Review of Fate/Zero
"A king must live a grander life than any other’s, and stoke his people’s feelings of admiration! He who is worthy of all heroes’ envy, and he who leads their way, is king! Therefore, the king is not alone. For his will equals that of all his followers together!" - Rider (Fate/Zero) Honestly I was very apprehensive when starting Fate/Zero. I didn't know what to expect from it but what I got was a great surprise. Story: The story of Fate/Zero is this, several big families pick a representative to fight for them in the 4th grail war so they can get a wish. Themain protagonist, Kiritsugu Emiya, is a hardened assassin who was chosen by the Einzbern family to represent them. He is paired with the servant Saber (the strongest class.) I don't want to say much more for I fear I'll spoil the story which is something you have to experience. It has a very grim atmosphere and it doesn't pull any punches, which you'll see with the Caster character when he's introduced. The ending is one of my favorites in recent history because of how dark it is. It's extremely well adapted from the light novels.
Art: I think this is one of the strongest points of the series, the gorgeous animation and art. Sure some frames don't look amazing but that goes for practically all anime. I enjoy the rather pale and dark colors used for the scenery and the characters, it represents the tone of the story quite well. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, even the 3D parts which was something I was rather skeptical about. Berserker's jet fight with Gilgamesh illustrates how great the animation really is. Ufotable really went all out with this one.
Sound: The soundtrack for all the Fate series is amazing. Zero really stands out because it probably has one of my favorite ending songs in anime history, Manten. It's a really powerful song that plays at the end of episode 18, keep an eye out for it. The orchestrated tracks bring a lot of tension into the larger fights and make them even more entertaining to watch. Trust me, you'll be listening to this OST after you finish the anime. It's THAT good.
Character: Quite possibly my favorite part of the series is the characters. Oh god do I love 90% of them. Rider, Kiritsugu and Kirei are probably the ones that stuck out the most to me. Rider's powerful and charismatic personality matches perfectly up against his master, Waver's, geeky and angsty personality. Rider is also extremely lovable and goofy at times so he's a treat to watch. But he really isn't just a generic meathead, he says some extremely powerful things as well. Kiritsugu's backstory, which they dedicate 2 episodes to portraying, is gripping and sad. His actions are questionable as well which makes him entertaining to watch because you don't know if you're rooting for him or not. He has good intentions but poor execution. Kirei is similar, Kirei doesn't exactly know what he wants when the anime starts but once he meets Gilgamesh, things change immensely for him. Kirei and Kiritsugu take similar paths and are similar people with different motivations, that's what makes them so interesting. Saber would probably be the only character I wasn't quite into, she's pretty bland.
Enjoyment: This was an absolute blast to watch, the fights are great, the dialogue is great and the animation is STUNNING. Watch it then move on to the ufotable version of Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works. You should definitely give the visual novels a try too because you'll miss out on a lot of wacky Kirei antics.