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Aug 28, 2015
===Advice===
Read, or at least watch, Fate/Stay Night before getting into this novel. It should make the reading experience much smoother and way more enjoyable.
I find the anime adaptation of the novel to be superior in virtually every way. I’d suggest reading the novel only if you want to learn more about the Fate universe, or if you are interested in checking out the writing style of this story.
===Background===
Fate/Zero by Gen Urobuchi is a prequel to the highly acclaimed, overly popular and endlessly adapted visual novel: Fate/Stay Night. The story sheds light on the events of the Fourth Holy Grail War, the contents of which were
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only briefly explored in the original visual novel.
As a big fan of Fate and as a good friend of its original creator, Gen Urobuchi gladly accepted the offer to be the author of this prequel.
Those familiar with Urobuchi’s works can most certainly already imagine the following: Characters suffering, characters dying, characters being mentally broken and... guns. Lots of guns.
Staying true to pretty much every trope that earned him the nickname “Butcher”, Urobuchi yet again delivers a story in which he maniacally enjoys dismembering the very characters he crafted.
“Maybe Urobuchi’s Holy Grail War is indeed the true Hell.” - Nasu Kinoko, the creator of Fate/Stay Nigh.
===Story===
The plot revolves around the Fourth Holy Grail War, a ritualistic deathmatch between seven magi. Whoever wins the war will earn the right to obtain the Holy Grail and to grant any wish.
Every participating magi is granted a powerful Servant, a being whose might will transcend logic and the very laws of physics. Servants are Heroic Spirits: renowned warriors of legends, summoned to our modern times through sorcery; Alexander the Great and King Arthur are examples of such.
Unlike Fate/Stay Night, the story of Fate/Zero follows the actions of all Masters and all Servants who participate in the war. The perspective changes with almost every chapter, cycling through the big array of characters. This is both a strong and weak point in the novel.
The story begins in a very slow pace, as the first two volumes focus mostly on building the many characters. The scarce action that happens in-between leads to relatively few developments.
For those not familiar with the Fate/Stay Night universe, the prolonged introduction may seem needlessly stretched and ultimately rather... boring. It’s highly advised to read (or at least watch) Fate/Stay Night before challenging this novel.
From the third volume onward the pace of the story continously escalates, as battles become more frequent and more fatal. If you successfully bear through the slow beginning which mostly builds characters, you’ll then be rewarded with seeing these familiar characters clash against each other in creative, fast-paced death matches.
The fast pace is not without faults, however. At times, the developments feel rushed and the story fails to fully explore the many characters it spent two whole volumes to establish.
Thus, the story both benefits and suffers from having so many characters.
Luckily, over the course of the story you’ll eventually grasp which characters are meant to have a more dominant role than others. At the very least for these characters, the road and the eventual conclusion would be greatly satisfying.
===Characters===
The story follows the seven Masters and seven Servants who participate in the Holy Grail War. Every chapter shifts its point of view toward a different character, allowing you to explore the full scope of the Fourth Holy Grail War.
The first two volumes will focus almost entirely on familiarizing you with these many characters, all of different origins and with different circumstances. Once you feel comfortable about these characters, the story will mercilessly remind you that they are enemies in a cruel deathmatch.
There can only be one winner.
A cold fact that might seem ironically cruel for a novel with so many characters. But it’s precisely because of this clash, between “many characters” and “only one winner”, that you can experience such a brutal, cruel tale that builds and breaks its characters.
Sadly, not all the characters receive equal love from their creator. There might be times when you’ll be mildly disappointed by how poorly a certain character was handled, without being granted the chance to realize its full potential and without being explored to the depth you desired.
Among the dozen characters, the following are arguably the MAIN main characters. The Holy Grail War will test not only their mettle, but also their ideals and beliefs.
==Emiya Kiritsugu==
An irregular magi who was hired to participate in the Holy Grail War as a Master.
He is dubbed a “Magi Killer”, a ruthless expert who combines magecraft with modern technology to assassinate magi. Always cold and calculated, he doesn’t care what means he must use to achieve his goal... at least, that’s how he tries to appear on the surface.
