Fun stuff.

It all starts with a kiss.

Then a bunch of stuff happens.

And it all ends with a kiss.

…

Hahaha… ok it’s not that simple. I wanted to do more than just post random caps but I couldn’t think of anything creative. The above lameness is all I gots.

Anyway, this was a fun watch. It was light-hearted for the most part while hitting a few dramatic high notes along the way. From what little I read about, this was different than what I expected and I’m glad to say that was a good thing. What I expected probably wouldn’t have turned out as interesting.

Much of this anime rehashes the same ‘ol. From the characters to the plot, it’s not much different from the usual. I watched the first few episodes and felt this would be something fun to watch on the side; a diversion from the usual headaches I self-induce from more serious anime. That is, until I caught the 5th episode.

Most of this was seemingly episodic. Seemingly. From episode 5 and onwards, bits of the main story lingered in the background while each episode focused on something different. When I look back at everything, it doesn’t feel episodic at all. The running story was always present. I found that refreshing. Cowboy Bebop is the only other anime I can think of that did something like that.

Cowboy Bebop used an episodic style to build up the characters’ individual stories. By the end, you get a solid grasp of all the characters as if you watched full-on story arcs about them. Zero no Tsukaima incorporated the same technique but focused more on building the final story opposed to just the characters.

Suffice to say, I really like this type of story direction.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t perfect. The final story should have kicked in an episode or two earlier and as such, it felt rushed. Basically, there was too much build-up. Up until the final moments of the last episode, I kept thinking this would end in a cliffhanger and get picked up in the sequel. It’s a minor complaint but I would’ve enjoyed the last story more if it was given more time.

Though the plot is not completely original, it did take a different spin on things. I mean, summoning a human as a familiar? Saito wasn’t too bad for his role. Beyond being a familiar, he is the male MC so I had to critically judge him at every turn, heh. He was a bit of an annoyance but definitely a good guy. He showed a nice face often so I gotta admit I liked him.

Even so, the cast was too cliche.

Their personalities lacked any bit of originality and that was disappointing. They did “perform” their roles well and I’ll give due credit for that. The only part that kept me interested for these characters were their backgrounds. They had more than simple stories and several of them had stories that wove together nicely. Simple characters with complex backgrounds, it didn’t turn out too shabby.

All in all, I enjoyed this anime. It’s great that there’s another season as I would’ve been pissed since they left off some of the story elements w/o a conclusion. That said, given the way some of the story was set up, it’s apparent they made this knowing they’d have more later.

Overall series score: 8.7 out of 10

It’s hard to judge this season by itself. If this was all there was, I’d rate it lower since parts of it was unfinished. Since I know there is more, my score is somewhat biased. Meh, I’ll leave it be.