood in a good way. I'll give the category a 7/10.

The characters are kind of a difficult area to talk about. They are not the most special, but they leave an impact. Thirteen is kind of a basic antagonist and trouble is always around him, but he does a good job at being part of each side of the war he basically started, which is not something many antagonists can pull off. Zero is a young magician who might easily be the most powerful magician in the world of the show, seeing as how she made the spell book and that action lead to many people throughout the land learning how to use magic. She doesn't try to control people with force and enormous strength though and she is more kind hearted and it doesn't take a whole lot to please her. She is kind of cunning though and she interacts very well with Mercenary. Mercenary is more a tough and rather stern individual until he grows more acquainted with his master, Zero, and breaks out of his shell. He is different from other beastfallen since he doesn't use his look and or position as a soldier to get what he wants. He has a simple dream of wanting to open his tavern. Albus is an ok character, but she doesn't have as much of an impact as the three I mentioned above, and she just kind of seemed to be present at many times without there being a need for her. I don't think she needed to be incorporated into the main traveling crew as often the way she is, but would fit better if there was more of a use for her early in the story. The other characters are not really main people so I'll leave out. Overall, the characters are rather fun to watch and stand out in their own way, despite not being the best out there, so 7/10 it is.

My enjoyment earns a 7/10. I didn't always like every episode as much as another, but overall, I had a fun time watching the anime and some of the scenes were really good. It has a very satisfying ending too, even though the show has a short run time. There is more to be discovered in the world, but every main conflict brought about is solved before it ends.

What starts out as a typical quest to right her own wrongs turns into a more complicated anime after she loses her soup, we are introduced to the initial characters and are shown different parts of the world's state and history. With themes that are similar to Junketsu no Maria, the anime as it is right now is slowly expanding our knowledge of the state of the world. Whilst the story is not unique in any way it is not by any means bad (I'm sure some of the other reviews will beg to differ), meaning it will be more than enough to keep you ... interested. The recent few episodes have started to show a bit of the characters changing as people which is nice (I have qualms with how slow durarara/baccano was despite being a huge fan)

As for the art, pretty standard, it looks good but compared to most other Japanese anime it doesn't stand out, expect fluid animations and effects. The one bit that I do think they did well for art is probably the characters which are relatively detailed.

Music is great, I love the opening. The ending is calm and relaxing (though not exactly my sort of thing) and the bgm is more than capable of sending the mood. That being said due to the lack of action/emotional scenes so far it hasn't had a really good chance to stand out.

Characters are your typical op + knowledgeable MC (or heroine depending on how you look at it), your character that isn't happy with the world as it is and is seeking the ability to change himself. You have the loyal little magician who may or may not become an antagonist further down the road, which will be interesting to see how it plays out. As I mentioned the characters are drawn in great detail and the MC seems to have some sort of backstory we haven't fully explored yet so I am looking forward to it.

All in all its a 9 for me, this anime doesn't seem to have made a lot of mistakes but at the same time isn't taking enough risks to really stand out and get a 10 (masterpiece), that being said its more than enjoyable and doesn't let the recent few seasons (which have been great mind you) down.

This is obviously not related to Re:Zero in any way. You probably already know that but i'm just gonna throw it out there. Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou No Sho is an anime that has been on my "plan to watch" list for a long time. In fact, it didn't even have a synopsis at that time if I recall.

Story 6/10: Story's honestly not that great. The beast, Youhei, meets a witch, Zero, and despite his so-called hate for witches, he decides to embark on a quest with her. For a price of course, that being he could finally be turned into a human.

As of ... now, the pacing is slow. At the end of episode 4, it gets more interesting but the first 3 episodes are basically the building blocks of character development. There is also a bit of action here and there but it doesn't last very long.

Character 8/10: A unique MC because of him being a beast. You don't see those too often. I liked him though. He can be tsundere-ish at times and he seems like someone who is good but chooses to be distant and cold towards others due to the fact that he is aware beasts like him aren't treated so well do to their bad history (which is explained throughout the series). Overall, he seems like someone who isn't annoying. Thank god.

But there is one character who could be annoying at times. And it comes to no surprise that the culprit is the yellow haired kid. Honestly, I would prefer him to not be around but he's part of the reason of the MC's character development and he isn't bad all the time.

