I also don’t have that much experience with the genre; I think the only others I managed to finish have been High School of the Dead and School Days (if you can count that).
As for ZnT though, it was not as good as it could have been (based on my aforementioned standards) but a lot better than I thought it would be after episode 1…and even the first season (I’ve finished 2/4 seasons so far).
The premise relies on many clichés but is still engaging.
Saito, A boy from Japan, gets summoned to a magical world by a struggling mage student named Louise. Louise makes Saito her pet and the two of them experience many breast- and panty-themed adventures and misadventures together. Beyond the slapstick humor, ecchi and inevitable love triangle drama, is an actual attempt at a plot/story and tsundere-style romance which I think redeemed the series.
The plot was interesting but the action sequences were definitely PG-13 and there wasn’t the type of ‘life or death’ urgency that you might have seen in darker anime. Still, they introduce some gripping elements into the adventure and there is occasionally suspense and uncertainty.
From the very beginning of season one, this anime was at odds with itself. It tried to be both a “harem” and “romance” anime at the same time which led to an inevitable tradeoff. Unless dating in Japan is completely different than in the US, you simply cannot maintain a corral of horny, slavering anime girls whilst simultaneously trying to pursue a sweet, affectionate long-term relationship with someone special. Lol.
Admittedly though, there is something to be said about this conflict. Isn’t this what happens when you become exclusive with someone? You trade breadth for depth. I suppose this could have been explored. Not surprisingly though, this anime chose to circumvent this boner-killing conundrum and instead writes Saito in and out of implausible ecchi situations without any real consequences. At least by season 2, harem aspect becomes (slightly) less dominant in favor of developing a touching romance between two of the characters. The harem shenanigans still acted as a ball and chain on the believability of the anime.
Unexpectedly, the harem element added one positive aspect to the storyline. It upped the ante when it came to expressiveness and physical affection between Saito and his primary love interest. If Saito is going to be stumbling into a voluptuous bosom every other scene then the audience might expect more than that anticlimactic nod, smile and hug between the two mains at the end (btw, I haven’t watched seasons 3&4 so I have no idea what happens at the end of ZnT).
Art: decent but not mesmerizing.
Sound: I liked the intros and soundtrack. It was definitely above average.
Characters: Here’s where we run into more harem-related problems. The whole harem set-up relies on a completely ridiculous constellation of premises and thought-processes-- a bunch of girls liking the same guy at the same time; the guy innocently playing the field without coming off as a douchebag; the girls either ignoring jealousy or sublimating their jealousy into an even stronger desire gain the guy’s favor. Ok Darkmoq, it’s unrealistic, so what? You like death match/survival game anime, right? How often does that happen in real life? Why are you hating on the implausibility of the harem genre? Well, two reasons. First, it makes the characters seem completely silly and fickle. It’s very hard to empathize or connect with cardboard characters who have bat shit illogical interactions with each other. Given that ZnT takes a stab at trying to have an actual plot, I gather I’m supposed to care about why characters do things. Second, where do you go from harem? Assuming you can avoid the famed School Days’ ending (which I thought was actually a very logical ending), you either move on (which ZnT doesn’t seem to want to do) or you stay in that harem zone. If you have two characters bonding over a difficult struggle in one episode only to have one of them ogle cleavage for the next 24 minutes in the next episode, then it kind of limits how much the characters can progress.
I enjoyed Louise as a tsundere but I don’t know if I can get through 2 more seasons of the same jokes and slapstick. I did like how the harem wasn’t completely one-sided and how ZnT flirted with male jealousy. Let me put it like this, Louise has options besides Saito and she’s not so instantly love-struck as to rule out her other offers. Compare that to HoTD, where the male protagonist by minute-3 takes a shovel to the (albeit zombified) head of the one guy who could pose any competition to his harem.
Overall: It’s cute and sweet at times, and has a story to tell. It’s also repetitive and filler-laden with inconsistent character progression and some lazy writing.
Blood/Gore: The fight scenes were pretty tame even by PG-13 standards. Not boring though.
Love/Romance: I addressed this earlier. If you’re willing to look past the ecchi then it’s there.
Sex/Nudity: non-nude ecchi.
