Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
luxurydior
The Familiar of Zero is an anime that unfortunately doesn’t work for me. While the fantasy setting and magical academy premise have potential, The story often relies too heavily on comedy which has a poor execution because its bland boring basic and raunchy that hasn’t aged particularly well, making many scenes uncomfortable rather than entertaining. The main characters can be difficult to connect with, and their relationships frequently develop through unnecessary conflict instead of meaningful character growth. The pacing is inconsistent, with interesting ideas being pushed aside for repetitive situations. Although there are occasional moments of genuine adventure and emotional development, this is mainly one of the worst animes I have watched . The animation is also quite dated compared…
Read at the sourcejacksonalves
will always be, for me, the first isekai or mahou shoujo—whatever label you prefer—and the best of them all. It will always be my personal favorite. It has everything going for it, and it starts in a simple, chaotic, and surprisingly charming way.
The comedy works really well, the romance develops at just the right pace, and the characters are instantly charismatic. Louise is explosive, Saito is thrown into chaos without any choice, and that strange dynamic between them is exactly what makes it so engaging.
And in the end, that’s what makes the series so special: it doesn’t try to be perfect, just fun and genuinely enjoyable in its own way. It’s the kind of anime that leaves you with a warm sense of nostalgia afterward.
It deserved much more recognition than it got. Unfortunately, it di…
Read at the sourceemberreviews
The Familiar of Zero is a relic of a bygone era of fantasy romcoms, a statement that should be taken as both complimentary and derogatory. The tumultuous master-familiar dynamic between Louise and Saito centers itself as the core appeal for this story, and it is uh…an acquired taste, a taste that, thankfully, has been embedded in my personal palate from practically the moment I began identifying as an anime fan. This show lies squarely within Rie Kugimiya’s “tsundere queen” era, and her performance, along with some early sympathetic characterization, makes Louise an engaging lead to say the least. To describe her relationship with Saito as “toxic” would be immensely charitable, with “abusive” perhaps being the more apt adjective, and yet there’s something oddly compelling about it, as Sait…
Read at the sourceLegionIscariot
I went into this anime expecting junk. But it actually ended up not being that bad. And actually entertaining.
The plot is basically the MC gets teleported from Japan into a world of magic by the worst wizard.
Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Valliere aka "Louise the Zero"
It takes place at a magic school, and students were meant to summon a familiar to make a contract with. So the MC ends up being that familiar.
Something I do appreciate about this isekai is that it does something a little interesting with its world building.
The MC is not the first person to be summoned to this world. There was for example a war soldier that once came to this world long before. And they left behind a couple of objects (a certain book, a certain weapon,...) that some see as magical artifacts.
I think…
Read at the sourceTakayoshi4542
Basically Isekai but good Isekai, you don't get any cheat here, everything is purely fantasy world, with magic as the main theme, the premise is good too. At first maybe it's weird cause it's theme and premise that little different from isekai we always know, but as the story progressed, it becomes more interesting and enjoyable.
Just like the synopsis, the protagonist is accidentally transported to another world, but alive and not dead or reincarnated, so he's just a normal human, and the Heroine who just a normal wizard who can't use magic (always failed). The personality of both character also really contrast that makes the story more interesting
There's no really a powerful or overpower fight, but still executed properly within the theme.
The Story also explore the setting of the…
Read at the sourceTite__3
Zero no Tsukaima holds considerable historical importance and is one of the foundational works that helped shape the genre to some extent. Just for that alone, there’s value in watching it. That said — is Zero no Tsukaima a good anime?
The short answer is: no.
The long answer…
The anime does have its appeal, and its success isn’t entirely undeserved. It’s simple, easy to understand, with characters built around the “one character, one joke” style. The plots are light but have a minimal amount of substance. The overall production is mediocre — nothing really stands out — but the music is good and the character design is distinctive.
The anime’s biggest problem is its lack of commitment to anything. Everything is shallow: it feels like a slapstick comedy or even a parody, yet at the same…
Read at the sourceDestron
When I first watched this show, it was around 2017. However, I dropped it after 4 episodes for reasons I don't know. Most likely because I didn't mind it, but it wasn't something I wanted to continue. I recently decided to go through my dropped anime section and I thought I'd give it another go as I don't remember anything bad about what I watched and I'm so glad I did.