In truth, the Kiritsugu of the present struggles with internal conflicts after founding a purpose for his life: his homunculus wife Irisviel and their daughter Illyasviel. With the knowledge that he’ll have to sacrifice his beloved wife to win the Holy Grail War, the once heartless assassin must now reinforce his conflicted heart and make a difficult choice:
Should he flee the battlefield and protect his beloved at any cost?
Or should he kill his emotions and sacrifice anybody and everything, for a chance to realize his idealistic wish of saving the world?
==Saber==
The gender-bender version of King Arthur, summoned as a Servant of the Saber class. She is the very same Servant who plays a key role in the original Fate/Stay Night.
Much to her disdain, the noble King of Knights is summoned under the command of Kiritsugu - a Master whose methodology couldn’t be farther removed from her own. She desires to claim victory through fair, noble duels with other Servants, whereas Kiritsugu prefers to assassinate other Masters from the shadows.
Behind her gallant figure and sharp blade, the small-framed knight hides many regrets and many doubts. Throughout the story, you’ll see Gen Urobuchi doing his absolute utmost to exploit every weakness the King of Knights could possibly have.
The author will deliciously break and rip apart one of Fate’s most popular characters, diving into her ideology and her faults way beyond what the original Fate/Stay Night ever dared.
===Writing===
“This book of mine, that wasted the entirety of more than one thousand and four hundred pages of paper for the sake of shouting out ‘I love Fate’, is now respectfully set before you.”
Gen Urobuchi has summarized his own novel as such.
As a big fan of Fate/Stay Night, Urobuchi poured his soul into a novel with a great story, deep characters and he stayed faithful to the Fate universe. Yet, his fanboyism also ended up getting in his way at times, making parts of the novel feel like poorly written fanfic.
While the plot and characters are well structured, the actual narrative that delivers them feels sloppy at times, especially in the first two volumes.
There are many times when Urobuchi needlessly forces his fascinations with guns onto the reader, making you read walls over walls of information about gun models, gun sizes, gun bullet types and so forth.
On other occasions, the narrative will become side tracked by going in length about the history of locations and traditions. Though the information might be interesting at times, by the end of the day you’ll realize that nothing important was learned and your time was wasted on empty scrolls.
Urobuchi’s inner fanboy is felt the most when you suddenly come across terms such as [Gáe Dearg: Crimson Rose of Exorcism]. Or even worse: [Invisible Air: Bounded Field of the Wind King].
The author’s habit to drop the full, overly lengthy name of every skill will no doubt make you feel overly nerdy as you read this novel.
Is Urobuchi's writing so horrible that it makes the novel unbearable? Not at all.
With all the faults aside, the writing shines when it depicts fast paced action scenes. The narrative is quick, minimal and easy to digest. Combat, in particular, is very immersive thanks to the fast pace of the developments.
While the minimalism might at times feel underwhelming, especially when compared to epic moments from the anime adaptation, the action sequences are overall more than satisfying. When the pace of the story picks up and battles start happening one after another, the narrative does an excellent job in delivering the experience.
===Conclusion===
Watch the anime.
No, really.
With all due respect to Urobuchi’s efforts to craft this novel, I can’t help but feel that this novel was born for the sole purpose of being adapted into an amazing anime.
The anime adapts the light novel faithfully and doesn’t leave out any critical detail. In fact, there are more than a couple of scenes which are depicted way better in the anime, while the novel hardly does them justice.
If you insist to read the novel, for one reason or another, prepare yourself for a slow start and some sloppy writing on occasions. The first two volumes will offer little thrill, as you’ll be introduced to the big array of characters and will learn about every gun model in existence.
When you finish the second volume, you will be able to breathe in relief as the plot will finally return to the main event of the story: the deadly Holy Grail War. Characters will clash with each other to death in fast paced, immersive combat.
Near the end, at its peak, the novel becomes enjoyable enough to become completely absorbed in it. However, whether or not you’ll find any meaning in going through the novel when you have the superior anime adaptation - is up to you.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Aug 15, 2010
First of all, this series is supposed to be for kids. Thus, if you have something against childish characters and plots and totally can't watch them, then you should just give up on this one. I gave this series a high score not because I think it's amazing, but because I really enjoyed watching it – something that I doubt everybody can.
