Fate/Zero [ep 1]

I wasn’t planning on watching this, because it’s related to the previous show Fate/Stay, which I didn’t watch. I was afraid that I might not understand a thing, but thank God it’s the prequel so it seems that I don’t have much to lose if I watch this without knowing what went down in Fate/Stay. I shall commence with that once I finish this xDD

Having seen the first episode, a full length of 57 mins, I am compelled to post about it. There are shows I don’t bother posting upon watching but this is the kind that I think people should know about. By this, it’s obvious I was mesmerized by the premise. Having no idea what the Holy Grail is, or who these characters are, to tell the truth, I find myself rather confused in the first 5 minutes or so as they introduced several characters at once and with the time leap from 8 years ago to 3 years ago (where we are introduced to yet another character), and then a year ago with new characters. But we see overlapping between these people and finally figure out how they are all connected! Everything fits perfectly and there’s a smooth flow in the rest of the episode.

We have quite a number of characters and some might find it troublesome to remember all together 7 Masters and that still hasn’t include their 7 Servants whom they summon for the Holy Grail War. But they did a great job with the flow of the story that each character gets ample time for their own introduction, and of course, development that actually make you care for them. Some definitely stand out for example Emiya Kiritsugu who appears first, Kirei Kotomine, Tosaka Tokiomi and Kariya Mato. We know these people are those bestowed with Magic and they’re after the Holy Grail, said to grant their wishes. But to obtain this Holy Grail, they have to be selected by the Grail, find relics related to their Servants and have enough power to control them. These Servants will then fight to death with each other to determine who gets the Holy Grail.

Kirei Kotomine and Waver (a student who thinks too highly of himself)

What makes it more interesting is while some of these Masters are experienced enough in this field, there are those who are forced to join. And one such person is Kariya who in order to save Sakura (a girl of another family adopted to carry out this mission because Kariya left the magical world), returns to his home and makes a deal with his father to let Sakura go if he succeeds in being a Master. He then finds himself undergoing an entire year of agonizing training, which results in him turning from a fine young man into a rather hideous looking fellow (picture below).

The ghastly transformation of Kariya

I really pity Kariya for sacrificing himself for the sake of Sakura. He can probably be the only Master who wishes to obtain the Holy Grail not for himself but because he is forced to. He looks cool though, I have to admit. Well, compared to Sakura who has purple hair, purple eyes and dresses in purple dress….I don’t know who is  scarier lol.

Irisviel (Kiritsugu's wife) and Kiritsugu himself

Towards the end of the episode, we get to watch them summoning their Servants which totally is one of the most awesome scene of all. The background music rocks! As they recite specific words and as the diagram glows on the ground with bright lights shining, we know something HUGE is about to happen. The final scenes show the Servants one by one as they materialize in front of their expecting Masters. Some are not as shocking as others. Take for example… 

King Arthur IS A GIRL?!

Thoughts:

First episode is so superb that I don't even feel like I've just spent about an  hour watching this episode. It's quite easy to digest too but of course, we still have a lot to find out about other smaller characters and their background. I'm itching to know how they interact with their respective Servants too. I don't have a certain character to root for as of now, though I'm leaning towards either Kariya and Kiritsugu just coz I feel like Kariya should at least deserve some happiness in his messed up life because of his evil dad who wants to live eternally. As for Kiritsugu, I just have a notion that he's not as bad as his past career and life is.

Other thing worth mentioning is the time they spend working on the impressive artwork for the characters and the overall setting. Everything looks so beautiful. And some more screencaps to grace the post.

King of Iskandar (Waver) and Archer (Tokiomi)

Rating: 9.5/10