Zero no Tsukaima F – 02

“Lemon-chan is embarrassed~”

The adventures of the familiar of Zero continues! What wacky antics will Saito get involved in this time? How will he react to seeing Louise in that nun outfit? Let’s find out!

The episode starts off with Saito and Louise shopping at the markets of Aquileia, which I guess is the city surrounding the church/cathedral/castle/complex where pope Vittorio lives and the protagonists are staying. The latter’s training as a shrine maiden is to begin the next day, and they’re taking some time off. That evening, we get this episode’s highlight, when Saito walks in to find Louise wearing her new shrine maiden garb.

Time to defile break in that brand new nun outfit!

Hypnotized (who wouldn’t be!?) by the sight, he chases her down onto the bed, comparing her to a lemon, even convincing her to speak in the 3rd person as “Lemon-chan.” Personally, I don’t quite make the connection. I guess a lemon is small and cute and sour on the inside like Louise, but that’s not the metaphor I would’ve jumped to… Anyway, things are about to get hot and heavy for this couple (for the first time? Did anything happen in the middle 2 seasons?), but they’re interrupted by their classmates next door who can hear everything through the thin walls. And, shocking I know, Louise gets embarrassed and blows up Saito.

Yeah, who didn’t see that it would end up like this?

Meanwhile, the powers that be – princess Henrietta and Pope Vittorio, along with their respective guard/familiar Agnes and Julio – are discussing the theft from the night before. Apparently Jacque, the one they apprehended in the previous episode, belongs to the “Elemental Siblings,” and they managed to steal the Founder’s Round Mirror. No explanation on what that is, but the main thing I got out of this scene is that Agnes doesn’t trust the pope due to how calm he is about the robbery and suspects a conspiracy.

We are introduced to king Joseph of Gallia – the one mentioned as the 4th Void mage in the previous episode – in a mysterious room where some magician is creating fire-magic-infused marbles. Joseph also has a female assistant, Sheffield. Not sure how important this magician character will be in the story, but he’s unhappy about his powers being used for destruction. Joseph seems happy to let him go, though he reminds him that he’s already been complicit in a lot of crimes – referring back to events from previous seasons maybe?

Bad guys always do their dealings in the dark, smiling menacingly, right?

The next day sees Louise and Tiffania join the shrine maidens for the first time in what appears to be a daily ceremony at this religious capital. Afterwards, while Louise is hanging out with the other shrine maidens, Saito happens to run into Tiffania alone, who is still coming to terms with her crush on him and wondering if he might be her familiar due to seeing him appear from the portal at the end of the previous episode. She asks to kiss him, as that will confirm whether or not he’s her familiar (can Saito even be the familiar of 2 people? I don’t know the rules) but without making it clear to him, she just appears to be coming on to him. Saito curiously doesn’t reject her advances but is saved from suffocation when a couple classmates walk in, making Tiffania run off in tears.

First Lemon, now Melon. Nope, the show isn’t above making that joke.

Unfortunately, that’s all the harem antics we’ll get for this week, as there’s treachery afoot! Jeanette – the female Elemental Sibling we saw at dinner last week – dresses up as a peasant from Louise’s family’s land, and convinces her to come out to the city and a lone alleyway before incapacitating her with a poisoned blade. She hands over Louise, still conscious but paralyzed, to Sheffield, though not before having some inappropriate fun with her captive.

Here’s to seeing more of this in the future!

Saito, having left the church to look for Louise, might have been able to save her, if he hadn’t been interrupted by Doudou, the blond Elemental Sibling who had run off with the mirror the previous episode. He attacks Saito with a sword, keeping him distracted until Jeanette arrives with the announcement that Louise is captured and probably already out of the city. The 2 make their escape, and Saito tries in vain to find Louise before Agnes brings him back to the church to plan their next move.

Doudou REALLY enjoys his fencing.

They meet with Henrietta and Tabitha and of course the pope himself. Tabitha, who was apparently a Gallian knight (they probably mentioned that in season 1 and I forgot) at some point, recognizes the Elemental Siblings as also being Gallian knights, and so concludes that Joseph is behind the kidnapping. But before they can decide on a course of action, a clerk interrupts with news that Gallian forces are gathering near the border.

Yeah, designing flying vehicles like that makes a lot of sense (no offense to all the Last Exile fans out there).

The episode closes with Louise waking up in the cockpit of one of those flying ships, tied up and accompanied by Joseph. He tells her that he will be exploiting her power to accomplish something horrible.

Actual Ending Sequence!

I included all of Louise’s hairstyles, because I could. Framing is reminiscent of Mahoromatic ED.

While Louise’s dancing reminds me of the Strike Witches ED.

So tsundere, can’t even kiss a pillow!

I’m loving the pacing of this show! Last week it wasted no time sending our heroes to a foreign country to join the pope’s scheme, and this week, before the scheme is anywhere close to under way, their target Joseph kidnaps Louise. This does come at the cost of the harem antics for which I’m watching this show – where was Siesta? Shouldn’t she also be smothering Saito with her breasts along with Tiffania? But hey, the show has a story to tell, and it’s not messing around, always keeping things interesting.

The Elemental Siblings must come from a family of carnies or something, because they keep pulling off incredible acrobatic moves effortlessly, leaping up buildings, jumping from rooftop to rooftop. Doudou also appears to be an excellent swordsman, one who seemed to get some sick pleasure from gaining the upper hand against his opponents. At least if I’m reading his eyes right. I’m liking this guy more and more. And what about Jeanette and her affinity for Louise? More fanservice fodder for the future, I hope, based on the fact that it’s featured in the OP. They certainly better be back; we’ve barely even gotten to see any of Damian, the cutest of them!

These guys are small fries though, and the head honcho King Joseph of Gallia looks to be starting a war. He completely preempted Vittorio’s own scheme with that, and he seems to be executing on a scheme of his own. Of course, the good side has the Void Mages Vittorio and Tiffania to counter, and I guess those 4 Void mages will end up meeting in battle, and that great catastrophe that Vittorio alluded to will happen. It’s still too early for this upcoming war to be the main conflict. But it’s serving as a good arc so far; again, the speed with which the story has progressed is refreshing, even at the cost of fanservice. And I don’t think the fact that I skipped the middle 2 seasons have diminished my enjoyment at all.

Preview

Louise’s Void magic + magical fire marbles = ? We’ll find out next week!