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Fate/Stay Night Vol. 3: Master & Servant
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scorpioeyez's Review
Fate/Stay Night Vol. 3: Master & Servant Review
Overall 5.00 of 5
(by 1 user)
Let's Play Master & Servant
Anime Geek, Movie guru, into action flicks, TOTALLY into Rin & Saber
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| Cons |
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JUN
3
2007
Intro
The halfway point of this series finally has our hero stepping up to defend his servant.
The Story
Four episodes on this volume takes us into the halfway point of this series. In the first episode of the volume, Saber has gone off on her own to investigate the shrine which is believed to be a haven for another fighter in the Grail Wars even though she’s still weak and injured. When she arrives at the shrine, she finds a servant of the assassin class waiting for her named Kojiro and while they battle, Rider sneaks inside and engages in a battle of her own.
After a late night meeting and argument, a new agreement is reached upon. Shirou and Saber decide that it’s best that Shirou learn how to defend himself and attack with a sword since he insists on protecting her. The training begins in the second episode and as promised, Saber beats and trains him into a bloody pulp while Rin tries to help him make his magic stronger.
The training overlaps into the third episode but quickly changes when Rin and Saber realize something completely new and unexpected about Shirou and his abilities. Training gets interrupted though when Shirou is lured to school by Shinji who has decided to active the barrier around the school and destroy Shirou in the process with Rider.
In the final episode of the volume, Shinji is still on the run and so Saber and Shirou decide to go on the offensive and find him before he can erect another barrier.
The Good And The Bad
After how much I enjoyed the first two volumes of this series I was really anxious to see what I would notice first about this volume and right away I was given my answer when I was absolutely floored by the battle scene animations on this volume. The CG animation used during the attack sequences looked absolutely incredible as well which led to great action scenes throughout all four episodes of this volume.
The animation outside of battle scenes was equally impressive with the great use of lighting. There are some issues with brightness in the animation though which sometimes will wash out key items such as a character’s face but this was a very passing problem and rarely did it take me out of my element or distract me enough to take me out of the scene that I was watching at the time.
Rin and Saber continue to be great characters that I love watching. The development of Saber in this volume was really a welcome treat that really makes me want to learn much more about her. There was also some great development of the young Russian master Illya who controls the Berserker though there’s certainly something about her that makes me think that there is much more to her than it seems so far.
The relationship development between the characters was also very well done on this volume with new wrinkles being added to a number of different relationships including Shirou’s relationships with both Saber and Rin. With the series taking so much from the game that it was based on, it really intrigues me to make me wonder how far the writers and director was going to take the relationship between Shirou and the three female characters that have already expressed interest in him. While none of the interest has been direct, it has still been interest none the less and thus has created new elements and twists beyond the Grail Wars that keep me entertained.
The writing on this volume was strong with some fun comedy moments that were bound to be used eventually. With so many female characters living with Shirou, it’s obvious what jokes I am referring to but I did like that they waited so long to use them and the character reactions were slightly different than anything else I’ve seen. An old joke but a slightly new twist on it makes it a bit more interesting and fun to see.
I also thought that it was so interesting to see the plot driven forward in such a focused way with much of the volume being devoted to making Shinji into the primary enemy despite his complete inability to be a worthy enemy. The battle at the end of the volume though really capped it off and made for a great mid series climax.
Music
As with my previous reviews of this series, I’ve noted how strong the background music in this volume is and it remains strong throughout this volume with music that plays well both in and out of context. It is always subtle though without calling too much attention to itself without ever distracting from the scene. I did notice that the theme that played during Rider’s scene tended to pull my attention towards it a bit more than other pieces of music though which may or may not be a bad thing. I never found it to be a particular bother to me but I definitely could see how it would be a bother to others if they found themselves listening to the music more than the scene in front of them.
I never noticed any issues with sound quality throughout the volume.
Dub vs. Sub
Both tracks were well done throughout this volume with all of the characters being delivered in strong performances including Kate Higgins as Saber, Mela Lee as Rin, Jennifer Sekiguchi as Illya and Karen Strassman as Rider. All of these performances really made this volume into the great viewing experience that it is. The sub cast did an equally good job and I really wouldn’t choose between one and the other. Both are great and fans of either format won’t be disappointed.
Extras
There are only a few extras on this volume which is still a bother to me as I’d really like to see more but the ones that are included are fun. The first one presented are entries from the diary of Rider from the time she was introduced to the time of her final appearance of the volume. This was really quite interesting as the entries use animation that I don’t recall ever seeing during the series plus it paints a very interesting view of Rider as a servant and her attitude towards her master Shinji. One big bonus for this extra is that Geneon took the time to dub this extra into English as opposed to leaving it only in Japanese.
The other extra included on this volume are clips from the original music videos for the opening and closing themes of this series. As far as I can tell, the videos were supposed to be subtitled but for some reason I could not get them to work no matter how much I fiddled with the controls.
Overall
Going into the halfway point of this series, I am just as excited now as I was at the beginning. This volume really delivered in many different ways in terms of character development, relationship development plus some great battle scenes to really get us back into the main plot of the Grail Wars. With three volumes left I am really anxious to see where the writers take this series. If you’re looking for an action series to add to your collection, this one has all the makings of one that should be in your collection thus far. Very recommended.
Final Grade: 90% - A
Fate/Stay Night Vol. 3: Master & Servant is recommended by scorpioeyez
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