Moving on to another important character, Zero. She doesn't seem unique at all. Naive about the world and somewhat overpowered in combat. But still knows whats up when things go tough. I also find it confusing when some people act perverted at her (something you'll find obvious) because she honestly looks like a kid at first glance. Anyways, despite her lack of uniqueness, I didn't dislike her at all. But that could change when we get to see more episodes but I hope it doesn't. This applies to the rest of the characters too.

I also like to mention the relationship between Youhei (beast) and Zero. It isn't forced and it just grows smoothly. That is what I like. Romance done right. Rather interesting too.

Animation 7/10: Good for 2017. Nothing that felt out of place. Average. Normal. No flaws. No complaints here.

Sound 8/10: OP with an adventure tune that we see in alot of action anime and an ED with a calm and relaxing atmosphere that reflects on the relationship between the MC and heroine. I love it.

Overall 7/10: I hope this anime keeps sticking with what it is now with maybe a few minor improvements. Overall, I enjoyed watching it and I'll definitely not drop this.

So, the first (wrong) thing this show did was to overestimate the capacity of people to make the difference between Mahō(魔法) - Magic and Majutsu(魔術) - Sorcery. While they are kind of synonyms they have the same difference as normal Alchemy and Alchemy with a Philosopher's Stone. The top review of this series makes this (retarded in my opinion) mistake and makes a lot of comments on the fact that the series is stupid because "how could witches exist before magic if magic was invented by a witch only recently" (Jaden Smith anyone? No?). Well, it is stated, SEVERAL TIMES, that they used sorcery, not ... magic. Damn, the white tiger (I'm bad with names) even says: "This magic is very convenient because until now you had to draw circles and make sacrifices". Also,(this is not a spoiler) regarding Zero's ability to negate magic, (now this is a spoiler) SHE GODDAMN SAYS she made mistakes in the Grimoire on purpose in order to be able to be stronger than any other magic user.

Anyway, I felt the need to clear that up. Now the review:

Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho (Grimoire of Zero) is a fantasy anime. It's set in a world where a civil war between witches and normal humans has created countless victims and it's currently destroying the nation. The series is centered on Zero, a young witch that revolutionized witchcraft by giving birth to magic and Mercenary, a beastfallen (humans with the appearance and strength of animals), and it follows their adventures to find (the stolen) Zero's Grimoire that holds the secrets to magic.

The series is sweet, short, and the only complaint I have is that they seemed to go out of their way to produce a loli-ish character (must find a way to appeal to those otakus, amiright?) when the girl needs to be over 15 for the story to make sense. The art isn't amazing but I'm more of a story guy so it didn't impact my enjoyment too much. The sound though, it's lacking. A good soundtrack would've made this anime A LOT better.

All in all, Zero kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho is in no way an innovative, never-seen-before anime. The whole fantasy setting has been done so many times it's almost impossible to come up with something new. But who cares? Do you never eat the same food twice? I like binge watching fantasy anime with an accent on magic and I feel like this hit the right spot. It doesn't even need a second season, it's fine as it is! If you like magic and fantasy, this anime is a nice thing to watch.

Preliminary thoughts on Grimoire of Zero:
I really want to like this show. I want to be able to sing its praises to all who'll listen, letting everyone know how worth their time it is to sit down and enjoy it. But I can't do that right now. I hope by the end of its run, I can at least say it was a memorable experience.

Part of this desire probably stems from Grimoire's resemblance to one of my favorite anime of all time, Spice and Wolf. With a similar atmosphere and general vibe, setting (medieval, Europe), and the same dynamic of two travelling companions (which becomes ... three in this case, infuriating but I'll touch on that in the next segment), on a mutual journey, its first episode left me extremely hopeful for its future. Unfortunately, the crossovers end there.

These types of shows rely almost entirely on the two main characters and the interplay between them. Spice and Wolf's Holo and Lawrence were such a witty and naturally compatible duo, and played off of one another so well, that entire minutes-long sequences of dialogue felt as ensnaring to watch as any expertly choreographed and explosive fight scene. That level of crisp writing and dialogue is simply not apparent in Grimoire of Zero. Most of our character's interactions are trivial in nature and execution, yet the progress in their relationship, and in turn the things they're willing to do for one another, speeds up at a disorienting and bizarre pace. All in order to meet the demands of the plot. Strike 1.

