Like a diamond with one, big, deep scratch going through the middle - 8/10.
In short:
What is this anime?
It's a show with a really weak, boring, flawed start, which later - after getting to the point, the titular Rail Zeppelin - evolves into something epic. The pleasure I got from the finale was just out of this world.
What this anime could've been?
A great series which would lock into your memory for months. A series which wouldn't require you to read lore explanations. A series that you just wouldn't want to drop at any point.
Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail
...
Zeppelin Grace Note is a TV anime series produced by Troyca (IDOLiSH7) and directed by Makoto Katou (Re:Creators, Yagate Kimi ni Naru) based off a light novel "Lord El-Melloi II-sei no Jikenbo" written by Makoto Sanda. The series is a spin-off of Fate/Zero, which is a prequel to the most popular visual novel in Japan, "Fate/stay night".
The plot takes place somewhere between 2001 and 2004. The main character, Waver Velvet, AKA Lord El-Melloi II, is a lecturer in the Magus Association headquarters, the Clock Tower. Because of his debts he, together with a girl named Gray which is his assistant of sorts, has to help in many different crime investigations.
I'm gonna start with flaws, because most of them are located before the Rail Zeppelin part (I'm going to call this part "the introduction") started.
To begin with, Gray. Gray is the biggest plus and minus at the same time.
Her voice actor did an excellent job. It's so thrilling to hear her fluently switch between high-note screams full of despise and whispering the level unlock chant. That alone got me madly hyped during the final fight. On the bonus note, she sometimes sounds like my favorite female VA ever, so that's even better. However, while we are at it, I have to mention this: Engrish. I know how R and L work in Japanese so I can let sketchy R pronunciation pass, but "kuleiv" (crave) killed me.
Gray's personality (or rather its remnants that we got to see) is also a big advantage of her character, if not the whole series. She is quite a bit toned down when Waver is around, but when he isn't she gets really interesting. Her personality isn't easily explainable, I can't even assign any character archetype to her. I'm just gonna say she is charming, but not stupid, as the most of alike her are. One example of that which comes to my head is that she once bought a gift for Waver, but was too anxious to give it to him. She tried, but time and time again she would back out a second before making the move. She finally managed to give it in the last episode, and the wait was rewarded with a really happy scene between the two.
Additionally, Add (10/10 pun, ik). This happy little cube (or a scythe. Or a shield. Or a giant King Arthur's lance) and its interactions with Gray aren't the most common thing, sadly, but my god are they funny. I sure got a good laugh at least twice, especially in the last episode. Its irony and friendly taunts are just on point.
Wasn't I supposed to be complaining? Right.
First fatal mistake of the series (funny, like, isn't something fatal supposed to be singular?): Gray's backstory - or rather the not-so-total lack of it.
When it comes to backstories there are two options: give the viewer at least the amount of a character's history that you need to and then use it to thicken the plot, or don't give the backstory at all and don't use it as a story expander. Can you guess which one Troyca chose to go with? Anyway, you are wrong - they chose neither of those.
I know this series is based on 10 long novels and they just couldn't possibly have fit her story in full, but I just don't understand their move here. Why would you unveil just a little of mystery (that Gray was rescued by Waver from some village - like I myself couldn't deduct that he saved her from how loyal and attached to him she is), but then full-fledged use it in the darn climax of the series? I just have too little information to understand what the priest said to her just before he died - I only understand that it was important. Oh well, at least it was short enough to get me just a little mad.
Another got-me-irritated thing: everybody is speaking Japanese, for no apparent reason. The action takes place in Great Britain (and Iraq), why wouldn't they be speaking in English? I've seen only two series with the action going on outside of Japan, the other one being Great Pretender. In the latter authors were able to justify making everyone speak Japanese, why couldn't they do something about it here? It's such a tiny detail, but it breaks the immersion a bit.
Let's get away from the characters for a bit and talk 'bout art style (and the technical execution overall).
I like it. Characters are a tiny bit plain; I'd like for, for example, Waver's coat to be a little bit more detailed, but on the other hand, Gray's outfit is quite pretty - although until like the 11th episode I haven't noticed that it was a dress.
Next up - animations, camera movement, CGI, color palette, shadowing. These are all really nice. Not amazing, no, but for a low-budget adaptation to a spinoff of a prequel, they're great. Colors are nice and more on the colder side, which fits the mood well. Oh, and I'm impressed with how well did they manage to animate magic. Normally it's nothing hard, but when you are restrained by the way it works (eyes glow = on, eyes not glow = off), animating it so captivatingly is surely hard. Also, god damn was the final fight beautiful, no other words to describe it. Lastly, the soundtrack. It's no Monogatari Series, but it's great nevertheless. Only the opening disappoints.
But I said this anime is flawed, didn't I? As for now, I brushed off every flaw I pulled out, right? It ends here.
The second fatal mistake. The one which actually influences on the score I'm going to give, the one which made the introduction such a hassle. Lore explanations.
Sounds stupid. Everyone loves to experience some juicy lore. I also do. Some context: I am a Nasuverse (is El-Melloi even a part of Type-Moon? I don't know anymore) fan; I watched Fate/Zero; I saw Fate/stay night both in the original and adapted form; I watched Kara no Kyoukai. In short, I have a bigger than average knowledge on how does magic in Nasuverse works... and I heavily struggled to understand Waver's explanations of not only the lore, but also on what just happened and why it happened (heh, whydunit). Thus, each and every episode of the introduction is just a big question mark to me. Things, however entertaining they wouldn't be, are happening pretty much randomly and Waver is pulling his brilliant answers out of thin air. Even my initial (after episode 0) impression was "I'm hooked, but I'm not really sure on what exactly...".
