Reviews

El-Melloi as a series has a lot of things going for it considering it's a spinoff of a massive franchise. I mean that half sarcastically, everyone knows Fate at this point however that's only what draws people in. What keeps them are well developed characters and/or amazing visuals and battles. El-Melloi does both of these well, with a lot of visual and lighting effects that come off pretty well in most fights(a noticeable lack of CGI which I always love), and I genuinely want to see the development of the cast of characters. Waver returns from Fate/Zero in a strong upfront drive: to make his king proud. The giant arc of his development is him trying to find what his liege from Fate/Zero would want him to do to further their goals. It's honest in the simplicity of what Waver needs, yet still touches on so many magical concepts that the main series' never really have time to delve in to. Although it is based on a game, the thought that went into the series seems further than a cash grab (I'm looking at Fate Apochraphya), yet it still saves time by introducing typical characters that have appeared in much more than this single anime (i.e. Luvia, Waver, a Sabre-knock off, etc.). Truth be told, I kept telling my roommate "Yeah I'm just watching Sherlock Holmes but if it was a fate anime," and I really mean that. The sense of mystery and intrigue that goes around the entire Clock Tower is engrossing. In fact, for most this is the first real look at the Clock Tower politics besides some small ending bits from UBW. Overall, this series is just a really nice tie-together between Fate/Zero and Fate/SN to really establish why the Grail War was so small in future, or why so many families were apathetic towards another so soon. If you've invested heavy time into the Fate series, "Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note" is a great way to fill the void between now and the third Fate Heaven's Feel movie.