The predictable end has come, but not without some twists and an overwhelming sense of sadness.
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)
After an utterly intense and engaging episode where Kirie and Kiritsugu went at it in a viciously beautiful way, the show has now shifted gears towards dealing with Saber and what she has to face. Her match against Gilgamesh certainly has a lot of visual beauty just from the start, and the audience in general isn’t behind Gilgamesh, especially after his encounter with Rider. But Gilgamesh represents something different here in terms of what he brings to the table in power and character. I’m hesitant to call him evil or anything, but there’s an intensely controlled viciousness about him, like a beast that keeps it cool even when he cuts loose. It’s not being cruel for the sake of it, but something else entirely. So when things cut loose here in the city and we see much of the fallout, you can’t help but to admire how it’s handled on all sides.
With this being the final episode, there’ a good bit of ground to cover even if there are only a few characters left at this point. Kirei’s position in the scheme of things is almost comical in how it all unfolds around him and how he grapples with the kind of destruction that has hit the city. His cold and almost over the top laughter in the midst of such devastation nearly puts him onto the level of a crazy man, but it also makes clear that all of it has made a huge impact on him. We also see some of the younger characters that will be deciding forces in the future fight make the presence here known, showing how they dealt with the situation, survived and moved forward while in the shadow of these adults.
While the big events unfold quickly in the first half, almost too quickly when you get down to it since you can’t quite appreciate the beauty of it all like you could with the fight from the previous episode, it does give us enough of an epilogue time here to showcass how things shift after the fact. We know some of the basics from what was learned in Fate/Stay Night, but seeing some like Waver get back into his normal life again is certainly interesting to watch. In the end though, Fate/Zero is filled with a lot of sadness here at the end because of how events played out and the general sense of loss that comes from it. With Kirei doing a lot of the narration as it goes on, it just adds to that kind of despondent feeling, even when you deal with the few slivers of hope that comes into play as well. It’s the kind of ending we don’t get often overall and that alone makes it appealing, never mind all the other things that the episode does so well.
In Summary:
While Fate/Zero has some drawn out moments along the way and some of the series composition and placement of story arcs left me less than thrilled, the work as a whole is just spot on. The final episode does have its expected big moments, moments that many fans knew were coming since we were exposed to the events afterwards first, but they aren’t diminished here at all. I was worried in a way that because of that knowledge that there wouldn’t be a proper sense of sadness here conveyed, but that turns out to be a non-issue here as it all comes together beautifully. Even if it does reduce the overall participating in the episode with Saber, the one so many identify with, instead to give us a lot more Kirei time than I think many, myself included, were expecting .That gives the episode a very different weight and really makes me want to go back and rewatch it in marathon form with the view that he is the true lead here rather than the ensemble feeling that I had placed on it. This is a strong series overall in just about every way and the end results are a fantastic work that has me hungry for more and to see it all again.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Nico Nico
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.
Awesome. but i want more!