Zero no Tsukaima (Generic discussion thread)

[zalas]

She is tsundere all right, just suggesting other tsundere shows since you sounded interested.

[Radiosity]

... and Tsundere means? It's one of those words I hear bandied about quite a bit but no-one ever gives an explanation on what it means.

[Zappster]

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=29911

Check the first post of that thread, kj1980 provides an explanation of the term with pictures!

[NeoSam]

Originally Posted by zalas

She is tsundere all right, just suggesting other tsundere shows since you sounded interested.

Ahh, I see thanks but I already know about it, and very looking forward for it

[Sushi-Y]

In case it hasn't been mentioned yet, the first episode will air on 7/2.

But really, With Kugimiya Rie (Shana's seiyuu) as Ruiz, and Hino Satoshi (Yuuji's seiyuu) as Saito, this is going to be fun to watch for Shana fans. ^^;

Well, JC Staff did a good job with Shana, so this one should be good too. ^^

*needs to read the novel*

[NeoSam]

I have added a bigger images of the covers of this seinen light novel.

Its in the 4th post of this thread, here, under a spoiler.

Anyway, I felt its needed since those small images of the covers didn't capture the beauty of the art of this light novel.

I also added the release day of every light novel volume.

[zalas]

You know, it would be really funny if they did a crossover of this with Rose of Versailles <_<; (I know I know, slightly different periods in French history, but still >_>)

[Sushi-Y]

Just finished reading the first volume of the novel.

I like this one. Saito is awesome. If anything, the premise of the story is definitely one of the more unique ones I have ever seen. To be summoned into a fantasy world and becoming someone's familiar... My decision to give up or continue with something like a light novel is usually made right in the beginning, if it doesn't interest me right off the bat, then it's very hard for me to keep on reading. In that respect, "Zero no Tsukaima" had a nice start to it: no long-winded stage setting, no personal world views, only the events that are happening at the moment. In a way, it was very easy for me to read.

The tsukkomi had a familiar taste to it, then I realized that Yamaguchi Noboru is the scenario writer of the classic eroge (and later, anime) "Green Green". Yes, *that* Green Green. All those perverted comedy materials suddenly begin to make sense now.

Hmm, before I go further, I've been wondering about all the names that appear in this novel. There are some people with really silly long names here, it's likely that we'll see a dozen different versions flying around when the fansubs come out.

So for the heck of it, here are my interpretations of some of the main names/terms that appeared in the novel (vol.1, at least):

Spoiler for character names/terms:

平賀 才人 (Hiraga Saito)
Our main character. I don't think there will be any problems with the romanization of this one.

Also, am I the only one who really wants to have a figure of this guy? A Saito PVC figure would be awesome.

ルイズ・フランソワーズ・ル・ブラン・ド・ラ・ヴァリエール (Ruiz Francis Le Blanc de la Valliere)
Main heroine. Tsundere. Spoiled Ojousama. SM tendencies.

Spoiler for the reason for "Ruiz" instead of "Louise":

I realize her name is French, and it's tempting to romanize ルイズ as "Louise" (especially since her name appears to be bits and pieces taken from various historical French royal family figures).

However, the proper way to write "Louise" in katakana would be ルイーズ (Rui-zu) with the "i" sound dragged out.
The "i" in ルイズ, on the other hand, is too short to form the "Louise" pronounciation. Its pronounciation is actually closer to "Lewis" than that of "Louise".

I think Yamaguchi-san did this on purpose because it's more desirable for main characters (especially main female leads) to have short and easy(quick)-to-pronounce names, since it's "cuter" that way (In other words, "ルイズ" looks and sounds cuter than "ルイーズ". Probably because it's more compact?)

Either way, I'm not so thrilled about calling such a cute girl "Lewis" (although "Louise" isn't that cute of a name either, being gender neutral and all), so I went with a softer, cuter sounding "Ruiz".

I wonder how many people agree with me though.

別名: 「ゼロのルイズ」 (aka. "Ruiz the Zero")
I suppose this is the best format to write it.

キュルケ・アウグスタ・フレデリカ・フォン・アンハルツ・ツェルプストー (Kirke Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst)
Rival. Sexy. Somewhat cool at first but soon became a gag character.

As random is it looks, her name is supposedly German. A good parallel reference to Germany's rival relationship with France in history.

別名: 「微熱のキュルケ」 (aka. "Kirke the Slight Heat")
Considering her explanation of her nickname, "heat" probably fits a little better than "fever"...?

シエスタ (Siesta)
Maid. Maid. Maid. Maid. Oh, and super cute too.

タバサ (Tabatha)
Nagat... I mean, quiet girl with glasses who loves to read books. Smart and reliable. Are you sure she's not the twin sister of a certain humanoid interface from somewhere?

