I’ve never played any of these games before, so please, I’m sorry if I make terrible judgement, but I plan on playing them if I can find it.
Story - 6/10
Fate/Stay night setting is based in a fictional city in Japan, known as Fuyuki. There is are war going on between 7 masters and their servant for the ultimate wish granting chalice known as the Holy Grail. Shirou Emiya, a normal student, with little magical knowledge gets himself forcibly dragged into the war after witnessing 2 heroic spirits clash in duel, and being chased down by one of them, nearly gets himself killed, until he accidentally summoned, his own servant, Saber.
Now here is my simple explanation of what the Holy Grail is, because it’s vaguely described in the anime. Masters summoned powerful heroic spirits, known as servants. Now servants are ranges of different characters from history. So you have heroes from different times clash against one another for the Holy Grail, an ultimate wish granting device that lets you wish for anything. The grail is given to the final Master and Servant that is left standing, now obtaining something that’s gives you any wish is worth dying for.
After learning all this, Shirou enters the war in order stop innocent people from getting involved in the collateral damage due to the servants fighting. He also fights because he doesn’t want anyone else to get hurt, especially his own servant Saber. The story follows Shirou and Saber’s relationship, where Shirou constant views differs from Saber.
The problem with Fate/Stay Night story, is that it doesn’t explain itself very well. The Holy Grail war itself is not explained very well, and that could get confusing to some people. Because there is magic in the world, they keep, adding something to magic, because magic. The whole lore and setting on Fate/Stay Night is vaguely explained and can get really confusing at points. Also there are a lot of points in the story, where they keep adding something and never explaining it, that is somewhat fixed after the prequel was made, but keep in mind this was made before the prequel existed, However despite that confusing point, it’s an interesting concept, because it has the ability to take different heroes from different eras and have them fighting one another, to see who’ll win.
Characters - 7/10
The main character and biggest idiot of the show, is Shirou Emiya. Shirou is an idiot, even though he is a good guy at heart, willing to go to lengths to protect and help people, it’s frustrating to the point when you can see he doesn’t have to do it. For too long in series, he doesn’t seem to take the Holy Grail War seriously, he doesn’t seem to understand it’s a death game, literally people are trying to kill you. And yet he doesn’t let Saber fight and he gets in way of fights, because he is an inexperience mage. He does in the end, change a bit and learns what’s it really like to help others, however that path takes a while.
Saber the other main character and Shirou’s servant, is considered the more powerful class of servants. She is fighting in the Holy Grail war to fulfill her wishes, which is similar to Shirou. She can hold her own very well, except for the fact she is limited by Shirou’s ability as a Master, because he cannot give her as much as a fully fledged mage could, so she ends up resting for a long time. Saber is a very serious character, she wants to get the job done, but Shirou won’t really let her, because she is a girl.
Another character that gets attention is Rin Tohsaka. The master of Archer class servant. Rin plays the role as a mentor for Shirou, for he is a novice in magic, she teaches him the basics of magic and the ups and downs of the Holy Grail War. I find the problem with her character is that, she is never really given any proper explanation for working with Shirou in the first place, she is perfectly capable herself to win the grail, as she is considered an outstanding mage at that. I don’t feel like her character was given much motivation in the Holy Grail war or why was she really in it.
The story is follows are path that really focuses on the relationship between Shirou and Saber. Because of Shirou’s naivety of the Holy Grail war and his method of fighting in the war conflicts with Saber, you see them really build bond overtime, where they both respect each other, takes a while before anything really happens though.
All the other characters in the Holy Grail war have their own motivations for being in the war. And I’m glad that they don’t have a generic attitude of wanting the Holy Grail for greed or anything, you see their past lives and explanation on wanting the Holy Grail, however, I don’t think they were given enough screen time to make them all that interesting. The show focused so much on Shirou, all the other characters felt like they were lining up to fall to the hands of Saber in a way. However come later towards later in the season, comes a villain, I adore so much.
Animation and Sound - 6/10, 6/10
If you watched ufotable’s rendition of the Fate series, you’ll know how much different and worst this adaptation is to that. Granted it was made back in 2006, but you can see the animation being very average. It looks alright when they are still images, because it felt really like a visual novel, but when the characters start moving, it doesn’t feel completely right and natural. However there is the exception of some action scenes looking pretty good, although not the most amazing thing I’ve seen in that era. And is it me, but do all the characters seem to have a chubby feel to them. And I know Saber’s sword is supposed to be invisible, but when you see her fighting with it, it genuinely looks bad because it just looks the like the animators were lazy to add a sword there, it just looks stupid at times. Plus who thought it was a good idea to put a horribly 3D rendered dragon in, seriously.
I can’t say too much about the sound, because I don’t think they were that good to listen to. The music suits the setting that they’re in, but it’s not as recognizable, and feels kind of generic. Except some fighting scenes soundtrack sound like a step towards achieving something. Plus I find the opening of themes and ending theme of Fate/Stay Night, kind of boring. It doesn’t really setup for an epic fantasy action series, the 2nd op to an extent, but not much.
Enjoyment - 7/10
Now I would say, you’re probably not going to like Fate/Stay Night if you’ve seen ufotable’s adaptation of Fate/Zero. I really enjoyed this show because we get see fantasy heroic characters come to life and battle it out with one another. I also enjoy seeing how these characters from different Eras interact with people of the present, giving them some personality to them. And plus since I did watch Fate/Zero first, I did get a some satisfaction, on watching some of the characters I knew from Fate/Zero make an appearance, even though some of it is not that relating, cause it’s a different company. It’s a really cool concept, I enjoyed watching.
Verdict - 6.5
As for my final verdict. I give the story of Fate/Stay Night a 6, because there were too many times where the story really drags and doesn’t explain much on the lore itself, making it rather confusing. However I do like the concept of it, you just need to explain that concept clearer next time.
For characters, I give it a 7, because Shirou is an idiot and takes a while to develop. However the relationship between Shirou and Saber gets interesting, because the more they interact with each other more they learn from each other, and Saber being a mysterious character an all. The supporting cast got their small time to shine, but it was short lived.
For animation and sound, I give them a 6 each. Because the animation at times looks alright, but then it can look rather average, and uninteresting. The action scenes look fine, when they get it right, however some sequences look stupid, like Saber’s invisible sword fights, plus that 3D rendered dragon. The sound is kind of generic, they do their job, and opening themes do get into your head over time, however, I find it really hard to love it.
As for my own personal enjoyment, I give it a 7. Because I really like the concept and enjoy watching these characters interact and fight each other. I enjoyed the story, it did take a while, but I did enjoyed it.
For my final score, I give Fate/Stay Night a 6.5/10. It’s an above average anime, but it doesn’t compare to its other anime adaptation. Once you get your head wrapped around the lore, the story and characters get interesting.
I recommend you watch this show, if you are planning to watch all the Fate series anyway, however it’s okay to start with this one, then watch Ufotable’s work. However you don’t necessarily need to watch this one to get into the Fate series as well, it’s skip able. I can also recommend this to fans of action fantasy anime, as I believe the concept itself will sell, because it’s watching your fantasy heroes clash against one another.