To make matters worse, Grimoire introduces a practically irrelevant third character into the equation. This addition only serves to cripple the pair's ambiance generally, and to this point I simply cannot deduce the value of the decision. One could argue this character brings to us important information about the world of Zero, but I argue that that isn't reason enough to introduce him as a mainstay which completely derails any and all flow of the main duo. At most, he should have been a character that departed in the span of an episode after giving us the info we needed. Perhaps if this character was at all interesting, I would let this point go without much contention, but alas. Strike 2.

My main gripe with this show, though, is the way in which it handled its very first *real* conflict. Without spoiling, Grimoire set itself up with, intentionally or not, a grand opportunity to introduce some amazing drama in the second half of its cour. We simply didn't know enough about our characters true motivations and desires at the time of this conflict, which would have given us as the viewer the awesome experience of sharing the main lead's (who is as left in the dark as us) suspicions and doubts as they uncovered the truth. I was extremely excited, thinking back to my excitement after finishing the first episode, "This is what I've been waiting for!" Gears turning in my mind, thinking of all the possible permutations available, all leading us to an epic climax. Unfortunately though, Grimoire sinks the ship that hasn't even had the opportunity to set sail, by telling us, within 2 minutes of introducing the conflict and in no uncertain terms, who exactly the villain is and who we should be rooting for. This is simply a failure of good writing, especially egregious when the set pieces have fallen into place so nicely. Strike 3.

Grimoire has potential. It seems to have all the ingredients needed to make a memorable anime, if only its execution were more refined. In fact, even with all of its downfalls, this is still an enjoyable show. I'm determined to see it through, not just in hopes of it proving me wrong, but also because I'm simply having fun watching. And there is something to be said for that.

These days, witches are regarded as practitioners of magic and act as the female equivalent of wizards in what would be considered as the pop culture norm for magic. While their original existence no longer has any place in society today, the history of evil witches, people who have made deals with the devil and practice witchcraft still lingers in the ugly recesses of history. With that said, what would happen if you put both of them together? To create a world where in a sense, both the meaning of witches in history and pop culture come together?

Story: The Grimoire of Zero ... story starts us off in the land of Wenias, a place plagued by those who practice magic known as witches and men who born as animal known as Beastfallen. It is here where we meet a certain beastfallen simply known as ‘Mercenary’ for the entire series (and for the sake of simplification), a self-explanatory character that does the mercenary work of killing witches for hire. On one trip through the woods, he comes in contact with a little witch by the name of ‘Zero’, who tells him that she is on a journey to find what has been stolen, her book of spells, the Grimoire of Zero.

Taking up all twelve episodes of the series to cover just the first book of the original LN series, the adaptation becomes an intriguing story with many facets to its characters, as its main duo of large tiger man and tiny witch protagonists act as a faction-less duo that do practically whatever they want so long as it benefits them and their goals. We’re given a realistic depiction of the reaction to witches in our own history put into a fantasy setting, which to me is a good way to shape up the main conflict. As a result, the show allows the audience to view both sides of the main conflict, testing many of the other characters’ morals and actions while providing a good blend of action and humorous character interactions to aid in filling out holes that the main plot leaves behind.

Adding to that is characterization. Personally I feel as though the show does have some imbalance with how it chose to develop its characters. Due to the nature of the show having two ostracized groups of characters in its society (Beastfallen and Witches), the show primarily focused on the witch characters and the witches’ struggles in society rather than the Beastfallen. Our main protagonist doesn’t really get the time of day aside from a couple choice moments in order to be ‘developed’. Aside from that, the rest of the series is devoted to the problems that the witches in Wenias face and their on-going war for freedom from oppression.

Despite that problem, the show is one of the most well paced series that I’ve seen in a long while. Taking account as many details as they could, White Fox managed to create a series that neither felt boring nor too rushed to watch, letting things continue as they went along at an even pace so that every moment felt engaging. Many times, I felt as though the episodes were too short because I was so engrossed in watching it.

While less eventful than the climax and many other sections of the story, the ending manages to cap off the first main arc of the series that acts both as an ending to the entire series while being open-ended enough to welcome a second season if White Fox so chooses to do so. Not really a big fan of how many things were thrown into exposition, but I guess to develop the whole scope of the story’s events, they had to make a couple things via time skip to make things a lot easier.

Overall, despite its imbalance with who and what it chooses to characterize, Grimoire of Zero was a show that was gripping from start to finish. Having a simple plot that was explored to almost its full extent, the show managed to be both engaging and entertaining to the end while providing good world building that mixed in the central conflict of the series. Every episode felt too short for me to fully appreciate, and it left me wanting more. My only complaint really is that there is no second season. Please White Fox. Do it.

