Fate/stay night Final Thoughts & Overall Impressions

[iamandragon]

Saber never broke the rules--Although Avalon increases her mana capacity by a lot, it doesn't stop her from using up mana. During the HG war, the HG is the main source of mana for them. But after the war, the master will have to maintain their servants by supplying them with tremendous amount of mana--for a servant like Saber to just exist, the joint effort of Rin and Shirou is required.
Avalon does not make Saber immortal. Avalon carries three functions:
a) stops aging
b) heals wounds
c) shuts away all physical damage

(a) and (b) are useless for Saber as a servant as she is capable of doing so without the help of Avalon, and (c) requires activation of Avalon.

Also, being an incomplete servant is one of the biggest problem for Saber. Normally, a servant can lighten their master's burden in terms of mana requirement by turning into 'spirit form'. But because Saber is incomplete, she can't turn into her 'spirit form' and thus will require maximum daily mana upkeep 24/7 while other servants can go with much less mana during times of peace. And the fact that Saber does not want to collect mana from other people is putting extra burden on Rin and Shirou.

Anyways, second season of F/SN is not going to come unless Nasu decides to do a F/SN 2 like Tsukihime. But we'll at least have to wait till he finishes Tsukihime2...And if you want to see a different ending for Fate/Stay Night without the game, read the manga, it's a different story line. If you want to have something 'after' the 5th HG War, play Battle Moon War, featuring the 6th HG war.

Still want more? There are always doujins and 4 komas you can look for. Speaking of which, I've just translated a 4 page doujin. Quite a funny one, in the image thread.

[Kittie Rose]

Why can't someone just try to summon Saber again? Since she wants to be with him she'd accept a call from a powerful enough magician in Shirou's time period.

[iamandragon]

Originally Posted by Kittie Rose

Why can't someone just try to summon Saber again? Since she wants to be with him she'd accept a call from a powerful enough magician in Shirou's time period.

It is impossible to summon another servant very shortly after the end of the 5th HG War--the summoning of a servant actually involves the materializing and freezing of a spirit, which is only possible with the help of the HG.

How powerful a magician does not affact which servant they can summon--no one can choose. Apart from Assassin and Berserker, all servant classes are randomly assigned. Note that the 7 classes that appeared in the anime are just the most common classes. HG War does not necessary consist of the same 7 classes. For example, in the 3rd HG War there's no Lancer but an Avanger.

Of course, there's a way to 'choose' your servant. If you have an antique of that particular heroic spirit, you can use it as a catalyst during the summon to increase the chance of summoning that particular servant. Saber was summoned this way in the 5th and the previous HG War because of Avalon. (Shirou already had Avalon in his body when he stepped into the summoning circle, the summoning circle was left there by his father during the previous war, talk about luck)

Also, if you're talking about trying to re-summon the Saber in the anime/Fate route, after the end of the HG war, Saber returned to her time period and died in peace. Her soul entered Avalon instead of the throne of heros, and thus no one can summon her as a servant anymore. There's still a limit to the HG War since it's an incomplete true-magic.

[Fate lover]

Long time no log on....hehe. I've heard some news from my friend in Japan that Fate season 2 will be released next year....Oh man, I am so excited just about the news....hope it is the truth though..XD

[iamandragon]

Originally Posted by Fate lover

Long time no log on....hehe. I've heard some news from my friend in Japan that Fate season 2 will be released next year....Oh man, I am so excited just about the news....hope it is the truth though..XD

It's getting more tiring to repeat this over and over. Keep hoping if you want, but don't keep your hopes too high...For a season 2 of F/SN a season 2 of the visual novel have to come out first at least. Well there're a lot of fan creations of F/SN the continued if you search the net careful enough. I'm currently reading a doujin novel of Fate/Stay Night called Fate/Shanghai...

[Alaya]

Well, the story-arcs in Type-Moon's visual novel are all considered "TRUE".

For the reason why no one could ever again summon the servants, I think iamandragon explained very clear. Holy Grail system is needed in order to summon servants. It's a fragment of the third magic, Heaven's Feel, aka Materialization of Soul. Because it is a true magic, no magi in the world can do it, period.

But if you are asking about keeping Saber after the Holy Grail War then, yeah, there is a way like one of the ending in the game. But what remain was Saber as a normal familiar of a magus, not a servant anymore. She cannot use her Noble Phantasm or engage in super human combat. She became a spirit bound to her master, like Len in Tsukihime.

