Mature (May contain sex, drugs, and extreme graphic violence)
Vintage:
October 2, 2011
Status:
Still Airing
Summary:
* Based on Urobuchi Gen and Type-Moon's Fate/Zero novel
The Holy Grail War - A death-match between 7 magi (Masters) and their summoned heroic spirits (Servants) in which the prize is the legendary Holy Grail, said to have the power to grant miracles.
This is now the 4th Holy Grail War. The 3 preceding Wars had ended without a victor. In pursuit of their individual goals and ambitions, the magi congregate at a place called Fuyuki. All the magi will do anything, rationalize away any atrocity, in pursuit of the Holy Grail.
All of them, but one...
Kotomine Kirei is a mage, but one without a reason to fight. Unable to release himself from the threads of fate, he is drawn reluctantly into this War.
However, as fate would have it, one of his rival Masters turns out to be an old enemy, Emiya Kiritsugu, a man more severe and merciless than anyone else. A man who desires the miracles offered by the Holy Grail...
~ translated and adapted from official site by Cranston
Written by stevodevo on February 15, 2012 at 10:06 AM
Overall Rating
Excellent
Story: 5
Dialogue: 5
Animation: 5
Entertainment: 5
Perhaps I'm biased since I am also a fan of the original series, but I was excited to learn a new series based on FSN was coming out. I intentionally waited until the whole first season was available before watching since I didn't think I could stand the anticipation of having to wait for each episode to become available!
My wife and I watched this one together and we both thought it was very well done... you can tell a lot of thought and effort went into producing this series. The artwork, animation, music and most importantly dialog and storyline are all top-notch.
Some reviews complain about the seemingly overuse of dialog. I felt that their negative view of this was unfounded and that especially for a first season the dialog not only helped fill in the back story but also gave you insight into the various mages and their historical/fantasy grail warriors. The series was also somewhat 'educational' in that I'd never heard of some of these fantasy heroes so doing some research on them was entertaining as well - like the story of Bluebeard or Diarmuid of the Love Spot! ha.
Action in this first season was present and accounted for but not over the top or the focus in any way. I also really enjoyed seeing tie-ins to the original FSN series and learning more about the history of the Grail War...
For a first season, the stage was definitely set for what hopefully will turn out to be an all-out battle for possession of the Holy Grail! I can't wait to see how this one will end!
