Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note

Ten years after facing defeat in the Fourth Holy Grail War, Waver Velvet, now Lord El Melloi II, teaches classes at the Clock Tower—the center of education for mages. However, his new status as "Lord" comes with a caveat: obey the orders of Reines, the younger sister of the deceased Kayneth El Melloi, until she is old enough to rule the House of El Melloi.

Waver, along with his mysterious apprentice Gray, takes on a series of cases assigned by Reines and the Mages Association. With each case proving to be more complex than the last, could there be more to the Clock Tower than meets the eye, and what secrets does Reines hide?

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Adaptation:	Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo
Character:	Fate/Zero, Fate/strange Fake: Whispers of Dawn
Prequel:	Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note - Hakamori to Neko to Majutsushi
Side story:	Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note Special

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Velvet, Waver

Main

Namikawa, Daisuke
Japanese

Gray

Main

Ueda, Reina
Japanese

El-Melloi Archisorte, Reines

Main

Minase, Inori
Japanese

Edelfelt, Luviagelita

Supporting

Itou, Shizuka
Japanese

Shishigou, Kairi

Supporting

Nomura, Kenji
Japanese

Arsimilat Animusphere, Olga-Marie

Supporting

Yonezawa, Madoka
Japanese

Escardos, Flatt

Supporting

Matsuoka, Yoshitsugu
Japanese

Lehrman, Yvette L.

Supporting

Okasaki, Miho
Japanese

Glascheit, Svin

Supporting

Yamashita, Seiichirou
Japanese

Doctor Heartless

Supporting

Fukuyama, Jun
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Kurosaki, Shizuka

Producer

Katou, Makoto

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin

Sound Director

Watanabe, Tetsuaki

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"starting the case: Rail Zeppelin" by Yuki Kajiura

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Ending Theme

"Hibari (雲雀)" by ASCA

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Reviews

Sep 28, 2019

Stark700

Mixed Feelings

Like the sands of an hourglass, the Fate franchise almost seems to be timeless since it started. It’s 2019 and we now live in an age where another one of its light novel series gets an anime adaptation from the Nasuverse. Taking place years after the events of Fate/Zero, you have to wonder how the show will be able to keep up its hype. This is especially true with a protagonist like Waver Velvet, a professor from the Mage’s Association. But with a sigh of regret, I am rather flabbergasted at how this Nasuverse anime ended up being no more than mediocrity.

Watching Lord El-Melloi II ... Sei no Jikenbo Rail Zepplin Grace Note feels like you are thrown into a world where you need at least some prior experience with Nasuverse. If you have no experience with Fate/Zero, then I would highly suggest at least reading some insight about that series. Before getting to the juicy part of Lord El-Melloi, I should also mention the series is seemingly divided by two arcs. The light novels is still ongoing in Japan with 10 volumes running so common sense logic designates this show as an incomplete adaptation. That’s not a main problem but it doesn’t stray from the fact that the anime feels like an advertisement. My impression from the first few episodes is based on the introduction of the characters, in particular members of the Mage’s Association. Waver Velvet feels like a character who practically lives with his job. As a lecturer of the Clock Tower, the man has a reputation and is well-known for his knowledge of magic. Rarely showing emotions and devoted to his work, Lord El-Melloi may be a character that the audience won’t be easily accept or relate to. On the other hand, I do appreciate a protagonist who is has a strong head with knowledge. Lord El-Melloi II may not be an easy person to make friends with but he is an extremely valuable asset to the Mage’s Association.

Nasuverse contains an expanding lore that can be rather complex if you’re unfamiliar with its franchises. This anime won’t be too easy to understand at first based on its magic system. Some episodes uses a method of ‘show and tell’ while others vaguely touches upon its branches of magic. However, I do feel that the anime contains a feeling of mystique at times. It seems the anime wants the audience to figure out how things work before certain concepts are explained. In fact, the first half of the show has weekly mysteries that connects to the series’ overall themes. It isn’t until the second half where we get an ongoing plot, known as the Rail Zepplin arc.

