hontou ni
25Sep/0632

Zero no Tsukaima – Random aftermath thoughts


Royal Tsunderekko (3 : 0) Commoner meido

My friends tell me that in love, it’s BMW (best man/maiden wins). I beg to differ. In reality (even anime), it’s often MOW (most opportunistic wins). And we see this so clearly illustrated in Zero no Tsukaima. For this viewer, Siesta’s the best-est maiden in the series. Winsome personality, kind, understanding, beautiful and meido. Plus, she’s honest and bold to act on her feelings, creating opportunities to get into Saito’s pants favour. Yet, her contact with Saito pales in comparison to his forced interaction with Louise by virtue of their tsukaima liaison. (Reminds me of how a school idol lost to an adopted sister.) And despite Louise’s trademark tsundere dishonesty/violence and general ill behaviour, she scores time and again with Saito. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Louise as a character (although in RL I’d never consider her gf material), it’s just that given equal footing, Louise is unlikely to stand a chance against the wholesome charm of Siesta in the race for Saito’s heart.

Extrapolating BMW/MOW theorems to my anime palette (in a most farfetched manner), I was surprised that I found myself enjoying ZnT (Summer's best for me) more than Suzumiya Haruhi (Spring's best and also among animes' best offerings). Now before the HHH death squad hits me, kindly allow me some last words.

Undoubtedly, SHnY is the superior piece of work; animation quality, depth of characterisation, art direction etc etc. It's a sublime production. A best-est anime. But ZnT just presses the right buttons with me. While it has none of SHnY's sophistication, I love its simple but well executed plot. And meido for meido/tsundere for tsundere, I'd pick Louise/Siesta over Haruhi/Mikuru any day. (Although harem for harem, Kyon's un-worldly dan would square with Saito's off-worldly squad thanks to Yuki.) Even my eating habits reflect my philistine anime preferences. I'd prefer my favourite hawker fare over delectable fine dining. Truly, it's the heart over the head for this boorish anime watcher.

Ok, I've said my piece, HHH members can come do me in now.

Oh wait... a final prayer to the figure deities. O pls Kotobukiya-Kamisama, may there be a battle armour Henrietta and a enchanted-fairy Louise figure. Of course a meido or seifuku Siesta to make up for the seifuku tease in the OP.


Related posts:

  1. Should I give Zero no Tsukaima 3 a chance?
  2. Zero no Tsukaima 2 – Sequel turned spin-off?
  3. Zero no Tsukaima – light romance done right

Posted by

Filed under: Zero no Tsukaima Leave a comment
Comments (32) Trackbacks (0)
  1. AC
    September 25th, 2006 - 14:38

    The less you know about Siesta in the school uniform… probably the better. She somewhat… uh… left out something because Saito didn’t mention it when he was describing it to her. Something that probably resulted in a draft.

    ( REPLY )
  2. Tess
    September 25th, 2006 - 15:05

    I agree with you on some points… since while I enjoyed both ZnT and Haruhi very much, ZnT just put their formula together in a way I could really enjoy, more than Haruhi did. It was cute and well executed, and my only qualm would be the different paths they took from the novel. Not to mention I don’t like Siesta all that much either so… *looks away* I did like her more than Mikuru though, in personality (Mikuru’s much cuter though!).

    Douka yurushi wo, Oharuhisama~!

    ( REPLY )
  3. Pete Zaitcev
    September 25th, 2006 - 16:16

    I am looking for something smart to add, but no. I could not have said it better.

    ( REPLY )
  4. tj han
    September 25th, 2006 - 16:33

    We need a figure of Tabitha on her tsukaima. Eating up the Zero.

    ( REPLY )
  5. reslez
    September 25th, 2006 - 18:23

    My working theory of Anime Romance and Interplanetary Travel is that the first otherwordly female to meet the male protagonist, wins. This is also why long-lost childhood best friends can be so devastating. They have the ultimate prior claim. (I think this may even have been covered in NHK ni Youkoso recently.) Louise met Saito first, therefore Siesta loses. Louise even got the all-important first kiss at their very first meeting, which made it all that more certain. The other female characters were present only for eye candy and the defanged broadcast-quality ecchiness of it all. Cast your bleary eye down the mossy trails of past anime and you will see this holds with a confidence level of around 95%. Fushigi Yuugi and first-met Tamahome, Aa My Goddess and first-met Belldandy-sama, Bleach and Rukia, Naruto and Sasuke, ah grak I couldn’t resist sorry I end now.

    ( REPLY )
  6. Skane
    September 25th, 2006 - 20:49

    The less you know about Siesta in the school uniform

    ( REPLY )
  7. wontaek
    September 25th, 2006 - 22:06

    About the Kiss score, let me say this: Siesta knows how to score in this game. If the fate would be decided by kiss score, I don’t think I know of any character from any anime that would best Siesta in this game.

