The story might have been interesting, had it been presented pretty much any other way. The Holy Grail War sounds like it could be a good concept, and probably is a good concept in Fate/Zero, which I will attempt to watch as soon as I get over the whole Worm Crest thing. That concept makes my stomach churn. Anyway, there's not much more I can say about the plot. The show moves so slowly that I really didn't get around to much of it.
The art and sound both left no impression on me whatsoever. If I were to hear a track from Fate/Stay Night, I would not be able to recognize which anime it came from. The art was similarly uninteresting. It might have been good if I had been able to muster the willpower to pay attention to it. Still, considering the main character has a total of two outfits, it can't have been all that impressive.
The characters are by far the most appalling part of this anime. I'll start with the main character:
Shirou is the worst. He is an idiot, thinking that he is capable of fighting superpowered servants with a lead pipe. He is arrogant for the same reason. He is sexist because he orders his own superpowered servant to sit at home and let him fight just because she's a girl. Lastly, he's a disgrace as a mage. The fact that he is Saber's master means she's incredibly weak and doesn't get the mana she needs to continue existing. Shirou doesn't seem to be willing to make compromises; everything has to be exactly how he wants it, and he just sort of expects the universe to comply. Fortunately for him, his plot armor is so thick that it does.
Saber isn't much better. She is basically a robot, with the only "character development" stemming from her own backstory. I have heard that she gets a personality later on, but waiting over 12 episodes for one of the main characters to act like an actual character is insane. She also looks stupid fighting with the invisible sword. I understand that they have to conceal their identities and revealing what her sword looks like would give it away, and I'm aware of the benefits to not allowing your enemy to see your weapon until they have already been cut, but the anime just makes it look so stupid, as if she's playing with an imaginary weapon.
Rin Tohsaka isn't the worst character in an anime, that honor goes to Shirou, but her motivations are questionable. She has no good reason to team up with Shirou. Additionally, she has been a Mary Sue for all of what I've been able to sit through. She knows how magic works, she knows Shirou's magical potential, she has a magical gem that can open his magic circuits, and she doesn't respond negatively to summoning the wrong servant. She just offhandedly mentions that she wanted Saber but she's fine with Archer.
Sakura has exactly one dimension to her character. She likes Shirou. That is 100% of her character up until episode 12.
Taiga is at least entertaining. She is also the last of the characters whose names I remember. Taiga is the character that's supposed to breathe a breath of fun into a dark and serious anime, but she never seems to show up. If Taiga had been utilized better, this show might be watchable.
Enjoyment gets a 1. Shirou is infuriating, it's like watching a dog get fooled by its owner pretending to throw a ball over and over again. At first it's entertaining, but then you just wonder "why hasn't he learned yet?" Additionally, the fight scenes last a few minutes at most, followed by several episodes of people standing around and talking.
And my overall score is a 1. If you manage to eke out any enjoyment from this pile of garbage, then I envy you. If you're considering trying it out, then by all means go ahead. Other people seem to like it, so maybe there are redeemable features that I don't understand, but don't feel the need to finish Fate/Stay Night just because Fate/Zero exists. It's not worth it. I was trying to watch Fate/Stay Night because I knew that if I watched Fate/Zero first, I would never be able to get through Stay Night. As it turns out, I can't get through it regardless. If nothing else, maybe you can try it out and see just what it is about this show that caused me to give all three of my roommates a lesson on anime just to fully convey how terrible this show is.
