The hunt for Caster leads to some very dangerous moments.
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 you just have to let action take center stage and let it go and have fun. There have been some good moments in the show to be sure, balanced heavily by a lot of talking and atmosphere. But when it goes for the action, it does have a certain intensity to it and the whole magical effect as well with the powers that people have, both the Mages and those of the Servants. The opening half of the episode deals well with what we saw in the building where the strange double-Master pairing was operating out of, but we also get a good bit of action on the outside as the human side of the equation duke it out a bit in rather cutthroat fashion.
What I liked more is the other storyline that was working in this episode that carries over from the prior as well as both Lancer and Saber continue to work together to take down Caster. With the adjustment to the rules that we had gotten before to deal with him and the way he’s completely playing outside of the rules, I liked the diversion to allow the Servants to work together, even if briefly, to deal with a bigger problem at hand. It’s a very fun fight to watch with how the two operate together since there has to be a layer of trust and respect for each others abilities but also a general concern for exactly what kinds of things Caster will come up with since he’s kind of cracked in the head in general, particularly as he continues to believe Saber is Jeanne.
There’s a lot of little bits that work well here as the couple of fights play out, including the kind of honor that exists between the Servants when they get down to it. But there’s also some serious brutality that just makes you cringe and wince when it happens. Kirei’s a brutal character to be sure but he’s doing what he’s been instructed to do and he does it without any regrets or problems. The laser like focus he has is very intent and you have to love how it plays out. It’s a perfect balance to the way Irisviel lives her life and reacts to situations and handles things, giving us both sides of how these people work in this war. And that’s key to remember in that this is a war.
In Summary:
Fate/Zero has a good episode with some key moments but at the same time it feels like it’s kind of just going through the motions. I do like that Kirie and Irisviel get some really good screen time here and I’d almost go so far as to say that I’d love a show just giving us a look at life from Kirei’s point of view with how he operates. I also liked the segment involving Saber and Lancer, but it felt weak overall, just a small part of the episode even if it did showcase some solid action and how well the two can work together. I like the characters involved here, but they’re still not favorites overall so it was interesting but not hugely exciting or engaging.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
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.
