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Aug 26, 2017
Fate/Zero is the magnum opus of the Fate franchise, and rightfully so. It is an excellent blend of great storytelling, excellent art and sound and memorable characters. Of course, by just watching the first season, this is nowhere near apparent. The first season while being just above mediocre for most of it’s run, sets the stage for season two to shine.
The second season is where the story of Fate/Zero really gets kicking. While there was barely any plot progression for the first, the second is full of excitement. To put it bluntly, the Holy Grail War finally begins to start. A consequence of this,
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as Shirou Emiya from Fate/stay night says best, “people die if they are killed”. This cour of the show brings the death game to the forefront with characters dying left and right. This is to be expected, as only one person can obtain the Holy Grail.
As with the first season, Fate/Zero looks beautiful. There were several moments throughout the show where I felt like pausing and just taking a screenshot. As for the animation, it too was excellent. There were several more fight sequences in this than the first but each was animated with the high quality that ufotable is known for. The OST for Fate/Zero might just be my favourite part of the show. Actually as I write this review, I am currently listening to it. Of the entire work, my favourite is “The Battle is to the Strong”. It is one of the more iconic songs from the OST and I absolutely recommend that everyone listen to it.
Fate/Zero is a show with a large cast, and many of the characters felt neglected during season one. In the second season, some characters die which leaves some room for others to be focus on. We finally get a backstory for Kiritsugu, which is appropriate as the stone-faced killer is our protagonist. When looking at the characters, I find them to be more like representations of ideals and philosophies than a real person. For this show, it works perfectly. Fate/Zero in it’s entirety is a show that about clashing ideals and somewhat like another work by Gen Urobuchi Psycho-Pass, it tells us to not chase ideals in favour of reality. The world is not run on ideals, and as such to look at them as the only way for salvation is unreasonable.
Of course, Fate/Zero is not without its faults. A major problem I have with the entire series as a whole is how magic is barely explained. While Fate/Zero is a prequel to Fate/stay night and it should be assumed that people have watched stay night before coming into Zero, Fate/stay night barely explains magic as well. One’s only option to learn of the rules of this world are to read to visual novels or read the wiki. Also, the ending of Fate/Zero was a bit hamstrung by the fact that it needed to set the stage for Fate/stay night to occur. The ending is wholly confusing and does not make much sense unless you have read the light novel and/or the visual novels. I had to Google Search “Fate/Zero ending explained” to figure out the how story behind Angra Mainyu and the Holy Grail. To put it bluntly, the ending felt somewhat convoluted and was ultimately a mess.
In the end, Fate/Zero second season is a show that manages to be absolutely enthralling due to the great production values and the clash of ideals which is brought to the forefront through it’s story. It completely eclipses the first season, and just may be the best Fate story ever produced.
Overall: 9 (Great)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Aug 25, 2017
First off, let me say that Fate/Zero should be watched as a single series and not split into two seasons. The show was made that way and it is unfortunate that it was split up as the second season is vastly superior than the first. Ufotable has saved most of the good parts of Fate/Zero for it’s second season and it results in a lackluster first season due to no plot progression, barely any exposition concerning magic and how it works, and some weak characterization.
Fate/Zero’s main problem comes from the fact that in thirteen episodes (fourteen if you count episode one as two because it
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was double the length of a normal episode) nothing happened. We were introduced to the characters, and that was it. There was two major fights during this time, and each amounted to nothing. The fights alone were about four - five episodes wasted. An example of this can be clearly shown in the first fight. While Saber fights Lancer, she is injured and loses the use of one arm. This would make it incredibly harder for her to use her two-handed sword but they do nothing with this. The next fight, Lancer teams up with Saber to defeat the enemy and they win as it is a two versus one. The third fight, which bleeds into the second season, Saber finally recovers from the wound and is back to peak strength. There, that’s it. An element that should have been a huge deal is not used at all. One positive was that the fights, and the show in general looks gorgeous. It was unfortunate that it’s beauty was not backed up by substantial plot progression.
The next problem was that Fate/Zero barely delves into the mechanics of the world. Magic is a huge factor in the universe of Fate, but I feel that the anime adaptations seems to be incredibly light on actual information of what it is and how it works. An excellent example of this is the Crest Worms. We are shown them crawling into a character during the first episode, and another person in the episodes following. After the boring first episode, wondering how the Crest Worms worked was the only reason I continued to watch. By the end of season one, and season two we had still not learned anything about them. I had to go the wiki to learn that Crest Worms was the magic of the Matou Family. While I understand that Fate/Zero is a prequel to the original Fate/stay night, many people will have not have played the visual novel. This is a problem because the 2006 anime adaptation also fails to give much information on magic and the nature of the Holy Grail Wars. It is unfortunate that little information was given in the anime, as I was constantly surprised as characters continued to pull out even more powerful magic and to someone who is new to Fate universe, it looked like they were just randomly pulling thing out of their ass without giving any explanation as to how things worked.
