I'm a fool who's been chasing the same dream
"We both are nothing but dots in front of this huge world, so what's the point in comparing each other?"
Out of all the servant-master pairs, "Waver-Rider" is the most distinct pair because, (1) the Master is a teenager & (2) Their relationship gives the most positive & comforting vibes than the others (and also my favorite one). Iskandar from the rider class, the King of Conquerers, who conquered the entire world (duh) in order to achieve his impossible dream, and Waver is a smart introvert, who always tuggs himself in his own bubble, who's dream is to become taller. Waver isn't the person that supposed to be in a battle like this. He's too weak that just so happens to get a strong servant but not strong enough to guarantee him a victory, yet he chooses to be a part of the battle.
Their conversations are uplifting and tells sort of a coming-of-age story about a boy who started to face the world despite knowing about his weakness. And this happens between the conversations between Iskandar & Waver.
Iskandar is probably my favorite character from the series cause his dialogue, power and overall aura around him, has this charisma that makes you to get into a battlefield if it's for him. And guess what? That's what a Conquerer mean.
**"To obtain victory, but to not destroy;
To defeat, but to not humiliate;
That is the true conquest"**
He's a type of character that wants you face the world, even if it kills you. He might've ended up being a fool for trying to achieve the impossible, but he made history that cannot be overlooked. And waver, after getting inspired by his words, just takes that one step at the end of the series.Out of all conversations in this Anime, my favorite conversation is a 1 minute conversation between Gilgamesh & Waver, which I didn't expected to happen, given their character archetypes. This conversation is exactly 1 minute but I kinda like this. Seeing Waver standing up in front an enemy who's so enormous than him, and seeing Gil confronting the most youngest human in the show is like a once in a life time moment, especially for Waver. And the way he stood up, despite trembling in fear in front of the hero of heroes, is a great thing in & itself. And I just like this.
#
The Two sides of a Fight
Fate/Zero fights can be debunked in two parts.- The Physical Battle : The blows of swords & spears and the magecraft, are excellently blended together to make a compelling fight and these fights are greatly enhanced by ufotable stunning visuals and Yuki Kajiura mystical soundtrack. These fights/battles alone can make this a great watch.
2. The Guessing Game/the Psychological Battle : A part of what makes a fight interesting is guessing what the opponent's next move is. And the fights in F/Z will draw in by focussing on the fighters inner dialogue, as they try to analyze the opponent they're facing. "What reason there is to make the sword invisible?", "Which is of two weapons is the ultimate weapon?", "What made the bullet dodge?".. It's the occasional inner monologues between the fast paced action that will draw you into the battle atmosphere, that is nothing short than epic. But my favorite fights in the series, which is also one of my favorite fights in all Anime, is "Kerei vs Kiritsugu".In nearly 5 minute battle between two mages, has one of the most detailed fights I've seen. Kerei VS Kiritsugu (Let's use 'Kiri' for Kiritsugu).
Spoiler, click to view
The scene starts with showing Kiri's gun and Kirei' hand, showing the main weapons they're going use in the fight. For a good 2 minutes, Kiri figures out that Kirei's mana source is the command seals but Kirei already figured out Kiri's Origin bullet & Time alter power. So, the next punch, as he says, will be a lethal one to the chest which damages Kiri's heart. In the meantime, Irisveil starts to convert into a grail, and the grail starts to produce a blood like stream that's starting a few floors above Kiri & Kirei battlefield. When Kirei convinced himself that Kiri can't move anymore, Kiri gets up and showers bullets from his mini gun, in which one bullet lands on Kirei's top-left side of his head. Kirei blocks the bullet rush with his bulletproof clothing, and after a considerable amount of time, Kiri uses his Time alteration again, to use his Origin bullet.
(The reason why Kiri uses Origin bullet now, is because of the constant bullet shower Kirei subconsciously mistakens the next bullet is also going to be a normal bullet and Kiri uses his mistake as an opportunity to make a lethal blow on his magecrafted body) and as a result, Kirei wrecks his right hand. After this brief exchange, both get exhausted and reevaluates their current condition. Kiri's heart is damaged but he repairs by using Avalon he acquired from Irisveil, which Kirei finds out. This time, Kiri takes the offense, and melees Kirei with his hand gun. Kirei, unable to dodge it, uses his broken right hand as a measure to block any attack to his unharmed body but the attack still pains him. Kiri then, moves to Kirei's left side (since he damaged his top-left side of his head with a normal bullet, blood starts to block his left eye, which Kiri uses as a advantage to make a close attack) and uses his knife but he's still unable stab the martial artist Kirei, so Kiri draws back while throwing his knife to Kirei which stabs his right knee. Kiri uses time alteration one last time to use his origin bullet, and Kirei charges towards Kiri while throwing his blades. When Kiri was about to shoot Kirei in his head with the origin bullet.. The fight will abruptly comes to a close when the blood pouring out of the holy grail, falls on their battlefield.
What I like about this fight is how so many details were spread without explicitly saying them. Sure, they still analyze each other, but things like attacking at a blind spot, change in offense & defense mode and all of these little details, are really a treat to watch.
#Conclusion
Fate/Zero is a dark fantasy battle royale, with amazing production values, great characters & interesting dialogues. If you can look past the plot conveniences, you're in for an excellent ride.
