Fate/Zero

As my first experience with Fate, Fate/Zero has me convinced it’s going to be a top-shelf series.

Fate/Zero has a simple overall plot, yet many wrinkles in its rules and character relationships. Admittedly the first episode had me confused as it threw terms and characters at me to lay out the premise. However, the former details started to make sense once they were put into practice. (Though admittedly even up to the end I was mixing up two of the main characters, but I’m convinced that’s by design.)

The driving force that keeps the anime interesting is the characters themselves. What they’re willing to do and not willing to do to win the Holy Grail War gives them depth and intrigue. The actual rules of the war barely exist, making the plot entirely character-driven. The sky’s the limit when a majority of them are capable of doing whatever they deem strategically viable — even destruction and murder. To top it off, they felt very well-written as far as what they actually said.

My nagging “gripe” with the show is more of an indifference. Even though I think all of the characters are good, most of them didn’t leave me feeling excited when they were on-screen. There are a couple of exceptions — Rider easily being chief among them. Everyone else is stoic and serious. That’s obviously not bad; they need to be that way so you can take them and their actions seriously. This point just comes down to personal enjoyment (though as a slice-of-life-enjoyer, this isn’t too surprising).

On that note, Fate/Zero isn’t the most cheerful anime out there. There’s a lot of blood and gore, including child murder. In fact, if you don’t want to see the worst of it, I would recommend against watching the uncensored Blu-ray version. There are also a couple of scenes involving the child Sakura and worms (with one later carrying — and I quote — “her chastity”) that were unnecessary and I don’t approve of.

Otherwise, moments can definitely get emotional, especially during the second season. An all-out war doesn’t come without tragedy and grief, so be prepared.

Moving on, I recommend looking into the backstories of the Servants that you aren’t familiar with. It’s a strategy for Servants to keep their identities a secret, so only do that once they’re names have been revealed! It’s certainly not necessary, but it’s cool when you can appreciate when the anime makes use of their past.

As a side note, characters have Sonic The Hedgehog-esque mouths that drift to cheeks. It’s not a huge deal, but definitely common enough to be distracting for someone who doesn’t like them.

But really most gripes that I have with this anime seem entirely subjective. If a seriously-toned anime is just your cup of tea, gore doesn’t make you flinch, and cheeky mouths don’t bother you, I imagine it’ll be perfect. And if not, I still think you can’t go wrong with it as long as you don’t mind something that will get dark.