Fate Stay Night
Mood: Sorely Disappointed
Music: Hikari - Jyukai (Fate Stay Night ED 2)
Fate Stay Night
The series is based on the eroge visual novel and focuses on the fate course of the storyline. Mostly centers around the themes of action and fantasy with romance coming on later as the series progresses and eventually ends.
Animation: 6
Wasn't anything dazzling but wasn't bothersome to view either. For the most part it was well done and nothing seemed off excluding certain points when characters faces were scrunched or offset when seen from another view point. I did expect the animation to step up during intense action scenes, but a blithe I was left disappointed with how short and lackluster they felt, and it just added to the sub par quality of the overall style. The only thing that could help make the action scenes decent was the music, but even so they left me nonchalant rather than awe struck.
Music: 10
I have to say the OST was easily the best part of the anime (though whether that's a good thing I'm not certain) as both the opening and endings were beautiful pieces and definitely something I would add to my music collection. The music within the series was all very well done and fit in nicely to create a good atmosphere and excelled when playing during emotional scenes. It fulfilled everything that it had to and greatly displayed in captivating the viewer when they needed to during certain instances.
Voice Acting: 7
The voicing acting was nothing special but the seiyuu's did their job and played their respective characters well. The only quip I had was the lack of emotion that you would sense during pivotal scenes and the characters felt bland and didn't bring out the full feeling that the character was trying to portray. Also most of the dialogue was stale and in general I was left simply unimpressed.
Characters: 6
The concept and character design was original and actually very interesting which was a strong factor in drawing me into watching the anime. The idea of masters/servants battling for a prize in a violent 'game' sets up a grim dark (though nothing on par with series such as Berserk or Gantz) story and sets up the viewer to watch something rather unique. However, this is where the series fails immensely at balancing a large cast of characters.
Most of them are left poorly undeveloped and ignored once their purpose in the 'story' line has finished excluding those of the main leads. Backgrounds aren't looked into and certain aspects are left unexplained leaving the viewer to only guess as to why a specific character's personality is so, leaving the characters to have no significance. Even those that are given a spot in the opening show no importance and results in waste since once the series over. But that didn't mean all the characters went to waste as most of the focus was spent on the three most developed leads.
Shirou - The main male lead of the series who's path we follow throughout the series. In all honesty I was left a blasé by him and his growth through the series. He comes off as naive in thinking he can protect everyone and constantly puts himself in more danger then he should and is seen as someone who is blinded by his own ideals. Some of his traits are admirable but their comes to a point where the viewer becomes frustrated by his actions and start to question whether he will grow up. Of course their are his moments of heroism when he protects Saber and sacrifices himself for others as well as his aspiration to become stronger in order to become the protector of justice that he desires to be.
These are the traits of his personality that stand out the most of his will to not give up and protect as many people as he wants and bring an end to conflict. However, in the end we get no real closure on his character or as to what he eventually becomes besides his goal of stopping the Holy Grail War and his character just feels dull.
Saber - The main female lead of the series. I'd say her character design was easily the best in the entire series and had a very attractive appeal. But when it comes to personality she feels dull and very uninteresting. To be fair she does suppress her emotions so they don't interfere with her goals, but this conflict doesn't provide for good development as we see her character change throughout the series. As noted her design is what makes her character interesting with her combat gear and skills which are interluded with that of the tale of King Arthur. This however is a double edged sword (no pun) as it brings both positive and negative aspects to her character.
While her skill sets are very unique its poorly connected to her past and gives the viewer a weak sense of her background. Her development at the end of the series is confusing as from what I perceived it was about her humanization and coming to realize that she wasn't able to live up to her high set self prophecy into protecting her country, where in counteract it was Shirou that went out of his way to protect her. In the end her development feels choppy and raises more questions then answers as to what she learned and changed while spending her time as a servant and to what her overall purpose really was besides helping to serve in the Holy Grail war.
Rin - I'd give her the spot of third most important character that actually gets some sort of development. At first she seems intriguing as she neither really a protagonist/antagonist and holds a bit of individuality. Of course this is later thrown out a she becomes an ally with Shirou and Saber and helps aid them in the Holy Grail War. She provides a remarkable dynamic to the show from a magicians aspect and her skill set is also very unique and interesting. I would say I found her more interesting then the main leads as she seemed to have a intriguing personality unlike the other two. However, their are many aspects of her character that are left unexplained including her past so it doesn't give the viewer a full meaning of her personality and she feels incomplete, though not as much as the majority of the other cast.
Story: 5
The general plot is an interesting scheme with the idea of masters/servant fighting in a secret Holy Grail War in order to achieve their goals. However, this is not delivered well in the anime as for besides the the three characters pointed above the rest of the cast isn't expanded on at all. Backgrounds are left unexplained excluding a few glimpses into a characters past, but other than that it was poorly executed. The "plot" twists lacked any foreshadowing and rather than make the viewer surprised it leaves you unimpressed and question as to what direction the series is taking. The one aspect the story does excel at is creating the right atmosphere for it and bringing the viewer to understand the setting and get a good feel for it, but even that is ruined by poor cinematography and choreography which takes away from the series even more so than before.
