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Jan 17, 2011
Zombies.... ooo zombies... I feel like I can’t think of apocalypse without you anymore. Gruesome bipeds hunting me for my brains, drooling and screaming while you slowly sustain inordinate amounts of lead to the face without cringing... I love you all for all the beautiful dreams and nightmares you give me.
You can imagine my excitement when I found out my favorite giant robot making studio was going to give it a shot to epically portray all of you in the most gar-ified way possible. Right when I got into the show I was overwhelmed with the amount of familiar faces, all it was missing
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was a huge drill actually and I would have probably wet myself in excitement. The breasts were there, the over the top action was there, the weak but soon to become omnipotent character was there, “K” was there… but something was missing. This something kept bugging me for all throughout the show and by the end I started to realize I can’t think of mediocrity without you anymore as well, but you know, its zombies so I knew you guys were going to put a good show for me regardless, or so I thought.
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Story
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ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! This is all I am used to hear from you, so you can imagine my big facepalm with all the repressed angst I got instead. You still did scream a fair amount and I will say those were the shining moments of your performance here, but whenever you silenced the guns and sat around for a long and tedious talk all we got was…. Well, long and tedious talks. At least that was what I would like to call them. In fact, they were long, tedious and flashbacks... lots and lots of them.
Please, don’t take this as a direct attempt to discredit your motives. Repetition aside, they are fairly well constructed and would provide a perfect scenario for your bloody fest if not for the insistence you had in giving the spotlight for some unnecessary, non zombie, characters. I really liked your plight and how you were thriving to fulfill it, just too bad you had to insist in bringing detractions, the worst offender being the one to get the most out of the screen time, a bit of a masochistic choice if you ask me.
Even then, the variety of zombies you guys presented me with was nice and I found a few particular main characters, even some non zombie ones, pretty compelling, but the climax would only work if you had built upon it better… you know, like the guys behind you are so good at when they are dealing with giant robots. I also felt a bit cheated by you since you spilled all the few twists you had in store right at the opening, and after seeing it eleven times when it actually came to be I really felt like my brain had already been eaten.
I know you must be tempted to tear me apart right now, but hang on a bit longer; I still have some mumblings that might make me even more appetizing.
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Animation
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I have to hand it to you; you still know how to move. Whenever you guys are flying about exploding people’s heads or cutting them in half you really look your best, this time even better since you don’t have your usual decomposing skin anymore and the close ups on your new assets really does provide some extra oomph.
Here is also were the otherwise formulaic nature of your plot helped, since the usually boring queue of weekly monsters waiting to be beheaded brought variety of characters and bloody ways to crush their admittedly interesting entrails. They are vicious, colorful and varied, and contrast perfectly with the pretty schoolgirl variety of zombies you guys brought into display here, bringing to the table that old good “princess and the beast” feel we are all so found off in ample dosages, something that even if we had forgotten for a second a character would promptly shout towards the audience so we would recall it instantly.
Still, I know you can do better. Not even once my inner fangirl started screaming at your fights as it is usual when you are around bludgeoning stuff to death, and this alone is a big red flag. The fluidity both you and the hands drawing you are known for is kind of blurry here… it seems I don’t know you anymore! No need to get dismembered about it thought, it’s just that my final perception of you is lower than what I was expecting… please don’t come eat me alive yet!
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Sound
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Your frenzied destruction is never complete without an appropriate music, and gladly you managed to score it this time. Not only the opening and the ending, but the climaxes all felt a bit chewer thanks to the soundtrack. I just wish your voices also sounded as good as the rest, but unfortunately most of it were not up to par…. Perhaps if you would be more willing to scream “brainssssssssssssssssss” more often who knows, the truth is, you only sounded good when the only thing I could hear were the guns and awesome explosions you were creating, as for the biggest part, you sounded dull and out of character.
…I know you must be drooling by now, but just a bit more and you can have a bite at me.
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Conclusion
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What can I say to save myself now? I hang at your side your for the whole time, I tried to get as hyper excited as possible whenever you filled my screen with zombie glory and filled my ears with ultra violence, I even gritted my teeth to try to sob for you when you were sad… but to what avail? You delivered anything but the ordinary I am used to with other much less awesome things such as teenage magical girls!
