Familiar of Zero Box Set

I took a slight break from gaming with Dead Space and Little Big Planet. I thought I would take the opportunity to watch some anime. I randomly reached for one of the more recent arrivals in Familiar of Zero, produced by Geneon and distributed by Funimation.

At first look, the packaging on this release is very well done. I simply love when a studio uses a decent grade of chipboard as opposed to something like Tsubasa's Volume 7 artbox, which is of a thinner and more flexible quality. You won't find that here as it continues Geneon's standards for boxes. The cover art by itself is impeccable. Louise is featured on both sides and the spine. In particular I enjoy the framing and brown leather bound look of the box. I love this type of look, it shows some real effort, thought and care when into this release. The dvd cover art does not continue the book like appearance but that's not really needed. What I like the most about the dvd covers is that they are reversible. The current trend in anime is to not feature reversible covers with dvd's in a single case. The thinner-paks that Funi is putting out do have art but they really aren't intended to reverse and look like a regular cover. The cases themselves aren't remarkable except to note they are not Scanavo's. Please do be careful though, if you order online like I did you may have floaters. Unless the M-lock format is universally adopted there will always be the potential for this.

The video quality playing through the PS3 was really crisp and clean without any issues. The animation in the show by J.C. Staff is, as always, one of the best in the industry. Some of the designs and character models are interesting and unique aside from Tabitha who bears a striking resemblance to Yuki from Haruhi. The quiet type characters seem to share a lot of certain traits. I will avoid the moe factor in there. You will enjoy the visual style of the show as did I.

Familiar of Zero was broadcast in 2.0 so you won't be enjoying a surround sound experience. While I would have loved 5.1 for the experience, it is quite alright; I will always say 5.1 is better. The English Dub is kind of a touchy subject for me on this release. It's because I really didn't like it. Almost the entire English cast outside of Louise was incredibly annoying. Watching it the original Japanese with the subtitles was definitely my preferred way of listening to the show.

I will never go too much into plot points so as to avoid spoiling anyone who has yet to view the series. In the beginning I found the story incredibly dull and unmotivated. Feeling more like a Harry Potter with a twist than anything remotely original. This did eventually shake loose from that feeling and was able to become it's own show in the back half of the show. Familiar of Zero sure took it's sweet time to get there.

In the end, Familiar of Zero received a stellar release from Geneon and Funimation. The series is worth watching. At the very least it doesn't try to be anything other than a popcorn show with a heavy dose of fan service and some decent action. I do recommend the Japanese Audio with subs, but to each their own. I give this series 3.5 nights with Kirsche out of 5.