Story – 3
Oh dear…
Firstly, I think it is a bit of a cheat essentially splitting fate zero into two separate series, so that all the good bits can be condensed into ‘one’ of those series. Nonetheless, I will still assess this as a single series, in terms of setting the stage for the second season.
Fate Zero has a great set up. A survival game with some interesting aspects (such as the wish granting prize and the involvement of the church) as well as 7 moderately even teams (in terms of likeability and development). At its earliest points, it is unclear who is going to win this survival game, but, rather disappointingly, this quickly deteriorates into having a clear ultimate winner. This can still be equally as successful however, as long as this group has a stronger underlying connection with the story. Which is more or less covered in the second season.
Fate Zero suffers with a great depravation of detail. Although I’m sure the manga and novels cover this, it can’t be an excuse to not cover anything at all. I am at a loss as to why the church is involved (was Jesus a hero?), why absolutely none of the world gives a single flying shit about entire cities getting threatened with destruction. The same is true with the history of the Holy Grail wars; did they have a single impact on anything we are currently watching? Do the writers have a single bloody clue about the heroes in Fate Zero? (I think not, ie, don’t try and make yourself look clever by saying this is a historical figure, then change their name, characteristics, life story and even gender) Etc. This lack of detail also seems to be confusing the participants of the game, half of them don’t know what is going on. Nor why they are even involved. Lazy.
Lastly, and this is what really grinded my gears, Fate zero (season one) has absolutely no balls. It is never willing to dramatically change the course of the survival game. All we ever see is a series of straight forward fight scenes with no conclusions and loads of conversations on who is the most noble champion. I accept that this is the first season, but with literally no progress and a very basic set up in terms of detail, it raises the question whether the first season was even needed.
Characters – 7
Ideal for this genre. Entertaining and one dimensional.
There is an interesting relationship between the heroes and their respective masters. Each hero is their own individual with their own ambitions, which often conflict with their masters. Three command spells that demand absolute obedience are all the masters have to keep their servants in check. The relationship between the master and servant is crucial in this survival game and is well covered in this anime.
Every character offers a different attitude on the battlefield and character interactions can be quite intense. This is well embodied by the fact that, in the most cases, the servant is nearly a complete opposite of their master. These conflicts make for some interesting interactions seeing that they have to work together to achieve the same goal.
Having such a large cast of characters, and having each character’s attitudes exaggerated (for entertainment purposes) tends to strip the realism of the show. The cliché characters in Fate Zero are largely responsible for the overall childish atmosphere (as well as the fight scenes themselves). Which could well be what you are after, but this is something to keep in mind.
Art and music- 9
outstanding
The art and animation was phenomenal. The fight scenes were choreographed very well and they were truly a sight to behold. If only the scenery was something more stunning than a dockyard. The soundtrack, as you may know was composed by Yuki Kajiura (composer of Sword art online and mahou shoujo madoka magica for example). She has her own distinct style and if you liked any of her other works, I’m sure you will also like this soundtrack.
Personal Enjoyment – 2
Eergh…
If my personal disdain hasn’t already been evident, here is my chance to make it clear. Firstly, I’ve never been a fan of an action based anime. It always gets out of hand and fate zero isn’t an exception. Unfortunately, Fate Zero doesn’t have much else to offer besides the action. This thus limits how intelligent the anime can be. The best it can do is detail certain moves or powers of the heroes, and it tries to do this with the idea of a noble phantasm. This said power is essentially a secret and extremely powerful move that each hero has, that supposedly stems from their history. These end up having such vague connections and meanings and are all RIDICULOUSLY convenient to the situation. Poor effort. Lastly, Fate zero needs to grow some balls. 13 episodes of literally no advancements in the survival game was so frustrating and it felt like a huge waste of time. The fights were nice though.
Overall
Fortunately, Fate Zero 2nd Season advances almost immediately and thus is instantly more enjoyable. Just to be clear, this review isn’t a response to an irrational hatred of the fate zero universe. Far from it, I liked the second season a great deal, and I can see that with the detail that the manga could possibly offer, it can be really great. But as it stands, Fate Zero the anime is a rather pointless and is not needed for the second season.
As this is such a highly rated anime, I would love to hear from those that do think this is amazing, because I need some convincing.
