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ファイト／ステイナイト 
As far as last episode goes, this is definitely a good conclusion to the series. The animation is a sight to behold and the story ends on a solemn and bittersweet note. Overall, however, the series has been rather disappointing in both pacing and story development. The series spent too much time repeating information about the grail over the course of the series to the detriment of the pacing. This also means that the writers lost the chance to give the character some background information so that their own story are a lot easier to understand. If a person has not seen the game or at least read some spoilers about it, the likelihood is that he/she won't understand some of the unexplained storylines featured in the series. This includes Archer's background, Rin/Sakura connection, and Illya getting sick all of a sudden.
For a penultimate episode, this one surely doesn't feel like it. I mean, the animation is certainly gorgeous. I think I actually saw every glimmer in both Saber's and Gilgamesh's armour. But the fight scenes themselves lack tension. I am not sure if it's a pacing issue or if it's because as far as villain goes, Kotomine and Gilgamesh are not that exciting to watch. Oh well, I'm quite amused with the whole 'Oyashiro-sama' expression that is going on in this episode. I guess Studio DEEN can't resist self-refencing themselves since they actually responsible for animating this and Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Although that makes me wonder why Higurashi can't look a like Fate/stay night animation-wise? I think if that series has animation similar to Fate/stay night, it'll easily become the best series that was released this Spring.
Wow, it's hard to believe that we're finally up to this point in this series. Two more episodes and that will be it. It's probably hard for some newcomers to join the bandwagon at this point in time but in case you insist on catching up, I must recomend some of these 'quick guides' to Fate/stay night episodes. Behond: episode 11, episode 14, episode 15 (they forgot the dragon!!), episode 19 and episode 21 quick summary.
It's been a while since this series shows an interesting fight but this episode manages to do just that. The battle is actually exciting and full of surprising revelation. And on top of this, Shirou finally grows up as a character and starts taking actions in order to achieve things that he wants to achieve. But with all of the surprises finally being laid to rest, it's clear that this series is finally on its way to completion. At this point in time, I don't think the anime will introduce other surprising elements to the storyline. I suspect that the next 2 episodes will simply deal with the latest enemy while the last one will probably be used to wrap up the series and shows what happens to the characters a few years later.
This episode feels kind of slow and doesn't actually progress the plot much. There are, however, some light moments in the episode which kind of make up for its deficiencies. By looking at this episode, it also becomes apparent that the series is closer to Fate arc ending more than anything else. The heavy focus on Shirou and Saber in this episode will definitely come in handy if the conclusion really is heading towards that particular ending. Anyway, I find it hard to believe that there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency within the plot even though the series is ending soon. Having said that, the preview for next week's episode suggests that the pace will pick up a little bit from here on.
The main battle in the first half of this episode is amazing. I think the last time around I felt this way was the episode with Acher's death. Of course it helps that there are two major events happening within this one episode so the animators probably felt that they have to up the quality a bit. Also of note is the soundtrack, which is especially notable when it switches to a Egyptian/Mesopotamian style tune during the new character's introduction. Overall, the episode quality is quite impressive and made me wonder why Studio Deen can't give the same amount of quality control to Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Anyway, with only 5 more episodes left, I wonder if the new character introduced this week will be the last nemesis for Shirou and the others to fight.
This turns out to be a rather fun episode. The 3 party fights were quite exciting to watch and the ending was a bit surprising to say the least. There are, however, certain elements which I wish had been explored a bit further but they were either not included or not revealed just yet. Animation-wise, this is a lot better than the previous episode although as usual, I wish the animators use less blurry effect to indicate movement. Music is another memorable aspect of this episode. The piece that plays during Caster's flashback is really a nice one. Anyway, with only 6 more episodes to go, I think it'll be interesting to see how many more enemies the writers can cram in. I especially wish that they will develop one particular enemy a bit more but after this episode, this doesn't seem likely.
Well, this is not exactly what I had in mind for the arc but hopefully it'll progress to a much more interesting part later on. I did like the fact that the new enemy has an entirely different reason for participating in the battle. However, this was marred by the main battle featured within the episode, which looks a bit silly and badly animated. Right now, I'm just hoping that this new enemy will turn out to be a temporary one. Especially after the rather interesting angle that the end of this episode provides. Hopefully this is a sign that the writers are trying to take that particular character towards this new story direction. I think of all the characters in Fate/stay night, this character has the most potential to become an effective nemesis.
