habshire - 2017-04-04 22:07:33

Spoilers

My entry into the Fate series was not through the VNs, but through the ufotable series of anime - Fate/Zero on through Unlimited Blade Works. While F/Z and UBW are in fact quite distinct both stylistically and in terms of plot, the latter was everything I wanted in concluding the VN’s UBW route after F/Z.

Enough can’t be said about the visuals, both in terms of the kinetic fighting animation and beautiful imagery that is a staple of the whole series. Fight scenes are exactly as one would expect: fast, flashy, and fluid. Individual shots range from those that are cold and full of despair (Rin leaping off the skyscraper at the close of episode 12) to those that are filled with warmth and hope (essentially all of episode 25), all gorgeously rendered.

Shirou is a deeply flawed character, and this is intentionally so as part of the story arc and his backstory. It’s clear that the events of F/Z and his origins made him the fatally idealistic person he is in UBW, which I did find compelling. At the same time however, this idealism began to detract from the show itself once it began manifesting as a seemingly endless stream of pseudo-philosophical mumbo jumbo. Shirou’s mind-numbing argument with Archer in the show’s second cour epitomizes this.

Rin, on the other hand, is an incredibly well-realized heroine. Her character accomplishes the impressive feat of being simultaneously independent and strong willed while also serving as the emotional anchor in her touching relationship with Shirou. UBW is a story of two young teenagers traversing the hero’s journey together - in many ways through hell and back - and as a result, Rin and Shirou’s romantic relationship felt deeply meaningful and sincere. Episode 25 in London could not have been a more perfect way to cap this arc off.

The hero’s journey at the centre of UBW’s story arc was engrossing, even if somewhat formulaic. Turning points like Saber’s capture at the end of the first cour hit me with immense force, and I deeply enjoyed the emotional roller-coaster of emotions they created. Progressing from the hopelessness of episode 12’s conclusion onward to episode 24’s triumphant concluding fight and episode 25’s blissful epilogue was beyond satisfying.

None of this is to say UBW is flawless. The second cour’s pacing is problematic for its drawn out rehashing of the same ideas under the guise of dialogue between Shirou and Archer. Soundtrack pieces and the OP/EDs are mostly unmemorable, and were somewhat saved only by Aimer’s Last Stardust and Lisa’s mind-blowing rendition of This Illusion.

Still, at the end of the day, I found UBW to stand on its own - independent of the VN - as a brilliant urban-fantasy epic. Few other shows offer the same blend of top-tier production values, deep world-building, weighty story, touching character relationships, beautiful setting, and thrilling action.

Bring on Heaven’s Feel.

brett.purdy - 2016-12-20 05:20:48

Now where do i see the third installment of the fate series

loyal59 - 2016-02-08 07:02:32

Warning: Contains Spoilers

Story: While I cannot deny that the core plot is both interesting I felt that the story fas a few minor flaws. For instance that Shiro does projection magic but the answer as to why was ultimately only glanced at. Also the major plot hole in how the actual fuck did Archer come back in the second to last episode. I am unsure of that. Also I felt that the link of Shiro and Archer could have been explained better. Though with its flaws I still consider the story very good.

Character: I feel that unlike the 2006 adaptation this version was able to give Shiro and Tosaka actual character instead of moving pictures. Also I felt more attached to Shiro's Hero Ideals than I did in the previous version. Another thing is that they mad Archer such an interesting character and uncovered his mystery steadily. The only flaw in characters is that most of the side characters got lackluster development but in the end they are just side characters so I do not consider them very crucial anyways.

Animation: Awesome, enough said.

Sound: I personally watched the english dub and found the characters very well casted except for Shinji. I still hate his annoying ass. I recommend the dub if you like dubs but if you are not a fan of dubs the sub is just as good.

Enjoyment: I found this anime highly enjoyable and even had me on the edge of my seat.

qsimonis - 2015-07-14 17:37:58

Okay now. Ufotable did it. They finally did it. They made me enjoy watching a Fate related anime (Fate Zero was honestly good but I had some reasons that prevented me to fully enjoy it, read more to understand).

Let's summarize a bit. DEEN adapted the first route of Fate/Stay Night (FSN later in the text) and it was terrible.

At that time, I just thought that it was bad (the story had some qualities but it was really meh overall, I gave it a 7/10 and I realize now I was very kind back then).

But I didn't know the real story. I hadn't read the VN. I had no idea HOW bad it was. And it made me hate FSN. It made me hate the whole series.

