So... rewatched some of Fate Stay/Night Unlimited Blade Works and it's a pity. It's really a pity. I really, really love the first episode. Technically Episode 0 and not episode 1. It's such a beautiful, perfect thing. It's fuckin' perfect. It sets an other-worldly magical tone that pulls you in. It gives you tantalizing hints of lore. If you've never seen a Fate show in your life, it sets it all up so wonderfully. There's all sorts of little things that make you see Rin as a person. It's the most absolutely perfect calm-before-the-storm beginning any show could've asked for. You feel for Rin and want to root for her. The magic is suspenseful. The fight between Lancer and Archer doesn't age well. It's just a bunch of shitty weapon-clanking and CGI sparks flying. But it's bolstered by this fantastic episode. Lancer chasing Rin and Rin using magic to escape is actually a much better scene than the actual fight between servants. And that ending where you get a glimpse of Saber. It's perfect.
And...
...then the show's all "heh, but this is about Shirou and his ideeeeeeeeeeeeeals." While it was interesting to see the same events in Episode 0 from his perspective in Episode 1, he's like a bag of rusty nails. What this show should've done is play up everyone else. Give us all of their stories. What are Kirei and Gil doing right now? What is Caster's story? Show her getting Assassin. Where's Ilya? How has she dealt without Daddy. Instead, Caster and Ilya's shit gets shoehorned into spots later in the series like an afterthought. Shit, show, give us Lancer's original master Bazett preparing for the Grail War, getting Lancer, coming to Fuyuki. I mean, there's this wonderful backstory where Bazett always wanted to get Cu as Lancer because she wanted to save him and then she's betrayed by Kirei, a man she admired, and has Lancer stolen from her. The fuck didn't they show us that? Like, why, because it wasn't in the damn VN? They treated Kirei being alive later on like it's a huge shock but there's no shock value anymore. Anyone not familiar with the material outside of F/Z must've been so fuckin' confused to just have him killed like he is and then to have Shirou fight Gil instead of Saber fighting him.
I know it's Shirou's story but that angle doesn't work for the animated adaptation. The show gets so bogged down trying to be like the VN so we get people standing around TALKING for entire episodes just like you would get in a visual novel. UGH.
There's this one scene later in the series, the one where Lancer helps Rin and dies. It's broken up into like six or seven segments in two different episodes. I may just dl the episodes and edit it into one sequence. Anytime something interesting or suspenseful occurs in this show, the show cuts up the scene brutally. And then, hilariously enough, this show wastes time with extra talking but doesn't tell the viewer useful info. Like when Lancer doesn't die right away, it just looks like an asspull. But it's not an asspull. He actually has a skill that enables him to not die right away. Would've been a cool thing for the show to explain to the casual viewer.
tl;dr - big honkin' Fate rant. Loved Unlimited Blade Works ep 0 and the rest goes straight downhill.