Overview:
+ Well-paced story
+ Simple, yet effective plot
- Who they characterized was imbalance
- Ending is a bit…uneventful comparatively

Characters: As mentioned before, the show’s plethora of characters act as members of one side or one motive while our main characters act as a ‘third’ or ‘faction-less’ group that gets involved with their own sets of goals in mind.

The first is Mercenary; the giant fluffy tiger man that despite having a giant FFVII-esque sword, is actually quite soft and fluffy on the inside with a pension for cooking. Being a Beastfallen, Mercenary is a character that despises witches and dreams of one day curing him of his beast curse and opening up a pub once he’s human. As a character, Mercenary is very much a character that sits in his own morals but doesn’t act outside of what he isn’t involved in. As such, he’s less of a by the numbers fantasy protagonist, and more of a ‘does whatever he wants’ kind of guy, which fits into the story perfectly. He acts as the more grounded character of the duo and gets some significant change once the series starts picking up and his more ‘lone wolf’ demeanor softens up.

Then there’s Zero, the tiny white-haired witch who enjoys the simple things in life: food. Comparatively, Zero is the freer, more airheaded member of the main duo, as she had spent her life in a cave up until her book was stolen, and lacks any kind of basic knowledge of the outside world. Rather than being a ditzy klutz (mostly), Zero is a calm airhead simply because she doesn’t know anything aside from the intricacies of magic, leading to a majority of the show’s comedic and enjoyable moments due to her hilariously blunt nature and lack of what would widely be considered as ‘common sense’. As such, she has something of a unique identity that when mixed with her mercenary, creates fun character interactions between two quite likeable characters.

For the supporting cast, we’re treated to a myriad of characters who act as players to the bigger stage of the kingdom of Wenias, as most if not all of them have some kind of affiliation to one faction or another in the war for magic. As such, characters like Albus and the Sorcerers of Zero are clearly defined to think one way while the royal kingdom and its citizens think the other in order to give clear definition on their opinion of the matter and thus easily explain the overall conflict of the scenario. While less interesting than our main protagonists, the majority of them play their part as the background scenario well, which is the most you could ask for in a series featuring two clearly defined sides. The only one of the supporting cast that differs from this rule is ‘Thirteen’; a character similar to our main protagonists as he only does what he believes is right/based in his own goals and a compatriot of Zero.

Overview:
+ Very intriguing main protagonists
+ Fitting and clearly defined side cast

Art: Produced by White Fox, Grimoire of Zero has the clear fantasy look that the studio has used for previous projects in the past (such as Re:Zero, for example) More or less standard fare in terms of the quality of this day and age, the animation and art quality for the show is good, but not overly amazing or budget breaking.

I do however want to bring attention to the various forms of magic used in the show, as the intricate circles and various effects of the spells enhance the art quality to truly feel like a fantasy/magic show. Additionally, and this is more personal than anything, the character design for Zero is amazing. It’s the right amount of complexity and really fits with the overall aesthetic of the show.

Overview:
+ Nice touch on the magic usage
+/- Standard art

Sound: “Hakkensha wa Watashi”, the OP for Grimoire of Zero is a whimsical rock song that helps provide an adventurous tone to the travels of our main characters and contrasts the more serious tone of the magic war in the series. Personally, I feel like the song itself isn’t all that memorable, but it is a good track that’s been on a few of my own song loops.

To contrast, the ED, "Hajimari no Shirushi” is a laid back piece that relies more on strings and light piano to elevate a sense of wonder in our characters’ journey. Accompanied by a children’s book graphic, the ED feels a lot better than its OP counterpart, as it has a nice style to it that gives us a nice contrast everything that the show has given us up until this point.

Overview:
+ Good tracks
+ Memorable ED

Personal Enjoyment: At the start of the season, I always handpick about a dozen shows to watch/review for the season. Some are ‘obligatory’ as I watched and reviewed a previous season of it so it’s only natural that I do the same for subsequent seasons, and others are those that I personally find intriguing. As a fan of fantasy, I found Grimoire of Zero to be interesting at first glance. Before I knew it, it had become my most anticipated show of the season. The overall plot had more to offer than just a simple magic-based story and had a lot of aspects that meshed well with each other to culminate into what we have. I was so sucked into it that I was left wanting more, and I really, really want a second season of this because I really want to see more of Mercenary and Zero’s travels throughout the world plagued by magic.