Panyo Panyo Di Gi Charat is supposed to be some kind of "prequel" to the original Di Gi Charat series in term of plot, even though it was created later. With that said, what comes after this series is actually Di Gi Charat Nyo,
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which is an alternative version of the original Di Gi Charat. Therefore, you could say it's not directly connected to the original series it's based on.
Plot:
The story is set in the fictional world called Di Gi Charat and revolves around its princess – Deijiko. One day she reads a book and decides to help people around the planet. Thus, she sets out to help people along with her young sidekick, Puchiko, and a flying balloon which supposed to be a guardian - Gemma. They later meet two more characters who are willing to aid them in their mission. But guess what, there are also two evildoers who try to get in their way and cause mischief. That's the story in short and… well, that's pretty much the whole story. The series is simply a collection of different short stories which aren't usually connected to each other. While it doesn't have any complicated stories, because it's a childish series, each story is nice and cute in it's own way. At this point it's all up to you. You can either treat it as "childish" and think it's lame, or you can try to enjoy the stories as they are. If you capable of choosing the later, then you might see that the stories are actually pretty solid and are very entertaining. They can be funny, cute, touching and even somewhat dramatic. As long as they can make you smile at least a little bit, I believe they have accomplish their goal.
Characters:
In term of personality, most characters aren't something very original or coplex. But that's how it should be, because the series supposed to be "light" and "simple". On the other hand, the design is pretty good. The characters look nice with each of them having its own cute decorations such as Deijiko's bells or MeeK's stars. In addition, the characters tend to appear in many different costumes depending on the situation. The strong point about the characters would be the fact they are cute and each one of them in its own way. Also, every character ends its sentences in a different way such as "nya" or "myu". All this, combined with putting the characters in a variety of, sometimes absurd, situations makes them very enjoyable and adorable.
Art:
No much to say here, aside of the fact that everything is very cute and colorful. The characters are mostly cute chibi with big heads and their clothes, decorations as well as the backgrounds are very colorful. While not outstanding or amazing, it's definitely how it should be in this series, and I won't ask for something else.
Sound:
It has nice BGMs which can fit the different situation and sound both serious and cute at the same time. The voice acting is really great and aside from being cute, it's sounds just right in place and fits the cute chibi characters. For me, the voice acting played the most important part in delivering the cuteness of the series. What further great, especially in this series, is the fact that all songs are sung by the same people who do the voice acting. Sometimes they even sing during the episode itself. While the songs hardly have much sense, they sound nice and it's cute to see how cute characters sing.
Enjoyment:
To sum it up, I very enjoyed the series. It's not something outstanding and neither it's something amazing. But it was very enjoyable and I liked it. At least to me, it delivered it cuteness and managed to make me smile, and sometimes even laugh. Since every episode is very short, this anime is perfect for situation in which you have 10 spare minutes to waste. Even if you aren't sure you will love it, you can always try watching one episode when you have nothing else to do, and who knows – you may like it. At the very last, you might want to recommend it to your younger brother or sister.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jul 5, 2010
After hearing positive words about this anime from my friends, I decided to give it a try and I expected to see an original or creative shonen series. At the very last, I expected something "special". To be honest – I was disappointed. I DID give the anime a 8/10, but I still believe I just wasted my time watching it. The best and shortest way to describe this series is "just another nice shonen". No more and no less.
If you considering watching this anime right now, then:
If you are a big shonen fan, then you should try it. I doubt it'll become one of
...
your favorites, but at least you should enjoy it
If you are not a fan of shonen, but you don't mind watching a good shonen, then you shouldn't bother trying it. At the very last, watch it only if you don't have anything else to watch, because you most likely won't enjoy this one much.
