Review of Fate/Zero

**SPOILER FREE REVIEW OF BOTH SEASONS (NOT FATE/STAY NIGHT)** "Say that humanity has been narrowed down to merely 500 people. 300 of them are packed onto one ship, 200 are on another, sailing toward an irrelevant destination. Suddenly, both ships suffer massive structural damage simultaneously and begin to sink; you are the only one who can repair them. However, there is only time to repair one ship: What do you do?" "The answer is simple. Repair the ship with 300 people." "Suppose that upon learning this, the ship of 200 people captures you and demands that you fix their ship first. Now what do you do?" "...Kill all 200." Theconcept of sacrifice is something that anyone who has watched the masterpiece that is Fate/Zero is all too familiar with. From interesting, complex characters, to an intriguing story-line, to stellar animation, there are very few things to NOT like about this anime. For those of you unfamiliar with the Fate series, here is a short synopsis:
Fate/Stay Night is an anime that is part of the same series as Fate/Zero and was released years before Fate/Zero, but Fate/Zero (which was made by a completely different studio and has a completely different writer) is a prequel and chronologically comes 10 years before the events of Fate/Stay Night (BTW, DON'T watch Fate/Stay Night. It sucks, and the same studio that made Fate/Zero has announced it is remaking it, so wait for the remake).
Fate/Stay Night may be garbage in my opinion, but that only makes the fact that Fate/Zero is stunningly good all the more impressive. It likely would have gotten 10/10 if it didn't have to carry the dead weight of its retarded older brother.

Story: 9/10
A pretty straightforward story. It's another "death game" type show: 7 "masters" (who are highly skilled mages) summon 7 "servants" (who are legendary epic heroes or historical figures) and fight to the death for possession of the Holy Grail; the artifact that is said to grant any wish.
Not only does Fate/Zero have an excellent concept, but it has nearly flawless execution. While Fate/Stay Night spent time trying to develop their horribly written characters rather then focus on the plot , Fate/Zero shows them how it's done by creating a much darker, suspenseful, and convincing environment. Part of what makes it work so well is that (again) unlike Fate/Stay Night, there is no single protagonist, and therefore no clear winner to the war. The viewer is legitimately kept unsure of what is going to happen next, and more importantly: who is going to win. Essentially every character is major and you will develop some sort of emotional attachment to them. You will love the characters you are supposed to love, hate the characters you are supposed to hate, fear the characters you are supposed to fear, and be left to form your own opinions about the characters with controversial motives. There are loads of massively entertaining plot developments,fantastic writing decisions, and there are a couple epic plot twists.
The only real complaint I have about the story and the reason I can't give it 10/10 isn't really Fate/Zero's fault in the first place: it's Fate/Stay Night's. The first episode of Fate/Zero is an hour long as opposed to the normal 20-25 minute length, and it is NOTHING but exposition. Fate/Zero is forced to basically summarize everything relevant to the plot in it's first two or three episodes that Fate/Stay Night took 24 episodes to explain. If you watch Fate/Zero and didn't watch it's predecessor, you better pay attention to the first episodes pretty damn carefully, because you won't believe how fast they blow by backstory! Once they finish the exposition and get to the real plot though, it is absolutely fantastic.

Art: 10/10
Stellar, absolutely breathtaking animation. The style perfectly compliments both the dark and light portions of the anime. I don't give 10/10 art ratings lightly, but Fate/Zero knocked it out of the park.

Sound: 9/10
Great openings (especially the 2nd one), good endings, and an EPIC soundtrack that goes along with the fast-paced action atmosphere excellently. Great voice acting in both the dub and sub. No complaints here.

Characters: 10/10
I am still marveling at how masterfully these characters were written. There are WAY too many major and significant characters to bother trying to get to them all in a review. Nothing I say here will do these characters justice, but I'll do my best:
Nearly single character is complex, has his/her own specific morals and desires, and has a distinctive/recognizable personality. Saying that alone doesn't mean much to someone who hasn't seen the show, but consider that there are 7 masters, 7 servants, and several side characters on top of that! From the sympathy and despair you feel for Kirisugu Emiya, to the heart-warming, lovable Rider, to the sheer badassness of Kirei Kotomine, to the intoxicating pride of Archer, to the tragedy of Kariya Moto; I could go on forever. Masterful masterful masterful masterful MASTERFUL characters. I couldn't even hazard to pick my favorite one, because there are so many greats. You'll have to take my word on this one; best character development for such a huge cast of characters I've ever seen. Fate/Zero really did the impossible.

Overall: 9/10
The over-saturation of exposition in the beginning is the only real reason Fate/Zero falls short of a 10/10, and because it's a prequel to an anime the studio had nothing to do with, even that isn't really its fault. Fate/Zero is a dark, compelling tragedy filled with constant suspense, unparalleled character development, fantastic writing, and top of the line animation. Fate/Zero is not only entertaining, it is a thought provoking masterpiece that really sets new standard for what a thriller anime should be like. If you are planning on watching the Fate series (which I highly recommend), my recommendation is to watch Fate/Zero and then wait for the remake of Fate/Stay Night (which has already been announced), because the current version of Fate/Stay Night is just humiliatingly bad, particularly if you watch Fate/Zero first and expect a decent continuation.