Well, that was okay I guess. I am not overly impressed with the animation which has too many blurry lines instead of proper animation. The storyline, however, seems to be heading towards a rather interesting direction. Having said that, I can't help but wishing that I get to see a parallel world where say, something like this happened. Given the amount of bickering and fights happening within Shirou's harem, I thought that would be amusing to see. Anyway, with only few more episodes before the series reaches its conclusion, I hope they pick up the pace a little bit. Especially since it looks like the writers are planning to include many sub-stories from the game. It'll be fun to see hwo many adversaries the writers think they can cram in the space of 8 episodes.
Opening Theme: 「きらめく涙は星に」- Kirameku Namida wa Hoshi ni by タイナカ サチ (Tainaka Sachi) (14.7MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Wow, I think we probably spoke way too fast about Archer's funeral ceremony last week. Because if the opening is any indication of future plot, maybe he's not gone. Yet. At any rate, if this is true, of course I'm looking forward to it. Unfortunately, the new opening is actually not as good as the old one. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet but I thought it's not as powerful as Disillusioned. This episode is also a bit of a mess with some bad-looking 3D effects being used in some of the scenes. I hope this is not an indication of the way the animation in future episodes will look. Despite this, I'm still looking forward to next week's episode in the hope that something super-exciting will happen to the story. I'm hoping a certain someone will finally take a centre stage and starts killing people left and right.
I have to admit that I never expected to be this upset when I saw this. I knew that there is a possibility that this may happen but I thought the anime will take an entirely different route from this path. So now that this is the result, I think the word 'upset' is an understatement. Archer is one of the two reasons as to why I wanted to watch this series to begin with. So now that this is what it comes down to, I felt as if I lost half of my interest in following the story. I'm also a bit disappointed that the animators only give little hint about Archer's past. I do, however, like the fact that the producers went to create an all new ending theme just for this episode. Anyway, this is mostly a tribute to Archer, so I'm sorry if the majority of the images have little to no shots of other characters.
This is not exactly the best episode especially in comparison to last week's. But I think this is a necessary one in order to facilitate the next set of stories. The most important part of this episode is Shirou's eventual doubt of his idealism, which I think will become one of the main plots in the series and affects the development of another character. This episode also establishes Saber's background a little bit. I am not particularly fond of this since I'm not a big fan of medieval storyline. But again, this is a necessary part of the series. Animation-wise, the episode seems to take a slight nosedive in quality. However, this is not that noticeable since there isn't that much action happening within the episode.
The first half of this episode is rather boring and I hope I can skip it but the second half is exciting and full of fights. Now that the series has reach a half point towards its completion, I really hope that the writers will speed up the pace a little bit. Come to think of it, I wonder why they didn't speed up the pace a bit earlier. As some people pointed out in the comment area, there are many stories that are not yet explored in the series. I think if the animators had cut down those 'Shirou is saved by his foster father' scene, which I think have been on repeat for at least 5 or more times now, they could have speed up the pace a little bit. At first I didn't really notice the repetition but now I realise that they've been using that scene to stall the other storylines in an episode.
This is a fantastic episode that is full of battles and light on talk. I'm also quite impressed with Shinji's VA, who is capable of bringing various kinds of emotion, into his character. It's amazing to think that this is the same VA who voices Takemoto on Honey and Clover. Anyone who has seen that series will know that Takemoto is an all around good guy and his voice couldn't be more different from that of Shinji's. I am also very interested in the soundtrack now after hearing some of the scores that have been used within the series. The one that appeared during a major battle in this episode is one of my favourite. I think the same score was used during Archer vs. Lancer fight back in the second episode. Another favourite score was the one used when Saber appeared for the first time from her magic sphere. I think that particular score has this wistful note that matches well with Saber's personality and background story.
Jukai has just released the PV of their latest single, Anata ga Ita Mori. Anyone who's been watching Fate/stay night will know that this is the ending theme for that series. I think I mentioned before how much I love this song. The melody and the lyric feel soothing. And I have to admit that the female singer, Watanabe Manami, is quite easy on the eyes, bad hair day and all. :) Unfortunately the PV is not that outstanding. It simply shows Manami singing the song inside a painting of a forest while the male guitarist, Yoshiaki Dewa, sits inside the house that features said painting. They then switch place as the song winds down to the end. Anyway, if you're interested in the PV, Tokyo Toshokan has it.