Hopefully, UBW is good (Zero was good too but at that time I still was traumatized by DEEN'S FNS). And UBW made me realize the problem wasn't with FSN, but with DEEN. UBW is goddam good. The animation is just... incredible. There's no word for it. There is a reason why some people calls the anime "Unlimited Budget Works". It's 25 episodes that are as smooth and as beautiful as an anime movie, with a high budget and a big team. It's just mad.

The music is very good too. I won't develop too much there because it's maybe not the best part of the anime but it does its job, never out of context, never weird (except the second ending).

The charadesign and the characters (I should not put those two together but whatever) are really good, and this is one of the most important point (with the story of course) where DEEN had been doing a bad job in comparison to Ufotable. Characters are build over the whole story (FSN, UBW and Heaven's Feel (HF), that hasn't been adapted yet but will be in form of a movie), and they are lovable.

Ufotable made me realize that the characters in the Fate universe are interesting, well build, coherent, and complex. It's not a kind of parody of a magical related story, as I first thought with DEEN's FSN. Same goes for the story. Here is Rin's scenario, and it's just... good. Goddam. Now I like that tsundere that totally pissed me off during DEEN's FSN. I could develop  more but the logic is the same as for the characters. It's good, and it wasn't good in DEEN's FSN. Plus it involves time paradox so there is no need to say it's awesome.

So, the main problem of Fate right now is that in order to enjoy it, you need to watch/read the first route. Reading the VN isn't (at all) that a bad idea but it suppose to be fluent in English or Japanese, and it's quite long.

The other option is to watch DEEN's FSN and AAAAARGH it really hurts me to say this. But even if it will be 100% pain, it is worth it, just because UBW is one of the most amazing anime I've ever watch, on all points.

adonnelly - 2015-06-28 13:26:59

I will declare, right off the bat, that my favourite character in the Fate universe is Saber and there is no question that this has certainly coloured my view of UBW.
As a result, my opinion is that there was altogether too much focus on feckless dudes with bad hair and not nearly enough of Saber being a badass.
I just wanted to get that out there.

Leaving aside my personal issues, I do think that the story as a whole was not as strong as Fate/Zero. The mages involved in the war were less interesting, less compelling and a lot less memorable, and the same can be said of most of the servants as well. Fate/Zero also felt like it had a much more mature tone and dealt with more adult themes.
(I do understand that this stems from the plot being derived from the game but I can only review the anime on its own terms).

The animation was, as you might expect, stunning. I've seen the series referred to as Unlimited Budget Works and you can certainly see where the money went.

Overall, a decent series that stands well on its own. The only real problem it has is that it can't quite live up to its prequel.
Also it needs more Saber.

jadyn86 - 2015-06-27 22:05:32

Story

Out of context, the story itself is interesting. You've got all these heroes from across time fighting for the chance to wish for anything. You've got twists, turns and hot anime babes. That in itself is interesting, but somehow it all gets muddled up and becomes a stinking convoluted mess by the time the second season comes around. There are also a million annoying questions that you'll probably ask yourself and the answer will usually be, "Oh, Gilgamesh sells more figures" or, "Shirou is the hero so plot power until the final episode."

Animation & Sound

Animation is pretty great for the most part. Sometimes the anime looks shit, but when it looks good, it looks pretty damn good. The sound is great though. Most of the characters are very well voiced and the music and sound effects compliment the scope of the story. 

Character

A world full of interesting characters like Hercules and Lancer, and the show still has to focus on the boring Shirou, Rin, Saber and Gilgamesh.

Enjoyment

I had to make it to the end, but I wanted to drop it episode after episode after episode. It took everything that made Fate Zero interesting and warped and mutated it into something awful. 

Overall

Do yourself a favour and stop after Fate Zero. Or watch something more interesting. This series is popular, but it's popular for all the wrong reasons. If you have any sense of taste, you'll be sure to steer clear.

eda.brown - 2015-06-13 22:20:08

The fate franchise is a vast amount of information expandingmultiple shows, movies, books, manga, and short stories. There is definitely alot to take in for a new comer to the franchise. So first I would like to saythat if you are going to start anywhere you should read the visual novel offate/stay night first. Granted if you don’t want to do that then this anime isyour next best thing. After finishing Fate Stay Night UBW it would be a goodidea to watch Fate/Zero. I wouldn’t recommend watching Fate/Zero first becauseit does spoil some things for this anime and the upcoming Heaven’s Feelmovie.  So here is an order for you Visual Novel or UBW -> Heaven’sFeel Movie -> Fate Zero and if you want to be completions then you can watchDeens adaption of the Fate/Stay Night anywhere in the above order.  Nowhere is the review.