The last major flaw with Fate/Zero was it’s cast of characters. The Holy Grail War consists of fourteen people, seven Masters who control seven Servants. Each Servant is an ancient hero from history or mythology and come in the class of Saber, Archer, Berserker, Rider, Caster, Assassin and Lancer. The abundance of characters resulted in not enough attention being payed to everyone and the characterization that we do receive was weak and mostly basic. This issue is resolved a bit during the second season. One character that I wish got more screentime was Kariya. Kariya Matou hosts many Crest Worms. These worms has eaten parts of his brain, making it hard for him to analyze complex situations and have left half of his limbs dysfunctional. He fights for the Holy Grail so he can trade it for the safety of a little girl named Sakura who will then not have to be implanted with crest worms. Out of all of the characters in Fate/Zero, his story was one that I found the most compelling but was completely sidelined by others which I didn’t care as much about such as the murders caused by Caster and his Master.
Of course, Fate/Zero is not all wasted potential. The art and sound are absolutely amazing; Ufotable truly has brought their A-game. Also, despite their being too much talking for the fights, they still managed to be enjoyable and a fun experience.
Fate/Zero fails to achieve greatness due to it’s lack of plot progression, little exposition given to the rules of magic and the Holy Grail, and it’s overabundance of characters. This leads it to be a disappointing experience if viewed as a single season. While I have brought out many failures of the first season, in the end it still managed to be an enjoyable experience. When combined with the greatness that is season two, the series as a whole becomes highly enjoyable and I highly recommend that everyone watch Fate/Zero. It may not have the best season one, but season two manages to make up for it.
Overall: 7 (Good)
If you would like to see my review on the second season of Fate/Zero, you can find it here: https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=256303
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 16, 2017
If you asked people to describe the story of Higashi no Eden (Eden of the East), they would probably say something along the lines of “a story about twelve individuals called Seleção who have been given the task to save Japan from it’s current state and is has some great moments talking about socioeconomic issues. Personally, I disagree. I would describe it as a story about roughly forty-thousand Japanese “Johny’s”. If you watch the show, I guarantee you will understand what I am talking about. That said, I believe Higashi no Eden is a show that everyone should watch because it has some great characters,
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touches on some important issues, and can be absolutely hilarious and thrilling at the heights of it’s surrealism.
Higashi no Eden is a show in which I have taken an immediate liking to the main characters, Akira Takizawa and Saki Morimi. Akira is an extremely charismatic character and that becomes apparent as he asks a stranger on the streets of Washington DC for a pair of pants and that person hands his over. Saki Morimi meets him while she is in DC. She is immediately fascinated by the way Akira acts, and due to circumstance they return to Japan together. This is the start of their relationship. One great thing I found is that their relationship felt real and not that stereotypical as many anime tend to have.
Eden of the East manages to talk about some socioeconomic issues during the length of its eleven episodes. These range mainly on the rise of the NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training). Many Millennials are living with their parents and not joining the workforce. This has become an increasingly worrisome in countries such as Japan. There are many reasons for this, one being that the Baby Boomer generation currently happens to hold many of the higher level work positions. This results in the Millenials being stuck in lower tier jobs as they can’t find ones that fit their degree. This barrier in the job market is partially why NEET’s are more prevalent than ever before. This has made NEET’s seem like a burden on society but Higashi no Eden shows that they can still be useful. There are many instances in this show where NEET’s band together through the internet to save people from disasters, an example of this is them establishing an emergency evacuation operation to save people from being killed by missiles. Higashi no Eden is a show about a generation that wishes to make something of themselves but is denied by the paradigms that have been set in place by the generations before them.
While the socioeconomic aspects of the show were great in my opinion, the most enjoyment I had watching this show was when it shows how absurd and surreal it could get. Watching roughly twenty-thousand naked men get off a boat and rush for their cell phones is something I don’t think I could ever forget. Unfortunately though, not everything is executed well in Higashi no Eden. The show can sometimes be a half-baked experience as some episodes can be downright boring to watch. The show also features a cast of secondary cast of characters which are important to the show and it’s themes, but take up way too much time just sitting around and talking. To add to this, the story has a death plot going on in as whichever Seleção manages to save Japan first lives while all of the others die. This was much too convoluted and sometimes barely makes any sense. Also, due to their only being eleven episodes, the ending of the anime is bad, and the two movies that follow up right after end up being even worse. Still, I was happy I watched them.
