Fate/Zero

I've watched a lot of anime in my 35 years on this Earth. Recently I've been binge-watching series after series. I've seen some ones that I have truly loved, and others that were excellent.

I find this anime different from those. Firstly, the script is astounding. The way it has been translated into English is fantastic, and the depth of the philosophical conversations, and the concepts and trains of thought therein, are highly intellectual. This adds massively to the richness of the characters, in what could otherwise be considered as a kind of swords and sorcery story.

The different characters from history concept made me dubious before they appeared, but they are done in such a unique way and so unexpectedly; that again it adds to the depth of the story. The voices are marvellous in some instances.

This animation is engrossing and fun, with a story that does not feel episodic. I rate it very highly. It's better than Stein's Gate, and on par with Parasyte: The Maxim and Elfen Lied.

What a great action anime it was. The storyline and action is amazing.

One day I was just looking for a highly rated anime on Netflix and came across this so I gave it a shot and watched the whole way through.

First of all I love the premise: It's an excuse to have a bunch of interesting characters from history fight to the death, all controlled by human handlers. All the masters and servants have their own interesting personalities and motivations. Okay, there are a few humans who are mostly stoic low talkers but overall the characters are really diverse. The animation also seems really good and up to date. I love how well-drawn, colorful anime looks on an HD TV.

My only thing is the storytelling could've been much better here I think. You've got a great cast of characters and a cool concept right off the bat, but I'm not sure it was executed as well as it could've been. There's just not enough screen time for all those interesting characters. Many of them don't get fleshed out nearly enough and a handful could even be considered flat characters because we only learn as much about them as the plot demands.

Not necessarily a big negative, but I thought the pacing was strange as well. There is a one on one fight pretty early on, so you assume things are going to move fast, but after that it's mostly the human masters scheming or servants talking a lot but never actually getting to the point where they throw down with each other. On the flip side this results in the show being deeper than just a bunch of fight scenes.

Another complaint would be some plot devices introduced out of nowhere. There are two or three times where you'll be thinking "Wait, what's this now? No one mentioned it before." Somewhat related is the fact that they're not really clear on how this all works. Of course magic isn't real so it's hard to quantify it, but I had absolutely no idea why certain characters were more feared than others, and definitely no idea how strong their "super moves" actually were. Some rules of the contest that are established eventually end up being ignored, forgotten about, or are violated with no repercussions. It's almost like the rules are a gentleman's agreement, but you don't REALLY have to follow them. That's fine if that's the case but they never really say that.

Overall it's a fun show though, and over the course of 26 episodes none of these complaints crop up too consistently. There's a lot of meat here and getting into some more back stories for the characters could have definitely resulted in at least one more season or even two. The show could've used more actual fighting too in my opinion but regardless you're still intrigued the whole time about who will emerge victorious. I hate to say I think it's a bit overrated, but you should check it out anyways. Just expect to be in it for the long haul to get the most out of it, and for some episodes to be far better than others.

When I started watching, I had no clue at all on what the anime was about. Fortunately, the first episode went along smoothly answering basic questions.

The songs were a beautiful addition, fitting very nice with the story and the flow.

The story is about the Holy Grail, said to be an omnipotent wish- granting device. There are seven sides to the story, seven partnered Masters and Servants. The pace was perfect like a story unfolding in front of your eyes or a book with its every content shown at the most colorful and meaningful interpretation.

It is an anime with a lot of touches, action and sadness driven with the power of desires and belief, hopes and twisted wishes that came from different pasts and the ever-uncertain future.

I highly recommend it to people who want action, an interesting plot and some grief to accept.

This anime is fantastic. The most amazing thing about it (especially in the second season) is its unflinching attitude to the darker themes - some scenes will shock you, others will make you cry, and all of them are fantastic. Just when you are about to predict the story it will smack you across the face and tell you to try again. When you know that almost 95% of all the characters can either die or get some seriously messed up treatment, it makes for some of the most tense TV moments... ever.

The characters are generally good. You'll find yourself picking sides and favourites very early on due to the nature of the show. The show presents all sides, all characters and their motivations while managing to keep the some huge story elements secret until they are revealed - that's good writing and it engages the audience.

Animation is literally eye candy. I don't normally enjoy CGI effects, but this show perfectly marries 3D and 2D animation into one. The production values of this show are amazing and I applaud the animators and artists for not taking a half assed approach to some scenes while giving special treatment to others. The OST is used well and the sound is very nicely done.

Overall, 9/10. The 1 deducted was due to the story maybe introducing a little too much characters early on, making it fairly hard to keep track of in the first few episodes.