Fate/Grand Order-First Order

The Caldea Security Organization is a group comprised of Mages and Scientists who have come together to oversee the protection of history and to ensure Humanity continues to thrive.  Ritska Fujimaru is the latest candidate selected to undertake dangerous mission into the timeline.  However, a disaster at Caldea leads to the prediction of Humanitys extinction in 2018. Rookie Caldea operative Ritska is sent to investigate the source of this anomaly: Singularity F-the 2004 Holy Grail War in Fuyuki City, whose conclusion has not be documented.  It’s up to Ritska and the mysterious Demi Servant Mash to find the source of Singularity F and destroy it before Humanity ceases to exist.

 
The Fate franchise has been one of the most popular in Anime in recent years.  While you can credit that success to the many Anime adaptations by Studio Ufotable, there’s no denying that an equal, if not greater, amount of said success comes from the megahit Mobile Game, Fate/Grand Order.  As one who has not dabbled that much in Fate GO the most I can say looking in from the outside is that it brings together all of Fate and then some under one umbrella.  Basically it gives players a chance to interact with every facet of the franchise from the core routes: Fate, Unlimited Blade Works and Heaven’s Feels, to spin offs like Fate/Apocrypha.  Like every other Fate tale ever conceived, Fate GO has gotten a few Anime adaptations, one of which is this quick little short film, First Order.  Does it work as a good intro to the Fate GO craze or even a decent Fate story all on its own?
 
First Order acts as an opening prelude to the Fate/Grand Order game and the pacing and dialogue reflect that without trying to hide anything.  Mash and Doctor Roman act as the main guides for Ritska and Roman even pops up like an NPC Menu Guide several times throughout the film.  The movies core goal, like any good tutorial, is to introduce the main mission of Grand Order, while also delivering some of the goodness casual fans of Fate have come to enjoy.  As the former, Grand Order is fine if a little to faithful to its task so much that it makes the movie feel like a feature length demo.  As the latter, it’s ok.  At best it feels like a much more energized version of the prequel episode to the later Fate GO TV Series, Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia.  The action you’ve come to expect from the franchise is here, so are the cute girls, and twists on various mythologies.  At 72 minutes, however, it also feels like too much has been added with too little time to tell a solid stand alone adventure.  The ending feels like it wants to tell more but since the TV Series wouldn’t be around for a few years, you kind of had to just go into the game right afterwards.  This can work with video game adaptations like Halo Legends or Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.  The only difference is neither of those ended on a massive cliffhanger and felt like complete stories rather than tutorials.
 
Considering this movie is on the short side, the bulk of First Order is dedicated to action, forgoing a lot of the existential and philosophical debates that Fate is equally known for.  Main Servant Mash has a cute look and can handle herself well.  But let’s face it, if you’re unfamiliar with GO as a whole, it’ll be nice to see familiar faces and they do show up, but not quite how you’d expect.  Saber, Lancer and Archer all return from their previous Fate appearances though this time Lancer is Caster.  As a bonus, the voice actors who have portrayed these iconic roles throughout Unlimited Blade Works, Heavens Feel and Fate/Zero also return for the English Dub and its good to hear them again.  As such, some of the films best moments come from those familiar interactions, mainly Lancer Caster and his ever awesome rivalry with Archer still going strong.  I will say that one major hurdle First Order has going for it is the same thing that will affect a lot of Fate Anime…it isn’t Ufotable handling the animation or fight choreography.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s fine but it lacks that pristine polish and sheen that have become synonymous with Fate/Stay Night and Studio Ufotable being in the same room together.
 
Fate/Grand Order-First Order throws a lot at you in a very short amount of time and acts as both tutorial and opening salvo to one of the most popular Mobile Games on the market.  As a stand alone Fate entry, I wonder if it was ever meant to be followed up with a TV Anime of its own before Absolute Demonic Front: Babylonia.  There’s a lot of unresolved plot threads that you wont see resolution to unless you play the game and that’s both a good marketing tactic and a bad one as well.  If you’re not willing to play the game but enjoyed this brief Anime, the lack of an Anime continuation might sting.  Still, First Order has some fun fights, decent animation (even if it isn’t Ufotable) and a cute new mascot in Mash to keep interest for its short duration.  Overall, it was ok.  It’s not going to get me to play Fate/Grand Order any time soon (and in that regard I guess First Order fails as a marketing tactic for me). But hey, if it convinces you to give the game a shot, let me know how that goes…I hear the experience will vary.  Then again, that’s Fate in a nutshell.
 
6/10