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.
