Anime: Zero no Tsukaima: Princesses no Rondo

The third installment of this series adds a few more characters (adding to Saito's already ridiculous harem) and even more emphasis on ecchi- perhaps to compete with the increasing ecchi level in other shows? As with the second season, the story meanders through several unrelated arcs while only barely progressing Saito's relationship with Louise (it's been a logarithmic trend from first season onwards). If you've enjoyed the first two seasons then you might like a third installment. Be warned that for the most part it can be described as "more of the same".

Animation:
Despite the number of years since the original, I really don't notice any improvement to the animation- and by this time this really is overdue. Same background, same coloring, same lack of crispness, and same character designs- oh minus Tiffa. Who's that? It's the new well-proportioned half-elf. Yes, even more so than Siesta. Overall, you can expect exactly what was in the first two series (a bit of action and magic theme) plus an increased level of ecchi.

Sound:
We have a new OP full of ear-piercing Engrish and (how unexpected) yet another ED by Rie Kugimiya. If anything, this ED feels at least a little more in place than that in the second series. The BGM is pretty much recycled material by now.

We have a few more new VAs as the character list expands. The core standouts still remain Yui Horie, Rie Kugimiya, and Ayako Kawasumi. These characters really defined this series and their personalities continue to shine here. Yuka Inokuchi does get a bit more airtime this round, though she can't do much if her character is supposed to be emotionless.

Story:
The war with Albion is finally over and now Saito is a hero. In Zero-speak that means he is now a stud that every girl in Tristania wants for herself - excellent news for Louise and Saito's well being! However, the antagonists controlling Albion are still on the loose and continue on their quest to capture Louise.

There's a lot of side stories ranging from explaining the sudden ending in the previous season to the entire supposed "princess" theme of this season. Though to be honest, a lot of these arcs just give additional background (be it setting or character) rather than advance the actual plot. You could skip the majority of the first half of the season and not miss much other than some ecchi. This season also introduces the (previously unmentioned) elf vs. human racism that sets the stage for the final season.

In terms of plot dynamics, this season is not as strong as the second season. By now, you can easily predict the majority of plot twists in the show, and the fairly weak climax doesn't help much. While the series does devote a significant portion of time to character relationships the fact that the core relationship doesn't go very far (more jealousy and void explosions than anything else) kind of spoils the fun. Overall this is a fair story but not one to chain over.

Character:
There is a significant amount of interesting development in this season; the caveat being that it's between Saito and pretty much everyone other than Louise. As mentioned before, Saito's harem expands significantly here- meaning even more possible ecchi grabs and, well, let's just call them "encounters". While this is good and all, there are numerous additions to the roster that are really unnecessary and underutilized. In my opinion, it would have served the series to spend more time on the already strong supporting characters, which it eventually does in Tabitha's primary arc.

The best oxymoron by which to describe the Saito-Louise relationship is dynamically static. There's definitely a good share of arguments and misunderstandings, but ultimately they contribute nil to the actual overall relationship.

Value:
A lot of people have described the value as "well I've already vested x episodes", and I guess I fall under that category as well. This season does provide some interesting additional character relationships but doesn't move the series as much as it should have given its length. Hopefully the final installment will prove to be more focused than this season.

This review is based on the SS-Eclipse fan-subbed version.

Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] is the third season of a messy little comedy/action/ecchi of whose episodes vary in quality from the the absurdly funny to the relentlessly monotonous. As a fan of the original series, I already have a vested interest in the characters, allowing me to forgive some of this sequel's faults... but only to a point. First, let me bring everyone up to speed.

Season one of Zero no Tsukaima[/b] began with a fish-out-of-water story, with the male protagonist Saito being summoned from Earth (Tokyo, Japan, to be specific) to be the familiar of the female protagonist Louise, a loser of a mage with the nickname “Zero Louise” given to her for her apparent lack of magical talent. As the series progressed, it was revealed that Louise's magic is special, not fitting into the typical Wind, Water, Fire, Earth, and Nature categories. Louise is a Void mage, wielding the power of the Void, which is... well... that's not really made clear, but whatever it is, it can wipe out armies. Lots of fighting and training and “boo hoo I want to go back to Earth”.

