zero no tsukaima 6

Any sufficiently advanced deus ex machina technology is indistinguishable from plot magic.

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Somehow, Saito is allowed back into Louise’s classroom, and he incurs her loli-wrath by getting pampered by Kirche. Eventually Louise, Tabitha, and Kirche end up in the Headmaster’s office recounting the theft of the Staff of Destruction. Watching the thief lead the investigation reminds me of OJ’s search for the real killers for some odd reason… anyway, the Headmaster wants the Ouran Academy to retrieve the staff to avoid losing face, but no one volunteers to do so.

Of course, the wrathful loli, the well-endowed seductress, and the mute bookworm volunteer for this task, and, to top things off with a cherry on top, they’re going to be led by the thief. Don’t the instructors and other elders at the academy feel a bit shameful letting this motley crew go out instead of them? Wouldn’t you think one of them would ask, “Hey, I know this is kinda unorthodox, but shouldn’t one of us more skilled, experienced, older mages go instead of sending out the zero magic mage with the playboy familiar?”

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Oh well, the motley crew set out in a significantly cheaper version of the harem buggy, and small talk reveals that Ms Longueville was stripped of her nobility. The group eventually reaches an abandoned cabin, and they find the Staff of Destruction there with no signs of Fouquet. Ms Longueville slips away, and the mage students and Saito get attacked by a golem. What are the frickin’ odds of that happening? Despite being more “powerful” than Louise, both Tabitha and Kirche can’t dent the golem… and Louise is faring the worst as the golem goes for her. Saito comes to Louise’s rescue, shouts out, “Deus ex machina, be my strength!” regains his Himura Kenshin-like swordsmanship, but still fails to dent the golem (since it keeps rebuilding itself).

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Even though Saito managed to get Louise to a safe spot, she can’t sit idly by and let her familiar slowly lose this unwinnable battle, so she takes the Staff of Destruction and waves it at the golem– to no effect. Why? The Staff of Destruction is a frackin’ shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon (SLMAW). Saito recognizes it, takes it from Louise, and with his deus ex machina weaponry ability, he uses it to take down the golem.

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Fouquet reveals herself, takes the SLMAW, aims it at the wrath-loli, the seductress, the mute, and the commoner, only she doesn’t know that it’s out of projectiles. OTL. Saito K.O.’s her. Later on, Saito explains to the Headmaster that it’s a weapon from his world and wondered if it was a clue for him to return. The Headmaster explains that thirty years ago, a man came along and saved him using one of these Staffs of Destruction but quickly died afterwards. He kept one for safekeeping (I’m guessing the unfired one, duh).

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To celebrate their victory, Ouran Academy and its Host Club throws a ball celebrating the heroines… and Louise is looking mightly cute in her outfit as she asks Saito (still stuck in the same clothes!?!) for a dance.

This episode reminds me of that one Buffy the Vampire Slayer arc where she fights against a demon revived from the past “who cannot be killed by any mortal weapon.” So Buffy asks Xander to go into his military mode (remember, he gained this power during that Halloween episode) and acquires a SLMAW. Buffy eventually points said rocket launcher at the demon, who laughs at her… only Buffy says something like, “Mortal weapons have come a long way” and utterly pwns the demon. Basically, Clarke’s third law: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

(Of course, I can always bring up the F-16s in the Escaflowne PS2 game hunting down poor Van, but I tend to prefer to pretend that never happened. You hear me? There was never an Escaflowne PS2 game.)

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(Wait for next episode for textless HD)

Lastly, I’ve been chomping at the bit to get at this episode not because it contains Saito maniless or Louise kawaiiness, but did you see that next episode preview? My Oyashiro-sama. I haven’t been this excited about a next episode preview since I saw Meyrin’s hair down. Okay, enough babbling … onto the power rankings…

Zero no Tsukaima Character Power Rankings™

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1. Saito HD

Dude finally shows the promise that he had many moons ago. You gotta love his deus ex machina powers… actually, no you don’t. I find it amazing that this episode implies that he’s proficient with all weapons, not just a sword. It’s like the Matrix… “Tank! I need to learn how to fly this helicopter, RIGHT NOW!”

I also find it weird that using a SLMPAW is an intellectual ability more than a physical ability. You have to know how to go down the checklist and fire the thing, but it doesn’t require superhuman agility or strength to operate. Using the sword, though, Saito “feels quicker” which implies that he gained not just a rudimentary understanding of sword fighting but also an upgrade to his body. I find this power very hand-wavy.

(I’m disappointed that Saito still wears the same clothes… wouldn’t they have him wear something more formal to the ball? He looks really, really out of place there.)

