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JUN
3
2007
Fate/Stay Night Vol. 1: Advent of the Magi —
Originally published on otaku review.netIntro
Geneon wasted no time in getting this series over to the US shores.
The Story
A war over the Holy Grail is being fought in Japan by the magi. Seven magi are fighting in a battle royal for the Holy Grail and its winner takes all. Ten years ago seven magi fought alongside their servants in a war that devastated the world and left only one survivor but now a new war is being fought with seven new magi.
In the first episode, we are immediately introduced to the war but more importantly we are introduced to Shirou. He is a magus but his skills are next to nothing, his real skills are in his ability to intuitively read objects to know about their inner workings. Unfortunately, he is completely unaware of the war that has already begun nor is he aware that he is a participant which means his life is at stake.
In the second episode, we get to learn more about a girl we met in episode 1 named Rin Tohsoka. Her father was a participant in the last war of the magi and didn’t return. She has been studying for the last ten years so that she could be the winner this time and wanted to ensure her victory by summoning the most powerful servant, Saber. Sadly she missed the mark and summoned another servant, Archer.
Late after hours though, she runs into her first battle and Archer goes up against another servant, Lancer. Shirou witnesses everything and thus must be killed, but this is the very act which changes everything as the magic within him is awoken and his servant is summoned in the beautiful blonde warrior, Saber.
In the third episode, the battles pick up and Rin tries to explain everything to him before realizing that Shirou has absolutely zero knowledge of magic. She takes him to the head of the tournament and there he learns everything including what the rules are but more importantly, what the ultimate prize is.
In the final episode of the volume, new battles are fought and Shirou is thrown in the middle with Rin becoming an unwilling assistant, making the two enemies into temporary allies.
The Good And The Bad
Originally airing in 2006 in Japan, Geneon wasted absolutely zero time in bringing this series over to the US and after watching this first volume I see absolutely no reason why they should have. The animation in this series is crisp and clear with very little obvious CG animation to get into the way. The vast majority of the animation looks as though it were done in traditional pen and ink which gives it a very classic feel.
The characters are where this series is really winning me over thus far though. While I admit that Shirou is certainly taking a bit of getting used to, the characters that are surrounding him grew on me at an incredibly rapid pace starting with Rin and her servant Archer. These two are the classic serious characters who know what they want and are willing to do what it takes to get it but with the new wrinkle of Rin knowing the secret about Shirou and his inexperience, it makes for wonderful drama right off the bat with the guess work of when or even if she will decide to exploit this knowledge to get her victory.
Then there is the beautiful and mysterious Saber whom I am already dying to know more about. Sadly all we know thus far is that she has a strict moral code that she obtained while in service as a knight but nothing more has been revealed thus far. In future volumes I am certain that she is the character that I am most likely to pay attention to so that I can learn whatever tidbits about her that I can find.
The writing in this series was very well done over this first volume with a strong mix of drama and comedy coming in from all sides. While most all of the characters are feeding into the drama of the main battle for the Holy Grail, the homeroom teacher Taiga Furimura was a great addition for light comedy scenes. In a way she very much reminded me of Yukari Tanazaki from Azumanga Daioh in her approach and the way she was presented in the series as kind of an irresponsible teacher that is constantly late for class.
Music
Ending theme stuck out more than the opening. Titled ‘The Forest Where You Are’ and sung by Jyukai, it’s a very sweet ballad. I did enjoy the upbeat tone in the opening theme though. ‘disillusion’ by Sachi Tainaka, just seemed to fit. It didn’t feel out of place at all which was nice.
Most of the background music was also very well done which I enjoyed. There is a strong mix of music coming from all sorts of different backgrounds which I felt played strongly with the characters are the servants all come from various parts of the world and various eras in time so this really added a multi cultural feel. One late scene in this volume had light opera in the background which had a sort of French feel to it (though I know almost nothing about opera so I could be way off base here).
I didn’t notice any drops in sound quality throughout the volume.
Dub vs. Sub
Both tracks were well done and I didn’t notice any issues with either track but for this first volume I think that I enjoyed the dub track just slightly more just because of the sheer number of great performances. I enjoyed Julie Ann Taylor as the homeroom teacher Taiga Fujimura and Mela Lee as Rin then of course I thought that Kate Higgins did a great job with Saber and Sherry Lynn did a great job with the small role of Sakura. Something tells me that there is going to be a big shock down the line when it comes to Sakura so it’s going to be very intriguing to see how that is played out.
The only performance that I felt fell a little flat was Sam Regal as Shirou. It wasn’t a terrible performance by a long shot but it just felt a little flat to me.
Extras
Clean closing animation and some production sketches. I really would’ve loved an interview extra with this anime to get some feedback from the cast.
Overall
I admit it, I’m hooked and I want to see more. This anime got off to a great start and with so many elements already being put into place I see absolutely no reason why this anime isn’t going to get better as it goes along. What is the story behind Saber? Will Shirou ever gain stronger magic? What will happen when he has to face off against Rin? Is there a secret that Sakura is hiding from everyone else? These are all questions I know have answers and now it’s just a matter of playing the waiting game and finding out the truth. Very recommended!
Final Grade: 92% - A
Fate/Stay Night Vol. 1: Advent of the Magi is recommended by scorpioeyez
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