Review of Fate/Zero
Fate/Zero (BOTH SEASONS) Art: The art in this show is nothing truly that special. This being said it is absolutely beautiful in terms of some of the other shows I have seen. There are a few things special to note that make it stand out from shows that have similar themes, the blood. I would not recommend this show to people that are squeamish when it comes to blood or killing, because this show is chock full of both. There are times when the blood functions so lifelike and acts much like the way it should. It splatters like it should, and it sprays like itwould if an injury would occur in real life. There was a time when the absolute grotesque creatures that come about because of one of the servants, and it made my stomach churn. The one thing that I struggled with when watching this and that was that three of the characters, three separate people, I thought were all one person in three time periods up until about 30 minutes into the first episode. I’m not sure what it were about these people, it could be similar hairstyles, voices, even faces, it made is so difficult to figure out who is who – Especially when the first episode jumps through years of time several times, but more on that later.
Music/Sound: So the soundtrack here is phenomenal. The full orchestra and the way it is used just bring this show to life in a way that just isn’t possible without serious thought. It fits the mood quite perfectly. Not only the use of strings and brass but the variety of the music is also amazing. The way different instruments show drastically different emotions was amazing; drums when things are tense, piano when things are calm, and much more. Being a music nerd myself, I fell in love with this shows sound direction. Not only the music, but the sounds that are heard in this show ring quite true. When it comes down to it, the crash of lightning, the splatter of blood, the clash of swords, everything was so amazing and vivid in the sound department. I really could go on about how much I like the music in this show but I’m doing my best. The opening and closings of this show had great vocal parts and were enjoyable to listen to, but I felt a need to skip over them because the story was just so good I had to get into it further.
Story: This is a show that focuses on a group of “masters” that summon “servants” as warriors that will fight each other to see who will claim the coveted Holy Grail. Now this isn’t something I have seen very often and I rather enjoy the use of Christian mythology in shows because I’ve seen too many shows that use Greek, Norse, or Chinese mythology over something like Christianity—and maybe it’s so they don’t offend anyone as some people get easily offended. In any case the characters were really well developed and I LOVED the inclusion of people that were from true legend, history, and mythology—from Alexander the Great to Gilgamesh, the identities are hidden behind pseudonyms most of the time and I think that adds an aura of mystery to this show. Really At the end of the day the show is about a war between sides and conflicting desires, and while it can get a little confusing at times—or one might ask “why did they spend two episodes on that?”—the show does a good job of pulling you in and keeping you hooked.
Personal Reflection: Very early on I felt like I was missing something. Like there was a part of the shows lore that I just hadn’t seen, and there was, it was referenced several times, but there was nothing prior to this anime adaptation, but rather it was just internal lore that they did their best to explain. I had a hard time with this though. Among all of the amazing things that this show brings to the table; art, music, story, it falls short of being something truly incredible. There were times after the introduction of Caster early on that I could hardly stand to watch. The subject matter just made me cringe from the inside out. And while this is the case, I do highly recommend this show and caution you not to get to head over heels for any one character—because it is a war after all and anything is possible when fighting over an omnipotent wish granting Grail.
Overall Score: 8.5/10