Overview

Here's a premise that's probably been done before, and will probably be done again. Take your standard second-year apprentice mage, and give her a nickname - Zero. A number to reflect how many successful spells she's cast in her life. A student who's mistakes are so explosively spectacular that her entire class panics when the new teacher asks her to demonstrate a spell. Congratulations, you now know the first of two main characters in Zero no Tsukaima. Now picture a young man from our modern day world; average height, average build, and an uncanny knack for figuring out ways to twist situations around into his favor.

Review

So, you're walking along down the streets, just minding your own business. The street isn't crowded, but it's not really busy either. It's a perfectly normal day - or at least, it was until this glowing green blob of energy appeared in front of you. Being the curious sort of person you are, naturally, you reach out and touch it... Skip to another world, where an apprentice mage named Louise has just cast a summoning spell to call forth her familiar for the first time. Now, Louise has a problem, and it's a problem that is best summed up by her nickname: Zero Louise. And guess who's spell gone awry has just sucked you from your world into hers. A world where the Nobility are those with the ability to use magic - and the sorry sods like you, who can't, are merely commoners to be trod upon. Life's just about to get even better for Saito, the young man pulled through, because not only are he a mere commoner... he's also, with a kiss, Louise's familiar.

I have to admit to a certain amount of trepidation going into Zero no Tsukaima. I'd thought that the series looked interesting at first glance, having looked it up on AniDB when the title flashed by in my RSS feeds. But, there's a certain amount of reserve that I've learned to hold for any school-setting series, be that series mundane or fantasy as ZnT is. Beyond that, as promising as the first fifteen minutes were, I have a particular knee-jerk reaction to the level of disdain shown towards 'Commoners' that was shown when Saito, the male lead of the series, first got pulled into the world. It's a necessary part of the storyline, but still... That having been pointed out, I'll ask that you take it with a grain of salt - like I said, that's an automatic response I have to any sort of treatment like that, so it might not be as bad as I saw it being.

The characters thus far are pretty well varied. Saito is an average teen from our world, if perhaps more honorable than the normal. Louise is a spitfire, and while she really needs to be turned over somebody's knee and paddled red, she's a good kid in general. But she really needs to sort out her ideas on commoners and Saito. The extended cast includes Kirche, a fiery-haired nymph dead set on getting into Saito's pants, Tabitha, a bookworm with more than her fair share of secrets, and a headmaster that'd give Albus Dumbledore a run for his money.

Character design is average, but varied. My only real problem is that none of the characters from Louise's world seem to have a sense of self-embarrassment, including Louise, who's constantly undressing in front of Saito. Normally, that wouldn't be a bad thing, but Louise is undeveloped enough that I find myself very uncomfortable with those scenes. On the other hand, it brings me to one of Saito's skills, that being the ability to attract women at an insane rate... and every single one, thus far, has been exceptionally gifted in the 'babe' department, a truth which has not been lost on Louise. You almost start to feel sorry for Saito, as the guy's got a will of solid adamantium in resisting all the babes throwing themselves at him. Too bad Louise doesn't believe him for a second.

Animation is smooth and clean, not much else to say there. The voice acting is great, and one of the series high points. I'd have given the Op and End themes higher marks if not for the fact that, as I've mentioned before, there's been a glut of really, really great themes this season. Still, great work on the part of the sound team for this series.

Overall

Having pointed out my own personal aversion to the whole "Commoners < Nobles" thing present in this series, I have to admit that my initial trepidation has been pretty much smoothed over by episode nine. Once things got going - and that theme got toned down a bit - Zero no Tsukaima settled into what looks like a very promising mystery adventure style of series, with flavorings of romance. There's a good deal of plain old fashioned laugh out lout comedy to be found, with plenty of sight gags. I have misgivings with how comfortable the producers were with undressing Louise for the camera due to her undeveloped body, but those scenes are skipable if you feel the same way. That aside, Zero no Tsukaima is settling in with every appearance of a solid fantasy series, and I'll be interested to see where things go from here. Three and a half out of five, worth a look if you like fantasy shows.