別名: 「雪風のタバサ」 (aka. "Tabatha the Snowy Wind")
Well, it's not a snowstorm...

ギーシュ・ド・グラモン (Guiche de Gramont)
Hentai Rose Freak. Playboy. Snob.

別名: 「青銅のギーシュ」 (aka. "Guiche the Bronze")

モンモランシー・マルガリタ・ラ・フェール・ド・モンモランシ (Montmorency Margarita la Faire de Montmorency)
That's not even a name anymore, more like tongue twister.

別名: 「香水のモンモランシー」 (aka. "Montmorency the Perfume")

オールド・オスマン (Ald Osman)
Hmm, considering how オスマン also means "Ottoman" in Japanese, maybe it's "Ald Ottoman" instead? It would fit the European theme.

Yes, I was tempted to write it as "Old Ottoman" at first too. But that just sounded funky.

Anyway, the eldery principle. Perv. One of these has to exist in a Yamaguchi Noboru story.

ミス・ロングビル (Miss Longueville)
It's better than "Long Bill", right?

================
As for some terms:
ハルケギニア (Halkeginia)
Hallukeginia? I don't know, I really don't know.

The name of the fantasy world that Saito was summoned into. The world that the story takes place in.

トリステイン魔法学院 (Tristein Magic Academy)
The magic school of the nobles. The home to most of our characters.

ガンダールヴ (Gandalfr)
Legendary familiar class. Weapon Master.

I think the romanization is correct.

デルフリンガー (Derflinger)
The talking sword. Any other romanization feels weird, so it's probably this.

Anyway, to comment on vol.1 in general, I would say it's interesting. Thinking back now, I supposed it would've been nice to see a little bit more action in those 250+ pages. The novel started off on a good pace, and there were some cool developments, but other than that, most of the story was spent on establishing the story settings (I don't mind though, Saito is a fun guy to follow around ^^; ). If anything, this volume was primarily about the development of a trusting relationship between Saito and Ruiz. I guess you can compare this to the first volume of "Shakugan no Shana", although Saito is much less of a wuss compared to Yuuji. ^^;

But the volume ended on a really nice note (it made me go "aww~"), while leaving many possibilities open. At this point, it's really all up to the skills of the author to maintain enough steam and creativity for another volume (since many novels tend to "flop out" after the first volume, "Suzumiya Haruhi" series was like this until vol.4). But I have confidence in Yamaguchi-san. Seeing as how "Zero no Tsukaima" is up to vol.8 now, and how MOON PHASE's cyan-san is a big fan of the series, I think I won't be disappointed.

I'm curious to see how well will the novel's contents transfer to the anime too.
The portrayal of the "Staff of Destruction" is a good example: since the novel only described it as an "oddly shaped staff", we have no idea what it is exactly until Saito began to "prepare" using it. In the anime though, we will be able to see it right away, so I wonder how well that'll work out.

Also, according to the interview with the director, it appears that the anime's basic plot will cover up to volume 3 of the novel. However, there will be episodes that go beyond that as well.

I ordered the rest of the novel volumes, hopefully I'll be able to catch up by the time the anime airs. ^^

[zalas]

Originally Posted by Sushi-Y

Hmm, before I go further, I've been wondering about all the names that appear in this novel. There are some people with really silly long names here, it's likely that we'll see a dozen different versions flying around when the fansubs come out.

So for the heck of it, here are my interpretations of some of the main names/terms that appeared in the novel (vol.1, at least):

Spoiler for character names/terms:

ルイズ・フランソワーズ・ル・ブラン・ド・ラ・ヴァリエール (Ruiz Francis Le Blanc de la Valliere)
Main heroine. Tsundere. Spoiled Ojousama. SM tendencies.

Spoiler for the reason for "Ruiz" instead of "Louise":

I realize her name is French, and it's tempting to romanize ルイズ as "Louise" (especially since her name appears to be bits and pieces taken from various historical French royal family figures).

However, the proper way to write "Louise" in katakana would be ルイーズ (Rui-zu) with the "i" sound dragged out.
The "i" in ルイズ, on the other hand, is too short to form the "Louise" pronounciation. Its pronounciation is actually closer to "Lewis" than that of "Louise".

I think Yamaguchi-san did this on purpose because it's more desirable for main characters (especially main female leads) to have short and easy(quick)-to-pronounce names, since it's "cuter" that way (In other words, "ルイズ" looks and sounds cuter than "ルイーズ". Probably because it's more compact?)

Either way, I'm not so thrilled about calling such a cute girl "Lewis" (although "Louise" isn't that cute of a name either, being gender neutral and all), so I went with a softer, cuter sounding "Ruiz".

I wonder how many people agree with me though.