Did I enjoy this series?

I think I may have enjoyed it a bit too much, but you can’t really blame a guy for having a preference, right? Personally I found Zero to be the highlight of the series. Her character was always such a joy to have on-screen, and I always appreciate a unique character to help tell the story.

What didn’t I like about his series?

Albus was really the big stickler for me. They admittedly do play a big part in the series, but I just kinda found them annoying with their constant, constant preaching for their look on everything while I just sat there wanting to see something else involving Zero.

Would I recommend this series?

If you’re a fan of fantasy of magic, I would highly recommend watching this. It has a unique enough identity large enough to completely separate itself from a majority of the cookie-cutter magic-based shows, showing that original ideas really can be successful. The main characters are interesting, the entire plot is fleshed out, and it has such nice pacing that it feels almost like magic that this kind of even pacing can even exist in this era of rushed adaptations.

Once again this is an anime that gave the vibe of a light novel adaptation. Light novel adaptations give a much slower pace in terms of character development, plot, and amusement. Because of such attributes, such anime fails to quickly grab the viewer's amusement when it starts off. However, I do not regret watching this anime, because by about episode 7 or so it becomes interesting.

The story is considerably well-planned. I can see that the author tried hard to give plot twists, foreshadowing, and such. After having watched 11 episodes, with only the final one to watch, it was certainly worth watching and adding to ... my anime list.
Story: 10

The art was great. I don't remember seeing any lazy parts of the animation, but the style of the drawings in generally was one of those commonly drawn styles. Because of the commonly drawn style of drawing, one would not particularly watch this anime solely for the art style. For some reason, this art style feels so redundant.
Art: 8

The voice actresses fit with all of the characters. The tiger sounds like a heavy man, Zero (the girl) sounds like how it should be and such. The OP, ED and OSTs all sound like they are on the good side. Perhaps the voice actors could have put more emotion to their acting, because that is the impression that this anime seems to lack, much like that of other average-looking anime.
Sound: 9

None of the characters really stuck with me in the first few episodes, but I can see how the author tried to make them feel like relatable characters by the conversations between Zero and the tiger and such. The character development feels slow, so only after a while, the characters started to stick with me. Also, the relationship between the Zero and the mercenary was quite relatable. Towards the end of the anime, all of the characters will be relatable, because they all have some kind of impact towards the entertainment of the anime.
Character: 10

Overall, this anime was enjoyable because it was worth watching. The theme anime seem to focus on the hierarchy of society and the oppressed. The moral and such is something to watch out for because I guess that is what makes the plot of this anime worth watching and interesting.
Enjoyment: 9

There were relatable characters, good story, nice voice actors, good art. Thus I give this anime a 9. If the voice acting and the art gave more of a deeper impression, I would give this anime a 10.

Just writing because loads of people did a bad review.
This anime is not a masterpiece or something that will mark or change your view of the world. However, it is still enjoyable. I'm guessing the people who reviewed it badly had high expectations of this anime.
The whole setting its normal. Not a flawless universe, not characters doing the most intelligent action, it actually shows how real people would react because they don't have the capacity to be wise.

So, to who I don't think they will like it:
Anyone who wants stimulation.
Please who like skipping to the important parts instead of watching everything.
People who everyone needs to ... act or do or whatever like this or that because that's what they support to do mindset aka overanalyzing
People who want a perfect anime
People who want to escape in fantasy

People who will enjoy it:
Anyone who just want to see a fantasy anime without expectations.

To start off i enjoyed my time with Grimoire of Zero, while it is not an anime of the year let alone season it is a good use of time to watch.

Story:The story was fine, it starts with our protagonist the catlike "Mercenary" fighting a witch and stumbling upon another witch(Zero).

He joins with the lather witch do to necessity; and forms a contracts by blood. And the former(Albus) because of his contract with the Zero.

Like many high fantasy style animes/stories the plot follows resolve around the fate of the world. In this case the story follows the conflict between those who have magic and ... those who do not.

Story:The art is reminiscent of older works in the medium. Which while normally jarring fits with the simplistic plot commonly found in shows of the past.

Sound: The sound was neither terribly good nor bad, The sfx fit the actions of the characters but the sound track did little to affect the mood of the scenes. To subdivide my sound score of 7 i would give it an 8 for sfx and a 6 for the sound track.

