The Setup:
Fate/Zero is the prequel to another anime called Fate/Stay Night, an anime based off of an electronic Japanese adult visual novel, or as gigguk likes to call them, “Hentai Games”. I tried to watch the original Fate/Stay Night a few months ago only to be horribly bored after watching five episodes and dropping it (Future Edit 2/24/14: I actually got around to finishing it and reviewed it). The reason I bring this up is because the setups for the two shows are essentially the same, except Fate/Zero takes place ten years prior to the events of Fate/Stay Night. It follows the Fourth Holy Grail War, a battle royal to the death where seven mages, known as masters, summon their own servants to fight for the Holy Grail, a device that can grant any wish for the obtainer. Each servant is the reincarnation of some legendary hero from history or legend, such as Alexander The Great and King Arthur. While this does sound like nerdy teenage fanfiction, it couldn’t be more of a contrast towards it. This show is very mature, dark, and adult-like, catering towards the intellectual crowd, which is my favorite type of media; those who use intelligence to try to outsmart the audience. Of course, you can’t have a mature show without mature characters, but Fate/Zero does not disappoint in that category.
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| Fate/Zero follows seven servants and their masters as they fight for the Holy Grail |
The Characters:
One of the main aspects that I absolutely adore about this anime is its lack of a true main character. This means that each character gets enough focus and development to establish them as relatable and makes them feel like real people. Normally in anime, or in any story for that matter, most of the character development is saved for only the main character and maybe one or two side characters, but Fate/Zero treats every character equally. It’s almost like reading a story in third person, in a sense, which is actually pretty difficult to pull off. Naturally, seeing how this is a battle royal, people die and some characters gradually gain more focus, but each and every character has enough development to establish them as memorable, even if I can’t remember their names (it’s not the anime’s fault, I have trouble remembering Japanese names). Most people seem to think Kiritsugu, one of the masters and dubbed, “The Mage Killer”, was the main character, and while I can see why someone would make that assumption, I don’t really believe that. It is true that he’s the most important character, but he’s not technically the main character until the final few episodes.
Due to this series having an incredibly large cast, I’m only going to talk about my favorite characters. As for favorites, most people seem to really like Rider, and I can definitely see why. His charisma and bombastic attitude pretty much steals every moment he’s on screen, making him one of the most likable characters I’ve ever seen, and I’d be lying if I said he wasn’t my favorite character too. However, if you had to go by the most interesting character, that would be Kirei Kotomine. This character intrigued me, mainly because of his development throughout the series. SPOILER I guess it’s because you never truly see a character develop into the evil villain, and seeing his downfall due to being corrupted was a very unique experience, turning him into one of the most threatening antagonists that I have ever seen due to his unpredictability. END SPOILER. Now, does that mean that he was the character that I liked the most? No, that still goes to Rider, but Kirei was without a doubt the most intriguing. The final character I want to talk about is Saber. She was the only character that caught my interest in Fate/Stay Night, and she didn’t fail to do so here either, becoming one of my favorite female characters to date. She’s very passionate and believes in fighting in an honorable way, though the experiences she’s put through in this show make her really question her motives and beliefs. Speaking of, another aspect about these characters that makes them and this anime unique are the philosophy discussions that they have with each other. Each character has different motivations, different ethics, and different morals, separating themselves from characters that have a similar personality. For example, I would say that Rider and Archer are both arrogant, but due to their different goals and moralities, they are very different people. Another example is between Saber and Kiritsugou. Saber wants to fight with honor and respect, but Kirisugou would rather get the job done as quickly as possible regardless of the method. This may not sound like a huge difference, but it is a major factor in their relationship with each other. I will admit that the philosophy discussions can go on for a much longer time than needed, but to be perfectly honest, it is these discussions that make this show so brilliant. Each conversation develops each character by either changing their goals or just giving more information about them to the audience, and this is by far one of the most well-rounded casts of characters that I’ve ever seen.
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| As you can see, Fate/Zero has no shortage of characters |
The Story:
I would like to shout out to the world that Fate/Zero’s story is perfect, but…I can’t. It did get the award for Best Anime Story of 2013, but like I said in that description, among all of the fantastically good that there is in this story, there is one problem that keeps this anime from becoming an absolute masterpiece, and that is the first episode; it is literally a 40-minute long exposition describing what the Holy Grail War is. As someone who was relatively new to the franchise, I am glad that they took some time to explain it, but they did not need 40 minutes to tell me what I was about to watch. Besides that, though, the story is perfectly paced, exciting, enthralling, complex but never to the point where you can’t follow along, and epic, though it’s really hard to describe without giving out spoiler after spoiler. It basically follows the events of the 4thHoly Grail War, and if you’ve seen Fate/Stay Night, you know where the story will end up.
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| Each master has their own reason to win the Holy Grail War |
Animation and Sound:
Produced by ufotable, you can pretty much copy and paste what I said about the animation and sound from my description from Best Animation and Sound of 2013 Award, since this anime won it without much of a contest. To see my 2013 Best Media Awards, click here. For those who haven’t read that post, though (I recommend doing so, I put a lot of effort into it), the animation was mystical, fluid as water, realistic while still keeping that anime style we all know and love, and the lighting is absolutely breathtaking. The soundtrack is some of Yuki Kajura’s best musical work in my opinion, setting the mood for each scene perfectly. Both of the openings are worth listening to, my personal favorite being the first, and you’ll probably skip the endings because you just want to watch the next episode so they’re not really worth mentioning. As for English vs. Japanese, I highly recommend watching this anime in English. Fate/Zero’s English dub is fantastic, each performance matching the character, and also because I felt it was much easier for me to concentrate on what was going on listening to the complex dialogue rather than reading it. Some of the cast members include Matt Mercer as Kiritsugo, Kari Wahlgren as Saber, Crispin Freeman as Kirei (who does a great job like always, because he’s Crispin Freeman), and Jamieson Price as Rider.
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| Animation and sound are flawless |
Final Judgment:
Not only does Fate/Zero live up to its hype, it’s one of the best anime I’ve ever seen as of today. It’s absolutely perfect for practically any anime fan that is sick of all of the mediocre anime coming out recently and needs something to help them regain their faith in anime again. Though admittedly, the first episode is pretty boring and if you’re not familiar with the franchise or its history you may be a little lost. If you can get around that, however, Fate/Zero is well-rounded, sports an exceptional character cast, has an enthralling story, looks and sounds out of this world, and will probably satisfy your need for good anime. I give Fate/Zero a 4.85 out of 5, with a recommendation to WATCH IT NOW! Like always, however, this is only my opinion, and it's up to you to judge it for yourself.
If you live in America, you can watch it on Netflix too!
ScoreCard:If you live in America, you can watch it on Netflix too!
Further Recommendations:
One of only two (technically 3) anime that are better than Fate/Zero in my opinion, these two are similar because they both lack a singular main character, though in Baccano! that aspect remains constant. Its character cast is also very well-rounded, sporting people who are absolute wimps to people who enjoy murder to people who live without a care in the world. Its story also has better pacing (as in no dragged-out first episode) and is a little more creative (understatement of the century). This anime’s award-winning English dub is also “FREAKING UNBELIEVEABLE”! This is an anime that is highly recommended by me, and if you liked Fate/Zero, I think that you will like this anime too.
Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
My two favorite anime of all time, and you ask me why I recommend these? These two should speak for themselves; fantastic characters, great stories, smooth animation, perfect soundtrack, wonderfully acted English dub, what more can you say?
Next week...there's no review. The following week, however, there will be a book review. Here's the hint: Ghost Busters, with a little more horror thrown in.
See you then!
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