Fate/Zero Anime Review

Hello! Inu here!

So, I've been wanting to write this review for quite a long time now, but only now do I get my chance to do so. If Sword Art Online introduced me to the Golden Age of Anime, I would say that Fate/Zero, taught me how to be in love with a series so much that I won't get enough of it.

Fate/Zero is an action-oriented, fantasy anime that takes several aspects of history. It follows a group of magus who need to fight each other in a secret war to obtain the all-powerful Holy Grail. These magus fought in a battle-royal, in a 7-sided battle. Each magus, who are called Masters, each possess a powerful familiar who will fight for them, they are known as Servants. Well, in fact the entire Fate series is based on this Holy Grail War. Anyway, Fate/Zero is the anime that TRULY starts it all for the Fate franchise, mainly due to its commercial success, some even calling it a masterpiece.

What do I like about the anime?

I like everything that makes this anime to be called a masterpiece. Fate/Zero has a very interesting plot that will definitely enrapt the viewers. Its plot is accompanied by a series of lovable characters, especially for history lovers like me. It also takes a very interesting approach on action-anime as a whole. Instead of focusing much on the fights, this anime focuses more on the build up to that fight. It gives a lot of details during the build-up, taking its time and when the fight does happen, it explodes and would most likely leave you feeling the chills for days. Furthermore, the studio that makes Fate/Zero, ufotable, is probably the biggest factor of this anime's success. The animation is definitely ahead of its time, particularly scenes that involves a lot of light. Most importantly, Fate/Zero succeeded on what previous iteration of the Fate franchises have failed at, which is, to build the interest on what the franchise has to offer in the future.

What do I not like about the anime?

While many consider Fate/Zero as a masterpiece, I personally think that it is not perfect. My main concern of this anime is its pace. It is true that the anime takes its time to build their characters and plot, very carefully. However, it can sometimes be very slow and dry, boring even. This is especially true during the first season of the anime. There is just so much building, and not much action, I almost considered quitting the anime entirely. However, I endured and I did not regret it even once. This particular weakness is actually what made me afraid of recommending the anime to anyone, to be honest. I am in love with the Fate series, and I want people to share the same opinion as me regarding the franchise. To introduce them I would ask them to watch Fate/Zero, but it always gave me that sense of fear that they would get bored. 

Judgement

Overall, I would give this anime an A, almost A+ but no. Regardless of how masterful Fate/Zero is, it may be in-interesting for viewers that do not find the appeal of Fantasy genre. It can be very boring due to its pace as well. However, I guarantee that if you do manage to endure and complete the anime, you will be introduced to a franchise, a series whose world is filled with so much potential that you just won't be satisfied of.

From this point onwards.... SPOILER ALERT!

Now that I have given my general thoughts on Fate/Zero, let's delve deeper into the anime.

Characters

In general, there are quite a number of characters in Fate/Zero they are all diverse. However, this anime manages to build each and every main characters. It invest time, A LOT of time, on the characters, explaining their motives to obtain the Holy Grail. By the way, since there are 7 masters and 7 servants, there's at least 14 characters that are well-developed. To cover that in a 25 episodes anime, is truly an exceptional feat.

Since, it's not really possible to delve into each characters I will divide them into teams, which is based on the class of the servants. Perhaps in the future I might consider going deeper into these characters.

By the way, I am going to reveal the servant's name in this section and it can be a huge spoiler! YES! Even the name is a spoiler! So be aware of it!

Team Saber

Team Saber consists of the true master Emiya Kiritsugu, the decoy Irisviel von Einzbern, the support Maiya Hisau and of course the arguable most powerful servant (as promoted by the series) Saber a.k.a Artoria Pendragon.

Kiritsugu started off as a mercenary hired by the Einzbern family to fight the Holy Grail War for them, due to his exceptional skills as a mage hunter. Kiritsugu agree primarily due to his goal, to be a hero. He wanted the grail to grant him the wish that everyone in the world would be happy. Sounds like a simple, clichéd protagonist, isn't he? That's where you're wrong. When the viewers are first introduced to Kiritsugu, he is actually a ruthless man who would not hesitate to kill. It is very unusual for a protagonist to drawn in bad light, yet this anime succeeded in doing so, and in the end, the viewers still do find Kiritsugu as a likeable character. I would say that over the course of the anime, Kiritsugu is one of the most developed character as you can see the massive contrast between him at the beginning compared to him in the end. Do look forward for this change!

Saber is this all-noble character. I would say that everything that can be considered 'good' is fitted into this character. She started off that way, and during the course of the anime, viewers are given this perspective, that to be all good, is not good at all in the real world. Saber's motive in the grail war is to save Britain from its destruction (she is referring to the war in the end of Arthurian Legend, if I'm not wrong it's called the Battle of Camlann). In this anime, we actually witness how an all-good character, is scarred by battle and the war, so much so, that it destroys her ideal of a true king by the end of the series. Yes, it is a psychological beat down on a character perceived to be perfect, turning her to be the most imperfect.