Another notable thing about this series, is the fact that the second part of it is fillers. I don't mean the type of fillers in which there is no continuation of the plot. Those episodes simply don't follow the manga, and thus the anime also has a different ending. If you decided to watch the anime, then you should stop around episode 35 and think for a second. If you feel like you really like the series and it's one of your favorites, then you should stop watching the anime and start reading the manga. If you feel that it's a "nice" series, but that you don't really mind seeing a "fake" ending as long as it's pretty much on the same level as the rest of the series – finish watching the anime.
Now, the review…
Story: At first, I pretty enjoyed the plot and I thought that it's not your regular "heroes vs. evil organization" thing. Even though it was pretty similar to this pattern, which appears in almost every shonen series, I still found it "different" and "refreshing". But that didn't last too long. Sadly, after a while, the plot went on the same road as other shonen anime and turned into your classic shonen story. That's probably where I already realized that this anime won't answer my expectations.
The only thing that stayed true during the whole series, is the fact that the plot isn't dragged around like most shonen. When an enemy appears, you go and kick his ass. You don't wait around and do nothing until you meet him by chance. Every time when I thought that "it'll take another 20 episodes until they fight this enemy", I was surprised again and again by the fact that it actually took less than 5 episodes. This, and this alone, made me respect the plot in this series more than in some other ones. But even so, I think the plot itself was pretty weak like in most average shonen.
The thing that most amazed me in this series, is how professionally it can ruin its best parts. There are always some parts in a series which are average, during which you aren't necessary bored but neither you enjoying much, and there are parts which are great, interesting and enjoyable. For me, most of the anime was the "average" type. I wasn't bored and I had a few laughs now and then, but I wasn't hooked into it and I didn't feel that "I like this series". Like any normal series, this one also has its "great parts" during which I even considered giving it a score of 9/10. But the problem is, that they were too short. Every time I got to one of these "great parts", the second I finally started really enjoying these parts – they ended. Just like that. This anime starts something interesting, but finishes it at a blink of an eye. The moment I realize I'm starting to enjoy, the enjoyment fades away again. In the end, it just made series even worse.
Characters: It has a pretty classic shonen cast. A boy with a great talent who screams the whole day – check. A girl who hits her friends when she's angry – check. A teacher who sometimes acts cool and sometimes acts like an idiot – check. There were only two characters that I think are rather original. The first one is Death The Kid. While still being the classic "a cool character who sometimes acts like an idiot" type, I liked his huge addiction to symmetry. I think every human has something like that – something you like for no actual reason. It's like people who like even numbers more than odd numbers.
The second character is Excalibur. While it's a little sad that they turned the legendary sword I like into a character which other characters in the series see as "annoying", I found the character pretty amusing. The idea itself is pretty funny, as Excalibur supposed to be a legendary holy sword of heroes which is hard to pull from the ground. In this case, it really is a powerful weapon, but it's hard to use not because it's hard to pull, but because it turns into an annoying creature who talks non stop and doesn't listen to anybody. I found this character pretty original, amusing, funny and his phrase "Bakame!" is one of the most memorable things about this anime for me.
Excalibur isn't the only parody name in this series. You'll see many parodies about real life or legends in this anime. For example: a student called Ox Ford, a witch called Medusa, a sword named Ragnaroka and more.
Art: The animation itself is great. The characters move swiftly and it's nice to watch how they fight. But the art style itself, is just… not my cup of tea. At first glance it looks like the art style is simply low quality and lame. But when you watch the series, you'll see how the whole series actually has quite a different art style than other anime. For the most part, I don't have problem with the art style. But as I said, it's not a style I like much, and what I really hated is how the noses of the characters are drawn. It looked just… strange…
Enjoyment: A really average enjoyment. While I can't say there were many parts during which I was really bored, there also weren't many parts during which I really enjoyed. There were a few nice jokes now and then, but most of the time it was just average. Even the battles weren't as enjoyable as in other shonen. As I said, every good part was ruined in this series, so the only parts that left were the average ones. Thus, battles couldn't become interesting and thrilling like in other series. At the very last, I liked the fact that the battles were pretty short.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jul 2, 2010
First, for the sake of those who don't like reading much, I'll try to summarize what I can say about the anime in general.
While may sound exaggerating, I would say this anime excels in almost everything. Even though the idea on which the anime based is pretty average and feels like a replica of other series, I assure you that everything about Code Geass is actually more unique and special than you think.
