Zero no Tsukaima Episode 9 Discussion / Poll

[Srin Tuar]

offtopic talk:

Spoiler:

Finally, since you asked, I do read the Shana novels, and is up-to-date at the latest volume (Shakugan no Shana S). Would I recommend it? Well, if the anime interested you, then I see no reason why you shouldn't try the novel out.

Hrm, no more zero to read. and volume 9 isnt even pre-ordable yet.
I'll have at least one or two people to talk about shana novels with.
Okay, into the shoping cart it goes

There are some nice vocabulary explanation pages that I saw once (probably should have bookmarked them) that I can use to help with the story-specific words. (Meh, he probably explains them in the book anyway)

Anyway, to get back on topic:
one detail that many would liked to have seen in this ep:

Spoiler:

Ruizu decides that she needs to mark her territory, so she decides to put "kiss marks" all over saito's neck, and she insists he does so to her as well. Of the many points in the novels in which his self-control is tested, this has to be among the most intense.

[Proto]

off topic

Spoiler for dunno why it is a spoiler, but the previous reply was a spoiler as well so there:

If I may butt in and leave my 5 cents, a rushed story isn't limitted to an adaptation story that skips over sensible parts of the original. A story is rushed in a standalone sense when its character development is forced or has logic leaps, when the story start abandoning its own premises for the sake of reaching to an end, whatever it may be, etc.

As much as I agree with you Sushi-senpai about Shana being a good adaptation (well, at least I can say that after struggling through Volume I ), Shana's changes of attitude towards her surroundings were rather forced in many points in the story, among other little things one might spot, as Srin Tuar-senpai mentioned.

Yay for on topic:

Is anyone else upset at the story putting up Cromwell as one of the potential villians of the story? He was a brillian revolutionary, he only temporally destroyed England's monarchy system as a side act

[Srin Tuar]

Originally Posted by ProtoMan

Is anyone else upset at the story putting up Cromwell as one of the potential villians of the story? He was a brillian revolutionary, he only temporally destroyed England's monarchy system as a side act

ひさしぶり Protoさん

About the names yamaguchi-sensei has chosen for his characters:
Honestly I think he just picks them nearly at random for the way they sound
and the style of the character that they belong to. I dont think there is
any deeper meaning to it than that. (no metaphors, no political statements,
nothing.)

For me, thats the reason I refuse to "untranslate" the names. In english, they
bring in too much unwanted nuance and connotation that I think is not a part of
the story. So for me, Cromwell will be クロムウェル.

about クロムウェル:

Spoiler:

In this show hes very much a badguy. (more spoilery talk about him in the novels thread)

Aside from being the leader of a revolution that overthrew a king, and being an english aristocrat, there are no other similarities imo. I dont think Yamagushi-sensei is trying to say that the real-life Oliver Cromwell was a badguy necessarily. He just borrowed his name for the story.

[Proto]

honto ni hisashiburi desu ne, Srin Tuar senpai (aka I would write in kanna's myself but I screwed up SCIM beyond redemption last week and I've been too lazy to fix it )

For me, thats the reason I refuse to "untranslate" the names. In english, they
bring in too much unwanted nuance and connotation that I think is not a part of
the story.

Hmm... point taken. I am myself a partidary of respecting Yamaguchi-sensei original source of inspiration for his names, but what you say makes sense.

Spoiler for RE: about クロムウェル::

As the last reference I will make to the original Cromwell (I promise!) it is interesting to note that he was a commoner himself (and one of the only two commoners to have been England's head of state). I guess it would have been interesting if the series would have taken that into the story as well

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by Srin Tuar

About the names yamaguchi-sensei has chosen for his characters:
Honestly I think he just picks them nearly at random for the way they sound
and the style of the character that they belong to. I dont think there is
any deeper meaning to it than that. (no metaphors, no political statements,
nothing.)

He most definitely did not choose the names at random, which you should already know from the examples of Louise and Henrietta.

I do agree that the characters and events that occured in Zero no Tsukaima have no relationships to any real-life individuals or events whatsoever.

However, it's quite obvious that many characters and events in the story were inspired from real-life examples. Cromwell being one of them (Oliver Cromwell), as is Henrietta's advisor, Cardinal Mazarini (Jules Mazarin), etc.. So wouldn't call them "random", as they are clearly chosen deliberately for their characters.

As for translating the names or not, it's personal choice. I simply write them in English because it's easier for others here to understand.

[Srin Tuar]

Originally Posted by Sushi-Y

He most definitely did not choose the names at random, which you should already know from the examples of Louise and Henrietta.

I read the wikipedia links, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldnt find any real parallels deeper than the superficial. If you have found some I would love to hear about it. Otherwise I still say he chose the names for sound and the style of the historical figure, and otherwise they have no deeper meaning.

As for translating the names or not, it's personal choice. I simply write them in English because it's easier for others here to understand.

