"Fate/Zero" Series Talkback

[GWOtaku]

Starting today, the anime series Fate/Zero will be simulcasted worldwide Saturday afternoons. An adaptation of the novelization by Gen Urobuchi, Fate/Zero is a prequel to the fantasy action drama Fate/Stay Night that sets the stage for the events of that series.

Fate/Zero is streaming via the video website Nico Nico Douga. Its channel page for the series is below:

http://ch.nicovideo.jp/channel/fate-zero

It's important to note that new episodes will be available for one week only until the next one premieres. To turn off the comment text on the top of the video, click on the speech bubble icon on the bottom right of the player (it's to the right of the player's volume control).

Update: The series is also available on Crunchyroll now; the episode streams are not temporary there.

http://www.crunchyroll.com/fate-zero

Aniplex has also established an official English website at http://www.fatezerousa.com.

Series Description:

The story starts from zero, a beginning…

The Holy Grail War -in this ultimate battle field, in order to obtain the power of the "Holy Grail" that makes one's any unattainable wish, seven "masters" summon "servants" and fight against each other until the last one survives….

After three inconclusive Holy Grail Wars, the fourth battle has finally started.
Hoping to win the battle, each master is heading to the new battlefield called "Fuyuki".

However, there is a man who is confused and struggling being unable to find a meaning of the war --his name is Kirei Kotomine.

He wonders why he is appointed to this task, but without any answer, he encounters his archrival -his name is Kiritsugu Emiya, a master who craves for the miracle Holy Grail most of all.

The untold truth of "the Fourth Holy Grail War" that had occurred 10 years before "Fate/stay night"--- the truth about the battle fought by Shiro's adopted father, Rin's father and young Kirei Kotomine is about to be revealed!

This thread is for all discussion about the Fate/Zero series and related news. Enjoy! The series premiere is a double-length episode that runs for 48 minutes.

[GingaDaiuchuu]

I enjoyed this a lot, although I imagine I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had seen Fate/stay night. I wish FUNimation and Geneon, or Aniplex themselves, would release it here so that I could get it for less than a few hundred dollars. Anyway, I'll still keep watching this.

[Mike JD Silva]

I enjoyed this a lot, although I imagine I would have enjoyed it a lot more if I had seen Fate/stay night. I wish FUNimation and Geneon, or Aniplex themselves, would release it here so that I could get it for less than a few hundred dollars. Anyway, I'll still keep watching this.

Are you referring to the anime, or the visual novel for Fate/stay night?

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Are you referring to the anime, or the visual novel for Fate/stay night?

Anime. The most recent release from FUNimation and Geneon is over 2 years old and out of print, selling for hundreds of dollars at the cheapest. I've been informed that Aniplex actually had nothing to do with it, which surprises me since this one is an Aniplex production.

[Harley]

On the blog:
Lelouch recaps the second episode of Fate/Zero, "False Start."
http://www.toonzone.net/blog/blogs/4...isode-2-recap/

[garfield15]

Waver's moe-moe level is off the charts

[Lelouch]

Didn't mention this in the recap but I loved the soundtrack that played when Alexander summoned his chariot, it was so appropriate and badass. Really loving the feel of this series thus far. I think it is mostly because we don't have Emiya trying to save the day and restrict Saber. Of course, it seems as though his father isn't too happy about letting a female fight either so we shall see.

Gah...that Caster scene though. It was brilliant and yet really disturbing.

[GWOtaku]

Kiritsugu being Ilya's father adds an ironic angle to how she latched onto Shirou in Fate/Stay Night. Onii-chan indeed...

That aside, Irisviel's looking to be a key character in this. Kiritsugu thinks he and Saber can't see eye to eye and hasn't even attempted to build a partnership yet, but Irisviel can sincerely talk with them both and act as a bridge between the two. It's not a perfect arrangement but they do share the same goals in the end, and that's enough for now. Yet again there's a Fate/Stay Night parallel at that; Shirou and Saber spent a lot of that series seeing things differently, and Shirou & Kiritsugu even share this discontent about her identity. Like father, like adopted son....

Now, Caster and Ryunosuke, this is a pair that's a polar opposite to the Saber/Kiritsugu team. Saber & Kiritsugu strongly desire the grail, for them it's secondary--Ryunosuke didn't even know about it. Saber & Kiritsugu want to make the world a better place, they're both serial killers and sadists. They're definitely super creepy and justifiably hated, and I only hope they get taken out relatively soon just to limit the damage that they do. The only contender for a more evil character is Zoken, and he's in the background. There's perhaps a further contrast in the fact that Kiritsugu has this reputation as a professional killer, but he has pretty high aspirations and we have him being a dad in this episode. And we saw in opening scene of the first episode that he has a low opinion of himself, so it's seeming like he's basically reformed and is using his talent one last time to put everything behind him once and for all.

