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wildvision) wrote2017-07-27 09:23 pm
wildvision) wrote2017-07-27 09:23 pm
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Anime Review: Fate/Zero
Okay, so I decided to give Fate/Zero a chance, even though I had major problems with Fate/Stay Night. Based on reviews and posts talking about watching order, it seems the fandom's opinion is overwhelmingly that the later productions (that is, Zero and UBW) are far superior to the original. So, I was hopeful that maybe Zero would be better.
And now that I've watched it, I have to say...it is. A million times better. Seriously. Everything I complained about in FSN was fixed here. This is what I was hoping for, when I heard about FSN.
First, the characters. The Servants are actually characters in this one! We get background, character development, motivation, and everything! I honestly really liked quite a few of them. Saber, obviously, but I also really loved Rider and Lancer. I hesitate to say that I liked Archer, exactly, but he sure had personality! And Caster made for a good villain for a bit. Berserker's true identity was probably the best part about him; we didn't really see a lot from him other than violence, but that's not surprising, given his class. And Assassin was more of a tool than a character. But still. Last time, I complained that Saber and Archer and the rest barely had any development. Well, they got it here. And I was right, Saber is much better when Shirou's not around to louse things up!
One minor quibble. I've been thinking about it for a bit, and Saber's hair bugs me a little. For one, they don't seem to be entirely consistent with the length. When she's actually got it down, sometimes it's drawn as a bit longer than others. But it's never long enough to match her usual hairstyle. In her battle gear, she has a decent sized bun with a braid wrapped around it. To pull of a style like that, you'd need really long, thick hair. But hers is usually drawn as being not much past her shoulders. You can't do a style like that with hair that short. Not unless you're using a fake hairpiece to augment your own hair. Which, given that we see her wearing that style into battle as King Arthur...it's unlikely that she'd be wearing fake hair into battle, if hairpieces like that even existed back then. So, yeah. It's minor, and stupid, but I can't help thinking about it every time we see her with her hair down. Her hair should be longer! (I actually love her usual style; I wish I could pull that off!)
Oh, and speaking of Saber as King Arthur...they actually acknowledged the gender difference this time! I thought it was weird that no one commented on it in FSN, but here they were surprised to see that she was a woman. Although, there was one thing about it that was odd. Saber said she'd pretended to be a man...but she went into battle wearing a dress. =/ So, that doesn't really fly with me. If the legends/history lied about her, fine. But for her to claim that she tried to pass herself off as a man? Yeah, not buying it.
The Masters were all interesting characters, even if I can't say I actually liked most of them. But then, a lot of them were evil to some degree or other. But they made good villains, so maybe I liked them in that sense. Ryuunosuke was a freaking serial killer, Kirei was a soulless monster who enjoyed the pain and suffering of others, and Kayneth was just a shitty human being, from what we saw.
Well, there's also Tohsaka Tokiomi. I don't quite know what to think of him. He seems to love Rin, and seeing them interact, it seems like he's a good father and teacher. But what kind of parent can just hand one of their children over like that? What I really wanted to know, though, was if Tokiomi knew what the Matou family would do to Sakura. He said their houses had been allied for a long time, so that makes me think he might have known about their magic. But then again, it's common lore in any fantasy series that mages are secretive and hoard their knowledge without sharing it. So, maybe he didn't know how their mages trained. I wish they'd confirmed it one way or the other. If he didn't know...well, trading away your child is still a terrible thing to do. But I could maybe believe that he truly felt it was in her best interest. I wouldn't agree with that, but maybe he really did mean well. But if he knew...then he's just a monster. So I don't know.
Which brings me to Matou Kariya. He was willing to be ruthless, but he was fighting for a good reason. He just wanted to save Sakura. Poor kid. To not only go through all that, but to lose the one person in her new family who actually gave a damn about her? So, while we didn't see a lot of Kariya, I mostly liked him. Well, I didn't like when he strangled Rin's mom. But he seemed to not really be in his right mind, and he was set up by Kirei. So, I blame him just about as much for that.
Waver surprised me a bit. I never disliked him, but he was just kind of a mopey kid at the beginning. But he really grew over the course of the series. Watching him interact with Rider was always fun. Honestly, Rider was a good influence, I think. By the end, I actually rather liked him. I'm glad he survived.
And finally, Kiritsugu. He's a much better protagonist than Shirou, that's for damn sure. He's way more interesting, and a lot less naive. So, he's a lot more pleasant to watch. Although, I'd still like to know more. We got backstory on him, and honestly...the poor kid never stood a chance. If only he'd been born to a father who wasn't a freaking dirtbag, maybe he could have had a happy life. But alas, that's not what happened. One thing I found a little odd was that I don't think we ever saw him perform magic. Not once that I can remember, in the whole series. He is a mage, right? His father was, and in FSN Shirou mentioned that Kiritsugu had refused to pass his magic seal on to him. Which implies that he was, in fact, a mage. But who taught him? Natalia, maybe? We didn't see it, though.
