Story: 5/10
If you were preparing yourself to watch a pants dropping fantasy show with a stunning, jaw dropping plot line, you'll be fairly disappointed. To be honest, there's not much to talk about regarding the story. Throughout the season, there wasn't anything fascinating or amazing about the plot line. If anything, it was pretty cliched and predictable. With regards to the ending, it really felt a little like deus ex machina and was kind of abrupt.
Art: 6/10
There isn't much to talk about in the art department. There wasn't anything stunning or jaw dropping. The animation was decent and fluid, so there wasn't any eye sores throughout the season.
Sound: 6/10
In regards to sound, there was nothing memorable. None of the shows tracks were ear catching or stunning. However, the sounds did set the mood well and were used appropriately. (Additionally, in my opinion, the opening song wasn't that great...)
Character: 5/10
The characters were very generic and cliched. You have this tsundere girl named Louise that later develops feelings for Saito Hiraga. Then you have Saito, a generic, Japanese boy that takes the sword and saves the day, totally uninteresting. The side characters don't really do much but add to the stories humor and, occasionally, plot line. Despite there being character development, there wasn't a major impact. The character development felt like the show took a sticker and placed it over table.
Enjoyment: 7/10
Despite the show being just a decent anime, I found myself enjoying this show a lot more then I thought I would. Something about this show made me want to watch more. Was it because of the shows harem? Maybe it was because of the shows 'misunderstanding' jokes? For me, I enjoyed it because of the pairing. Saito's and Louise's personalities are totally opposite which lead up to some humorous situations.
Overall: 6/10
This first season of the show is decent. The art, sound, and voice acting are all decent. All except for the story and the characters, they were pretty mediocre.
HOWEVER, this is just the FIRST SEASON of the SHOW.
I highly recommend anyone that gives this show at least a 5 or 6 rating to watch the second season. Though, in my opinion, the second season doesn't fix all the points, it makes an attempt to correct them. And one of the HUGE fixes they make would be in the character development between Louise Françoise and Saito Hiraga. This is a huge point that made the second season of the show, Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi, worth watching.
