Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Countdown to the final curtain fall. Keep a close lookout for surviving bishies.
Hello folks! Only one more episode is left and the tension is high as tightened wires. The feeling on our IRC channel this Saturday was almost palpable with everyone going over themselves to load NND channel in time and not miss a single second of our live viewing. And I hope you are enjoying the Fate/Zero banners on Metanorn, my ode to this amazing series. Like before, let me get you up to speed with what ufotable missed in adaptation by tying loose ends of important plot pointers.
Exemplary Knight’s Heavy Burden
A lot was cut from this section and I can’t get too bitchy about it because adaptations are not perfect. Not to mention, this is almost touching its boundary with the budget spent to produce eyegasmic results. Still, I was disappointed with skipping Lancelot’s story, which needed screen time like all other servants. Not to mention, a genderbent Arturia has more complicacy of explaining her relationship with Guinevere, which was not yuritastic, you hentais!
What was not made clear is the fact that it was not Saber’s drive to get the Grail that made her finish Lancelot rather his battery ran out (Goodbye, Kariya ;–;). With his full reveal of real-self and going completely Berserk, Kariya’s Crest Worms finally gave up squirming inside his body; even the measly mana storage ran out, stopping him in his tracks. That is when Saber woke up from her own despair of seeing her most loyal Knight in such a state for the final blow, remembering her resolve of changing fate.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
You can read the excerpt below for a very lucid Lancelot but in short the reason he was called under the Berserker class (he can be called under Saber, Archer, Lancer and Rider classes too), was his own despair and conflict for falling in love with Guinevere along with remaining loyal to his King. Of course, a third-party was involved in revealing their secret, which led Arturia to punish Lancelot on face-value like a righteous king, even when she didn’t want to. Okiya Ryotaro was a very good choice for Lancelot but it’s a pity that we didn’t hear him deliver the following lines. Stuff for BD Specials? I hope so.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Welcome to the Batcave
It’s been a fateful journey this season and it has remained on top for a reason. The palpable tension, the dramatics of every plot twist and deaths have led to the crescendo that we are witnessing. So what if they took a leaf out of the Dark Knight? I almost waited with bated breath to possibly see a glimpse of bat-suit or bat-mobile any frame. But references aside, for those of you who missed out my previous editorial, the area where Kiritsugu and Kirei met and fought for the first and last time was a warehouse under the recently built and soon to be destroyed Community Hall (the fourth leyline of Fuyuki city).
The fight between Kiritsugu and Kirei has been due for a long time and like I wrote before, this is the first time they meet face to face and it was fabulous. Of course, everyone wished for a longer fight but Grail-kun had to butt-in to cut this bromance short. There’s a technical mistake of actually showing Kiritsugu’s origin bullet hit Kirei because there’s no such mention in the novel. And even if Kirei was powered by the many extra command seals, the uniqueness of Kiritsugu’s origin bullet should have rendered most of them along with his own magic useless. This was one thing that was not needed at all but I forgive for some Kirei blood-spill.
Angra Mainyu
I’m sure a lot of you would dig this dark-Iri but this is not her at all. As I hinted previously and even forewarned by Zouken, tracing back in timeline, something went wrong in the third holy grail war. A dark spirit Avenger, an anti-hero if you will, was summoned under the Berserker class. He was defeated early and in revenge cursed the wish-granting grail along with leaving its trace of corruption behind. As Einzberns specialize in providing grail hosts and clone from the same mould, the traces were transferred to the fourth war as well. So, there’s definitely something wrong with the current grail, which has turned into the personification of Avenger also known as Angra Mainyu, who wanted to cause nothing but corruption and wreak havoc.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Kiritsugu’s Endless Lament
So, you can’t really blame Kiritsugu for refusing its offer because it cost so much more than what it showed. Whatever we have found out about Kiritsugu till now, his life has been a tough decision after another. But he has always taken care of the majority numbers; that is, greater good versus lesser evil. The event that was skipped was the fact that from 200 survivors, the numbers came down gradually to a mountain of corpses tapering off at the five we saw (Noritaka, Natalia, Maiya, Illya and Iri).
