What a great action anime it was. The storyline and action is amazing.
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randy-2655625 July 2019
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simpsonDDS16 August 2013This anime is fantastic. The most amazing thing about it (especially in the second season) is its unflinching attitude to the darker themes - some scenes will shock you, others will make you cry, and all of them are fantastic. Just when you are about to predict the story it will smack you across the face and tell you to try again. When you know that almost 95% of all the characters can either die or get some seriously messed up treatment, it makes for some of the most tense TV moments... ever.
The characters are generally good. You'll find yourself picking sides and favourites very early on due to the nature of the show. The show presents all sides, all characters and their motivations while managing to keep the some huge story elements secret until they are revealed - that's good writing and it engages the audience.
Animation is literally eye candy. I don't normally enjoy CGI effects, but this show perfectly marries 3D and 2D animation into one. The production values of this show are amazing and I applaud the animators and artists for not taking a half assed approach to some scenes while giving special treatment to others. The OST is used well and the sound is very nicely done.
Overall, 9/10. The 1 deducted was due to the story maybe introducing a little too much characters early on, making it fairly hard to keep track of in the first few episodes. -
Spartan_1_1_77 February 2014Being a prequel to Fate/Stay night, which I happen to really like, it was a great experience to see what happened in the events mentioned a lot in Fate/stay night.
Fate zero is serious, brutal, unapologetic and mature. It is a character driven and dialogue heavy anime.
Story is good. I like the whole holy grail war scenario and the idea of using past great heroes to fight in them. Storytelling is AWESOME. There are lots and lots of characters in this anime and it manages to give everyone a fair share of screen time and great character development. Each character is complex, varied and distinct. This is where this anime truly shines. The relationship between the Masters and the servants is great and is distinct as well. Some are easy, some are complex, some are downright weird. The dialogue in it is also really great, and there is a lot of it. Every movie a character makes is a calculated one. There are no pointless fights or stupid decisions. It really goes to show how mature this anime is. The protagonist especially, is really clever and plans out everything with perfection. It, at times, gives Baccano and Death note a run for their money. There is some humour in this anime, although all of it comes from Rider and his master's conversations and scenes. The way they handled them was one of my favourite things in the anime, loved it.
Animations/art is without a doubt the best I have seen so far in an anime series. Everything is so detailed, beautiful and fluid. There is a lot of CGI too. Normally, I hate CGI in animes but here, they managed to blend it almost perfectly. On very few occasions did it felt out of place. Watching this anime in HD really just melt your eyes, ITS SO PRETTY!!
Soundtrack is amazing as well. From epic battle music too moving sad moments, it has it all.
The anime is not perfect however. I really wished there were some more dialogue moments between Saber and Kritsigu other than that one epic one. Would have loved if there was more development between them. Also, there aren't many fight scenes in this anime. I get the reason behind it as its a more mature anime, pointless fighting was not gonna be in it. But still, epic ones are few and far between. Would have loved to see some of the characters go all out against one another especially in the quality of its animation.
Overall, it is a great, epic anime which you don't get to see a lot. Its maturity is what sets it apart from other animes like it. It is certainly one of the best anime I have seen in a while and perhaps of all time.
Compared to FS, FZ is way way better. Fate/Stay night is like a younger, annoying, often playful brother. Fate Zero is the older, serious, mature, awesome and somewhat dark brother.
Highly recommended. 9.5/10 -
habibjoukhdar18 December 2011As an on the go anime fan, this series is amazing so far. Acting as a prequel to the amusing Fate/Stay Night series, this show is AWESOME.
For those who haven't seen Fate/Stay night yet, and are watching this series, be patient. I made the mistake of finishing the Fate/Stay series straight after watching the first few episodes, and there are a hell lot of spoilers. For those who've seen Night, and you want to know how it started, this prequel is on a whole different level from the fun and interesting Night. The animation is strong, the characters deep and interesting, the plot thick and tied down, and most importantly weird and random comic scenes are placed in a way that make watching this show even more enjoyable.
So in a nutshell, this can easily go up on your list as one of your favorite anime so far, and if you watch this show I know that you'll find this a fun and enjoyable experience. -
WeAreLive16 May 2021So after the mixed critiqued Fate/Stay Night series by studio dean. A brand new studio decided to restart the franchise and this time from the very beginning.
