OP Sequence

OP: 「発見者はワタシ」 (Hakkensha wa Watashi) by たぴみる (Tapimiru)

「魔女狩り」 (Majogari)
“Witch Hunting”

Guys, I think I’ve figured it out, Zero is Skyrim. I mean we have the Nords humans hating on magic and nonhumans both, and the entire town losing its mind when you’re caught stealing an item. No, that arrow to knee reference has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Well, ok, maybe just a little, but let’s not go overboard. After all, Zero this week was all about world building, and no amount of anachronistic memes could overshadow that.

The primary focus of course was on the moral greyness of the whole civil war sweeping the land. Misunderstanding the origin of plagues, wrongly executing innocent individuals, and exacting retribution only guaranteed to perpetuate the cycle of hate; not your typical fantasy line. It’s surprising for me Zero actually decided to head this route, but considering the magic system and our motley party it makes some sense. Intriguing for me too is the mercenary’s comments on the potential of Zero’s grimoire. I would love if this aspect is played up over time, especially if the “destruction of the world” does become one of eliminating the boundaries between witches and humanity. No better way to explore the theme of vendetta quickly coalescing here, particularly once we find out more about this mysterious book. Given our mercenary is proving to be a pragmatist regarding such matters, there’s a lot of interesting ways to take this idea.

On the other side of things we have our new party member Albus who just so happens to be a member of the Sorcerers of Zero. Although slightly annoying in the personality department, Albus does raise the question of exactly who witches are. So far all witches are seemingly women, yet Albus is supposedly a boy. Witches could include men and we simply haven’t seen any yet, but given the noticeable misidentification by a villager there’s a chance Albus could actually be a girl—seriously, who thinks men don’t wear rings? Wouldn’t explain his discerning eye for breasts of course, but I can just imagine he’s not one for the flat is justice ideology. How the Sorcerers wound up with Zero’s book—and if it is even Zero’s book—is the more important question, however, particularly given next week will likely see us stumble upon the Sorcerers in some capacity.

While we are two weeks in and have yet to see any real plot meat, it’s safe to say Zero has sold me. A thought out magic system, a morally vague conflict with no real winner, and the potential for one serious plot twist in the grimoire itself, my fancy is tickled in all the right places. No guarantee Zero can meet the rigours of the course it has set, but I’m liking what I’m seeing so far. Consider this one picked up for coverage, more fantasy is never a bad thing and I’m eager finding out where this story goes.

 

Preview

8 Comments

  1. Here we have a series ripe for generating thoughtful discussion… and it drops a Skyrim meme on us, lol. Hopefully the author didn’t make a habit of that, as peppering the audience with 5 year old memes is probably not a great way to make people think about your otherwise interesting worldbuilding.

    PurpleBomber
    1. The village is anime-original, not in the novel.

      Apparently the Skyrim meme line is not a mistranslaton, it’s the real deal. There’s people saying it’s lifted word for word from the Japanese version of Skyrim.

      zztop
  2. This episode is mostly anime-original (even the ring), according to Vol 1’s readers.
    The only scenes from the novel are the man driving the cart, the trio walking along, and resting in the old shack.
    That said, the episode presented the novel’s worldbuilding info in a manner more friendly for TV narrative.

    Given Zero’s only getting 12 episodes, there’s a likelihood they may only cover Vol 1, padded with original content. Vols 2-3 are a 2-part story arc, so the cour may not have time to cover that one.
    (Titles for future volumes include “The Saint of Arcdios” (2 parter), “The Demon Princess of the Black Dragon Island”, and “The Gravekeeper of Paradise”).

    zztop
    1. Do you refer to a web novel? To light novel? Is there a chance these scenes are a part of light novel, but not web novel? I was familiar only with the manga which had only first 2-3 chapters translated.

      brajt
  3. I find Zero very likable so far. Though she’s a loli-bodied girl, she clearly acts the age implied from her speech, and she’s a bit of a tease in both her words and tone of voice. God forbid her voice be high-pitch, I think it’s great.

    SerRompalot

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