    ( REPLY )
  8. Tsubaki
    September 25th, 2006 - 22:42

    Why Kotobukiya? After what happened to my Arika (She’s starting to warp), I have zero faith in their products.

    ( REPLY )
  9. crimson
    September 26th, 2006 - 06:36

    regarding the first picture.
    Very.
    Very.
    Very.
    Nice pose.

    I would like someone to sit on my lap too.

    ( REPLY )
  10. cyw1988
    September 26th, 2006 - 08:25

    I looked at henrietta and i thought… Xena warrior princess… lol but anyway ZnT was the only anime i picked up this summer so i have nothing else to add accept it should have deserved more eps and to be redone by kyoto animation… XD

    ( REPLY )
  11. cyw1988
    September 26th, 2006 - 08:31

    oh forgot to add… the catch phrase from shana was urusai while the catchphrase for louise is inu.. probably everytime kugayami rie gets a role she will come with a catch phrase hehehehe

    ( REPLY )
  12. Stripey
    September 26th, 2006 - 09:32

    AC: LOL! That explains the BIG sweatdrop on Siesta in the OP. XD

    Tess: Yes, cute and well-executed indeed. :) I think ZnT had a stronger over-arching plot and being less episodic in nature (as compared to Haruhi), it managed more resolution at the end. I guess it also helps that I care more for Louise/Saito more than Kyon/Haruhi. :)

    Pete Zaitcev: Actually I think you captured the essence of ZnT better with this post.

    [Quote] It’s almost as if the creators collated all other harem comedies and decided to extract lessons from their successes and failures [Unquote]

    Can’t agree more. :)

    tj han: Ahh.. Tabitha on Slyphy would be impressive indeed. We can leave the Zero out of it though. Fouquet on her earth golem would make a good accompanying set too. :)

    reslez: Heh, yeah, if I’m not wrong whatishisname also met Ifurita rather early in El Hazard? :)

    Skane: I really hope they would animate the seifuku scene in season 2. Yes, let there be a season 2… pls! :)

    wontaek: Siesta scores more than Louise in the novels?! Ahh… I need to read them SOON! XD

    Tsubaki: ack! I really hope that’s an one off incident. :P Almost all my preorders for the rest of the year are Kotobukiya figures… :)

    crimson: Yes.. it’s… nice… especially while watching anime.. XD

    cyw1988: Heh, frankly I don’t quite understand why armor for the ladies must be skimpy. I’d think they would want to cover up more in case they scar their beautiful skin. And I somehow prefer “I…I…INU!” over “ORUSAI X 3″ Not sure it’s anything to do with me loving Louise so much more than Shana. :)

    ( REPLY )
  13. wontaek
    September 26th, 2006 - 11:17

    I think it would be better to say Siesta knows how to make a strong come back in Saito Kissing Game.

    ( REPLY )
  14. extraclassiclite
    September 27th, 2006 - 14:51

    We here at the Haruhiism Research Institute are baffled by these findings.

    ( REPLY )
  15. cyw1988
    September 28th, 2006 - 23:24

    Heh u do realise that shana is not as volatile as louise… ie. compare the no. of times saito got kicked in his crotch to Yuji. Saito 5+ Yuji 0… Shana knows how to preserve her lover’s manhood.. ^^;;;

    ( REPLY )
  16. Stripey
    September 29th, 2006 - 00:27

    wontaek: ??! *blushes for Siesta*

    extraclassiclite: We at Institute for Strategic Studies on Stripey’s Anime Fetishing are also baffled. XD Honestly, it’s a real surprise for myself. I really think it’s cos I care sooo much more for Louise/Saito :)

    cyw1988: LOL! Yeah, she’s soooo gonna regret it if they can’t have little Louises and Saitos in future. Also it also takes a certain realisation. For example, once you discover how lovely canned sardines are, you’d take better care of your only can-opener? haha! :)

    ( REPLY )
  17. wontaek
    September 29th, 2006 - 01:06

    >>> In reality (even anime), it

    ( REPLY )
  18. wontaek
    September 29th, 2006 - 01:08

    >>> Shana knows how to preserve her lover

    ( REPLY )
  19. wontaek
    October 1st, 2006 - 05:35

    >>> Reminds me of how a school idol lost to an adopted sister.

