First Impressions / Zero no Tsukaima

Summary:

Although she didn’t return to Tristain Academy with Saito and Louise, Tiffania shows up one day after all. She still doesn’t want everyone to know about her being a half-elf though, and the secret is hard to keep because all the guys are attracted to her. It gets even tougher when she starts being bullied by a group of girls led by a Beatrice Kuldenholff of the Grand Duchy of Kuldenholff. They want Tiffania to take off her hat, but Saito protects her, and Guiche is barely able to keep Saito out of trouble. Guiche explains to Saito afterwards that Beatrice is bad news because she’s rich and commands a powerful group of dragon knights. Louise meanwhile wants to spend more time with Saito and is waiting for him with dinner when he gets back to their room that night. The two, however, get into an argument after Louise sees how concerned Saito is about Tiffania being bullied. The following day, Tiffania decides that she doesn’t want to cause Saito and the others any more trouble, so she reveals to her class that she’s a half-elf. Beatrice uses this revelation to confront Tiffania about what god she believes in, and she ends up calling in her knights so that they can hold an inquisition. She can do this because she claims to have the title of Bishop, and she wants Tiffania to prove her faith by getting into a cauldron of boiling water.

Knowing that Tiffania won’t do it, Beatrice gives her the second option of returning to the countryside, but to Beatrice’s surprise, Tiffania refuses because she’s determined to see the outside world. Tiffania further angers Beatrice by calling her pitiable and observing that she’s still just a child, but before Beatrice can make her men throw Tiffania into the cauldron, Saito steps in. Saito first tries to take responsibility for Tiffania and beg for forgiveness, and when this doesn’t work, he decides to try to use force. With Guiche and the rest of the Ondine Knights backing Saito up, a skirmish breaks out between them and the dragon knights. The commotion of this battle is so loud that it wakes Louise from the pleasant dream she was having, and she’s so pissed off that she storms out and blows everyone up. When Beatrice accuses her of obstructing an inquisition, Louise counters by questioning Beatrice’s qualifications. Louise goes on to call Beatrice out on her lie because Louise knows that a special exequatur from Romalia is needed to hold an inquisition. Having been now been outed, Beatrice is initially afraid when Tiffania approaches her, but Tiffania still wants to be friends, and Beatrice breaks down in tears. In the aftermath, Julio tells Louise about how Saito had initially prostrated himself because he knew that stopping an inquisition would have bad consequences for the person most important to him. With this in mind, Louise visits Saito in the infirmary, but she finds him touching Tiffania’s breasts and ends up whipping him.

Preview

So this episode was actually kind of funny because of all of Louise’s fantasies (the comedic style of the animation reflects that), but I have a hard time seeing how any of the other stuff – Beatrice bullying/persecuting Tiffania – has any impact on the overall story since everything gets neatly resolved here. This is important because I’d rather not see this series waste time like the second series did. It doesn’t help either that the plot followed what felt like a very typical bratty-kid-is-redeemed storyline (as you may know, bratty kids are one of my pet peeves) which ended with Tiffania and Beatrice becoming friends and Beatrice bawling her eyes out. Having this episode might make sense if Beatrice plays a significant part later on, but she’s not even important enough to be shown on the official website’s character chart, so I have my doubts. Unfortunately, next week may not be much better if the focus is on the girls and their bath like the title implies.

22 Comments

  7. nice episode indeed, seems like well have few episodes of comedy,before story, but its kool, only if there were like 10 more sec to the episode where we get to see Saito running like crzy after that lol////

    Chimasternmay
    Reply

  8. @jerry wu: Obsession for men ^^
    we all know that harem shows are… kind of simpel in those relationships…but damn – poor saito – he got the boob-elf into his bed and before he get his turn – the main girl + servant girl enter his room – thats some scary doom ^^

    roflcopter
    Reply

  9. Man, that Louise fantasy part was really hilarious.
    And the ending sequence was classic.
    Louise:Hey, do you have a whip?
    Siesta:Yes, by chance I have one here.

    Speaking of JC anime, I just heard of the news an sequel of Nodame anime is coming this fall. As for notable casting of new characters, Hino Satoshi(Saito’s voice) for Yun Lon(Chinese student), Ito Shizuka for Tania(Russian student) and Ohara Sayaka for Sun Louie(Chinese pianist).

    calde
    Reply

  17. I dunno why people call this show hilarious.. It’s the last shit, sorry guys. Season2 was already worse than the first one but this season tops everything when it comes to bad aspect. I honestely wonder why you’re still blogging this crap Omni. Better blog some other show or just skip it..

    mutio
    Reply

  20. okay people

    VOTE NOW BY HAVING THIS POLL WITHIN YOUR MESSAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    how many of us really want to be saito if louise and siesta didn’t show up???

    Yes- 1(me)
    No – WHOEVER IS A GUY AND VOTES THIS ANSWER THERE IS SOMETHING DEFINETLY MESSED UP WITH YOU , YOU GAY IDIOT

    predator
    Reply

  22. lol, Louise’s fantasies. And Siesta brought the whip unconsciously.

    Though, I don’t agree with the author of this site. I think the main point of this episode focus on Saito’s character (chivalrous and willing to sacrifice his pride for Louise) and delved deeper into Louise’s mind (fantasies and jealousy etc) and of course, how these two elements interact.

    kelbek
    Reply

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