AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Fate/Zero - Overall Series Impressions & Total Series Rating

SJCrew · 2012-09-30, 23:45

It's going to be harder to do this review with time, as I'm already starting to forget this anime despite having finished it recently. I'll make this quick.

After having sat through scores and scores of bloated dialogue, it's clear to me that Fate/Zero wanted to tell its story at all costs. But the endless exposition of ideals and rhetoric left me wanting for characters that felt a bit more human. I counted no less than five stoics whose only lines concerned shadowy plans that played straight into what would happen next. This was a key aspect that removed all tension from the action sequences: telegraphed movements made it so that characters would live for as long as the plot requires them to, regardless of how they fought or how evenly they were matched. This served to make most of the series' fights extremely predictable, and dull to watch.

The best battles, in my opinion, were ones that were not resolved on a proper battlefield, such as Kiritsugu vs. Saber on the qualities of a hero (which was unresolved by the way; they both lost their lives before realizing their dreams and ended up hurting just as many or more people than they saved), and Rider vs. Saber on methods of kingship (which Thess and I had a long and inconclusive debate about). It also baffled me that some of the most impressive fighters in the series did so little fighting. Why did we have to wait 25 episodes to discover Kirei was such an impressive martial artist?

My biggest criticism of this series is its use of time. It has all of the makings of what I believe a good anime should be outside of pacing. Much of the series is spent dragging its feet in dialogue, not all of which is entertaining. The amount of monologuing in this series is ludicrous; even the most pointless of characters would squeak out an opportunity to monologue (the entire Ryunosuke/Caster arc was a prime example of wasted time). This is the one shounen anime convention I hoped they would avoid.

7/10

Fate/Zero could have been a much more entertaining anime.

2012-09-30, 23:45	Link #18
SJCrew Anachro-Romeo Join Date: Apr 2010	It's going to be harder to do this review with time, as I'm already starting to forget this anime despite having finished it recently. I'll make this quick. After having sat through scores and scores of bloated dialogue, it's clear to me that Fate/Zero wanted to tell its story at all costs. But the endless exposition of ideals and rhetoric left me wanting for characters that felt a bit more human. I counted no less than five stoics whose only lines concerned shadowy plans that played straight into what would happen next. This was a key aspect that removed all tension from the action sequences: telegraphed movements made it so that characters would live for as long as the plot requires them to, regardless of how they fought or how evenly they were matched. This served to make most of the series' fights extremely predictable, and dull to watch. The best battles, in my opinion, were ones that were not resolved on a proper battlefield, such as Kiritsugu vs. Saber on the qualities of a hero (which was unresolved by the way; they both lost their lives before realizing their dreams and ended up hurting just as many or more people than they saved), and Rider vs. Saber on methods of kingship (which Thess and I had a long and inconclusive debate about). It also baffled me that some of the most impressive fighters in the series did so little fighting. Why did we have to wait 25 episodes to discover Kirei was such an impressive martial artist? My biggest criticism of this series is its use of time. It has all of the makings of what I believe a good anime should be outside of pacing. Much of the series is spent dragging its feet in dialogue, not all of which is entertaining. The amount of monologuing in this series is ludicrous; even the most pointless of characters would squeak out an opportunity to monologue (the entire Ryunosuke/Caster arc was a prime example of wasted time). This is the one shounen anime convention I hoped they would avoid. 7/10 Fate/Zero could have been a much more entertaining anime. Last edited by SJCrew; 2012-10-01 at 06:33.