Ok, some of this is my fault. The story only got to an enjoyable portion after the 9th episode barrier, I should’ve kept up with you in silence while you explained to your brainless victims how your plot worked for the 100th time, I should have properly ignored the apparent useless episodes where nothing of notice happened, and I should’ve kept my lack of excitement with your twists out of the room when you arbitrarily did stuff just for the sake of your current attempt to flash characters we don’t want to see.
But I couldn’t. And this is why I write this to you now, before you munch me, so I leave behind a testament to other people that tread this place. This way they will know that despite still looking good and interesting, you are far from your best here, and they would be much better suited looking for their visceral zombie thrill or cute girl galore somewhere else… at this day and age in a particular high school as well.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jul 4, 2010
…you are walking down through the foggy wet night of an old badly lit neighborhood when you suddenly spot a humming neon sign on top of a brick thorn wall with a small wooden door by it. Walking steadily towards it the echoed water splashing sound caused by your steps against the water on the pavement, give place to a still stuffy mellow deep bass from inside the place. As soon as you open the door your eyes instantly loose themselves on the tick mist of smoke against the small green lamps on each table, which provides the only light to the small cramped
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room. Your ears get absorbed by the slow jam so loud now that even your thoughts are difficult to reach, and your nose goes numb with the strong stench of smoke, alcohol and a faint scent of gunpowder. All your senses seem to plead you to turn back and go away, but by the time the neural impulse reaches your fingers they had already let go of the door.
On the left you spot a long dirty bar filled with broken dreams and misleading smiles on the small uncomfortable sits. A few steps where enough before the almost faded green light behind the gorgeous mistress holding a glass and inviting you to sit by her, made the blurry whisky glasses by the counter shine like stars on an empty night sky. By now you are fully aware, neither bullets nor kisses will save you, and if the green girl on the other side of the room screaming as she burns inside a huge pyre, or the two teenage girls playing with a dog casually right by her are any indication, it’s obvious what awaits you…
So, in a nutshell, this is what you should expect out of Crystal Blaze… outside the fact that this is not how the story goes. Obviously, if you are keen on specifics or my mental image simply left you absolutely clueless, please, feel free to keep reading, I will do my best to refrain from further insanity.
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Story & Characters
If you are looking for cross-references there are a few, Heat Guy J, Speed Grapher and Cowboy Bebop amongst others. These come pretty close to this title in terms of development and overall feeling, with some going a bit further sharing more similarities than others. Being even remotely familiar with the genre, there is nothing out of the ordinary to be expected from Crystal Blaze. From the very first episode all the twists become obvious and the small remaining margin for originality is never reached.
Predictive as it is, this is not the major issue here. The usual beat down story of mad scientist making ultimate weapon is all there with everything that comes to be expected for such an uninspired theme, but what really hurts is the lack of urgency. One might come to Crystal Blaze expecting a thriller of some sort, but the murders we are presented to are tedious and mostly at random, the conspiracy that the plot revolves around is dull and consists of nameless entities that are nothing more than extremely convenient plot devices, and the thrive to unveil the mysteries is never interesting on its own.
The characters themselves simply put are shallow. They are somewhat well designed and seem to be interesting, but with their past never being explained thoroughly, and the interactions they go through mostly forced, we end up with badly developed arcs and difficulty to relate to their plight as consequence. This is not to say they are bad since they do play exclusively by their strengths, never trying to get out of character or doing anything not to be expected from the default role they are occupying. You, as well as I did, might end up relating to one or another based on premises and expectations alone, just don’t think they will be fully delivered by the time the curtain closes.
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Animation, Art & Sound
Such is the case with such anime, as ironic as it may sound, animation it not its strongest point. All in all, despite somewhat insipid the animation does hold itself well under scrutiny for the most part, but its less than stellar quality does show some problems when the script requires over the top sequences. On the stances where we get past the somewhat awkwardly staged gunfights, with people running straight at gunshots with disregard for their own safety, and bullets making miraculous trajectories to avoid life threatening wounds, the animation is not extremely fluid, but since these are rare enough it don’t get in the way of the enjoyment.
The art is just fine, with well designed characters containing a fair amount of detail and personality, particularly the females that are gorgeous, and thankfully so since the male characters do nothing more than fill the basic traits for their roles, even if well executed. The color pallet seemed a little off putting for me from time to time, but the background is also competent and not overly used, making the city seems fairly lively and diverse.