The connection to European literature/mythology is actually a very interesting aspect of the series and its interesting to see the connection interluded with those and the servants, yet it fails to deliver as they are horrendously developed. I can ignore that off the majority of the servants since they were not part of the main cast, but the fact that Saber's background was poorly tied into that of King Arthur's legend, excluding the character design. Also, the 'mana' aspect of the series was poorly noted and unexplained that it turned shabby and pointless. Looking at the series as whole you can sense only character and plot holes of an incomplete work.
As for the relationship between Shirou/Saber which I did find interesting and thought the dynamic was well constructed as they faced many obstacles and developed throughout the series both in and out of battle when they're bond was the strongest and showed their connection to one another.
The central theme that they held of putting others ahead of their own lives and protecting them was a unique dynamic that was well displayed between their interactions and something the series did a good job in portraying. The constant struggles they encountered yet faced head on was admirable and worthy of approbation. As well how they dealt with their own ideals which tended to conflict with one another, yet eventually they would come to terms with each other and create a correlation worthy of accepting each other on an equal basis.
This felt like one of the remaining aspects of the anime that I felt was untarnished up until the end of the last episode. That was when we saw the conclusion of the final battle that I felt there was no real closure to their relationship and could only be marked as wasted potential. What had they learned? What had all their time together really meant for the either of them? Honestly I was not even moved by the 'bitter sweet' ending and could only sigh as I felt yet another aspect of the anime which held some sort of appeal ended on bad terms due to poor execution.
Overall: 5/10
The series left me with a pitiful shake of the head as it didn't life up to the hype shown by Type-Moon fanboys. I guess you can say this happens a lot with visual novel adaptions and within the span of only twenty four episodes it couldn't quite possibly cover the numerous potential aspects of the FSN series has to offer, but then begs to ask the question why include aspects into the series that you won't go further detail into? It had great potential but failed in so many aspects that it felt less than stellar and though I won't say it was a waste of time, their are many other great series out there that I could have viewed instead of this.
Was I satisfied with my viewing? It helped kill time yes and I completed something I intended to start. Did it match the high expectations that had been set by its fans? No far from it, as it was more like a half-assed incomplete work that offers some interesting points, but in the end fails to deliver. The only thing that I attained from the series is the great OST which helped set up the atmosphere of the series well, but aside from that the series hold nothing of importance and just seen as another dismal watch.
Music: Hikari - Jyukai (Fate Stay Night ED 2)
Fate Stay Night
The series is based on the eroge visual novel and focuses on the fate course of the storyline. Mostly centers around the themes of action and fantasy with romance coming on later as the series progresses and eventually ends.
Animation: 6
Wasn't anything dazzling but wasn't bothersome to view either. For the most part it was well done and nothing seemed off excluding certain points when characters faces were scrunched or offset when seen from another view point. I did expect the animation to step up during intense action scenes, but a blithe I was left disappointed with how short and lackluster they felt, and it just added to the sub par quality of the overall style. The only thing that could help make the action scenes decent was the music, but even so they left me nonchalant rather than awe struck.
Music: 10
I have to say the OST was easily the best part of the anime (though whether that's a good thing I'm not certain) as both the opening and endings were beautiful pieces and definitely something I would add to my music collection. The music within the series was all very well done and fit in nicely to create a good atmosphere and excelled when playing during emotional scenes. It fulfilled everything that it had to and greatly displayed in captivating the viewer when they needed to during certain instances.
Voice Acting: 7
The voicing acting was nothing special but the seiyuu's did their job and played their respective characters well. The only quip I had was the lack of emotion that you would sense during pivotal scenes and the characters felt bland and didn't bring out the full feeling that the character was trying to portray. Also most of the dialogue was stale and in general I was left simply unimpressed.
Characters: 6
The concept and character design was original and actually very interesting which was a strong factor in drawing me into watching the anime. The idea of masters/servants battling for a prize in a violent 'game' sets up a grim dark (though nothing on par with series such as Berserk or Gantz) story and sets up the viewer to watch something rather unique. However, this is where the series fails immensely at balancing a large cast of characters.
Most of them are left poorly undeveloped and ignored once their purpose in the 'story' line has finished excluding those of the main leads. Backgrounds aren't looked into and certain aspects are left unexplained leaving the viewer to only guess as to why a specific character's personality is so, leaving the characters to have no significance. Even those that are given a spot in the opening show no importance and results in waste since once the series over. But that didn't mean all the characters went to waste as most of the focus was spent on the three most developed leads.
Shirou - The main male lead of the series who's path we follow throughout the series. In all honesty I was left a blasé by him and his growth through the series. He comes off as naive in thinking he can protect everyone and constantly puts himself in more danger then he should and is seen as someone who is blinded by his own ideals. Some of his traits are admirable but their comes to a point where the viewer becomes frustrated by his actions and start to question whether he will grow up. Of course their are his moments of heroism when he protects Saber and sacrifices himself for others as well as his aspiration to become stronger in order to become the protector of justice that he desires to be.
