The continuation of the 'Familiar of Zero' series, 'Zero no Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi' fairs slightly better than the first season in some aspects, but not by much. The previous season had some problems with one of the said problems being an uninteresting story. Another problem to address from the previous season would be the uninteresting characters, however this second season makes an attempt to spice up the story, and it does itself some justice...
Story: 6/10
Much like the first season, the second season of the 'Familiar of Zero' series doesn't really have much of a exciting story. The story is still very cliched and predictable. The last episode of this season was a little like that of the first season, which lead to me saying, "Of course."
However to the shows credit, it did attempt to spice up the story by introducing a few new characters. One of these said new characters is named Agnes, a knight for Henrietta; the queen of Tristan. The show reveals that Agnes had a terrible past and is looking to seek revenge against the person that made her endure that terrible past.
This leads to one of the shows major fixes, which is character development.
Character: 7/10
If anything, the second season of the show revolves around the character development between some of the characters such as Saito x Louise, and Agnes.
Agnes wasn't that bad of a character, if anything she was probably the most memorable supporting character out of all of the other side characters. This is because the show teaches us about her past and what motivates her to achieve revenge.
But besides Agnes, what's REALLY refreshing about this second season is the development of the relationship between Louise and Saito. Despite this relationship building being mostly in episodes 4, 10, 11, and 12 of this season, it was refreshing enough. The love-hate humor is still there, but because of the development between Louise and Saito, it made the humor more enjoyable because it makes the person watching this think, "She really likes him, and she cares for him." and vice versa with Saito.
Art: 7/10
The art factor of the season didn't change all that much, there just wasn't anything spectacular and eye catching. However, a memorable moment, at least for me, would be the flash backs of Agnes's past with the scenes involving fire. Was it memorable because it stuck out like a black bead in a container of white beads? For me, this was the reason why it was memorable. The animation for this part of the season was just a bit better then the rest of the other episodes.
Sound: 6/10
Regarding the section of sound, there wasn't anything memorable or worth talking about. To the anime's credit, the sounds were used appropriately when needed and gave the scenes the mood of the situation.
Enjoyment: 8/10
Despite this anime still having flaws, I fairly enjoyed this anime. I really enjoyed the last three episodes where the critical point of development between Saito and Louise bloomed (see what I did there? You gotta watch the last episode to get it.) Despite the ending being sort of like deus ex machina, it was still fun to watch.
Overall: 7/10
This second season of 'The Familiar of Zero' is good. It fixes some of the points that were needed to be addressed in the first season. The points being character development, and art.
Though the show still needs to fix its mediocre story, sound, and character development of the side characters (with the exception of Agnes).
As much as I would love to recommend the third season of this show, I don't recommend it to everyone. I for one, being a fan of the show, watched the third season. The third season is similar to this second season of the anime, but with even more character development between Louise and Saito with the addition of an arc regarding a certain mage.
If you are a fan of the show and want to see the Louise x Saito pairing grow, I recommend you watch it.
If you aren't a fan of the show, I recommend you watch at least episodes 1~5 and maybe episode 7 of season 3. Who knows? You might come to enjoy it.
