Sadly, the route taken was similar to a typical anime show. Although I have not read the Fate Novel series, this series falls flat.
Although the art is beautiful, it is just skin deep.
The story is also quite slow and has no real motivation or build. This stems from the fact that the characters are teenage and are being slightly manipulated.
The main struggle shown throughout this season and the second is shirou emiya and his ideals, specifically a hero of justice.
Spoiler/ He has no zero character development and does not change his ways after seeing the flaws in his thinking, and this arc becomes pointless/Spoiler
The sound is good and allows for an intense sequence, but the fighting sequences do not have as much weight and there is not a real sense of danger. The masters and servants seem to change places every episode so the possible attachment to each is very lacking.
The character are also rather two dimensional and easy to figure out. I wish that more time was dedicated to Rin, and that archer's arc actually produced some change.
Overall, this show was severely lacking compared to its predecessor fate zero. The lighter tone, younger age, and less changed subject matter may be factors in this lower quality. As beautiful as the show appears, it is not much more than eye-candy.
