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I will update this after completing the series but episode two has compelled me to leave this review here:

Imagine the one you love is gone forever and you could never grasp his hand or even feel his warmth except for the very fickle flowers he has left as his heritage, a constant reminder to the beautiful way he arranged them as if never separating them from their life-source, rather making them even more beautiful in their last countdown to death. Now imagine, hanging around as a floating nothingness in a world that can’t see or hear you. Though, after years of pining away ... after your love whose longing cries stopped you from taking that last step, a fellow comes along who can actually communicate with you but the catch is, you have to help him reach his love-goal with your own wife even if its for her sanity. Do you think, if you were posed this question, you would have the balls to do it? Now imagine, a straight-man, who has nothing but pure intentions getting embroiled in an out of this world romance-drama that he was never ready for. You can’t really blame him for marking his territory because he didn’t do anything wrong in falling love. My problem is that I am imagining it all and not taking sides because I see all of them completely right at what they are doing. Don’t ask for a verdict but a note: if you are not watching this series this season, you better because this has the making of a masterpiece that would become benchmark for the many romance series to come. noitaminA definitely has a winner this season.

I have been waiting for this for so long, my wish finally granted by the Golden studios ufotable! It’s not every day that a Type-Moon fangirl like me (who has to yearn for VN & light novel translations to keep her company) gets such a treat. After finally getting a closure on Kara no Kyoukai after reading the light novels, Carnival Phantasm and Fate/Zero were the beacons I wanted to grasp. I say, forget the Fate/stay night anime right now, srsly right now! DEEN simply raped it badly and the VN’s epicness was never captured but if you’ve seen it, at least it gives you ... enough information about the characters that you are seeing in a new light in this two-cour series.

This comes from a God studio ufotable, who had done such a brilliant job on Kara no Kyoukai. If you've read the novels and seen the movies, you already know they really worked on being faithful to the original material. In this case Urobuchi's words and nasuverse character come alive on screen and complimented by not only production quality but hours and hours of work done on it. Even if you have not seen Fate/stay night or played the VNs, don't fret, this is a brilliant series to get into nasuverse and Type-Moon goodness. Being an expert, I guarantee you that you'll never regret it.

I'm writing this review just after episode one but seriously THIS is what you call an awesome start or as Chaos Neco Arc would say, Hajimari, yo~ The around 48minute run of this episode was ideal for introducing all the Holy Grail jargon along with the first take on all the masters. Sure, not everyone was given the limelight as Caster’s master Ryuunosuke is still MIA but that would come in the next episode for sure. The finished product in terms of first episode was nothing short of brilliant. It’s not every day that you see HD quality animation on a series. In movies, sure! But in a two-cour series like this; is definitely one of the firsts. It’s a treat for the sore eyes and looks brilliant even on low quality stream. BGM by Yuki Kajiura is spine tingling sometimes and I recommend to use quality headphones for this one because while the scenes play; from the sound of wind blowing to even flicker of candles, dialogue quality and BGM placement all enhances the viewing experience.

Every character is voiced perfectly and from being an arrogant bastards to cute lolis, this has everything that you might be looking forward to. Also, there are so many badass men! Sure, Saber rocks and including her delivery of “Anata ga watashi o Master ka?” but man! Kiritsugu and Kirei are something else; especially Kiritsugu and his guns and his smoke. Yep, lots of gun and smoke porn on this one…

Anyways, from the looks of things and the summoned servants, this series is going to be full of schemes, conspiracies and back stabbing with the right dash of drama and romance. Kirei and Kirutsugu are going to play very strong roles in shaping up the plot and even if they are opposites in terms of values, they share more similarities than any other master. So, keep watching this for awesome development and even bet calls on who dies first because after all, this will be a cutthroat deluxe with winner taking all the glory and supremacy.

So, quickly:
Story - scheming, conspiracies, war and spine-tingling action. What more can a watcher ask for?
Art - Simply beautiful, just look at those detailed backgrounds!
Sound - Yuki Kajiura, do I have to say anything else?
Characters - Many and far between, yet you will end up remembering everyone and even side with some to their twisted motives to glory.
Enjoyment - Brilliant. I want my fill of mystery and action, shaken and stirred.
Overall - 9/10 and this might actually increase while the series continues. I'm blogging this series on Metanorn so you can drop by to fangirl/boy anytime.

What to say about a masterpiece? All good things must come to an end and that is what happened with FMA's legendary run. When I finished the last chapter today, I seriously shed a tear of joy for all the character development and so many things I was rooting for since I've been following this manga (since last 3 years). The two anime spin-offs pretty much assure full enjoyment and deep storyline that keeps the reader/viewer on the edge of their seats with anticipation and speculation.

The best thing about FMA is not only its story but the alive characters. The story is definitely fantasy but ... their relationship with each other is as real as you and me. Of course, it's not serious all the time and the lulz and growth of characters with time is what makes this a classic. For example, Ed started off with a small height complex and always complained about being a chibi. The worst ever was being rejected by Winry in a childhood game of who would marry Winry, for being smaller in height than her. Well, what do you know he grew out of that and I loved how things turned out.

It's easy to make good guys good but what about the bad guys? The depth of character of all homunculi, the continuous second-guessing, sub-plots, an array of well-conceptualized characters are just a few things for keeping the reader addicted to the story. When it seemed all would fail, the fabulous end shown by sheer determination of a group of protagonist was simply EPIC!

I for one would miss this story and would love to read more from Arakawa-sensei. Overall score of 10.

This is my first review here and I'm writing after watching the fifth episode. For me SHAFT is a hit or a miss. I liked Bakemonogatari but hated Vampire Bund so when it was Arakawa's turn, I was quite apprehensive of what to expect but from the first episode, this series has surprised me with a twisted storyline and weird characters that turn weirder and weirder still - in a good way though.

Of course, Hiroshi Kamiya and Maaya Sakomoto are total win under the skins of Rec and Nino. Being the main pair, they still have a lot of ground to cover around each ... other as Nino's a Venusian(!) and Kou's a stickler for not being indebted. I even like the supporting characters: Star, Chief, Sister, Maria, Stella and P-ko - not in any particular order.

This is for those who enjoy something different that is much more situation driven rather than character driven. There's lots of comedy and funny moments that make you LOL more than you thought it would.

So, overall 9 for personal liking of the show.
Story - 8
Art - 8.5
Sound - 8
Characters - 9
Enjoyment - 9