With that being said, there’s one main character I’m sure fans have taken notice from the start. Gray, the hooded girl with “Saber-face”, is the apprentice of Lord El-Melloi II. Coming from the countryside, there’s a certain level of mystique about her character that will get the audience curious. The relationship she shares with Lord El-Melloi II is that of a master-apprentice. It’s straightforward with the two collaborating on missions although sometimes, it’s shown that Gray can let emotions get the best of her. This is noticeable in some episodes when Gray is anxious about Lord El-Melloi II’s safety. Their relationship is not fully developed in this anime and stands out best at mediocrity. This is in similar stance to Reines, the bloodline successor of the El-Melloi household. Throughout the show, she has a brother-like relationship with Lord El-Melloi II but the anime doesn’t make the pair significant enough to appreciate. In fact, I think this is one of the main weakness of the series. It lacks character relationships that are meaningful to talk about. From start to finish, I can’t recall any character pair that makes the show worthwhile to watch. This is a bit ironic considering some of the previous Fate series usually has character pairs in the form of servants/masters. Even Fate/Apocrypha has character relationships elements that are worth talking about. In this show? Not a chance.

In addition, it’s worth noting the anime reintroduces some of the previous characters Fate fans may be familiar with. Characters such as Luvia and Kairi makes appearances with various roles that sometimes feel like they can overshadow the protagonists. New characters such as Flat Escardos and Olga also has more personality than the main leads. It’s a sad state of affairs when the main characters can’t carry an anime together. Perhaps the better question to ask yourself in this case is how much we should appreciate the plot. An important arc known as the “Rail Zepplin” takes place in the second half of the series with high stakes and mystery. It also takes place on a unique train that gets darker and darker with each progressing episode. Hell, the arc even adds elements of murder suspense that turns the show into more of a thriller. However, the overall execution turns peculiar turns with introductions of characters such as Hephaestion. The mystery involves with a murder case and the Mystic Eyes that fans may draw references from the Garden of Sinner franchise. But with all due respect, putting Lord El-Melloi on the sidelines weakens his character importance even more. Instead, the anime decided to gives more role to Luvia and Kairi during their investigations. Gray herself deals with Hephaestion who develops a sort of rivalry between the duo. The overall Rail Zepplin arc really depends on how you’d appreciate it but at the end of the day, mixing different kinds of genres together without character development is no good.

Even as the show retains a rather serious mood, there are occasionally tongue and cheek humor. The anime plays around with some character gags such as Gray’s unfamiliarity with being normal. There’s even one particular episode where she goes shopping with her female friends. Other times, we get characters acting like goofballs such as Flat at the academy. Ironically, the Mage Association hardly feels like a school and more about preparing students for mages. Outside of Lord El-Melloi II’s class, you don’t get to see other professors or classes being taught. This isn’t Hogwarts, folks.

Studio Troyca helms this show and visually, it retains a familiar look with its other previous projects. As the director, Makoto Katou designs the characters with similar style but also visually enough to make each unique. Lord El-Melloi II is perhaps most noticeable as someone who looks like an older adult and genuinely gives the impression of a professor. Plus, let’s not forget about the technical quality. If there’s something to brag about the show, this is it. The production quality looks like poetry in motion. The battle cinematics looks like watching a film on occasions especially in the second arc. Each fight is impactful and draws out the abilities of the characters. If that wasn’t enough, we do get to see flashy weapons used such as Gray’s signature scythe. Fan service does exist although minimal and isn’t distracting. The show relies much more on its visual dynamics than showing skin. And to top it off, we also get a stylish OP song without lyrics but with a mesmerizing tune.

As a fan of the Nasuverse and some of its previous Fate franchises, Lord El-Melloi felt like watching a long movie as part of an major saga. With 13 episodes, the anime didn’t have enough time to develop its cast or craft storytelling that is worth remembering. However, I do have to give credit about the show’s technical elements thanks to the work of the director and studio. With all that being said, this anime is probably worth watching if you’re instinctively curious about the expanding Nausverse. But if you’re someone expanding a lot from this show, you should turn back now.

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Sep 28, 2019

rironka

Recommended

Spoiler

In the world of mages, it doesn't matter who did it, or how.

I'll preface this short review with a quick statement about myself - I'm writing this review as a novice fan of Type-Moon lore. I have yet to reach a level of knowledge that could even be faintly construed as being an expert, and as a result I welcome any corrections to lore mistakes I may be making!
When I first heard that Lord El-Melloi II's Case Files would be receiving an anime adaptation, I was overjoyed. I have read a portion of Case Files before, and I am aware that Makoto Sanda is ...

