A review for both S1 and S2 with spoilers
Only having experienced Fate/Zero, I never encountered a Type-Moon written work before. But after watching UBW, I’m truly appalled at how terrible Type-Moon’s writing is.
The basis of UBW’s plot is covered by its synopsis. In different wording, it’s a grandiose battle royale-like duel between seven masters who each get a servant to fight for them. The goal is to kill every servant to attain the Holy Grail, which can grant a master and servant any fathomable wish.
This plot, even though basic on the surface, can become a masterpiece with proper execution, as seen in Fate/Zero with
...
its large-scale fights, charismatic characters, and intriguing battles strategies. As the follow up to such an impressive series, UBW had a lot of weight on its shoulders to deliver the same grade, or possibly an even better, of quality. But unfortunately, not only did this series become a wreck within itself, but it also became one of the biggest disappoints that I’ve ever experienced.
Both seasons of UBW suffer from the same pitfalls that include lacklustre characterisation, laughable battle strategies, and choppy protagonists. But the second season specifically has its own unique failures which I’ll get to throughout the review. Let’s get started:
The characterisation was one of the most noticeable falls of the show. The show virtually revolves around our protagonist two-teamed quartet Rin Tohsaka and her servant Archer, and Shirou Emiya and his servant Saber, while the other characters don’t get the proper circumstances and/or screentime to become worth talking about. The show’s first problem child is the “intelligent” Rin Tohsaka, who is the strategist on the protagonist side. Rather than intelligent, the word perseverant describes her more accurately. Many people say that she’s smart, and while it’s shown that she’s book smart, she has no experience in applying it properly. Examples of these failures are shown in her “strategies” that she comes up with. She's capable of generating multiple theories that appear profitable, but in the end all of her elaborate strategies amount to repeatedly showing up to a servant’s base, provoking them until a battle breaks out, and ultimately losing in the end. On the off chance that she does manage to kill a servant, it’s with an unexpected factor or the assistance of another servant. For example, after the oh-so-many attempts of trying to kill Caster, in the midst of yet another failure, the only way Caster was killed was by Archer - after his contractual separation from Rin - who launched an attack on her off-guard master, anticipating that she come in to protect him. The remainder of her victories are due to even more outside assistance that would otherwise leave her and her team dead.
Next we have Saber, one of the main servants of the show and on the protagonists’ team. Her gender bent character in Fate/Zero captured the eyes of many with her chivalric and powerful persona. But sadly, in UBW this strong personality was reduced to a slapstick tsundere and fanservice device. With erotic shots of her in BDSM-esque positions from her capture by Caster further corroding her character, it also gave the series an unintentional comical tone.
And unfortunately, to finish off, we have Shirou: our dense protagonist that’s plagued with a terribly-conflicting Samaritan complex; to such a degree where it makes it appear like his character is a parody of the average shounen protag due to how flat, irritating, and stupid his character is in the show. His boring dialogues with Rin and idiotic remarks aside, the most obnoxious part about Shirou was his philosophical stance towards the end of the season. The latter end of season two held a philosophical discussion with Archer and Shirou’s battle about the pursuit of seemingly impossible ideals and its potential risks. The show took an interesting take on this by adding in an element that, in my opinion, serves as a device of self-reflection that further enhanced the potential of this discussion. Shirou faces the scorn of Archer who, as a future version of Shirou, is morally-crippled and dispirited as a result of the despair and anguish he faced due to Shirou’s far-fetched altruistic ideal of saving everyone while ignoring himself in the process. Archer, trying desperately to convince Shirou to quit pursuing this seemingly impossible ideal to avoid the future tragedy that is himself, brings up several opposing points, including the most obvious one that shows how his ideals are contradictory: “It's true that you can probably achieve your wish to save others. But there's no hope of saving yourself in doing so.”
