Its been over a year and I’ve just been so excited to see this! Fate/Zero so won me over as one of my favorite shows and I was anticipating that this new anime would be just as good, with the great storytelling, action, and beautiful animation as its predecessor. And you know what? HYPE CONFIRMED.
This episode sucked me in, and not just because I’m a drooling Fate fanboy. It had all the good setup for the show and what it would do. One thing that threwme was like, Fate/Zero, this was a 45 minute episode. However, on the plus side, it doesn’t have to cover every detail or backstory, so its got a lot more energy than the admittedly placid beginning to Fate/Zero. But for now, lets just dig in!
The episode begins with Rin dreaming about her dad, and the times they shared before he went off to the Grail war where he died.
Its really sweet and reminds us of the main reason why Rin is so committed to going into whats to follow. She loved her father, and she wants to live up to his legacy…but first she has to defeat her greatest enemy….the MORNING!!
Rin gets prepared for the day. Apparently, some tinkering with some stuff her dad left for her caused all their clocks to move an hour back. For any of you wondering why she doesn’t use her cellphone then the answer is simple-Mages avoid tech like the plague. It don’t run on magic, might as well be from outer space. Anyway, she gets to school, seeing the archery captain as well as a purple haired girl that I’m sure-I’M SURE will not be important later.
Then she runs into Shinji. Here’s what you need to know about Shinji….HE’S A SHITHEAD. He tries to get Rin watch him practice, so she politely says no. He He then hits on her and she much less politely says no. Just…just look at this creeper’s face!
After that, Rin goes about her school day, and then when she gets back decides its time to summon her servant. There’s only two available slots left, for Archer and Saber. Rin wants Saber very badly, as its usually the strongest servant. She gets everything prepared, has a magical circle and begins the ceremony!
To pause for a moment, I must gush against that this animation is MAGNIFICENT! Its beautifully done, with the lighting, the angles, the motion all stellar! Its just..SO GOOOOD!!!!
Anyways, Rin completes the summoning ritual and everything is great….except for one itty bitty detail. She forgot those clocks were wound back, so she wasn’t at peak power. Since she was trying to summon Saber without a catalyst (which would guarantee it), so instead of Saber, she gets…this guy.
They meet each other, both feeling a bit dissatisfied with their position. Rin wanted Saber so badly, while her Servant feels she’s inexperienced and ill-suited to handling things. So he makes it simple, he’ll accept her as his master, so long as he doesn’t have to listen to anything she says. He continues to run his mouth off about how he’ll handle it all and she can just hide behind him, clearly not knowing what he’s dealing with; a tsundere with magic powers.
She decides “screw you and your big man talk” by using one of her Command seals to demand absolute obedience (A command seal is basically three unrefusable orders you can give a servant-once they’re used up, a Master’s gotta rely on good faith for their Servant to behave.)
On the one hand, its a very dumb move, as each Master only gets three command seals, and a broad order like “obey everything I say” isn’t going to be as powerful as a specific order (otherwise, it’d be kinda pointless, wouldn’t it? You could just use up your one command seal and boom, total obedience!) However, it does mean he has a strong compulsion to follow her orders, and her magical expertise and mana level earns her his respect.
When she asks him his name, he says he doesn’t have one. He has…(pause)..AMNESIA!!! While Rin’s depressed she doesn’t even know what Spirit this guy is, she does know he’s an Archer, and they seem to have smoothed out their relationship. Their first order of business…Rin makes him clean up the utter mess he made when he was summoned!XDDDD
showing Archer around the town, only for, when they’re on the tallest tower in the place, say that he could have just gone there and gotten a layout of the area. They then talk about their goals for the Grail, only for Rin to reveal she has none. She doesn’t want the Grail to get a wish and conquer the world or anything like that, but purely to win. This answer pleases Archer very much, and re-affirms that yes, Rin is the best master for him in his eyes.
