Compared to my previous reviews where I was talking about Lexus, Hyundai and BMW as metaphors and analogies for the anime that has nothing to do with cars, in Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Illya (or Prisma Illya for short), I've got a definite reason of talking about Mercedes Benz--it's because Irisviel's sports coupe that Kiritsugu bought for her is the Mercedes-Benz 300SL!
And the 300SL is the pioneering-gullwing Merc that is as legendary as the Excalibur. It's like Saber with gullwing doors and headlights: agile, powerful, and considered as one of the most outstanding timeless cars with excellent ratings in all categories.
STORY: 7
In FATE series, you could say that if Fate/Stay Night is the Mercedes-Benz 300SL, then Fate/Zero has got to be the Mercedes-Benz SLS-AMG. Fate/Zero is just pure and ravishingly wicked and it's Urobuchi outdoing himself the same way that Mercedes-AMG has outdone themselves with creating the SLS-AMG. It's how Fate/Zero is the sacred predecessor of Fate/Stay Night in the same way as the SMS-AMG is the spiritual successor of the 300SL.
As the SLS-AMG is the Holy Grail of the Mercedes-AMG, the Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya is, however, the Mercedes AMG-GT. Yes, it's Merc and yes it's AMG, and it's fast, but it's like a Mercedes-AMG but isn't. Prisma Illya is pretty much taken as that. You expect the FATE trademark and quality, and somehow you get a spin-off of a main-antagonist-turned-protagonist-turned-magical-girl. Yet, like the AMG GT, it's Mercedes-Benz and AMG under the bonnet and quality after all, in the very same way that Prisma-Illya still is part of the FATE series.
The story centers on Mai Kadowaki's ever-renowned character, Illyasviel Von Einzbern, the Teuton violet-clad Japanese-German loli-hybrid bent on winning the Holy Grail war in F/SN, gets a spin-off of becoming the MC magical girl collecting cards called "Class Cards" referenced from F/SN's seven Heroic Spirits or servants.
CHARACTER: 7
Let me put it this way. It's quite difficult to assess characters with spin-off roles, because they have a different role than the original, but still retains the same appearance, same personality, and even the same seiyuu. It's a make-or-break, really, to see if the spin-off version can handle or fill up the shoes that the original version initially has established.
In the original Visual Novel (yes, I've finished the VN's three arcs: original, UBW, and Heaven's Feel; and watched F/SN animation, the Fate/Zero s1 and 2, Prisma Illya's season 2, and even Carnival Phantasm), even Illya has gone from the initial smirking antagonist to someone who's clingy and moe. Then there's Rin Tohsaka, who, even in the original Fate/Stay Night, serves as the walking-dictionary-slash-instruction-manual for the MC and yes, we saw her reprise that role.
There are also two new characters for the Fate/Kaleid Liner installment: Miyu, who's a kuudere and the yuri partner of Illya; and Luvia-sama, who's very good trait that I like about her is she's voiced by Shizuka Itou.
ART: 10
This is art from Type-Moon we're talking about. Saying some nonsense about the way the artwork is made is like saying Mercedes-Benz cars are unattractive. Art concern alone, FATE has nailed that since 2004.
SOUND: 6
The opening/ending songs are great and Illya-sounding, really. However, we're missing something: we're missing Yuki Kajiura here. And that's very much exactly like missing the SLS-AMG's 6,208cc 6.2liter M159 V8 engine, when you'd know that the AMG-GT now only has the 3,982cc 4.0liter M178 twin-turbo V8.
Yet, there's a promise, seiyuu-wise, where seiyuus retained their original and renowned roles from the original Fate: Mai Kadowaki voicing Illya, Kana Ueda voicing Rin, even Ayako Kawasumi has her cameo as Saber; then new roles for the chosen awesome seiyuus: Kaori Nazuka for Miyu, and Shizuka Itou for Luvia-sama.
But then again, there are no Yuki Kajiura compositions here.
ENJOYMENT: 7
Despite all its spin-off elements and a story where it has exactly nothing to do with the Holy Grail war, because that's what the Fate-series is all about, Prisma-Illya is still enjoyable and worth watching if you treat it as a magical-girl anime. Like I said earlier in Mercedes-Benz analogy, the AMG-GT is a Merc, but somehow it isn't. If you treat that as an SLS-AMG, then you'd rather be better off buying the Porsche 911. Or the Jaguar F-Type. Everybody loves Jag.
OVERALL: 7
I have no qualms about this, even if it causes real FATE-oriented fans/otakus to bat their eyebrows, and gives moe pigs a reason to smile like Chesire Cat (especially if they've or you've watched the specials).
All in all, it's to be expected when you've seen it yourself that Illya has become a magical girl, because as sentient as a human being you are, you'd immediately get the logic. You won't be scratching your head in comprehending it like how German Engineers solving and understanding calculations for their Merc's performance, you'd just automatically get it--as completely as understanding where this is going.
Still, Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya is a fun thing to watch even if it has nothing to do with the Holy Grail War. It makes a nice tally of all your magical-girl watch-list.
Verdict: Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya is just like how you'd expect the Mercedes AMG-GT to be: it's Mercedes and it's AMG alright, but don't treat it as the SLS-AMG.