Character: The three and later four protagonists of the series all have interesting stories as well as unique but relatable characteristics. The jive together well but the underlying relationship between the two primary protagonists can be heavy handed at times. The main issue i have with the characters of the series is the villain the the end of the conflict with him. It feels out of the blue and unsatisfactory.

Enjoyment: The series regardless of its faults and short comings is enjoyable. It is fun to watch and each episode leaves you wanting to continue on.

Overall: Grimoire of Zero is a great anime to watch, especially between seasons or while waiting for your primary show to release a new episode.
It is a great watch if you are not looking for an avante garde piece of a detailed convoluted plot.
if you enjoy a simple show with relatable characters, and a simplistic but good story and art then your time is well worth investing in this show.

In short note:
Beauty and the Beast, Fantasy anime version

Story: 8
It seems like a typical fantasy world adventure at first, but the plot thickens in the middle with several twists behind another twist. Although it feels a bit off in the end, this may or may not be the best point of the show.

Art: 7
Standard LN adaptation art style, and Character Design. But the city in medieval age portrayal , Beastmen model and landscapes was looks nice too. The battle scenes and the spellworks were decent even without that spectacular movement. This is a show about mage after all and mage doesn't move that much. The ... spinning bottle scene was hilariously real.

Sound: 6
Standard BGM during fights, nice ED. Nothing much to say in here.

Character: 6
Aside from MC and Main Heroine, all other Character are so plain. The villain was especially have a bad writing that it doesn't even qualify as a villain. The only person that notable was that one dead character that keeps getting mentioned every time along the show, without even met the MC. If only this show has better writings, this show could be much better.

Enjoyment:7
I got hooked for a while in the middle part, but may put off some people in the last bit. If you can bare the lame part with the curiosity alone, you might as well enjoy this to the end.

Overall:7
Fantasy world full of mages, with some nice city and background art. Have a decent story with good pacing, with the most lame villain ever. Have some potential in the middle, but falls of in the last part.

So this series is nice and it is kinda great to see a new anime series with races like beauty and the beast

My complain is just this anime is too pushed and eventhough it takes 1 novel in 1 anime which is freakin slow, they should have been more detailed

I mean like when that wolf and 13 turned into super ally and kind after doing horrible things like mass killing & slaving(btw I still hate that wolf for slaving womens)
Also what is the reason for albus to like mercenary? Why she kiss mercenary?

Ah btw for me mercenary x Alb... *cough* I mean MERCENARY X ... ZERO FTW!! XD
We do really need some more romance if there any season 2 :3

(Note: Since I'm currently looking into the anime, I thought I could revise my original review from 2022 and upload it here in English.)

Tija is great. I watched this anime slightly overtired and had endless fun, because tigers are great.

"Grimoire of Zero" is about the mercenary Mercenary - yes, we don't know his name yet - and Zero. In a world full of magic, in a world of witches and witch burnings, an organization suddenly appears that promises to free the witches from the oppression of humans and avenge the death of a well-known and popular witch. But at the very end of the land, ... the tiger man and witch hunter encounters the witch Zero - an incredibly powerful witch in search of her book, which is said to have the power to destroy the world.

"Grimoire of Zero" has charm, without a doubt. But some teething troubles can never be completely avoided and so this anime isn't perfect either.
And yet it starts very strongly, so strongly in fact that I have nothing to criticize about the first half. But unfortunately this doesn't last and the closer the series gets to the finale, the worse it gets. Although it was really only a matter of minor things here.
For one thing, I found the series completely predictable. With every story, I try to predict where it's going to go and here it really wasn't difficult to solve 90% of all the mysteries. Who founded the Wizards of Zero? Who stole the book? Where is Zero's missing friend? All important questions that were foreseeable within the first few episodes. Even though I didn't feel like the anime really tried to hide the answers, I really missed the big reveal, the bang at the end of the season.
Secondly, I found many characters too lax, too lukewarm in their convictions. Here, true villains can simply be convinced with a few words, victims may have difficulties accepting them at first, but they always get along very quickly with their sworn enemies. The fact that the entire kingdom simply tolerates witches after decades of witch hunts, suffering and war - in what utopia would that be possible? Apparently in "Grimoire of Zero".
I also found it a shame that very little is explained about the world and especially the magic system. We have a genius here who has revolutionized magic, but magic is never really explained. By guessing from a few scenes, you can make some sense of it, but I would have liked a bit more depth. Where does magic come from? What distinguishes witches from humans? What kind of organization is Zero from? How did the kingdom come into being? These are other questions that could have been included at one point or another.
I would also have liked to have seen a proper happy ending for Mercenary and Zero, even if I still have to see the sequel.