After Archer’s defeat in battle, Shirou fights Gilgamesh, who also adds onto Archer’s scolding by telling Shirou that his philosophy is contrived and “fake” as a result of trying to become like his father, Kiritsugu, who he essentially copied his ideals from him. Shirou concedes to all of the points given by Archer and Gilgamesh, but somehow manages to come to some sort of epiphany and unexplainably validates his ideals and insist that they are “right”, even in the presence of the overwhelming evidence that blatantly showcases that, without a sense of realism, his ideals will remain damaging and chaotic. The point this discussion was trying to sell was that the pursuit of one’s ideals and dreams is not in vain even with risks and failures up ahead. Where the discussion went sour was with Shirou’s final justification of his ideals, which none of it rebutted the statements and examples of Archer and Gilgamesh. His justification can literally be summarised with his new infamous quote “Just because you’re correct doesn’t mean you’re right.”
With my expectations so high for this series, it pains me to write such a scathing review. I truly wished for the best and tried to ignore the faults, but they became too large in number for me to continue to be blind to. With the fights and animation as the only two saving graces, I can say that in some moments, UBW was truly entertaining. But the journey overall was a boring and painfully bleak one with this show.
Alternative Titles
Synonyms: Fate/stay night (2015), Fate - Stay Night
Japanese: Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] 2nd シーズン
More titlesInformation
Type:
TV
Episodes:
13
Status:
Finished Airing
Aired:
Apr 5, 2015 to Jun 28, 2015
Premiered:
Spring 2015
Broadcast:
Sundays at 00:00 (JST)
Licensors:
Aniplex of America
Studios:
ufotable
Source:
Visual novel
Theme:
Urban Fantasy
Duration:
24 min. per ep.
Rating:
R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
Statistics
Ranked:
#2622
2
based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.
Popularity:
#213
Members:
880,486
Favorites:
9,397
Available AtResources | Reviews
Filtered Results: 105 / 114
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Your Feelings Categories Jul 24, 2015
A review for both S1 and S2 with spoilers
Only having experienced Fate/Zero, I never encountered a Type-Moon written work before. But after watching UBW, I’m truly appalled at how terrible Type-Moon’s writing is. The basis of UBW’s plot is covered by its synopsis. In different wording, it’s a grandiose battle royale-like duel between seven masters who each get a servant to fight for them. The goal is to kill every servant to attain the Holy Grail, which can grant a master and servant any fathomable wish. This plot, even though basic on the surface, can become a masterpiece with proper execution, as seen in Fate/Zero with ... Jul 19, 2015
This review covers the Prologue, Season One and Season Two. My ratings are 6/10, 6/10 and 5/10 respectively. There are spoilers in this review.
The prologue/first few episodes of Unlimited Budget Works establishes the Fifth Holy Grail War; a battle royale between seven servants (made up of mythological figures such as Heracles) and mages where the last survivor is rewarded with being presented the Holy Grail which can grant them any wish they desire. During these episodes it is emphasized how dangerous this war is where even witnesses of the war will be murdered. Then in episode three the feeling of danger for our protagonists disappears ... Jun 27, 2015
The franchise of Type-Moon. Fate/Stay Night is a trademark for what the product has been with its key characters, premise, and setting. Fate Unlimited Blade Works is one of its major routes and returns for another season. A show about the Holy Grail sparkles into a pendulum of events and animated by the infamous Ufotable studio. Part 1 delivered what many fans wanted while part 2 attempts to do so yet again.
With the way the first half of Unlimited Blade Works was handled, part 2/Season 2 essentially sets up major events for the story. As for those who remembers, Saber is taken by Caster, Rin ... Jun 20, 2015
When news about this series was launched, I somewhat had mixed feelings; the original Fate/Stay Night was so horrible, I pity myself for watching it, while Fate/Zero was absolutely fantastic, plus Ufotable, responsible for Fate/Zero, were producing it.
That brings me to Fate/Stay Night UBW. In short, I'd say that this series was absolutely stunning. I'm so glad it didn't turn out like the 2006 one. Story- 8 Granted, the story was not as compelling as Fate/Zero. However, I was deeply surprised by the dark elements that were introduced. The 2006 one felt like a sad piece of shit, where viewers are supposed to feel sorry for Shiro throughout, ... Jun 25, 2015
This review will be harsh, but second season of Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works fully deserved it. And don't be deceived by the catchy slogan "Unlimited Budget Works". The only thing which is truly unlimited in this anime is characters' redundant talking.
