First, the visuals. You may expect me to praise them to death, but I won't. Don't get me wrong, the gradients and textures are polished to a remarkable degree, and the CGI implementation is flawless, but there's more to visuals than just the technical side. The artistic side is what falls flat, which is a shame considering it's ufotable. Where Fate/Zero had plenty of sharp edges to its objects and harsh shadows to enhance its dark tone, UBW just looks shiny, which doesn't contribute to any specific themes from the show. Not to mention most of the fighting animation flies by so quick you can't see anything that's going on. When there's no fighting, it's even worse. Camera angles and character animations during conversations are usually pretty bland and static, and something about the faces in the characters just scream a lack of detail. So even though the show looks super shiny, it was honestly really boring to watch, due to the artistic elements coming short. Music is decent but there aren't too many memorable tracks this time around.
So what is this show even trying to accomplish? I... don't know. That's by far UBW's biggest problem; ufotable (or whoever was in charge) seemed to want to do everything, but it just doesn't combine into a coherent show. Does it want to follow-up Fate/Zero? That can't be, because of the large tone difference and how it doesn't try to neatly wrap up character arcs lingering from the previous series. Does it want to be a standalone work? No, there's too many references to Fate/Zero. A faithful adaptation of the visual novel? No, there's too many important anime-exclusive arcs and scenes. A lighthearted moe dating simulator with every girl digging Shirou? No, because there's too much edgy stuff; but it can't be a serious and dark show either because there's too much out-of-place moe or other shlock bogging it down. The writing for this UBW is truly incompetent, and the characters are victims of this.
Ohhhhh boy, the characters. To give my full thoughts, I'll need to spoil, but let me make a sweeping statement and say that they're not very good. At all. They're just a flawed concept overall; especially our two heroes. The characters with potential don't receive enough time to be fleshed out before biting the dust either.
(SPOILERS AHEAD)
Let's start with Rin. She joins a brutal war that she knows took her father's life and risks her own for.... fun? You're kidding, right? Not even to win the grail? She's also supposed to be a cool-headed and intelligent mage, but behaves like a five year old when around Shirou. Any competent tactician should not get flustered so easily and have "tsundere" as such a big part of their thought process. It's not cute, it's aggravating; especially when their romance goes nowhere. At the end she LIVES WITH Shirou and yet they still aren't in a proper relationship, considering Luvia still believes she has a chance. Why does Rin even like Shirou? She even tried to literally kill him at one point, and legitimately threatened his life on other occasions. Rin is just a horrible concept of a character, which is a problem considering she's our main heroine.
Shirou? You've already heard the horror stories of him. He's excruciatingly naive and idealistic, and still largely retains his ideals despite being proven wrong on too many instances to count. The fact that he says "just because you're correct doesn't mean you're right" (if there's no translation errors) proves this. When he's not frustrating to watch, he's boring. Most of his dialogue consists of platitudes. Needless to say, I don't ship Shirou and Rin.
Archer was decent but should've been the main antagonist. Gilgamesh basically hijacks the plot from him even though he's a far less thematically relevant villain. There's no debating with him, he'll just toy with you and then impale your body. While an entertaining villain, he's a poor fit for this show. Caster was pretty good though, she really does feel like a genuine threat considering how many times she thwarts our heroes and even steals Saber. Oh that's right, Saber! She's boring and lacks the strong sense of chivalry she had in Fate/Zero. When Saber lost, I didn't feel a thing, because she was always just kinda there. Didn't do much on her own accord; just followed orders with a straight face. At least Saber's good waifu material, right? Well, UBW thinks so, considering the completely pointless bride dress she was forced to wear. Ilya and Berserker also had potential, but really needed more than just one episode to develop their characters. Lancer is cool but you don't really get to know him much. Almost everyone else isn't worth mentioning. Their motives are so unclear and resolution so unfulfilling that it's obvious the writers didn't care, so why should I?
(SPOILERS END)
I apologize for the length of this review, but it was a long time coming. It really pains me to say that UBW is an immensely disappointing show. The only reason I don't give it a less-than-mediocre score is because of the visual polish and a few great scenes and episodes such as the 3rd or 10th ones that built up tension really well. But really, if you loved Fate/Zero and want a followup, or experienced the visual novel and want it done justice, don't bother. Leave those memories untainted. Newcomers will also be confused due to all the references to the Fate franchise's expansive lore. Please don't watch UBW; it's not a bad show, but it's so frustratingly average (or even worse) that it'll only waste your time.