Conclusion: I really had a lot of fun with this series. It's obviously not perfect, but what is? At least I don't know anything.

Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahou no Sho is a production based off of a series of light novels. The novel were published in eleven volumes from early '14 to late '17. It has an ongoing manga adaptation and this anime that aired at close to its end. The anime was brought to us by White Fox, the studio that produced such colossal shite as Goblin Slayer & Katanagatari but also brought us some strong anime like Jormungand and Gochuumon wa Usagi desu ka. Let's hope for the best but anticipate the worst with this one. Which is pretty much my modus operandi. 

Story:

Our protagonist is a beastfallen mercenary, ... which basically means someone's white tiger fursona. One day he's escaping from a witch when he encounters a young looking witch named Zero. She persuades him to work as her bodyguard while she looks for her stolen grimoire and the compatriot of hers who went out looking for it. His condition is simple, she has to turn him from a fursona to a normal man when it's over. He also won't give her his actual name so she refers to him as Youhei.

The big issue with the series is that a lot of the writing is very uneven. Take the meeting between Youhei and Zero. It's established in the events leading up to this that he's terrified of witches but he's won over with very little effort. The same can be said for the resolution for the conflict with Thirteen. Or take Zero's supposed lack of knowledge when it comes to life outside the caves she grew up in. It's an element that comes into play whenever the writer decides to bring it up. For instance, she doesn't know anything about money or commerce but she knows what a sex slave is. What, did she have a teacher in the caves who felt it very important that she know about sex slaves in the event that she wind up in the outside world but felt that understanding the basics of shopping was just useless? Was she taught by Kimura from Azumangah Daioh? 

For positives, the pacing is pretty well handled. The series also has some interesting ideas which prevent it from getting boring.

Characters:

The cast isn't very complex. A part of the issue does come from the uneven writing. So, a character will shift but it won't feel like natural development, it'll feel more like they're changing their position because the plot demands it but they're still the same character.

The same rather typical character with very little if anything to differentiate them from a list of similar characters. Even their interactions are very under-written with huge shifts in how they'll act towards each other with little or no reason behind it.

Art: 

The artwork is pretty good. The animation flows smoothly. The action sequences are decently handled. The backgrounds include some nice details. You can also credit the series for having some nice character designs.

The biggest issue is with the expressions. A character like Thirteen won't change his expression at any point and a lot of times other characters will have awkward expressions given the circumstances. It's almost like White Fox wanted everyone to look vaguely stern at least half the time because they thought it would make things seem more intense. 

Sound:

White Fox got a pretty good cast. Koyasu Takehito, Taichi You, Koyama Tsuyoshi and Hanamori Yumiri all give good performances. Matsuda Akito's music is pretty much typical fare to the point of being boring. 

Ho-yay:

There isn't any to be found. 

Areas of Improvement:

More consistent story-telling. If you want to have Zero win over Youhei in spite of his fear of witches, actually put some effort into making it believable. Same with Thirteen's change of heart. 
Move beyond the character archetypes. We've seen the hero who acts tough but has a heart of gold. We've seen the naive but powerful heroine. Using archetypes as a base is fine but they need to be expanded on and made into something unique to be interesting.
Vary the facial expressions. I know Koyasu is a great actor, but he can't really give a character emotional depth when the art shows them with the same expression at all times. If you want to set a specific tone, both the actors and artists need to work together. 

Final Thoughts:

This one definitely isn't as bad as the worst we've seen from White Fox. It's certainly not as strong as the best either, however. It's a mediocre series where the uneven writing and lack of character depth largely waste the potential of the premise. It's not a series that's particularly infuriating or horrendous with its worst elements but it's also not one that's ever great. It ends up quite middling. I'm giving it a 5/10. 