Story: Fate/Stay Night’s story follows the life of an amateurmagus and our protagonist Shirou Emiya.  His participation in the HolyGrail War is the main focus for our story. The Holy Grail War is currentlytaking place in Shirou’s home town Fuyuki City. During the Holy Grail War sevenmagus known as masters are aided by seven beings known as servants which arethe reincarnation of legendary heroes from the past, present and future. Duringthe war it is the goal of each Master Servant pair to kill the other Mastersand take possession of the Holy Grail and have their wish granted.  During the Fifth Holy Grail war our protagonist is themaster of the servant named Saber. One of the main themes of the story isShirou’s wish to save everyone and become known as a hero of justice.Throughout the story Shirou’s ideals are tested and brought to question. So Idon’t spoil anything I will stop here with the synopsis of the story. Now thefirst two episodes (0 and 1) are mostly info dumps on who is participating inthe War and what the rules of the war are. Both episodes may seem to drag onfor new comers and overall it might have been a better idea for them to spreadout the information instead of just shoving it all into a few episodes.

In the first half of the show  the story is paced ratherwell and I don’t have very many complaints with how it was written.  I dofeel some characters that have larger roles in the second half should have beengiven more screen time and more development. One such character is Rin theprimary love interest of Shriou in this anime. For a primary love interest Ifeel she plays a rather small role in the first half and isn’t fully givenenough time to develop. Her Tsundere personality is fine in the first half butas the relationship grows the personality is never really turned down and thismakes the relationship feel a bit awkward overall. The relationship at onepoint will be very romantic and then at the next point Rin will be hittingShirou over the head with a pillow.

There are also a few servants that could have been given somemore development as well along with our main antagonist who up until the secondhalf really isn’t given much screen time at all. I would go into more detailsbut I feel I will be spoiling some things.  Now, if you are wondering ifit’s a good adaption of the visual novel I would have to say its ok. There arequite a few things that get cut out but overall it is better than any other adaptionout there at this time. Ufotable also throws in some extra stuff that reallyisn’t needed in place of cannon material. One character in particular has herentire backstory replaced. I think the new backstory is ok and gives theaudience a gist of what kind of character she is but in my opinion it isn’t asgood as the original backstory.  During the second

half I fell the pace picks up a bit too quickly. Things thatshould have taken a few episodes to develop are instead crammed into only oneepisode. Personally I feel this makes it a bit jarring overall. The pacing ofthe second half starts off fast but it does even out at times as well. Thisdoes make it feel like some content is sacrificed as well. It is also one ofthe main reasons the romantic relationship feels awkward at times and why somecharacters are given very little time to develop.

The final issue I have with the story occurs in season 2. Thereis a scene that occurs later in this season that completely breaks cannon andoverall doesn’t make a lot of sense. Basically, the whole idea of how magic isinherited from person to person is disregarded during this scene.  Reallyit was one of few problems I had with how Ufotable adapted the story of UBW.

Animation: There are only a few series that are animated as wellor better then Fate/Stay Night UBW. There really isn’t much else to say otherthan. There are a few animated faces that do look a bit weird at times butoverall the animation is rather fluid especially during the battle scenes.Really if you decided not to watch this show for the story watching it for theanimation and sound is probably enough to entertain most viewers. There aresome CG scenes which I feel are rather well done but some people may feel theydetract from the story. I personally think the CG makes the scenes in questionfeel more surreal. 

Sound: The sound is also great. I feel every track works wellwith both the show and even as standalone pieces. During the battle scenes thesound really helps bring out the intensity of the fighting. During theemotional scenes it sets the mood perfectly. There is one exception. Duringepisode 13 there is a rather emotional scene that wasn’t given any sound at allduring the broadcast (this may be fixed on the BD release) It really makes thescene seem less impactful the what it really is. Outside of the OST the voiceacting is also superb. Every character’s voice fits their personality to aT. 

Characters: As mentioned above some characters really aren’tgiven as much screen time as they needed or deserve. I have already talkedabout our main heroine RIn above but now I will discuss some of the othercharacters.