I won't delve much into the two supporting characters (not really supporting in the case of Iri) of Team Saber. Iri actually plays a huge role in the anime, so look forward to it! I don't want to spoil too much.

Team Archer

Team Archer consists of the master Tohsaka Tokiomi, and his servant Archer a.k.a Gilgamesh. 

Tokiomi is this proud magus who originated from the Tohsaka family. He is a skilled pyromancer and a skilled magus in general. He as a character is not as developed as Kiritsugu, as the main focus on this character is not the individual, but his family. Tohsaka would be one of the great names you will hear as you follow through the Fate franchise in the future. Tokiomi's goal is to achieve the root of the world, which is something like the origin of magic in the Fate world. (Go watch Kara no Kyoukai for further details). Simply to say, Tokiomi's goal on the war is simply to be renowned as a powerful mage.

Archer is the true most powerful servant in the anime. Saber class servants are perceived to be the strongest class, but truly in this anime, Archer is the most powerful. Archer is one of the antagonist of this anime, his goal is really just for pleasure. His relationship with his master his kind of reversed, Archer usually acts more highly than Tokiomi. Anyway, Archer is one of the best antagonist ever created. He is extremely arrogant, but it is justified as he is definitely made over-powered. I mean... He threw swords and spears as his "arrow". Archer's role in this anime is important, but merely as a fighter and not a schemer. This anime however, build him into a deeper character, mainly to prepare him for future franchises.

Team Lancer

Team Lancer consists of the master Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald and his servant Lancer a.k.a Diarmuid ua Duibhne.

Kayneth is an even prouder magus than Tokiomi. His goal is to achieve an even higher prominence in the Mage's Association. Kayneth and Lancer has this own interesting twists within his group involving Kayneth's fiancé. Throughout the anime, Kayneth showed a strong fight but is one of the first to fall, primarily due to his arrogance and to a certain extent, uncooperative servant.

Lancer is a knight that holds the Knight's virtue to the same extent as Saber's. He is a strong fighter but in the end he serves his purpose as one of the first to die a tragic death.

Team Rider

Team Rider consists of the master Waver Velvet and his servant Rider a.k.a Iskandar the Conqueror.

When you first watch the anime, you probably want to root for this little fella. Waver, is one of the more likable character at first glance. This is mainly due to his fun interactions with Rider. The duo keep the anime interesting in the early stages of the show. This team shows how a better relationship between master and servants can be. Waver's goal in the war is to actually prove himself, that he can be a powerful magus even without an exceptional family line. It is very interesting to note how the relationship of Waver and Rider goes throughout the anime because it truly is the most unique relationship among all the other teams. They started off as a master and servant but as the anime progresses they consider each other as a friend.

Rider is this boisterous servant who keep yelling throughout the show. Among the servants however, despite the fact that he is the most childish by the way he act, I would consider him as the most mature psychologically. He is one of the few individuals that changes many views. He changed Waver's view on being powerful and talented, as well as Saber's view on being all good. Rider is a very wise individual and one of the more powerful servants in the anime, most probably due to his Noble Phantasm. Rider's goal is to reach Okeanos, the end of the world, and he still continues to achieve it even after knowing that it doesn't exist. This determination something very notable of the character.

Team Caster

Team Caster consists of the master Ryuunosuke Uryuu and his servant Caster a.k.a Gilles de Rais.

This team is also rather unique that the rest, primarily because the master Ryuunosuke has no exact goal. More specifically, he does not intend to join the war in the first place. He is not a magus, just a normal person who got caught up in the war he did not sign up for. This ignorance leads to Caster pulling the strings, manipulating him throughout the war. In the early stages of the war, I would consider them to be the primary antagonist, most particularly, season 1. This team was killed off by Saber's by the beginning of Season 2, so they were more like an early threat that need to be taken care off at first hand kind of character.

Team Assassin

Team Assassin consists of the master Kotomine Kirei and his servant Assassin a.k.a Hassan i-Sabbah.

First of all, Assassin is the most under-developed character in this anime. Assassin exists in this anime only to die and show off the power of the rest of the servants, like seriously. It's quite sad especially with the fact that Assassin is actually Hassan which is one of my favourite historical figure. Oh well, but they are kind of weak. Did I say 'they'? Yea I did, this servant actually consists of 19 individuals under the same name.

Kotomine Kirei, however, is the true antagonist of the anime. If Archer is the fighter type antagonist, Kirei is the schemer. Kirei has no goal in the war, yet the Holy Grail chooses him to be a master. Early on, you knew that something really fishy is going on around this character. As the story progresses, more of him is uncovered and you will be left amazed on how much growth this character has experienced. I heavily recommend keeping an eye on this character throughout the show.

Team Berserker

Team Berserker consists of the master Kariya Matou and his servant Berserker a.k.a Lancelot.

