In a small author change, I’ll be taking over Shirukii’s job of Zero no Tsukaima, while he’ll continue concentrating on HCII and Utawarerumono. Of course, I will still continue Higurashi, I’m just covering another series as well now. So without further ado, I present…

Zero no Tsukaima 07
Louise’s Part Time Job

Summary
         It’s another bright and cheery morning, and we’re greeted by Louise and Saito at the Royal Castle visiting Henrietta. Having done a splendid job apprehending Fouquet, Henrietta congratulates the both of them, and allows Saito the honour of kissing her hand. Of course, Saito’s an idiot who doesn’t understand the customs of their world, and umm, yes. A rather predictable outcome emerges resulting in a Louise beatdown.
         After Saito receives his punishment, Henrietta reveals her true intentions of bringing the pair before her. She wants them to pose as Commoners, and investigate whether or not Nobles are oppressing the Commoners. Judging by the fact Louise is a Noble… and Saito is a Commoner… I’d say YES. But that’s not the issue; the problem is how they are treated in town. So after being paid some money, Louise and Saito enter town and try to start their mission.
         It soon becomes rather apparent that everything is rather expensive, and the pair cannot even afford a decent room at the inn. By a stroke of genius, Louise gambles all their money in a casino to be able to pay for anything and everything they’d want. Of course, because this is an anime, she’s able to win consistently and she makes a lot of money, much to Saito’s delight They lose everything.
         Meanwhile, a woman… — A stereotypically gay… — A confused… — A REALLY creepy… — A large lipped… — A man approaches them, offering a place to stay on the condition that they work for him. Not THAT bad, right? Little did we know this woman, Scarron, has a huge meido fetish, and she owns a meido café. Louise is forced to don one of these uniforms, while Saito takes backseat and helps with dishwashing. Louise seems to have drawn the short stick, as Saito works along with Jessica, the well endowed daughter of Scarron.
         Every week, in Scarron’s little fetish-house, there is a “tip race”, in which waitresses compete to get the most money in tips. The winner of this contest gets to wear the “Enchanting Fairy Bustier” for one day, a bustier that has the ability to essentially manipulate men by seduction. Should one wear it, and I pray it be not Scarron, you can earn godly amounts of cash by customer’s tips. Why the heck Scarron doesn’t use this to get money for himself herself itself is beyond me. Unless he just wants to work just to watch his waitresses all day, then that would make sense. In any case, the abilities of the bustier immediately captures the interest of Louise, who obviously aims to win said contest/bustier.
         Work starts, but Louise’s pride gets in the way. She’s having a hard time serving Commoners when she’s a Noble, clearly a discrepancy in the ranks. After being insulted for being flat by a customer, she starts a scene, and it’s up to Scarron to save the day. Indeed, I have been scarred by Scarron.
         Finally it’s night, and Louise and Saito share a room. Saito of course gets the floor, while Louise complains about her living conditions. In the middle of the night, bats start flying about, scaring Louise into crawling into Saito’s “bed”.
         Morning comes, and Louise is back to her difficulties of being a waitress. After many remarks of her flatness and many fights with the people who make remarks of her flatness, Scarron retires Louise to the back of the café, only to watch the other waitresses work. Meanwhile, Saito is getting closer and closer to Jessica, causing Louise to get jealous. Louise picks up a beer bottle… she winds up… DIRECT HIT! Saito has been successfully knocked out!
         Saito finally wakes up to an unfamiliar bed, with Jessica sitting right beside him. She figures out almost everything about exactly who Saito and Louise really are, and tries to use her sex appeal to get more answers. I must say, it must’ve been working, looked like he was going to crack. Louise busts into the room, pissed off. Louise approaches… gets further irritated… DIRECT HIT! Saito has been successfully knocked out with a nut kick! Ouch, even I felt that one. Louise carries Saito away, but not before being challenged by Jessica to win the Tips Race.
         Turene, a Noble Tax Collector, then enters the café. Having been there before, all the waitresses know he likes to cop a feel and doesn’t like leaving tips. All waitresses know… except Louise, that is. As to be expected, when Louise goes to serve Turene, she is insulted over her flatness, and a fight breaks out between them. Saito, being the hero that he is, enters the scene to protect Louise. Unfortunately, he didn’t think his sword would be useful in his dishwashing job, and thus left his sword in his room. Louise finally decides that it would be a good time to pull out her wand and Royal Court certificate. After exercising her Royal power, Turene runs away, leaving BAGS of money so that Louise would look the other way.
         With the recent turn of events, Louise wins the Tip Race as well as the honour of wearing the Fairy Bustier. Unfortunately, since their cover was blown, the pair has to move to another place to stay. However, with the money earned, it wont’ be a problem.
         The final scene is of Fouquet in prison, being freed by a shadow and new comrade…
 
Summary of Summary
- Saito’s either a genius or a moron, and he somehow manages to kiss the princess. Props for that.
- Louise and Saito pretend to be commoners and live in town, meeting Scarron
- Louise = meido. Saito = dishwasher. Saito wins.
- Louise causes Saito significant pain. Three times. Twice she knocked him out.
- Saito wins over Jessica. Somehow he’s less successful than when he was with Henrietta.
- Louise wins the Tips Race, much to nobody’s surprise
 
Screencaps

Genius or moron, you decide

Words fail me.

I’d take Angel Mort over this ANYDAY.

Wait… what?

Saito’s expression is priceless

Wait……. WHAT?!?!?!

 
Thoughts
         I really enjoyed the previous episode, but I can’t say the same for this one. Unlike some other people, I’m not really into meido myself, and this was a meido fanservice episode. Other than the very last scene involving Fouquet, nothing ACTUALLY happened, which disappointed me. There were plenty of chances for something to happen, but they failed to deliver.
         Let’s do a single scene study for argument. In the case of when Louise and Saito were sleeping at the storage room of the café, absolutely nothing happened there. Louise complained of how the room was a horrible place to sleep. However, Saito easily adjusted, saying it was very much like sleeping at the school. It was a perfect chance for Louise to realize that Saito’s a human too, and he should be treated with more respect. She should have sympathized with his situation, instead of making him sleep on hay every night at school. Alas, she only thinks of HER situation, not his. Strike one. Later in the night, when the bats come flying in, she gets scared and crawls into Saito’s “bed”. Another perfect chance to realize how bad Saito has it, but alas. Or at least recognize how bad Commoners have it. Why even HAVE the whole bat scene? It barely accomplished anything, really. Strike two. Now let me get this straight. Louise sleeps in the bed, Saito on the floor. Louise leaves bed, joins Saito while he’s asleep. SO THEN WHAT HAPPENS WHEN HE WAKES UP? What happened to the entire morning sequence?? SOMETHING must’ve happened. Strike three.
         Now I’m just hoping there’ll be a flashback or something next epi that’ll correct everything I pointed out in that scene, but by how episodic these episodes seem, I don’t really see it happening.
         But I will say that Scarron has scared a few laughs out of me, and it wasn’t a total loss. Personally unappealing fanservice, lack of progression of Saito and Louise, lack of progression in the story less the last scene. I’ll admit that maybe I’m just expecting the wrong things out of this anime, maybe I’m just supposed to sit back and watch the visuals, nothing else. As it stands, however, this was a rather disappointing episode, especially after the fact I really enjoyed the previous episode.

//Soda