Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]

Many people watch this show for the fight scenes. And while it has some of the coolest and best animated fights ever, I cant help but feel these guys are really missing out. The main theme in Fate/stay night is "conquering oneself". There are three alternate versions of fate stay night. The first one Fate, is the "oneself as an ideal". The second one Unlimited Blade Works, is "struggling with oneself as an ideal". The third one Heaven's Feel, is "the friction with real and ideal".

Kinoko Nasu (the writer of fate/stay Night) is SO GOOD at interpreting human experience in a story. Sometimes to the point that it gets difficult to keep track of everything. Cough*Garden Of Sinners*Cough.

Anyway my point is the characters (expecaily their morals and motivations) are the best part of anything Kinoko Nasu makes. There is anyways much more depth in the characters than you probably realize.

If you like this show then watch Fate/Zero right away. Kiritsugu Emiya is by far my favorite character from anything. Just watch it.

Story-line => 3/5 (I liked the uniqueness of the plot but they got some major loose ends.); Acting => 5/5 (The voice acting was good. Portrayed the characters nicely.); Directing => 5/5 (The directing was awesome. I liked the way things were directed and presented. The soundtracks were also syncing with the battle scenes. ); Animation => 5/5 (The animation is amazing, treat to the eyes. I don't know the budget. I almost feel like this is 'Unlimited Budget Works'); Screenplay => 3/5 (The screenplay was not very deep. The character buildup in many cases were not up to the mark so the dialogues got bland in some cases.); Personal Recommendation => 4/5 (I would highly recommend watching this for the animation and the plot. Also watch Fate/Zero.); Most Favorite Character => Rin Tohsaka (Most mature, considerate and badass character here);

Oddly enough, this is essentially a remake of "...Stay Night" with various outcome changes; not sure why they did that, but, here we are.

Once again, as I have criticized before, the trouble with stories that have magic in them is the amount of magic the authors use. The temptation is to use magic everywhere to solve every problem and develop every plot, no matter how ridiculous and impossible the magic is. When the creators go too far, they lose you, shatter your willing suspension of disbelief, and wreck the story and drama. In this, "...Unlimited Bladeworks," they have done that occasionally, especially with the character Caster, the witch, who uses magic liberally. Sometimes, it's just too much, and you have to ask yourself why doesn't she just destroy everybody, since she could certainly employ enough magic to do so - but then there would be no drama and no story, so the writers have to stop, and put limits on her. But that becomes apparent, and takes a little away from the believability of the story. A brilliant writer-philosopher I once knew said "life is about the struggle." Period. In every storyline that has ever been, the struggle of the characters, of one kind or another, is the key element. You take away the struggle of the characters, because you have magic doing everything, and you lose your story.

That little problem aside, there is a decent storyline here, with a little romance that everyone can see coming from the first episode, but there are enough youthful problems in developing it to make this story arc interesting. The graphics and artwork are excellent and pleasant to watch, the music satisfying, the battle scenes well-done and gripping, while the animation itself, that is, the technical moving of the characters, is good for this type of anime, better than many, while naturally nowhere near the Disney-Pixar level, which is 3D and another expensive thing altogether.

Although this is not truly light entertainment, it is not heavy and serious either, but something you can watch & enjoy without using major brain work. It's a fun ride and most people will find it gratifying.

This show is absolutely fantastic. The animation, voice acting, and story are all great. Its really interesting, and I'd highly recommend it.

True to its hype, Fate Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works is a must-see of the year whether you're a fan of the visual novel or coming into the series as a newbie. There's much to adapt, but the first half captures that very well with the setup. To say the least, this show has that sort of momentum every episode. It is set up and then delivery, with the series capitalizing on every opportunity. Along the way, we also get breaks with useful info dumps, humorous gags, and relationship building. The action will no doubt leave you in awe thanks to Ufotable's technical qualities. Still, there are some characters you may like and some you'll despise; more people will probably have that decision by the second four of the show. Characterization is not a masterpiece though and neither does the story offer perfection. There are parts in this series that will sometimes waver off with its mood and peculiar balance. Still, there's a saying that third time's a charm, and Ufotable hit the bull's eye on this show. Now, the second half of the series awaits.