Opening and ending themes are good and add a crucial vibe to the whole production. The background music is very competent presenting itself unobtrusively, coming off on the right moments and setting the mood while not aspiring for the spotlight. Stepping outside the music arrangements, the sound effects feel authentic without ever going too over the top, and the voice actors do a remarkably good job giving an extra tinge of originality to their characters.
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Value/Enjoyment & Conclusion
Whatever reasons someone might have to start watching a series, be it the advertisement surrounding it, be it interest in the plot, be it a friend’s recommendation or simply out of curiosity, one thing is certain, a much greater effort is necessary to put it away after you got sucked into the plot and started to relate to the characters.
Being the average anime it is, after you get into the plot, albeit not an incredibly interesting one, after you get to know the characters, albeit not particularly well developed ones, after you get into the mood of the show, albeit not very climatic one… well, after you get yourself into the trap it won’t present you any major flaw to break away the immersion.
What this particularly pessimistic painting of the twelve episode series is trying to present itself as, is simply that Crystal Blaze comes pretty clear with its premises, and even while not reaching out for anything beyond that, for fans of this specific type of anime or people just interested by its plot, characters or setting, I can’t build a strong enough case not to recommend it. Even if it won’t take the center spot into anyone’s shelf, it can be a valiant effort into giving one some diversity, just drop your high expectations outside the room before you give it a shot.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 28, 2009
Irony. Harsh or not, unbelievable or not, this word describes this season of Druaga perfectly. Normally I would be against such a broad generalization, but as I was writing the rest of the review, no matter how much I struggled, how much I fought against it, every respect of this season always came back to it, and in the end I had to relinquish all my hopes.
Even while holding true to this concept, don’t rush to judgments, Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk is an overall enjoyable experience, and does indeed have strong points worth mentioning, this is undisputable. Instead the question about this
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season is how well a show that ends every string of events in contradiction with itself, can manage to remain entertaining despite its ups and downs.
Some traits of the first season are obviously carried here, but other than the introduction and the cast all the rest is pretty well hidden under layers and layers of “safe plot devices”, and all the drifting between genres that existed has been streamlined, but saying more here would make my first statement devoid of purpose, so I will hold the conclusion for when I am not specifically writing an introduction.
It is important to note that I will avoid repetition by rushing through some aspects that remained unchanged from the previous season, reading my other review before hand would be advised (but not mandatory).
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Story
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The main aim of a sequel is to move the plot forward, and in this respect Druaga delivers. The problem makes itself apparent when we start worrying about character development, dilemmas, and a few other crucial aspects that usually a good plot is compromised of, and these are all seldom scattered throughout the episodes, never shinning enough to make the predictive nature of this season go anywhere interesting. It hints otherwise every now and then, but ultimately it boils down to the safest way to create just enough attrition for the plot to not stagnate completely.
This is where the irony begins. If you watch the very first (and wonderful) episode of the first season and the very last one of the second season you will cringe and run away. Luckily this doesn’t happen right at first so you can enjoy the momentum quite well, and while it lasts details like the characters having no coherent reasoning behind any of their actions, the plot unfolding like it’s chained on trails with holes the size of canyons and expectations being crushed with every single dialogue line seems minor, and if you have happened to grow enough affection for the protagonists even reasonable.
At any rate, the story is one aspect that degraded from the first part of the show, and as awkward as it might be, they borrowed heavily from the worse aspects while leaving the bare minimum of the good ones. It is still enjoyable if you are looking to find out what happens with the characters, but without this previous emotional bound to them, I find it hard to believe anyone else would be able appreciate it as much.
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Art / Animation & Sound
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It’s is pretty much the same as the first one, strong character design, vivid colors and weak motion animation summarize it perfectly, including both the 2D and CGI aspects of it as well as the unevenness that plagued the first season. The sound also didn’t drop the bar below what we have seen before, with the possible exception of the intro song that I found to be marvelous (not to mention addictive), as well as the animation that accompanies it that is at the same time top quality and refreshing.
The main gripe here lies in the fact that the animation quality doesn’t follow the climax of the plot, in other words, non important sequences get bumped up in quality, while the decisive ones are plagued with out-of-context CGI, stock footage (tons of it) and stiff character motion, and the more the climax escalates the worse it gets, culminating on a terribly weak decisive battle, that is not only incredibly predictable, but thanks to the animation pretty dull as well.
