Name: Fate/Zero: The Masterpiece That Is Impossible To Rewatch
Item: Fate/Zero
Rating: 100
Author: IrisvieI

Waifra

Fate/Zero: The Masterpiece That Is Impossible To Rewatch · Waifora

A show like this for the average anime viewer would be extremely difficult to watch, mostly because you have to memorize the names of all the characters as well as some aspects of the show if you're not paying attention, but it gets a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable as you progress down the line.

Fate/Zero is a relatively simple show when you hear what it's about: In this world, there are some people with magic in their blood who are called mages. Every 60 years, an omnipotent wish granting device known as the Holy Grail chooses 7 mages across the entire globe to participate in the Holy Grail War. These mages are known as Masters. In this war, each Master gets a historical figure known as a Servant to fight for them in the war. The Masters, along with their Servants, then compete with each other to the death, with the winner obtaining the rights to have their wish granted by the Holy Grail.

Fate/Zero has, in essence, all of the tools it requires to succeed as a standalone show rather than a prequel to the Fate series; so that is exactly how I am going to review this show. Out of every show I have seen so far, Fate/Zero was the pinnacle of perfection when it came to exactly what needed to be done; in terms of execution and closure. This show was full of war and bloodshed, along with psychological deception and strategy. The show also depicts greatly that, out of all the Holy Grail Wars, both future and past, this war had the most powerful Servants across every class, which made this show even more entertaining to watch, as we are under the perception that because the greatest Servants of past and future are participating, we are witnessing the greatest war of all Holy Grail Wars unfold. An even greater point is that each Master is fighting for their own wish, and because of that, you get to see the events surrounding every individual in this show and the different paths they all take in an attempt to win the war. This makes the show feel even more rewarding, as although every Master is fighting to have their wish granted, they all have different motivations for wanting the Holy Grail, whether it be a good wish or an evil wish.

The Anti Hero: Kiritsugu Emiya

Kiritsugu Emiya is the masterpiece of this entire show, and not only because he is the main character. Kiritsugu is the pinnacle of tragedy as you continue to watch the show. In the beginning, his attitude is unclear, as he only states that with his wish, he wants to save the world and end world conflict. The viewers feel a sense of irony, since Kiritsugu is a mage assassin and has dedicated his whole life to killing. As the show unfolds, he begins to realize that the meaning of victory becomes meaningless as more bodies pile up and more people die, which is why he wants his wish granted in the first place.

Spoilers Ahead:

Spoiler, click to view

Kiritsugu wins the Holy Grail War and attempts to have his wish granted. However, the Holy Grail presents Kiritsugu with the boat dilemma. As the Grail continues the questioning, it becomes more and more clear that Kiritsugu would end up killing more people than he intends to save, which throws him into a state of despair because he realizes that to save one, you must kill another. The Grail then presents Kiritsugu with a choice: live out the rest of his life with Irisviel and his daughter, but at the cost of killing off the rest of the population of the world. This is where Kiritsugu's flaw is somewhat "beautiful": he rejects the wish of the Holy Grail in order to save the world, because he impulsively wishes to kill less to save more. As a result, the Grail is destroyed and curses Kiritsugu, and the city is engulfed in flames. Kiritsugu then finds a boy in the rubble and adopts him as his own son. Since Kiritsugu did not return the Holy Grail back to the family of his wife and daughter, he is no longer allowed to see his daughter, so he spends the rest of his life with the boy he saved, and dies 5 years later as a result of the curse bestowed upon him by the Holy Grail.

Fate/Zero will have you constantly itching to watch the next episode, constantly aching to know what's going to happen next. This feeling alone is why it is impossible to rewatch this show, regardless of how much you enjoyed it. A psychological thriller is only entertaining when you cannot expect or know what will happen. I personally tried to rewatch this by showing it to my friends while I watched with them, and I did not get the same spark of enjoyment I got when I first watched this show. This is a masterpiece, a beautiful one at that. This is a show that is only meant to be watched once, and to enjoy every moment that you can.