Story: 8
The "Holy Grail War" is a battle royale with 7 sets of Masters/Servants partnering together to take out the other 6, winner gets the Holy Grail, which grants a miracle. Masters can use magic or guns to fight, or are completely useless in battle, some staying far away from the action. The servants all have a fighting style unique to their "class", Lancer uses spears, Saber uses a sword, Assassin is an assassin...you get the point. A few more people are thrown in to the war to make things more interesting. Sounds good right? Of course it does.
I love me some good planned out fights with logical strategies, thinking about the end game. Unfortunately, that is only the way a few of the masters think. The rest of the cast either does no planning at all or has a plan but then gets pissed and lashes out in anger. With nearly every fight ending anticlimactically with one character (often an enemy) jumping in and saving another at the last second, or retreating after a defeat, the plot has barely moved at all in 13 episodes. Episode 10 served almost no purpose, as it revolves around a daughter of a master, Rin, a side character, with only a couple minor plot points.
Art: 8
In the beginning the animation was some of the worst I've seen in the past decade, but after it gets its head on straight it does a fine job. Fight scenes are well animated. Facial expressions are pretty hit or miss. Backgrounds are well done. The fog/lighting also stood out. Be aware that they use CG to animate Berserker.
Sound: 6
The Opening song is decent, the ending song is nothing special. Background music goes for a minimalist approach and succeeds, nothing special about it, nothing bad, it sets the tone for the most part. Voice acting and sound effects are average/slightly above average.
Character: 7
With over a dozen "main" characters, it's hard to make them all unique and memorable. About a third of the characters are, a third are generic and can quite accurately be described in one word, and the other third have basically the same personality.
Berserker gets so little screen time it's criminal. Assassin was downright disappointing. Rider easily has the most appealing personality out of the servants. Caster and his master are serial killing psychopaths who would rather kill random people then participate in the war. Very few characters have any development.
Enjoyment: 7
The main reason I couldn't fully enjoy this anime is that almost all the characters are still around, with only 1, maybe 2 of the characters dying or otherwise no longer being able to participate in the war. With characters saving enemies from certain demise for no reason other than honor, when they are trying to eliminate each other, it leads me to the conclusion that honor is just another way to say ass-pull.
Would I recommend this anime? Yes. Do you absolutely have to watch it? No.
If you can get past the long conversations and anticlimactic fights, give it a shot. It is an above average anime.