Type-Moon has announced the winners of the 2nd character popularity poll. First of all, Yay! for Rin and Archer, both of whom received the 2nd and 3rd position. Actually I was hoping that the result for this second round will be kind of similar to the 1st character popularity poll, at least for the top three and I wasn't disappointed. I feel sorry for Shirou though. He was actually sitting in number 7 in the first poll but now he drops down to number 11. Oh well, he's still in the top 10 in spirit, if you know what I mean. Anyway, below is the list of the top 10 winners. But if you're the one who vote for the characters, which ones will you place in the top 10 ranking? I have my own preference after the cut. Let me know about yours.
1. Saber
2. Tohsaka Rin
3. Archer
4. Rider
5. Matou Sakura
6. Lancer
7. Karen Ortensia (Hollow/Ataraxia)
8. Illyasviel von Einzbern
9. Bazette Fraga Makremitz (Hollow/Ataraxia)
10. Caster
Okay, I'm starting to worry about this show. This episode is funny but I can't help but hoping to see some action scenes here. Admittedly this episode is not a complete lost because in exchange of action and plot development, the episode brings out character development and interaction. I really appreaciate this because as much as I enjoy the comedic side of the series, I think after 10 episodes, the series need to develop its story as soon as possible. As a warning, there is some fanservice included in this episode. The scene in question, however, is far from offensive and unless one intentionally downloads a collage of the character's entire body, the scene will appear to be a simple titilation.
This is a very exciting episode that should be on the fans' watching list, especially those who felt that the series has been on a rather slow progress lately. This episode seems to make up for a lot of that by featuring two action scenes and very little talk. There is also a very neat character development here which would not be obvious right away but will explain Shirou's character in the future. Having said that, the main attraction on this episode is on the battles. I have to praise the animation team for their effort on this episode. I think the battle scenes would not have been as effective as this one had been if the animation were not up to scratch. Major props also go to the composer, whose scores elevate and make the fight scenes a lot grander than usual. All in all, this is one exciting episode that I hope will be repeated in the future.
February 25, 2006 | 
24 Comments
The first half was kind of boring but the second half is the fun-filled Shirou's harem. So it's not a complete lost I suppose. I do start to feel sorry for Sakura though. It seems she's fighting a losing battle. It's hard to believe that Shirou is actually attracted to her when there are two more interesting females in the form of Rin and Saber around him. I guess this is the problem of any series where there is only one legible male character and too many female characters. Actually, that's not really true when it comes to this series because there are more than one interesting male character here. In fact, some people would argue that Shirou is not even interesting in comparison to the rest. This is why I hope the writers will allow the female characters to interact more with other male whose name does not happen to be Shirou.
February 18, 2006 | 26 Comments
This is a rather funny episode involving Shirou's Harem. I supposed it's inevitable that conflict between the girls starts to happen now that Shirou has amassed quite a following here. The rest of the episode, however, feels a bit like a filler. It's unbelievable how the writers manage to stretch a spell search scene for almost a quarter of the episode's length. This is probably not a big problem since there are 26 episodes but it's easy to see why some viewers start to become impatient with the story. It really makes me wish that the fight will start right away. Or else, I wish the show will start introducing other candidates and show their background a little bit more. Because otherwise, they'll just end up as another enemy that Shirou must face. On the other hand, if they are given backstory, at least the viewers will be able to feel sorry for them should anything happen to these characters in the future.
February 10, 2006 | 26 Comments
It did not occur to me prior to this episode that this as well as episode 5 are actually a two-parter and as such, the story would probably have been more enjoyable had I watched it back to back. Because while episode 5 focuses on some character development as well as some comedic moments, the bulk of the action and plot actually lies within episode 6. In an ideal world, the two should have been screened as a one hour special but unfortunately that was not the case. As a result, the story felt a little bit like Kill Bill Part 1 and 2 whereby each part is still enjoyable but the pace and the storyline would probably be a little bit tighter if they did not seperate the story into two distinct parts. Having said that, I really like the path that the writers have taken in regards to Archer's storyline.