Shirou: I feel it’s hard to talk about him without mentioningthe fact that in the VN most of his dialogue is internal monologues. This I dofeel detracts from his character and makes him seem less interesting and somemay not feel emotionally invested in his character. But, if Ufotable had gavehim more inner monologues the show would have been much longer. Shirou for themost part is displayed as a man who wants to save everyone no matter the costeven if it’s his own life. He will go out of his way to save his friends andthinks about other before himself. To some this seems childish. This anime ismainly about Shriou facing his ideals and developing them over the course ofthe anime.

Saber: Saber is a fan favorite and a flagship character for theType Moon franchise. Granted in this route she takes a back seat at times forother characters. I think her character does suffer a bit because of this. Sheis a strong willed individual and I don’t feel that is displayed as good as itcould have been. In fact compared to the Saber in Fate/Zero this one seems abit more on the cute side and her personality takes a similar turn. Ufotabletook the strong willed Saber that many fans of Fate/Zero and the Fate VN andmade her into a passive observer in some cases. I do think at times this can beoverlooked because UBW is Shirou’s story and not Sabers. Saber still does playa part though as parts of some episodes do focus on her past and her wish aswell. Saber unlike Shirou regrets her past and wants to change it and by theend of UBW this plot thread is given a satisfying conclusion.

Archer: Archer’s personality is the polar opposite of Shirou.He’s cynical and believes that everything Shirou think is wrong and childish.Archer does get a good amount of development and backstory. Throughout theseries Archer is usually the person who Shirou is combatting his idealswith.  I think Archer is a very well written character and does a good jobat playing the opposite side to Shirou’s ideals of saving everyone.

Enjoyment: Even though I have played the Vn for all of itsfaults I still think Fate/Stay Night UBW is one of the best anime to come outthis year. Its story is engaging and its animation and music is breathtaking aswell. While is characters do suffer from a lack of characterization at times Ifeel it is a very good adaption to an excellent visual novel and wouldrecommend it to any fan of the medium.

Score (calculated based on Story, Animation, Sound, andCharacters) 8.25/10

iliana14 - 2015-06-08 15:14:45

*MAJOR SPOILERS* 

UPDATE: I'll be honest. I am very insecure about how I feel about this show. Episode 12 of S2, which was just released, was done beautifully. I loved it! That still does not change how I felt about the previous episodes though, and I know that. But... I can't honestly bring myself to hate this show. So you know what? You can just safely ignore this review. I would like to delete it, but for some reason there is no delete button. So yeah, dislike this review/give it a thumbs down like everyone else, that's cool, I understand. It is a pretty sh*t review, hell, it isn't even a review, it's a rant. But please keep in mind that I would very much like to forget that this review ever happened and delete it forever, and then move on. I will keep all of this in mind for if I ever write another review on Hummingbird.

Season 1 was a great adaptation of the first half of UBW. But ufotable is screwing up with the second half. Which should be absolutely amazing. The second half is where everything happens in UBW, hell, not just UBW, but every route. Y'know, this season even started out decently. Episodes 1-4 were actually pretty good, even though it was rushed quite a bit and they didn't use 'Ever Present Feeling' during the Shirou x Rin scene, which disappointed many. But Illya's death was just breathtaking, and disturbing. Archer's betrayal could have been better, like it could have been less all-of-a-sudden and less rushed, but it was fine for the most part. Then suddenly it kinda turned... crap (that may be too harsh, but as a VN fan expecting more out of my favorite studio, ufotable, maybe it isn't too harsh). Why did they add random filler to Caster's backstory, and then proceed to skip over all of the important details of her backstory? Why did they give characters, such as Kuzuki, a little 'flashback' and STILL not give Caster a proper backstory? And they aren't focusing enough on Shirou dammit. AND THEY ARE STILL RUSHING LIKE CRAZY. To make things worse, even the action is a letdown. We could at least expect the action to be above average, right, Unlimited Budget Works? But instead it's a couple of sword clashes, with an OST that doesn't even sync with the 'action' correctly, and then they stop and talk. Really? The action in S1 was amazing. Why isn't it amazing here, EVEN THOUGH IT SHOULD BE EVEN MORE AMAZING THAN S1. 

Rushing rushing rushing blah blah. 

And then... whoa. It actually started to be... great again. Lancer's death was just as epic as it was in the VN (and Shinji was a pussy hahaha) and Archer shooting down Shirou's ideals inside UBW (which doesn't make much sense tbh but DAMMIT WHATEVER), it was EPIC. The feeling of despair was great, and the OST, and EMIYA (as well as the Aimer insert song)... mmm. And they handled the answer in Shirou's head very well... until the next episode. Goddammit. It was so lackluster and disappointing. What was supposed to be the climax of the Answer scene, was instead an explanation of the Holy Grail War by Gilgamesh (yaaay exposition...), flashbacks to Fate/Zero, Saber flashback (which is good for anime only viewers, but c'mon, this is NOT the right time for a Saber flashback, as much as I love her), and "LOLOLOLOL THAT HOLY GRAIL CGI IS SO BAAAD." 

