Fate/Zero - Episode 3 Discussion / Poll

[Tom Bombadil]

Perfect seme-uge pairing ! Screencaps for evidence. lololol

http://tieba.baidu.com/p/1247675075

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by ProfileOF

actually i can read no more information in the ending theme than the pair of weapon Lancer is holding...

Well, to tell you who he is would be a spoiler. But, as far as I can remember, he's not really a hero. Well, not in the same caliber as Hercules, Achilles, or Arthur mind you. He's just a guy from a folklore (you're welcome to correct me if I'm wrong).

[Arabesque]

I might be having a different reaction from the general consensus, but I'm finding myself liking the show gradually more after what I thought as an average first episode. Not to say I didn't enjoy it, especially the Waver and the Kariya scenes since they were the only ones whom I thought showed some actual character throughout the premier (while we only seen some glimpses and hints at best from the rest of the cast) and the interactions with Sakura were generally very good, but I failed to see what was so impressive about what amounted to an hour long exposition and budget saving tricks. The artwork itself was clearly on a higher quality than even the UBW movie, which I guess made it appear better, but as far as I've seen, the first episode just wasn't that good at all.

The following episode and this one, IMO, are what I think justify all the hype for the show. There isn't much animation going on, true, but the drop art quality from the first episode is barely noticeable, which is impressive in and of itself. The exposition is still there, but rather than feel unnecessary or excessive, every line adds more to the setting and contributes to the world building, all the while moving ahead with both the plot development. And, I think the most important thing that made me like this episode a lot more than the premier, is the fact that I'm finally getting to know a lot more about just who these people are and getting to get to know more about their personalities and ambitions for getting the Grail.

It's clear we are at the stage where we are still learning about why each team is participating in this (world peace, personal wealth, recognition etc.) but I think that with this episode, I got a better understanding of who exactly are these servants and masters are. Arthur seems to operate out of typical Knight's honor, but at the same time we get to understand just how much of a tragic history she had to endure. I'm not sure what the deal is with Kiritsugu yet, but I can clearly see that what happened in the hotel room might not be what it seems at first, since he was clearly distraught over his daughter, and what we've seen tells me that he loves his family. Gilgamesh seems generally bored with everything (as expected from someone with an ego that large :heh) while Alexander is the poster case for a megalomaniac needless to say I look forward to (what I hope) will be the penis measuring contest between these two.

Overall, I find myself liking this show more and more when it takes it's time exploring it's cast motivation as opposed to just constantly spending time on only set up. I mean it does help that the mixture of Gothic and fantasy elements in the setting make it appeal greatly to me, but let me care about the central players first.

In any case, looks like next episode the show might just show just how good it is in the animation department.

Being a child of the 90's, I have to say that the fact that the show is set in that time period might have to do with me liking this episode as well, since it's the one where the time period is referenced the most lol

Originally Posted by Kaioshin Sama

As an aside, I may be the only one that thinks this, but I just find Yuki Kaijura's score mostly passable and just sort of there right now as opposed to outstanding and defining like other people led me to expect it would be. The show could easily have far far worse music mind you, but it's just not gripping me by any stretch. Then again I've literally found that with every Yuki Kaijura soundtrack I've heard. Guess she just doesn't do it for me like she does for others.

I know I'm going to end up Gate of Babylon'd for saying this, but not only do I agree with you that while there are some nice pieces (the track when ever Alexander talks springs to mind) but compared to the Fate/Stay Night anime (yes, the anime, not the game) this simply isn't as engaging or as good at the moment, and might be the one area where I say that the older series has this one beat.

[raruku]

This Ep.'s too short.

ED started and I thought it kinda like only 5 min have passed.

[Forsaken_Infinity]

Wow what a fucking painful episode.

Seriously - all the interactions looked so ugh... mechanical?

There was little to no animation.

Everybody was like freaking cardboard cutout with some distant sound being played.

At least I could imagine with the LN... here its completely and utterly sealed and that makes it that much more of an absolutely horrendous rendition.