The simple idea of "a boy receiving powers and executing revenge" was taken to new heights in this epic anime. The plot of this series is most likely the most intelligent, unpredictable
...
and fast-paced you'll ever see in your life. Predicting the plot of this anime isn't hard – it's impossible!
It moves so fast and has so many twists, that at some point you'll surely give up about predicting it and will simply enjoy it.
The characters in the anime, differently from most famous shonen series like Naruto, feel realistic. Most anime try to offer unique characters with many strange and interesting features. But when you look closely, you should notice that those characters feel unrealistic because they have awfully extreme characteristics, which you won't find in real people. In Code Geass, the characters are much more balanced and feel much more real, while still being very unique and different from each other. Another strong point about characters is their development. You will usually see how different characters deal with though decisions, and may eventually even change the side they are fighting for.
The animation of the series isn't something I can say much about. Personally, I like it. With that said, it's not my "perfect" style of art, and yet I have to admit it's a unique one. Rather than simply being "good" or "bad', I think it's more about your taste. If it fits your taste – you like it, and if it doesn't – you don't.
The voice acting is really strong, especially for the main character – Lelouch. Since the anime focuses a lot about Lelouch's thoughts and decisions, the voice acting plays an important role in delivering the watcher his feelings and emotions. I think it was done beautifully in this anime. I could really feel how heavy each and every one of his decisions was, as well as how he felt before and after making the decision.
The music played a very important role as well, and like the voice acting – it fulfilled well its duty. Putting aside the action and tense moments, in which the music was great, I would rather focus on the tragic and dramatic moments. In these very plot-wise important moments, the music was simply perfect. Seeing the same moments without the music will make these moments simply "another forgetful part of the plot". But with the music, these very moments will most likely be the ones you'll remember the best after finishing watching the series.
Now, for those who wish to read a more deep analysis about the series...
Plot: The basic idea, which you most likely already read about somewhere, is "Lelouch receives special power from a mysterious girl, and decides to use it in order destroy the Britannian Empire, both for revenge for his mother's death and to make a peaceful world for his sister". You will most likely also see similar words over and over when watching the beginning of each episode. It's hard to believe there are many people who read such description and say "this anime gonna be epic!". I doubt if there are any at all. And I can't blame them, because it really sounds like a pretty average and simple idea. But the strength of Code Geass isn't hidden in this basic idea, but rather in the way its plot was executed. A basic plot pattern for the idea will be something like this: "Lelouch and his organization fight against the evil commanders of the Britannian Empire and defeat them. At some point, the evil "final boss" arrives and Lelouch defeats him as well. Happy ending. Credits. Bye bye"
That's what I believe most people would expect from this anime, and I was no exception. At the beginning, it really feels like it's going to follow this plain pattern. But very soon, after watching a few episodes, you'll realize that Code Geass's plot is nothing as simple as that. To start with, there is no even "Good vs. Evil" in this series. You can't simply classify the characters and the different organizations in the series as either "good" or "evil". If I had to pick, I would rather say that the main character himself is actually "evil". But the most important thing about the plot, is that there are many things which make the plot very complicated. The main character, Lelouch, has more to do than just "fight against the empire". He also has to make sure he hides his identity, act normally in front of his sister and friends, and most of all – to be a strong and reliable leader in order to make people believe in him and follow his orders. If you think these are trivial matters which has nothing to do with the plot – you are gravely mistaken. Each and every one of them affects the plot strongly at some point, and shows you that the plot won't go the way you thought it will.
The plot itself is very fast paced. You may not notice this at first, as it feels like things moving a bit slow at the beginning. But once you get to the main parts, you'll be flying trough the episodes, and be warned – you may not be able to stop. For me, the plot was the biggest source of entertainment in this anime. It just keeps on going and never stops to take a break. With each passing episode, my curiosity about "what will happen next" only grew bigger and bigger. I'll admit it – I got addicted to the plot of this series, and to the series as a whole.