By the way:

Her soul entered Avalon instead of the throne of heros, and thus no one can summon her as a servant anymore.

I believe there is no official notion that Saber entered Avalon after her death. Maybe she did, as if the story followed the legend of King Arthur closely, or she just went to the Throne of Heroes as a normal Heroic spirit (but not as Counter Guardian) since she accomplished a lot during her life time.

[iamandragon]

I'm not sure if Saber can use her Noble Phantasms even after the HG war? Rin said that with combined effort of two excellent magus it is possible to maintain Saber (see UBW good end), but the condition of Saber afterwards is never mentioned in details. I suspect that Saber maintained after the HG war can still fight as well as during the war, but using a NP would drain all her mana...?

[Alaya]

Originally Posted by iamandragon

I'm not sure if Saber can use her Noble Phantasms even after the HG war? Rin said that with combined effort of two excellent magus it is possible to maintain Saber (see UBW good end), but the condition of Saber afterwards is never mentioned in details. I suspect that Saber maintained after the HG war can still fight as well as during the war, but using a NP would drain all her mana...?

Already checked, here:

Alternate ending : Happy End - Sunny Day
If you could built up enough "affection points" with Saber, she... remains alive after shooting the Grail.
Nothing too interesting in that ending, Rin explains that technically, Saber is a normal Familiar and not a Servant anymore, thanks to how Shirō made her actually want to stay. Saber is OK with living in that era since she still got her reply by watching Shirō fighting Archer.]

I took this from Baiken's website so it should be reliable enough. Here is the link: http://byakko.freeservers.com/FSN/UBW_Summary.html

[iamandragon]

Cool. That clears up everything.

[LemonLimeIntestines]

I really liked this series, it really kept me entertained. This series actually made me want to go get the game and play like mad..

[iamandragon]

Don't 'want', do it!

[Raptor73]

Fate/Stay Night was such a great series. I really hope that a season 2 comes out, possibly showing the alternate storylines like Unlimited Blade Works or Heaven's Feel, or even a continuation of Season 1 (I know its highly unlikely, but I can always dream, right?).

[iamandragon]

Please support the manga, it's still on-going! (at a very slow pace...)
The manga runs the UBW route

[dpryciak]

Was glad that Shirou could admit his love for Saber, found the whole alternative Arthur legend interesting, and was kinda angry at the end where Saber simply goes back to her old time and has the sword thrown into the lake just like the legend...and not with Shirou in some form or another.

Still confused on one thing...Tohsaka and Sakura...it was way too subtle for me to get. Were they sisters and Tohsaka sold her out?? Hmm??

[iamandragon]

Originally Posted by dpryciak

Was glad that Shirou could admit his love for Saber, found the whole alternative Arthur legend interesting, and was kinda angry at the end where Saber simply goes back to her old time and has the sword thrown into the lake just like the legend...and not with Shirou in some form or another.

Still confused on one thing...Tohsaka and Sakura...it was way too subtle for me to get. Were they sisters and Tohsaka sold her out?? Hmm??

It's not like if Saber have a choice--after the HG is destroyed, Shirou's mana simply couldn't maintain her form and she is forced back to her own time by the world. (During the period of the HG War, the HG actually supplies the servant most of their needed mana--their master's mana only contribute making a link so that they can materialize in the current time)

Of course, if you go for the manga, Saber will maintain even after the HG war. Go read the manga like, now!

[Kimiko Khan]

i found this series to be one of those that kicks ass yet leaves you in a depressive stupor afterwards. i love how they worked with the legends of the heroes especially the epic of gilgamesh and the arthurian legend; have always loved concepts like that. plus the way the characters interacted with each other actually seemed real, like saber and shirou. i would say its one of the better series out there if not among the best

[Alaya]

Sakura's story is told in Heaven's Feel scenario, which unfortunately, you have to play the game to access it. Or you can read Fate/Zero too but it would not as in detail as in Heaven's Feel.

[iamandragon]

Originally Posted by Alaya

Sakura's story is told in Heaven's Feel scenario, which unfortunately, you have to play the game to access it. Or you can read Fate/Zero too but it would not as in detail as in Heaven's Feel.

