dmacejkovic - 2015-06-21 23:17:13

Ah, the Fate/ series. As of this review, I have seenFate/Zero, as well as every episode of Fate/ Stay Night: UBW except the lastone.

First of all, let me tell you that if you have not yet experienced thephenomenon that is the Fate/ series, then you would most likely want to watchit before this spinoff series, since a lot of plot elements are taken from themain show. That being said, one can still enjoy this series without having seenthe original series just fine, but with an un-enhanced view.

Story: (7/10) Fate/kaleid liner Prisma*Illya takes place in an alternateuniverse of the Fate/ Stay Night universe. It has the same characters, but someplot elements are different, such as the introduction of Luvia, and MagicalGirls.

Before you write this off as some kind of cheap ripoff of another series, youshould know that this series makes various statements about the absurdity ofthe Magical Girl genre.

These statements are not forced in your face, but rather through subtext,making it apparent that this anime is a pseudo-Magical Girl anime. As anexample, the characters make various statements about the embarrassing outfitsthat they are forced to wear when transformed (much like Kill la Kill).

But I digress, the anime begins with an introduction of the Main ProtagonistIllyasviel von Einzbern, an elementary school girl who is obsessed with MagicalGirl anime. At this point in the story, she is unaware that Magical Girls do infact exist.

After that, we are introduced to the protagonist's teacher of Magic, whoveteran fans of the Fate/ series will recognize as Tohsaka Rin. Here is wherewe are introduced to our main plot.

Rin and Luvia have been tasked with the retrieval of the Seven Class Cards,which are based on the servants of The original Fate/ series. They must do thisin order to become the pupils of one of the greatest Mages in the World.Archer, Saber, Assassin, Rider, Caster, Lancer, and Berserker, are all in thisshow albeit in very primal forms. Also, this anime draws the servants from boththe Fate/Zero Holy Grail War and the Fate/ Stay Night Holy Grail War.

Rin and Luvia then get in a fight while transformed, and the sticks that causethe transformations leave them to find new masters. Ruby, one of the sticks,finds Illya, (while she is taking a bath, mind you) and forms a pact with her.Rin then informs Illya that she must find the Class Cards in Rin's place, asRuby will no longer obey Rin. Illya, not really having a reason to do so, ornot do so, agrees, and joins Rin, Luvia, and Miyu, the girl that the otherStick Chose.

From here on the story becomes a tale of friendship and resolve, with onenotable part in the story focusing on the two girls reasons for fighting. It isdecent for a Magical Girl anime, but when compared to Masterpieces such asShinsekai Yori, it falls flat immediately. It is definitely not a complexstory, and it doesn’t need to be.

Animation: (9/10) The animation of this series is good, although it pales incomparison to the amazing animation that ufotable uses in its Fate/adaptations.

The animation is bright and vibrant, which is appropriate for the territory ofa Magical Girl anime. The animation holds its own against that of other animesuch as Log Horizon and Stein's Gate.

The characters all appear as cute and adorable as they should, and theanimation is perfect for the content involved.

Sound: (9/10) This anime had a consistent sound quality and voice quality.

The voice actor of Illya does a good job of making the character sound cute andupbeat as well as sad. When Illya cries, it makes the viewer want to just getup and consul her.

The voice actor of Miyu did a good job of portraying the emotionless, almostrobotic nature of Miyu. She sounds uncaring at places where she should, andsounds somewhat caring at places where she should. There’s not much more tosay.

The voice actor of Rin is the same one as ufotable’s Rin (atleast I’m pretty sure, as I was unable to find any credits on Wikipedia foreither of the works), and sounds as good as Rin should. Pretty much, all of thevoice actors for this series did terrific jobs from what I can tell since Ican’t really tell as well as I could with English dubs.

Luvia’s laugh is the epitome of what this shows voice actingaccomplishes, since she is a stuck up rich girl. Her laugh shows that shedoesn’t care about what the lesser people think of her, since no one who doescare would ever laugh in such a showboating fashion.

Overall, the voice acting and quality of sound is very good.It does not detract from the overall experience, and in media like anime, thatis what you truly want.

Character: (8/10) This anime has a lot of characters, but Ithink that we should just focus on the main four and what drives them.

Illya is driven to work for no reason, such as Shirou in theHoly Grail War of Fate/ Stay Night, since she was just caught up in all of thison the fly. This actually does factor in to her overall character developmentand is a big part of the climax of the show. She is unaware that all of the fighting is actually dangerous, andsometimes puts her friends in danger because of this. This causes her toself-reflect on the reasons she is fighting later on in the show.

