Fate/Zero 2nd Season

As the Fourth Holy Grail War rages on with no clear victor in sight, the remaining Servants and their Masters are called upon by Church supervisor Risei Kotomine, in order to band together and confront an impending threat that could unravel the Grail War and bring about the destruction of Fuyuki City. The uneasy truce soon collapses as Masters demonstrate that they will do anything in their power, no matter how despicable, to win.

Seeds of doubt are sown between Kiritsugu Emiya and Saber, his Servant, as their conflicting ideologies on heroism and chivalry clash. Meanwhile, an ominous bond forms between Kirei Kotomine, who still seeks to find his purpose in life, and one of the remaining Servants. As the countdown to the end of the war reaches zero, the cost of winning begins to blur the line between victory and defeat.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Saber Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Emiya, Kiritsugu Main

Irino, Miyu Japanese

Gilgamesh Main

Seki, Tomokazu Japanese

Kotomine, Kirei Main

Nakata, Jouji Japanese

von Einzbern, Irisviel Main

Ohara, Sayaka Japanese

Toosaka, Rin Supporting

Ueda, Kana Japanese

Rider Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio Japanese

Emiya, Shirou Supporting

Noda, Junko Japanese

von Einzbern, Illyasviel Supporting

Kadowaki, Mai Japanese

Matou, Sakura Supporting

Shitaya, Noriko Japanese

Takeuchi, Takashi Producer, Original Character Design

Iwakami, Atsuhiro Producer

Kondou, Hikaru Producer

Mori, Yasunori Producer

Reviews

Oct 16, 2024

Pursueth

Recommended

[Review for the entirety of Fate/Zero]

"And then… So fervently that, even on the brink of death, I was jealous. He said, 'Thank you.' That he was glad he’d found someone. That by saving one person, he had saved himself."

Idealism stripped down to its infantile dispositions—a utilitarian mindset of sacrificing the few for the greater good of many—collides with the reality of its emotionally stunted practitioner. A man embarks on a hopeless quest for a miracle that can validate his exhaustive efforts to reconcile with his grief—a child thrust into a world hostile to his empathy. A priest's bubbling psychopathy bursts forth as unchecked hedonism stains ... the land. Parental negligence ignites unseen repercussions, while nameless children become mere instruments in a ploy. The inorganic object meshes with the organic soul. A wildcard of psychotic murderers, a bond of pure brotherhood—linkages spanning time and dimensions.

In a soliloquy between kings and their subjects, all end with the death of their unattainable ambitions. There is no glory to be found beyond the horizon. A world of invariable hope crumbles and nihilism rises from its ashes. A gloryless reality of tragedy abounds. Die by your principles, or be consumed by the reality of your zealous ideals.

Urobuchi, I was not familiar with your game.

If the first season was a séance between the undead myths and the mages of the present—an essential, season-long establishment of motives, methods and mutuality—then season two erupts into an outburst of controlled chaos that sheds any pretence of valour and goes straight to the heart of the matter.

The battles between Saber and Berserker, as well as Kiritsugu and Kirei, can be juxtaposed to highlight stark contrasts in their presentation, showcasing the show's innate understanding of the stakes involved in different scenarios. Saber's conflict reflects a journey from curiosity to impending dread and ultimately to acceptance. This realization is veiled as a clash of swords, with her dialogue providing keen insight for both the characters and the audience, justifying the need for constant dialogue during the fight. In contrast, Kiritsugu and Kirei, while also uncovering uncomfortable truths, represent two sides of the same coin—nature triumphing over nurture and nurture triumphing over nature. A battle to the death between cold blooded killers. This fight's acclaim comes from two things: its immense production value and, in my opinion, the use of diegetic monologues. In a typical anime, a fight like this would be bashful, loud and completely audible to the opponent, which makes it both unbelievable for the audience and feels like a pointless venture. Zero circumvents this by eliminating the need for verbal exchanges between the two during their fight. Any dialogue uttered is entirely diegetic, intended solely for the audience itself, shifting the focus from their monologues to their physical movements.

In Unlimited Blade Works, visual splendour and dialogical intersections are vehicles used to paint its world and eccentric ideologies. In Fate/Zero, a spin-off prequel to UBW, Urobuchi uses dialectics not only to reveal the various truths and lies about the characters’ dispositions but also to weave a larger narrative in the background. Pleasure and sin mesh with blasphemy and worship as kings enter a dialogue about the nature of their existence. There's always a battle of semiotics and ideologies that takes precedence over the loud clashes of swords and spears in Fate/Zero. While this may seem laborious to some, Urobuchi's narrative manages to offset that aspect by being consistently engaging throughout, which is entirely due to the meticulous construction of personal convictions and ideals.

