Ta-dah! Ain’t it lovely (k, Konata’s head seems a tad over-sized though)? Particularly like how Kagamin is snacking and torn between looking happy and embarrassed. Ah sweet Kagamin!

On the reverse side is Rein-chan and her harem.

Subaru and Gin-nee ♥! Especially with the AWESOME episode 17. The magazine also comes with a detachable StrikerS The Comics (Episode 8 #3.5 – New Days) which gives more background about the daily routines of the newbies after joining Riot Force 6. LOL at Tiia going ‘Ah… Ah…’ when Caro is healing her, Nanoha’s description of the Stars combi which Hayate imagines like a corny movie poster and subsequent comparison to when Nanoha was loli, Tiia breaking the ice with Erio and Caro by messing up their hair (and Subaru restoring some order).

Ah, the Siesta hug pillow is certainly something that can be considered. Apologies for the blurry photos.
Siesta >>>>>>> Louise.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

I agree with almost everything in Kabitzin’s excellent review of this series so this post will just make random remarks rather than attempt a systematic review. Firstly, where got love dilemma? It’s obvious that Siesta is the superior choice! Shaking Fists of Basket Grasping Fury FTW! Sudden Stop FTW!

Louise is my least favourite Rie Kugimiya role thus far. I found Shana’s brattiness to fit her chibi-ko looks, permanent sulk and actually consider her to be fairly well socialized given that her life experience came from a shiny brooch and an emotionless de arimasu meido. Nagi works well too because she’s dere often enough to balance out her tsun. Louise’s heavy physical attacks were a big minus for me too – I really dislike these types of characters who employ plenty of physical violence against their objects of affection e.g. Ranma 1/2 Akane Tendou’s huge inter-dimensional hammer, Love Hina’s Naru Narusegawa’s Hit Keitaro Through the Roof punch, pre-Fumoffu Kaname Chidori’s paper fan etc etc etc. It may just be a cartoon but this type of thing turns me off like the way some anime fans just hate yaoi or lolipedofiend stuff.

The villains like Fouquet and Ward were soooo obvious and the ominous foreshadowing was anything but subtle. Cromwell was also pretty much damp squib – stick power 4TW. The whole Reconquista thing wasn’t really well integrated and the conclusion felt a bit sudden with Louise’s power suddenly manifesting and pwning all the baddies, which emphasized to me how much a side show everything was in comparison to the whole Louise x Saito thing.

On the other hand, the side characters were really quite interesting. The Princess was sweet yet steely, especially her No Surrender, I Will Lead From the Front decision. She had it pretty rough too – with Wales being shish-kebabed and all that. Early-to-Mid GSD Cagalli really needed some mentoring from this lady. The battle ‘armour’ wasn’t bad either. LOL

Speaking of side characters, (1) needs MOAR Tabitha. (Why do I always think of cats when I hear that name?) After all, she is descended from the royal line of Ayanami and Nagato. (2) needs MOAR Kirche x Tabitha HAWT love-love. Kirche may be the Academy Bicycle but she only seems to give true tenderness for her silent blue-haired friend.

The gimmick of importing Earth stuff into the ZnT world was fun. I LOL’ed at the Staff of Destruction as well as the Kirche family treasure book. Though the latter needed light coming out of its pages a la Mahoromatic. The Zero Fighter was kinda orz for me though. Louise the Zero. Void sorcery. Her familiar flies a Zero-sen to the rescue! Stop hitting me with the GEDDIT!? GEDDIT!? stick already! X_X The bullets from this Zero can also be set on STUN. Or the Armour Class of the Dragons and their Knight Riders are really good. Was half expecting that little dude from Hayate no Gotoku to pop out with his ‘We can’t show you blood and gore’ sign.

In all, ZnT was still a pretty fun ride and its appeal was probably enhanced by its general lack of powerful competition when it first aired. Not for keepers though.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.