THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS (also this is my first review so.. hi)

Besides Frieren season 2, Fate/strange fake was my most anticipated anime of the year. For the record, I haven't read any of the light novels and prior to this I had watched fate/stay night, heaven's feel, and ubw, so when I heard a new fate was slated to be coming out this year I was pretty surprised. I honestly never thought I'd see a new fate in my lifetime.

The prequel movie, or extended episode or whatever explosively launches the show off with a battle between the goat (Gilgamesh) and an apparent rival/old friend of his Enkidu, whom I was unaware of before watching. Although, I'm sure any fan head deep drowning in Fate lore probably pissed himself of excitement upon seeing this character. It also sets up new characters like Ayaka, a quiet, softspoken girl who has a bizarre past, and the "master" of this Grail, Faldeus. Episode 0 also introduces the viewer to this Grail's setting, Snowfield USA. A city with a mysterious background, where all is not as it seems. With the introductory episode out of the way, the show sets the stage for possibly the most climatic Grail War yet.

I'd say Fate/strange fake's biggest strong suit is it's ability to tie thrilling fights and stellar animation, with strong character writing and dynamics. Let's just touch on the animation for a second. It's great, better than any previous Fate titles in my opinion. This is A-1 studios showcasing it's highest degree of talent, everybody on the staff team probably came to work whilst caffeinated to high hell. The animation makes the action scenes such a joy to watch, every battle is eye candy. Speaking of the action scenes, they are all intensely paced, expertly choreographed, and skillfully directed. Characters movements and decisions during fights make sense and align deftly with the environment. It's just so fun.

Some of the fights also serve as great character growth moments, like Sigma killing Tsubaki's parents, and the true Caster duo showing Saber the previous Holy Grail War in Fuyuki. The way Fate/strange fake is able to weave these characters storylines together so effortlessly is extremely impressive. The iconic Ayaka and Saber duo, who through repeated struggle finally accept each other mutually as being master and servant is beautiful, and Sigma's heartbreaking past eventually leading him to face his sense of morality in a defining moment by killing Tsubaki's parents. I loved the way Sigma was able to recognize a bit of himself in Tsubaki, and the way she was being used, leading him to make the first decision that was not driven purely by logical reasoning, but out of a sense of righteousness. I'm sure this will drive him to become more in touch with his emotions in future seasons.

The brutal and chaotic dynamic between Jester and Assassin fuels a portion of the shows conflicts, with Jester playing a large role in the final act, manipulating the impressionable Tsubaki into causing chaos. However, Jester's sadistic desire to see Assassin fall into the deepest pits of despair, while understandable within his character portrayal, seems a bit unwarranted. At no point in the show is it really... clearly explained what has motivated Jester to steer such hatred Assassin's way. I understand that he is supposed to be.. naturally evil? But to me, that's just such a cop-out and tropey character archetype. Along with that, I don't believe Assassin was spent enough time on for this dynamic to have substantial weight. Assassin's motives and thoughts are unclear, and overall with her feud with Jester being such a large point of contention in the plot, I just wished she was more fleshed out.

This brings me to my next point being that generally, this show goes too fast. It would do some good for the quiet character moments, interactions, and backstory to have more screentime. It feels like a lot of the developmental arcs of characters are either rushed, or were skipped entirely. You can see this in Ayaka, who's backstory remains murky and unclear even through to the defiant moment where she walks past the Little Red Riding hood figure that's been haunting her the whole series. I'm sure this was supposed to come off as a defining character decision, but in reality, it didn't have much gravity and was just kind of.. confusing..? Although, the scene following right after that where she confronts Saber and declares her will to fight along side him was great and carried a good chunk of emotional weight. The brisk pacing again sacrifices a lot of time spent with the characters favoring action sequences and overall plot progression. I noticed this affected Flat, Orlando, Faldeus, True Caster, and Enkidu the most. All of these characters I would have absolutely loved to see more characterization of, but I'm not going to say this is terrible grievance because I'm sure they will be expounded upon more in following seasons. Oh and speaking of Flat.. wtf is he dead?? That was a crazy cliff hanger damn..

In conclusion, this show is exactly what I want from a Shounen battle anime. It has god-tier animation and sick ass fights but also doesn't forgo it's duty to pay attention to it's characters and expand upon their initial characterizations. The biggest negative the show has is it's brutally fast pacing which leaves a bit more to be desired in it's fleshing out of characters. Not to say it doesn't flesh them out, because it actually does quite well with a decent portion of the cast. If my tone came off rather degrading of it's development of characters, then sorry, I probably meant to give it more praise. But yes, that's actually one of it's specialties, especially in contention with other Shounen battle anime. It's just some side characters and certain backstories felt like they needed more attention. Overall, this show is extremely enjoyable and resonates well emotionally for a battle shounen. 8/10