Some of the show's weak points were unavoidable - the original material's storyline quality is dubious at times and the fact that Unlimited Blade Works as a second route of Visual Novel is supposed to be built up over experiences from the first one definitely doesn't help when someone is adapting it. But VN's weaknesses aside, its premise is interesting enough to make ... Jul 1, 2015
The Fate series holds a very special place in my heart, the escapades of Shirou Emiya and his servant Saber have enthralled me in a way that a lot of stories did not. From the romance in "Fate" to the climatic "Heaven's Feel", Fate/stay night hasn't just become one of my favorite stories, it's honestly become my favorite thing to come out of Japan.
To give you a bit of background as to where I stand with Fate, I have read the visual novel and its semi-sequel multiple times, I have seen and own the 2006 anime, the prequel Fate/Zero, and the 2010 film adaptation of ... Jun 28, 2015
"Just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right!"
The legendary words of Shirou Emiya have spread far and wide around the world ever since the 2006 adaptation of Fate/Stay Night with his infamous "people die when they are killed", and now our frustrating hero is back with more internal contradictions and bullshit ideals than ever. Through the course of Unlimited Blade Works one can watch Shirou go through the difficult process of realizing that his ideals are not only absurd but also simply borrowed from his father in a series of powerful scenes such as "saying the same thing to Archer for two episodes," "never talking ... Jun 30, 2015
Ever since I first watched Fate/Stay Night anime, I got hooked. A lot of people were complaining how it didn't live up to their expectations especially the ones who played the Visual Novel before, but as someone who didn't, I quite enjoyed the anime a bit. Of course afterwards I immediately went to play the game, and I managed to only finish the Fate route for some reason. Then I went to explore a bit for other TYPE-MOON series and discovering Tsukihime and Kara no Kyoukai, which the latter is one of my all time favorite.
Now for years people have been saying that Unlimited Blade ... Jun 27, 2015
The first cour had a great progress. However, it declined a bit this second cour.
We had more action and character development. Giving focus mainly on the clash between Shirou and Archer. The animation in general was very good, just gave a fallen light in some scenes, but nothing too serious. In this adaptation of Fate managed to convey very well what the Visual novel wanted to spend. It was not a 100% faithful adaptation (maybe 90% faithful ), but unlike the previous studio, that enriched the story, adding more detail and develop harmoniously. We have seen some situations from the perspectives of other characters like ... Dec 17, 2015
I don't get it, guys. I don't.
Why Unlimited Blade Works? Why this underwhelming, anticlimactic excuse for a spluttering car crash of a visual novel route? Did ufotable have to faithfully adapt every wheel-spinning two hour conversation in which Pollyanna protagonist Shirou is repeatedly called a dweeb for his goofy idealism? Did they have to make sure we were reminded what a complete loser Archer is every time he appears, legs spread like his balls are prickly pears, perched on some conveniently placed rubble? What is actually appealing about Archer when his only major personal distinction from fellow Fate/stay night snarkster Lancer is his adolescent moral ... Jul 1, 2015
The anime first of all had a different feeling compared to season one for me while the animation style was great as well as the sound the storyline didn't really indulge me as much as the first season did their wasn't that want for more really and the need to watch more and hate the fact that you had to wait a week to watch the next episode there was a lack of that really i mean some episode had a splash of cliff hangar but only three or four really did.
Really the producers replicated some of the antic of popular anime in which something ... Jul 6, 2015
This Review applies to both seasons of Unlimited Blade Works. The Video review is up on my channel, but here is the written.