Higashi no Eden is a show that has some excellent characters, talks about socioeconomic issues relating to NEET’s, and is masterful with it’s surrealism, the shows falls apart sometimes under the weight of a convoluted death game plot and characters which got too much screen-time. Ultimately, Higashi no Eden was an enjoyable experience that I would recommend to everyone.
Overall: 7 (Good)
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jul 28, 2017
[CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS]
The world of Made in Abyss is a fascinating one. It is filled with strange creatures and relics of a time long forgotten. Most fascinating though, is the Abyss. At the centre of the town of Oosu, there lies a pit which stretches far into the Earth. No one knows how far or has ever made it down to the bottom. In the Abyss, there are a multitude of relics that can be found and sold to foreign countries. The brave people who go into the pit are called Cave Raiders and they form the backbone of the economy in Oosu, the buying
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and selling of these precious relics. But it is dangerous work, and many die while in the Abyss. This story is about a girl named Riko and her friend, Reg who traverse the Abyss, hoping to find Riko’s mother and to seek answers about Reg’s past. Made in Abyss produced by studio Kinema Citrus has captivated the curiosity of its viewers through an excellent use of worldbuilding, great characters, and stellar art and sound direction.
Made in Abyss is a prime example of how to do worldbuilding right. The first episode starts off with some excellent shots of the Abyss. We see a waterfall and lush green vegetation as we are introduced to our protagonist Riko. To put it bluntly, the world of Made in Abyss looks gorgeous. To top it off, there is expansive worldbuilding that fleshes out the setting of the story. The first four episodes are chock full of worldbuilding but it is never boring. We are not told everything, but get to witness certain events take place and learn more about the world through it. A great example of this is the classroom in the orphanage. Riko’s mother is down in the Abyss and since her father is dead, she is placed in an orphanage. There, the children learn the skills necessary to become cave raiders. In the classroom where the children learn, there is great amounts of verticality. Their desks are attached high up onto a wall; they need to climb just to get to their seats. It’s with moments such as this that it becomes clear that there has been great care put into the world of Made in Abyss. This effort put in really shows and it helps to really immerse the viewer into the story.
The two main character that we have met so far in Made in Abyss are Riko and Reg or Regu. Riko is a bright bubbly person and loves just about cave raiding. She wishes to reach heights of fame comparable to that of Lyza, her mother and become a white whistler, the highest rank of all cave raiders. She is very inquisitive and her energetic nature is positively infectious. It was a nice touch to see how immature she is when thinking about the dangers of the Abyss. Reg is a robot who met Riko when he saved her from a beast in the Abyss. He had no idea how he got there but Riko had a hunch that he was from the bottom of the Abyss. He is quite shy and lacks confidence. He has recollection of where he came from and follows Riko into the Abyss to hopefully get answers as to who he is and where he came from. The great thing about these characters is that they react according to their character traits, but are not so far removed from reality that they act like a stereotype or a trope. Currently, they are developing into mature into multifaceted characters, and I hope it stays that way rather than regressing into simple caricatures.
The sound design and the artwork for this show is stunning. As I mentioned before, the background art is amazing. Props need to be given to Osamu Masuyama, who has also worked on beautiful pieces such as Your Name and Spirited Away. The sound design for this show was also amazing. It would be better if you just listened to it instead of me talking about it.
Overall, Made in Abyss is a story about a two friends as they adventure into the depths of the Abyss that is held up mainly by its worldbuilidng, art and sound, but also has characters that are great due to their well-roundness and their ability to entertain the viewer.
Overall: 9 (Great)
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 24, 2017
[THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS]
Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu is a show that is very polarizing, some seem to love it while other consider is to be boring and bland. I, am of the latter camp. The premise is quite simple, and very similar to the 1993 film, “Groundhog Day” directed by Harold Remis. To be perfectly honest, you would be much better off watching that movie instead of Re: Zero. Both revolve around the protagonist who resets to an earlier point in time whenever he dies. This anime is boring and mediocre because of its bad overall plot and execution of the premise,
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and its poor characters.
The premise of Re: Zero is nothing to write home about. It has a generic run of the mill fantasy setting that shrouds itself in ambiguity. Numerous question are left unanswered, the most important being why the protagonist, Subaru have the power to travel back in time. We are barely given any worldbuilding, something that should at the forefront of most of shows with a fantasy setting. An example of this done right is the anime Log Horizon. Log Horizon manages to create an interesting fantasy world, specifically an MMO world and in the process becomes a highly enjoyable watch.