Think it should be the other way round--you read Heaven's Feel to understand what's going on with Matou in Fate/Zero.

Definitely worth a read.

[Kristen]

So, I just finished this series in a 4 day run...

Pluses:
1. The series definately kept my interest throughout.
2. Music. The music of the anime is absolutely phenomenal! The soundtrack is gigantic for a 1 disc soundtrack, but it never fails to keep my attention. Much more orchestration and much less synthesizer/rock instruments makes Chrissie a happy girl.
3. Tosaka Rin was an absolutely phenomenal character. She was the only character I had seen going in, and I was impressed by her. Not quite as Tsundere as I had expected, but it made her an interesting watch. And her eyes are just amazing.

Minuses:
1. Plot. To be honest, there really didn't seem to be much plot to this story. It was a lot of "Kill one bad guy" and then "Kill next guy."
2. Love. To me, the love relationship between Shiro and Saber seemed to be absolutely out of nowhere. I felt like there was no build up, and they just threw it out there.
3. Explanations. In a story with a unique premise like this, there should be point where a lot is explained. The story did this at points, but when they did do the explanations, they were really hard to follow. They also never showed the motives of any of the other characters. Like, what was Tosaka's wish? That would have been really great to see.
4. 2nd OP. I have wondered this for ages. When an anime has a good 1st OP, why do they ever bother to change it? Death Note, SnS I, Sailor Moon, etc. All of these had great OPs and just randomly changed it half way through. This is no exception.

Random:
1. I found it funny how the teacher was the only full out anime styled character. I mean, sure, Tosaka had a vein in her forehead early on, and Ilya vs the teacher was in that style, but for the most part, no other character came even close to her. Maybe that was to show the differences between her and the more serious characters.
2. I REALLY want to cosplay as Rin. It'd be easy enough to do, and she is the most interesting character to me.
3. The ending kind of surprised me. They made it a happy end, and then showed Arthur's death.

Overall: It is extremely hard for me to give a high rating to any show that had minimal plot. I'm not normally for the action genre, so I wasn't expecting much plot at all. However, this show kept my interest. 7 is too harsh, and 8 is too much, so 7.5/10

[iamandragon]

Originally Posted by ChrissieXD

1. Plot. To be honest, there really didn't seem to be much plot to this story. It was a lot of "Kill one bad guy" and then "Kill next guy."

There's a lot more than "Kill one bad guy then move on to another" in Fate/Stay Night, it just happens to look like so.

2. Love. To me, the love relationship between Shiro and Saber seemed to be absolutely out of nowhere. I felt like there was no build up, and they just threw it out there.

The love between Shirou and Saber is a bit different from daily Boy x Girl love you see--no wonder you found it weird. But if you watch more shounen anime, you'll need to get used to seeing different kinds of love.

3. Explanations. In a story with a unique premise like this, there should be point where a lot is explained. The story did this at points, but when they did do the explanations, they were really hard to follow. They also never showed the motives of any of the other characters. Like, what was Tosaka's wish? That would have been really great to see.

This anime is an adaption from the game, and thus it has done very poor explanation, I agree--the anime goes for the Fate route, which tells us nothing but the basics but if you have the time, I strongly recommend you to play the game--the second scenario, the Unlimited Blade Works is where the real story telling begins while the third scenario, Haven's Feel reveals the truth of everything.
By the way, Tohsaka's wish is revealed in the very beginning, go re-watch the bit about her and her father.

1. I found it funny how the teacher was the only full out anime styled character. I mean, sure, Tosaka had a vein in her forehead early on, and Ilya vs the teacher was in that style, but for the most part, no other character came even close to her. Maybe that was to show the differences between her and the more serious characters.

The teacher...Fuji-nee? She's supposed to serve as comedy material. Just like Sunohara in CLANNAD(I assume you're watching from your signature?) This is a shounen anime, and even there're lots of girls, they all act like boys, therefore comedic material is found in a girl(and she still act like a guy, kid this time...)

2. I REALLY want to cosplay as Rin. It'd be easy enough to do, and she is the most interesting character to me.

It's not as easy as you think, it's really hard to do your hair--no matter how you try to imitate you just can't fix that damned hair--or maybe mine's just too short.

3. The ending kind of surprised me. They made it a happy end, and then showed Arthur's death.

Auturia has to die no matter what...unfortunately...Life is tough.[/QUOTE]