These are the traits of his personality that stand out the most of his will to not give up and protect as many people as he wants and bring an end to conflict. However, in the end we get no real closure on his character or as to what he eventually becomes besides his goal of stopping the Holy Grail War and his character just feels dull.
Saber - The main female lead of the series. I'd say her character design was easily the best in the entire series and had a very attractive appeal. But when it comes to personality she feels dull and very uninteresting. To be fair she does suppress her emotions so they don't interfere with her goals, but this conflict doesn't provide for good development as we see her character change throughout the series. As noted her design is what makes her character interesting with her combat gear and skills which are interluded with that of the tale of King Arthur. This however is a double edged sword (no pun) as it brings both positive and negative aspects to her character.
While her skill sets are very unique its poorly connected to her past and gives the viewer a weak sense of her background. Her development at the end of the series is confusing as from what I perceived it was about her humanization and coming to realize that she wasn't able to live up to her high set self prophecy into protecting her country, where in counteract it was Shirou that went out of his way to protect her. In the end her development feels choppy and raises more questions then answers as to what she learned and changed while spending her time as a servant and to what her overall purpose really was besides helping to serve in the Holy Grail war.
Rin - I'd give her the spot of third most important character that actually gets some sort of development. At first she seems intriguing as she neither really a protagonist/antagonist and holds a bit of individuality. Of course this is later thrown out a she becomes an ally with Shirou and Saber and helps aid them in the Holy Grail War. She provides a remarkable dynamic to the show from a magicians aspect and her skill set is also very unique and interesting. I would say I found her more interesting then the main leads as she seemed to have a intriguing personality unlike the other two. However, their are many aspects of her character that are left unexplained including her past so it doesn't give the viewer a full meaning of her personality and she feels incomplete, though not as much as the majority of the other cast.
Story: 5
The general plot is an interesting scheme with the idea of masters/servant fighting in a secret Holy Grail War in order to achieve their goals. However, this is not delivered well in the anime as for besides the the three characters pointed above the rest of the cast isn't expanded on at all. Backgrounds are left unexplained excluding a few glimpses into a characters past, but other than that it was poorly executed. The "plot" twists lacked any foreshadowing and rather than make the viewer surprised it leaves you unimpressed and question as to what direction the series is taking. The one aspect the story does excel at is creating the right atmosphere for it and bringing the viewer to understand the setting and get a good feel for it, but even that is ruined by poor cinematography and choreography which takes away from the series even more so than before.
The connection to European literature/mythology is actually a very interesting aspect of the series and its interesting to see the connection interluded with those and the servants, yet it fails to deliver as they are horrendously developed. I can ignore that off the majority of the servants since they were not part of the main cast, but the fact that Saber's background was poorly tied into that of King Arthur's legend, excluding the character design. Also, the 'mana' aspect of the series was poorly noted and unexplained that it turned shabby and pointless. Looking at the series as whole you can sense only character and plot holes of an incomplete work.
As for the relationship between Shirou/Saber which I did find interesting and thought the dynamic was well constructed as they faced many obstacles and developed throughout the series both in and out of battle when they're bond was the strongest and showed their connection to one another.
The central theme that they held of putting others ahead of their own lives and protecting them was a unique dynamic that was well displayed between their interactions and something the series did a good job in portraying. The constant struggles they encountered yet faced head on was admirable and worthy of approbation. As well how they dealt with their own ideals which tended to conflict with one another, yet eventually they would come to terms with each other and create a correlation worthy of accepting each other on an equal basis.
This felt like one of the remaining aspects of the anime that I felt was untarnished up until the end of the last episode. That was when we saw the conclusion of the final battle that I felt there was no real closure to their relationship and could only be marked as wasted potential. What had they learned? What had all their time together really meant for the either of them? Honestly I was not even moved by the 'bitter sweet' ending and could only sigh as I felt yet another aspect of the anime which held some sort of appeal ended on bad terms due to poor execution.
Overall: 5/10
The series left me with a pitiful shake of the head as it didn't life up to the hype shown by Type-Moon fanboys. I guess you can say this happens a lot with visual novel adaptions and within the span of only twenty four episodes it couldn't quite possibly cover the numerous potential aspects of the FSN series has to offer, but then begs to ask the question why include aspects into the series that you won't go further detail into? It had great potential but failed in so many aspects that it felt less than stellar and though I won't say it was a waste of time, their are many other great series out there that I could have viewed instead of this.
Was I satisfied with my viewing? It helped kill time yes and I completed something I intended to start. Did it match the high expectations that had been set by its fans? No far from it, as it was more like a half-assed incomplete work that offers some interesting points, but in the end fails to deliver. The only thing that I attained from the series is the great OST which helped set up the atmosphere of the series well, but aside from that the series hold nothing of importance and just seen as another dismal watch.
