Grimoire of Zero (Zero Kara Hajimeru Mahō no Sho)

I thought I would start a thread for this series as there was a bit of discussion in the Spring 2017 thread.

ANN page

This seems like an entertaining series so far. I like the main character a lot but Zero herself hasn't really made much of an impact on me yet and the annoying witch kid is an annoying witch kid. The thing I like most about the series so far is the setting, which seems quite interesting and I am hoping it gets fleshed out a bit more as the series goes on.

I really like this series, though I have to say I'm more interested in the setting at large than the main characters. The protagonist is interesting enough, and has many mysteries about her - though I find her a bit blaze about everything- but the Mercenary is just boring. I like Albus tho, since he's so passionate about things.

But the thing that really endeared me to the series is the setting. The backdrop of witch hunts, except here the witches are real and can fight back against their oppressors.

And the really interesting this is that unlike most of this type of stories, where the magic is fading and witches are dying out, here the magic is on upswing, making revolutionary leaps and bounds and becoming more potent, and witches are on the brink of turning the tables on their enemies and ending the centuries of oppression. With setup like this the story could really go places.

Bit late to reply. But are we even going to get a trope page for this anime?

You could always make one yourself.

Episode 3: The series is a little episodic/Jerk of the week at the moment but there are still some nice moments (the shopping trip) and some funny moments (the "Sex Slave" moment). I had been hoping for a little more information about the beastfallen than we got on the opening narration but what little world building we got was still interesting

Episode 3 was probably the best one so far. Which, I suppose, is to say there weren't any particularly glaring problems with it.

Man, as if it wasn't enough of a shithole, they have slavery too. And they even burn completely normal people on occasion. What a mess.

I like Zero's new outfit. I wonder, has she never seen humans before?

I like that we got to see shitty beastfallen. Adds depth to the racism by giving humans legitimate grievances against their kind and shows the whole thing isn't black and white.

Didn't like the episode opening with exposition again. Feels like lazy writing.

edited 24th Apr '17 5:48:23 PM by RedRob

Yeah, it's always nice to see discrimination having some rational basis.

Her outfit looks like it came out of Fire Emblem.

Pretty much. Though the "sex slaves" gang was darn funny. And finally Mercenary doesn't kick up a fuss from having Zero use him as a bed.

edited 26th Apr '17 1:41:33 AM by fillerdude

It's not like discrimination needs any rational basis.

The boots are way too big for her tho.

You know, her coat does look like Robin's, she even has the white hair. Hopefully, she doesn't come with some world-ending zombie dragon.

She does come with a dog-ending tiger mercenary though.

Well, that was a nice bit of breather episode before the plot kicks in at the end. We learn a bit more about Zero, which is nice, and how she doesn't know anything beyond her knowledge of magic.

Finally, a magician that hones spells for actually relevant, useful things like making it easier to get good food.

Well today's episode was dark. I kind of question if the world wouldn't be better off without magic.

Also, Albus is stupid. First there was that ring incident in the earlier episodes,(why did he keep it on his finger?!) and now him trying to kill a looter. Which I would be fine with, if the reason for wasn't that "You killed them." No Albus, they just took the stones from dead bodies. They're looters, that's what they do.

And I wonder who this Thirteen fellow is? He's connected to Zero obviously. Also, is it me or are his eyes off, like he looks like he's constantly staring off to his left and right?

edited 8th May '17 1:57:27 PM by RedRob

Huh, didn't expect Thirteen to be a traitor. Or such a creep.

Also, the king hypocrisy is outstanding.

Things sure went all dbz at the end there. Zero really is powerful as hell.

Thirteen isn't a traitor, actually. He was never on the side of the Sorcerors of Zero. He looks after and up to Zero, it seems, and couldn't care less about the other witches.

The scene with the dying man was so painfully cliche. So was the ensuing DBZ battle as put it, but that looked cool at least.

Man, Thirteen is really good at spinning sophistic bullshit. Also a shame on the Mercenary for buying into it.

This is the low point for the party it seems. Hopefully things will start looking better in the future.

Did have a point about how the Sorcerers dealt with rogue witches. Like, they were criminally stupid in just exiling them. Pretty sure now a rogue witch was the one who caused that plague, which lead to Selina's execution, which lead to the current war between witches and humans. There's a reason why in the real world it's illegal for criminals to have guns, at least in the US depending on the law.

That and Zero making her Grimoire. I question the point of making a Grimoire with world-ending capacity. Like, what practical purpose is there?

If it functions, it is possible to exploit it.

I think the world-ending part is hyperbole. Zero just wanted a more convenient ways to do things. Make a fire without a flint, as she says. It's just that people are using said fire to roast their enemies.

Zero gave mankind power and humanity was simultaneously smart and stupid enough to abuse the hell out of it.

Anyway, the falling out in this episode was... ehhhh. It sort of works, but it does lean pretty heavily on hypnosis trickery.

edited 17th May '17 3:56:19 AM by fillerdude

I thiunk the thing was that the hypnosis only worked because Mercenary was already harboring such fears deep down. That's why Zero got so pissed off.

I get that, but, well, no duh? He's a beastfallen, and witches apparently cut off their heads for their summoning rituals. Of course he'd be afraid.

I understand Zero is an oddball, but demanding 100% trust from someone she just met maybe a few weeks ago isn't exactly reasonable. Which disappoints me because she easily dodged the hypnosis-induced misunderstanding. And the show paints it like Mercenary is the one who's in the wrong.

edited 17th May '17 5:51:59 AM by fillerdude

Because he is? It's one thing not to trust someone completely, but it's a different one to actually think they secretly want to cut your head off. He's basically spitting in the face of all her sincerity and good will.

I'll have to disagree that Merc was wrong to doubt her. Or rather, he is wrong, but his hesitation is understandable. Witches are apparently known for killing beastfallen, and beastfallen known for hunting down witches. That's what Merc has known his whole life.

And now Zero is telling him to screw off because of that single grain of doubt inside him.

What I thought. Still think it's half-baked drama.

edited 17th May '17 7:58:01 AM by fillerdude

Zero might just be disconnected enough from normal society to believe it's normal for someone like Merc to take her words and promise at face value.