Friday, November 1, 2019

FIF#98-Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace note


Ten years have passed since young Waver Velvet entered the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City and watched his friend and mentor die in battle.  Now, Waver has come to the legendary Clock Tower in London.  Here he takes on the mantle of Lord El-Melloi II and begins teaching the next generation of promising mages.  But the Clock Tower has its own fair share of secrets and threats that could put London in danger.  Not about to let that happen, Waver teams up with a mysterious young girl named Gray and a pair of hyperactive potential students to investigate mysterious magical happenings around the city.  Waver Velvet might’ve lost the Holy Grail War, but his battle for redemption is only just beginning.

Another year, another spin off of the neverending Fate/Stay Night franchise.  This time, instead of alternate realities covering The Matrix, Card Captor Sakura or an all out battle royale, we go back to the central Fate/Stay Night timeline to catch up with a character who has only appeared briefly outside of Fate/Zero.  That’s right, Waver Velvet is all grown up and ready to bring a mish mash of Harry Potter and Constantine to the Fate/Stay Night Universe.

One of the best highlights of Fate/Zero was Waver’s relationship with his servant, Rider aka Iskandar.  Waver grew from annoying, pompus protegee to a young man worthy of standing alongside one of histories greatest heroes.  Where he went after the events of Fate/Zero was unanswered until his brief cameo at the end of Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, where we learned he’d become a teacher at the Clock Tower (and ill admit, the first time I watched that show I didn’t even know it was him.).  Picking up his story ten years after the events of Fate/Zero (and presumably during or right before Fate/Stay Night), Lord El-Melloi looks set to expand not just on what Waver’s become since his Holy Grail War, but also the Clock Tower we’ve only glimpsed at in various entries of the Fate franshise.  This place is supposed to be a more serious version of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy, or at least it’s clear that in addition to the stuck up staff, Waver isn’t taking any foolishness in his class, or at least bemoans it.  This place is where the best of the best end up and leave from, where Rin Tohsaka and Shiro Emiya eventually travel to for further training after various Fate/Stay Night routes.  Im curious to see more about it’s inner workings.

El-Melloi also has a fun cast backing Waver up.  At the forefront is Gray, who’s supposed to be Waver’s…servant?...assistant?  Idk, Episode Zero clearly doesn’t define what Waver and Gray’s relationship is though I get the feeling it has something to do with either near death experience or resurrection.  Also, why doesn’t Waver ever want to look at Gray’s face?  There’s also Flat and Svin, who I thought were twins at first, who have a neat dynamic that tries to add some fun to Waver’s somber life.  And what about Waver himself?  He seems far more depressed than im sure Rider probably wanted him to be.  But Waver seems fixated on the Holy Grail War that changed his life, specifically the cool call back to Fate/Zero where he sees Rider’s doomed final charge against Gilgamesh.  Waver now tries to play himself off as cynical but he’s not above freaking out in hilarious fashion at various moments, proving that no matter how more mature and sullen he tries to behave, Waver is still that kid from Fate/Zero we still love and want to see grow more.

Lord El-Melloi II’s Case Files: Rail Zeppelin Grace note’s sneak peak episode shows a lot of promise.  The show looks pretty (despite not being done by Ufotable).  The Clock Tower being at the forefront of events is exciting and I want to learn more about Waver’s supporting cast as much as the returning fan favorite himself.  Flashback to Fate/Zero and young Waver add important connective tissue to this Anime, especially since there’s no “Fate” title attached to it.  Yeah, ill give this one a shot and see where it goes.  BTW I’m not calling Waver by his new teacher name, it’s too long and too wordy (just like the title). Waver will always be Waver to me, fight me Fate-Verse.

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