A moment to take in what has happened and to plan the next course of action defines the latest Fate/Zero episode.
What They Say:
Ten years prior to the events of FATE/STAY NIGHT, the War of the Holy Grail is a contest in which seven magi summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete to obtain the power of the “Holy Grail,” which grants a miracle. After three inconclusive wars for the elusive Holy Grail, the Fourth War commences.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Sometimes the crazy can be a heck of a lot of fun. Such as the opening act here when while out and about, Saber ends up running into Gilles of all people. Gilles has the kind of wide-eyed crazy look that makes him just a lot of fun to watch because he’s so expressive. And that comes into play here even more as his time with Saber has him demanding that she reveal herself as she truly is, or he believes her to be, by accepting that she is Jeanne. Of course, she’s not and isn’t forgetting the past life that Gilles believes she has but it just reinforces his mindset that he will be the one to free her from this problem so that she can remember who she truly is and they can go on their merry way. Saber’s a little disconcerted by it all, though not to the point where she’d falter against him, but sometimes when someone comes along raving like a madman you simply don’t know how to react.
The fallout from this opening encounter we saw in the previous episode is pretty well handled, especially as Lancer is taken to task a bit for his failure and the open admission that Saber will be the toughest of all opponents to face which is why his Master wanted her dealt with early and quickly. Interestingly, there’s a move to try and go after Lancer’s Master that leads us to see just how well defended his building is, which highlights the skill of him as a mage and what he’s capable of. It’s all hubris though as you can easily see just how self absorbed he is and the way he feels invincible because of his defenses, which just sets him up all the more.
The episode does take a much more interesting turn in its final segment that deals with the revelation about Caster in the eyes of a few other Masters. With Caster seemingly not being truly involved in the Holy Grail War, it’s something that they find goes against the rules and something must be done about it. Particularly as he’s in the next town over abducting children, upwards of fifteen at this point, and causing quite the uproar. The idea of a mad Servant along with a Master who either doesn’t care or is mad himself could align the rest of the Masters momentarily to deal with the issue less it cause problems for them all down the line. It’s an interesting avenue to approach and to see what may happen should they all actually operate together to deal with it.
In Summary:
The sixth episode of the series is one that spends more of its time on setup and expanding the character interactions a bit. It’s a little more talky than some viewers may care for, but it’s the kind of episode you need after the couple of action oriented pieces we had where so many Servants came together. There’s a big picture aspect to this series that was laid out at the start, so taking time to deal with the nuance of it and the characters involved, including their motivations, is definitely welcome. The more we get to know the cast, the more intriguing it gets, though I won’t be displeased when they start to whittle it down some to focus on others more closely. There’s plenty to like here in general but also if you really like the characters involved, particularly the opening sequence with Gilles and Saber.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