I regret dropping this show and after giving it another go has given me much more of an appreciation for it. The animation for the time is actually really nice, the characters are pretty good, the stories it told was entertaining. All of it put together made me change it from a dropped anime 5/10 to a completed 10/10 - Currently I'm in the middle of watching season 2 as of writing this review and it's the same thing, lovi…
Read at the sourceZephreth
This might be the single handedly worst anime I have ever watched in my life. Nothing more needs to be said except don't watch it. I've watched ex-arm, mars of destruction, and tesla note and this one takes the cake. I have a pretty high tolerance for garbage anime but this one makes me want to throw up. Main female character is probably the worst human being you'll ever find in anime and I watched redo of healer. The art is mid, the characters were ALL obnoxious and stupid. Generic, predictable, trash story writing. Frog main character gets carried by a bunch of OP girls that somehow join his harem. I don't think anyone would enjoy this series.
Read at the sourceAntonyAV
Zero no tsukaima is a fantasy isekai with an interesting world, many likeable characters, a decently written main character, well-thought abilities, etc...
The anime makes it clear from the first moment that there will be a love story between the two main characters: Louise and Saito, and while Louise is abusive and cold she's so innocent that you root for her somewhat, even more when even she doesn't know why she acts the way she does and regrets the flaws she shows towards people she cares for. Saito on the other hand is lecherous but cares for and protects Louise, he's also loyal, he has a lot of chances to take advantage of her innocence like some other characters try to do, but he seems to respect her.
The story has many great things to develop but it's poorly written so it doesn'…
Read at the sourcesynovit
Okay, so it should not be a good anime, like by all metrics it should be shit...
But god damn when it wants to hit emotionally it does so in a very well-paced fashion. Genuinely is a guilty pleasure of mine and if you want to turn your brain off and watch something that has some story and a bit of emotion thrown in once in a while, then I can't recommend this show enough.
Don't get me wrong, the story is interesting and is a lot more investing than a lot of other "other world" type anime, but it does require a bit of getting used to. The characters are dumb and childish a staggering amount of the time, but moments of realization and bonding genuinely feel real and within the scope of their characters.
One thing that shows itself throughout the 3rd and 4th seasons is that, tragically, t…
Read at the sourceGouldenboyiii
Im not usually one for isekai, but this one is different. Its actually one of the oldest isekai. Based on the light novel of the same name Zero no Tsukaima (Familiar of Zero)
Story
The story follows our protagonist Saito Hiraga who gets summoned by a young mage Le Blanc de Valliere Louise Francoise. Its a long name but she is actually royalty. She goes to a school full of other mages. He is however the only human summoned in the ceremony. Louise is called "Louise the Zero" because she is unable to do magic. There is a mystery surrounding someone stealing important relics. The plot however is good enough for a series like this. It focuses on the war between the evil mages and the main school. Its not a perfect plot but it is engaging enough.
Characters
The main character is the standard tee…
Read at the sourcedaikitodou
The plot is okay but the heroine character design is awful.
There is no way an abusive, egocentric, greedy, possessive, not good looking loli Louise suit the MC. If author could not design a heroine as alluring as Rias Gremory, MiraJane, Makima, Shinobu or Esdeath, they should have designed the heroine character at least to look like the princess(Henrietta) or the maid(Siesta) if they want to force such ridiculous love interest.
How on earth she acts like a King when she's not even the prettiest or the hottest there still baffles me. The worst couple in anime history.
Overall the story is good but MC is forced to have a love interest to wrong character. There is no likeable traits in Louise. She was too annoying and abusive. A total turn off in personality wise or attitude, and a tot…
Read at the sourceJoestarEISH_020
So 'The Familiar of Zero', yeah; I can see why this anime has got so many members. To be honest I dropped this anime for a while when I began watching anime 4 years back so I'd say it's for only those who see themselves as veterans in this form of entertainment and not a noob looking to get excited. The anime overall would be mid if you've any high-end show watching but makes for an entertaining watch especially when you have nothing to do.
One thing's for sure, this anime does it way better than the Isekai coming out today. Its top qualities I would say would be its light-hearted comedy and over-the-top obvious romance plot. The qualities of it being a school anime totally diminish at the end of the show making it an all-out anime about the land and war. It is mysterious at some points b…
Read at the sourceMonki_T_Goofy
If you would like a isekai based harem show with a typical tsundere and a bit of ecchiness ,then you will certainly enjoy this. The female lead 'Le Blanc de La Vallière, Louise Françoise' (definitely a tongue twister name if you ask me) is a typical tsundere who likes (I bet she is into that kinda stuff ) punishing our MC ,who is a typical shounen hero, then we have a lustful bitch who is there for fan service ,a prodigy girl with glasses ,and a snobby flirty guy. In terms of plot its ok with not much of character development and world building like in some popular isekai shows. The art was not so appealing to me and I didn't like it when the scenes suddenly got cut moving rapidly to a new scene which sometimes made it feel like a 'picture book'. Still I enjoyed the show and would recommen…
Read at the sourceNorm72
Again ... how the heck is this anime on all the "best isekai" "best romance" anime lists?