Story: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Animation: 7/10
Music: 6/10
Enjoyment: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

I enjoyed this anime a lot. The depth and lore this anime has at first is something you would want in every fantasy anime. It takes place in the medieval time place where it's basically about witches being hunted. The premise of this kind of story is already sounds interesting and starts of great until we get the ending. I would have given the story an 8 if it wasn't because of the ending. To be honest if 13 stayed a villain until the very end I would have like things better. Characters were very big for me. I ... think the reason I was enjoying this anime so much was because of its characters. Zero personality was just something I want one female character in every anime to have. Mercenary was also someone I enjoyed with his tsun attitude. Overall I kind just love the anime but I won't say it was the best.

The show is borderline between "it's ok, I can finish this" and "boring".
Grimoire has a couple of visible issues that make this into a mediocre show:
1. It's concentrated around a few characters with some support cast who only appear once-twice for a couple of minutes and disappear.
This means that we need to have some proper development of both the characters themselves and the relationships between them. Both parts are very limited and shallow simply following a formulaic path of an average plotline. There is nothing special here, at all. Sure, maybe someone will be amused by "uwu she is sleeping on a furry" part, but ... it worked mostly as comedy.
2. The bland experience.
Since the story doesn't have much comedy beyond the creepy tailor and some gags in the opening episodes, there are also no decent tragic/dramatic episodes to make you as a viewer have any emotional connection. It's just bland, it has no flavor. The unimaginative backstory that could have been at least executed well, but tastes like stale bread.
3. Plotline is rather simple, but is "confusing" and stupid for no reason.
Honestly it's just a bunch of nonsense of Witches doing nobody knows what with nobody knows what goals exactly, Kingdom that simply views them as insane = burn them at the stakes (and it makes sense). A lot of generic talks about "revenge" and "revolts" but it's basically meaningless.
You have beastmen who are hated because legend says witches created them/or they carry sins to be born that way.
And yet Grimoire isn't going all the way with those ideas, doesn't explore them and has nothing to bring at the table. It ends up been - Yeah I've seen this many times before.

Grimoire has some very decent art when it gives you World exposition through history which is drawn in a Medieval style and that elevates the show somewhat.

To sum it up, if I were to try and review it a couple of days later I'm sure I would've forgotten about this show all together and it's one of the typical cases of "short Youtube cuts are more curious than the whole thing". Move along.

Initially, I enjoyed this series since it portrayed a "godly" character and there was undoubtedly a lot of potential, but the last 2 episodes were, if anything, reversing its potential in the earlier episodes.

Story:4
Well, the story had a few twists along the way, but it's along the way of an adventure and trying to resolve a conflict. Basically it's about a war going on between sorcerors and non-sorcerors and how Zero wishes to find her book, but really, it's kinda cliched and predictable at times.

Art:8
Kinda standard but smooth animation.

Sound:8
Kinda standard as well.
...
Character:3
This is the category that is really subpar. Apart from really scant character development and background along the way, some of the characters seem to be inconsistent in their behaviour, thus making the whole storyline hard to understand at times. Especially Thirteen.

Enjoyment:8

Overall:6
Generally below average especially near the end of the series. The resolution is kinda anti-climatic and strange. Gotta say this is one of the more anti-climatic endings out there. Great potential but poor execution.

Spoiler free!!
This anime is kind of well what should i say (kind a cute!!) has lots of kawii!! moments ...well has a decent plot so...if your looking for a fantasy anime it fits the bill...and might get a bit plain in the middle and in the end so dont expect too much from it the chemistry between MC(the tiger ) and zero is nice some thing very similar to beauty and the beast .....but with different bonds. So if your having a hard time finding a decent anime you should watch it...dont expect to much...has fine not too good action ...and sometimes things go ... way to positive..

Hey. I'd like to leave a review here. My ranking system is explained on my profile.

Story -
7/10

The story was a typical conflict between different groups. The story had nothing very special to it. The main twist was decent but was predictable due to certain shots from earlier in the anime. The story was slightly better than most anime with the premise due to the involvement of Beastfallen, a certain race which is treated as inferior to humans (Revealing more about them would spoil the plot.). There was decent character development.

Originality -
5/10

... Not Original. Plus points for the Beastfallen though

Animation Quality -
7/10

It had a decent animation quality. Nothing too special.

Sound effects/Music -
6/10

Same for the sound. Standard

Profound message -
6/10

There was a standard moral of equality, justice and so on. I went in expecting for at least a bit more.

Overall Enjoyment -
8/10

Did I enjoy the anime? Yes. Even after all the shortcomings, this anime is still quite enjoyable. From technical aspects, it's just a standard anime but, watching the anime still fills you with happiness. :)

Final score -
7/10