Retsgip’s Anime Blog

Darkshaunz farewells our beloved Pink Thunder
Score: 8.7/10

Its finally here folks, the finale to the series we know and love as Zero no Tsukaima. We shared in their tears, smiles, magic hijinx, mischief and adventures. Alas, it is time we bid farewell to an enjoyable series, when viewed with a clear head and with expectations of fun and humour. Thirteen is my favourite number, so this episode doubled in significance for me. Ever since I decided to pick this up from the Fourth Episode, I had come to expect big things from this series…thankfully it went out with an acceptable bang.

Its trouble in Paradise.

Things start off rocky, with Louise contemplating the permanent loss of her beloved Saito. When Saito chases after her, she shrugs him off, knowing that it was what he has always wanted. Oh, the tragedy of love, is there no greater pain? Saito, being relatively thick headed decides not to pursue further and decides to break away from Louise one more time. Transition back to the castle, and it seems that Tristienian Strategists suck ass…Yes, Albion is attacking, but why are they losing sleep over it? They have Saito (Gandalf), They have Louise (Void), They have Team Rocket (Kirche, Tabitha and Guiche), hell, they have old man Osman. These guys have enough Firepower to give Imperial Star Destroyers a run for their money. Our delicious hime-sama decides its time to go to war. ALLRIIIIGHT, finally, a Hot Princess which knows how to kick some ass. Heaven or Hell, Lets Rock.

The Annual dress like a wizard convention was a Huge Success.

Transition back to Hogwarts Hall of Military Planning, and we have General Colonel Supreme Marshal Osman briefing his frightened subordinates (If you listen closely, you can hear one of them crapping their robes). So Osman declares that the academy will take a holiday, seeing as a whole continent is about to bear its full firepower force upon their tiny bastion. He also calls for any individuals who wish to help in their military campaign. Louise, having close ties with Henrietta, decides that it is her duty to fight for her country. But before that, one last goodbye, kind of like when a Soldier goes to war, and he looks lovingly at his wife and children one last time.

Sayonara….

SHES TOUCHING YOUR SPECIAL PLACE SAITO.

To nobody’s surprise, Saito wakes up finding his Lolicious master missing. He finds a note, telling him that he is fired, well hopefully the job market is not sucking at the mo-Oh wait, what job market? Its a Goddamned war now, sucks to be him. In the meantime, Louise pledges her loyalty and service to the Tristienien Armed Forces (T.A.F, yes I made that up), Trivia: T.A.F backwards is F.A.T (lol). Henrietta-sama is obviously pleased with this, and when the pledging/knighting ceremony is done, Louise is taken to her royal love pad and the two have at it. Well, not really, a bit of wishful thinking there….but we can assume it happens anyway.

The sparkly shit at the side is the scene-changing sfx. Its scary.

So the Royal Guards of Awesomeness set off ont heir defence of their homeland. Their wives and children clasping palms in the hopes that they will see their loved ones again. It’s one of those “Ride to Glory or Death moments” in a light hearted anime, once again, I am exaggerating, but it was something like that. But in Siesta’s village, shit is hitting the fan. Wait for it…Wait for it….AHAHAHAHA. Oh Yes. God Yes, eat it Siesta. I would have been content with just her getting killed by an Albion Death Rider, but it seems her whole family is going to get their hinds served to them on a silver platter. Not that I was complaining, at all. Hark! My fun was not too last too long, Hime-sama and Army arrive to reinforce the position (sigh).

These guys are meant to be badass. YEA RIGHT, nice Pink Dragons there.

I would also like to add that Pink Dragons are officially the gayest things anything medieval can possibly get, with Pink armour coming a close second. Back at the academy, Saito gets his X-Wing warmed up, Saito is excited. With the X-Wing, he can finally return to our world. On the way, he will shoot down Darth Vader and destroy two Death Stars, he will become a Hero. Actually, what happens is that Saito and the Professor have a very simple conversation. Colbert informs Saito that Siesta’s gonna die in a fire, Saito makes a “ZOMG NO WAI!11!!” face and decides to use the plane to liberate the Pink-Dragon infested town.

Saito is trying to achieve a different “Plane” of existence. Har Har.

Now, back to the Town under siege. We see Siesta fleeing with little children, no doubt to cook them in a huge pot and eat them. She escapes the explosions and dive bombing of the Albion Death Rider-Guys, simply by hiding under trees. Trees, every commander’s nightmare. Trees, the Bane of Tactical Assaults. Point being, Siesta survived (Oh Snap). But its ok, its counter-attack time. Unfortunately, Pink Dragons > Griffins in this anime. Maybe the Griffins just cannot handle the sum of gayness eminating from the Dragons, which is understandable. Guiche rides into battle, only to get Cannowned. He does raise a good question, its a FLYING SHIP, how will riding horses get them to the objective? Who were the commanders behind this assault? They all need to be fired. Then Shot. Repeatedly.

