ばか！バカ！　馬鹿ー月！

Give me your reasons why you think that ZnT's popularity is kinda dropping.

You are allowed to change your votes for the poll.

Other:

It started out quite unique. Normal boy dropped into a magical world, where objects from his world are considered legendary. The equal focus on him trying to cope, get home, deal with the war, and with relationships was a nice balance. Somewhere along the way that balance really started to slip, not to mention his character degraded. Louise IMO is still a good character, but Saito has slowly been getting worse. Not to mention harem stuff makes me want to gouge out my eyes.

Huh? Louise is as worse as Saito is dumb.

I'm talking character development. Saito got a bit stagnant and repetitive, while Louise's character kept slowly changing and being built upon.

I think the main problem is that almost nothing ever changes; it´s been several volumes already and only two or three characters have gotten development that actually sticks, most either forget about it on the next volume or get their reset button pressed for some reason; it doesn't help that Saito is one of the characters that seems to be all over the place and never actually learn anything.

Another thing is that the whole harem plot it´s almost like a tumor at this point; it should be obvious who the main couple of the series is; yet because the author loves to do ship teasing with all the other girls the reset button on that relationship get´s pushed way too often; this ends up annoying pretty much the fans of both pairings; Saito X Louise fans get to go back to square one again; while the the Saito X (Siesta, Henrrieta, Tiffania, Charlotte, etc.) get annoyed because despite that they´re still the main couple; the worst part is that since Saito has barely developed but Louise has been slowly but steadily changing for the better, he gets painted in a worst light each time that happens.

And finally there the thing about it being repetitive as heck, and I´m not talking about the main gags that got old since the first volume but still get repeated to the point is sickening, but some plot points also get used so much that they´re already cliches on their own, I mean there´s only so many times you can see Saito and Louise getting separated for some reason, spending a lot of time on their own trying to advance the plot (It´s usually when they´re apart that the ship tease with the other girls happens but not always) only to realize they want to be with each other and then having the stereotypical climax when one of them is in trouble (Usually Louise) and the other one arrives just in time to save the day (Usually Saito) complete with them yelling each other names and maybe a kiss at the end; think about it, even only counting the translated volumes, that has already happened about 5 times already.

And that´s only addressing the plot as whole, if I started getting into specifics we could be here all day, even more if we got into untranslated territory.

Wow! I didn't intent to type all that much, guess i got kinda of carried away anyway tl;dr: the story it´s repetitive and doesn't really go anywhere... oh and the third season of the anime was pretty bad.

Well, all of those are definitely obvious flaws, but I don't know if they have affected popularity.

But if your asking why less people are reading the series now than before- I think there are not a huge amount of people who come to this site to begin with, and anyone who wants to read ZnT already has. Those translations have been out for a loooong time already. Add to that there has been no progress on the translation for 2 or 3 entire years.... why would people keep coming back to the project page?

Mark my words: find a translator- and the people will come.

I voted other.

Its not true that there was no translation progress for 2-3 years!

Darklor wrote:Its not true that there was no translation progress for 2-3 years!

Though people think that there's none. It doesn't have the same amount of translators as before.

Just went to the ZnT page. Of the 20 translators previously there, only two are 'regularily' translating.

Hmm it seems your right my statement was not accurate at all. I was going by the update section, I wish they would use that. I stand by my point though. They've been working on volumes 13-14 since June 2010 and (going by my memory, could be wrong.) I don't think either of those volumes is above 25%. Progress is simply not substantial enough to keep readers coming back to the project page, even if they are interested in the series. Only lightnovel addicts like me and zero and that ghost dude will check for updates frequently.

RL is hard for translators...

BTW, Jima is translating right now, is he?

kira0802 wrote:BTW, Jima is translating right now, is he?

I can't say for sure, it doesn't appear so. He changed something back in May, not sure what. Anyways he's not on the list of translators at least.

Darklor wrote:RL is hard for translators...

Yeah, the translators are of course blameless. It's already a miracle that they would give a decent portion of their time for nothing in return. I just wanted to answer the topic question, not have a beef with them.

Even though the series as a whole lacks originality, the plot is never ending, and the Anime sucked badly, I don't think that's why it has dropped in popularity. (if it has)

Many people surely do not know of this website, or for that matter no of Zero no Tsukaima. I cannot consider myself an expert on things, but I do have a great sense of observation. Over the past many years, I have come to a theory that people get bored of things when the thing they want occurs, so an additional stimulus is required in order to re-interest the people. I shall give a random example. Let us say there is a romance manga out there, and in this manga there is a girl and a boy who love each other, but are put under too many obstacles to even kiss. The people reading this manga just want them to kiss already; however, this is all part of the plot. The people are moved and walk alongside the story, being guided by its plot. Then the couple finally kisses. The readers are so happy, and are saying, "They finally kissed. I'm so happy for them!" But now the author needs to come up with a new goal for the couple and more obstacles, lest the readers lose interest and leave.
Zero no Tsukaima is just this. The main exception is that the same obstacles occur, though in different and interesting stories that are quite creative. Zero no Tsukaima has a unique tendency of having a sequence of stories that still keeps a story, and the overall story afloat. When people watch the anime and then read the light novels, as I have done, they start to back off, because it is almost as if they are seeing two different stories that have the same overall story. What the author has been doing through lengthening the storyline and using the same 'cliches' throughout it has been nothing short of intelligent. He keeps the readers wanting more, and he gives them little-by-little over the course of a long time, in order for him to prosper, but also for him to give a rich story. The characters change just as gradually as we do. Remember, up to the 12th volume only a year has passed in the volumes. Many events can occur over the course of a year, but for the characters to change completely, or for these 'cliche' moments to go completely away - this is nothing but ridiculous! Absurd! The author has done an amazing job story wise. I can go on and on about this, but I'd rather save it all for those who trash Zero no Tsukaima.
In my humble opinion, I believe that there are two major reasons for the possible, and I pray never, downfall of Zero no Tsukaima. The first is the anime. By watching the anime first, one may come to be interested and give the light novels a shot. But then he discovers slight differences with the stories and decides to not read it. The second problem is the translating rate. The reasoning behind the translation rate is understandable. However, to show that there are 20-21 volumes out, and only 12 of them are fully interpreted is a huge turnoff, especially with a slow translation rate. When I am finished learning enough Japanese I may join the translation as well. But for now, I believe that these are the only two problems.

nevyn wrote: When I am finished learning enough Japanese I may join the translation as well. But for now, I believe that these are the only two problems.

What's your progress as for now? ZnT isn't too hard, I think.

EDIT: OK, I saw your other post.

My instinct tells me that the lack of progress is what is causing the popularity to not shine, although I can understand why the progress is slow.

Zero no Tsukaima is one of the many types of Light Novels (like other books I have read in my life) that will continue to be appreciated by me until I go to my grave, when an Anime, manga, or book touches me like this, I cannot help but rewatch/reread it at least one or twice a year, I will and i'm not exaggerating on this, continue to re-read this Light-Novel throughout my life, so I hope it can be finished and never gets dropped, that would quite sadden me, if this were so, I would one day buy a translator to slowly translate for me as silly as it sounds, I appreciate the series that much.