Story - 8/10 If you’re familiar with the Fate series, its pretty much is the same. But in Unlimited Blade Works it follows a different scenario. Sure the beginning is pretty much the same as it was in Fate/Stay Night, but the focus is much different. But to put you up to speed, 7 masters and heroic servants fight in the war to gain the ultimate wish fulfilling device known as the Holy Grail. The story this time around focuses a lot more on ... Jul 27, 2015
(This has been adapted from my blog/reddit thread. Spoilers ahead!)
Everyone has their own set of convictions. Whether they are religiously, politically, or morally based, there are certain creeds that we, as individuals, follow. Depending on the ideals we hold, our very person is shaped, directing the lives we lead and the paths that we take. For me, I uphold a simple one: “a little kindness goes a long way.” So I try to do just that. I hold the door for others, give my thanks whenever I can, and call my family to check up on them. Small stuff, and probably pretty common too, but ... Dec 27, 2019
*This review covers both seasons of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and contains spoilers*
Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is an aggravating piece of work. Laborious and cyclical to the core, this show manages to stumble its way through 25 episodes of monotonous monologues, caricatures, and dialogues filled to the brim with repetition and wheel spinning. No amount of dazzling light shows or cute interactions can salvage this production, even if they do make the experience less insufferable than it could have been. Let’s start with the positives before things get too dicey. Studio Ufotable did a fairly good job with the visuals of this show. ... Jun 28, 2015
After the first season of FSN:UBW I had high hopes that the second season would make up for at least some of the issues I had with season 1. It turns out it did not in almost any way. I am not a reader of the VN, but that doesn't change the fact that a series needs to work as a standalone piece without the aid of extra information provided by the source material to completely enjoy it.
Story: 6 The story continues directly after season 1 (as one might assume) and the pace picks up considerably since season 1 had so much Shirou cooking ... Jul 2, 2015
Warning: Partial spoilers for Epilogue
I gotta say I love the sunset fading to night scene leading to the ending credits. It makes the viewer actually feel like they are experiencing that world in real time alongside those characters. Something about it was too beautiful to put into words. Guess you could say it's a perfect way to end a thought provoking epilogue that makes you think twice about dropping out of school. Right before, Rin was saying there is so much in the world that is worth suffering for and experiencing, so it was worth dropping their things and taking a risk going off the ... Jun 27, 2015
Note: this is my review for both seasons
This is an adaption of 1 of the 3 routes from the famous VN Fate/stay night, hearing that this was getting Produced by the same studio as Fate/ Zero got me really excited as I consider Fate/ Zero to be a Great Anime, so did Fate/stay night Unlimited blade Works live up to the Hype ? Story 8.5/10 Let’s start with the story, Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is the story of a secret tournament between seven chosen mages that happens in the shadows of our modern day world. Each mage is paired with a legendary figure from ... Jun 27, 2015
For visual novel readers and anime-only watchers alike, the attraction of the Ufotable-Type Moon pair-up is obvious. Nasu's highly intricate and appealing designs brought to life by Ufotable, who are excellent in visuals and art. This partnership works to great extent but was unfortunately lacking in the other important components such as character development, relatability and execution of the story that are needed to create a compelling narrative.
The problems have mostly to do with the conversion from one medium to another. Visual novels thrive on details, through the use of monologue while anime simply thrives on visual gimmicks. In essence, reading ... Aug 23, 2019
So I am writing this review because I'm honestly confused as to why there are several 1 star reviews.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion, but I thought I would throw mine out there also to encourage people to give this marvelous show a try. Unlimited Blade Works has some of my favorite characters from any show, I love the story line pacing and the animation is out of this world beautiful. I'm not going to write a lengthy review, because simply put this show is a beautiful masterpiece and I highly encourage everyone to give it a try. Jul 13, 2015
Alright lets make this quick
The story was good, the animation was excellent, sound was good, and the characters were okay. So where this anime falls short is the pacing of the entire show. The pacing was excruciating slow each episode. It took a really long time for the characters to do something resulting in bad payoff each week of an episode. They should've cut some of that slice of life scenes as well as their investigation scenes and concentrated on various characters instead of following just those two main characters all the time. This is why fate/zero was awesome, we got to know various characters stories ... |