Product Details

• Actors: Artist Not Provided
• Format: Animated, Box set, Color, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Japanese, English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 3
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: Geneon / Funimation Productions
• DVD Release Date: November 4, 2008
• Run Time: 312 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001F2U6XI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,050 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Louise la Vallière the heroine of the supernatural comedy Familiar of Zero (2006) is a sort of Harriet Potter, studying sorcery at a wizard's academy on another planet. Her classmates refer to her as "Louise Zero" because she can't get a single spell to work properly. Second year students are required to summon a familiar that will serve them for the rest of their careers as mages: Instead of a mythical animal, Louise calls up Saito, a teen-age boy from Japan. Although she insults him, beats him, and makes him do endless chores--especially washing her inexhaustible supply of frilly undies--Saito soon falls for Louise (and vice versa, although she's loath to admit it). Somewhere in the background lurks an underdeveloped plot involving a princess, a revolt, evil courtiers, a ring stolen from a lake spirit, and lot of other supernatural trappings that don't add up to much. To take up the slack, the filmmakers fill the screen with jokes about Louise's flat chest, panty shots, jiggle shots of her overendowed classmate Kirche, and bath scenes. Not a weighty series by any means, but Familiar of Zero delivers plenty of fan service for those who crave it. (Rated 13 and older: violence, risqué humor, brief nudity, tobacco use, stereotypical characters) --Charles Solomon

(1. Zero Louise, 2. Commoner Familiar, 3. Feverish Temptation, 4. A Maid's Crisis, 5. Tristein's Princess, 6. A Thief's Identity, 7. Louise's Part-Time Job, 8. Tabitha's Secret, 9. Louise's Change Of Heart, 10. A Princess's Request, 11. Louise's Marriage, 12. Zero Treasure, 13. Louise The Void)

Product Description

In a magical land where two moons shine in the night sky, one young student in the magic school, Louise, has acquired the nickname of "Zero". Why? Her "zero" talent! With a near perfect failure rate for her spells, the shock that Louise's summoning spell works equals the surprise of her new familiar, a human boy from Japan! When the boy begins exhibiting some unexpected abilities, why do the teachers get so nervous?

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVE This anime!, November 18, 2008

By	Alanna Evans - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is such a refreshing, fun series! I loved everything about it. Louise reminds me of Lina Inverse from Slayers but where Lina would blow everything up on purpose, poor Louise just blows things up on accident. Everything seems to go wrong that she touches. Every magic student has to summon a familiar in their second year. It's a huge thing, and the students are so proud when they finally get their familiar, only Louise screws this up too and in all the history of the school, she is the only one who has ever summoned... a human.

The Japanese boy is quite bewildered to be in a new world with two moons and having a girl claim to be his master (of sorts). She starts out treating him like a pet/slave (as other familiars are) but it quickly branches out into more than just that.

Great music, a fun plot, solid animation and nice character designs make for a very cute and entertaining anime. There's plenty of comedy and action and its just a great series overall. HIGHLY recommended!

This box includes the entire season in three full size cases housed inside a collector's box.

19 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PLEASE buy this... :), November 16, 2008

By	The Mastered Mind "Chessmate on E5 checkers---?" (Cock-a-dookie, WA USA) - See all my reviews

Chances are, if you know anime and are looking at this, The Familiar of Zero, you probably already going to get it. And for good reason too, as you are going to find a welcome amount of what I call "good stuff" and a pretty good plot behind it all. My opinion is really,"You're not gonna go wrong with Zero", but I have to give you an idea of what the Familiar of Zero is about.

Our heroine, the cute and proud Louise, Louise de la Valliere, is absolutely incapable of performing even the most basic spells of magic elements. To her classmates, she is "Louise the Zero" for an unprecedented perfect failure rate with regards to successful magic. She messes everything up, and by "mess" up, I usually mean "blows" it up! You can't help but laugh at her failures and feel sorry for the proud Louise. That is how she presented.

When her class begins to summon all their respective familiars, she summons something completely different--a boy. And, of course, things really go downhill for her after that. She has him do everything for her--And I mean EVERYTHING. I hope you know what I mean. Her temper is fiery, but she is so bossy-cute, you wouldn't mind being her slave. Unfortunate for the boy, as he wants to get away from her. But then again, he has secret powers...

If you don't get this, you ruin the chances that the other seasons of 'ZERO' will get published here in the States. A sad thing, since it is a really good series. There are two more 13-episode seasons after this, just as funny. You really are not going to go wrong when you watch this, trust me. :D

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable but forgettable, February 5, 2009

By	guy incognito (OC, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

The Familiar of Zero is an anime about a girl's experiences, and her classmates, at a magic academy. The plot revolves around her and her helper's day to day lives in the academy sprinkled in with various missions where students (apparently the most qualified despite being novices) go on tasks to root out problems facing them and their friends/school/country.

While the plot itself is dry and not treated very serious, hence it is hard to get drawn into, the bright spot of this anime is the humor. The aim is to throw as many jokes as they can at you in an episode. Be warned that there is a lot of crude humor, whether it be a woman's bust size, misunderstandings of awkward situations, or clothing malfunctions. If this is up your alley, jackpot as this is fanservice 101. But even aside from that, characters, even if 1 or 2 dimensional, are still enjoyable.

In addition to humor, there is some romance sprinkled in, but this is one of my biggest problems with these kinds of anime. Its the kind of romance where the intended couple briefly hooks up, breaks up, loves each other, than hates, there is very little progression in their relationship, and usually its romance followed by humor, not giving the romance a real chance to grow.

Recap, after you watch it you may forget the plot and some of the characters, but you'll have a lotta laughs in the process.