AnimeSuki Forum - View Single Post - Fate/Zero

Vicious108 · 2012-05-05, 22:17

So the first Magus the Magus Killer murdered was his own father, huh? Somehow, that makes way too much sense.

Really great work from Kajiura this week, perfectly contributing to the whole tropical island atmosphere, as well as the foreboding sense of an ensuing tragedy. And the special Kalafina ED was quite fitting, even the lyrics, especially this line, which aptly describes what "Kerry" went through in this episode: "A beautiful dream is enough to tear you to pieces."

Being confronted with the fact that he could've prevented the tragedy had he been able to sacrifice just one person (who happened to be the person he loved most), Kiritsugu wasn't going to let it happen a second time. As fate would have it, the one person needed to sacrifice this time was his own father. But his father wasn't the only thing he killed on that day. His core, his dream of becoming a hero that could save everyone, was also shot to pieces, leaving him with, as he himself put it, "Nothing at all". Thus we witness the death of the innocent and idealistic boy, and the birth of the cynical and pragmatic Magus Killer who will kill hundreds to save hundreds more. Did Kiritsugu's childish dream and ideal fade away completely though? Or can traces of it still be found in the man we see partake in the 4th Holy Grail War? We shall see, I suppose.

One thing is certain, the moment his transformation into the aforementioned man took place carried as much weight as I was hoping it would, and capped off the episode perfectly. I must admit though, I didn't expect it would still take another episode to cover this backstory. In retrospect, I believe these episodes might have been more adequately placed after episode 16 rather than episode 17. It would tie in quite well with Kiritsugu's speech on his current philosophy and Saber's accurate reading of him having once wanted to be a hero, before being slapped in the face by reality, and it wouldn't make the wait for the final phase of the war, with the now known impending threat of Kirei and Gilgamesh's alliance, as painful as it is now.

Still a very powerful and effective backstory though, which doesn't detract from the overall quality of the series at all, and which I'm sure will make the pathos of the end of Kiritsugu's spiritual journey all the more heartfelt.

2012-05-05, 22:17	Link #64
Vicious108 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2007	So the first Magus the Magus Killer murdered was his own father, huh? Somehow, that makes way too much sense. Really great work from Kajiura this week, perfectly contributing to the whole tropical island atmosphere, as well as the foreboding sense of an ensuing tragedy. And the special Kalafina ED was quite fitting, even the lyrics, especially this line, which aptly describes what "Kerry" went through in this episode: "A beautiful dream is enough to tear you to pieces." Being confronted with the fact that he could've prevented the tragedy had he been able to sacrifice just one person (who happened to be the person he loved most), Kiritsugu wasn't going to let it happen a second time. As fate would have it, the one person needed to sacrifice this time was his own father. But his father wasn't the only thing he killed on that day. His core, his dream of becoming a hero that could save everyone, was also shot to pieces, leaving him with, as he himself put it, "Nothing at all". Thus we witness the death of the innocent and idealistic boy, and the birth of the cynical and pragmatic Magus Killer who will kill hundreds to save hundreds more. Did Kiritsugu's childish dream and ideal fade away completely though? Or can traces of it still be found in the man we see partake in the 4th Holy Grail War? We shall see, I suppose. One thing is certain, the moment his transformation into the aforementioned man took place carried as much weight as I was hoping it would, and capped off the episode perfectly. I must admit though, I didn't expect it would still take another episode to cover this backstory. In retrospect, I believe these episodes might have been more adequately placed after episode 16 rather than episode 17. It would tie in quite well with Kiritsugu's speech on his current philosophy and Saber's accurate reading of him having once wanted to be a hero, before being slapped in the face by reality, and it wouldn't make the wait for the final phase of the war, with the now known impending threat of Kirei and Gilgamesh's alliance, as painful as it is now. Still a very powerful and effective backstory though, which doesn't detract from the overall quality of the series at all, and which I'm sure will make the pathos of the end of Kiritsugu's spiritual journey all the more heartfelt.