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Characters
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The first season had the habit of performing drastic changes on character mid way thought it, but this is all long gone. Characters here start and finish at the same place going back two steps every time they move one forward. But perhaps this is not the best metaphor to describe it, since in reality they are so stagnant throughout the whole story, that from time to time the only noticeable difference from scene A to scene B, is in their dialogues and to whom they are talking to at the moment.
The outcome might be a bit iffy, but they try really hard (really Hard!) to make this as epic as possible. They throw in tragedies one after the other, make ground shaking battles at every opportunity with over proportioned explosions (including even atomic mushrooms!) and create the most awkward romantic interactions I have ever seen, just trying to raise the emotional relevance of everything, and the irony here is that they try so much so many different things, one end up getting in the way of the other instead of improving them overall.
They do attempt to give motivation to the enemies and feelings to the people that eventually die (something somewhat lacking in the first season), but since they have to share screen time with the six to seven main characters and still throw in detractions in the form of redundant characters that conveniently disappear from the plot, nude bath scenes for pure fanservice (tons and tons of them), and even a few remnants of humor from the last season, what we end up getting is an indecisive pile of expectations without much delivering.
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Enjoyment & Value
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As I said, it is unusual for me to be able to resume a season of a show in one word, but irony fits so perfectly in every aspect that I can’t help myself. This fact alone is bad, and if a characteristic like this was this abundantly present on the first season, I probably wouldn’t have got around watching the second one, but since it is not the case, the bonds with the cast helps us endure the bad times and enjoy the good ones out of reasonable proportion.
Tower of Druaga: The Sword of Uruk is a worthy sequel where it counts, and even if it loses some of the qualities the first part had, the remains still deliver a coherent follow up and an outcome adequate for the people that enjoyed the first season. Despite the fact that many (myself included) will have to forgive a few disappointments to truly enjoy it, it is still recommended for the ones that liked the first part. The characters still manage to remain interesting and this subjective asset alone holds our interest in the unfolding of the tale persistently, even if it might perish with the last blows dealt by the ending.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 24, 2009
Entertainment is not a difficult subject to write about since no matter what incarnation of it, either it be a music, a book, a movie or an anime, the main propose is to entertain. In that regard it can only either achieve it or fail, but in between those two there is what we call mainstream (don’t mix it up with ordinary or average), and there have been very few installments that represent the niche as well as Druaga.
Two things will remain constant in this review, first alphanumerical scorings will mean very little since we can only strictly classify an anime by its intrinsic values,
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when we are either flaming an abysmal show, or praising another gorgeous one. And second, people that tend to strive by exaggerating problems instead of praising achievements and balancing mistakes will most likely disagree with me. But anyway, these people tend to make their minds on a subject before hitting the issue so their thoughts are biased from start, and no matter how long of a rant or praise I write I will never make them happy, and I wouldn’t be paying justice to Druaga with neither approaches.
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Story
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The strength of the story here doesn’t come from intricate plot or interesting twists, instead it have its strongest suit on the development, which is only a pretty way to say it is predictive and not as well explained as one would hope, but still manages to stand on its own legs and doesn’t let down. Some parts of the lore and the most part of the back stories of the characters are simply not explained at all, but since we are dealing with some pretty standard territory (fantasy, dragons, ghosts, magic, so far not vampires…) even if some plot holes are present, the omission of explanations actually helps what could very well turn out to be a dragged mess of unneeded monologues.
The first episode is simply wonderful and kicks in with a really good pace that puts you into the mood to take whatever it might hold ahead, and actually manages to keep this feeling going for the majority of the time, only dropping the ball slightly by the end running away from its uniqueness’s to the more safe surroundings of your everyday shounen, complete with insane amounts of mainly screens and girly tears. It is aggravating but bearable since even in its worse moments it stays solid, and on the other rare occasions where it is simply bad, you always manage to find other redeeming factors on the scene, either it be the unusual and fresh homage to the source material spread throughout the series, or the humor that frequently comes off on the precise moments.
That aside, one of the small touches I like the most is the fact that they strayed away from the usual “average high school boy” as a main protagonist, while still referring to that demographic trough the intro. It was a really smart move to make the plot feel a little bit fresher, while still ticking the pre-requirements to get founding for the show. If only they would stick to this kind of creativity throughout the whole thing, the story would’ve been much better, but I don’t like criticizing something based on my failed expectations so it’s a moot point.
