Fate/Zero

**Fate/Zero** is a 25 episode Japanese anime series produced by Studio Ufotable, directed by Ei Aoki, and released

    from 2011 to 2012.  it was adapted from a six volume light novel series written in 2011 by Gen Urobuchi, who was also famous for Psycho Pass and Puella Magi Madoka Magica.  It was a prequel to Fate/stay night, taking place 10 years earlier.

## Plot

The story of *Fate/Zero* takes place ten years prior to the events of *Fate/stay night*, detailing the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City.  The Holy Grail War is a contest, founded by the Einzbern, Matou, and Tōsaka families centuries ago, in which seven mages summon seven Heroic Spirits to compete to obtain the power of the "Holy Grail", which grants a wish to each member of the winning duo. After three inconclusive wars for the elusive Holy Grail, the Fourth War commences.

The Einzbern family is determined to achieve success after three consecutive failures, no matter the cost. As a result, they have elected to bring the hated magus killer, Kiritsugu Emiya, into their ranks, despite his methods and reputation as a skilled mercenary and a hitman who employs whatever he can use to accomplish his goals. Though Kiritsugu had once wanted to become a hero who could save everyone, he has long since abandoned this ideal upon realizing that saving one person comes at the cost of another's life. Thus, this is the source of conflict, which he once sought to eliminate, due to finite resources/abilities. For the sake of humanity, he will ruthlessly destroy anything and anyone who threatens the peace of others.

However, Kiritsugu finds himself deeply torn between the love he has found for his new family - his wife Irisviel and their daughter Illya - and what he must do to obtain the Holy Grail. Meanwhile, Kiritsugu's greatest opponent appears in the form of Kirei Kotomine, a priest who is trying to discover his true nature in his quest to find the Holy Grail, which are revealed to be monstrous and full of hate. He sets his sights on Kiritsugu as a kindred spirit and possible answer to the emptiness he feels.

Towards the conclusion, the limitations of the "Holy Grail" are found to be in the fact that, while omnipotent in its wish-granting abilities, it is not omnisicient, and therefore depends on the victor's knowledge and methods to determine the way by which the wish is carried out. And, to make things worse, the last war fought over the Grail has left it corrupted.

## Why It Rocks

1. Incredible animation.
2. Very appealing art regarding character designs, colors, shading, lighting, and backgrounds.
3. Phenomenal action utilizing not only strategy but also the overpowered abilities of each of the Servants and occasionally Masters.
4. Incredibly interesting and complex characters.
5. The show covers great, interesting themes about good, evil, the meaning of justice, and what it takes to be a good King.
6. Great drama which can become downright heartbreaking at times, especially by the end.
7. A story which has a bunch of heroes from history and mythology coming back to life to do battle with each other; it's a fanboys wildest dreams come true!
8. Lots of characters, so you're bound to find at least one that you like.
9. While it does have some one dimensional villains, they still manage to be interesting and entertaining.
10. Manages to be extremely dark and nihilistic without seeming too needlessly edgy.
11. Incredible voice acting in both sub and dub.  The dub in particular is one of the best anime dubs of all time.
12. While technically being a prequel to Fate/stay night, you can watch either anime in either order without loosing out on any enjoyment or getting almost any major plot points spoiled for you.
13. This is one of the few anime that's able to perfectly blend all of the genres that it incorporates, which are action, tragedy, drama, mystery, and psychological, and somehow manages to give all of those aspects the perfect amount of time without having any of them seem to under utilized or too over utilized.
14. Fate/Zero is one of the few anime that has something for just about everyone.  If you want action, they've got it.  If you want drama, you've came to the right place.  If you want tragedy, you can find it here.  If you want interesting, complex themes that you don't find in any type of media, even anime, then look no further.  If you want a gigantic cast of interesting characters with none of them being exactly the same, then take a seat.
15. Fans of typical shonen battle anime will be pleased because Fate/Zero has a whole host of abilities, namely the Noble Phantasms, which are incredibly powerful, unique, creative, and personalized for the Heroic Spirit in question.

## Bad Qualities

1. Even though the two lone villains of the series, Zouken Matou and Gilgamesh, are interesting and entertaining, it doesn't change the fact that they're still one dimensional.
2. While not much of a problem if you marathon the series now, if you watched it weekly back when it aired the first cour of the show, which lasted 13 episodes, ended on a gigantic cliffhanger, and no more episodes were released until two seasons later.

## Reception

*Fate/Zero* was released to critical acclaim. UK Anime Network's Martin gave the first part a score 9 out of 10, and the second part a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Martin characterized the story as very dark and demanding and "a dramatic and satisfying conclusion to a solidly entertaining series." T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews gave the entire series a score of 4 out of 5 stars, with reviewer Aiden Foote believing *Fate/Zero* as "one of the most visually impressive TV series to date" and praised the "smooth animation and consistent artwork coming together to make crisp, evocative action scenes to get the heart racing." Aiden also stated "the main reason why I really like the show is the time and effort that Urobuchi puts into the majority of the characters." However, Aiden also criticizes the pacing stating that series biggest problems were the "plot pacing".

Richard Eisenbeis of Kotaku praised the animation, themes and the characters backstories especially Kiritsugu's. Richard started the review by writing "Gen Urobuchi has written some of the most psychologically dark anime in recent memory. He is a master at subverting anime tropes to breathe new life into stale genres." His final thoughts being "Fate/Zero is an excellent anime. It has dynamic, multifaceted characters, explores great philosophies and themes, and tops it off with large helpings of action. It also has the will to go deep into dark, psychological territory to improve both its characters and story."