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2. Louise HD

Looks like puppy love! Loved this scene. Loved Louise’s gnat-like magical pecking of the golem. Uh, what happened to that fireball from the previous episode? Loved her swinging that bazooka around. Loved her reaction when the Headmaster couldn’t find praise for her so he starts talking about Saito instead. But I enjoyed that final dance scene with Saito more… just because it gives me hope we can somehow shift away from this Harry Potter nonsense into some steamy trashy romanctic series.

(The more I think about it, the more I believe that JC Staff could have hit a Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya-type of home run if they made Zero no Tsukaima into more of a shoujo series along the lines of Strawberry Panic mixed with trashy romance elements and make the action secondary. Too bad.)

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3. Kirche HD

President of the Saito Fan Club.

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4. Fouquet HD

I still can’t get over the fact that absolutely no one suspected that it was the green haired chick. Look around in Louise’s class… there’s like no one with green hair! Not only do they both have green hair, both about the same height, both about the same breast size, both about the same clothing (minus a hood). At least Fouquet had a plan to get the mages to show her how to use the rocket launcher… she earns points for that one.

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5. Tabitha

A poor, poor, poor, poor man’s Yuki Nagato. Sorry, Tabitha is just not interesting or pwning enough.

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6. Staff of Destruction

I’m not a military person, but it looked like a M72 LAW-type of launcher. The problem, of course, is that the way this scene is laid out, Louise would have been cooked by the backblast of the LAW. Oops.

(For comparison, the newer SMAW has a backblast that is lethal out to thirty meters and a 45 degree cone.)

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LAST. Siesta

For not appearing in this episode. Unforgivable. I’m steamed because I don’t even have a screenshot for her, so I’m tossing the new girl in the preview who looks like the Canadian from North High.

BTW, with this episode and promise of tons of meido Louise next episode, does Zero no Tsukaima overtake Shakugan no Shana? Is the Pink Haired Zero Magic Mage better loli bait than the Flame Haired Red Hot Eyed Hunter? Think Kirshe is more melonpantastic than Margery? Does Siesta out-meido-moe Wilhelmina ? Will Henrietta out-seduce Yoshida? Can Saito surpass Yuji’s manliness? I know it’s early for Zero no Tsukaima, but I’m curious to what everyone thinks especially since both shows have similar feeling anime adaptations (JC Staff being JC Staff) yet very different source materials. I’ll have to do a Dr Jack breakdown sometime… but definitely after the next episode.

18 Responses to “zero no tsukaima 6”

  1. the new chick in preview is Jessica, Siesta’s cousin.

    Why didn’t you blog anything about the slap that saito gave to louise?

  2. God i want to be saito, Jessica, Tiffania, Louise, Siesta, Henrietta, and Kirche all want him. And they’re all loli.

    although i’m younger than all of them

  3. Just as a quick note, in case you don’t know, seems like everyone knows about your blog XD

    You’ve even got people at the GameFAQs Anime and Manga Board quoting you. One would be me, and if I’m not mistaken, I’ve seen Fencedude a couple of times over here.

  4. Just to toss my weaponry knowledge in: the M72 LAW has a backblast range of about 15m, too bad for Louise that she’s, oh, less than 1 away from Saito. OTL. I had to give props to Saito for knowing how to work one of those, after all, everyone should by now thanks to Hollywood and Chuck Norris.

    Thumbs up to the writers for noting that the soldier was carrying 2 M72s on him before his death.

    Siesta IS love.

  5. Is it just me, or was Louise the only one of the mages that actually did any damage to that golem (a tiny, tiny bit of it anyway)? While Kirche’s and Tabitha’s spells looked more impressive, neither of them did any damage at all.

    >> Does Siesta out-meido-moe Wilhelmenia?
    It was said before, and it will be said again: Siesta is Love.

  6. >>Louise would have been cooked by the backblast of the LAW. Oops.
    If you look at the camera the second before that screen was taken, you’ll see that Louise is actually to the side of Saito and not behind him.
    If you want something to rant about, a second after Kirche hugs Saito for defeating the Golem, they go “Where did the Fouquet go?” and look around. And she was right infront of them, picking up the “Staff”, they were just looking around like idiots.
    And yes, no Siesta and no nighties are sad. However this episode was still pretty fun, and i think that shows that JCStaff hasn’t really screwed up the show (and you gotta remember that reading just notes from the novels only bring the really interesting parts, Eg. The sex, but the novel itself also had action scenes, so they aren’t holding back anything yet. Wait untill the parts you read appear in the show, then decide)

  7. Oh forgot to mention

    >>Is the Pink Haired Zero Magic Mage better loli bait than the Flame Haired Red Hot Eyed Hunter? Think Kirshe is more melonpantastic than Margery? Does Siesta out-meido-moe Wilhelmenia? Will Henrietta out-seduce Yoshida? Can Saito surpass Yuji’s manliness?