Lol, I'm also a card-carrying member of the anti-ローマ字 club, so that puts me in a particular bind.
Sometimes it annoys people I know, but I tell them that the kana are really not all that hard to learn...

[Sasha]

^

About the names.

Spoiler:

Montmorency is a very popular French last name (is French myself). I'm not sure if she was a Queen or anything, but in Quebec City, they have a boat company called 'Montmorency' as well as waterfalls called "La chute de Montmorency".

So I don't know if that was influenced in the naming of her or not.

[Proto]

@Sasha

Spoiler:

Well you need to study a little more your mother country history Montmorency are not part of any of the European royal families, but they are considered one of the oldest noble houses, and sometimes the first of the noble houses in Europe... I guess poor Momo doesn't fit there very well though

Anyway, despite being interesting, if anyone wants to continue this parallelism comparison I guess it should get its own thread. Otherwise Catgirls will come and purr at us or something

[akurashy]

louise dere dere rocks! too bad it was only the potion T_T

Spoiler:

who would have thought that siesta was going to snap when louise was hugging saito XD

[Cyz]

I feel sorry for Saito He's having too many girl problems Let's see...I wonder if there would be more girls who will fall for him other than Siesta, Louise, and Kirche?

[Onizuka-GTO]

Bust Revolution!!!

[KaneDragon]

It's what that animal-thing is doing to Louise in the ep 10 preview that has me worried...

[Onizuka-GTO]

looking forward to cromwell myself, afterall coming from an ancient roundhead (Republican) county, im very interested to to see how they bring this villian into play. Mind you whoever said cromwell was a brilliant revolutionary, is in error. He was a brilliant millitary commander, but not very good revolutionary. after all it all fell apart shortly after.....and monachy reinstated by the very people he profess to represent.

Well, thankfully all the rest of republicans had a big sulk and headed off to America.

[Sorrow-K]

OH GOD THIS EPISODE WAS GREAT.

Only one way to describe Loiuse's dere-dere mode in this episode: moeee! I think the main reason why Shana fell off towards the end was because it took itself too seriously, but it looks like Zero no Tsukaima won't make the same mistake. Which is good, since this series is just so much fun. I wouldn't want it to take itself seriously for a minute.

Saito continues to impress me as well. His strength as a character is one of the reasons why both this series and himself are so appealing. It's actually quite believable that he has a plethora of girls who want him, which is (far too) rare in anime, since most harem leads are unappealing and sometimes even invisible. (Not that this is a harem... but you can see what I'm trying to say).

Overall: most fun I've ever had in a series of this type. Fingers crossed it'll keep it up.

[Deathkillz]

i finally got to lay my eyes onto this ep and i have to agree with sorrow-k's comment...
"OH GOD THIS EPISODE WAS GREAT"

yes yes yes!! louise trying to seduce saito on the bed was gold!!! arra put on some pants!! XDXDXD but not trying to do anything strange he has the heart of a gentlemen ^^

guiche is scared of saito...whow another point for the commoner...and saito is actually blackmailing a noble...another point
omg haha half made hat erm i mean sweater XD
and yep i immediatly guessed who those two magicians were then louise had to come and make a big boom

too bad louise returned to spanking saito with that whip it was a really fun ep and one of the best IMO well worth the wait...100/10

edit: woohoo my 1000th post spent on something worthwhile ^^

[Renge]

^_______^ Awesomeness!!! I loved the siesta-jealous part its was so great!!

I would have been better if the princess didnt come too early and see more louise getting blush and getting mad.

[Wandering_Youth]

This episode was interesting and good for a few laughs, but it wasn't that great. I'm not complaining about how Louise became all lovey dovey though. Why did she bite Saito on the neck anway? That's some strange love right there.

Now a quick question, did the water spirit know all the previous Gundolf/Gandalf that came into that world? She said something that all the previous Gundolf/Gandalf were trustworthy and so he trusted Saito.

I noticed how Derflinfer (saito's sword) said that "This is nostalgic." when they were talking to the spirit. Could his previous user be a Gundolf/Gandalf?

[Anh_Minh]

I was thinking the sword'd come there before. Maybe it was Excalibur to the Spirit's Lady of the Lake.

[RiXeD]

Dere Louise = The Internet [/4chan]

Tho I like Louise, her personality slowly starts to piss me off. I mean, she has some feeling for Saito, but she still pretends like she hasn`t... Plus she`s treating him like a dog... Bah, the worst thing is, Saito doesn`t even try to change that statement! If I was him... Oh, wait. This isn`t RL...

[ThoHell]

Louise bugs the hell out of me and Saito needs to hurry up and find a way back home and make Louise all sad as hell or something. I wonder how their power will develope later on in the sieres. Louise's magic is extremely strong, she just doesn't have the right motivation to make it work and I think Saito has more abilities yet to be learned. What do you guys think?