~~ Intro
So, just to begin, I’m a massive fan of Fate. I’ve read/experienced the larger part of the source material, and Camelot in particular is one of my favorite chapters in FGO (beaten out by Salem, and neck-and-neck with Anastasia), so for one, I have a history with the series, and two, I’ll probably be drawing comparisons to other Fate adaptations throughout this review (most specifically the FGO ones).
To start, just to inform anyone, it cut two characters – Tawara Touta, a friendly Archer Class servant who tags along as “Caster’s” disciple, a decision that will have severe plot ramifications for the next movie in
...
particular, and Hassan of the Hundred Personas, best known for her involvement in another Fate work. Normally in this chapter, she actually would get some characterization (unlike in that other work).
~~ Story:
If we’re going off of pure story coverage, while I’m not sure if it’s comprehensive enough for someone who doesn’t know the source material, as someone who does, I think it does a decent job with at the very least scratching that itch. It’s kinda cool to see some of these characters that have either never been animated before, or seeing them in something else by a different studio or in a different form. That being said, the pacing of this movie is exceedingly fast. I wouldn’t say the movie itself feels rushed, but with the team only having an hour and a half of time to fill, for one of FGO’s longer chapters no less, it feels less like an adaptation, and more like a highlight reel/reinterpretation. Part of this is caused by the two lacking characters of course, but it also doesn’t start at the BEGINNING of the story. It starts close to it, but it’s more in the middle. You don’t get to see the mission set up, you only really get a taste of the original’s opening monologue, etc. etc. It expects you to know what you’re getting into. It also doesn’t really try to introduce you to the characters, which leads me to say that this isn’t really done with the uninitiated in mind – this is intended for people who are already experienced with the story in FGO. I can’t… 100% say that’s a complete issue, seeing as FGO is a mobile game that is free to play and anyone that has the capability of watching this movie probably also has the capability of playing the game, but it is still a bit of an issue.
When stacked up against the Babylonia anime adaptation though… the quality of this adaptation starts to sour more in my eyes. For the most part, that series is full of fantastic action, and is relatively faithful, but here, Camelot feels like it barely hangs on. With the exception of really one character, the true main one of this movie, no one else really gets development. They speak, and you can gauge their general personality, but the movie only has so much time, so it needs to focus on the poster boy – Bedivere. He is a great character, both here and especially in FGO, but everyone else just kind of exists. Some have their moments, one moment in particular is definitely the highlight of the movie – if you’ve read Camelot, you can probably take a good guess as to which one I’m referring to – but past that, this is mostly the Bedivere show. At the very least, whenever he’s on screen, generally it’s for emotional moments, the decent action, or furthering the plot. When you see him, you can assume something interesting is going to happen - which does happen a lot. I wouldn't say it's boring - hard to be with the speed of a freight train - but it causes me to wish this was an anime, not a movie.
~~ Action:
On that note – the action. This isn’t Ufotable, A-1, or Cloverworks. Generally, the movie is more focused on dialogue or emotional scenes (which only really hit hard when you know the source material), but there is some action. A lot of the fight scenes are pretty short, and I feel they ranged from hard to follow to just not that interesting. Not necessarily a bad thing, as I can get down with some of these scenes, but it’s far from something I really cared about here.
~~ Soundtrack
As a minor aside, the soundtrack was alright. When it made these really nice sounding orchestral renditions of FGO tracks, or the main theme of the movie, it's some good stuff, but it generally goes for this grandiose orchestra feel - I do think some of the tracks kinda melt together.
~~ Conclusion
Oh man do I wish this was an anime and not a movie... not just for the missing characters, but for all the things skipped, missed, or just plain out wiped out of existence. Maybe my disappointment is largely caused by this being one of my favorite chapters in FGO, but despite that, I don't think it's bad - just decent. In some eyes, maybe that would be even worse than being laughably bad.
Camelot was the story chapter that signified the turning point of FGO's story quality, and what brought to what the game is specifically known for today - its fantastic story. The team did what they could with the time they had, but it's a shame that it's nothing more than something that can only offer me, a Fate fan and more specifically a fan of the Camelot chapter, mild enjoyment.
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May 12, 2021
~~ Intro
So, just to begin, I’m a massive fan of Fate. I’ve read/experienced the larger part of the source material, and Camelot in particular is one of my favorite chapters in FGO (beaten out by Salem, and neck-and-neck with Anastasia), so for one, I have a history with the series, and two, I’ll probably be drawing comparisons to other Fate adaptations throughout this review (most specifically the FGO ones). To start, just to inform anyone, it cut two characters – Tawara Touta, a friendly Archer Class servant who tags along as “Caster’s” disciple, a decision that will have severe plot ramifications for the next movie in ... 
Apr 1, 2021
I have an interesting relationship with this series. I heard about it from a friend of mine, who has now also told me plenty of stuff regarding where the manga is at too, so maybe the perspective I'm coming from is at least a little refreshing.
Kaguya-sama, both this season and the previous one, is a series that has what I'd say is a good cast. In the first season, it did a good job of making every member of the main group both charismatic and likable. While not record-breaking, this second season continues this strength while also adding a bit more to the preexisting cast ... |
