I was a little excited when I heard that Fate/Extra: Last
Encore was coming my way. Sure I had no
idea what it was about, but the sight of Saber and Rin back in action was
enough to make me smile. Unlike Fate/Apocrypha,
there was familiarity and that meant something safe, even if it came with the
Fate franchises penchant for confusing exposition. Now that ive checked out the first couple of
episodes…this is going to be more of a chore than I thought to watch, but it’s
not without its redeaming qualities (unlike Apocrypha).
The opening of Last Encore is confusing as heck. There’s cryptic talk about the setting being
a digital world somewhere on the moon and people got here…how? Yeah this is probably going to be one of
those slow reveal type shows where little is established only for more to be
fleshed out by series end. This isn’t
helped by the main protagonist, Hakuno.
He claims to be angry but is so devoid of any emotion it’s like watching
someone drag a stick through the mud just to get a reaction out of him. Heck, he isn’t even phased when Saber gets
naked to take a bath alongside him…though im not sure if that’s cause he’s a
guy and he knows she hot or he just doesn’t know what an emotion is. Either way, if I were to keep watching this
series, it wouldn’t be for Hakuno’s Jason Bourne Amnesiac story.
On the plus side, theres the aforementioned Saber and
Rin. The girls are back and in one case
better than ever. Rin remains one of may
all time favorite Anime heroines. Sure
she’s mostly relegated to spewing out exposition, albeit familiar stuff about
the Holy Grail War, but her confidence and sense of fashion (trading her
signature thigh highs for leather boots) are still a Godsend. And then there’s Saber. Whooooo boy.
I don’t know if fans of Fate were pissed or excited to see this
radically different iteration of the beloved Auturian legend. For one thing, she’s smiling, a lot. Then there’s her outfit, sporting more leg
than ever before. And she’s freaking
cheerful, almost excited…a lot. Simply
put, this aint your Fate/Zero or Unlimited Blade Works pride of the Saber class
Saber. And…I kind of like it. It’s disturbing for sure but I like the
breath of fresh air this Saber brings to the table. If anything, she’s a good balance for the
dull and boring Hakuno. And once again,
im back to wondering why the hell any writer of the Fate series and its spin
offs cant just pair up Saber and Rin and let them have some fun (especially
here in Fate/Extra, where Saber proudly proclaims her love for girls…to a group
of short skirted police girl soldiers no less…yeah new Saber is weird).
One other thing to touch on is the animation. I noticed immediately how…artsy it was. I mean, Fate/Extra seems more like an art
house presentation than a straight up fantasy action series. Double checking my facts, I realized why this
form of Anime looks familiar. Studio
Shaft can now join the ranks of Studios Dean, Ufotable and A-1, as animators of
an entry of Fate/Stay Night stories. For
those unaware, Studio Shaft is best known as the studio behind Puella Magi
Madoka Magica (and it’s movies) and the Monogatari saga (pretty much every
chapter). So while the action is up to
the usual standards of Fate, it doesn’t surprise me that there’s a lot going on
in every single frame of the episodes ive seen so far, it’s kind of a staple of
Shaft.
Ehhhhh…I guess I could continue on with this one? It’s only ten episodes long but im confused
as all get out while im writing this.
Why does this digital Holy Grail War world exist? Who created it? Are Hakuno and Rin both humans in this
digital world or not? Fate/Extra: Last
Encore either fails to deliver proper establishing set up of the world it wants
to play in OR tells it in such a way that it could get lost on some viewers. Still, some good looking animation and the
presence of Rin Tohsaka and a wildly entertaining Saber do make up for a lot of
the shortcomings I mentioned. Now when
can we finally see their glorious spin off Japan? Come on.
Rin and Saber? It should be a no
brainer
And with that, actually, we conclude this little
Spring/Early Summer Season of First Impression Friday. I’ll be taking a short break cause of all the
Fate/Stay Night stuff (which I guess makes ending this set with a Fate/Stay
entry kind of fitting?). But rest
assured, First Impression Friday will return in September with the premiere of FLCL: Alternative. And who knows, maybe one or two of the titles
ive covered here in the last couple of months might get full series reviews at
some point. With First Impression
Fridays, you may never know. See ya next
Monday for the start of THE SUMMER OF
FATE with Fate/Zero.
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