Kotomine's actions mostly just baffle me for right now. If he's turning against Tokiomi, why? In the first episode he was quite obedient and passively accepting of his mandate to help him win the war. If it's something else, what could be the advantage to sacrificing a servant like that? The ending scene was an apt display of Archer's overwhelming power, at any rate.

I wouldn't quite call Waver a brat, but I think Rider was dead on when he called him out for his shallow ambitions. Remember, he's gotten himself into a serious war for this super powerful artifact and he's driven by what is, in the end, rather petty pride. But perhaps this partnership will help him grow up a bit. Rider himself is good entertainment, it's pretty amusing to see him take for granted that he'll reconquer his old lands and will be welcomed. Why not, after all, he was their king! It's a sort of affable arrogance.

[Lelouch]

My thoughts on the latest episode.

In my first recap I made a comment saying that I recommended new viewers trying to watch Fate/stay night. Now I think I want to retract that statement, if only because I wish I didn't know how this war will inevitably end.

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Even better. Nearly every hero joins in to get a piece of this fight, and all of them show off some of the reasons why it's really anyone's fight. Almost every one of them is an extremely likeable character in their own unique way, or at least very badass. No one actually loses this fight, but Rider is the big winner in my eyes. Now Bluebeard has his freaky eyes on Saber...

[Jacob T. Paschal]

I meant to follow this series, but I haven't been.

Oh, the R2 home videos will have English subs for anyone who wants to import!

[macattack]

All right, this all but confirms either a dub or some serious extras (or both) for the R1 DVDs. Something to make buying those DVDs worth it over importing the R2 DVDs.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

All right, this all but confirms either a dub or some serious extras (or both) for the R1 DVDs. Something to make buying those DVDs worth it over importing the R2 DVDs.

...other than a higher episode count?

[macattack]

...other than a higher episode count?

It'll probably wind up looking like Durarara!!'s sets, except that since Fate is set for 25 episodes (and the premiere is a one-hour), we'll probably see the sets divided into 8 episodes apiece with the first set getting 9 episodes and the other two sets will get 8. Or perhaps because the Fate/ZERO is getting divided into split cours, we'll get 7 episodes apiece for the first two sets (which accounts for cour 1), six episodes for set 3, and five episodes for set 4.

But look at the extras Aniplex is cramming into Madoka besides the dub to try to entice people to pay a ton of cash. Artbooks, OSTs, etc.

Though DRRR!! was thin on the extras front conversely.

I guess it could go either way. But I'm dead certain that Aniplex will pay Bang! Zoom! to dub Fate/ZERO. Though I thought that Blue Exorcist would get dubbed too and look what happened there . . .

[Lelouch]

Fate/Zero isn't getting nearly enough love here on toonzone. It is still a bit early but I might dare to say that it is going to be the best of the season. My thoughts on the latest episode...

http://www.toonzone.net/blog/blogs/4...isode-6-recap/

[GingaDaiuchuu]

Fate/Zero isn't getting nearly enough love here on toonzone. It is still a bit early but I might dare to say that it is going to be the best of the season. My thoughts on the latest episode...

http://www.toonzone.net/blog/blogs/4...isode-6-recap/

I think it's almost definitely my favorite new series this season, and I haven't even seen Fate/stay night. I'll try to remember to post my thoughts on each episode here. I guess it's just the overall lack of discussion that makes me forget about it most weeks (and that I usually have to dig a few pages deep to find it).

[GWOtaku]

I'm gonna marathon 4 through 7 this weekend. Looks like I'm in for a good time.

Here's a fun tidbit I saw on twitter about an upcoming episode:

@kyouray

as expected Fate/Zero 8 looks an important ep since 3 directors (including Ei Aoki who does storyboard) & 3 animation directors are involved

[GingaDaiuchuu]

For some reason I didn't have any problem with that weird, very CG blob. I think they used it very well. It was weird, but that's the point, and it worked really well. Caster has some fittingly disgusting powers, and now with Saber and Lancer working together, I hope to see him gone as soon as possible. They definitely know how to make you completely hate a character and wish the worst death upon him. On the other hand, there's Rider, who continues to be hilarious and extremely likeable. I really love his dynamic with Waver. It's always such fun to watch the two of them. Next episode should be epic!

[Lelouch]

Blah, I'm going to try and stay more active with this thread. But yeah, interesting developments this week. I feel bad for Lancer, guy had a rough end to his life. I've always found it interesting for the heroes to come back and reflect on their life. In his case he must have died pretty quickly, so to come back must be shocking.

[Jacob T. Paschal]

Well now, Aniplex...you're not going to make your mark in the R1 industry like this.

So, five hundred MSRP for half the series. Well, at least it'll have the best video transfer possible...probably.