    You are talking about Miyuki series, right? [:)]

    ( REPLY )
  20. Stripey
    October 1st, 2006 - 08:09

    Sorry wontaek, missed out your earlier comments. And man, those are REALLY words of wisdom! I need to repeat this to ALL my single pals. XD

    And about ???, it is the same as ‘the designated girl’ say like Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi? :) The issue with designated girls I feel is that they make the series too predictable. Which was why I like SHUFFLE, Kaede the seemingly designated girl, lost. Same for Kagihime. :)

    >>You are talking about Miyuki series, right? [:)]

    LOL! You tease. Now you getting me really interested in Miyuki. XD

    ( REPLY )
  21. wontaek
    October 1st, 2006 - 17:34

    >>> And about ???, it is the same as

    ( REPLY )
  22. wontaek
    October 1st, 2006 - 17:49

    http://www.animesuki.com/series.php/223.html

    http://www.tokyotosho.com/search.php

    http://www.mangaupdates.com/releases.html?search=1077&stype=series

    These are all the Miyuki downloads I can find. In teresting that the anime series was broadcasted in Germany, France, and Italy, but not in English speaking countries.

    ( REPLY )
  23. crimson
    October 6th, 2006 - 09:24

    it seems like i’m getting this afterall.

    Half baked sorceress summons me then suddenly planted her warm lips on my lips. Sounds like an interesting start for me!

    ( REPLY )
  24. crimson
    October 8th, 2006 - 09:09

    I’ve watched 6 episodes so far. The agony of waiting for each episode is killing me abit.

    So far, for my own references, I’ve associated it with traces of:
    1. Slayers (the really violent female lead + male lead using sword), and,

    2. Suzumiya Haruhi’s concept of: moe (zelpusto), YUKI (YUKI pretending to be Tabitha), Haruhi (louise!), Kyon (Saito), Koizumi (probably i’ll give it to Guiche since he tried so hard with his pet mole)

    3. Kyou Kara Maou (a talking sword! ok, in Kyou Kara Maou, it was a bass ‘singing’ sword…so maybe its a bit towards the swordians of Tales of Destiny – PS1 game)

    Well, I’ve enjoyed the watch so far so much that I demanded to be summoned, lol. Ok, so now you probably know what happened to me if you dont hear from me for a year or more.

    I think the action sequences were pretty well done too (as like in episode 6 where they realised who the thief Sandy Flouret is, and Saito repositioned his blade and did some dashing slashes at the golem’s feet…nice insert of music too especially at that point where it started out with piano with backing by the electric guitar).

    ( REPLY )
  25. Stripey
    October 8th, 2006 - 11:14

    Glad you like it brother! :)

    I was rather impressed by the music too. Apparently he’s the same composer for Rozen Maiden (Season 1 and 2). The action scenes I thought were rather inconsistent. Some battles were fluidly animated, others rather skippy. But of course most of us enjoy it for Saito/Louise/Siesta antics. :)

    I watched the first 7 eps on youtube actually. Just couldn’t wait for the downloads. XD

    ( REPLY )
  26. crimson
    October 8th, 2006 - 18:18

    omg…youtube…i never thought about that…

    ( REPLY )
  27. crimson
    October 10th, 2006 - 05:26

    ah, i finished it…. it cant end with just a dog calling. I demand season 2.

    Come to think of it, there’s the generous treat of valleys. Oooooo, good o tavern girls. Then I realised the print “JC staff”. Link that with melody of oblivion… and i guess i should have known what feast to expect.

    Anyway, it was a short and enjoyable ride with zero no tsukaima. Maybe 13 episodes is a good number since too many episodes might cause the series to be diluted with excessive sightseeing.

    ( REPLY )
  28. crimson
    October 10th, 2006 - 05:32

    anyway, renewing a contract with a kiss is waaaaay better, simple and costly than restarting time (magikano).

    ( REPLY )
  29. crimson
    October 14th, 2006 - 00:10

    i forgot to mention, this has gotta be my favourite segment in the whole show (together with the slow piano piece):
    Episode 13>>>
    villain: “This time I’ll make sure your legend fades into the past!”
    Saito: “I’m neither a legend, a noble, nor a commoner.”

    Ahh, the irony of being associated to the void/zero.

    ( REPLY )
  30. Stripey
    October 16th, 2006 - 22:21

    hehe glad you enjoyed it too crimson! :) The end kiss is classic tsundere. I love it. The music’s outstanding for me too. Have I mentioned it b4? The composer for Rozen Maiden (both seasons) also did the music for ZnT. :)

    ( REPLY )
  31. crimson
    October 17th, 2006 - 07:24

    mm, I need to get Rozen Maiden from my other friend then..

    ( REPLY )
  32. Stripey
    October 17th, 2006 - 09:03

    Oh I found Rozen maiden very enjoyable, both seasons. Waiting for the 3rd which is coming real soon. :)

    ( REPLY )

Leave a comment

(required)

No trackbacks yet.

» «

Search Hontou Ni

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Series & Themes

Maki Maki Blogroll

RSS Danny Choo

@ZylZaku

Meta