Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo - Episode 2

As if we weren’t already very well aware, those crazy Japanese animators just thought they’d make absolutely sure we know exactly what Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo is all about. Just in case you might have thought it had a centrally cohesive plot, or something exotic like that.

On that note, I’m not going to be quite so harsh as I maybe came across in my last post about the series. There were some sweet moments in episode two, for sure. Take the re-summoning ceremony-chant thing, for example, which ended in an all too natural kiss between Saito and Louise. The dynamics in that relationship really are insane! One minute Louise is chasing the poor fellow around with a wooden stick, the next she’s hugging him from behind and pledging her adoration - as indirectly as possible, albeit. Still, that tsundere personality is one of the main reasons for Zero no Tsukaima’s popularity, so who am I to bad mouth those bipolar outbursts of affection?

Episode two, of course, also properly introduced Tiffania, hence completing Saito’s female tri-harem (bah, Agnes is irrelevant.) Whilst three’s usually a crowd with these sorts of things, it’s nice to see that some effort has been made to keep Tiffania’s personality a fair way from those of Louise and Siesta. It seems as though she’ll be the typical small voiced, not so small elsewhere type, following very closely after Mikuru from Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. After all, I’m certain that I’ve seen that groping scene technique used somewhere before to similar effect.

As for the story, episode two saw a brief encounter between Louise and Shefield with her army of exploding dogs. I’m still not entirely clear on the basis for naming most characters after seemingly unrelated European names and places, but after two seasons of hearing the cast cram in as many alien consonant sounds into a single word as their mouths will allow, I’m pretty hip with it. We found out that Louise quite possibly isn’t the only Void user out there, aside from Shefield’s master. I was sort of hoping that it would turn out that Saito himself could cast Void magic, but that speculation was pretty much dashed after Louise renewed his Familiar contract.

All in all, even though nothing truthfully happened, episode two of Zero no Tsukaima: Princess no Rondo was pretty enjoyable watch. Here’s to hoping that future episodes focus more on progressing the story and somewhat less on that darn elf’s chest.