Miyu is driven to work because she has no other choice.Saying too much would spoil the plot, but at first, she is cold and uncaringtoward the titular character. But, eventually through teamwork, she begins towarm up to her. Miyu is a character that the first season of this show doesn’teffectively explain and just kind of leaves the viewer longing for morebackstory of. I am hoping that the second season rectifies this problem, but itdoesn’t really matter, since we see the world through the eyes of Illya. WhenIllya learns of Miyu’s background, we will.

Rin and Luvia are driven by the desire to become bettermages, to better themselves in some way. It is for this reason that they arelooking for the class cards in the first place, and how Illya and Miyu becomecaught up in all of this. Rin’s story is not thoroughly explained in thecontext of the alternate universe, but it is forgivable again, since we see theworld through the eyes of Illya, and Rin is not the type of person to divulgepersonal information to someone who she isn’t completely intimate with.

Luvia’s backstory, however, is almost nonexistent in itsnature. We are only privy to the knowledge that she is rich by random spouts ofanger toward the character by Rin. Not much else is known about her except thatshe is of the upper class. The nationality of this character is completelyunknown to us, which is kind of understandable, again, since Illya is unawareof the true nature of the character. Ruby is Rin’s stick, while Miyu’s Sapphireis Luvia’s stick. This means that Illya would only spend the time when she isout gathering cards with Luvia, since Rin is related to her by the stick, andLuvia is not. Also, Luvia is rich, and probably doesn’t believe that commonerssuch as Illya should know about her.

For what the show is, the characters work. This show is notlooking to be the next big psychological anime, and is just simple and fun. Itdoesn’t need to have characters with multiple layers of convictions and pagesof backstory. It perfectly captures what it means to be a Magical Girl anime.

Enjoyment: (9/10) This anime is like a guilty pleasure. Iknow that it is a magical girl anime, but the fact that it uses Fate/ StayNight characters and places draws me in. It’s also pretty funny at some points,with some of the jokes being adult in nature, which is somehow understandable,since Illya is a child and is not aware that some actions are sexual. Don’tworry though, there are no pedophilic or NOW-illegal-in-Japan naked drawings ofchildren. It’s all just childish fun, with the only actual nudity being Illya’sbra-less prepubescent back, which doesn’t even really count.

Overall: (8/10) If you aren’t looking for something tochallenge your mind, this is an enjoyable anime. It conveys what a Magical Girlanime should be without getting too stupid, a prime example of stupidity beingthe ending of the Soul Eater anime.

With its bright and cheery atmosphere and taking place in analternate universe of Fate/ Stay Night, this anime is a good one to watch. Itis only 10 episodes, and is enjoyable enough to warrant a beneficial watchwithout too much time wasted. Fans of the Fate/ Stay Night series and universewill probably enjoy seeing more of Illya, since she is a character that is notfeatured as much as she should be. So watch this and have fun.

terence.murphy - 2015-01-11 00:44:24

Fate/Kaleid liner Prisma focuses on Illya, Kiritsugu's daughter, it has nothing to do with the main story line of Fate, the classes are inside of cards and you don't really see much of them. The voice acting could be much better, but it's worth a watch. It's kind of, sexual, for an elementary school anime. You'll know what I mean once you watch it, which it's worth watching if your a big fan of anything to do with Fate~

lynch.braeden - 2014-07-12 23:34:57

      When I looked at this series after having finished Fate/Stay Night and Fate/Zero, I was completely turned off at the idea of it. I mean, Illya being transformed into a magical girl and doing magical girl-type things? No thanks. However, once I looked into this series more, it seemed rather interesting. So I gave it a try. And I absolutely fell in love with this show. Now, without further gushing over my love for this series, let's get on with the review:

Story: The story of Fate/Kaleid is fairly simple. This series takes place in an alternate universe of Fate/Stay Night where the Holy Grail War does not exist. Illya and Shirou have been raised as normal children, and are attending elementary school.
      One day, Illya is visited by a mysterious talking stick named Ruby. The stick transforms Illya into a magical girl, and the story unfolds from there. Illya is tasked with finding the 7 Servant Class Cards, which you should recognize if you watched the original Fate/Stay Night series. If not, this may be sort of confusing. She is accompanied by her fellow magical girl, Miyu. Miyu is an original character to the series. The story here on out is fairly standard to the Mahou Shoujo genre with a few exceptions. Most of the main cast of the Fate/ series makes an appearance some time throughout the series.

