As I sit down to write this review, im in a very odd and
rare state. Ive watched several Fate
stories before and usually I have some grief with them heading into their final
acts, be it the confusing world of Fate/Extra: Last Encore or Shiro Emiya
literally arguing with himself in Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works. Even Fate/Zero’s final moments hindered it
from true greatness as it felt the need to set up Fate/Stay Night rather than
end its own story without true connective tissue to stand alone (and even
that’s a bit of a nitpick).
Fate/Apocrypha, however, has defied the odds. Despite some interesting choices in animation
and the true power of one particular Servant, I don’t have any real issues with
these final five episodes, in fact I enjoyed them a lot.
As predicted, gone was the sheer spectacle of two massive
armies with Mages and Servants scattered throughout on one huge
battlefield. Instead, we got a set of
powerful and intimate showdowns between all of the surviving Servants and some
Masters. Everyone got their moment in
the spotlight and their time for closure.
No matter how late their character development came, if there was a
loose end, it was tied up in a perfect bow.
And man did these fights hit the hardest, definitely the best was saved
for last. Achilies and Chiron pummeling
the crap out of each other; Atalanta turning into a Werewolf to try and kill
Ruler; Mordred and Kairi double teaming Semiramis aka Assassin of Black (though
she and Shakespeare might as wellve had their roles switched cause she is the
furthest from an Assassin Class as can be); and then the icing on the cake
which was Sieg vs. Shirou. This was
just…ahhhhhhh so freaking amazing and each fight got better and better as the
finale moved on.
Let me try to break it all down. Teacher and Student Chiron and Achilles
kicked things off nicely with a duel on the wing of a plane that felt more like
Rocky than Fate/Stay Night. Body blows,
blood spewing everywhere, even some last minute trickery, neither opponent held
anything back and it was a fitting end to their rivalry. Did Achilles surpass Chiron? Maybe not quite in the duel since Chiron
managed to knock out Achilles invincibility by hitting (you guessed it) his
heal. But Achilles more than proved
himself a true hero by stepping in to face a transformed Atalanta to make sure
she didn’t truly subcumb to her vengeance filled darkness. Seeing them in a romantic embrace, even if
they didn’t fully admit their obvious feelings, was so sad. For what I thought
was a lack of character development on her part, I always enjoyed Atalanta’s
will she/wont she banter with Achilles.
And then there was Mordred’s blaze of glory charge. I’m not sure id classify Mordred and Kairi’s
relationship as father/daughter, more sibling like id say. Still, the pair managed to realize their true
wishes before their time came to an end: Mordred wanting to rule so that
Aurturia wouldn’t have to bear the burden that came with being King; and Kairi
wanting his adopted daughter back.
Obviously, neither got their wish but they went out like true champs and
it was all worth it just to see Mordred put the pompous Semiramis in her place.
Three back to back amazing fights…and it was only getting
better. Color me surprised when
Shakespeare resurrected (somehow) Jeanne’s old friend Gilles de Rais to taunt
her and test her resolve; mainly that for not playing favoirtes, Jeanne’s clear
love for Sieg is hypocritical. If Gilles looks a bit familiar that’s because
he’s everyone favorite murderous psycho Caster from Fate/Zero. And then it was time for the big showdown,
Sieg vs. Shirou. Both wished the best
for humanity but Sieg had more faith that humanity could save itself rather
than the forced salvation that Shirou proposed.
Cue Mortal Kombat music and execute some of the best damn action ive
ever seen in any Fate story EVER!!! Sure
Sieg had some secret power ups from Frankenstein and Siegfried but damn was it
sweet to seem him lay the smackdown on Shirou (maybe im projecting a little
cause except for his Heaven’s Feel iteration, I generally hate Shiro Emiya with
a burning passion). This did come at a
cost as Jeanne sacrificed herself to give Sieg the will to fight. Yeah Laeticia
is fine but poor Jeanne didn’t get a chance to tell Sieg the words she wanted
to tell him…yet. But man did that light
the fire in Siegs heart. There was no
way Shirou was walking away to fulfil his plans the way Sieg looked at him
(that’s a death glare if there ever was one).
When all was said and done, did the true ending match the
epicness that preceeded it? You know
what…yeah it did. I might not understand
why Sieg has had a dragon within him this whole time…or maybe the Grail turned
him into one IDK. What I do know is that
Sieg taking Immortality to another realm was a good move and it meant that with
all the odds stacked against him, Sieg was gonna be ok. In fact, pretty much everyone I wanted to be
alright, was alright. Fiore’s learning
to walk. Caleus is gonna study at the
Clock Tower under Waver’s tutelage. And
Astolfo is gonna travel the world making people happy cause that’s what he does
best. Best of all: Jeanne and Sieg do
reunite and get their happily ever after. As far as conclusions go for a Fate
series, that’s pretty neat and weirdly happy.
Not to say that others haven’t ended on a bright note (Fate, UBW and,
more or less, Last Encore though that last one was just boring), but Apocrypha
gave us the happiest one to date…and I loved it. Buuuuut if one thing did bother me it was the
sudden change in animation style during several of the fights. Suddenly battles
seemed to look less polished and more rushed.
I wonder if there was a time crunch of if this artistic change was
intentional. I mean sometimes they
tended to look almost Studio Trigger-ish, especially Jeanne vs. Atalanta and
Sieg vs Shirou, which isn’t bad, it’s just weird theyd break consistency with
the overall presentation look this late in the game and at several important
intervals.
Well…final thoughts time.
I’ve spent five weeks on Fate/Apocrypha and ive been continually
impressed. I honestly didn’t expect to
like a show that jam packed a lot into its very beginnings. But the bulk of the cast was very balanced
and everyones stories got to play out in satisfactory manners. Some characters like Jack the Ripper and
Atalanta took a while to find their place and their motivations. And Shirou’s desire to bring the world
together through Third Impact wasn’t the most original, nor was Darnic’s power
play endgame. But Sieg’s journey from
disposable Homunculus to bonefied hero of the people was inspiring and he
played very well off of Jeanne and Astolfo, the latter of whom was my absolute
favorite character on the show. Actually,
Apocrypha might’ve had my favorite set of Heroic Spirits to date in Fate. Most were incredibly noble, all were
incredibly bad ass and, in the end, everyone had their part to play or had
their own tragic tale that tugged at the heartstrings when I didn’t expect them
to. And from an artistic presentation
standpoint, A-1 nailed it from beginning to the end (even with the wonky
animation choices in the last battles) and deserves to have another Fate
project thrown into its hands down the line (God knows we aren’t running out of
them anytime soon). Even if it lacked
the prestige of Studio Ufotable (Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel) or the avant
garde approach of Studio Shaft (Fate/Extra: Last Encore), A-1 gave us a show
that at times looked even better than the best Sword Art Online they’ve ever
put out.
I cant remember the last time I had this much fun
reviewing a Fate project that wasn’t Heaven’s Feel. While that movie trilogy is my gold standard
for the franchise overall, I think Fate/Apocrypha might be my second favorite
Fate TV Series behind Fate/Zero.
Therefore, I’m going to award Fate/Apocrypha an 8.5/10. I’m gonna miss this saga and these characters
but if this is truly goodbye, then I’m glad its with a smile rather than a
groan (or in the case of Last Encore, a snore).
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