God. I HATED this episode. With such an awesome source material, the least they could do is breath life into the characters and character interaction. I get that an anime could never match the detail that a LN has but holy hell, I couldn't feel anything even remotely close to the gripping sadness I generally feel for Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Maiya or Kirei this episode. It all looked far too detached and mechanical.

Even Gilgamesh looked pathetic. Fucking god.

1 out of 10 and I would give it a lower score if I could.

At least episode 1 looked epic even if it had no animation either - and it didn't feel mechanical because they did a pretty good job getting done with the information overload that comes with the introduction. But this episode was painful to watch. Horrible.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

I know I'm going to end up Gate of Babylon'd for saying this, but not only do I agree with you that while there are some nice pieces (the track when ever Alexander talks springs to mind) but compared to the Fate/Stay Night anime (yes, the anime, not the game) this simply isn't as engaging or as good at the moment, and might be the one area where I say that the older series has this one beat.

I also thought that Kenji Kawai's score in that DEEN's anime is excellent and memorable, yet A LOT of people (mostly F/SN fans) said otherwise. Still, I stand my ground and stil think that Kawai's score for F/SN is one to be proud of. If you want an example, watch F/SN again in the episode when Saber first encounter Kojiro and activate the Excalibur. The score for that scene is epic, and that's just one scene.

Also, I'm not saying that Kajiura's score in F/Z is bad. No, far from it. I like both Kajiura and Kawai's scores for Fate animes so much. I just wanna give Kawai's score the credit it deserves.

[Proto]

Given that we are 3 episodes in and the tone of the series has been pretty much the same so far (given that we will obviously get similar pieces), I'd think it's a little premature to do any judging.

[klare]

i like the plots and twists, more deeper sides of the characters are revealed

Saber simply demostrated how a modern knight should be, Rider is so practical when talking about purchasing the high-tech weapons

i guess the slow pacing is to be able to end the eps just before the Saber Lancer fight starts, i can foresee the next eps will be amazing

[Yuna Amakura]

I confess that I myself don't like Kawaii's score for F S/N at all. But I think the problem with me was that nearly all the tracks had a strong Vampire Princess Miyu feel to it, and for me that just didn't suit F S/N at all. Yeah, we can't really say that with some OSTs from Kajiura the same happens, but I would say she still manages to define an unique mood for the series she composes for with some key songs. I didn't feel that with F S/N.
And the songs didn't have much of an impact in me

For me, Kajiura is creating the exact songs the scenes call for. I'm more interested in what she will do with the action scenes, probably looooots of Kajiurago and violin solos. I wish she would use more of the horn she has been using recently. Definitely a nice touch.

[fertygo]

Originally Posted by Forsaken_Infinity

Wow what a fucking painful episode.

Seriously - all the interactions looked so ugh... mechanical?

There was little to no animation.

Everybody was like freaking cardboard cutout with some distant sound being played.

At least I could imagine with the LN... here its completely and utterly sealed and that makes it that much more of an absolutely horrendous rendition.

God. I HATED this episode. With such an awesome source material, the least they could do is breath life into the characters and character interaction. I get that an anime could never match the detail that a LN has but holy hell, I couldn't feel anything even remotely close to the gripping sadness I generally feel for Kiritsugu, Irisviel, Maiya or Kirei this episode. It all looked far too detached and mechanical.

Even Gilgamesh looked pathetic. Fucking god.

1 out of 10 and I would give it a lower score if I could.

At least episode 1 looked epic even if it had no animation either - and it didn't feel mechanical because they did a pretty good job getting done with the information overload that comes with the introduction. But this episode was painful to watch. Horrible.

Eh I feel the talk flow much better than in eps 1, n you couldn't be much wrong, there is much more animation than in even eps 2 even in such a high shot there.
You must in bad mood or something while watching it, our opinion can't be this different.

[Haak]

Originally Posted by Proto

Given that we are 3 episodes in and the tone of the series has been pretty much the same so far (given that we will obviously get similar pieces), I'd think it's a little premature to do any judging.

This.

I confess that I haven't found the BGM particularly noticable either, but that's only because there's been little oppurtunity for it.

[Kagayaki]

Originally Posted by Haak

This.

I confess that I haven't found the BGM particularly noticable either, but that's only because there's been little oppurtunity for it.

