Review of Fate/Zero

Let me preface by saying this is only a review of season 1. (if you're curious, I scored season 2 a 9.) Fate/Zero's first season is so stunning, so full of suspenseful moments, so rich with developed characters, that it's ever-so-close to being a masterpiece, but a few flaws are unfortunately glaring enough to pull down what could've been a 10/10 anime to an 8(ish). Story - 7/10: Fate/Zero does a lot of very good storytelling things. Many of the episodes in season 1 are masterfully paced, gradually building your interest until you reach the end of the episode and suddenly wonder "what? How isit already over?" and feel compelled to watch the next one....... At least, that's USUALLY the case. Unfortunately, a few episodes stick out like a sore thumb in this regard. There is the 45 minute information dump that is episode 1, which honestly I think is given more unfair criticism than it deserves, but is still a bother. What annoyed me significantly more was the decision to go with such a slower pace towards the end of the season. Look, I'll be blunt: 30 minutes of different characters philosophizing and drinking is like watching paint dry. Here's the thing: Fate is really, REALLY good at raising interesting questions about life, morality, etc. Where it goes awry is when it acts as though it has answers. Mostly Fate's "answers" tend to go something like this: Edgy cynical guy is right, but even though he's right, stupid hero guy/girl still needs to do stupid hero things but hey by the way doing those things is really going to depress stupid hero guy/girl but he/she is still going to do them anyway. It gets worse in UBW, but it's still on display here when Rider starts telling Saber how to rule. What's even more maddening is that it's because of the slow pacing towards the end that viewers are stuck with a cliffhanger ending. Look, cliffhangers are nice... when they're necessary. In this case it just felt like bait. There's also an issue in how the slow pace contributes to apathy surrounding characters, but we'll save that for the character sections.

Art - 10/10. If you're at all familiar with Ufotable's Fate entries, this score should be no surprise to you. Capitalizing on a budget that could've probably bought Michael Bay himself, the animators create a true thing of beauty here. I don't really even know how to do it justice other than to say that the character designs are stunning, the battle sequences are off-the-chain, and by and large the animation is enough to blow anyone away. Fate/Zero is the type of show that reminds a viewer why they spent an extra $100 to get that badass samsung/sony/LG television. This, this shit is why you buy a nice TV.

Sound - 10/10. Like the animation, this is truly exceptional stuff. Whether it's the ridiculously immersive and realistic sound effects that are added to the battle sequences, the outstanding voice cast, or the epic soundtrack that gets one's blood pumping like no other (look up battle of the strong on YouTube), everything here serves the series beautifully.

Characters - 8/10. Fate/Zero starts without an obvious main character, and, for the most part, this makes it all the more enjoyable. We get well-rounded development of every master and servant. I loved this at first because it got me engaged in every narrative and made me feel like anything could happen. The issue perhaps, is that after awhile the trick starts to work a little too well. Near the end of this season I found myself getting apathetic about the battle. It's perfectly good to embrace the fact that characters are morally grey, but when you reach a point where it just feels like "everyone sucks, one way or another", that is the point where the switch is flipped and suddenly "everyone is interesting" becomes "no one is interesting". And that will invariably take away from the fun of watching them. Again, I blame the slow-paced episodes near the end of the season. They managed to make the show go from fun to depressing in less than an hour.

Enjoyment - 8/10 - when I look back, I can't forget the shitty feeling that I got near the end of this season, although ending with at least a touch of action managed to keep it from being too bad. What I also can't forget is a show that was full of gripping narratives, beautiful action sequences, and (for most of the time) fun, fascinating characters.

Overall - 8.5/10. Fate/Zero is a must watch, despite its flaws. Definitely stick around for season 2, which is even better.