Take, for instance, the episode dedicated to the exploits of a young Rin Tohsaka. While it may be disingenuous to claim that her UBW counterpart is less realised, it's undeniable that there's a palpable maturity to her portrayal in this single episode that is rare elsewhere. UBW and F/Z are both shows that employ similar storytelling modes, i.e., long bouts of exposition. However, Miura's UBW fails to deftly employ this device, as his direction merely utilises this for stuffy jargon with zero emotional tangibility and nothing else. Fate/Zero is remarkable because the same ideologies are framed not as verbal vomits but as extremely competent dialogues between emotionally well-realised and charismatically distinct figures. The thematic groundwork laid here about the nature of larger purposes, both regarding the Holy Grail War and the summoned heroes from the past, is passionately realised through the heartfelt outpourings from Rider, an immediate favourite amongst an already stacked, memorable, and intelligently written cast, and echoed in the interactions between other heroes.

While Fate/Zero's cinematics may seem "inferior" to its more bombastic visual effects sister, this doesn't mean that F/Z's action plotting isn't intelligent to the point of Machiavellian. There's a sense of free-flowing expression and depth to the actions here that simply aren’t present in UBW. This is largely thanks to the excellent direction by Ei Aoki, who previously directed the brilliantly atmospheric 'The Garden of Sinners Chapter 1: Overlooking View'. Aoki’s brilliance is evident in Fate/Zero, where there's a lot more emphasis on oppressive atmospheres and creative cinematography. The battles are tactically engaging and are reflective of the characters' psychological states'. Character countenances are highlights in these battles and incite a sense of awe that cannot be mimicked by mere visual effects galore.

This series stands as a compendium of profound ideological follies and nigh-machiavellian battles of dialectics. Insurmountable woes and cataclysmic tragedies spanning from ancient mythos to contemporary assassins. Fuck me for ever doubting you, Urobuchi.

Realistically I could yap for 3000 more words about every single character in here and how poetically they all tie in together when it comes to constructing the larger thesis of Fate/Zero a la an unfair world kind to those who deserve it least, but I don't have the energy to continue + this show has been discussed at length by far smarter people than I. All in all this far, no clue about the VN, but this outshines its original anime. It's not even close, except maybe when it comes to sound design. They're both equally good in that regard.

9/10

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Nov 3, 2024

Manthors

Mixed Feelings

I gave it a 6 for the second season because the art style is gorgeous, the animation is top-tier, and the soundtrack is amazing; otherwise, it would be a 4 or a 3. I gave it a 9 for the first season, so what went wrong?
Simple: 0 levels of satisfaction regarding all storytelling decisions. I will not give any spoilers, but I will make some analogies for you to understand what I meant. And YES, I KNOW Fate/Zero is a prequel to many of the Fate series branches (Such as all the Stay Night what-if stories). But every anime has to provide you with ... some level of satisfaction without the need to start a new anime (The story of Fate Zero is actually finished in the Fate Stay Night series). This one left me with bad taste.

Story: They messed up. Everything detailed, built, and explained will explode into something you will think: "Really? I watched 2 seasons for this?". My level of satisfaction went as low as it could. Uninspiring, hopeless, no glory, loveless, lame. The conclusion will make many of you feel the entire anime was just a filler arc. Some of you will enjoy it, but if you like to pay attention to the storytelling aspects of this anime, you will feel the same as I do. Considering that this anime WANTS to have an intricate and complex story, I can't ignore it. They built one and decided to finish in the most. "Yeah, cool, we don't care about all we tailored so far; let us just shock people with the ending!"
Imagine you are watching Lord of the Rings, with all that character building for Frodo and how he goes through Hell by bearing the One Ring. However, in the end, when Frodo is in Mordor, an orc comes behind a rock and stabs him. He dies, and the orc laughs and leaves. That's how the climax storytelling aspect of Fate/Zero felt for me.
Now, how did I perceive the ending?
Imagine the same scenario I pictured above, but now imagine that Aragorn dies in his final charge, Sauron corrupts Gandalf, Sam gets depressed and develops agoraphobia, Legolas betrays the elves and turns into an Orc, Galadriel becomes an alcoholic, and Gimli just goes into some tavern and drinks beer. Yeah, I am not kidding; that's the feeling I got. The sense of "I watched all of this for this conclusion."

Characters: Rider is the best, with the best, and probably only, development among the Heroes. Saber is boring, stays boring, learns nothing. Archer starts as a prick and ends as one, and nothing changes (but he is well-written). The humans? It's the same thing, static development, except for the Rider's master. Word of advice: Do not expect anything interesting about humans.
Note about Saber: I have no idea why, among all the cool personalities they came up with for the heroes, they chose the one they gave Saber to be the protagonist's personality—the most cliche, dull, lifeless, and annoying of all (aside from Archer). Saber's personality prevents you from developing any emotions; you do not like her, hate her, and feel close to her in any way. It is the definition of a default-neutral-frozen personality. She will only glimpse a potential development for 1 minute at the end. By far, Archer is one of Fate's most disgusting characters, but at least he makes you feel something (as is expected from a nicely written-character).

That's it. You will see the second season because we need to know the ending. Some of you will think, "WOW, this is so awesome," and that is OK; it is your taste. But many of you will feel the same way I do; for those, keep your expectations really low.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Mar 11, 2019

GloriousCount

Not Recommended

Funny

This review covers both seasons because they're both parts of the same story and reviewing them individually is stupid.

Fate/zero is yet another badly written anime by the shitty writer gen urobuchi and this review explains why.