War for the Holy Grail - Pursuing the power of the "Holy Grail" which grants a miracle, this is a contest in which seven mages summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete for it. In the battle whose conclusion was postponed three times, now, the fourth war commences. Amongst the mages, there was a man who was always alone, and could not find out the meaning behind his life. His name was Kirei Kotomine. Not comprehending the guidance of fate, Kirei was lost, and had kept questioning why someone like him was given the Command Seals. However, a nemesis crossed Kirei's path. That person is - Kiritsugu Emiya. A merciless mage killer and assassin-for-hire who sought the miracle of the Holy Grail on behalf of his wife's family - the Einzberns. Merely recited in fragments in Fate/stay night, this is the Fourth Holy Grail War that took place 10 years prior. The truth that unfolded behind the battle between Shirou's foster father, Rin's father, and the younger Kirei Kotomine, is finally revealed.
I will admit this was a very nice restart for the fate franchises and this time we get a lot more character depth and background on both Kieri Kotominae and Kiritsu Emiya as well as how the whole holy grail war began. -
normksis16 December 2016I've watched a lot of anime in my 35 years on this Earth. Recently I've been binge-watching series after series. I've seen some ones that I have truly loved, and others that were excellent.
I find this anime different from those. Firstly, the script is astounding. The way it has been translated into English is fantastic, and the depth of the philosophical conversations, and the concepts and trains of thought therein, are highly intellectual. This adds massively to the richness of the characters, in what could otherwise be considered as a kind of swords and sorcery story.
The different characters from history concept made me dubious before they appeared, but they are done in such a unique way and so unexpectedly; that again it adds to the depth of the story. The voices are marvellous in some instances.
This animation is engrossing and fun, with a story that does not feel episodic. I rate it very highly. It's better than Stein's Gate, and on par with Parasyte: The Maxim and Elfen Lied. -
This is a good example of how great anime can be. The plot is very well done and only gets better as the show progresses, showing development in the characters as the conflict continues. Each character is given a good deal of screen time and development, and there is a lack of a main character, which makes it all the more interesting. The show also questions many things noted as honorable and questions them, such as what it truly means to be a hero and if honor is truly selfless. Fate/Zero also spared no expense on the animation, each movement flows beautifully, and the action is truly something to behold, with a fantastic musical score as well. In short, this show is very well done and has an excellent story, with amazing action sequences and beautiful music. I cannot praise Fate/Zero enough, you're doing yourself a a big disservice by not watching this, however, it does contain some very bloody scenes and gas very dark subjects and disturbing characters, if you do not enjoy dark stories, you may not be able to enjoy this show, if you can look past this, you are sure to enjoy.
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shuyamato3 June 2020Hear my review.
With the promise of granting any wish, the omnipotent Holy Grail triggered three wars in the past, each too cruel and fierce to leave a victor. Being the prequel of the well known franchise Fate/Stay Night, Fate/zero certainly captured the attention of many very easily. What is immediately clear about this production though is not only does it match its predecessor, it far surpasses it in every way imaginable. Whether it be the directing, visuals, character exposition, or anything you can possibly think of, Fate/zero manages to move into a class of its own. In the end, this all adds up to a much more complex and interesting tale, which one will certainly not be soon to forget.
An interesting note about the cast in Fate/Zero though is that it mostly consists of older men. This is particularly noteworthy because so few anime today dare to make a cast of older men. It showcases just how a story with older cast members, even if they are men, can be quite entertaining and that perhaps the same old tired formulas do not always need to be employed to reach certain audiences. A story does not always have to be about high school kids, and hopefully this show can set an example of that
Background Fate/Zero was simulcasted around the world, with subtitles covering eight major languages. It is currently licensed by Aniplex of America for release in North America. -
Only one word to describe Fate/Zero: AWESOME.
I have seen a lot of animes, both movie and series, but Fate/Zero is the best one. The story line was new and totally different from other animes which are usually "fun" and "entertainment". Fate/zero leaves its watchers to think about their dream they are chasing after.All characters are deep and emotional. They are well expressed their characteristics and their personality. The action scene is powerful and well animated with special effects. If you love anime, you must watch it.
"Dont read the rest if you haven't watch the movie"
Three KINGS in the movie is a good story about king's power and their different dream.
Gilgamesh- King of kings, king of Babylon, owner of every treasures in ancient world. He is arrogant and powerful.
Iskander Alexander- King of Expeditions. The dreamer of Oceanus, he has a strong loyal army follows him to death. But he failed and died before achieving his goal.
Arturia Pendragon- King of Knights, King of The Great Britain. The little "girl" ( as two other kings has called)who follows an unreal dream which is bringing justice to her citizens. She gave up everything she has given up friends, family, hometown, comrades to chase after her dream.