Characters: Alongside with the great plot of this series, stands the amazing cast of characters. While the anime focuses a lot on the plot and on moving the story fast, it never forgets about character development. This anime has many characters, like most anime. What makes it different, and better in my opinion, is the balance of the characters. You won't see "an idiot who shouts the whole day" or "a girl which hits everybody when she's angry" type of characters. Every character has its own unique features, but in the same time they are all "humans". Which means that no matter what personality a character has, it'll never act in extreme or unrealistic way. Such balanced characters are easier to understand and to become attached to.
Another strong aspect of the characters is their "state of mind". You often see how different characters must make hard and heavy decisions, which will affect them or their surroundings in different ways. The main focus is on the main character, Lelouch, but many other characters also make important decisions in their life, like Lelouch's childhood friend – Suzaku. Every character has its own past, beliefs, wishes and values. Together, they affect the decisions of the characters, and usually even put them one against another. If you look at the battles in this anime, then you'll see they are mostly based on each person's beliefs. These aren't battles between "good" and "evil", but rather between what each character "believes is right". This adds a lot to the series, and doesn't allow you easily judge a character as "good" or "evil". Some people may say Lelouch is "good", while some may say he's "evil". Personally, I belong to the latter type.
But just like I said – they are humans. Every human sometime loses his way and falls into confusion and despair. You can see it perfectly in this anime. Many characters tend to become confused of what is "right" and what is "wrong" at some point. One event can totally change the character's personality, and to shake its beliefs and values. Some characters eventually even change the side they support and fight for. Your enemy in the beginning, may end up as your ally in the end and vice versa. If you ask what are the things that make this anime unpredictable, then this, without a doubt, is one of them.
Animation: Since the character design is done by Clamp, it's not strange to see how similar the art style between Code Geass and Clamp's manga, like X. The characters usually look tall and slim. That's how I always described Clamp's art style, and I think this description pretty much fit Code Geass. I'm a big Clamp fan. Not because of the art style, but because of their great ideas. This art style is pretty much unique to Clamp and you can either like it or not, depends on your own taste. Thus, it's hard for me to say that the art style is either "good" or bad". Even though it's not my "perfect" type of art style, I still liked it a lot. I think that in term of quality, this anime was done well – no matter whatever you like the art style or not.
Sound: Since the characters are put trough different situation, the voice acting plays a very important role in this anime. If it's done well, then the watcher can understand well how complicated or tense the situations are. If done badly, then everything about the anime will feel shallow and boring.
I say it was done well. Very well.
Notably is Lelouch's voice acting. No matter what the situation was, it was easy to understand it well thanks to the voice acting. Especially when Lelouch was lost or was making hard decisions, I could really understand how difficult and heavy these decisions were. Also, since Lelouch has more than one "identity", it was important that he'll feel different in every environment. He really felt like a fearless leader when he was on the battle field, but also as a carefree student when he was at school.
Music: It's always important to have a great music. Thanks to music, many events become better and more memorable. While the anime had great music during action scenes, I would rather focus on the music during sad and dramatic moments. In these very important moments, the music was perfect, beautiful and irreplaceable. It made those few moments the most memorable ones about the series. Even seeing them again, with this perfect music, will make you enjoy them almost as much as the first time. Without this perfect music, the same scenes just won't feel as great as they did.
Enjoyment: No matter how many things I say I liked about this anime, what really made it my favorite one is: that I really enjoyed it; and to enjoy is the most important, right?
It almost didn't have any boring parts. It was always active, and was moving forward without taking a break. It was unpredictable to a degree I have never seen before in a series, and I LOVE unpredictable things. Basically, the anime was very thrilling for me. It's like riding a roller coaster – once you start, you can't quit until it ends; but you don't regret it, because every moment was epic and thrilling.
Overall: I recommend this anime to everyone. No matter what you think about it, and no matter whatever you think you won't like it – just try it. I was quite sure myself I won't like it. For me it was "Robots? Who the hell is going to like an anime with big robots?"
That was the reason it took me so much time to actually try this anime. But when I tried, I realized how stupid I was. It doesn't matter whatever there are robots or cliché base idea. What really matters is how well it was done, and how much you enjoyed it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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