Type-Moon have delivered us splendid shows in the past already. One of them is the 'Fate' series. Due to ufotable's great job of adapting Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works and Fate/Zero, it's safe to say that the 'Fate' series are those series you can't just miss out. In Summer 2017 season, A-1 Pictures delivered us "Fate/Apocrypha". With it's attempt of trying to make a good 'Fate' adaptation, I just want to say it really didn't planned out to be better than any 'Fate' series out there or it's not really that good.
Story:
The story followed the two factions fight for the 'Holy Grail' in a never before seen type of royal rumble. Instead of 7 masters and 7 servants in total, there were 7 masters and 7 servants on each faction which was known as the Red and Black Faction. When I went to the official information page of Fate/Apocrypha, I'm already guessing this will not be good unlike the other past Fate adaptations. Why?.. It's because of the vast amount of characters it have. Let me tell you something, the past 'Fate' series were all having 7 masters and 7 servants. Having 14 characters in total (+ some extras) is already a bother as you have to plan out everything for each. Whether they die or live. Whether they quit or not. Planning is tough when you have a bunch of characters on a story. Since Fate/Apocrypha focused on a Holy Grail War, you will expect that the masters and servants will kill each other and as episode 25 grew closer and closer, you will notice just one fight that should have killed any servant from the beginning, made one servant die in order to dispose their purpose for the conclusion. Apocrypha, from the first 12 episodes, gave us a one big hint on how the ending will have. I will not tell you as it will be a spoiler but it's within the main protagonist of the story which was Sieg. Sieg here was a huge problem. Though before he became a participant, he was a third party and suddenly he participated, thus, giving us a hint of the conclusion of this anime. One thing was certain that Sieg, when alone without Ruler, felt like he was just a supporting character. Other characters like Mordred, Astolfo, Karna and even Shakespeare stood out in a great way when they have screen time. Ruler, on the other hand, was an important piece to the story. It made the fighting of both the sides which summoned Jeanne in a reasonable way. Hence, Sieg only stood out when he was with Jeanne (except the fight with Shirou because that was his time to shine). I want to talk about the fights as well. The fights were very dynamic and predictable as we go through it. Predictable like the Karna vs Sieg battle and non-predictable like Chiron vs Achilles (I was shocked in this fight.). Also, what happened to Berserker of Red (Spartacus)? Just because he was just an overpowered servant, they just have to get rid of him? It seems that he didn't get enough screen time at all (except on the first opening). We were also told by the story of Jack The Ripper that was a huge development for Archer Of Red (Atalanta), Though, there were still few things I liked in Apocrypha and I will tackle it next.
Characters:
Sieg not getting a shout-out or in conclusion not standing up high with himself was quite a prickle and a problem. Although, we were given a variety of characters that made apocrypha at least a bit of an enjoyable series. Astolfo gave us comedic laughter and memes. Mordred with her charm and traits like her father gave way fan to favor with her. Caster imitating what will Shakespeare's attitude is if he was still living on this current era. Jeanne (Ruler) as a referee of the war kept on meddling and meddling on both sides having her stood out from the rest. Karna with his loyalty and pride to fight any Heroic Spirit in a sport-manship way and there was Berserker (Frankenstein) who rose up from the dead (seriously). With 14 servants, there is a certain that each one of you have picked at least one servant to gain hope for. I said earlier in the 'story' section that having too many characters is a problem and quite risky, although, one advantage of having this many characters is having a favorite or side to choose from. Apocrypha was about a Holy Grail War so I am sure almost anyone made a bet that this servant will win (even though we already know the outcome after a few episodes).
Sound:
First opening (episodes 1-12), which was by EGOIST, was a disaster in my ears. Don't get me wrong. EGOIST made a ton of good songs but this one doesn't fit my ear drums. With it's slow narration after the sign 'Fate/Apocrypha' showed in your screens, the narration was just bad and we don't get that 'hype' feeling which was common in the past Fate series. Although, the first part was really bad, only the chorus we get to hear the good part along with the animation. But still opening 1 was a rock-bottom. Although, the first opening was not suitable for my hearing, the second opening by LiSA was a success to keep me watching more. Both endings was quite fine as they sounded smoothly for an episode to finish.
Art:
Oh boy this section... I was really not hoping for A-1 Pictures to present a godly animation (like what ufotable did), hence, I would like to give a round of applause to the studios. The animation and art was decent enough to be fascinated or get enjoyed by the fights although some fights (Karna vs Sieg) was over the top that my eyes hurts a lot after the fight. I can't describe it to be good or bad. It's decent.
Overall thoughts and Enjoyment:
My overall conclusion about Apocrypha is that it was a decent adaptation and attempt by A-1 Pictures. Although, there's a feeling that something was missing to the story. It lacks something that we just can't understand at first. That feeling is quite a bother to the plot and to the audience perspective. Even though the community judged this Fate anime to be all negatives, there were still some positives outlook to Apocrypha itself. To wrap this up, I enjoyed and I disliked it as well. Enjoyed because of the fights (and the opening and ending), then disliked it for its predictable outcome of the story and lacking of it.
