
Anime · Chiba TV
The Familiar of Zero
Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How The Familiar of Zero actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
The Familiar of Zero reads strongest on Spectacle, World Building and Bingeability.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
The story
What it's about
Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière’s name is so long and her spell-casting skills are so poor that everyone at the Tristain Academy of Magic just calls her “Louise the Zero.” Louise’s humiliation only increases during an important second-year test, she inexplicably summons Saito Hiraga, a totally normal teenager from Tokyo. Now she’s stuck with him and Saito’s stuck with the lousy life of being a familiar.
The run
Seasons
4 seasons · 49 episodes.

Season 0 · Complete
Specials
20088 episodes

Season 1 · Complete
The Familiar of Zero
200613 episodes
7.3IMDbBest episode · S01E03 The Subtle Heat's Allure

Season 2 · Complete
Knight of the Twin Moons
200712 episodes
6.7IMDbBest episode · S02E04 The Three Vallière Sisters

Season 3 · Complete
Rondo of Princesses
200812 episodes
7.5IMDb
Season 4 · Complete
Familiar of Zero F
201212 episodes
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.

S01E03 · Signature episode
The Subtle Heat's Allure
With his recent victory over Guiche, Saito has become semi-popular among the commoners and several nobles. Kirche in particular has chosen him as her next boyfriend. In a devious plan, she attempts to seduce him, although this fails when Louise finds out. Annoyed by Saito's lack of defenses, Louise drags him out to town to pick up a sword after considering his hidden talents. Kirche, unwilling to let go so easily, matches Louise's gift with a more impressive sword. Of course, it simply causes more problems between Saito and Louise.
- Directed by Hideaki Uehara

S01E06 · Signature episode
The Thief's True Identity
Worried that the princess may be blamed for Fouquet's theft, Louise volunteers to go out and catch her. With Kirche, Tabitha, and Saito tagging along, they travel to the last sighting of Fouquet with Longueville. There, they discover the hiding place of the Staff of Destruction only to have Fouquet's golem appear. Wishing to show her worth, Louise tries to take it head on with a spell, nearly being crushed in the process. Only by Saito's quick reflexes is she saved. Her confidence broken, Louise breaks into tears. Saito is moved by this and begins attacking the golem in her name. After discarding Kirche's sword and drawing Derflinger, the runes on his hands glow once again and his ability greatly increases. Louise tries to help by taking out the Staff of Destruction, which turns out to be a "M72 Light Anti-tank Weapon system(LAWs)" rocket launcher from Vietnam War. Immediately recognizing it, Saito grabs it and quickly uses it, blowing up the golem.

S01E02 · Signature episode
The Commoner Familiar
An abrupt departure from the normal life he once lead, Saito must deal with being Louise's familiar. Unhappy with the arrogance of nobles, Saito exposes Guiche's two-timing nature as an act of revenge. This of course, provokes Guiche into challenging him to a a duel. Despite being severely beaten up by Guiche's magic, Saito refuses to bow down. Impressed, Guiche tosses him a sword to even up the playing field. In a completely unexpected turn of events, the runes etched on Saito's hands begin to glow the moment he grasps the sword. Feeling a surge of energy, Saito manages to defeat Guiche. However, he soon collapses after the fight from fatigue.

S01E07 · Signature episode
Louise's Part-Time Job
Having been concerned for the welfare of the commoners, Henrietta asks Louise and Saito to work undercover and figure out if what nobles are taking advantage of the lesser ranked commoners. Louise ends up wasting all of the money given to her for the mission on gambling in hopes of having enough to afford an expensive hotel. Refusing to ask for more money, Louise ends up working in a bar as a waitress. Unused to the brashness of a commoner's life, she is unable to earn any tips with her temper flaring all over the place. Her moment of salvation comes when a rather arrogant noble decides to enter the bar.
- Directed by Tomio Yamauchi

S01E09 · Signature episode
Louise's Change Of Heart
The lovey-dovey antics of Louise under the love potion persist to the point of freaking Saito out. In desperation, Saito demands that Montmorency create an antidote. She refuses to do so until Saito learns of the illegality of creating love potions and threatens her with possible arrest. As the antidote requires the tears of a water elemental, Montmorency leads Saito and Louise to Lake Lagdorian. There, they find Kirche, Tabitha, and a whole new problem.
- Directed by Hideaki Uehara

S01E12
The Zero Secret Treasure
The gang has located a rare dragon, which Siesta's family has kept a map. It turns out to be a Mitsubishi Zero-sen, a Japanese aircraft use in World War II. They bring it back to the school. Colbert said someone earlier used another aircraft to fly during the solar eclipse and disappeared. Saito concluded that the person returned home and this is his chance for him to return home also.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Direction
- Yuta MaruyamaDirector
- Jiro FujimotoDirector
- Tomio YamauchiDirector
- Hideaki UeharaDirector
- Koji KobayashiDirector
- Youhei SuzukiDirector
Cinematography
- Rikiya MarumoDirector of Photography
- Shingo FukuyoDirector of Photography
Where to watch
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