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

(MY REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS)

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Following its 2019 TV debut, Lord El-Melloi II Case Files is back to surprise us with a Christmas special episode / short movie. It's not about the festive day itself; it's more of a Christmas gift to Type-Moon fans. So if you're reading this and are not fond of the Type Moon universe / Nasuverse or do not really care about Waver and the Clock Tower, don't bother watching this amazing episode. On the other hand, fellow FZ and KnK fans... have fun!

The story unfolds in the Clock Tower and has a strong nostalgic vibe. Not in the same fashion as ... the TV series - this time, Waver literally wakes up finding himself in the body he had at the Holy Grail War. There are one or two more reasons (that I don't want to spoil) this episode has this vibe but besides that, the mini arc's structure is familiar to us; it has a villain who uses Magecraft to achieve a goal, backstories, character interactions at the Clock Tower (Waver, his students, Reines, Gray etc) and of course, Waver solving the case and explaining the "whydunit". There is also something that took me aback and made me enjoy the experience even more; but if I mention it, it won't be a surprise for you!

The aura and atmosphere are sometimes melancholic and sometimes hopeful; the main idea and Waver's philosophical aspects radiate a feeling of hope and support that striving for the best is an honourable way of living, even when life gets hard. Like in most Type Moon works, in this episode there are many magicians who have taken the wrong road. Some of those are Kayneth's ex-students and Waver's former classmates we knew nothing about, so there is lore and information about new characters from the Clock Tower.

I don't know what to say about the soundtrack - Yuki Kajiura is my favourite composer, and once again she is exceptional here. The ending song sung by ASCA once again is, this time, a different version of the original opening with added lyrics and trust me, it is the icing on the cake. But besides that, there was the perfect music inserted throughout the movie too. The music, combined with the direction, pacing, dialogues and aura I've mentioned before, are enough to make the experience a blast.

To conclude, I've witten this review just to express my satisfaction over a short project like that, and ensure you that watching it will be a great experience. That's the reason I'm writing this simple and informal review, because I'm sure some of you will understand me or want to read a review like this one as well. I want to express my congratulations to Studio TROYCA's work, and I hope this was not the last Lord El-Melloi II Case Files anime to air. We want more!

Thanks for reading.

If you liked the Lord El Melloi series, probably you will want to watch this special, and I think is very worth watching. The story shows what would happen if Waver Velvet were to be that 19 year old from the past again. He and his Servant Gray try to discover who it was that made him what he was before, and for what purpose. I really liked this special because, it showed more of Waver's life in the Clock Tower as a student and his beginnings as a mage. The art looks a little bit better than before but the animation is the same. ... And the soundtracks from Yuki Kajiura are goated as always.

Overall, I think this was a pretty good special to wrap up the year 2021. If you are a Fate fan and want to see more of Lord El Melloi then I strongly recommend it.

I am baffled by the high ratings for this special. I really enjoyed the main season but this was just not it.

The story just felt rushed and roughly put together. I felt like the cases in the main show, even some of the ones lasting just one episode, flowed better than this one. Here, details were skipped explaining why certain aspects were happening or who some people were. And the “reasoning” of the “antagonist” was just overly exaggerated and not properly dealt with at the end.

Apparently, one would better understand the end if you’ve watched some other Nasuverse shows.

Overall, very disappointed. At least the art ... was good.