First Impressions / Zero no Tsukaima

Summary:

Louise wakes up one morning with Saito touching her chest, so she’s introducing her foot to his face when her older sister Éléonore suddenly bursts into the room. Before Saito really realizes what’s going on, Éléonore tells Louise that they’re going home and drags her off. Louise in turn pulls Saito with her, and Éléonore also spots and decides to take Siesta too. Since there are four of them and two carriages, Saito and Siesta get put into one while Louise and Éléonore ride the other. Along the way, Saito notices how Siesta isn’t looking very energetic, so she admits that she’s realized that Saito’s true feelings are for Louise. Before she can say anything else though, a bump in the road causes her to fall into his arms, but all Louise sees from the carriage behind them is Saito embracing Siesta, so she blows them up with her magic. They all eventually arrive at the Vallière estate and are greeted by a line of servants and Louise’s other sister Cattleya.

During dinner, Louise starts arguing with Éléonore and states that she’s serves Henrietta and that her strength is needed. Éléonore ridicules this idea because she doesn’t think Zero Louise can do anything and instead suggests a man to marry her. This causes Louise to point out that Éléonore should be the one to get married first with the Count of Burgundy, but this just causes Éléonore to get mad because that engagement had been called off. Their mother then interrupts to say that they’re in the middle of dinner and that they’ll talk about Louise tomorrow when her father returns home. Seeing Louise in the middle of all this, Saito is reminded of how she’s nobility in a different world than him. Later that night, Siesta is alone in her room thinking about giving up on Saito, but after looking at herself in the mirror, she decides that there are parts of herself that can win, and so she sneaks off to Saito’s room.

Louise is meanwhile wondering why Éléonore has always been mean to her, so Cattleya suggests that it’s because Éléonore cares and worries for her. Cattleya feels that she can understand Louise because she loves her, and in particular she thinks that Louise has fallen in love, though Louise denies it. When Louise is then unable to fall asleep, Cattleya wonders if Louise is thinking about Saito. Louise claims that Saito is just her familiar and that she doesn’t love him, but Cattleya points out that she never mentioned anything about love. Cattleya then urges Louise to go to where she belongs, so Louise heads to Saito’s room and gets in bed with him. With her eyes closed, Louise kisses someone under the sheets, but when she feels a large breast, she opens her eyes and realizes that the other person is actually Siesta. When she demands to know why Siesta is here, Siesta claims that Saito invited her, which shocks Louise into silence and causes her to return to her sister in tears.

At that moment, Saito is actually wandering around the house looking for Louise’s room, but he accidentally goes into Éléonore’s room instead. Since she’s dreaming about the Count of Burgundy, Éléonore hugs Saito and pulls him onto her bed, however when he feels her chest, they both suddenly realize who the other person is. Saito tries to apologize and leave, but Éléonore then pulls out a pair of whips to punish him. The next day, Louise’s father returns from a military conference and complains about what’s going on, but when Louise tries to speak up about Henrietta, her father questions what she understands and wants her instead to find a husband. Éléonore thinks that this means they should quickly get an engagement arranged, but when Louise’s mother asks if Louise has a lover, Louise vehemently denies it. After watching Louise run off, Cattleya pays a visit to Saito to tell him about how Louise could get married. Knowing that Saito doesn’t want that, Cattleya informs him of the boat that Louise always used to hide in when she faced unpleasant things, and tells him that there’s a carriage waiting outside the castle.

That boat is exactly where Saito finds Louise crying to herself, but she refuses to leave with him. When she mentions how she’s not able to tell her family about her Void Magic and feels that no one appreciates her even if she tries her hardest, Saito takes her hand and says that he does. Louise, however, thinks that he’s lying and doesn’t trust him because she believed what Siesta had said earlier. This leads Saito to admit that he likes Louise, and though that gets her embarrassed, Louise manages to say that since he swore fidelity to her, he can have the reward of touching one place on her body. The two then kiss, and Saito repeatedly tells Louise that he loves her as the boat heads down the river. However, when the boat gets beached, Louise realizes that her parents are standing over them. Facing Louise’s father and all of the butlers, Saito draws Derfflinger, clears a path through everyone, grabs Louise, and runs off. Although he manages to dodge Louise’s father’s magic, Saito’s next challenge is how to leave because there is a large creature pulling up the only drawbridge leading out of the castle. Fortunately, Cattleya helps out by snapping the drawbridge’s chain with her magic, causing it to fall back down and allowing Saito and Louise to escape to the waiting carriage being driven by Siesta.

On the way back to the school, Louise asks Saito where he went last night, and when he reveals that he went to Éléonore’s room, Louise gets mad at him all over again.

Preview:

And here they were leading me to believe that this could have been Siesta’s comeback, but instead it solidified Louise and Saito’s relationship (though of course they have to end the episode with her mad at him again). On one hand, I would have preferred that Siesta make a bigger play for Saito than just lying to Louise about what she was doing in his room, but on the other hand, I’d just like them to get going with the war and the more serious parts of the story that I keep hearing about from folks who’ve read the novels. Still, all the running around to each other’s rooms – which led to Siesta and Louise kissing – was quite amusing to watch, so I’m not complaining too much. Hopefully next week will advance the war plot further though.

51 Comments

  33. WEll, it’s pretty much a done deal with Saito and Louise, though he’ll keep finding himself around all these other girls and their boobs. At least he’s got something to look forward to in the future. If Louise grows up and looks like her older sister Cattleya, then Seito made one hell of a good choice imo.

    GP
    Reply

  38. Since if she didn’t do anything, Louise and Saito’s relationship would progress. Siesta finally made a choice.
    Remember Siesta(maybe next time ala Kirche mode) is now in aggressive mode, sneaks in Saito’s room lol (Good thing Saito is lost that time). Maybe at the school,she would take all opportunities available like when she have a another chance to take a bath with him again or have the water mage girl create another bottle of love potion or take advantage of Saito’s depression when Louise would abandon him for a certain purpose.

    arigatou
    Reply

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