    Except for Louise which is questionable and too early to decide, i think the answer to all these questions is YES.

  8. better then i hoped so far, only the whole bad guy secretery and deus ex power handling sorta annoys me.

  9. What’s with Kirche and Louise blushing at Nagatabitha? Are they lesbians in semi-denial?

  10. >>Why didn’t you blog anything about the slap that saito gave to louise?

    I’m more surprised that he didn’t mention the part where the balding teacher guy almost says Gundam, then ahems around 5:34. (I know he meant Gundolf, but somehow, I wouldn’t be surprised if he said Gundam instead.) XD

  11. >>You’ve even got people at the GameFAQs Anime and Manga Board quoting you. One would be me, and if I’m not mistaken, I’ve seen Fencedude a couple of times over here.

    True that, though I’ve been lurking here since April or so. Never got around to leaving comments, however. (>–)> Blog creator uses a great format for these things, and the pics are godly.

  12. >> BTW, with this episode and promise of tons of meido Louise next episode, does Zero no Tsukaima overtake Shakugan no Shana?

    I still think it’s too early to say. At least in my mind, Shana still outdoes Louise in the sense that Shana was kicking ass and looking damn good even before Shakugan no Shana hit 6 episodes. Kirshe is more entertaining that Margery. Henrietta has has more “yum” potential than Yoshida (I think it would be hilarious to see Herietta peeking around a corner watching Louise and Saito, saying “it’s okay.”). Between Yuji and Saito, it’s a toss up. The only clear winner thus far is Siesta. As great as Wilhelmina is, she’s become uttery forgetable now that we’ve got Siesta. Wilhelmina will bring you melon-pan; Siesta will bring you a pastrami burger and garlic fries and watch an A’s game with you and later give you melon-pan for dessert.

    Wonder what the Zero no Tsukaima equivalent to Hecate would be…

  13. >
    Man, people really had a misconception of what Loli is. Neither of the girls in this show are Loli. I think maybe you meant either Cute or “MOE”. all the girls are the same age as Haruhi, Mikuru and Yuki.

  14. >the new chick in preview is Jessica, Siesta’s cousin

    I think they are sisters :D

    I like Margery with her glasses more then Kirche

    Tiffany ?=? Hecate except not evil but just as cute?

  15. Golthin, as far as i heard this argument many times, let me give you cliffnotes of what is usually agreed on:
    Loli is not always connected to age, loli is an apperance trait.
    (also, Mikuru was called a “lolita” by Haruhi herself, though we don’t even know how old is Mikuru, Haruhi thought she was her age)
    Most of the time loli is defined as either a young, innocent cute girl, or simply anyone who is flat-chested (killer-lolis falling into the second category, mikuru-like to the first)
    Moe is also hard to define, but theres no reason why a loli can’t also be moe.
    Anyway, back to the topic, Louise can be defined as loli or close to one. Henrietta can also have the same category. Siesta isn’t a loli, but she is still love.

  16. I can definitely say that I’m having more of a blast watching ZnT than SnS. Shana may be powerful and all, but she didn’t beat Louise’s emo moments.

    To me, Saito is head-and-shoulders above Yuji whom, imo was in the same class as Shirou.

    And I’m still waiting for an episode to beat ep 3 on the fun-factor. This one is probably the second best so far, followed by ep 2 and 1 respectively. Ep 4 was an absolute waste considering this is a 13-ep series.

  17. Oh and I forgot, Siesta is in a whole different league compared to Wilhelmenia. Imo Siesta is closer competition to Meido Mikuru.

    Henrietta seems likely to out-seduce Yoshida. In that last episode she seemed to have something brewing. Since she’s so close to Louise and since she’s the Queen, maybe she’ll try to implement some form of familiar-time-sharing agreement? Or maybe just have a “you have his left side, I’ll take care of the right” deal? I doubt Saito would object…

    The only dilemma is Kirshe versus Margery… I’m still debating on that one.

  18. So… six episodes so far and one arc finished (if you can call this “arc”). Now what? Is J.C. Staff going to show some of the “good” topics about the novels or what? I have all my hopes in that.

    BTW, Louise win some points with that dress and then with the preview and her meido outfit…

    Only 7 episodes more to GO!

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