Animation: Fate/Kaleid was animated by Silver Link, a studio that always stands at the top of its class. They've done work on Baka and Test, Kokoro Connect, Watamote, and more recently, Strike the Blood. I've found that any works they do look fantastic, and Fate/Kaleid is no exception. The animation is smooth, the transformation sequences are cool, and the bits of CGI work very well with the rest of the normal animation.

Sound: There are several memorable tracks from the OST of this anime. While several of the songs are edited versions of tracks from the original anime, there are many new songs included as well. I'm also a huge fan of the OP, as it suits the anime to a tee especially towards the later bits.
      Japanese dub: The Japanese dub cast mostly features the cast of the original anime and visual novel. There's not too much of a difference, with the exceptions being the original characters. One voice worth note is the actor of Luvia, as she fits the character absolutely perfectly. The stuck up voice, the haughty laugh, everything. So good. I mean, just listen:

      English dub: Jesus christ the dub is terrible. Don't even try it 0/10... Japanese dub all the way

Characters: The characters of this series are mostly the same as the original anime. However, their personalities are slightly different considering the changes in the overall situation.
      Illyasviel is the main character of the series. She is a normal elementary school student until she is transformed into a magical girl by Ruby. I rather like the development around her character, especially involving the switch in her mindset around halfway through the anime. In the beginning, Illya approaches her magical girl tasks as if it were a game. Once she gets into a legitimate battle and is injured, she realizes that this is all very real.
      Miyu is an OC of this series, and she's probably my least favorite of them all. She was taken in by Luvia to help collect the Servant Class Cards. Miyu is sort of a Yuki Nagato clone. She doesn't talk much except when necessary, and is exceptionally skilled in athletic or combat situations.
      Ruby/Sapphire are the magical sticks that give Illya and Miyu their powers. I feel like their characters are worth note because they instigated the entire story. They can be obnoxious at times, but generally they're helpful and funny characters.
      Rin and Luvia are the guardians of Illya and Miyu throughout their quest to gather the Class Cards. Rin doesn't change much from the Fate/Stay Night series, except being extra bitchy when around Luvia. Luvia is a stuck-up rich girl who finds it amusing to mess with Rin CONSTANTLY. Also she has the awesome laugh that I linked before.

Enjoyment: I found this series to be incredibly enjoyable. Even though I was hesitant going into it, I came out with an amazing anime that I'm currently watching the sequel to ;). I found the characters funny, and the story worth watching. While there were SOME inconsistencies plot-wise, that's expected from an alternate universe spin-off.

Overall: This is a great spin-off of the Fate/ series that any fan could enjoy. Hell, even someone with no prior knowledge of the series could like this anime. There are some things that someone new wouldn't completely understand, but Fate/Kaleid could easily stand alone as its own series.

osipes - 2014-05-11 02:46:54

Full Review Here: http://littlecloudcuriosity.com/category/anime-recaps-reviews/fate-kaleid-liner-prisma-illya/

green.haven - 2014-03-31 22:46:58

Background

Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Illya was produced and animated by Silver Link, a studio known for well, nothing special. Here are some examples: Kokoro Connect, Baka to Test, Strike the Blood and you can google the rest. The director is Shin Onuma, who pretty much directs most of the Silver Link animes. As for the mangaka, Hiroshi Hiroyama has only written Fate/Kalied.

As you can see clearly from the picture this is no ordinary fate adaptation it is a magical girl universe. I have no idea whose bright idea it was to make a magical girl manga out of a universe that already has magic but if you don't know it Type Moon is the very same company who made Fate Hollow Ataraxia which we don't talk about because of what happens and the Carnival Phantasm a universe were all the Type-Moon universes melt together. But since this is a review I should stop ranting and get to it.

Story

In a universe where the Fourth Holy Grail never happened where Illya is a happy go lucky girl who isn't this crazy cold hearted B*tch trying to kill Shirou. There is Fate Kalied a universe where she lives blissfully with her precious Onii-Chan Shirou. Ironic, I thought so too. The story follows Illya as she is given a task to collect seven cards. Yea cards, I don't know why. But I blame all the previous magical girls in the past anyways.( I'm talking about you Card Capture Sakura) She is given the task after well Rin and Luvia ahh it doesn't matter sh*t goes down. Screw the explanations, it would be a spoiler to the fun. The story is simple Illya and Miyu are given tasks to collect cards there and thats pretty much it. Insert friendship, glitter and yuri undertones and you got yourself a Magical Girl Anime. Let's move on to the next thing.