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Sep 28, 2019

ACasualViewer

Recommended

Spoiler

Imagine a story taking place in the fate world except all the focus is on magician lore instead of hero lore and you got rail zeppelin. Set a few years after the grail war, Rail zeppelin is heavily focused on the exploits of a former master and his apprentice, specifically it is focused on a magical train where an auction on mystic eyes is held.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Story: 6
The main character is one of the surviving masters from Fate Zero, Waver Velvet, who is now a famous magician and one of the lords of the mages association. Most of the story is focused on ... him and his students and apprentice investigating and solving all sorts of mysteries. This story genuinely had potential to be great, it had an interesting cast, a likable main character and took place in an already established well thought out world.
Problems quickly arose however with how the story unfolded, the mysteries were not fun to watch because it is assumed the audience has a master thesis understanding of Fate Lore and on ancient magical systems. Mysteries were exclusively of the supernatural nature, and they genuinely could not be solved by the audience without a deep understanding of half the chuuni nonsense that was coming out of Waver’s mouth. The average viewer does not know what the fuck mystic eyes are, what the fuck old and new magic are, what the fuck the model of celestial bodies has to do with magic, and I doubt that even with thorough explanation, the average person watching rail zeppelin is going to understand what a human modelled after a servant really is.

This heavily detracts from the plot as it is a mystery show, in a mystery series viewers are supposed to be able to come to their own conclusions from the evidence presented and from the behaviors of the characters. This does not happen though since the vast majority of viewers can’t figure out anything from the evidence themselves since it is all supernatural nonsense that no one who hasn’t played the games and read up the Light Novels would get. The motives and such are also hard to understand since most viewers are not versed on the politics of the mage underworld in Fate. I feel sorry for anime only viewers since I doubt the viewers ever got any enjoyment at all out of the mystery plotlines which were probably half or more of the show. Other aspects of the story were not so bad though, the power games between the major players, the backstory of how Waver Velvet ended up in the seat of El Melloi and the zeppelin arc itself were quite solid. This raised the enjoyability of the story for a lot of viewers since it was easy to follow and did not require a strong background in fate lore to understand.

Art: 8
The visuals were absolutely beautiful, although they were overshadowed by truly exceptionally good looking shows this season like the firefighter anime or demon slayer, they definitely lived up to the standards Fate related anime is held to. The studio may not be Ufotable but you can tell some of the same freelancers also worked on this project, the background was clean and a great copy of London, the character designs were beautiful, of course every girl is cute and adorable as is expected in a Fate show so you got a lot of best girls to look forward to. The opening is exceptionally well done and is likely in the top 3 of the season, which is quite impressive given how all out the firefighter anime went with its opening.

The combat choreography and animation were solid as well, although not to the standards of Ufotable who normally animate the main Fate storyline, but it was definitely better than all but 2 shows this season. You can look forward to some decent flashy fights and clean movement and transition while watching this show.

Sound: 7
The opening song is really good, good enough to add to a playlist of songs you would want to listen to again, but most of the soundtrack out side of that was fairly average and not something you will remember or consider listening to outside of the show.

Characters: 7
There are a lot of best girls like most Fate shows, they are all cute, have distinct personalities, and have fun dialogue. Most of them also grow a bit through the show, have important roles in the plot and their own highlight scenes. Overall solid characters, but don’t expect anything to exceptional, the most notable characters were still Waver and his Apprentice.

Enjoyment: 7
This show was enjoyable enough that I had no problems watching it, and if you like the fate series its an interesting bit lore and world building, but due to how poorly executed the mystery aspects of the show was done I can’t ever give it a high rating.

Overall: 7
The poorly executed main story detracts enough that this show has no chance of being as good as the main Fate story, it also requires viewers to have watched most of Fate and played the games to really get what is going on. Since everything else was solid or even pretty good I won’t say this is a bad show or not worth watching, if you really love fate it is worth a watch.

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How important is this to the main story? TypicalOne - Apr 26	8 replies	by Mattogreen25 »» May 30, 2:28 AM
Top 3 Favorite Lord El Melloi characters TomCena1114 - Mar 23	9 replies	by thuanhvu012 »» Mar 24, 5:56 AM
Poll: Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 21, 2019	82 replies	by ozantheanimeci »» Mar 9, 12:34 PM
Poll: Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Aug 17, 2019	51 replies	by Qwynry »» Dec 14, 2022 5:09 AM
Poll: Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note Episode 13 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Sep 28, 2019	93 replies	by JeremiahOrange »» Sep 2, 2022 8:25 PM

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Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note

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Gray

El-Melloi Archisorte, Reines

Edelfelt, Luviagelita

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Escardos, Flatt

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Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note

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