Fate/Zero Final Episode

Oh well, no battle between Gilgamesh and Saber. Just an episode of wrapping everything up. Not really much to say about it…it’s just a bunch of setup for Fate/Stay Night, so nothing really exciting or unexpected going on. Poor Kiritsugu fails his mission, then Shirou decides to go and become a hero himself (and basically make the same mistakes with much stronger ideals).

I did find it interesting, though, that although Kiritsugu was portrayed as a sort of protagonist, he is basically broken in the end and Kirei finds new life (quite literally). I guess this just supports my assertion that Waver is the main character.

It has been a pretty entertaining series, I’d say. I hear a lot about material from the light novel that’s missing, but I say it worked out okay in the end. That being said, I am a little curious and might pick up the light novel somewhere. Hope you’ve enjoyed as I have…I will try to review the whole series soon.

Fate/Zero Episode 24

Wow…that was a pretty impressive episode. I had no idea how Kiritsugu would become the man that Shirou knew, but now it becomes clearer. It was really clever that the Grail doesn’t simply grant the wish of the user. Instead, it can only amplify the vision in their mind. It shows that the Grail itself isn’t sentient, which tends to be the general portrayal of wish granting in the media (wishes gone wrong and whatnot). It gives you what you want and nothing else. Even I have to admit that’s cool. It also makes me wonder if it can grant Saber’s wish to change history. She wants to change history by changing one part of it, but she can’t possibly understand all of the implications of this. Something interesting to think about if you want…

As for the battles, the Kirei vs. Kiritsugu fight was so awesome to watch. Kiritsugu fighting with the obvious disadvantage that comes with facing a close combat user in an enclosed space. Also, both combatants trying to beat the other mentally before actually engaging in each encounter. It was definitely exciting. On the other hand, Saber’s battle with Berserker just…kinda…ends. That was kinda anticlimactic. Still, when Kiritsugu ordered Saber to destroy the Grail, it was a pretty cool moment even though I knew it was going to happen. I can’t wait to see how everything ends next week.

Fate/Zero Episode 23

So sad that Rider had to die, but it had to happen. I personally thought his death was pretty cool, but I would have liked him to give Gilgamesh a slightly harder time. Can’t have it all, I guess. Waver smartly preserves his life by getting rid of his Command Seals last week…he didn’t turn out to be so bad of a character. Definitely the best pair of the Grail War, but unfortunately not winner material.

We also find out that Berserker is Lancelot. I figured he had a relation to the Black Knight, but I didn’t expect it to be Lancelot. Not that I know that much about the Black Knight (just the stuff from Fire Emblem, which is the only reason I recognize the sword Arondight). I’d say that Rider/Gilgamesh had the better battle this week. Hopefully the battles next week are cool too.

Fate/Zero Episode 22

Ahh…Kirei…what have you done? Poor Iris. I wonder if this is meant to send Kiritsugu into a rage, so that Kirei can crush his idealistic wish to end war with the Grail. Also, Waver and Rider…bros for life. Waver looks a lot more like a main character by befriending his Servant and then making it so far despite how weak and timid he is. Those two are still my favorite combo.

The stage is set for the final battle. The preview sounds like Rider versus Gilgamesh. Also, Saber will likely face Berserker and Kiritsugu will face off against Kirei. It sucks knowing the outcome, but I hope the battles end up being exciting anyway.

Fate/Zero Episode 21

Wow…Kirei, the man who was always chilling in the shadows in the first half of the series is getting pretty serious now that his limiter has been taken off. He uses Kariya’s Servant to his advantage to kidnap Iris, then tosses him aside, framing him for Tokiomi’s death. Certainly wasn’t expecting Kariya to kill the woman he loved like that, but the heat of the moment, I guess.

Was that chase scene cool or what? Saber busting out the sword and slashing debris…transforming the bike…looked pretty sick. Rider going down to one Excalibur slash was a bit anticlimactic, but the chase was cool. The question for now: Kiritsugu realizes that Rider wasn’t responsible for the abduction of Iris. Does he go after Kariya, who facilitated the capture, or Kirei, the mastermind? Obvious choice is Kariya, but Kiritsugu’s pretty clever. Should be interesting.

Fate/Zero Episode 20

Wow…when did Waver become cool? Realizing that Rider wasn’t at full strength and then talking to him like a true Master. Not bad. Meanwhile, Maiya falls to Rider, who kidnaps Iris. Doesn’t quite seem like his style, but everything about the situation smells fishy. I suppose Maiya had to die…that’s too bad.

So with all of the flashback episodes, I didn’t realize that no one knew Tokiomi was dead yet…I thought the device Kiritsugu used to find out (I assume it matched the magic signature of Tokiomi from his chair to his blood) was pretty cool, though.

Next week, I guess, will be a face-off between Saber and Rider…looks likely that he will fall. I don’t see Berserker dropping first. We don’t even know who he is yet.

