How can you refuse a face like this?

         Woo, this episode was filled to the brim with Louise’s deredere. It might’ve taken nine episodes, and it might’ve needed the strength of a love potion, but it’s finally here in full force. Was it worth the wait? You bet it was.

Zero no Tsukaima 09
Louise’s Transformation

Summary
         Louise is still under the love spell from the previous episode, and Saito certainly is reaping the benefits of it. Heck, he can’t even go out to wash her laundry without being followed, clinged on to, accused of meeting other girls, and being missed. Monmon, aka Montmorency, already explained the situation to Saito and of the whole love potion deal… which then leads to a mini-confession to Guiche. Ending the flashback, we’re back to Saito trying to do the laundry with Louise clinging on him. A challenger appears! Siesta walks in on the two love birds, causing some tension between the two ladies. After failing to choose his prey, Saito ends up losing both rabbits as they walk away, unhappy at the player Saito is. A little late, but he finally makes the decision and runs after Siesta. However, this doesn’t do him any good since the use of love potions is highly illegal and Siesta doesn’t believe a word of Saito’s explanation.
         Defeated, Saito returns to Louise’s room… only to find her going all out, trying to use her sex appeal to gain Saito’s favour. She complains on how he isn’t making his move on her, even if they share the same room. Even under the effects of a love potion, Louise puts up a little tsuntsun, claiming she doesn’t want him to make a move anyways. She quickly adds that if Saito DID make a move, she wouldn’t exactly resist him, if you know what I mean. Having enough of Louise’s crazy actions, Saito promises to return her to normal, and with that, leaves the room.
         He meets up with Monmon and Guiche, demanding a potion to return Louise back to normal. Apparently, such a potion requires “Tears of a Holy Spirit”, not something you can find in any store. This little ingredient can be obtained from a Holy Water Spirit, and one lives right at the borders of Gallia. Thus, the three of them plus Louise set off to obtain the Tears, starting the mission the next day.
         Upon arrival at the destination, Louise takes out a handmade jellyfish hat she made for Saito. Hilarity ensues. Back to the mission, we notice that the location is the flooded region that Tabitha and Kirche passed by earlier on the way to the Gallia Castle. By her water familiar, Monmon calls for the Water Spirit, requesting the Tears. When the Water Spirit emerges, Saito’s sword notes that it was “nostalgic”. In any case, the Water Spirit refuses to give the Tears, causing Saito to burst out and beg the Spirit to reconsider. The Spirit does, on the condition that Saito go forth and defeat those who are attacking the Spirit. Accepting this, Saito and friends wait for the attackers to come.
         Night falls, and two suspicious mages approach the water. In a tag-team effort with Guiche, Saito rushes at the mages, only to be defeated when the mages showcase great coordination and power. Louise pops out waving her wand, trying to defend her precious Saito. Not surprisingly, an explosion erupts from the end of Louise’s wand, and in its confusion, the two mysterious mages are revealed to be our very own Kirche and Tabitha. Tabitha was ordered to defeat the Water Spirit by the Gallia Royal Family because of the recent floodings.
         Arranging another meeting with the Water Spirit, Saito asks why she is flooding the surrounding region. Turns out her precious Ring of Andvari was stolen by someone named Cromwell. Saito promises to recover her ring for her if she lowers the water and gives them the Tears. Amazingly enough, the Water Spirit agrees to these terms, stating that Gundolf in the past have kept their promises, and that’s why she’ll choose to trust Saito.
         Having completed their mission, Saito and Louise are back in their room, back to normal. And by “back to normal”, I mean “Louise is back to beating poor Saito”. Yes, Louise is her normal tsuntsun self, keeping all her memories when she was in full out deredere mode. After a few swings from her horsewhip, who else but Henrietta flies through the window, greeting the duo.
         The scene changes to a dark throne room, where we see Fouquet and two other mages. She is told that the time to set motion to their plans is now, an order coming from King Cromwell…
 
Summary of Summary
- Deredere Louise. Since the entire episode like that, maybe I should say derederederederederederederederedere Louise, should that make any sense whatsoever
- Saito messes up with Siesta, let’s hope it’s still salvageable.
- Saito walks into a derederederederederederederederedere Louise in bed, realizes he needs to get her back to normal. NOW.
- Awww, a little confession from Monmon to Guiche!
- Tabitha and Kirche battle it out with Saito
- Tsuntsun Louise rises back to power, exerts said power over Saito.
 
Screencaps

Derederederederederederederederedere Louise

Catfight gogogogogo!

Monmon =3

That little jellyfish hat is the most awesome thing ever.

Unfortunately, all returns to normal…

 
Thoughts
         Oh Louise, you so crazy! It was definitely nice to see deredere Louise, even though it only lasted for one episode. I’ll admit I was a little surprised it turned out to be a love potion, I didn’t expect that. As I said in the last post, I was expecting a truth potion since I didn’t see Monmon wanting Guiche hanging over her. Looks like I was wrong, but nothing’s wrong with that!
         The episode was rather enjoyable overall. Saito’s little love problems with Louise was to be expected, as with Siesta. Something tells me he’s seeing a LOT more action now than he did back at Japan. Louise coming back to normal while still retaining all her memories was a plus, since it only added to the fire. Montmorency and Guiche were expanded on as characters as well, and looks like their relationship is progressing strongly.
         Saito’s sword, Derflinger, is quite the interesting one. It notes that it was having a nostalgic feeling when they were calling for the Water Spirit. Add in the fact that the Water Spirit had other Gundolfs before… and it seems to point to the fact that Derflinger’s previous owner was also a Gundolf. In episode 03, Derflinger finally wakes up from his slumber and speaks out for the first time, claiming it was no wonder he woke up since he was being wielded by such a swordsman. If it takes a swordsman of considerable skill to wake him, then again, a swordsman Gundolf as its previous owner would make sense. Maybe it can bring insight into how Saito can return home, based on previous experience.
         Finally, Louise’s complete revert to tsuntsun was a little disappointing, I was hoping for a little more progression between Saito and her. Alas, I may be asking too much. With Siesta seeming to be Saito’s favourite, it’s not going to be an easy rise from Louise’s current situation to Saito’s first choice.

//Soda