Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 12: The Farewell Wedding Ceremony ]

Can you say, Deus Ex Machina? Yup, that was fully utilized here but I’ll get back to that soon. We get to see the incomplete marriage ceremony and the battle of Saito versus 70,000 men. The battle scenes were awesome and I liked how they showed the struggle rather than having him outright outclass the soldiers. The death scene was great as well but crafted so that you didn’t really see him die. Now that’s where the Deus Ex Machina comes in. While everyone at the academy is in mourning because they think Saito is dead it seems like out of no where the flower Louise had had resurrected itself (it had died earlier in the episode) and, of course, Louise goes running to see Saito with no so much as a scratch on his body or clothing. Why? Of course, Tifania, the big-breasted elf who is voiced by none other than Mamiko Noto, resurrected him as she did with Guiche. After all this happens everyone is glad to see him back and Louise as usual gets pissed at Saito and tries to kill him for his obsession with big breasts and thus ends the episode.

[ Final Thoughts ]

The biggest problem with this season of ZnT was pacing. Honestly, too much time is invested into things that, while they are fun, didn’t contribute to the overall plot. Some characters, especially a few of my favorites, were pushed completely to the side with very little roles throughout the majority of the season (Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche, Montmorency). I also felt that the use of the soundtrack could have been better in regards to the Colbert arc and the final episode. Ending the episodes with the same upbeat ending theme didn’t really compliment the content of those episodes. While I did enjoy this season much in part to Agnes’ storyline I didn’t like it as much as the first season which, in my opinion, is the best of the two so far. The ending for this season leaves things wide open since the war is still ongoing, Sheffield is still on the move, and Louise and Saito are still taking one step forward and two or more steps backward in their relationship. When it was all said and done, the ending wasn’t as satisfying as I felt it could have been. Now, what would have been awesome was if the season ended with a cliffhanger of Saito dying. That definitely would have left something for us to look forward to. Oh well, I guess it’s time to wait for the third season to be announced some time in the future.

[Overall series review: 71/100]