Summer Fashion: Combat Sombreros. ARRIIIBAAA!!!

Guiche realizes that he is laying on a Mine.

When all seems lost, when every swing of the blade seems to miss, when every charge fails in pushing back the enemy, when arrow strikes an ally instead of foe, you know things are not going well with the assault. So dial “S” for Saito. This was obligatory Saito saves everyone’s sorry ass section, and for a cliche’…it was done relatively well. Seeing the Zero-sen wiping the skies clean of Pink Dragons was a pleasing sight. In fact Saito does an awesome Cut Back Drop Turn with his Zero Fighter (E7 fans will know wtf I am on about).

Blue Speed Lines imply that serious shit is about to materialize.

Dragon Captain John Smith realizes that his Ass was about to get rammed.

Participants of SkyShow 2006 were pleased with the level of shooting and killing.

I personally loved that sequence. It was some oldskool dogfighting, and it proves that WWII planes can kill Dragons, pink ones especially. But in all seriousness, the Japanese Zero was a very versatile fighter bomber for it’s time. Read up about it on any WWII avionic sites, it has the charm and might that only WWII planes have. Back to this now, and after awesome skyshow of delicious owning by Saito, Louise questions what the idiot is doing dogfighting instead of climbing the skies and getting to the portal back to our world.

The teal tint in this scene was nauseating.

Realizing how much they suck, Cromwell decided to send his two cronies for some dogfighting. Ward was going to fly his Griffin (Rofl, Finally he FLIES it), and Fouste was going to do what she does best, summon her POS Golem only to have it severely shat on minutes after. Maybe that is why Cromwell has such a whacky haircut, after being surrounded by two clowns of immense stupidity, even an Evil Genius would cark it. Ward attacks Saito’s plane in his Wind Dragon or something, apparently what it lacks in firepower, it makes up in Uber Hax Speed (Speedhack). Being a good citizen, I reported him to my nearest admin, speedhacks are not allowed in fights to the death. He threw a mini tornado which was easily deflected by Saito’s mad skillz.

Shiny hand is SHINNEEYYYY

Whilst the Aerial combat is happening up in the heavens, there were more pressing needs on the ground. You got it, Fouste’s Annoying Kuchiyose no Jutsu throws up another ugly Golem (and Useless). But it seems that Imperial Knights of Magic can’t do jack all against it, go figure. But no fear, Team Rocket is here. Tabitha puts petals on golem. Guiche turns it into oil. Kirche burns the oil. The Jigsaw is complete, let the burning begin! Fouste became the next crispiest thing to a KFC original chicken drumstick. Golem Lickin’ Good.

Kirche is Hot. See what I did there?

After some owning of Golems, we are brought back to the delicious Louise. She wants to be with her beloved familiar, and Slyphid was going to get her there. When they reached an acceptable altitude, Louise did a perfect NAVY SEAL paratroop dive unto Saito’s plane. I swear, she may only be 16, but I think she was raised in the jungles of cambodia by Special Forces Personnel.

If this isn’t symbolism, I dont know what is.

Saito invests in one of those new laptop lolis. Its all the rage these days.

Now that Louise is nestled comfortably on Saito’s lap (Saito, you sly dog you). It’s time for some much needed romantic catch up. So they’ve established that they care a lot for each other, and that it was time to end the goddamn war so they can start going at each other like puppies in heat. Before they completely kick Ward’s can, however, there was going to be some stare into each other with loving, longing eyes time first.

I will gut the living crap out of you if I see you with Siesta again.

WTF!?

After this hilariously touching exchange of sentiments, Saito decides to put his excited hands on some hot loli property (lucky bastard). He declares a manly decree, “No Matter, Zerg, Protoss or Terran, by the Gods I will Protect my Lolicious Master”. As he prays, unlimited Hot Louise works. It worked! Louise said Saito lovingly four times and that was the On switch for Godmode (reported for hacks). Ward stood no chance.

Is that his sword or his boner?

When girls in anime get “Kaede eyes”, it means you are going to DIE.

UAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Cliche’d Death # 1: the White Glow)

I laughed so hard when Ward died. It reminded me of the Day of Saggitarius episode of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, when Yuki launches her Lance Beam at the Computer Prez’s Ship. He does this Battlestar Galactica death where he screams, “Glory to the Computer Society!!!” before dying by millions of plasma charged ions. Awesome work ZnT, that cliche’d death was well called (a no more fitting end of Ward). Cromwell tries to run away by holding Tabitha and Kirche back using his silly ring. But he gets smashed in the head by Guiche’s tree branch. No matter, back to our lovers now, and its up to them to end the series.

I like where this is going.

Finally. Now if only this happened in Shakugan no Shana….

…And they lived happily ever after.

…Or did they? Well we know that out of the three clowns, only two were owned. Where is Fouste of the Dirt? She got away….so their work is not yet done (Sequel ahoy). Also, was that kiss just a sign of a renewed contract? Hell no, they were having at it like hungry puppies. A pleasing ending I guess, the previous 12 episodes were building up for this moment after all. I guess it was their way of trying to make up for the ambigious Yuuji x Shana ending in Shakugan no Shana. One thing is for sure, as long as Siesta survives another new season, I will be here, waiting….with my sniping remarks.

Final Thoughts

Overall Series Score: 8.0/10

Characters:

Saito - I liked him a lot. He’s a normal guy, not spectacular, not fantastic….but he wont take shit from anyone. A pleasing break from anime where the guy lead is as useful as an empty bottle in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Don’t be mistaken, this guy will cut you up, especially if you get in the way of his loli master.

Louise - Louise is sexy. In more ways than I can list. The series is all about Louise, and her charm is simply irresistible. In comparison to Shana, she is no match obviously, but she comes close at times (which is an achievement in itself). Her dignified attitude, her Shana-isms, her voice and all that she does brings a cheeky grin upon my face.

Team Rocket - Tabitha and Kirche were a pleasure to watch, Tabitha’s little sub story had a lot of potential, but it was unfortunately ditched prematurely (its only a 13 episode season after all). Guiche is just damned annoying.
Jessica - Droooooooooool. Jessica onee-chan is infinitely hot. WANT.
Siesta - She lives to die another day. My time will come, and her head will be the trophy upon which I will gaze from my Crimson Throne.

Closing Remarks:
Zero no Tsukaima is one of those anime, where you say, “Bah I will probrably watch it and then forget most of it after a while”. I thought this was the case, but for what it is, a generic tsundere theme in a Harry Potter setting, it managed to keep my interest of 13 episodes. There is nothing mind-challenging, the character depth is questionable and the storyline didn’t really kick off until towards the end of the season. There’s an unmistakle charm about ZnT though, and that it is the mastery of the basic elements to make something fun to watch. Have you noticed the colours? Its filled with bright, uplifting colours (sometimes it was too colourful even for me), the characters themselves are pretty shallow…but that is what makes it easy to watch. If you want a mind-raping, go to Serial Experiments Lain.

I watched on because of Louise. There is no excuse for this, nor should there be. Louise is the essence, the breath of life in this anime. I watched playfully as she dons her short skirt, her Black maid dress, her White maid dress and nightgown. She’s the loli of 2006, and making her older predecessor; Shana proud. Her hair is also freaking awesome. Long, slightly curly at the ends-Pink Hair was well executed and no doubt send viewer’s MOEdar off the scales. Louise, being voiced by Shana’s VA, obviously helps add to the overall package. Louise is Louise, and she’s the sexiest magical girl yet (whipping by a Horse crop anyone?). You’d be lying if you said you didn’t like the whole bondage loli queen gist of things.

With the Shana movie coming out in November, ZnT is the perfect appetizer. When you are watching the OVA in November, you’ll thank Louise and Saito for easing you into the Tsundere scheme of things when we watch Yuuji and Shana reignite themselves, if anything.

Thank Yous:

Retsgip - Where would I be without you champ? Answer is: Somewhere bad, Probrably an Alternate Dimension Infested with Rabid Pokemon or some shit. Thanks for letting me contribute in this awesome bastion known as your blog.

Everyone who commented on my Entries - Its good to see that people actually want to see what I thought about Episode X. If you can put up with my writing style, I say Kudos to you. Don’t forget that your comments are valuable, I want to know what readers thought of not only what I wrote, but any general comments that they may have! Share your views!

Well champs, I will catch you soon when Shinsen-Subs pick up Black Lagoon: Second Barrage from the RAWS. You didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily could you? Muahahahahaa. Here’s to hoping that Revy and gang get the green light from the good folks at Shinsen-Subs, and so that I may praise and cry about the happenings of the anime to all of you.

Until Next Time!

Darkshaunz