Review of The Familiar of Zero: Rondo of Princesses

I don't care how well a formula works, when it's repeated three times with no changes, it screws over suspension of disbelief. Although enjoyable with some fist-pumping moments, the third season is definitely a letdown from the previous seasons and I hope they make a fourth season just to repent for the mess they created here. I will start out with the small stuff because I want to save the story until the end. Art is the same as the last two seasons, it's nicely rounded out, and for being a cute/ecchi anime, the fighting scenes are better than expected, giving it a score of 7. I'vealways really liked the Zero no Tsukaima soundtrack and music cues, so although nothing but the OP/ED changes, I will give it a 9.

Story was weird - I mean, it's built around the characters' backgrounds, sure, and then we have the interesting development midway, but nothing is really fleshed out and the end of the season feels more like facing just another Robotnik boss after shoving Sonic through a million winding tubes in Hydrocity Zone. I wish the general war/story/etc could focus almost entirely on how it affects the characters because that's what ZnT is based around. This random plot in the third season doesn't really excite me at all and I'd rather endure the agonizing fanservice. This gets a 3.

Characters, right. So the main reason I did this review was the rant about the characters, so get ready.
I seriously don't get why the makers of ZnT think it's all right to pull the same old romantic comedy junk without trying to develop the MAIN CHARACTERS one single bit. Yes, you can list all the things they've 'been through', but in the end, they're in the SAME GODDAMN PHASE that they were in at the end of Season 1. It's like they're daring each other - "are you willing to go this far for me?" or "you don't like me that much do you?" I mean...really? Being a Tsundere is one thing, but having chronic amnesia every episode is another. I thought I could endure it for season 3, but the first ten minutes of the very first episode almost literally made me spit out what I was drinking at that time because the fight that Louise and Saito had would be LUDICROUS to anybody else that had gone through what they had at the end of the second season. How does a life-changing event NOT lead to character development? ZnT is like the opposite of Clannad in the fact that almost all of the characters are completely inelastic except for maybe Agnes/Henrietta/Tabitha.
In summary, I hated the fact that after three seasons, the ZnT crew were still not up to the task of plotting out a realistic relationship of any degree. The only thing that keeps me from dropping the character score down to a 3 is the Henrietta/Tabitha development, which could go so many ways, so good for us, and the Colbert coolness factor, kicking the character score up to a 7.

Overall, I still did enjoy it - ZnT is mainly the anime where you get some smiles from the awkward moments and "aww"s from the cute moments and perhaps little else. I say perhaps because Saito's harem has ridiculous potential to not only enhance the viewer's experience but even the plot, both relationship and general, which gave me motivation to keep watching this thing. But anyways, watch this if you're a fan of ZnT, pray for a 4th season, and keep that suspension of disbelief locked in that cupboard.