hontou ni
24Jun/0611

Fate/Stay night – Wrap-up

That this is a obligatory wrap-up post to archive F/SN under "past series" probably speaks volumes about my enthusiasm for the series. To be fair, I enjoyed the finale and the series did have its moments (mostly harem-induced ones). But a solid ending and some sparks does not a good series maketh. I thought my insightful brother Zyl says it so well when he describes F/SN as flat.

I have to admit F/SN is a difficult story for anime adaptation. Unlike its predecessor Tsukihime, it does not contain an encompassing story arc (like Kohaku's) that can be used as a central vehicle to string all the characters and story threads into a coherent tale. Nor is Studio DEEN brave enough to take a road less travelled like SHUFFLE! (The best game to anime conversion IMHO) by making a seemingly lesser character (Sakura) the heroine so that the richest track of the game (Heaven's Feel) gets told. Well, the commerical reasons for pimping Saber are sound. I'm sure Saber merchanising have never seen such feverish heights prior to the anime. I'm just not certain the F/SN DVDs would have the same reception.

My main gripe with the series (other than lesser evil of uninspired storytelling) would be its half-hearted character developments. Besides Saber and Shiro, none of the other characters were fleshed out sufficiently (despite some initial investments which created expectations) or had satisfactory closures. Granted, unlike SHUFFLE! or harem series where the plot can be modular by having the approximately 5 characters take turns to tell their tale, F/SN has the immense challenge of integrating close to 20 character backstories (Masters and servants, past/present) into the over-arching Holy Grail premise. Given a mere 24 eps, that would have been an impossible task. Still I had expected better treatment on Sakura and Rin's stories instead of over-developing Saber's. Their later involvement in the series as Holy Grail props to boost the over-embellished FATE arc was especially disappointing for me, a 3/4 Sakura 1/4 Rin fanboy.

Overall a forgettable plot with memorable characters and an unshakable feeling that it could have been so much more. Well, at least I will be getting some really nice Fate/Hollow Ataraxia figures out of this F/SN craze.


Here's hoping Fate/Hollow Ataraxia does better if ever.

Related posts:

  1. FATE/Stay night 06
  2. Fate/Stay night 11
  3. Fate/Stay Night 4

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Comments (11) Trackbacks (1)
  1. crimson
    June 24th, 2006 - 20:12

    can i be the beast..but with the whip?

    ( REPLY )
  2. wontaek
    June 24th, 2006 - 22:13

    I hope Typemoon and Studio DEEN finally realize that the series they really needed to have created is Fate/School Notes.

    ( REPLY )
  3. Stripey
    June 25th, 2006 - 00:26

    crimson: LOL!!!!!!! I’m still wondering how best to interpret that statement.

    wontaek: Haha! Actually I’m hoping for a harem spin-off.

    ( REPLY )
  4. XelloS^_-
    June 25th, 2006 - 10:39

    It is just me or does it seems like the sakura figurine has nipples?

    btw stripy what were you saying about the tv series again? My eyes where glue to the Sakura figurine XD

    ( REPLY )
  5. Stripey
    June 25th, 2006 - 11:42

    What nipples? *whistles innocently*

    Alright, the figure’s a tad spicy and has no place in a wholesome anime blog as such, I know, I know :P

    But I assure you that when I set my eyes on this figure, my 10 min of hyperventilation was not due to err.. its err.. details but the overall sculpt of Sakura. Wait, what were you asking again? :P

    heh ok striped silliness aside, I totally adore this figure for its pose, facial sculpt and the 1/4-demonic 3/4-angelic outfit. Plus it’s a 1/8.

    It doesn’t get better than this. :)

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  6. XelloS^_-
    June 25th, 2006 - 16:33

    And the nipples had impact on your decision of course >.>

    btw where did you get that pic of dark sabre form? Her half dark and half sabre in maid dress look very hot.

    ( REPLY )
  7. Stripey
    June 26th, 2006 - 00:43

    Haha! Kinsoku jiko desu :) Actually I got it from an obscure forum thread on F/SN whose URL eludes me now. :P

    I loved Fate/Hollow Ataraxia outfits. Really brings out the characters’ feminine charm.

    ( REPLY )
  8. Zyl
    June 26th, 2006 - 02:21

    With all the Tsukihime/Fate comparisons running around, I can’t help but suspect just a tiny bit that TYPEMOON might have deliberately told the animating studio to nerf the anime – just to prove a point that their original game story is superior. Or that maybe they should get asread to do F/HA.

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  9. Stripey
    June 26th, 2006 - 06:21

    Hmmm I would have thought Typemoon would try to woo anime fans to play the game instead of consolidating F/SN’s position with existing game fans. :P Unless of course they are using some kind of reversal psychology to egg disappointed anime viewers to play the superior game.

    Whatever it is, figure companies win. :)

    Totally agreed with the asread/FHA coupling.

    ( REPLY )
  10. Dervish_ibn_Candela
    July 9th, 2006 - 07:05

    >> “F/SN has the immense challenge of integrating close to 20 character backstories (Masters and servants, past/present) into the over-arching Holy Grail premise. Given a mere 24 eps, that would have been an impossible task.”

    O RLY?! What about X tv where the same task was solved if not brillianltly then at least REALLY awesome? The truth, it takes a good scenario writer (not a fucking anime scenarist) to RE-WRITE it all into the stand-alone short stories, relocate by episodes, and then slowly and METHODICALLY reintegrate them into the whole, recomposing the (big S) Story and creating an integral piece of art. Not starting off with appointing main characters (thus killing the story afirehand) and deploying harem/school fun (and the degree of FUN heavily depends on the viewer POV). FSN miserably FAILED. There was no masterful scenarist to write nor a decent director to direct. Just a ‘production’, deadlines and sales expectations to meet. What a waste -_-

    ( REPLY )
  11. asdf789
    January 20th, 2007 - 06:44

    anyone know where i can download/get the heaven’s feel episode or the episode with the black saber in it?

    ( REPLY )

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