Honestly, I just found him to be a really tragic character. You could see that, at his heart, he was a good person. He wanted to help, and circumstances lead him to take a very brutal, practical approach to that. He lost very nearly everyone he ever loved, with him actually having to kill some of them directly. It made the shift in his character between Zero and what Shirou talks about in FSN make perfect sense. He was able to save Shirou, and was able to settle down and raise him. He found a son and friends who he actually got to keep. Although, finding out that he was Illya's father broke my heart. I knew from FSN that he didn't get to raise her, so I knew going in that it would end badly. Still, that bit at the end where he said he tried to go back for her, but the Einzbern family head kept him out? So sad. Poor Illya. Although, I have to say, I was shocked that she's actually older than Shirou! I would have pegged her at being no more than ten during FSN.
And I really liked Iri. I pretty well knew going in that things wouldn't end well for her, since Shirou never mentioned his dad having a wife in FSN. Still, I couldn't help but want to root for her and Kiritsugu to get their happy ending. And Zero did a much better job of explaining the whole 'vessel of the Grail' thing. They just kinda tossed it in as an aside in FSN, and it didn't make sense. Here, they took the time to explain about it. I also really liked her interactions with Saber.
And I was surprised that Rin was in this! She even got her own episode! =D I figured we might get a glimpse of her, being the daughter of a Master. But we got a bit more than that, which is cool. Although, it made me want to give her a hug, especially there at the end. Poor baby.
I honestly felt the plot was much better done, too. They did a great job of setting things up in that long first episode. I'd heard somewhere that FSN gave more world building about the Grail Wars, but I totally disagree. I think Zero did it better. And they actually treated it like a war in this one. Loads of strategy and epic battles. Plus, we got more motivation from most of the cast, so I could understand why they were fighting, It just felt more natural, and less ridiculous this time. And they cleared up the confusion about what caused the fire. FSN gave two separate, conflicting explanations. Here, we see it was the fallout from attempting to destroy the Grail. Kirei was grotesquely pleased by it, but he didn't actually cause it. Also, why the Grail came back again. Saber only destroyed the outer part of it; so it wasn't gone for good. I don't remember such a distinction in FSN...so no idea what happened there. They didn't give nearly as much depth to the whole thing, so who knows.
Speaking of epic battles, this new studio did not cheap out on the animation of the action sequences like what happened in FSN. Or anywhere else, for that matter. They must have had a much larger budget, and they knew how to use it. The animation is gorgeous throughout, but especially in the fight scenes. We see every attack in loving detail, and the CG is actually integrated extremely well when it's used. It's just really pretty to watch.
One of the few things FSN got right was the soundtrack, and Zero did as well. The music is very nice, and fitting for the atmosphere. I'll be looking for this soundtrack, too.
Final verdict? I loved it. If you liked FSN, you'll really like this. If you hated FSN, watch this anyway. It's what FSN should have been. And if you haven't seen FSN...skip that, and watch this instead.
And now that I've watched it, I have to say...it is. A million times better. Seriously. Everything I complained about in FSN was fixed here. This is what I was hoping for, when I heard about FSN.
First, the characters. The Servants are actually characters in this one! We get background, character development, motivation, and everything! I honestly really liked quite a few of them. Saber, obviously, but I also really loved Rider and Lancer. I hesitate to say that I liked Archer, exactly, but he sure had personality! And Caster made for a good villain for a bit. Berserker's true identity was probably the best part about him; we didn't really see a lot from him other than violence, but that's not surprising, given his class. And Assassin was more of a tool than a character. But still. Last time, I complained that Saber and Archer and the rest barely had any development. Well, they got it here. And I was right, Saber is much better when Shirou's not around to louse things up!
One minor quibble. I've been thinking about it for a bit, and Saber's hair bugs me a little. For one, they don't seem to be entirely consistent with the length. When she's actually got it down, sometimes it's drawn as a bit longer than others. But it's never long enough to match her usual hairstyle. In her battle gear, she has a decent sized bun with a braid wrapped around it. To pull of a style like that, you'd need really long, thick hair. But hers is usually drawn as being not much past her shoulders. You can't do a style like that with hair that short. Not unless you're using a fake hairpiece to augment your own hair. Which, given that we see her wearing that style into battle as King Arthur...it's unlikely that she'd be wearing fake hair into battle, if hairpieces like that even existed back then. So, yeah. It's minor, and stupid, but I can't help thinking about it every time we see her with her hair down. Her hair should be longer! (I actually love her usual style; I wish I could pull that off!)
Oh, and speaking of Saber as King Arthur...they actually acknowledged the gender difference this time! I thought it was weird that no one commented on it in FSN, but here they were surprised to see that she was a woman. Although, there was one thing about it that was odd. Saber said she'd pretended to be a man...but she went into battle wearing a dress. =/ So, that doesn't really fly with me. If the legends/history lied about her, fine. But for her to claim that she tried to pass herself off as a man? Yeah, not buying it.
The Masters were all interesting characters, even if I can't say I actually liked most of them. But then, a lot of them were evil to some degree or other. But they made good villains, so maybe I liked them in that sense. Ryuunosuke was a freaking serial killer, Kirei was a soulless monster who enjoyed the pain and suffering of others, and Kayneth was just a shitty human being, from what we saw.