Kariya Matou is a magus who hated magic and decided to abandon his family (bloodline is very important to the magus in Fate) and not take their crest. Due to his ignorance, he cost the life of Sakura Tohsaka, Tokiomi's son, to replace him as the wielder of the Matou crest. Kariya is driven by revenge when he enters the war. He hated Tokiomi for 'selling' his own daughter, hated himself for the past mistakes he made, and hated his family for doing what they had done to an innocent girl. The story of Kariya Matou is probably one of the darkest thingthat can be found in this anime. He is the character whose growth depends on how much he fell later in the story.

Berserker, as the name suggest, is the knight Lancelot driven to madness due to his indecisiveness of serving his King or loving the woman he loved. Due to the nature of his origin, he has this feud with Saber throughout the story, constantly attacking her when he get the chance. Berserker is one of the stronger servant in the anime mainly due to his out of the world firepower. His goal in the war is not exactly dived into, but he play a role in changing Saber at the end of the show.

Plot

The plot of Fate/Zero is very well-built. It involves, a lot of twists throughout the story, yet it does not create its own small plot. Everything done in this anime, twists and intentional loop-holes are actually meant for the progression of the story towards its climax. This is a very risky move but the show manage to do it and aced it.

The main plot of this story involves the characters mentioned above, fighting against each other for the Holy Grail, an all-powerful wish granting device. It is a concrete plot, with an idea of epic warriors competing against each other. A plot that on paper, sound simple, but the anime execute it with much depth and precision, making a simple battle-royal into truly a secret war between seven individuals. This is primarily because, as I said before, while it is an action-oriented anime, the show makes sure that this is not a story about battles. It is a story about a war. The story focuses a lot on preparation, more than execution, something that would happen in a real war.

Coherence

For those who are new to the Fate franchise, just like me when I first watch this anime, it is a lot to digest. There are many important aspects of the Fate series coming into play such as Command Spells, Servants-Masters relationship, Noble Phantasm, even the Holy Grail itself. This information is properly delivered to the viewers throughout the anime and that is great! The anime takes its time to explain everything, even resulting in the first episode being 45 minutes long. However, it manages to deliver enough information to get the general idea of what the series is all about. 

On the other hand, I know that there's a lot of information to take in, and due to this existence of a factor that need to be explained, it gives less room for the characters especially in the early stages of the anime. You have no idea who these characters are, and you still don't even after they fought once. However, it does manage to find time for the characters coming into the middle of season 1. Nevertheless, there's a lot of information to take in, and it results in a lot of time spent to deliver these information. It makes the pace of the anime very slow, and due to the information heavy nature of the first half, it can be very boring to watch.

Effects

Before I know ufotable, I thought that anime in general has a great animation. However, after seeing their work on Fate/Zero, I was convinced that they are ahead of their time. Fate/Zero has one of the better visual effects I have seen back then. I was amazed on how well they can animate the auras and many of the light work. I am particularly amazed on Saber's concealed sword as well as Archer's Gate of Babylon. Just take a look at that!

There was also this one scene where the animation was so damn good that it was one of the best light work I have ever seen in anime. If you manage to guess correctly, then well done! I am talking about the first time Saber released her Noble Phantasm to destroy Caster. The sword of promised victory, Excalibur.  

As for the soundtracks, it is composed by Yuki Kajiura, who is fitting of this series. Everytime I listen to Kajiura's work, there is always that feeling of darkness, at the same time serenity... Which is really suitable for this anime that has an exceptionally dark tone.

While many feels that Kajiura also made a masterpiece soundtrack on this anime, I feel that it is good but not the best. I have heard better soundtrack from her (referring to Kara no Kyoukai here).

Emotions

Fate/Zero does not really give me much emotional moments that made me cry or anything like that, because it is not what the anime is meant to be. Instead, it gives me an exhilaration at every fight scenes. I would highlight specifically how awesome it is to finally see the first fight of the anime which was Saber vs Lancer. Let me tell you, it was a huge break from the tons of information-heavy episodes and it succeeded in making me stick for more. Now that I think about it, it may be one of the best fights in anime ever.

Another over-the-top exhilarating scene was when the Noble Phantasm is first unleashed, and it is Rider's. Ionioi Hetairoi is the first apparent ultimate-like ability to be shown to the viewers and it does not disappoint. It's true that it shows the uselessness of Assassin but this scene truly marks the epicness that is Fate. It leaves me the feeling of wanting more, and it is one of the factors that made me keep on watching Fate/Zero when I first watch it. True enough, it does not disappoint as I am delivered with more of these ultimate abilities, like Excalibur, and Enuma Elish.

What's truly remarkable about this scene is Rider's speech about being a king. It is one of the most epic speech accompanied by an extraordinary battle that keeps your heart pounding even after it's finished.

There is actually one emotional scene that made me feel empty. It was mainly regarding Kiritsugu's past. The moment when he killed his adoptive mother in order to save more lives is very impactful. It was not saddening, it was just emptiness. 

In overall, the anime affects the emotion well especially in terms the actions. I would say that the visual effects do contribute to a certain extent to this exhilarating fight scenes.