Emiya Kirisugu- The Knight of Justice, he is cold hearted, great assassin, shooter and husband. He is the main character of the story and well created with impressive life's story and characteristic. Likes Saber, his goal is destroying evil and bringing justice to the world. His story is beautiful and sad. When he realized his sad dream is unreachable, he totally collapse.
I actually almost cry at the end of the movie. It left me a lot of thinkings about each character and my "dream" in this world.
A must watch anime, one of the best anime ever.
Rey
NZ -
mjk2806 April 2015One day I was just looking for a highly rated anime on Netflix and came across this so I gave it a shot and watched the whole way through.
First of all I love the premise: It's an excuse to have a bunch of interesting characters from history fight to the death, all controlled by human handlers. All the masters and servants have their own interesting personalities and motivations. Okay, there are a few humans who are mostly stoic low talkers but overall the characters are really diverse. The animation also seems really good and up to date. I love how well-drawn, colorful anime looks on an HD TV.
My only thing is the storytelling could've been much better here I think. You've got a great cast of characters and a cool concept right off the bat, but I'm not sure it was executed as well as it could've been. There's just not enough screen time for all those interesting characters. Many of them don't get fleshed out nearly enough and a handful could even be considered flat characters because we only learn as much about them as the plot demands.
Not necessarily a big negative, but I thought the pacing was strange as well. There is a one on one fight pretty early on, so you assume things are going to move fast, but after that it's mostly the human masters scheming or servants talking a lot but never actually getting to the point where they throw down with each other. On the flip side this results in the show being deeper than just a bunch of fight scenes.
Another complaint would be some plot devices introduced out of nowhere. There are two or three times where you'll be thinking "Wait, what's this now? No one mentioned it before." Somewhat related is the fact that they're not really clear on how this all works. Of course magic isn't real so it's hard to quantify it, but I had absolutely no idea why certain characters were more feared than others, and definitely no idea how strong their "super moves" actually were. Some rules of the contest that are established eventually end up being ignored, forgotten about, or are violated with no repercussions. It's almost like the rules are a gentleman's agreement, but you don't REALLY have to follow them. That's fine if that's the case but they never really say that.
Overall it's a fun show though, and over the course of 26 episodes none of these complaints crop up too consistently. There's a lot of meat here and getting into some more back stories for the characters could have definitely resulted in at least one more season or even two. The show could've used more actual fighting too in my opinion but regardless you're still intrigued the whole time about who will emerge victorious. I hate to say I think it's a bit overrated, but you should check it out anyways. Just expect to be in it for the long haul to get the most out of it, and for some episodes to be far better than others. -
marananrafael8 July 2014When I started watching, I had no clue at all on what the anime was about. Fortunately, the first episode went along smoothly answering basic questions.
The songs were a beautiful addition, fitting very nice with the story and the flow.
The story is about the Holy Grail, said to be an omnipotent wish- granting device. There are seven sides to the story, seven partnered Masters and Servants. The pace was perfect like a story unfolding in front of your eyes or a book with its every content shown at the most colorful and meaningful interpretation.
It is an anime with a lot of touches, action and sadness driven with the power of desires and belief, hopes and twisted wishes that came from different pasts and the ever-uncertain future.
I highly recommend it to people who want action, an interesting plot and some grief to accept. -
jayanthreddy-6118926 January 2022It was going well - took some episodes to get it going, but last 3 episodes are pathetiacally boring and you dont get any conclusion at end. Looks like the curves goes up and falls steep down in last episodes.
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a_sad_cow29 December 2021Brilliant artwork, and loving the non-standard story arcs.
Kiritsugu is a great character, to the point where this would be a much better series if it just followed him. As is, his Shirley and Natalya episodes could be combined into a compelling OVA.
Honestly annoyed with Saber. Lots of great potential, but so much of her development occurs via exposition. Someone compliments her now or for what she did in the past without any real details on what that was. Then she rather accepts the whole "just a little girl" bit, when it was the perfect opportunity to really explain what kingship is.
Was worried when the Grail selected Caster, despite his obviously chaotic evil alignment. Glad it finally tied to the Grail's complete lack of moral agency in the conclusion.
One rather large plot hole - the Grail not granting wishes beyond the recipients explicit understanding. In merely selecting competitors, the Grail demonstrates intricate knowledge of the world. So the peaceful wish is denied, but an Armageddon-level wish is interpreted in surprising fashion?
Why is Rider's arc closed in such trivial fashion? Second favorite character with so much personality, and then essentially written off to shift focus to the anti-hero?
And why does Kiritsugu need to kill his family? I know his ethical dilemma is killing a few to save many, but this turn just feels incredibly contrived.
