Fate/Zero series Review

Most. Compact. First Episode.

EVER.

Fate/Zero threw me for a confusing loop once I got past the first episode that I thought would never end. It was a forty-four minute adventure/ headache inducing episode, and I figured the remaining twenty-four episodes would be about that same length as well. Thus, the show was very daunting for me.

Luckily though it returned to a regularly scheduled under-half-hour show on Netflix. *phew*

To be honest after the first episode I maybe had one or two names down and it actually took me the better part of the first season to list off many names without having to take it to Wikipedia or something. Literally every main character was introduced in the first episode and most of them had their motives explained, but most in-depth was Kariya Mato, which makes sense because we actually saw very little of him in the following episodes, instead focusing on Saber and Lancer (a great fight, by the way).

The premise of the show is that throughout history the Holy Grail (yes, that Holy Grail) has made itself known and has had wars fought over it, three to be exact, prior to the setting of this story. In each Grail War, the Grail elects "Masters" from the human world to go hunting for it so that their greatest wish will be fulfilled, regardless of the request. The Grail then summons "Servants" from the Spirit realm to fight for the Masters, and thus, we have our show.

There are in total seven Masters and Servants throughout the series. Our main team, the ones we're supposed to be rooting for, comprise of Kiritsugu Emiya and Saber, or King Arthur (only in this lore there's an interesting twist in which King Arthur is actually a girl feigning to be a male), and Saber actually works with Irisveil, Kiritsugu's wife, more of the time while Kiritsugu uses his assassin skills.

There are others, like the comic relief duo of Waver and Rider, Alexander the Great. The other big family in the Grail War, the one that is heavily favored to win it all, is the Tosakas. From them we have Tokiomi, who is the Master of Archer, Gilgamesh (an arrogant punk might I add). Tokiomi is also the teacher of the son of the priest overseeing the war, Kirei Kotomine, who is the master of Assassin.

The other three Masters we never really see much of outside the battlefield. Lord Kayneth is the Master of the former knight Lancer, my second favorite Servant behind Saber, and has a pretty interesting plan for the Grail War. We also have Kariya, who has history with the Tosakas since one of their daughters, Sakura, was sent to the Matos to learn how to become a mage and was put through horrible tortures, so to get her out of it Kariya went through them in her stead and became the master for Berserker, the most unstable of the Servants. Finally we have Caster and his master whose name I can't remember, but I remembered him as "Caster's Master" because it just sounds funny when the very serious voice actors say "Caster's Master."

It lightens the mood for the show.

Speaking of which, this show is pretty darn dark. You would think that an anime about a little battle over a wish-granting device wouldn't be so bad but sheesh.

To be fair, most of the dark stuff doesn't come until around the second season. The first season establishes the characters and essentially how the show is going to play out, like the rivalries and what not. The second season though turns this show into, in my opinion, the anime version of Game of Thrones. Not to spoil too much but bodies start dropping left and right and it is insane. Literally anyone becomes susceptible to die, even the people you thought untouchable.

I would say that kind of takes away from it all but looking back at the show I would say it added a lot more depth. Despite a jam-packed first episode, the remaining twelve episodes of the first season do a fantastic job of developing all of its characters to the point where in season 2 when it gets kinda ugly you really do feel for all the characters and everything that happens to them. The show has a limited cast, in that few characters are added into the show, so we get to focus mainly on the ones we see in front of us. Kiritsugu, Irisveil, Kariya, and Kirei get the most development, in my opinion, from the Masters side of things while Saber and Lancer turn out a little different than when they show up.

I wouldn't say that this is a show that's too deep to understand but I will say that it's one you have to pay attention to. They don't really linger for the audience to catch up, as a lot of stuff is going on. The show focuses on what's important and the events unfolding before it in a very well-paced manner that allows enough time for action and drama to play out in-sync.

One would think that the story of the show is also a fairly single-layered one: get the Grail, get the wish. But I would say that around the ninth or tenth episode of the first season things start to shift. Saber, Rider, and Archer have a brief meeting in which they discuss their plans for the Grail and it turns out there is a lot of character development in that episode that shows that it is not all about the Grail. It's about the consequences of our wishes.

One of the best things that this show does is reveal that we aren't perfect. Even the beings that fight for the Grail aren't perfect. Not that we're all necessarily selfish, but that we aren't willing to pay the price for what we want. People are dying over a wish. Fate/Zero shows humanity's desire for its own needs while forgetting the desires and needs of the people, of the planet. Saber thinks she is fighting for a noble cause while Rider points out a flaw and it turns out that both aren't wrong, and both aren't right.

This show, more than anything, reveals that there isn't always a right or wrong answer to some of life's greatest questions, to life's greatest wishes. It also doesn't answer the question of how we should go about that, because that answer itself is one nobody can answer, which is something I really appreciate from this show. Justice and what is right will be different in everyone's eyes, and everyone has something else that they get joy from. I won't spoil if the Grail is merely a metaphor for the show or if it actually is real in the show, but I will say that it becomes something of a tool to reveal to both the last man standing and to the audience that wishes are not free, there is a price we all need to pay for it.

And to go along with a deep meaning behind the show we have some of the most astounding artwork and animation for an anime I've ever seen, especially for a show that came out in 2011. It stands up to the likes of Sword Art Online, Attack on Titan, and many other beautiful anime I've ever laid my eyes on. The emotions on the character's faces are drawn very well and every character has a cool, unique design that makes them stand out to you. You'll never confuse a character by their looks...just their name.

I've also got to give major props to the casting department for the English dub (the version I watched it in...haters gonna hate). Each character was cast perfectly, in my opinion. I mostly say that because Crispin Freeman has a legendary voice so for him to voice the stoic and ever thoughtful character of Kirei was great, and Matthew Mercer as Kiritsugu was phenomenal. Watching Levi in AOT will be even more fun now!

Overall, I'd say that Fate/Zero is not a show for those looking for one of those anime that they can have a lot of fun with and just go on an adventure. Instead I'd say its one for someone whose likes some of the darker more thought-provoking types of shows, similar to a Game of Thrones where the action is awesome, the characters are very well-developed, and the actors are awesome. Plus to anyone who just enjoys a great-looking anime, I also recommend it.