Having defeated the first stage, Hakuno and Saber ascend
to the next level. Traveling with them
is a new ally: the beautiful prodigy Rin Tohsaka. The further Hakuno heads into battle, the
more he begins to learn the true twistedness of this world and the effects of
the Holy Grail War. Some of these
combatants have been fighting for centuries without end. In the back of his mind, Hakuno can feel he
might be one of these lost souls. Though
if he is to learn the truth, he must brave snipers, mind traps and servants who
are deadlier than the last. Saber vows
to protect him but will her confidence and sword be enough?
As of right now, im of two minds with Fate/Extra. On one side, this show bugs the hell out of
me with all of its complexity, lack of clear cut motivations and directions and
the worst lead character in this franchise yet.
On the other side, this show has got some rather deep stories to tell
through some amazing artwork. Both of
these mindsets collided in this weeks string of episodes that saw Hakuno, Saber
and Rin ascended through two more Stratums, each with their own revelations and
tragic stories to tell…and theyre way more likeable ones than Haukno.
As the awesome Rani VIII revealed, the world of Seraph
and the Holy Grail War that has been running within it has been running for
over 1000 years and with its continuation, Seraph has continued to
degrade. Oh and humanity is near extinction
back on Earth it seems. That’s a lot to
take in and further adds to the complexity of it all. With a reveal like that, shouldn’t getting
the hell right to the final boss be more imperative? I mean, the fate of the world is at stake and
all. And yet, Fate/Extra’s cast just
seems to accept everything and move on like it’s just another day at the
office. I still don’t get why Mooncel
exists or why Seraph suddenly went all self destruct. At this point, it really does feel like
someone decided to give Fate/Stay Night a Sword Art Online style setting to
play in and damn if nothing is established or explained as a whole.
Once again, though, where Hakuno fails to be compelling
or the world building continues to falter, the characters remain Fate/Extra’s
saving grace. Im actually glad these Stratums are not one episode and done kind
of deals. The tales of Dan Blackmore and
young Alice were so tragic that one episode could never do them justice. For Blackmore, it was the possibility that
he’d been trapped in his Stratum for so long that he’d forgotten why he wanted
to win the Holy Grail War and just kept fighting just to fight. His mind and character felt warped from being
stuck in the same place for over a full millennia…not the fate id wish for (no
pun intended). And then there was poor
little Alice, who turned out to be the ghost of a long dead girl who just
didn’t want to be forgotten. Yeah she
ended up literally slaughtering hundreds in gruesome fashion in the process
(btw this series is bloody as hell). But
I always felt so sorry for the poor girl.
They say Seraph was supposed to be a utopia but stories like Alices only
strengthen everyone belief that is has become a digital hell. It was here also that we were treated to much
of the artwork Studio Shaft is best known for.
The whimsical world of Alice’s Wonderland was dark, foreboding and busy
in every single frame, just like the darker dimensions of Madoka Magica. Fate/Extra has looked ok so far but it has
never felt like it was taking full advantage of Shaft’s true animation powers until
the Alice episodes. The overall designs
does wonders for illustrating Alice’s oh so sad fairy tale ending (remember the
OG ones never end well themselves as Alice and Rin both point out) and helped
make them some of the best episodes of Fate/Extra thus far.
I really cant stop singing the praises of Saber. Even in the darkness of Wonderland, she never
lost her cool, confidence or never ending optimism. The differences between her and her blue clad
predecessor continue to astound me.
Whereas Arturia was dead set on selfishly reworking her own past to
right her wrongs, Fate/Extra Saber seems to have embraced her entire history,
the good and the bad, with an unkillable smile.
She believes in chivalry and a fair fight but also doesn’t mind walking
around Hakuno in very little clothing…just cause she can and she will always
own that attitude. It almost makes me
hate Hakuno more cause he’s so stiff and internally brooding he really doesn’t
feel deserving of such an energetic guardian who will even hold his hand
through the darkness.
Surprisingly for me, Rin on the other hand is kind of a
mixed bag. I love that her voice actress
from the old shows is back, I love her new look, and even when I don’t
understand it all, she can still do exposition like nobodies business and make
it sound so fascinating. But her overall
role is being just as shrouded as everything else in Fate/Extra. Is she using Hakuno to get to the Angelica
Cage and then win the Grail War herself?
Most puzzling is how the hell can she turn into Lancer? This isn’t even explained like it is in
Fate/Kaleid Liner Prisma Illya, where the servants are Card Captor Sakura style
cards who magic can be accessed to give the user a Servants power. What’s more, Hakuno and Saber both seemed
stunned by this…and then just shrug it off or just plain ignore it. I don’t know about you but this is one
mystery id very much like answered, no matter how cool Rin looks in a Lancer
outfit.
Fate/Extra had some good tales to tell and gave Studio
Shaft a chance to remind the world why it’s one of the most beloved studios in
all of Anime. But Seraph still makes no
sense. Hakuno is basically walking into
a wall and not caring while everyone else cares for him. Overall, I feel so freaking lost and not in a
good way. Even when the show is at its
best with Saber, the action or another tragic floor master, it makes me wonder
if any actual thought went into making this show besides the visuals. Yeah…something tells me this isn’t going to
wrap up so nicely next week. I’d say,
brace for a rant, yeah a rant is most certainly coming.
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