Another year, another addition to the ever expanding Fate franchise that has birthed some of the most epic, and not-so-epic, stories to be told in anime. Here with Fate/Apocrypha, we get a new twist on the time honored battle for the Holy Grail. I was happy to see another Fate series get a 25 episode run and was eager to dive in.
Story: 6
Being a spin-off version of the typical Grail War, the 2 warring factions idea was a valiant attempt to breathe some fresh life into the established rules; however, this is the root of most of the show's shortcomings. The overwhelming amount of
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character bios and motivations being condensed from the immensity of the Nasuverse into a neat and tidy 23 minute package each week is extremely difficult. To be blunt, the narrative struggles mightily in the first half of the show. The first 12 episodes were a bit of a slog for me as the sheer amount of exposition needed to place the viewer in the setting slowed down the forward progression of the story heavily. It upset the pacing quite a bit and made the first few battles you witness seem stunted and dubious. Would this have been helped with a longer first episode to get the info dump out of the way? Who knows.
However, the second half of the show thrust into a breakneck pace that was a treat to watch. The pacing locked into place and allowed for a thrilling build-up into an action-packed and even emotional finale. The fights had been delayed until this point to build tension and anticipation for the final face-offs, and for the most part it worked. I still feel like some of the battles could have been longer but it left me pleased with what I had seen.
Art: 7
Artistically, it was nice to see a slight deviation from the hard and fast designs from the typical Nasuverse characters. The backgrounds were detailed, besides the inside of the Yggdmillenia fortress that is, and helped add to the action in the foreground. It was a solid effort put out by A-1; however, the fight scenes later in the show left me with mixed feelings. I was absolutely awed and wowed by the attack animations in most of the fights. I appreciated the scope in which the animatiors envisioned these epic battles between Heroic Spirits and it left me eager to see if they could outdo themselves in the next fight. That said, the character animations began to suffer heavily in the last few episodes of the series. I know that it can be credited to a more fluid animation style to support the fight scenes, but the drastic change in character model really took me out of it in some moments. The insane amount of smash cuts and motion blurs became dizzying at points as well. But damn when they were on, they were on.
Sound: 8
I had originally began watching the show subbed as Netflix had not released the dubbed version upon its airing. The sub was solid and the characters all felt natural. I then began watching the dub once it had finally been released and I have to say, it was really solid as well. No one felt like they were overacting and nothing seemed forced. Special commendations for the VA of Saber of Red as she really nailed the tenacity and barely contained voraciousness in her voice. It was a cool contrast to the famous Fate Saber's calm and collected repose. Keith Silverstein did a nice job in his role as Caster of Red as well. It was refreshing to hear a plethora of actors that I had not encountered before. As for the soundtrack, it fit well into the mysterious and violent atmosphere that the Holy Grail War often emits, but overall it was nothing to really write home about. The battle effects were well done and had a nice variety of fitting weapon sounds that made sense with what they were clashing with. I wasn't a huge fan of the onslaught of audio clipping from the massive attacks displayed as I feel like it downplayed the impact of the attack.
Characters: 9
As with every Fate series, the joy, and crux of the whole show, comes down to the Servants, their abilities, their ideals and ambitions, and their interactions with those who summoned them. In this aspect, I feel that Apocrypha did an admirable job at attempting to delve into the backstories of the whopping 14 servants introduced throughout the story. It wasn't always a hit, but it helped give some insight into why the Servants were so set in their ways. The interactions between masters and servants were sometimes heartfelt, comedic, or serious, and I thought, for the most part, that they played off of each other nicely.
Some character motivations were questionable and vague, mainly those of the final antagonist, and left a lot to be desired. I blame the overabundance of characters for that as 14 servants and 14 masters makes for a difficult time giving enough backstory to feel connected to the characters. I was left feeling like I should've felt more emotion at certain points in the story, but the lack of character development prevented me from really getting there. I was disappointed with the fates of some of the characters, but as anyone who is familiar with the Fate series knows, only one can win the Grail. I will always wish we got more of Saber of Red and Shishigou as they were the crown jewel of Master/Servant combos in the story. I loved every minute they were on screen and thought that they had the best chemistry and moments in the show.
Enjoyment: 8
As I was going through the first half of the show, I was worried that the pacing and plot were going to stagnate and leave me with little to look forward to as the series progressed. I was thankfully proven wrong as the story quickly picked up and even featured cameos from characters of other Fate series which was a welcome touch. Saber of Red was the breakout star in this show and I would love to have her in more Fate material as time goes on.
Overall: 7
A flawed but enjoyable ride that left me satisfied with what I had just watched. Not my favorite Fate story ever but one that I felt didn't waste my time either.
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Feb 17, 2018
Fate/Apocrypha
(Anime)
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Another year, another addition to the ever expanding Fate franchise that has birthed some of the most epic, and not-so-epic, stories to be told in anime. Here with Fate/Apocrypha, we get a new twist on the time honored battle for the Holy Grail. I was happy to see another Fate series get a 25 episode run and was eager to dive in.
Story: 6 Being a spin-off version of the typical Grail War, the 2 warring factions idea was a valiant attempt to breathe some fresh life into the established rules; however, this is the root of most of the show's shortcomings. The overwhelming amount of ... 
Jan 8, 2015
Fate/Zero 2nd Season
(Anime)
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This is mostly a review of the entirety of Fate/Zero rather than the second season in particular. I have not watched or read the Fate/Stay Night material before watching this.
Story: 9 Writing a prequel to an already well-established series has proven in many cases to be difficult to do (i.e. Star Wars) but Fate/Zero passes with flying colors. Even if you have seen Fate/Stay Night prior to watching this, it still provides many twists and turns that leave you guessing all the way up until the final episode, all the while seamlessly setting up the story for Fate/Stay Night. The dialogue is genuine and the ... |