They see that purple hair girl with a strange blonde man…huh. How strange, but I’m sure its not important at aaaaaaallllll!! The next day, Rin goes to school, only to find a barrier had been placed on it. Basically, once its complete, everyone in it with be turned to dust, and all their juicy souls will become Servant food. Servants gain power from mana, so if they eat souls, they’ll be stronger, even though its well…murder. Lots and lots of murder. She decides later that night, when everyone is away, to undo some of the work on the barrier, only to find she and Archer aren’t alone!
Another Servant is there. At first, it looks bad, Rin’s out in the open, and one blow from this guy will kill her. So what does she do? SICK MAGICAL PARKOUR’S WHAT!!
She manages to get away so that then the two Servants can go to town. Archer’s ready to finally show her what he can do and oh man..he deliiiverrrs!!
This fight scene…is brilliant. Its fast paced, but we can see everything in beautiful, amazing detail. One touch I just love is how all the sparks and energy that comes from Archer’s blade is blue, while all of Lancer’s (spoiler-he’s Lancer…not that the spear didn’t give it away) is red. The clashing colors just make the entire fight scene just look so, so cool. This is violence, beautiful, beautiful violence.
Archer shows off a neat trick, he can summon his short swords so that, even if they break or he’s disarmed, he can just summon new ones. Meanwhile, Lancer begins to use his ultimate attack, if not for an unforeseen spectator.
Said spectator is a student, who ran into the fight. Since witnesses a big no-no, Lancer goes off to take him out. Rin and Archer go to help, but its too late. To her horror, she sees its Shirou Emiya, who apparently is very special to someone she knows. Feeling responsible, she uses up one of her magical jewels to try and save his life.
After that, both Rin and Archer take a breather. However, they realize that just because they saved him doesn’t mean Lancer can’t just skewer him like a kabob again. They go to save him, only to be stopped by a warrior with a blade..SABER. (Dun-dun-dun)
Apologies if this went on way, way, way too long, but there was an insane amount to cover. I loved this episode, it introduced both lead characters and got their dynamic going, the action’s so good, and its just..so PUUURTYYYYY!!! Like I said before, since this episode only focused on two characters, the audience can get a lot more invested without any distractions. I love the way that Archer and Rin’s rocky relationship has kicked off, the fighting remains some of the best I’ve ever seen in animation, and I’m so excited for what’s to come.
Savage
Midnight’s First Impression
ALRIGHT! Savage pretty much summed up the episode for you guys so I’ll try to keep this fairly quick. I LOVED THIS EPISODE! Never before was I so interested in Rin and Archer, Rin in particular I always found to be just kind of annoying but this episode really changed my opinion of her. It’s not like they changed her personality at all either it’s simply that we get to see more of her and more from her point of view that make some of her actions make more sense.
Also what, WHAT, this all of this WHAT? GIL, what are you doing? Sakura what are you doing talking to Gil!? GILLLLL, -Gilgamesh hype intensifies-
As Savage pointed out multiple times the animation in this is gorgeous, it’s really pleasing to look at. Not much to say about the soundtrack yet, the ending song wasn’t too bad but I look forward to seeing what the opening is going to look like.
Everything about this episode was awesome, the chemistry between Rin and Archer is perfect. [This seas is full of ships!], Something I found rather interesting in particular is that you don’t get a clear shot of Shirou in this episode at all. It basically leaves him as a mystery character that you know is important from Rin’s reactions but you wouldn’t get it otherwise with how little detail they give him. The suspense levels are just enough to get you pumped even if you’ve seen the first anime and there is plenty to leave you wanting more. Now excuse me while I sit here and camp out for episode one.
Will I be watching?: YESSSS
Covering: I agreed with Savage pre-seas0n to share this. So uh, YEAH.
INTO THE HOLY GRIAL WARS WE GO!
~Midnight
Shinji has the dubious honor of being one of the most despicable characters in the Fate franchise. I am astonished anyone tolerates his presence at all.
While others are bad, Shinji’s thing is 1. he’s a shrimp with no backbone and 2. he’s hoooooribly petty.
Just so you know… this is episode 0, not 1. The series hasn’t started yet. :3
Fate/stay Night was originally in Shirou’s POV, so we’ll see the official first episode soon.