Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo Ep 00 + 01 [First Impression]

Eva’s First Impression 

Now there was a special aired at the very end of December 2018, but since nobody wrote anything up on it and I only gotten around to watch this yesterday, I figured: ‘Why not just combine it with the first episode?’ So my first impression will be featuring both the special and the premiere.

Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note
SPECIAL – Episode 0

MY EMOTIONS!!!!!!! It’s been almost ten years since I watched Fate Zero, but Waver is a character that have always remained vivid in my memories, making him my favourite character next to Rider Iskandar, of the franchise. I completely lost it when I noticed Waver sporting the shirt Rider loved. The minute he walked in the room and we saw its blurred logo I KNEW IT WAS THE ONE! MY HEART! NEVER FORGET!

Having survived the 4th Holy Grail War, Waver seen a lot of shit, and was the only one from the Clock Tower’s Magus Association to have come back alive. It’s also among one of the reasons why he has been appointed the title Lord El-Melloi II in steed of Kayneth (his professor who had fallen during the 4th Holy Grail War), until his sister Reines becomes of age. While doing so he has rebuilt the Modern Magecraft Theories department, and serves as a professor. But at the same time, there’s a discourse of power struggle unfolding within the The Mages of the Clock Tower’ organization, and being the stand-in Lord, he’s stuck in the middle of it. Waver is being pressured in picking sides, but really he’d rather have nothing to do with it— can’t blame him, they are all batshit crazy!

The special revolved around a curse of the Corresponding Shadow inflicted onto Waver in attempt to kill him through killing the stray cat they put next to him. Fortunately his apprentice Gray, who has a unique tie to the Realm of Death was able to hear the cat, and they were able to find out before the curse could kill him. With the held of Svin and Flat, they were able to track down the perpetrator in hopes to get information out of him, but according to Reine who had interrogated him, the man’s memories had been altered and was simply doing the job on behalf of a client who wanted him dead.

It also introduced us some new faces, Gray, a mysterious girl who claims Waver had saved her, the hilarious Beast Mage Flat, Svin, and some major Clock Tower figures such as Reines El-Melloi (Archisorte Mage), Inorai (Head of Department of Creation), and Bram (Top-Tier Instruction of Spiritual Evocation), as well as a familiar one like Rocco (Head of Department of Summoning), who to my most recent memory we’ve seen in Fate/Apocrypha (never finished watching that one).

One of the things I already love about this series already is how even though Waver is all grown up, anyone who has watched Fate/Zero will certainly see his younger self within him. Aside from becoming more mature and wiser, his clumsiness, his insecurities and core personality have for most part remained the same. A great example of that was his relationship with the stray cat. He often scolded it, but never chased it out. And then when he found it bleeding on the street, he attempted to save it, or at least make it’s passing a bit more comfortable by taking it back to his office. But it served as a painful reminder of his inability to be there when it matters most, and his sense of powerlessness. It’s a scar from the Holy Grail that has never healed, and continues to haunt him to this day.

Last but not least, can we appreciation the animation quality!? TROYCA studio took it, and ran with it! The backgrounds are absolutely breathtaking, and they did a great job of adapting the character designs. I was also quite a fan of the short and sweet action scene with the hot pursuit!

While there was quite a bit of heavy dialogue being dished out that made it overwhelming to keep up at times, I was still able to enjoy the episode! It makes me extremely excited for what this series has to offer, especially with Waver as the main protagonist!

Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note Episode 1

What a fantastic and fun premiere! I absolutely loved the way they kicked off the episode with the flashback of Iskandar’s fateful fight against Gilgamesh on the bridge. Oh man, it was so beautifully done, especially with how it followed to the end, after Iskandar had fallen, and Gilgamesh spared Waver’s life.

This episode revolved revealing the details of how and why Waver purchased the El-Melloi Class, and eventually became its Lord. It started off with Waver making the journey to Ruins of Babylon in Iraq to visit the city that was built by one of the first Kings, Gilgamesh, and also where Iskandar had passed. While he was there, he ended up being captured by a fellow Clock Tower colleague who was attempting to locate Iskandar’s Crypt. Once Waver heard about that, it wasn’t about escaping anymore, but putting an end to the operation. And with the help of a fellow classmate Melvin who was also captured after being tricked into coming, the two of them created mayhem simply by a moment of distraction and causing an explosion to distrput the leylines that were keeping the evil spirits in check. They used them to shut down the operation, which pretty much killed everyone there, while the two of them made a hasty and dramatic escape.

Through this we learned that it was thanks to Melvin that Waver was even able to make the trip to Japan to participate in the 4th Holy Grail War, promising he would bring back an awesome story, and then agreed to support him again (after being asked for more money) so he could purchase the El-Melloi Class. Even though Waver didn’t think they really were friends per-say, Melvin at that point was convinced they were, and by the look of it, whether he likes it or not, that’s the case, hahaha!

And I must say, Melvin has to be my new favourite character. He is absolutely hysterical, he had me in stitches from laughing so hard! The running gag of him throwing up blood is really something, especially when it is supposed to be a serious health problem as he has a frail body. Yet it works, and I can’t see myself getting tired of it until that moment it actually spells his death. So I do hope we will be able to see him a fair bit in this story since he and Waver are so much fun to watch together! They are so freaking cute!

Melvin was also the one who delivered the news to Waver about their Professor, Kayneth’s death. Since Waver had yet to return to London even after the war, it makes sense why that was the case. Although he was not particularly fond of his former professor, he respected him as a Mage, and he felt although he was directly responsible for his death for having stolen Iskandar’s Relic. That is also why Waver agreed to take over and repay the El-Melloi’s debt, serve as Lord in  Reines’ steed until she is of age, as well as help out restore the El-Melloi’s original magical crest, under the condition they add “II” to the title.

The interaction between Waver and young Reines this episode really took me by surprise because initially I wasn’t too sure what to make out of her character during the special. But after this, it’s safe to say my opinion of her has changed for the better. She definitely has a lot of sides to her and I’m looking forward to learning more about how her relationship with Waver has evolved since he has accepted the role. It is another dynamic I am quite interested in seeing playing out. Actually just in general, Waver has found himself surrounded by some interesting characters!

I do hope this series will continue to have this great combination of seriousness and humour, and I look forward to following Waver’s story!

Possibility of Blogging: Moderate – I absolutely loving this series, but I’m not too sure if I want to cover it because I’m trying to take it easy this season. If nobody else is interested in picking this up, I’ll try doing three episodes to see if I’m up to it!
Possibility of Watching: Guaranteed