Fate/Zero Episode 19

The flashback finishes up this week…holy crap, no wonder Kiritsugu’s so messed up. Rather than clinging to the possibility of Natalia being able to get out of the plane situation alive, he sacrifices her to prevent the spread of the bees infesting the plane. It’s something that Natalia points out that Kiritsugu is able to shoot despite what his feelings tell him, which we know comes from his inability to kill Shirley. Natalia praises it, but it’s pretty arguable whether it’s a good or bad quality. Kiritsugu is able to put the mission before everything, but this makes him an almost literal killing machine. Still, the heroics conversation he has with Natalia shows that his humanity is still there.

Now that this background stuff is done, we can get back into the Grail War. It was nice to see Kiritsugu’s past (he almost seemed to be Natalia’s Maiya or something), but I wonder what this implies about the pacing of the last few episodes. Still four Servants to go (I assume that the next episode’s title of “Return of the Assassin” refers to Kirei, but it could actually be Assassin). Who will drop next? I’d prefer for it to be Berserker…could end up being Rider though. I think it would be funny for Waver to make it so close to the end because of how he’s the only who’s not a trained killer or something.

Fate/Zero Episode 18

This week’s episode is basically a flashback of Kiritsugu’s childhood, basically meant to show why he’s so messed up. Makes sense…his father’s research sounded noble, but was actually a means to an end and zombified the entire village. Hence, Kiritsugu hates mages and assassinates them. He shot his own father…so yeah, he can act soulless. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting…I was expecting the typical village witch hunt type of scenario where Kiritsugu’s father is doing something good, but the villagers kill him thinking he’s a demon. But that wouldn’t have explained the mage killing of Kiritsugu, so that makes sense.

I guess the show’s taking a slight break from the action with the flashbacks. It looks like next week’s episode is a continuation of this story as Kiritsugu becomes a full-fledged magus. I guess they can’t be killing off another Servant every episode…the show would be over in a flash.

Fate/Zero Episode 17

The long awaited backstab (quite literally) finally appears this week. Kirei takes his father’s command seals and gets Gilgamesh to switch to his side to kill Tokiomi. Huh…I was actually right about him dying…not bad. Anyway, I’m not completely sure if Kirei was lying to Gilgamesh about the Grail thing or if he was being serious. It seems weird to me. Why doesn’t Gilgamesh think that Kirei will do the same thing that Tokiomi was planning to do with the last command seal? Maybe he believes that Kirei has a common understanding or maybe I misunderstood what Kirei said. Was he saying that Tokiomi wishes to create a more powerful form of the Grail by sacrificing all of the Servants? Or was he saying that the Grail itself will not activate without the death of all the Servants?

If it’s the first option, then it makes more sense that Gilgamesh would side with Kirei. If it’s the second one, then I have no idea what’s going on. Either way, Tokiomi made it pretty clear he was gonna die this week when he visited Rin and entrusted her with the book and whatnot. A side note: Gilgamesh sure was turning into a bunch of light particles a lot in this episode. I don’t recall him being like that when he conversed with Kirei in the first season…budget? That aside, we still have Rider, Berserker, Archer, and Saber left in the running. My guess is that Berserker is the next to fall, but that may just be a blind, subconscious wish that Rider lasts as long as possible. Was that Waver’s voice in the preview? I couldn’t quite make it out. It looks like this second season is barreling towards an intense conclusion, so I’m definitely enjoying it.

Fate/Zero Episode 16

Holy crap…Kiritsugu went into assassin mode this week like crazy. Taking out Lancer so coldly, then having Maiya kill Kayneth and Sola even after putting a curse on himself that stopped him from doing it. His actions are so dirty…it’s totally opposite of Saber. I find it hard to hate his character, though. Maybe it’s because I know he’ll change by the end of the series. More importantly, Iris collapsed! What happened? Why did she hide it from Kiritsugu? Will this be the beginning of Kiritsugu’s redemption? Another point…Kayneth shot that dude in charge of the Grail War, but they didn’t really touch on it more past that. Will Kirei be able to take advantage of this? He seemed…well, to be honest, he sounded like the robot going “feelings? What are these?”

This episode…I have to say it was random at the beginning. Sola suddenly getting her arm cut off and Kayneth shooting the judge. Just came out of nowhere. Still, it was an interesting episode with that debate between Saber and Kiritsugu. Lancer’s story was such a tragic one. He remained so loyal and chivalrous, but even his Master was suspicious of him near the end. Then he’s betrayed and destroyed by Kiritsugu. I recently watched Unlimited Blade Works, and I was surprised to see Lancer die the way he did…so familiar. I’m hoping next week’s episode continues on with the action…it’s getting pretty crazy in this war. By the “goodbye, father” line from the preview, I wonder if Tokiomi will finally bite the dust next week. Kiritsugu’s “do evil to stop evil” line is familiar…what do you think of it? I believe that sometimes it is necessary, but I wonder how others feel.