This episode seems to be a breather after the rather tense one that preceeds it. Despite this, I found myself liking it alot. I am kind of amused too with the ever growing harem that Shirou amasses without even trying. I do wonder, however, how long will it be before Sakura sees red in regard to this matter. Anyway, judging from the episodes that have been aired thus far, it seems that the writers are taking a rather leisurely approach to introducing each character. I supposed they can afford to do this since there are 24 episodes in total for the series. I do hope, however, that the writers will use the opportunity to write better story and background for characters such as Sakura and Rider if these characters will end up becoming prominent in future episodes. Because as it is now, I still haven't been able to feel any kind of concern for her and I assume I'm supposed to feel this later on in the story.
February 4, 2006 | 10 Comments
I'm sorry for being slow in catching up with the reviews but I haven't been feeling well lately. I spent too many late nights during my holiday and it's starting to take its toll on my health. But I'll try to finish them whenever I can. Anyway, in comparison to episode 3 this is definitely a more interesting episode. The explanation about the game seems to be more evenly distributed within the episode and the plot seems to be moving towards a certain direction. Saber and Shirou seem to be the recipient of character development this time around. However, since Rin and Archer are my favourites, I have to admit that I kind of miss their interaction in the first two episodes of the series. Character design-wise, the series still maintain its quality although as usual. On top of this, the fight seems to be more animated and not merely consisted of speed lines. Overall, this is definitely a good direction for the series to take.
January 30, 2006 | 11 Comments
Not surprisingly, this series turns out to be one of the hottest property in Japan right now, especially in Akihabara. Almost every single shop in the area always features some kind of Fate/stay night merchandise on display. I managed to help myself to Fate Unlimited Guide, Fate Compilation Book and several shitajiki. I'm glad I'm not a figure collector because if I had been, I would have spent an insane amount of money. Anyway, this turns out to be an exposition episode that explains the war for the Holy Grail's many rules. The most interesting part of this episode is probably the comic book-ish look employed by the animation. It feels as if this is some kind of subliminal messages created by the animators so that anime viewers will check out the manga published in Shounen Ace.
January 14, 2006 | 41 Comments
This is an excellent episode, which serves to prove that the first one wasn't a fluke. Having said that, there are several inconsistencies in the animation, mostly from the character design in the first half of the episode. There are occasions where several characters' face looks a bit off-key. It's not bad by any means but it annoys me regardless. I supposed this is a trade-off that is necessary to facilitate the battle scene in the second half of the story. Nevertheless, I wish that there was enough budget to produce the nice battle scenes while still maintaining the excellent and consistent character drawing from the first episode. Anyway, this is not a dismissal of the production value, which is still excellent in general. The second half of the episode is good-looking and a certain character's first appearance is as awesome as I expected it to be.
Opening theme: Disillusion by Tainaka Sachi (Widescreen, 15MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
Ending theme: Anata ga ita Mori by Jukai (Widescreen, 15MB, for PSP/Quicktime)
I'm sorry for being late to write this but a friend was hospitalised and myself and some other friends had to stay and watched over him. Besides, I couldn't concentrate and write properly before we had confirmation from the doctor so there wasn't any point to write anything. Anyway, this is a nice first episode for the series although I feel that it's a bit stretched out for a first episode. The opening theme is okay but at the moment it's not exactly memorable. I do like the ending theme a lot though. For those who are wondering what this series is about, this is basically a battle between 7 classes of sorcerers to obtain the Holy Grail. The way the series work is rather similar to X TV in the sense that it involves the alliances that the characters made to one another. Inevitably, there are some twists in the storyline and like in that other series, several characters change their alliance.
November 28, 2005 | 31 Comments
*Do not direct-link or reproduce this image elsewhere
Update: Unfortunately I'm a bit strapped for time at the moment so I decided to just post information about the DVD by recycling this entry. As I said before, this DVD is basically released in order to promote the upcoming Fate/stay night series, which will start its broadcast in January. The DVD comes in a deluxe box which also contains a hardcover book featuring screenshots of the DVD as well as some character design sketches. I am also not sure if this is applicable to other people's copy or if it's just Amazon Japan thing but my copy actually came with a large poster featuring Saber. The poster's image is similar to the one on the actual box itself but it's still quite cool to have nevertheless. Anyway, just click and scroll down to read more impression and see some of the scans.