Spoiler:

I would've gone with Louise because it's a reference to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_la_Vallière
Hence, I'd go with "Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière"
In fact, you see that Henrietta is also related to Louise in a historical context

Spoiler:

キュルケ・アウグスタ・フレデリカ・フォン・アンハルツ・ツェルプストー (Kirke Augusta Frederica von Anhalt Zerbst)
Rival. Sexy. Somewhat cool at first but soon became a gag character.

As random is it looks, her name is supposedly German. A good parallel reference to Germany's rival relationship with France in history.

別名: 「微熱のキュルケ」 (aka. "Kirke the Slight Heat")
Considering her explanation of her nickname, "heat" probably fits a little better than "fever"...?

Spoiler:

Yeah, it's as if Louise's family was on the French side of the border and Circe's family was on the German side XD

Spoiler:

ギーシュ・ド・グラモン (Guiche de Gramont)
Hentai Rose Freak. Playboy. Snob.

別名: 「青銅のギーシュ」 (aka. "Guiche the Bronze")

Spoiler:

Perhaps a reference to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoine_V_de_Gramont or maybe a reference to the Count of Guiche with whom Henrietta (historical) had an affair?

Spoiler:

================
As for some terms:
ハルケギニア (Halkeginia)
Hallukeginia? I don't know, I really don't know.

The name of the fantasy world that Saito was summoned into. The world that the story takes place in.

トリステイン魔法学院 (Tristein Magic Academy)
The magic school of the nobles. The home to most of our characters.

Spoiler:

Yeah, I'd go with Halkeginia until something concrete shows up. Though, For Tristein, would Tristain or Tristeign or Tristayne work better? It has that long a type of sound. When I see Tristein, I'd pronounce it as 'treestine (rhymes with pine)' or 'treesteen'

[Arimfe]

Originally Posted by zalas

Spoiler:

Though, For Tristein, would Tristain or Tristeign or Tristayne work better? It has that long a type of sound. When I see Tristein, I'd pronounce it as 'treestine (rhymes with pine)' or 'treesteen'

Spoiler:

Tristein would give it a german touch, while Tristain or Tristan would make it closer to french, I think. I wouldn't know, they would all be fine to me, even Tristine ^^;;

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by zalas

Spoiler:

I would've gone with Louise because it's a reference to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_de_la_Vallière
Hence, I'd go with "Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière"
In fact, you see that Henrietta is also related to Louise in a historical context

Are you referring to Henrietta Anne Stuart?

I'm reading through vol.2 now and I can understand the reference. Like I said, I know Louise/Ruiz's name is a reference to French royalties.

But still, since her name was modified (ルイーズ into ルイズ), I felt like I should make a distinction between the two as well. Beside, Ruiz sounds cuter. >< (←the only reason)

Originally Posted by zalas

Spoiler:

Yeah, I'd go with Halkeginia until something concrete shows up. Though, For Tristein, would Tristain or Tristeign or Tristayne work better? It has that long a type of sound. When I see Tristein, I'd pronounce it as 'treestine (rhymes with pine)' or 'treesteen'

Well, "Tristein" still remains the most probable romanization (テイン usually refers to "tein" (pronounced "teen"), as in プロテイン protein), not for the pronounciation, but because "tein" translates directly into "テイン". However, sometimes it does get used for a "tain" or "taine" or "tane" ending because that's how the Japanese pronounce "テイン". Thus it is also possible to get something like "Tristain" or "Tristaine" or "Tristane".

As of now though, I think "Tristein" should be alright. It's really not that important of a term anyway.

[NeoSam]

ヤマグチノボル
Yamaguchi Noboru

Author of Zero no Tsukaima light novel.

His site:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/hexagon2000/

Old site:
http://gonzui.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

All his works can be seen on his new site (links are available to the covers).

All his works are seinen(young men's) light novels, some light novels are published under the seinen light novel label Sneaker Bunko, other are published under the seinen light novel labels: Fujimi Fantasia Bunko and Fujimi Mystery Bunko, and of course Zero no Tsukaima light novel which is published under the seinen light novel label MF Bunko J.

[shaolinx]

is there any translations for the novels yet

[eggplant]

Just saw episode 1.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

For those concerned with the spellings of the names, rest assured that at least the first names of the main characters are spelled out in the opening sequence

Cute character designs and typical J.C. Staff artwork, for those of you who like it. Catchy opening song, but the ending song sung by Kugimiya Rie is pretty awful, as expected

The story is what intrigues me the most. Having a spinleess plebeian become the servant of a incompetent, and tsundere no less, mage in training serves for some interesting possibilities.