Ok just start with the good things first: animation (that's all)
No joke ... the animation quality is the only valuable thing here.
The plot is ok but more like meh. Filled with cliches.
SPOILERS ahead:
To be perfectly true i really enjoyed the isekaied soldier/weapons line. That was great.
BUT. The characters are like the ones in those cheap soap operas. There will be no real character development, just the cliches (forced as heck).
There is no single character worth to mention. The MC is a simp, totally unreasonable, maybe some brain damage from the portal?
The MC "heroine" is a whiny piece of human junk. I know it's just a fantasy, but even after the last episode i can't really identify the gen…
Read at the sourceAyemAFK
It was 8,28 for me with my own aspects of review.
Stories; 8,1
The concept of a good story for isekai by bringing Adventure and Mystery makes this anime has its own uniqueness, plus here the harem is not so prominent and is displayed in the right proportions.
Characters; 8,3
Good characterization of mc, Saito in my opinion is one of the best mc in terms of action and behavior,, there is only a little bit of annoyance over what he did in the last episode of season 1. On the other hand, Louise the heroine in my opinion has a fairly bad character portrayal. And for the other characters, I think they are depicted quite well.
Character Designs; 8,6
The design of the medieval wizarding world where the characters that I saw were designed quite well, plus the design of the pets that seemed uniq…
Read at the sourceAnime-Reviewer
10/10 Its very dependent on your likes and dislikes, the character building can be slow and frustrating at times but the ending is something worth watching for. This can be goofy at times and has moments that make you laugh and a decent few that make you cry but it really was exactly what I was looking for in a Tsundere rom-com anime. If you dislike the main character not sticking to one girl like me its gonna require some patience but the ending wraps it up in a very satisfactory manner. There is some heavy moments and great points where the story is almost perfect, I recommend to anyone looking for a good Tsundere anime to tug at the heartstrings! 10/10
Read at the sourceiHateAnimeBro
I decided to watch the Zero no Tsukaima anime series, as I wanted to find something "light" to watch and relax. I've searched for something like harem comedy but actually got kind of cute and interesting adventure/romance. Zero no Tsukaima surprised me really positively.
The story is good and addictive. The plot isn't anything impressive but makes overall sense. The characters are done really decent, their development throughout the series isn't bad. Fight scenes are done really well (I want to point out that the anime is already 16 years old).
There are many scenes in the anime where you can smile, or even laugh, there are many parts when you can just enjoy the moment. I think that's the most important in any show - in my opinion, Zero no Tsukaima is a great balance between adventure, r…
Read at the source2life
This is an anime which was refreshing to watch. Yet it has some shortcomings which can be forgiven if you’re into fantasy anime with tsunderes. The familiar of Zero is light, funny, sometimes surprising and so playful. I finished this in 2 days and it kept me hooked, looking for a second season. So in terms of entertainment a job well done. So what is The Familiar of Zero and what can you expect form it.
This is a fantasy isekai anime with a touch of ecchi and drama. If your alarm bells go off by the word “OMG NOOOO ISEKAAAAAI ASKFAOWFJ” then yeah, run for it. Oh you’re still here? And you’re not Gigguk? Okay then well let me explain why I liked this but also loafed it for it. The isekai part self is kind off underwhelming. It’s obvious the newcomer has no information about the current wo…
Read at the sourceCostCurl
Whether you like or are okay with Louise, will heavily influence your enjoyment of this show.
It should be no surprise Saito is not treated well - considering in the Synopsis it mentions he is essentially treated as a slave to Louise anyone that can't stomach the MC being treated poorly by a girl should not watch this then. Sometimes he deserves it, but really the extent is usually more extreme than necessary for the punishment he gets. Overall, it is comedic and played for jokes, but if that is not your style of humor you won't like it then of course.
This show does a decent job with world building as it introduces you to new people. While the story is rather simple it does go into the society of this world and its problems along with its inequality which was good.
It wasn't that ecch…
Read at the source
