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EP. REVIEW: Grimoire of Zero


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Key
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Joined: 03 Nov 2003
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Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:22 am Reply with quote
Really? I thought episode 11 practically saved the series. It brought a whole bunch of things together and made it clearer something that's been vaguely apparent for a while: Thirteen actually loves Zero. I loved it.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 8:41 am Reply with quote
I didn't mind episode 11 but it didn't save the series for me, that's for sure. Given that Thirteen does seem to legitimately love Zero, his methods make absolutely no sense. There is no way he would have thought that Zero would have approved of what he did, if he truly loved her and wasn't a complete idiot. I wouldn't say I'm as disappointed in this show as I am in some of the others I listed in my previous post, but I can say it didn't live up to the excitement I had about it when it first started.
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NeverConvex
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:49 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, Thirteen's downright ridiculous 'motivations' were one of the major things bothering me about this episode. "I love you and want to give you what you want so I'm going to kill all of our friends, spread magic but then commit witch genocide to the people I spread it to and then ??? and then I'll give you the country, because I think that's what you want because reasons." is some pretty comically bad character writing.

Him loving her in itself is a fine idea, but sometimes the devil's in the details, and in this particular case the devil seems very, very, very incoherent and confused.
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Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 4:57 pm Reply with quote
I know a lot of people think that a good show should have things happening and plots advancing, but I feel there's a lot of enjoyment to be had in just watching chemistry between characters. This show was much better when it was Zero and TigerDude wandering through the woods, and suffered pretty heavily because advancing the plot is just a thing people do.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Tue Jun 20, 2017 6:29 pm Reply with quote
I'm not entirely sure how to take Episode 11. It's not that I dislike it, but it's a bit weird to have Thirteen do this character 180 in one episode when it took several just to build up his entire master plan's various aspects. Maybe if he had been more clear about his motivations instead of giving everyone that deadpan stare and listless answers (not helped by Takehito Koyasu's amazing ability to hide emotion in his voice acting), he could have joined the team a lot earlier and Him could have been someone else entirely so a party of Zero, Merc, Albus, Holdem and Thirteen confronting a genuine enemy together would seem cooler. Then again, it's not as if there's enough time to introduce a brand new face to be the antagonist at this stage. Might as well see how they plan to wrap this up next week.
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SilverTalon01



Joined: 02 Apr 2012
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 1:06 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
There is no way he would have thought that Zero would have approved of what he did, if he truly loved her and wasn't a complete idiot.


That is the whole point though. He first tried to have her wait in the cave, and then he tried to hide his plan from her precisely because he knew she wouldn't approve. He didn't want her ever knowing how it happened. He just wanted Zero to be able to live freely outside.

Anyway, any novel readers here? I'm wondering if there is anything past this arc because it seems like everything for all the characters is going to get resolved next week.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:37 am Reply with quote
@ Silver Talon01 - I may have this wrong, but he killed all her friends in the cave, right? The fact that she was never supposed to find out that he was responsible is a little irrelevant. And even if I'm wrong about him killing those in the cave, he certainly did things after that which, if Zero ever did discover them, she would be horrified by. Again, the fact that Thirteen assumed she'd be patiently waiting in a cave filled with dead friends is a little irrelevant.
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GoldenPincers



Joined: 24 Oct 2015
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 21, 2017 7:45 pm Reply with quote
With all the reveals about Thirteen's motivations, plans and goal to "place Zero at the top kingdom where she would rule", I realized that Thirteen fits a certain rare -dere type: the Goudere.

Basically, a goudere is someone who acts out of love for someone and would do anything for that person to be happy, even die. The problem is that those actions the goudere thinks are good/just can sometimes be the opposite, something the person he loves doesn't like/want or actions the goudere takes without getting his/her love's consent. It's basically a sort of toned down yandere, without the violence, and is often seen in master/servant relationships, but not always. Think Ikaros from Heaven's Lost Property, Momo from To LOVE-Ru or Kazuma from Noragami.
Sadly, Thirteen about Zero isn't nearly as good, explored or developped as Kazuma about Bishamon, so it falls flat.

