Reviews

May 14, 2008
As a sequel to the highly entertaining Zero no Tsukaima, I had expected a continuation of the first season with more fleshed out stories, more character development, and just overall better material than what Futatsuki no Kishi provided. Don't get me wrong, the second season doesn't fail, it still provides a decent story with plenty of comedy and lplenty of fan service to back it up, but what Futatsuki mainly lacks is consistency. I feel as though Futatsuki could have stood alone as an entirely different series, as it seems as though if the characters were placed in a situation where they met their first season counterparts, they would barely recognize themselves.

Story: 5
While I'd recommend watching the first season first (for obvious reasons), I think that really, it wouldn't be too hard to just pick up from here and start watching. This is one of the main problems involving the story as I mentioned in the introduction.

I'm almost convinced that in the Zero no Tsukaima world this time around, having boobs or liking them makes you dumb, as the only sane person in the anime for the second season seems to be Louise.
Furthermore, Louise and Saito must be the most beautiful couple to ever grace their land, as every busty female character seems to go after Saito, and the handsome male characters after Louise. For every episode, be prepared to find Saito coming into contact with the cleavage of at least one female member of the cast.

The story doesn't actually get serious until the last two episodes, where it feels as though these last few ones could pass off as a continuation of the first season. In fact, I'd say that this is really the only saving grace for the story, and although the ending invokes an awfully convenient deus ex machina to wrap things up, the last episode as a whole was pretty moving and even made me a bit teary-eyed.

The second season more or less has transformed the series into a pure harem anime relying on fan service and fan of the first season to keep viewers, and for this genre, it does well. However, I feel that since that the first season didn't quite have this degree of females throwing their naked selves at Saito, that it didn't really fit in terms of the story.

At times, it is as though the story contorts itself in ways just to have Saito in a situation with a girl such that if he was walked in upon, it would look really bad, and of course, who but Louise should always walk in on these times. At least during the episodes, the story does progress some, saving it from becoming merely a mindless harem/ecchi anime. It is unfortunate that the story is somewhat weak and ending lacks any real conclusion, but it is good (I hope) that a third season is in the works. I should mention that at least the humor in the series isn't too bad, and also, like the first time around, the story is really predictable, but still fun to watch regardless.

Art: 8
This series contains some of my favorite character designs of any anime, especially Louise, who is just adorable; the female designs cater perfectly to those watching for fan service, and the male characters are handsome, as well. Some rather impressive effects and animations are pulled off during the series, especially regarding spells (with the exception of Void Magic). The coloring of the characters is rather pleasant to look at, and the rosy cheeks of many of the embarrassed females (particularly Louise) give off an adorable effect. Overall, I can't say the art is among the most picturesque I've seen, but it certainly doesn't fail to impress.

Sound: 8
I personally liked the very beginning part of the opening song, but after that, it just turns into your standard j-pop number, not particularly bad, but it doesn't really stand out either. Also, it maintain what they did in the first season in adding sound effects to the OP for the last episode.

I'm sure that many people will find the ED to be ridiculously annoying, but I have to say that I thought it was adorable and very fitting (of course, since the OP and ED were made for the series, but that aside). It is basically the perfect embodiment of what the first ten episodes will be like.

Besides the OP and ED, the music wasn't too bad overall, and fit in pretty well with the respective scenes they were in. Additionally, the voice acting definitely wasn't too shabby, either, with an experienced cast voicing many of the characters.

Character: 7
This is perhaps one of the biggest drawbacks of the second season. It feels as though nearly all of the female cast hit their heads on something hard and now have an unquenchable desire to make Saito the object of their affection.
Perhaps some of the new transitions are understandable, such as Siesta's newfound boldness, as it was seen briefly surfacing in the last season, yet instances like Episode 6 involving Henrietta are just plain ridiculous and seem forced. It is fortunate that Louise maintains her character, however, Saito seems to have changed from the average (slightly more than average in terms of bravery though) teenager whisked from his home to a standard anime pervert who drools at every sight of cleavage he gets despite the fact that he is (somewhat unofficially) together with Louise. Thankfully, he manages to regain his old self in the last few episodes but it's rather distracting having this "new" Saito prancing around. It seems as though the characters have actually regressed, rather than grown and developed like they should.

The budding relationship between Louise and Saito is sweet and fun to watch, although it's greatly stunted by the rough humor that is placed into nearly every episode, and doesn't really make any real leaps or bounds until the last few episodes, although there are a few scenes earlier on that are rather...risque, almost.

It's nice that they added new characters, but most aren't properly developed, and furthermore, that means less of the characters that you've already come to know from the first season. They gave back stories to many of the characters, such as Tabitha, and it's a shame that they didn't build on them more. The one exception would be the story surrounding Colbert-sensei, but I won't go into details as to avoid spoilers.

In summary, it's all your favorite characters from the first time around (plus a few new ones), just a bit more comical and perhaps perverted than before.

Enjoyment: 7
More or less, I found that my enjoyment of this anime was hindered by the excessive fan service and it's new extreme harem feel it had that contrasted with the first season. If I had watched Futatsuki no Kishi for it being a harem, I'm sure I would have loved it, however, I was hoping for more of the goodness that comprised of the first season, and was rather letdown.

Overall: 7
By the end, I'd have to say that the only reason I kept watching was for Louise, and in hopes that the third season will be better. If you've viewed the first season and liked it, then you should definitely check out the second season; if you haven't seen the first season yet, then I'd recommend it to you.
The second season doesn't quite live up to it predecessor, but it's not too bad in whole. Just don't get your hopes too high up. Also, as a harem, it succeeds with flying colors.

Score: 35/50; C- (70%)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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