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Art / Animation & Sound
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The static art is good, characters are vivid and well designed and the colors albeit a bit too bright for a dungeon environment are good, but as soon as motion occurs it is uneven at best. This doesn’t deserve to be dragged much longer, but I have to point out you will spot a few sequences of animation with less frames then would be required to look good, luckily those were not frequent enough to leave a bad impression of the otherwise competent art and animation direction. Just as the 2D counterpart, the CGI is well executed but animated unevenly. It was also not bad enough to become intrusive, but at this day and age we have come to expect more value per screen time then what is delivered here.
Soundtrack is really subpar. It’s not technically at a fault and more often than not it fits the scene, but battles lack punch, drama lacks emotion and overall it lacks quality to make an impact worth noticing at any given moment. The intro selection is fitting for the unique choice but nothing else, and sound effects are not as bad as the rest, holding their own ground fairly well. Voice actors do a decent job, and at least during a few lines when both the plot and the soundtrack help they do a great one, but this is not common enough to worth praising on any specific role.
Without taking into consideration the lack of vibe the sound department provides, the visuals are pleasing while never achieving moments of complete gloriousness (possible exception for the outtakes of the tower itself) and in fact the irregular nature of the art here, hurts more than simply the lack of quality which gladly is far less common.
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Characters
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Lasting impressions after the credits roll are usually a safe indication of how good characters are, but here this might not be failproof. This is because the development of the main characters is incomprehensible from time to time, and you might just as well get attached to someone just to find out later he became something else. This is a bit more subtle on the female cast but ridiculously evident with the main character, he goes from good-for-nothing to dependable to demigod and then back to screaming teenager without any trouble or rational explanation, and in the meanwhile people around him act as if he had a giant poster written “main character” floating above his head and this was only natural. Romance development and drama climax also suffer from this, and they never truly deliver due to lack of proper trailing.
Side roles are not particularly flashed out here, and it is for good measure since the few attempts to bring them out shows how silly and underdeveloped they are, but with a main cast of roughly 10 characters we still get plenty meat on the bone with episodes focusing on specific characters and such. The main gripe thought is that there is no clear enemy, and instead they just go around facing random “evil” that pops up, most of them nameless, until they reach yet another boss that is not developed as a character at all. Instead of having opposing motivation, the enemies are just there to be slashed, and this gets old eventually even if it is yet another trait of the original material they derive from.
Just as with the story, where at the same time it’s neither the main focus nor the outcast, the characters face a well rounded tour, going from spotlight to backstage in a blink of an eye. You never get too much or too little of them, and by the end the mileage gained is quite good. Though it could be a bit better if they would settle for either comic or dramatic mood with some plot developments, because with so many stories I felt it lacked time to fulfill both goals to the fullest. Rest assured, there isn’t many unlikeable characters to begin with and the side cast is pretty weak, but the main ones all have some redeeming traits and unless you try really hard to hate them, you will be able to get attached to them soon enough.
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Enjoyment & Value
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So, what makes a mainstream anime? Average sound, average music, average animation, average art… these are scrutinizing about subjects one anime belonging to this category don’t need, instead what characterize a mainstream anime is how well it manages to differentiate itself from the horde of similar ones, and how effectively the fun factor can avoid the hindering all the technical shortcomings might incidentally bring to the table, and taking all of this into consideration Druaga is a proud member of this group.
With its dose of uniqueness both on visuals and direction it manages to remain with a fresh feeling during the entire show, and with somewhat likable characters and good pace, it also achieves a decent level of lasting impression. The technical aspects might not be as sharp as one could expect since the bar these days is set so extraordinarily high, but it also goes miles away from being simply ordinary or mediocre.
Overall it is an easy recommendation for anyone that likes the genre, perhaps not a “no brainer” for anyone else, but it definitely delivers into all aspects one would expect while at the same time bringing a healthy dosage of extravagances.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 6, 2009
I am very skeptical about giving 10 as a score simply because achieving perfection IS NOT POSSIBLE. The thing is, every now and then I come across something that does what it is supposed to do SO WELL that whatever minor mistakes that it have pale in comparison to the rest, and the result is truly a 10... Full Metal Panic? Fumoffu is one of those rare cases.