I'm at least glad we got answers this week, and I'm not too unhappy about the resolution between Thirteen and Albus, though it IS still kinda dumb...
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DanQ



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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2017 5:03 am Reply with quote
Not really sure if I could describe Thirteen action as 180 degree turn – he just adapt his action to current events. And HE thinks that HE is the clever one. But, His self-perception as man of reason is faulty one. But he is actually pretty crazy, his plan at some point include to let himself get killed by Sorcerers of Zero to wipe out them...
Anyway, enjoyable anime, I'm looking for to finale Anime smile.
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Nordhmmer



Joined: 11 Feb 2017
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 3:33 pm Reply with quote
SilverTalon01
Quote:
That is the whole point though. He first tried to have her wait in the cave, and then he tried to hide his plan from her precisely because he knew she wouldn't approve. He didn't want her ever knowing how it happened. He just wanted Zero to be able to live freely outside.

Anyway, any novel readers here? I'm wondering if there is anything past this arc because it seems like everything for all the characters is going to get resolved next week.



Well as usual between a novel and it's anime adaptation stuff gets lost.
Edit: One thing to point out is just how old Zero is,the anime for whatever reason danced around the point-did leave in several hints.

Those people err friends from the cave,well 13 had a decent enough reason to put them down.

" anything past this arc " The anime covered the first volume,there are seven more volumes released so far,so yes there are more arcs.
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Catsplay



Joined: 24 Sep 2015
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 6:15 pm Reply with quote
Nordhmmer wrote:
SilverTalon01
Quote:
That is the whole point though. He first tried to have her wait in the cave, and then he tried to hide his plan from her precisely because he knew she wouldn't approve. He didn't want her ever knowing how it happened. He just wanted Zero to be able to live freely outside.

Anyway, any novel readers here? I'm wondering if there is anything past this arc because it seems like everything for all the characters is going to get resolved next week.



Well as usual between a novel and it's anime adaptation stuff gets lost.
Edit: One thing to point out is just how old Zero is,the anime for whatever reason danced around the point-did leave in several hints.

Those people err friends from the cave,well 13 had a decent enough reason to put them down.

" anything past this arc " The anime covered the first volume,there are seven more volumes released so far,so yes there are more arcs.


Can you elaborate more? How exactly old is Zero and why did 13 kill the other witches in the cave? I wish the anime actually explained some of this stuff more...though it left me interested enough in the Light novels if they ever get licensed in the West.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:46 pm Reply with quote
Well the first volume is over and done with (the conclusion is about what I expected based on the previous episode), and while it's not an award winner, I certainly didn't waste my time with it this season. I would love to see more, but it's hard to say if they'd consider animating the other volumes. One thing's for sure, I want to see more of Merc. : )
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Key
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 10:25 pm Reply with quote
belvadeer wrote:
Well the first volume is over and done with (the conclusion is about what I expected based on the previous episode), and while it's not an award winner, I certainly didn't waste my time with it this season. I would love to see more, but it's hard to say if they'd consider animating the other volumes. One thing's for sure, I want to see more of Merc. : )

Add "and Zero, too" to that last statement and those are also exactly my thoughts about the series.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 12:20 am Reply with quote
And so the girls go their separate ways with their beast boys in tow to live happily ever after in furry paradise.

They sure did skip over the end of the war eh? I mean, why would the soldiers stop trying to slaughter them once they were defenseless? How would they immediately know the light took away their magic? Even if they realized it, there were some serious grudges still in force, and I don't see them suddenly laying down their arms to embrace the magic-less witches.

Why are their thumb-pricks still bleeding? oO

The bones of a good story were all there, but it seemed like they were put together by someone who didn't know that the knee-bone's connected to the thigh-bone, and then draped a shag rug over it trying to hide the misshapen result. I'm not sure I'd bother with another season if they make one.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



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PostPosted: Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:59 am Reply with quote
Grimoire of Zero, for me, had almost the identical trajectory as SukaSuka: strong start, dip in the middle, climb back somewhat in the end. Ultimately, I rated this show as Good and that was almost entirely due to the charm of the Zero/Merc relationship. I would definitely watch a second helping.
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