You see, that's what this season is doing. It fluctuates from 'Wow, this is a good adaptation' to 'This is so disappointing, you got it all wrong, WHY IS ARCHER'S HAIR STILL RED WHEN HE IS BECOMING A COUNTER GUARDIAN' and then 'This episode is giving me goosebumps... this is amazing' back to 'Uhm... this was supposed to be the Answer, right? Why did you focus on everything BUT the Answer? And why did you make Archer completely unaware that Gil was there... the reason he was supposed to die was because he WAS aware and he was protecting Shirou. But no, let's have Rin be able to sense Gilgamesh, and have Archer, A FREAKING SERVANT, be unaware of the MOTHERF*CKING KING OF HEROES.' 

I want to give this a high score. I want to love it. I love the Fate series. But I'm not sure if I can. Will the last 3 episodes change my opinion? Probably not at the rate that this is going, but if it does, it will only be slight. Just because the last couple of episodes are amazing, doesn't change the fact the ufo screwed up on many, many other things. But let's hope that the final day is adapted properly. Because if it's not, then this will be another absolute failure of an adaptation of a classic visual novel.

yborer - 2015-05-23 20:35:32

Spoilers will be had here. I'll clean up this review after the show is done airing. Just had to get a few frustrations out. Skip to Fifth if you don't care about story or character analysis. I hate this story. I hate it with a burning passion. First: Rin and Shirou don't make any of their own decisions. They are constantly pulled around by the actions of other characters like Caster. They also do the romantic comedy bit all the time. I didn't come here to see tsundere blushing and bullshit dates. I came for the action and animation. Second: the MCs are protected by so many layers of plot armor that only the writers can bury them out of it. Caster has three fucking Servants under her control (Saber's technically out, but whatever) and a badass master. She fucking loses to Shirou, Rin, and Lancer because she stopped paying attention for half a second and some bullshit was pulled by Shirou when he should've had his ass solidly handed to him by Souichirou who could go more than toe to toe with Saber. So the MC's never feel like they deserved their victories. Third: idealism in almost any character is awful. Of course many anime characters are idealistic. Shirou here is idealistic and stupid. When Shirou is confronted by Archer and his future he merely makes a conviction that he won't become the same as Archer and regret all his actions as a Guardian. Oh great buddy let's see how that goes for you when you know you'll do the same thing and regret everything because you're trying to keep your ideals of saving everyone which immediately contradicts everything that would happen if you did in fact become a hero of justice. Fate/Zero did idealism wonderfully with Kiritsugu owning his past and trying to make it so no one would have to do what he did ever again. Shirou doesn't have that past. All he has is one idea he got from Kiritsugu and then decided he knew what the fuck to do to be a Hero of Justice. He can't acknowledge the truth in Archer's words about how you can't save everyone. He's a pathetic character who refuses to change and refine his ideals. Fourth: all the "bad guys" are better characters. Gilgamesh besides being fabulous actually feels like he has a plan and knows what he's doing. Thats more than we can say for our hapless protags. He goes into action and uses Shinji to achieve his goals and technically hasn't done anything explicitly evil. Kirei was a great character in Fate/Zero, but now he hasn't had much of a presence. He also doesn't have any explicitly defined goals as of yet. He still is one of the people pulling the strings behind the Holy Grail War. He isn't standing idly by or being dragged along. Shinji is just a pure evil character and you can't really say anything else about him. Just another poorly written character that happens to be a bad guy. Fifth: everything else. Animation is top-tier as expected from Ufotable. Honestly it was one of the only reasons I stuck around. Some scenes were breathtakingly well animated. The choreography of the fight scenes is great. The action is fluid and somewhat meaningful. Of course it can't compare to AOTY: Ninja Slayer, but I digress. Music is good. Lots of the OSTs really capture the mood and the opening and ending songs are quality. The voice acting is well done and each character is captured perfectly by each actor. This was a long review, but it got out most of the ideas I really wanted to say. If you haven't seen Fate/Zero then go see that. I would advise watching this if you want more great action, but not if you want a continuation of a good story.