Characters

Fate Kalied contains the personalities of the previous Fate universe it was mainly based on. For example Rin is still kind of a tsundere and Shirou is still the generic protagonist blockhead. Illya however is happy and playful like the one before the whole Fate/Zero incident. I will stop now with the Fate/Zero references I swear. Luvia is introduced for the first time in anime form but she appeared in Hollow Atroxia and she is pretty much your cardboard ojou-sama cardboard cut out and the Rin rival or counter part. Miyu on the other hand is now introduced for the first time. She shows up as this badass you can almost say cough* *cough* Homura clone but this is in no way a comparison to Madoka Magica. Miyu can easy be classified as the silent girl who is too good at everything be it cooking or just using magic and combat. She is very logical and doesn't act her age in a good way.... Back to Illya she is the opposite to Miyu, she is outgoing and lacks sense sometimes and goes through real problems. She is human and she goes through human problems. While Fate Kalied lacks character development it isn't without any and while the characters are very similar to their counter parts we see more of them in a different environment (at least the viewers from the other series).

Animation

For a studio that has produced pretty much nothing in terms of action animes before Fate/Kalied, this studio did pretty well with it. They really put money into the fighting and its pretty impressive. Even outside of fights the movements of the characters and the floating wands are pretty well done. Its animation has a mixture of both computer CG and digital art and that is what makes it stand out gives it a good watch even if its for the fight scenes.

Sound

The sound was composed by Tatsuya Kato who has done the sound of Buddy Complex, Sekai Seifuku, and Medaka Box and other animes. The overall sound of Fate Kaleid was a bit average the opening was above the average opening not the greatest not the most mediocre. The ending fits the energetic theme of a magical girl anime. Overall the sound wasn't the best, it was there when it was appropriate and there was nothing really bad.

Conclusion and the Verdict

While some people see the Fate/Kalied Liner Prisma Illya was an unnecessary addition to the Fate franchise, this in a way was worth the entertainment value. Sure the first episode appalling and weird. But, if you can get past the moe and Illya's eyes it is worth the enjoyment value and the fight scene yes the one which I shall not name that happens somewhere in the middle with the most well known Type Moon heroine. So no more ranting for me here is the breakdown for my scores:

Story: 6
Animation: 8.5
Sound: 7
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 8

Overall: 7.3 

The anime itself provides a good way to kill time and it should be considered to be part of the Fate franchise. I personally would recommended this if you have seen what magical girl animes are like or at least have a good idea of what happens in the Fate universe be it Fate/(hentai game)/Stay Night or the beautifully animated Fate/Zero. Personally speaking don't expect much from this as it is a magical girl anime one that really is just there for fun. Overall I personally enjoyed it being the Fate fan boy I am. The anime is currently licensed by Sentai Filmworks in North America and it can be stream legally for free on Cunchyroll.

thiel.alfonzo - 2013-09-17 03:58:30

Just finished this Magical Girl series, and felt like sharing my thoughts via video format. Enjoy!

alden.willms - 2013-08-28 01:25:30

This is a series that was made for Fate fans by a fan of the Fate franchise. I would recommend to have read the Fate/Stay Night visual novel and to have gone through Fate/Zero before going into this series but that is not entirely necessary and a general familiarity with the Fate franchise should be enough for the viewer to see all the in jokes that are sprinkled throughout the series. Don't get me wrong, while I believe you need to be familiar with the Fate franchise to fully enjoy this series it doesn't mean that this series entirely relies on being a spin-off of a popular franchise to get viewers.

The jokes in the series are genuinely funny (they're not all in jokes mind you) and has one of the best fight scenes I've personally seen animated (if you check my list you'd know that's a lot). Overall I'm disappointed that this series gets so much flake from the anime community; it's a truly good spin-off series to my favorite franchise and hearing so many people complain about it gets under my skin at times. This is a must watch for a Fate fan and who knows maybe this will even draw in a few new ones.

isaac13 - 2013-08-12 03:37:56

Naturally my interest in the series is greatly influenced by my dedication to the Fate franchise. Thus I would, without a doubt, classify myself as a die-hard fan of everything Fate.

However, I originally did not give much attention to this series in particular as I was never that much interested in Ilya as a character. I knew I was going to pick it up sooner or later, but I didn't expect for it to become my main focus of this season.

Fate/kaleid is all what it seems from first glance, but it is also much-much more. The unusually moe art, focus on magical girls, comedy and loli ecchi is definitely there, but you're in for a pleasant surprise there onwards. The battle scenes, music, and tension-building are by far superior to anything Fate we've seen so far, and can only be outmatched by those of uFotable's Fate/Zero.

It was never a series meant to survive independently from its franchise, but as an addition to the Fate universe, it is by far doing better than expected and has a lot of great things to offer. Definitely a must-see for all Fate fans!