Warning: Before anyone decides to watch this anime, I'd highly recommend that you read the visual novel of Fate/stay night first. I say this because the anime has major spoilers that ruin the reveals and events in the other two routes of Fate/stay night, those reveals being executed a thousand times better there than the catastrophe seen here. The visual novel itself is leagues above the anime in every way, giving so much more context and depth to the world and characters of Fate/Stay Night. Reading the visual novel prior to this is a must, I can't say this enough. Also keep in mind that 'vn' is 'visual novel' for short, as I'll be bringing it up a lot in this review.
Story - 6/10 The story is brought down a real notch by the stupid decision to borrow and spoil parts of Unlimited Blade Works and Heavens Feel, while including downright laughable filler (referring to the whole fiasco with Caster and Sakura, or you could say the 'Caster arc' in the anime.) There wasn't enough of an explanation behind many important details in the story either, which in turn would only confuse people who haven't read the vn. Although a lot of these things make the story horrible, where the story really shined were the parts it adapted beautifully from the source material (specifically the last few episodes) and an episode where we were given an original behind the scenes fight that we never got to see happen in the vn (fans of Archer will be happy about that one, including me.)
Art/Animation - 5/10
Not much to say on this one, really. The animation is nothing special for it's time; you could call it the bare minimum or simply okay, but sometimes it's horrible. I will give the art props for resembling the vn's art style by Takashi Takeuchi faithfully.
___Sound - 9/10_ __ Kenji Kawai really outdid himself with the soundtrack, it's a clear contrast to everything else. Many songs from the vn were redone by him and fit the tone perfectly for the Fate Route, even with his own renditions of a few Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart songs added in the mix. Just take a listen. ▶ Opening and ending songs had me singing along with the lyrics every time they played. There's really nothing bad I can say about it except for some of the track placements in scenes not fitting or being a little repetitive. Sound design didn't stand out, it just does it's job. Voice acting is in tandem with the vn, no complaints there.
Character - 4/10
In the visual novel Shirous personality is made all the more clear to you. You're given a huge amount of insight into his mind, way of thinking, beliefs, and the importance of the relationship he had with his father; how it shaped him, as you play throughout the story from his perspective. Sadly in the anime there isn't enough time spent showing us any of it, not enough information for us the viewers to see the core of his being: only sprinkles compared to the feast you're given in the vn. This makes him seem like the common shonen protagonist: immature or stupid, when really his decisions are more than justified. It's the same idea again having Saber dragged in the mud. You just aren't given enough time with her to truly understand how much regret she holds in her heart and how much the past is weighing her down. If they had instead replaced the spoilers, borrowed scenes and unnecessary filler with screen time spent focusing on it's main characters psyches, this wouldn't be such a disappointing issue/missed opportunity. Fate/stay Nights anime adaption is more likely to give a bad first impression because of this, and is the biggest drawback when compared to the vn. You'd be able to appreciate the characters development and complexity to the fullest in the vn, but here? Don't even think about it. If there's anything good I have to say, it's how well they made the characters portray their emotions in some scenes, but that's about it.
Despite all of it's flaws, I will admit I did still enjoy it for the things it did well. Some of the scenes with Shirou and Saber made me shed a few tears, and... Archer. The ending especially was done justice and again, made me shed some tears. I can't recommend this to anyone who hasn't read the vn, but if you have, there is still so much to salvage from the anime; The soundtrack, the ops and eds, the episodes that adapted the source material nicely and even added to it. There's a lot here to love in-between the unforgivable sin that is spoilers, poorly done original plot points and other junk. It's not as bad as people say it is, but it's certainly not where you should begin the fate/stay night journey.
Lastly, pray that ufotable decides to give us a Fate/stay Night remake that fixes all the problems I mentioned.
