Zero No Tsukaima: Futatsuki no Kishi

Information of Anime

This is the direct sequel to the first season of Zero no Tsukaima.  Henrietta has now become queen for her country.  They are about to rage war against Albion due to the previous battle.  She approaches her old friend Louise Francoise le Bran de la Valiel & her familiar Saito Hiraga for help as they possess the rare & power void magic.  The reason for their help would be the lost ring that the pair recovered from the previous battle.

Storyline (CONTAINS SPOILERS)

Below is a summary of the storyline I've seen.  If you haven't seen the series yet & don't want to be spoiled, skip this section.  If you want to know the story & want to see how I viewed it, read on.

The story picks up where the first season ended as time passes.  Still the knight to the now queen Henrietta, Louise & Saito carry out a mission under secret for the queen to help battle against Albion.  Her kingdom approved to rage war against them after the result from the previous battle.  However, someone has taken the ancient ring again which causes a stir within the kingdom.  As a result, war is rage against Albion & Henrietta who's actually against the war requests Louise & Saito to help her as secret agents.  As this is going on, all the male students from the magic academy are sent to war as the female students stay & get trained for war by the royal army.  Louise's two elder sisters are asked to come to the academy as well.

With the war going on, the relationship between Louise & Saito get rocky.  Noble's pride, commoners, & their love.  In the final arc, Saito drugs & replaces Louise in helping Henrietta escape from Albion's trap as being the bait.  Against an army of seven million, Saito takes them head on as Henrietta & Louise escape.

The show ends with everyone back at the magic academy as they think Saito is dead.  However due to a flower that Louise brought before the battle that was used a fake wedding prop, it responds to Saito's presence.  Seeing him outside the academy gates, Louise is happy.  However it becomes an angry feast when she learns that Saito was revived from death by a big breast fairly that got him going bonkers.

My Personal Review

Zero No Tsukaima: Futasuki no Kishi is still as funny as the first season.  Saito's stupidity & Louise's cuteness is still a great combination that will spark a lot of people's attention.  Again, most of the humour is from Saito getting punished for his perverted behaviour.  Personally, I would recommend watching this show even though it has a small harem in it.  But, watching the first season first is a must to understand where the characters are coming from.

Animation

Same as the first season.  The character designs are done by Masahiro Fujii, the same person that did Shakugan no Shana's designs.  Looking at it, you can see the similarities right away.  The sharp chins on triangular-like faces & the large eyes.  I wasn't not too fond on that design at first, but I'm fine with them.  It's looks more cute now & I'm seeing how most of the characters look different from one another, not a copy of some character.  Also, Saito is quite manly than feminine looking.  There are times where the faces changes in some situations.  Most of the times it's from Saito getting punished.  The bruises & cuts he gets really makes him look funny.  Louise's angry face looks pretty cute as well.

The backgrounds are on the dull side as well.  They are quite blurry probably to show some aging on the buildings.  They are quite detail really, but not to the point where it looks good.

For the colours, it's bright with a shade of dullness in them.  They seem a little grainy, but it's probably become I'm watching a medium quality source.  It's not flat, but they seem to have 1 solid tone.  Not much shading, especially on the characters.

In terms of the animation movement, it's quite choppy.  The quick dashes & charges that Saito does in battle looks like it's missing some frames at times.  It doesn't look natural.  Also, the attacks that Saito receives from Louise that makes him fly into the air & bounce around isn't too smooth as well.  The strange thing about it is that it only seems to occur with Saito.  The other characters don't seem to have this problem.  I'm not sure if the animators were cutting corners about this or trying to make Saito a comical character.

Sound       

Same as the first season.  There is a mixture of realistic & silly sound effects in this anime.  They set the mood well in terms of the comedy aspect.  However, the cues for the sounds seem to be off.  You tend to notice this when the show uses that magical wipe effect to switch scenes.  It's like a second to half a second late.  At times, they tend to be fuzz when set at a loud volume.  It's mainly the loud booming sounds.

Same as the previous season again which is good as the seiyuus here are excellent.  I like Saito's voice as it fits his character.  Louise's seiyuu is one that I've started to get use to now.  It annoyed me a bit in Shakugan no Shana, but I've come to like it as it fits Louise's character.  The other character voices that lacked some impact or overdone in the emotions department before have now improved here.

The music is ok as it creates that comedic mood for the show & is the same as the first season.  They are mainly pop style with a touch of old English sounds.  They aren't memorable though as I tend to forget what the music sounds like.  The opening & ending themes are new, but they aren't very great to me personally.

Story

It's the war against Albion & the story is continued from the first season.  The story is actually nicer & interesting in this season as the main plot is revealed.  Lots of action & we get to see some of the other character's backgrounds more deeper.  Even the newer characters get a piece of the action.  The relationship between Saito & Louise is expanded from noble to commoner, to master to familiar, to lovers.  However, the story is still incomplete.

The ending doesn't wrap up the show.  Instead, it sort of improved the relationship between Saito & Louise.  The war against Albion is still ongoing & the evil mastermind is still at large & not reveal to Saito & Louise.

Overall Conclusion

Zero No Tsukaima: Futasuki no Kishi is funny show that I enjoy watching.  When I heard about the second season, I was filled with joy.  Like the first season, I'm like a hungry dog waiting for the next episode to be released & watch it ASAP.  I strongly recommend watching this show for the comedy & the storyline looks promising as the show is taking time to develop it.  However, if you haven't seen the first season yet, it's highly recommended to watch that first before this.

Zero No Tsukaima: Futasuki no Kishi receives a seven out of ten on its report card.  The show is, I think, more funny than the first as we see Saito being more perverted now.  Unlike the first season, this one focused on the relationship between Louise & Saito strongly.  However, the ending is disappointing like the first season but possibly worse as the war isn't over.  In fact, it's far from it.

Last updated on January 22, 2008