Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works]

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.

~*This show starts at episode 00 NOT 01, currently 00-25 & the OVA ep SunnyDay(watch last)*~ Wow...just wow.. I heard while this was airing back in 2014 that the animation was "the greatest thing thats currently made" & how "amazing & awesome" this was, but I still put this off for two years somehow just thinking in the back of my mind that it has to just be over hype because of its retarded massive fan base. Holy Jesus was I wrong. Right off the bat the first thing I was thinking was "WOW this animation pretty amazing", but I expected it to be equal to Fate/Zero or really any Aniplex title(they're all done very well) but that was just in the beginning(first 5minutes/less?). After it got to the first fight scene I literally bugged out, hands down the best animation of ANY anime to date, the budget for this series HAD to break records for an anime i'm 100% certain. So lets start off, the story is just WOW way better than I expected (fyi I was completely ignorant to any of the story except its prequel Fate/Zero). It surprised me quite a few times and held my attention 100% of the time. Every single episode from 0 & onward didn't skip a beat. You finished one and NEEDED to see the next. The music is just so great, the ops & eds are simply amazing, match perfect. The music in the show matches flawlessly, so much effort & time was put into every single inch of this show. Even things that are so minor you don't even notice every detail has had the time taken out to make it perfection. The English dub is perfect, every voice fits amazing & you can feel the passion in every bit of it. The character designs & artwork are breath taking, no better way to put it. 100% of every detail has been taken for everything. & as I already stated the animation is something that has set a new bar of achievement for the anime world. Now I do have to say there's aspects of Fate/Zero I really enjoyed that were lacking from this like the older group of characters & no hesitation dark actions. But thats not really a complaint as this is the sequel & theirs nothing that can really be done about that, I just thought I should point it out. Definitely watch Fate/Zero before this, even if your not the biggest Fate/Zero fan i'm 100% sure you'll love this. Even though it lacks a bit of what Zero has it brings to the table a lot that Zero didn't have. & If you are a big fan of Zero, you'll be in heaven.

5/5 Why? Perfection. This is what every anime should stride to be. This show set a new bar in the anime world. The animation is THE BEST you will currently find, every single episode is theatrical level quality with no half measures the entire show. The story is amazing, nothing to add. The pacing is perfection. The character design & artwork are breath taking, every little detail has been added to everything. You can feel the passion the creators put into this. The music is amazing, everything matches perfectly. The English dub is amazing. I'm not even that big of a Fate fan and I have to say this is hands down one of the greatest well done anime I've ever seen. You WILL like this, I don't care who you are. Quality is quality.

I like it. Nice animation and story. It made me cry at the end 😢

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.

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);