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Story
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This will be a bit brief, but not because there isn't any, simply because the show exists of short bursts of story development instead of a coherent big arc, this makes for a "non continuum" world but at
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the same time help flash out one of the best aspects of Fumoffu, it's randomness.
You never know what to expect from the next minute of the show, and when they manage to keep this feeling untouched for twelve episodes it's hard to complain about the plot or the lack of it, specially because this characteristic puts the mood on the exact pace and you are never confronted with one dull moment.
On any other show, I would count this as a bad thing, but since this works so wonderfully in the context , here, it is actually one of the strongest selling points.
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Art & Sound
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Art wise it is on par with what you would expect from an anime from 2003, but don't mistake this comment as an average one because backgrounds are done beautifully and the animations are simply gorgeous! There is one particular episode where the subject is rugby when the animation really got me breathless, it's VERY good.
Now, when we take into consideration the style of the show we can up the bar a couple of notches, specially on the characters. Each one of them have a special care with expressions, and when we consider each character is rich and detailed, the fact that so much attention went to portraying each one specific characteristics really shows a well rounded job. It is so good that from time to time I had to rewind a few scenes just to take a closer look on their faces, specially Sagara's ones (him jumping on the pool specially comes to my mind right now).
The sound does it's job, and while I didn't like much the theme songs I can't build up a strong enough case to complain about them either, sure enough, it keep up in terms of quality with the rest of the aspects of the show but never outstands on its own.
Now, one thing that the audio department does really well is the VA's. The voice in this show is unparalleled, and even with the insane amount of uniqueness the art manages to portray for each character, the voice of them is never behind and the synergy between the two is really really great.
Anyway, taking detailed backgrounds with smooth animations and astonishing character expressions makes up for a near 10, and since the audio while nothing astonishing in it's own merits (aside the voice actors) manage to keep up, it's hard not to be amazed by the level of quality the show achieved on this category.
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Characters
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Fair enough, some characters might fall on stereotypes every now and then (moe) but the fact is, each one is unique and vibrant enough to be excused from these moments, specially when the other 90% of the time they are simply groundbreaking.
From Sosuke with it's uneasiness caused by all the attritions between himself and his surroundings to Chidori and her love / hate affair with his actions, going all the way trough Tessa with it's cute and yet somewhat extreme attitudes toward everything (especially Sagara) all of them worth a few paragraphs of text to explain how great each one are, and how much attrition everyone goes by (without exceptions) always being thrown around contexts that doesn't suit them... it's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole all the time, it's just priceless!
Luckily since all the characters (main and support) are simply so good I can save some time and resume everyone with one word: outstanding. Even if all the other aspects of the show are top notch, the characters alone are what make Fumoffu so damn good!
...and I don't even have to take my time talking about Bonta-kun, all you need is a picture of him and you will understand why he is so freaking cool!!!
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Enjoyment & Value
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It's a show to have a blast the first time you see it, and even after a couple or runs still find amazing! Not only that, but it is so damn good, that the roughly 24 minutes of each episode are not enough, and I constantly got myself re watching scenes to take notice of small details I missed on the first way trough.
Sure, it is not a serious anime, but it is probably the best and funniest fanservice anime I have ever saw, and use the term "fanservice" with caution because todays iterations of it consist nothing more then slapstick and tons of unnecessary sex... Fomoffu takes a more elegant and yet much better route while also keeping violence, sex and FUN to extreme levels.
It's addicting, and not only that, but one of the rare series that you will end up watching again and again and again but never getting dull or repetitive, and still after your twelve run or so still giggle from it's jokes, still relate to the characters and still want to watch it again by the end of it!
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Jun 30, 2009
Just finished this show a couple of moments ago, the hype I got before watching this was IMENSE, but after sitting trough it all I can definitely see where it comes from... for the better and the worse.
I will refrain myself from commenting on the show before I give my view on specific issues. I will try my best to refrain myself from spoilers, but rest assured, some will exist SO if you didn`t watch it yet you are better jumping straight to my conclusion.
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Animation
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In simple words it’s GORGEOUS. If you take into account it’s from 2006 it gets even better, surely nothing that year
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can get remotely close to it, and even for today standard’s it is top notch, specially on the color pallet department.