I'll talk about the good aspects of fate/zero and then the majority of the review will be the bad aspects (because there are too many) the mediocre aspects are anything that i don't end up mentioning

The Good:-
1- Great Visuals that make the scenes and the backgrounds in the anime look great, but the anime doesn't have alot of animation in it.
2- high quality instruments and sound effects, but the soundtrack ... itself is not that amazing in fact most of it is forgettable.

The Bad:-
1- the grail war in this anime never had any clear rules at all.
No rules were mentioned at the beginning, instead the writer inserted any rules he wanted as the anime went on, even the basis of how magic works were unclear and he wrote them as he went on and made magic adjust to any given situation, which shows how badly written this anime is. An example of this is Kirei blocking Kiritsugu's origin bullets using command spells which doesn't make any sense.

2- Character problems:-

The masters
Kiritsugu Emiya: used to live happily in an island and after like five minutes it turns into hell with zombie infection, so cheesy and unrealistic, then he kills his father who raised him because he was only partly and indirectly responsible for the zombie infection and it was only by accident, it seems like the writer doesn't even know how people normally behave.

Kotomine Kirei: starts as a normal guy who works with tokiomi but after archer tells him that he seems intrested in kariya's tragedy he gets rewritten into a one-dimensional villan by instantly betraying tokiomi and seeking the grail that will help him understand himself, which is dumb since an individual normally understands himself more than anyone else, like i said earlier, the writer doesn't even know how people normally behave.

Matou Kariya: who suffers to join the war so he can save sakura, but fails to do so and suffers even more, the only reason he exists is because the writer is obsessed with tragedy, kariya's story has no point, no meaning, it's a complete waste of time.

El-Melloi Archibald Kayneth: an uninteresting and boring asshole.

The servants
Saber (king arthur): ripping a character straight from historical books into your anime without bothering to include her background which is necessary to understand her unremarkable struggles in the anime, it seems like the writer has achieved new levels of bad storytelling.

Berserker (Sir Lancelot):same problem as saber.

Caster & his master(Gilles de Rais & Ryuunosuke): both of them don't even care about the grail, they simply spend their time killing kids and talking about how they enjoy killing kids, they're too delusional to even see the possible consequences of their actions like being the first ones killed in the grail war, which actually happens, but why are these characters in the anime anyways? oh yeah because they need SHOCKING scenes in it to attract viewers who only care about SHOCK FACTOR.

Archer (gilgamesh): an egoistical asshole with hax god powers (which he used to kill rider) he doesn't have to worry about anything thanks to his hax powers, which lets him remain as an egoistical asshole with zero character development till the end, he could have also won the war straight from the beginning but he doesn't care about the war, why is he in this anime again? You can remove him from the anime without any changes.

3- Shoehorned philosophy & themes.
The writer adds unnecessary philosophy & themes to the anime with a very bad handling of them.

- the anime wasted time by having rider and archer talk about how they think saber was not a good king, her life as a king was not shown in the anime and wasn't even part of the anime story in the first place, so why are they discussing it? It makes no sense, even if it made sense it still wouldn't matter because it doesn't affect the anime story, and why are they referring to her as king? she's a woman which makes her a queen.

- after lancer's death saber complains about Kiritsugu's evil actions in the grail war, out of stupidity she forgets that he will use the grail to end war.
then Kiritsugu claims that honor and valor are the cause of war and bloodshed, yet any one with half a brain can tell how stupid that claim is, the people who got honor from war did it by not commiting war crimes against anyone during war and did what it takes to reduce the losses and hatered of war after it was over, the war itself was not caused or started by them ,The people who cause or start a war usually do it for other reasons without bothering to think of the consequences, they can't do it because of honor since it has no way of starting a war by itself, there is always another reason behind it, if the writer knows of significant bloodshed caused by honor he should mention and explain it, otherwise it comes of as pretentious and stupid, another fact is almost everybody nowadays knows that war itself is bad and nobody think's that war itself is honorable or anything, yet Kiritsugu acts like he figured out something special, it's as if the writer lives in his own small world and keeps including topics in the anime that he himself doesn't even understand.

4- The ending:-
Which literally ruined the entire story with it's bullshit.
At the beginning everyone talks about how the grail will grant any wish and nobody doubts it at all and they do all it takes to win the grail but then right at the end it's revealed that the grail won't actually grant any wish, more specificly it won't be able to grant the wish of the winner (Kiritsugu) and then it explodes and kills everything around him, this happened because the grail was cursed before fate/zero and that's only known in other parts of the fate franchise which you have to through to understand this because it wasn't mentioned or probably foreshadowed at any part of the fate/zero anime, if fate/zero doesn't even make sense on it's own and has many writing problems then how can it be any better than the rest of the fate (porn game) franchise? even if the grail got cursed, then why didn't any of the characters know about the curse or doubt the grail? it makes no sense either.
and this ending basically makes the entire anime feel like a pointless waste of time.

Kiritsugu, after bad writing destroyed everything he was doing without any explained reason is still happy because he saved and adopted shirou at the end which ties this with fate/stay night, yay i don't care.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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