Fate Zero


The Holy Grail grants any wish the user desires. But it cannot be obtained easily, for 7 people worthy of the Holy Grail are chosen by it to become Masters of Heroic Spirits which only they can summon. These Spirits then battle against one another to win the Grail for their Master. Got your attention? It did mine when I saw a review of Fate Zero on YouTube since it wasn't your mainstream anime, and this is one I highly recommend.

Fate Zero is the prequel to Fate Stay/Night which recently got a remake, and I must say that it is a very strong prequel. I have seen some of the remake of Fate Stay/Night, but it wasn't as engaging in my opinion. Anyway, it follows the story of the Fourth War of the Holy Grail that took place 10 years before Stay/Night, featuring Kotomine Kirei and Emiya Kiritsugu.

Fortunately, the focus is not just on those two. The other Masters have their share of the limelight with their Heroic Spirits, and even they have their own time to tell us more about themselves too. These Heroic Spirits make up the seven Servant Classes: Archer; Lancer; Saber; Berserker; Assassin; Rider and Caster. They have their own reasons to obtain the Holy Grail, whether it's to redeem themselves for what they did back in their time - they are famous people in history, such as Alexander the Great - or if it's just to add another trophy to their cabinet. Anyway, the way in which this is delivered is really good, with a perfect balance in action and story progression. One Spirit or Master does not hog the limelight, but then again there is more focus on Kotomine Kirei and Emiya Kiritsugu than the rest of the Masters. It really isn't an issue here to be honest, it just adds depth to the anime (in a good way).

Fate Zero is a well balanced anime with a variety of characters thanks to the Heroic Spirits that we're introduced to, along with Kiritsugu's plan to get rid of the other Masters so that he can obtain the Holy Grail. Add in the other characters and the unravelling of their reason(s) to join the war, and you're in for an amazing story. Like I said before, the sequel wasn't as engaging for me, but I did thoroughly enjoy Fate Zero.
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Summary

7 people are chosen by the Holy Grail to summon Heroic Spirits as their servants, and battle it out to win the Grail which will grant any wish the victor desires
Anything else?: One death is more tragic than the others in my opinion

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