According to Angra Mainyu, he should embrace his resurrected wife and leave his noble cause of saving the humanity. That is when Kiritsugu realized that the miracle he had been seeking was all lies; a disease that eats its host from inside out and wants nothing but destruction. Think yourself, should he have just gone with the flow? Of course, not! When he decided to participate in grail war, he had already decided to throw away everything like many times before. A lone wolf against an unknown enemy? You got that right.
This brings me to Kiriei’s point of view, which is not hard to understand because someone who has been purposeless all his life, getting a proper direction (at least, according to him), is something that he has always sought after. Kiritsugu dismissing it and even killing such an ideal life is something unforgivable for Kirei. Though, even if Kiritsugu tried, he could never make Kirei understand his own thinking because their aims and ends were always starkly different. Fourth Grail’s promise of his own ideals sure hit home but I seriously don’t want to learn what he would’ve thought of if he was the chosen one.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Gilgamesh’s Proposal
I’ve become a fan of Gilgamesh quotes. Seriously, some of the lines he has delivered in the course of this series are priceless. A few examples for this episode that ufotable missed are just too gold not to share:
- “Saber… this sight of you crouched on the ground, fallen into this presumptuous obsession, makes you even more beautiful…”
- “I don’t know why you are so obsessed with some wish-granting Grail. Saber… the fact that a woman like you exists, can already be considered a rare miracle, no?”
- “Throw away your sword, and be my wife.”
- “Even if you don’t understand, don’t you feel happy to hear such words? It is not anyone else, but I, who have admitted your worth.”
- “Abandon these pointless ideals and vows. These things will only restrict you and bring you misfortune. In future you need only desire me and live under my protection. In that case I vow, on my honor as King of everything, that I will grant you all the happiness in the world.”
- “You can’t say it because you are too shy? It’s all right; I’ll forgive you no matter how many times you get it wrong. First you must learn suffering, and then you will be able to experience the joy I give you.”
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Last Command Seal
In the peals of laughter, let’s not forget what Kiritsugu commanded of Saber: to destroy the faulty grail. Gilgamesh’s plan was foiled and so was Saber’s, who has been more than idealistic in not only her leadership but her participation in this war. She was all for changing fate, the center-point of this franchise but she was completely betrayed by her master. When she wanted to depend on him to make a decision for next step (while Gilgamesh’s swords poked her; pun intended), he ordered her to destroy the very thing she had worked so hard for (shafting her knight was the most painful). Let me clarify that she was successfully able to resist the first command seal (being Saber class and possessing a powerhouse of magic has its plus points). It was barely though and when Kiritsugu used his last command seal… Well, you know what happened or rather will know what will transpire after this in the LAST EPISODE.
Goddamn, it’s so near over. From my recent reviews, I must sound like a broken record but each and every new episode has topped the previous like a boss on weekly basis. Though, on critical sense, the way ufotable was acutely anal in the first-cour in following novel facts (except for that Rin episode), they have somehow let loose in second-cour skipping details, which may piss off some hardcore fans. Still, they have adapted at least 85% of it correctly; not to mention with awesome movie-quality animation. I’m a happy camper and salute ufotable for a job well done. If you were expecting some character trait critic, look another way; I like tortured/tormented souls and deep plotlines. And when you add Type-Moon in the mix, I’m willing to watch almost anything.
So, do you hear the distant horns and awesome BGM?! The climax is almost here; you better be ready for an Emiya Shirou Epilogue as the preview suggested. Before I close though, thank you for dropping such amazing comments last week (I’ll be replying to them shortly). And if anyone’s interested to join our live watch on Saturday, tweet me @KyokaiTM. See you next week! Ja ne~