That makes sense. I'm optimistic about it based on the end of episodes 1 and 3 (also, my faith in Kajiura, warranted or not).

[fertygo]

Kara no Kyoukai OST is the best that I ever heard, but I'm barely know the half of track on its OST CD.

The same scenario applied in here I guess.

[Yuna Amakura]

^Kajiura stated that, with KnK, she had the "emptiness" feeling in mind when composing, so many of the "songs" were actually SFX tracks. She only used "real" songs when the scene actually demanded it. Now I wonder if she wants to do the same thing with F/Z to some extent (although I don't think that's the case here).

[Auria]

Originally Posted by Kagayaki

That makes sense. I'm optimistic about it based on the end of episodes 1 and 3 (also, my faith in Kajiura, warranted or not).

Despite the rider theme there is also kind of a "leitmotif" one could hear in the last track of ep3, the first pv and somewhere in the first episode.. and so far I rather like it. Excited to see what future scenes will bring.

[MrTerrorist]

So is Maiya Kiritsugu's mistress/partner or something?

[ookamigirl]

Rider seems smarter than his master. Interesting.
There's a lot of plotting going on, but no fighting yet.
Can't wait to see them go all out with each other!
Saber vs Lancer, that's gonna be interesting.

[Klashikari]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

So is Maiya Kiritsugu's mistress/partner or something?

Not mistress. Maiya is just Kiritsugu's assistant, but he harbors no feeling towards her.
More details will describe their relationship in the future, normally.

[ProfileOF]

Originally Posted by Yuna Amakura

I confess that I myself don't like Kawaii's score for F S/N at all. But I think the problem with me was that nearly all the tracks had a strong Vampire Princess Miyu feel to it, and for me that just didn't suit F S/N at all. Yeah, we can't really say that with some OSTs from Kajiura the same happens, but I would say she still manages to define an unique mood for the series she composes for with some key songs. I didn't feel that with F S/N.
And the songs didn't have much of an impact in me

For me, Kajiura is creating the exact songs the scenes call for. I'm more interested in what she will do with the action scenes, probably looooots of Kajiurago and violin solos. I wish she would use more of the horn she has been using recently. Definitely a nice touch.

I think it's not the question of whose score is better, Kawaii or Kajiura.
FSN and FZ are different production from different author.
As the main and first production, the game of FSN is focusing on building a world with an atmosphere of Mystery, which is the key element of the series. Also the air is very still and heavy when introducing the polluted Holy Grail and the hidden crypt of the church. I think Kawaii has done a great job acting in concert with the atmosphere, especially the BGM for battle and serious scenes. Sometimes I still listen to the BGM 'Emiya'.
FZ actually is the complimentary work, its theme is the battle in the 4th war, the conflict between Kotomine and Emiya. Entertaining the audience with exciting battle, flashing artifacts and stirring sentences is enough.

[Reckoner]

Originally Posted by Arabesque

I know I'm going to end up Gate of Babylon'd for saying this, but not only do I agree with you that while there are some nice pieces (the track when ever Alexander talks springs to mind) but compared to the Fate/Stay Night anime (yes, the anime, not the game) this simply isn't as engaging or as good at the moment, and might be the one area where I say that the older series has this one beat.

I don't think anyone will because the anime hasn't quite kicked into high enough gear to show off the BGM. However I will say this is... Kenji Kawaii's OST may have been one of the few good things in the old anime, but even though the OST sounded nice I always felt it kind of messed up the mood of the VN. This partly has to due with DEEN's direction, but there were very few tracks in F/S N that ever seemed to give the feeling of terror or danger in F/S N. And besides the remixes of certain tracks from the VN, he did very little for action BGM's. So a nice sounding OST, but really missed the mark on the tone of the VN. An example of the type of track is this one:

Spoiler:

So far I'd say Kaijura's OST suits the mood so far of Fate/Zero better than Kawaii's for F/S N. There's nothing real standout so far, but it's not bad. We'll truly see what it'll be made of (Probably starting next episode) when the action picks up. She's already doing a much better job in scenes that are supposed to inspire a feeling of danger or terror.