Of course, our heroes gettin' on the magic train didn't change anything in that regard, but the explanations then were easier and happened much less often. Wow, who could have guessed that not trying to pack 700 pages into 40 minutes of screen time would make everything clearer.
Ah, this really aggravated me. Listen, I've seen Danganronpa, I can sense when something from the source material is getting skipped. In Lord El-Melloi my plothole detector was ringing a lot more than it should. Example? I said this before - dying priest's words. They were darn important, but without context provided from omitted parts, they just made no sense.
Ok, I'm good now. Let's praise it some more.
Humor. It's great! You already know my opinion on Add, but it isn't the only comedic aspect of this anime. I swear, I have at least five saved screenshots of Yvette's dialogues and more or less the same goes for Reines (her jokes just couldn't age any better). A subtle reference to the F/sn ("King Arthur was a guy, right?") made my day once.
We are getting closer and closer to the meat of the matter, but just one thing before that: Waver. I didn't like him at first because he was kinda cold and seemed haughty, he also definitely ain't my favorite Fate/Zero character, but after we got to know him a bit more and learn of his depression after Iskandar's sacrifice, it's easy to start feeling sorry for him. He often spaces out during lectures or unintentionally lets his sorrow out, those moments were sad. On the other hand, his brain is just massive. Remember "Murder on the Orient Express"? He would've solved that case in a day.
Oh, but I'm getting ahead of myself. The plot.
Or rather just the part that is understandable and not rushed (let's keep a conspiracy of silence over the rest, hm?). The titular "Rail Zeppelin". Incredibly captivating, making you think, inducing heart-throbs and thrills.
A quick summary: Iskandar's coat (very powerful and even more important magic artifact) gets stolen and the thief leaves Waver an invitation to the Rail Zeppelin, a mystic eyes train. Mystic eyes are like superpowers and on this train is the only place in the world where you can buy/sell them (yes, sell eyes. Your own, of course. This happened). Not so long after the train gets off, a murder happens, and the victim's head is nowhere to be found. While the mystery of the crime slowly unveils, the thief from before attacks Waver, seriously wounding him and knocking him unconscious for some time. While he is unavailable the train suddenly changes tracks and goes into a cursed forest. The rest is solving the mysterious murder and theft, which are strangely connected to each other.
It seems pretty basic. Like just another detective story. Let me assure you, it's not. The viewer is kept in suspense to the end (hell, even after it, the epilogue leaves just another cliffhanger!). Whydunit and whodunit are supposedly unveiled multiple times, but the real answer remains to be seen. It isn't, however, only a crime investigation. There is another plot thread - a direct attack from the thief. There are some fights (better or worse, depending on the story progress - at first they are kinda static, the characters would just grapple with their weapons and talking over it. They get more creative and nonlinear with time), and there is an absolutely epic final battle scene where Gray uses her full potential (I mentioned this moment like 7 times already, that's how good it is).
I liked a lot of little things about narrative. The narrator does not give us any more information than Gray knows (Gray, not Waver, because he knows everything), which does happen from time to time in other series and aggravates me heavily. When there are two plots threads happening at the same time the one we are following would constantly switch in a Hollywood-like way (the camera moves and the scene changes etc.). Flashbacks are greatly balanced, they are never annoyingly long. I could go on and on, but I don't want to spoil all the plot lol.
It's getting kinda long, isn't it? Let's get to the verdict.
8/10.
Why so high? Hm. You know, I tend to say that "a good series can be destroyed by a horrible ending and vice versa. In the end, the part you are going to remember the most vividly is going to be the climax". This is true here. Is this series a masterpiece? Nah. It's flawed, rushed and it just doesn't have this 'something'. The first half is mostly forgettable, because you can't remember something without understanding it. There is nothing really fresh or innovative here, everything I have seen before in one form or another. Before the Rail Zeppelin part started I thought of giving it a 5/10 at most. However, the ending - especially the climax - managed to change this series for better. Again, no masterpiece, but a great way to spend four hours. Must-watch for a Fate fan. Watch out for the cliffhanger - it's spicy.
I'm hooked. I would happily read the books... but they are getting translated at a speed of a monkey with a writing machine. I guess I'm better off learning Japanese on my own...
Gray... Rave... Crave... Deprave... Grave... me. Grave for you.
Sep 25, 2021
Like a diamond with one, big, deep scratch going through the middle - 8/10.
In short: What is this anime? It's a show with a really weak, boring, flawed start, which later - after getting to the point, the titular Rail Zeppelin - evolves into something epic. The pleasure I got from the finale was just out of this world. What this anime could've been? A great series which would lock into your memory for months. A series which wouldn't require you to read lore explanations. A series that you just wouldn't want to drop at any point. Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail ... 
Feb 20, 2021
I liked the first Chuunibyou season. I can safely say i fokin loved it. I also liked the second one.
Through both of them i was amazed by MC. Yuuta was the first character in anime that i could relate to and empathize with so deeply. Aaaaand there comes this absolute storm of shit, weird decisions and the the worst, the most bitter ending i have ever seen. Maybe i don't understand something about the Japanese pop culture? Like, is treating "idols" like that normal? I am not the auth-right guy saying that the person im with is mine and looking at someone other should be punised ... |