The backgrounds, the CGI, the still animations, the fight sequences... everything clicks beautifully, but what really shines are the character designs and the color employed on the scenes.
This show is definitely worth HD (I got the THORA release) and I wouldn`t settle for anything lower then 720p, it really deserves it.
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Sound
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I`ve tried my best to find issues with the sound, but to put it simple it’s not bad at all!
The songs are catchy in their own merits and somewhat memorable. They do come off occasionally on the wrong scenes but for the most of the time they are spot on.
Aside the soundtrack, the sound effects are also ok and fit the scenes they take part into.
The voice acting is also pretty well done, and I would like to add a special note that the English and German segments are amongst the best I have ever seen in an anime (as cheesy as they might be).
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Story
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This show reeks ambition so much it ended up being smacked down by the usual budget / time frame reality, and this is the part where we feel it the worse.
More than once I felt like I needed a manual to watch the show and it wasn`t included. Terms they use all the time never get explained and this gets in the way of understanding stuff every now and then, it’s quite annoying and you have to put up some effort to understand stuff based solo on the sentence context.
The arc`s are well staged, but again the lack of proper treating and over ambitious director leave us with some problems. It is aggravating that some important stuff that happens later on have to rely on quick flashbacks to pack any meaning and even then the results are quite bad.
This gets the most aggravating when we deal with relationships between characters, but I will write about that on the latter topic.
Overall the story is nice and has a tremendous amount of care to it, sadly the director didn`t have time to fulfill all he had in mind and it suffers a lot from it. If I had to pinpoint what areas suffered more I would have to say the romance. The action can carry itself pretty well due to the beautiful visuals and the drama focus on the “sacrifice” aspect most shounens drag from so no biggie, but the romantic relationships between Shirou and Saber are awkward to say the least, and his relation with Rin and Sakura are simply “deleted” from the plot halfway through for no apparent reason!
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Character
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All the characters are well made. They all have distinct traits, they all have particular looks, they all have background, objective and dept, but the problem is most of the time this is all crammed up so much it end up not living to the expectations.
I could go on in this subject for hours, but instead of pointing out how obviously Saber lack proper introduction about her past, or how Shirou desperately needed some more development and diversity or even how some characters like Sakura disappear from the plot after a few episodes (and we actually miss the continuation) I will just use my favorite character as an example, Rin.
Rin is an astonishing character that actually carry the show trough its worse moments all by herself, but the lack of episodes this show is plagued with (it deserved at least another season) makes some of her most interesting aspects lack and most of her relationships with other characters underdeveloped.
Why does she care so much about Sakura? Is the preach a fatherly figure to her? Does she love Shirou? I really wish all these aspects where developed, but instead they throw a few flashbacks and rush everything out to the point they don`t make the slightest sense and hurt the otherwise REALLY cool character she is.
Even her relationship with archer is crammed up to the point he barely shows his face and 5 episodes latter they kill him and we are supposed to care?! And that is another major issue, the servants have NO development AT ALL so all the cool traits they own are wasted since we don`t know who they are, why they fight for or even their origin... we don`t even get introductions to them it’s just sad.
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Value/Enjoyment & Conclusion
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From the moment the show start to the end its quite clear the director set the standard on the stratosphere but sadly got smacked down by reality mid way through it. Either lack of budget, lack of time or both the fact is, most of the show builds such a tremendous hype around itself and sadly don’t live up to it leaving many shortcomings by the end.
I do however congratulate the director for taking the hard route and abiding itself for making a complete show instead of a “first part” that would never seen an end. Still, it hurts to see so much potential being left untouched.
I would say this show is really worth for people that like the genre, this IS a shounen after all, and even though it have many qualities that deviate from the standard and make it different, the typical affair is all here… like people never EVER getting killed, the main weak protagonist with untapped potential and the usual good = good | bad = bad ordeal where every good guy is a saint and every bad guy have snake eyes, do rough voices and have a satanic smile… so it does tick all the boxes for the standard show.
Now for other people that are not all that into shounen, I would still highly recommend this but with a warning, you WILL get disappointed. This anime was destined to be a masterpiece but it faced shortcomings that hindered expectations in every possible way. This would’ve been bad on a regular show, but the amount of greatness this anime reeks is unparalleled and this just make it all the bitter.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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