However, as feared by some, no matter how you listen to Louise and Saito, it's Shana and Yuuji reborn, obvious since they are the same seiyuu (Kugimiya Rie and Hino Satoshi). Not that I'm complaining, as I'm sure the producers were aware of this when selecting the cast. The "urusai" rant by Louise gave me chills, though...

Plenty of moe fanservice, what more can you ask for? Good start for this show!

Here is a photo of staff and cast for Zero no Tsukaima, from bottom, left to right: Hino Satoshi (Saito), Yamaguchi Noboru (novel author), Iwasaki Yoshiaki (Director), Kugimiya Rie (Louise), Takahashi Mikako (Montmorency), Sakurai Takahiro (Guiche), Inoue Nanako (Kirche), and Horie Yui (Siesta).

[hi no ken Jebus]

Spoiler for ep1:

I wasn't looking forward to this so I came in with no expectations. However the first one was a fun episode, like eggplant mentioned it's Shana and Yuuji all over again. The cast seems nice and likeable especially the dumbledore/gandalf headmaster with a slightly pervy side.

[kari-no-sugata]

Just watched ep 1...

Spoiler:

Not bad but...

It seem the ONLY thing (so far) that's innovative about the series (characters, plot etc) is that basic idea of summoning a guy from Earth to use as a familiar.

Looks like it might get a bit more combat orientated later on though.

I'll give it a few eps. If the characters (and/or plot) turn out to be a bit deeper than what ep 1 shows, then I'll carry on watching it.

[Sushi-Y]

Originally Posted by eggplant

Just saw episode 1.

Spoiler for Episode 1:

The story is what intrigues me the most. Having a spinleess plebeian become the servant of a incompetent, and tsundere no less, mage in training serves for some interesting possibilities.

You'd be surprised at how "spine-ful" Saito can be later on. Unlike Yuuji, Saito is actually quite a tough and capable guy. He's also 5 times the hentai Yuuji is though.

Originally Posted by eggplant

Spoiler for Episode 1:

However, as feared by some, no matter how you listen to Louise and Saito, it's Shana and Yuuji reborn, obvious since they are the same seiyuu (Kugimiya Rie and Hino Satoshi). Not that I'm complaining, as I'm sure the producers were aware of this when selecting the cast. The "urusai" rant by Louise gave me chills, though...

Well, why not, the two of them sound well together. It's true that I was almost expecting the "urusai" to repeat 3 times when I heard it though.

That, and Tabitha's "shiranai" at the end of the spiral stairwell scene just screamed "alien humanoid interface".

====================
As for some random comments for this first episode:

Spoiler:

They sort of reversed a lot of the events that happened in the first section of the novel (in the novel, the summon was the first thing that happened, and all the other events, including the "alchemy accident" happened later).

Interestingly, in the anime, they made it so that Saito spoke a different language (well, Japanese) from everyone else in Halkeginia (portrayed by the echoing voice), and only after Louise used the (failed) "silence" spell on Saito were they finally able to understand each other.

Hopefully, in the next episode, they'll cover a little on Saito's "happy trip home on the streets of Tokyo" and how he got "summoned".

The sakuga quality was very nice as well.

The art is pretty stable overall, and I think all the characters were presented quite nicely in the anime, the voices all fit, and the occasional deformed faces were cute and used effectively (unlike Higurashi).

The OP animation was nice, Saito looked really cool facing off against the earth golem with his sword. ^^ The OP song matched the animation quite well, but I guess it's not much compared to Shakugan no Shana's rank of I've singers.

The ED... Let's just say I got a good laugh out of this part :

The song isn't remarkable, but it's not really that bad either, if you can look past Kugimiya-san's deliberately loli (denpa?) voice.

The animation quality was particularly good in certain places though, Louise putting on her kneesocks in the beginning, and the kiss scene, for example.
(Looks like they know exactly where to focus their attention on )

Oh, and too much "glitter wipes".

Next week is probably going to start with some introductions of the story elements: the academy, the world, the roles of servants, etc.. Then we'll see some new characters (Siesta~) before heading into Saito's first battle. I'm looking forward to it. ^^

[Guido]

Omniscient told me this series has the same voice cast, production staff, and studio that made Shakugan no Shana.

I reserve my comments until a sub is out.

[Omniscient]

Episode 01 Screencaps and Summary

Spoiler:

Wow, I knew this was J.C. Staff, but I hadn't realized going into the first episode that this had all the main seiyuu from Shakugan no Shana. That just hit me once the episode started and I couldn't stop myself from laughing, especially when Kugimiya Rie gets to say "Urusai!" The episode itself was solid, but I think the Shana similarities had me more entertained than anything else.

[Zhemos]

Anyone know which group is gonna sub this series?

I skipped through the raw a little bit, I love the character designs. It looks to be funny. Oh how I wish I knew Japanese. :|