Followed the whole thing since there's so many rave reviews, but this won't even make my top 10. Unsure if I'll even bother with Fate Stay Night now. -
centinela905 October 2020Couldnt believe how good this is 😁. Totally recommend it!
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grigoryaleksin13 December 2015In my opinion, this is one of the greatest anime's of all time. It combines amazingly detailed battles with an interesting plot at the same time as carrying a deep philosophical meaning.
The songs at the beginning and end are beautiful and touching, either making you cry or pulling you into another destruction filled scene.
Overall this anime is a "must watch" for all fans but still may be interesting for aspiring philosophers studying examples of nihilism. However for all those, who love action, adventure and a little bit of tragedy, Fate Zero is perfect. I would highly recommend it anyone!
At the end, it really makes think about want it means to have a "dream" and questions everything you previously believed in! -
anthonyhorwood20 June 2012I love anime. Fate/Zero is rapidly becoming part of my 'must have' collection. It's strongly designed and scripted, the characterisation is excellent (though why do so many of the men look alike?) and the plot thickens nicely.
Its strongest point though is the animation. I have seen lots of really good animation, some of the Studio Ghibli output is fabulous, but so far nothing can touch Fate/Zero. Of course, it's new and using newer techniques, which give it an edge, but the design is crisp, clear and original anyway. Even it it had been made 10 years ago I would give it 10/10 for style and quality, but it wasn't. The techniques that went into the production have given Fate/Zero a unique appearance. The characters look like anime characters, but some of the effects and even some of the heroic characters look like someone spent a million dollars a second getting them perfect.
The character of Berserker is a bit hard to flesh out, for example, almost by definition as he was a knight driven insane by the horrors of battle, but his appearance!! He is gorgeous, so far as a frightening, black revenant can be. At one point he fights another of the heroes having taken possession of a fighter plane, and the whole section is beyond anything I had ever previously seen.
One could quibble that King Arthur was in fact, a bloke, not a girl or that Alexander the Great was both short and gay, but it's anime, not the History Channel.
All round, this was a huge surprise, and a total delight to me. I love it. -
BadgerStorm43453 October 2020Fate/Zero is a show that I found absolutely no problems in. The Story is fantastic and engaging, while the characters are complex and enjoyable to watch. Animation and colors pop and make everything look visually stunning through a nice blend of hand drawn animation and CGI. Philosophies are at stake during battles which gives them so much more weight. Verbal encounters between characters hold so much over the story as well, as the manipulation in this show is just as important as the fighting. Even the music is used perfectly in this show, beautifully representing the crucial moments that it's used in. I wasn't expecting Fate/Zero to be in my Top 5 anime, but I found myself pleasantly surprised.
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mercfma24 August 2014This review is covering the entire Fate/Zero series(25episodes).
Before i watched this series someone had called it "the Game Of Thrones(GoT) of anime", now i didn't understand because i never watched GoT before. So as i was putting off watching this anime for a few months. I ended up watching all 4 current seasons of GoT and upon finishing that i decided to watch Fate/Zero. After having seen both i agree completely, this IS the GoT of anime. This show was an "decent or alright" anime in the first 12 episodes and for me "decent or alright" means i could keep watching or if i stopped right now i wouldn't feel an unfinished urge to watch more. After the first 12 or 13 episodes, this show went from my average list to one of my top 8! Now don't get me wrong it was still an above average anime from the get go but for me it just wasn't pulling me in for more after the end of every episode, but that changed real fast after i started the second half.
If you like old hero's and legendary warriors brought into the modern day age (with magic!) to all fight each other to see who is superior in the name of the holy grail(!) then you will enjoy this show! Now maybe you don't really care for old legends and warriors(like myself) but you wanna see bloody violence with a taste of real life hit-men and a hint of badass magic then you should really give this show a try and i can guarantee you'll enjoy this show.
5/5, 9.5/10. Why? The storyline and plot is very solid. The animation is flawlessly beautiful. The music is very well picked. English dub is amazing. All of the characters are very developed. Through and through i have to say this isn't my favorite but in terms of things that make or break a show i can't name a single "flaw" with this show. My only "complaint", not really a complaint as the ending was amazingly done, but i am saddened by the ending, it wasn't how i thought it would end. And you should know that there is a sequel to this called "Fate/Stay Night" where it picks up where this series ended. -
shahrozekazmi5 April 2015Fate/Zero produced by the famous animation studio Ufotable is the story of the 4th Holy Grail War, a magical battle royal between 7 teams of 2 consisting of a Master(wizard) and a Servant(Spirit) and the prequel to Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works. The Servants are actually souls of famous heroes summoned from various eras of history and given supernatural magical powers. The team that is left standing wins the Holy Grail which is an omnipotent wish granting device capable of performing miracles.
