Nov 2, 2016
Fate/Stay Night. Considered (and well should be) a staple in many action-romance genre fans like me, I had been recommended the series time and time again by my friends, so I got pretty hyped up. I think its quite a bit of a review so the TL;DR is basically the Enjoyment/Conclusion paragraph down below.
DISCLAIMER: I have not played the visual novel so this review is purely based on the anime alone.
Story : 8 - The story is set in modern day Japan (or what could be considered modern in 2003) and our MC, Emiya Shirou, is a typical high school kid. This
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is a shounen after all. Similar to Mirai Nikki, he lives an average life until he gets swept up in events far beyond he would ever imagine. Under attack from an unknown entity that appeared before him, Shirou summons one of his own to defend him, thus catapulting him into huge events that could decide the fate of the entire world. I actually really found this series and Mirai Nikki extremely similar in the regard that there are people playing in a death game and the prize is power on an omnipotent level. If you were the fan of the Hunger Games, this is basically that with higher stakes and more magic. I really enjoyed the story, and the second half had a lot of good plot twists but it got really slow at times for an action anime. I will explain why later.
Art: 8 - The art is very good for a 2006 anime, and it can probably hold its own to some more recent anime as well. Obviously DEEN also did their best to make the art true to the visual novel. It also wasn't very flashy. It gets an 8 here.
Sound: 10 - I loved the sound. The entire soundtrack fit in perfectly with the atmosphere of the series. The action sequences were also given a well deserved sort of ominous feel thanks to the soundtrack. But I really adored the OPs. Disillusion has become one of my favourite OPs of all time, seeing as to how it fit very well with the first half of the anime. Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni, the second OP, also fits in great with the much quicker pace of the show. I think the ED sounded beautiful.
Characters: 9 - The best part of the show, imho. I found that all the characters in the show were actually very likeable (except of course for Shinji). Without going on about too much, most of the characters had a certain depth to them. This segment gets a 9 because I really feel like some of the characters (and their relationships with each other) could have been more developed and the romance at the end felt a bit rushed. I am a true stickler for the budding romance elements of the action-romance genre so to see it rushed and the romance development skipped a bit actually hurt me, especially since this pairing is one of my favourites in all anime I've seen.
Enjoyment/Conclusionl: 7 - I'll start with the negative. Let's face it, this anime is slow. The constant character flashbacks seriously irritated me at some points. Some of the battles were a bit draggy because of this as well. But I find that the characters, art and soundtrack seriously make up for otherwise a draggy series. Even though the romance felt a little underdeveloped for me, I still felt that it was still quite adequate.
Really, Fate/Stay Night is a classic in my eyes. If you are an action-romance fan, I would agree that this is a staple for you. If you like a fantastic cast of characters, a good soundtrack, or maybe just a best girl argument (its Saber) than this anime is also for you. Just do not expect the romance to come too soon, it only really develops near the end.
Overall : 8
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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