Fate/Zero

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.

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.

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.

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.