Another major problem with Re: Zero is it’s cast of characters. Re: Zero expects one to care about all of the characters from the start. When both Subaru and Emilia are killed early on, it barely leaves any emotional impact because the characters are still blank slates, and in Emilia’s case it remains that way for the entire show. Natsuki Subaru is introduced to us as a NEET, and he acts incredibly stupidly at times. When Subaru is transported into the Dragon Kingdom of Lugnica he reacts as if the entire thing is just a game. He expects a cute girl to come to him and that he is some hero summoned from a parallel world. He constantly spouts nonsense and makes jokes which completely ruin the atmosphere and mood of the scene and is rarely ever funny. He is so dim-witted that is takes him two deaths before he realizes that he can go back in time. He calls this power Return by Death. Other times, he is able to quickly analyze the information available to him to execute difficult political maneuvers. As the story gets darker Subaru’s mental state begins to regress due to the trauma of seeing his friends die multiple times. The issue I had with this is that he died only about nine or ten times before he descended into madness. This is unlike Phil Conners from Groundhog Day who dies in numerous ways. Also, Subaru seems to return back to normal again when he witnesses his friends die one more time. The madness leaves no impression on his character.
Emilia, originally known to us as Satella is another character with many problems. To put it simply, she is nearly a blank slate. She has barely any character traits aside from she in nice and that she sometimes gets upset with Subaru, the latter being used only to create needless tragedy for our protagonist. She feels a role similar to that of Asuna is Sword Art Online, and it is extremely baffling that Subaru wishes that she was his romantic partner despite her not doing anything for him aside from giving him a place to stay for a few days.
The two twin sisters, Rem and Ram and slightly better characters. They are given given legitimate character development, especially Rem and possess a decent backstory and do develop as the story continues. The problems lay mainly with Rem. She starts off as someone who is extremely cold to Subaru, but in the span of a few episodes begins to love him tremendously. This change is sudden and while it was somewhat legitimate, the crux of the problem lay in the fact that Rem went from a decent character to another representation of the average anime fan’s ideal woman; She becomes as much of a “waifu” as Emilia and in it almost ruins all of the good characterization that she had originally.
The rest of the supporting cast was also one dimensional, except for Wilhelm who had a decent backstory but was immediately pushed back into the sidelines after getting development for two episodes.
Fortunately, there are some good moments sprinkled in between all of the boring bits, with the highlight being episode 18. I won't’ spoil it but It is easily the best episode of the show but the ending once again shows that Subaru is actually a retard. Re: Zero was produced by White Fox and they did a fair job with the art and animation. The only major flaw was that the CGI was horrendous. The show’s only great attributes were in it’s sound. The OST was good enough to constantly pull at your heartstrings and make you anxious in anticipation of the next bloodbath and spectacle to come. Unfortunately, the soundtrack was not enough to lift this show out the depths of it’s mediocrity with is bad plot, horrible handled premises and flat characters defined sometimes only by a catch phrase.
Overall: 4 (Bad)
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jul 8, 2017
"My teen romantic comedy is wrong, as I suspected" more commonly known as Oregairu follows the exploits of a socially inadequate high school student Hachiman Hikigaya. The story revolves around a club Hachiman is forced to join and the two other members of the club: Yukino Yukinoshita and Yui Yuigahama. The club is a Service club where students can ask for help on anything.
The story is a pretty standard slice of life plot which heavily relies on the banter between Hachiman and Yukino to keep the viewer interested. For the most part, this works. Hachiman and Yukinon have
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contrasting philosophies on life and a mutual dislike for each other which makes each scene interesting. Unfortunately, the ending of the story leaves a lot to be desired and while the show does have a sequel, I am reviewing Oregairu as a standalone piece of work.
Along with Yukinon and Hachiman, there is a third member of the Service club, Yui. She was not really that important but she kept the Service club together when Yukinon and Hachiman were arguing (which was always). Unlike the other two main characters, Yui was not as interesting. Unfortunately, not a single character character aside from Hachiman and Yukinon were developed beyond a single defining trait or stereotype. While that was fine as they were able to carry the show, what really brought down the show was the horrible art and animation and mediocre sound.
There were many episodes were the art was plain bad, stills were used too often and animation was recycled and it got annoying fast. For the sound, it was completely forgettable. There was nothing that made is stick out, either good or bad.
Overall, Oregairu is a show that started off with potential, but quickly died due to bad characterisation, crappy art and an unmemorable OST.
Score: 5 (Average)
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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