Fate/Zero is based on the light novels that is a prequel to the visual novel Fate/stay night. The first season is thirteen episodes long. It is set ten years before Fate/stay night and focuses on the previous Holy Grail War. The Holy Grail War is an event where the Holy Grail chooses seven Masters, and through them, summons seven Servants. They then fight it out to be the last pair remaining to claim the Holy Grail itself, which is an artifact said to be able to grant the user any wish.
Given that the anime assumes the viewer to already be familiar with the events of Fate/stay night, we get several fun cameos of younger versions of the characters. However, this prequel mainly focuses on a few specific characters, with the highest profile one being Emiya Kiritsugu, the adopted father of Shirou. Also, given that Shirou was not your typical Master, we get to see how a “normal” Holy Grail War goes.
The anime begins with immediately laying down the groundwork of several of the Masters that will be participating, including two who we should be very familiar with: Kiritsugu and Kotomine Kirei. However, the other Masters are also intertwined with familiar families such as the Matou and Tohsaka bloodlines. The first episode, which is double the length of a normal episode, is actually fairly slow but sets up the tone and personalities of several characters.
Given that this is a prequel, seeing some of the younger versions of several characters, while knowing their fate and what they will have to live through after the events of this War, can be depressing. On the other hand, you know that Kirei is a scheming snake and will watch his actions very carefully. He doesn’t disappoint through given that he executes a ruse almost right away. However, knowing that a particular character survives, even though they are so despicable or having an unfair advantage, but will not be punished for it in this anime, can be frustrating.
We can see several high profile heroic figures from the past (and crossing over into legends) being summoned as Servants. Given their high status, naturally, they are difficult to control and have huge egos, as several Masters find out the hard way. This is actually a surprising contrast to the previous anime since there was a bit more harmony between Master and Servant. There can be a period of adjustment as you get used to the different identities being summoned within the familiar classes. This version of Lancer is completely different to the one in the next war, and likewise for the Caster and Rider. Naturally, Saber and Gilgamesh are the only characters that appear in both this War and the next one and it’s interesting to watch how they react coming into this blind.
Some of the best parts are when the Servants show honor and pride, instead of always resorting to senseless fighting. Having them discuss and talk about their past lives and the reason for their participation in the War, leads you to understand their actions a lot more and makes it easier to forgive some of the things that they do. This is a good thing since the anime can be dark and violent. It is not afraid to show some twisted gory scene, although the camera will look away, only implying what happened instead of outright showing it onscreen. There will be a lot of blood and some uncomfortable ways of killing.
However, for all its positives, the season has uneven pacing. There will be sections where it is fight after fight after fighting but then will be followed by long scenes with nothing by talking with barely any movement. It can lead to some high highs and low lows as a result. The season ends where the allegiances between the various Servants are muddy, given that they team up sometimes and then revert to being enemies for the Grail at others. The final episode ends just before a big event, leading to a cliffhanger. Yet this cliffhanger was something that you’d have expected at this point so it doesn’t leave as much of an impact as it probably tried to.
Overall, the first season of Fate/Zero is a promising start to the prequel of Fate/stay night. While it was slow on the uptake, it manages to build up a cast of interesting characters wth Masters and Servants that contrast nicely to the ones in the next Holy Grail War. The animation and storytelling is definitely a step up from the original, although there are still a lot of potential for improvements. It is definitely worth a watch, especially if you liked the lore and context of the world of Fate/stay night.
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