Well, there's also Tohsaka Tokiomi. I don't quite know what to think of him. He seems to love Rin, and seeing them interact, it seems like he's a good father and teacher. But what kind of parent can just hand one of their children over like that? What I really wanted to know, though, was if Tokiomi knew what the Matou family would do to Sakura. He said their houses had been allied for a long time, so that makes me think he might have known about their magic. But then again, it's common lore in any fantasy series that mages are secretive and hoard their knowledge without sharing it. So, maybe he didn't know how their mages trained. I wish they'd confirmed it one way or the other. If he didn't know...well, trading away your child is still a terrible thing to do. But I could maybe believe that he truly felt it was in her best interest. I wouldn't agree with that, but maybe he really did mean well. But if he knew...then he's just a monster. So I don't know.
Which brings me to Matou Kariya. He was willing to be ruthless, but he was fighting for a good reason. He just wanted to save Sakura. Poor kid. To not only go through all that, but to lose the one person in her new family who actually gave a damn about her? So, while we didn't see a lot of Kariya, I mostly liked him. Well, I didn't like when he strangled Rin's mom. But he seemed to not really be in his right mind, and he was set up by Kirei. So, I blame him just about as much for that.
Waver surprised me a bit. I never disliked him, but he was just kind of a mopey kid at the beginning. But he really grew over the course of the series. Watching him interact with Rider was always fun. Honestly, Rider was a good influence, I think. By the end, I actually rather liked him. I'm glad he survived.
And finally, Kiritsugu. He's a much better protagonist than Shirou, that's for damn sure. He's way more interesting, and a lot less naive. So, he's a lot more pleasant to watch. Although, I'd still like to know more. We got backstory on him, and honestly...the poor kid never stood a chance. If only he'd been born to a father who wasn't a freaking dirtbag, maybe he could have had a happy life. But alas, that's not what happened. One thing I found a little odd was that I don't think we ever saw him perform magic. Not once that I can remember, in the whole series. He is a mage, right? His father was, and in FSN Shirou mentioned that Kiritsugu had refused to pass his magic seal on to him. Which implies that he was, in fact, a mage. But who taught him? Natalia, maybe? We didn't see it, though.
Honestly, I just found him to be a really tragic character. You could see that, at his heart, he was a good person. He wanted to help, and circumstances lead him to take a very brutal, practical approach to that. He lost very nearly everyone he ever loved, with him actually having to kill some of them directly. It made the shift in his character between Zero and what Shirou talks about in FSN make perfect sense. He was able to save Shirou, and was able to settle down and raise him. He found a son and friends who he actually got to keep. Although, finding out that he was Illya's father broke my heart. I knew from FSN that he didn't get to raise her, so I knew going in that it would end badly. Still, that bit at the end where he said he tried to go back for her, but the Einzbern family head kept him out? So sad. Poor Illya. Although, I have to say, I was shocked that she's actually older than Shirou! I would have pegged her at being no more than ten during FSN.
And I really liked Iri. I pretty well knew going in that things wouldn't end well for her, since Shirou never mentioned his dad having a wife in FSN. Still, I couldn't help but want to root for her and Kiritsugu to get their happy ending. And Zero did a much better job of explaining the whole 'vessel of the Grail' thing. They just kinda tossed it in as an aside in FSN, and it didn't make sense. Here, they took the time to explain about it. I also really liked her interactions with Saber.
And I was surprised that Rin was in this! She even got her own episode! =D I figured we might get a glimpse of her, being the daughter of a Master. But we got a bit more than that, which is cool. Although, it made me want to give her a hug, especially there at the end. Poor baby.
I honestly felt the plot was much better done, too. They did a great job of setting things up in that long first episode. I'd heard somewhere that FSN gave more world building about the Grail Wars, but I totally disagree. I think Zero did it better. And they actually treated it like a war in this one. Loads of strategy and epic battles. Plus, we got more motivation from most of the cast, so I could understand why they were fighting, It just felt more natural, and less ridiculous this time. And they cleared up the confusion about what caused the fire. FSN gave two separate, conflicting explanations. Here, we see it was the fallout from attempting to destroy the Grail. Kirei was grotesquely pleased by it, but he didn't actually cause it. Also, why the Grail came back again. Saber only destroyed the outer part of it; so it wasn't gone for good. I don't remember such a distinction in FSN...so no idea what happened there. They didn't give nearly as much depth to the whole thing, so who knows.
Speaking of epic battles, this new studio did not cheap out on the animation of the action sequences like what happened in FSN. Or anywhere else, for that matter. They must have had a much larger budget, and they knew how to use it. The animation is gorgeous throughout, but especially in the fight scenes. We see every attack in loving detail, and the CG is actually integrated extremely well when it's used. It's just really pretty to watch.
One of the few things FSN got right was the soundtrack, and Zero did as well. The music is very nice, and fitting for the atmosphere. I'll be looking for this soundtrack, too.
Final verdict? I loved it. If you liked FSN, you'll really like this. If you hated FSN, watch this anyway. It's what FSN should have been. And if you haven't seen FSN...skip that, and watch this instead.