The way some characters are being manipulated is almost painful to watch.
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)
With Fate/Zero back in the present and going through some good material that gets us to look at Kiritisugu in a new light, things shifted towards the end with Saber taking the stage again, which leads into this one as Saber is on her motorcycle, beautifully animated and designed, as she chases Rider. The two have plenty of reasons to go against each other in general but even more so now as each as keen on really going at it. Amusingly, Saber’s abilities and presence in this world makes it so that she can push the motorcycle more than it normally could, allowing her to not only keep up but to gain on Waver and Rider. And Rider certainly loves the challenge and possibility here, making for an exciting sequence.
The chase makes for an exciting sequence, even as Saber reaches the machines limits. But it’s just a piece of the puzzle here, especially as she’s also concerned about Irisviel. The way events played out that had Berserker showing up, transforming to look like Rider and swipe her happening at the same time that the real Rider showed up made for a wonderfully timed moment that has thrown some things into disarray. Kiritsugu can’t believe that Waver has the resources to figure things out and hasn’t figured out the truth of it, which makes him even colder about what needs to be done with the one he’s captured to get intel out of. One that isn’t going to live all that long regardless of what he tells him.
When Saber and Rider go at it, it’s brief but wonderfully done as we see how Rider thinks he knows the trick to what Saber does with her sword and can beat it, but it ends up not going his way. But in the end, she’s not really after them at this point but rather Irisviel and has figured out the truth of the matter. The action is brief but well done and it keeps the focus of the show more on the other movements going on, such as with Kariya and the surprise arrival of another Mutou. Kariya in particular gets screwed over pretty well here, toyed with in amusing ways, and it has him completely uncertain and confused. So easy to manipulate as well. Seeing his mental anguish here really is fun and twisted and you just want to see him go through even more of it.
In Summary:
This episode has a very dark current to it due to events that play out with Kirei and Kariya, but it also brings in a bit of action as well. Kariya’s arc here which dominates the second half is pretty intense as he’s completely manipulated and taken advantage of without understanding it but it works very well. When it comes to the action side, it really is the beginning that captured my attention the most in seeing how Saber pushes the motorcycle to its limits to try and catch up to Rider in her quest to get Irisviel back. The animation and design of it all is really striking and made me wish for a heck of a lot more of it. Their actual match is painfully short, but appropriate, as there’s more still yet to come.
Grade: B+
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.