In Season two, the action is toned down while the comedy and ecchi are toned up. I don't consider this to be a bad thing, as ecchi comedy has always been Zero no Tsukaima[/b]' forte. Season two seems to consist almost entirely of violent retributions for accidental infringements. The season ends on a dramatic note, as so many comedies are doomed to do, but it pulls it off better than most, with an inspired one-man romp through an army of 70,000 strong.

And now, to the meat:

Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] works well as an ecchi comedy, works not-so-well as an action anime, and works poorly as a drama. Thankfully, most of the series is made up of Louise beating the ever loving crap out of Saito for his many grave offenses, such as molesting other women (with their consent, usually), groping other women, grabbing other woman's breasts, brushing up slightly against other women, talking to other women, looking at other women, thinking about other women, doing absolutely nothing but appearing to be maybe perhaps possibly be considering the notion of thinking about other women, and many other women related offenses.

The comedy in Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] can be broken down into a handful of situations:

1)Saito does something that Louise doesn't like, resulting in Louise blowing him up with her wand, beating him with whatever is handy, or on special occasions, breaking out a very painful looking whip and beating him senseless throughout the night.
2)Most of the other women in the academy latch onto Saito for reasons beyond their control. (Reasons, such as the fact that they're characters in an ecchi comedy) This frequently results in Louise beating Saito mercilessly.
3)...there is no three.

Now, call me juvenile if you wish, but I laughed and chuckled quite often while watching Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b]. Don't ask me why, but violent retributions for accidental infringements, especially those in this series, manage to tickle my funny bone more often than not. Perhaps it's the sheer persistence the writers have for these jokes. I swear, Saito must have exploded 10x per episode due to any number of silly misunderstandings. As they say, if at first you don't succeed, beat your audience over the head with it repeatedly until they start laughing, or throwing up.

Now for some technical aspects:

ANIMATION
The animation is quite good for a TV series, with a reasonably large cast that are easily discernible from one another without the need to sort them by hair color. The backgrounds, while not particularly detailed, are never distracting, and occasionally quite pretty. As far as the ecchi is concerned the character design focuses on large breasts, with Tabitha and Louise being one of the few exceptions. On the plus side, the ecchi is used more for humor than for titillation.

SOUND
This is one of those categories that can be difficult to review. While I could comment on how the OP/ED are reasonably pleasant but easily skippable, I feel like I've made similar comments in nearly all of my previous reviews. In my opinion, the sound is only an issue when it's noticeable; either noticeably bad, or noticeably good. The sound in Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] is neither. The seiyuu sounded fine to my untrained ears, and the music was never annoying, nor do I plan to download it anytime soon. Now if Louise were voiced by Kikuko Inoue (the voice of Belldandy from Ah My Goddess!) and the soundtrack had been done by Joe Hisaishi (Miyazaki's go-to guy) then there would be something to talk about! (Note: Kikuko Inoue does, in fact, appear in the series as the voice of Eleanor, one of Louise's sisters. Sadly, Eleanor is a rarely seen character)

CHARACTERS
Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b], like its prequels, has a rather large cast. Many of them receive no real character development apart from their respective cliches, though there are a few exceptions.

Louise is the main female protagonist, a void mage and blatant tsundere. When she's not blowing up various locations in an attempt to punish Saito for having a perverted look on his face, she's complaining about how Saito doesn't really love her, or maybe he does, or maybe he doesn't, or maybe...? Saito is the main male protagonist, Louise's familiar and a closet masochist. His screen time is spent either blowing up, or running headlong into danger to protect Louise, his domin... er... his master.

Apart from the two main characters, the only other characters that receive any meaningful development are Henrietta, the Queen of Tristain, who pines for Saito before sending him and Louise off into mortal danger, Cattleya, the captain of the guard who is searching for the man who destroyed her village, and Colbert, the school teacher with a dangerous secret. There is also a new character this season in Tiffania, an improbably stacked elf (seriously, I don't know how she can stand up with those things without a forklift, or some industrial strength crutches) who wields nature magic, and is responsible for Saito's resurrection at the end of season two. Her job appears to be to stand around and have massive breasts.

