Servants die when they are killed.
What They Say:
Fujimaru and company greet Ishtar to their ranks without hitches, and gain information from Gilgamesh about the key for defeating Gorgon, “the Axe of Marduk” stowed away in Eridu within the southern jungle. Furthermore, Ishtar discloses the True Name of the Goddess of the Jungle who took a foothold in Eridu, just as the Goddess of the Jungle makes a surprise attack against Uruk. Against the Goddess of the Jungle who smiles as she attacks one human after another, Fujimaru and entourage brace for battle once they reach her, but the goddess starts speaking of “certain circumstances”.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Fate/Grand Order is wild. I knew that going in, what with its Thomas Edisons and whatnot, but somehow this particular glimpse into ancient Babylon for this anime series felt marginally more grounded. Any remaining belief that that could be the case is out the window with this episode’s thorough showcase of both Quetzalcoatl and whatever jaguar-related term we’re supposed to refer to Taiga as here.
Yes, even though the former is a disturbingly sadistic but fun-loving, pointy-toothed, giant-breasted serial killer meant to represent a prominent Mesoamerican feathered serpent deity who appears first and is arguably more important, and even though we have gotten some glimpses of the latter before, it’s hard not to come away from this episode baffled by what the hell kind of show this is trying to be with this character who is unquestionably just Taiga in a tiger kigurumi (much more appropriate to the character of Taiga than this supposedly jaguar-based version) given so much absolutely absurd prominence.
She goes by “Jaguar Warrior” here, but I more commonly see her referred to as “Jaguar Man,” and she seems to be made to represent the Olmec werejaguar. As “jaguar warrior” specifically refers to members of the Aztec military elite, this conflation of various concepts does one of the things this series does best, even in its most absurd moments, which is creating an excuse to dig into the iconography of different cultures, in this case the ubiquitous prominence of jaguars in multiple Mesoamerican cultures. The Olmecs were the earliest Mesoamerican civilization while the Aztecs of course came much, much later, right up to the arrival of the Europeans, but all major Mesoamerican civilizations prominently featured a jaguar god. Naturally, Fate boils all that down to the most ridiculous version of its silliest character with no special features, just onesie pajamas made to look like a big cat that’s not even a jaguar, exclusively serving as the butt of jokes and so impossible to take seriously that she’s mostly ignored. Apologies to thousands of years of rich cultural history, but this franchise has probably been more insulting before.
So that leaves Quetzalcoatl. I think my description covers her about as well as I can think to articulate at the moment, but she’s certainly a bizarre character in different ways than maybe anyone else in the series to date. Perhaps more than any other character, it’s hard to imagine sitting down with her and having a serious discussion of what makes her tick at this point. She’s such a wildcard that I’m confident every appearance by her in the near future will be chaotic in one way or another, and I can’t begin to speculate on where her character arc will end up.
This series hasn’t shied away from comedy in the past, but I feel like it’s gotten to a point where you really have to decide whether its brand of humor works for you. While the very existence of Jaguar Taiga (the only name I feel comfortable with using for her at this point) is baffling enough to successfully deliver its initial shock factor, I’m not sure how much mileage we’ll get out of her quirks now that she’s joined the party, or whether she’ll quickly overstay her welcome. I will acknowledge (outside of my line at the top) the very direct Fate/stay night meme reference, and I also found Ana’s “kill” mantra very entertaining. So it seems that the comic relief is working well enough for me considering how out of place a lot of it seems to feel, but I’m still skeptical on its longevity.
In Summary:
This has to be silliest showing I’ve seen from a Fate anime since Prisma Illya. The introduction of the playfully sadistic depiction of Quetzalcoatl is wild enough, but the amount of time spent on Taiga as a supposed jaguar deity makes much of the episode impossible to take seriously, which is entirely by design. Surprisingly, this clash of a sincere plot and the absurdity of these ridiculous elements thrown into it hasn’t killed the momentum yet, and instead works as a largely entertaining respite from harrowing recent events, albeit one that would be wise to avoid overstaying its welcome.
Grade: B
Streamed By: Funimation
Review Equipment:
LG Electronics OLED65C7P 65-Inch 4K Ultra HD Smart OLED TV, Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K
