Rewatched on 2025-06-04 in one sitting with James and Vik
A truly binge-worthy show. That is as easy to forget as it is to watch.
This sure is a show to remember. Not for its story but for those damn visuals. Like, Akudama Drive before it, the main strong point of the show was its aesthetics. Personally, I liked Akidama more simply because of the neon colour palette and the breathtaking environment design but Fate took fight choreography to a whole other level. The good number of close combat fights give enough proof of that.
No matter how you look at it. The production quality of Fate is top-notch. It’s hard to find a show that ticks so many boxes. The visuals were amazingly done. The fights were a treat to look at. The characters were pretty interesting. The mystery behind the grail was fun. Then there’s the freaking music. What makes a good soundtrack isn’t just the soundtrack itself. You can have a really good track but if it isn’t mixed in well it just simply fades into irrelevance. Fate simply nailed that part. Though, the tracks aren’t especially memorable. They were done extremely well. See this is a point I seem to be hitting no matter what I talk about. The show does so many things well. But it just doesn’t seem to do anything superbly. The music was good and well done. But not something I’d listen to out of context. The characters were interesting but I doubt I’d ever find them relatable. The animations were superbly good but not enough to etch into my mind. Even the scenes damn it. The cuts and transitions of this show were better than anything I’ve ever seen. Even then… The show doesn’t feel special. Like something is… missing.
I think this emptiness I feel about the show is a creation of my own. I simply find it incredibly difficult to take fantasy seriously. Unless I’m dealing with the so-called, hard fiction genre, it’s almost impossible for me to connect with the characters deeply. It’s just that I don’t know enough about the world to believe in the fate of its characters. I don’t know if the dead stay dead or if they supposedly come back to life in the next episode (looking at you archer). This uncertainty stops me from getting emotionally attached to any of the characters. Fate/stay night is a prime example of a really good show caught in the crossfire of this internal conflict.
The difference between Fate and the fantasy world of Mother of Learning is how much reinforcement is given to the logic of the world. Basically worldbuilding. MoL’s magic system felt real. I knew the rules and limits of the world. I had a reassurance that it was impossible to pull a rabbit out of a hat. Like everything was built upon a solid foundation where every cause and consequence was clearly defined. If this is not the case like in Fate, it’s hard for me to care when things just happen out of nowhere. You could say it’s worth the plot twist. But to me, it totally isn’t worth the sacrifice. I’ve already lost my suspension of disbelief.
No matter how empty I think the show is. There’s no way I can refute the fact that I finished both UBW seasons each in under a single day. Even I’m surprised. This goes to show how good the show really is even if I can’t connect with it.