STORY
The story, what little there is apart from the comedy, revolves around another void mage in another country who wants Louise because... she's a void mage too, and if he collects 11 he can have the whole set? Honestly, I don't know. He never appears to be anything more than a cardboard cutout of a villain from a dozen other fantasy anime. He constantly commands his own familiar, a powerful mage named Sheffield, to attack the magic academy, and Louise and Saito in particular. She always fails, and he never really seems to mind. The description for Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] on this website implies that this season is about Louse and Saito no longer being master and familiar. That situation does occur, but that story arch is wrapped up after the first two episodes.

I feel like I've been documenting the series rather than giving my opinion of it. The important questions are simple: Is it funny, and is it entertaining? The answer to those questions are Yes, and Somewhat. The individual episodes which revolve around the ecchi comedy (a love potion spreads around the school, resulting in many of the female characters making out with each other, for instance) are genuinely funny, especially so if you find violent retributions for accidental infringements amusing. The episodes focusing on drama and action, however, tend to be duds. What little that happens in these episodes is never very interesting, or particularly well written.

Would I recommend this series? Yeah, I guess so. If you enjoyed the previous two seasons, season three is more of the same, and not always in a bad way. While there are worse ways to spend an evening, if you have yet to see some of the great or classic ecchi comedies (Tenchi Muyo: Ryo Ohki[/b] 1 – 3, Love Hina[/b], Kore ga Watashi no Goshujin-sama[/b] to name a few), you might want to consider holding off on Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo[/b] until you have.

Another summer has gone by... and another season of Zero no Tsukaima has been produced and watched. At this rate, one wonders why ~40 episodes have been made and not one thing has changed between everything and everyone in the setting. Saito is still an awesome pimp, Louise is still an irritatingly lovable tsundere, and their relationship still amounts to only barely above what they started out with. With this third season, we are introduced to Tiffania, the (half)-elf that appeared for a second or two last season, and a water-downed version of an intricate story that is decently entertaining thanks to a better effort in directing this time around.[br][br]Well, I'm still watching ZnT and after 40 episodes, I am anticipating a 4th season next summer, and why is this? What is so attracting about something that started off with so much hype and delivered so badly? I guess you can blame the state of anime back before 2006 and is still continuing to now: Saito is simply an awesome male lead character. Even when 50% of the series relies on him being surrounded by girls and never getting anything more than a kiss, he is simply fun to watch and we are all rooting for him to get what he deserves. Secondly is that we are all watching our favorite tsundere stereotype Louise, played by often type-casted Rie Kugimiya. I can never get enough of that squeally sexy voice that turns anything on whether it is in a bitchy or domestic mode. And thirdly I guess would be the female populace: new character Tiffania rivals Kirche is bustability but she dominates due to being voiced by Mamiko Noto, whose rash but soft-spoken voice is perfect for such a trivial half-elf.[br][br]Last season was a big failure, thus I fast-forwarded through the episodes a lot. The ending was a huge cop-out, too, as Walking Into Mordor turned into a cheesy 3 minute die-then-revive for the sake of a"baka inu" joke. This time around, things are more decent as the baka inu's have taken a back seat to make way for a better plot (or a lack of it due to) and MOAR FANSERVICE. Yes, no more stupid pornography book and silly items from the real world - bring in the big guns similar to the WWII fighter plane from season one! 80% of the story is focused on fanservice with the remaining 20% being sprinkled throughout the show at appropriate times. The directing is comparatively better than the 2nd season thus there was no reason for me to fast-forward through anything. Saito and Louise's relationship, while still often interrupted for the sake of the comedy, is better developed and actually progresses to a higher (but not by much) height. The only thing bothersome is a plot device somewhere 2/3 the way through that disrupts one of the better moments from season two. Also, I, being among some of the people who have read synopsis of some later parts of the story (search for Sushi-Y's summaries), was disappointed with the story elements and character interactions in this adaption. At least everything is better than last season.[br][br]Now I shall anticipate a 4th season... if there is enough story material for that to happen. Also, there are rumors that Saito actually gets in on with Louise later on...