The plot is not very hard to follow however you need to have an understanding of the Type-Moon universe and the events of the first 3 Holy Grail wars to get the most out of the series.
The characters are very well portrayed. Each character has a reason to fight and most of them commit actions that lie in the morally gray area. However this series does have its villains that could be considered sadist to say the least. The main character, Kiritsugu Emiya,is a very intriguing character who you want to find out more about.
As far as visuals go.. This anime has the most gorgeous artwork and animation I've ever seen. The fights are fluid with realistic sound effects and combined with epic OSTs, you'll want to watch them over and over again. The special animation techniques used by Ufotable is so flawless that even if you pause abruptly in midst of action you'll always have a clear frame... No matter what... Believe me.. I've tried to disprove it and failed miserably.
Overall rating.. 10/10 if you obtain some background knowledge about the series.. if you don't you'll probably still rate it a ten on basis of eye-watering animation alone. -
Ill start with the good. Most characters are interesting, and their behavior is quite realistic in my opinion. You get to learn the motives and their actions do seem to fit them. However, some story lines are not followed thoroughly enough, probably because lack of time. The ones that are are mostly quite interesting.
There is a lot of action and the animation is beautifully done.
Now the bad: the story just isn't great. The setting was good but I felt like it just didn't develop enough and in the end didn't quite reach a conclusion(though I did only watch the first season),I didn't quite understand where everything was left in the end. The main character however does evolve significantly in this series.
Overall, nice to watch but don't get your hopes up too much. -
heyspongebob-7652429 May 2019While the main concept is kind of generic, and the beginning starts off slow, the show's great characters, beautiful animation, and mind blowing ending make what seems to be a typical battle royale into a masterpiece
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Nonomemes1 November 2021No way.
At first episode I was going to throw up, I dropped watching just a bit later in the series. One scene is enough, it is not spoiler but who watched knows perfectly which scene I am speaking about.
Unacceptable even for adults of any age. -
irbazsabik9 September 2020Story-line => 5/5 (The storyline is very interesting and had many twists.); Acting => 5/5 (The voice acting is up to the mark. I particularly loved Kotomine's voice acting. It was so synced with the character. ); Directing => 5/5 (Overall presentation was amazing and thrilling to watch.); Animation => 5/5 (The animation is a treat to the eyes. UFOTABLE for the win.); Screenplay => 5/5 (The characters were very relatable since the background study was very clear. The dialogue between the characters were also relatable.); Personal Recommendation => 5/5 (If you want to get into Fate Lore, start with this. You can also enjoy it as a standalone series. Great watch. Don't watch Fate SN UBW before watching this.); Most Favorite Character => Iskander(Most heartwarming and honorable character of the whole series. I was a bit confused between Kiritsugu and Iskander. But considering all aspects, Iskander is my favorite. His views gave me some food for thought. );
Overall Personal Rating => 10/10 -
18Buddha11 June 2022I really liked the concept of this Anime and the storyline and i would have gave it a 10/10 if not for its sometimes confusing objectives of certain competitors.
Even the ending was confusing and didnt seem logical to me and the big reveal was very flawed u might say.
But regardless This anime has amazing action, storyline. Creativity, wonderful characters and most of all its for a mature audience so its even more enjoyable. -
jeremygirvan9 June 2014This show is guaranteed to have something you'll like. There's so many great characters with their own set of morals, beliefs and desires that it's impossible not to identify with at least one. But it does have one flaw: the ending. Fate/Zero is a prequel but feels like a stand alone series that you'd assume to have a satisfying conclusion to wrap up all loose ends. However, the ending feels like it's just thrown in as an excuse to set the story up for Fate/Stay Night. And Stay Night is an average show at best - with all the clichés like teenage heroes and token girls (one of Zero's strongest and most interesting female leads, Saber, basically becomes just one of many token love interest for the main character in Stay Night). As long as you can handle a less than satisfying ending, Fate/Zero is an amazing show that doesn't do what you expect - which probably stems from the fact that it's a prequel and the writers got all the cliché overused plot devices out of their system. The main focus of the story doesn't rely on the epic battles, but rather the build up to these battles; the plans and preparations made, spying on the other Masters and Servants, discovering the motives of each character, the backroom deals made to further each Master's advance. It's basically a deconstruction of the Master/Servant Battle Royal formula (commonly seen in shows like Pok'e'mon, Digimon, Yu'gi'oh, etc.), and with adults.