Friday, June 5, 2020

Fate/Apocrypha Part 2 Episodes 5-8

As the Servants of the Yggdmillienia family and Mages Association inch ever closer to all out war, two individuals have appeared who could turn the tide of the conflict for either side: Jeanne D’Arc, a Ruler Class Servant, meant to act as Overseer for the Holy Grail War; and Sieg, a Homunculus who was meant to be used as a source of power for the Mages of Yggdmillienia.  As the Mages and Servants of Yggdmillenia and the Mages Association and their respective Armies meet at the doorstep of Castle Yggdmillenia, Jeanne and Sieg discover their true callings and the roles theyre meant to play in the battles to come.  Under a beautiful moonlit sky, the ultimate battle for the Holy Grail truly begins.

Well then, we wanted a Team Deathmatch Holy Grail War and surprisingly, Fate/Apocrypha delivered big in only its second set of episodes.  That didn’t mean the series skimped on some important character development or quieter, contemplative moments.  But if it action you seek from a Fate series, well…todays set of episodes mustve been Christmas.

Picking up directly from the previous cliffhanger, Jeanne and Astolfo managed to keep the Homunculus now known as Sieg from going back to Team Black’s Homonculus power plant.  As I figured, Sieg is taking his new name from the Siefried, who sacrificed his heart to save his life. I don’t know if that means his lifespan is getting extended past that three year time limit.  However, Sieg is safe for now and he’s making nice with both Jeanne and Astolfo, getting flirty with one while another is locked away in her crazy masters torture/sex dungeon for treason against Team Black.  I liked the instant bond between Jeanne and Sieg.  Kind of like how it is for most Sabers in a Fate series, it’s hard to not be enamroued with a lovely moonlit closeup of a beautiful woman who helped keep you from dying.  Not that they in that particular territory yet, but thanks to Jeanne’s kind words, Sieg started learning how to live, from enjoying the countryside to learning how to eat, though I’m sure Sieg is also listening to Astolfo’s “seize the day” mentality too.  Though clearly, Sieg wasn’t staying on the sidelines though Jeanne had a reason for doing so.  I do have a bad feeling what Team Black has in mind for him and now that Sieg is in the middle of the battlefield, I don’t think he’s in for a fun time.

While Sieg and Jeanne charmed with their adorable report, we did spend some more time with the other central duo of Fate/Apocrypha, Kairi and Mordred.  Somehow, Kairi had a dream that was Mordred’s lifestory, which means that we got to see a very familiar face from the Fate universe: OG Saber Arturia Pendragon herself and we even got to see her clash with Mordred briefly.  Clearly Mordreds got a lot of pent up aggression against the parent who killed her because she was unworthy (and kind of led a failed rebellion too).  Though, the spitfire is more than willing to take it out on Servants as Mordred clashed with Archer of Black (Chiron) and Jack the Ripper.  It is so disturbing to see Jack as a teeny girl (in a very inappropriate outfit) and we still don’t have the full scope of her connection with this woman she calls “Mommy”. Ignoring the lack of plot movement there, Mordred proved that for all of Jack’s deadly slaughter techniques, she’s still no match for a Saber servant and even Chiron had to back off.  Not to be left out, Kairi got to go toe to toe with Chiron’s master, the paralyzed Fiore, who came prepared for battle with a backpack containing gun toting metal tentacles that enabled her to move freely about…so A. Why is she using the wheelchair when this works just fine and B. Wow, Doc Ock would be proud.

But let’s face it, these minor skirmishes were only minor compared to the all out battle that closed out this weeks set.  Vlad vs. Karna; Chiron vs. Achilles; Frankenstein screaming and tearing her way through hordes of skeletons; even Astolfo got to wage a one person battle against a flying fortress.  Cudos to Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works for executing grand battles with only a couple of participants.  Fate/Apocrypha, however, delivered on the promise of one of the biggest battles ever seen in the Fate franchise.  And it looks damn good too.  Ufotable may be the home of the best looking Fate projects, but A-1 has killed it from the get go and is showing everyone that Sword Art Online isn’t just a one trick pony for them in terms of production.  The action set pieces are well choreographed, there’s plenty of blood and gore to go around, and with the exception of some wonky lighting effects here and there, the animation is borderline flawless.  Of course, several of the previously mentioned match ups above came with their own personal elements, especially the reveal that Chiron and Achilles were mentor and student in the past.  With the way theyre ramping up the tension, youd think we were approaching the end of the story rather than the halfway mark…and already im wondering just what’s going to be left to fight with in that latter half when this fight is over?

My complaints for these episodes kind of mirror the last set, mostly centering on the lack of Red Team development.  I guess I shouldn’t be too upset as a seven man team of Mages has been reduced to two more or less officially.  Keeping the focus on Kairi and Shirou isn’t terrible either.  It just feels misleading that both sides have a good selection of Servants, but one team doesn’t even get to feature more than half of its players for more than a brief glimpse.  As expected though, Shirou has his own hidden agenda, and it solidifies his true fusion of Shirou Emiya and Kirei Kotomine: Save everyone…but burn the world down if that needs to be done…classy.   Still, Fate/Zero will always hold the crown for doing the best job developing a great cast of seven Mages and seven Servants.  Fate/Apocrypha’s mere mentioning of Red Team members before doing a quick jettison of them without so much as a line just feels lazy. 

But hey, there’s an all out fight going on and Mordred and Kairi haven’t even made it to the action yet.  This was one amazing opening to one of the biggest centerpiece clashes in all of Fate.  All I can think of is I need to start the next set of episodes and hope that Fate/Apocrypha can pull off one amazing mid season cliffhanger next week…cause what the heck is the second half of the show going to be about if they kill off more than half of their cast next week…possibly…maybe…idk but man am I curious.  See ya next week as this blockbuster level Fate event continues.

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