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ゼロ�?�使�?�魔

Release: 07/2006
Episodes: 13
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance
OP: “First kiss” by ICHIKO
ED: “The Real Feeling” by Rie Kugimiya

Impressions:

I will definitely follow this, even if no one subs it. The character designs aren’t too exceptional, but pretty good. The OP is nice, but I didn’t like the ED as it was sung too cutely (by Rie Kugimiya – Louise). The first thing I noticed is that Louise, the main character, is voiced by Rie Kugimiya, the same person who did Shana in Shakugan no Shana. Louise resembles Shana and her ‘Urusai’ sounds exactly like Shana, but she only says it once. ~Sigh~ brings back memories… I hope things will get more interesting soon!

Summary:

Zero no Tsukaima, which means Zero’s Familiar, features a young girl called Louise de la Valiel, who is a second year student attending the Tristein School of Magic. She can’t control her powers very well and her attempts at spell-casting usually result in destructive explosions. By the second year, she has earned herself the nickname of ‘Zero’, referring to her capabilities in magic: zero.

During her first alchemy class of the year, the new teacher, Mrs Chevreuse, talks about the four elements – water, fire, earth and wind, and informs the class they will be focusing on earth magic this year. She demonstrates a basic alchemical spell – changing rock into brass (although some mistake it for gold). Mrs Chevreuse then randomly chooses a volunteer to attempt the spell, which happens to be Louise. Her classmates attempt to inform the teacher about her incabalities as a magician, saying that it will be dangerous if she is allowed to try. Mrs Chevreuse, who has just been appointed a teacher, does not know of Louise’s past, and think her students are claiming alchemy itself is dangerous, which it isn’t. She allows Louise to try to turn the rock into brass, but this results in a large explosion which destroys the room and knocks the teacher unconscious.

Later on, Louise runs into Kirche, Montmorency and Tabitha. Kirche asks her if she as to go to the disciplinary room again, or worse, been expelled. Louise says that there was no punishment, as the blame went to the teacher who let her carry out the spell. Kirche and Montmorency begin laughing, and Louise says it was because she was just having a bad day. Kirche comments on how she’s always having a bad day and that she hasn’t even earned her secondary name yet. She can’t wait till tomorrow to see what kind of Familiar Louise will summon. Louise says she has complete confidence in her summoning capabilities and she will summon the most beautiful, holy and powerful servant, which she regrets saying later on.

The next day, it is time for Summoning Ceremony, where the students must summon a familiar; their servant for the rest of their lives. The Ceremony progresses and almost everyone manages to summon a familiar. Guiche D. Gramon, a blonde student in the Louise’s class who acts like a prince (and probably is, as they are all nobles), summons a mole-like creature, which wasn’t what he had in mind. The red-headed Kirche summons a fire-breathing salamander, indicating her elemental property is most likely fire. In the end, Louise is the only one who hasn’t attempted to summon a familiar yet, so everyone crowds around her, eagerly waiting her failure.

Gathering all her courage and willpower, she comes up with a strange incantation and performs the summoning – which again results in a massive detonation. However, as the smoke clears, everyone notices a boy lying on the ground in front of Louise – she had summoned a human as her servant! The boy, who doesn’t understand what everyone is saying as he speaks Japanese (which means everyone else is speaking another language), tries to escape from such a strange place. Not allowed to try again, Louise is forced to accept the results and grabs the struggling boy, kissing him to seal their contract. Soon after, the ‘familiar rune’ is seared onto the boy’s hand, causing him to faint.

During the evening, the boy wakes up to find himself lying on a pile of (hay?) in Louise’s room. As if waiting specifically for him to wake up, Louise gets undressed in front of him and orders him to wash her clothes. The boy is obviously shocked and starts to rant about why he’s there, (which comes out as gibberish to Louise as she doesn’t understand). Remembering a silencing spell she had learnt last year, Louise tries to mute her familiar, but once again causes an explosion instead. Although the spell failed, Louise realises she had achieved something better, and that is piercing the language barrier. She and her familiar can now understand each other! (How convenient…) Louise asks the boy for his name, which turns out to be Hiraga Saito. She begins to explain to Saito about his duties as a familiar, only to have him run away. Quickly putting her clothes back on, Louise chases after him, asking Guiche for help. Guiche uses his levitating skills to bring Saito back, which is when he notices the two moons in the night sky, making him finally believe he is in a world of magic.

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