Fate/stay night [Unlimited Blade Works] Anime Season 1 Review

If you hadn't checked out my reviews on Fate/Zero season one or two:

Season one review link is here.

Season two review link is here.

If you saw Fate/Zero as well, you'll enjoy those reviews.

After finishing the first season of Fate/stay night, I found myself less stressed out and more relaxed on everything going on with the Fifth Holy Grail War. The main protagonists (Masters) are high school students and have a more "light" tone to them compared to the dark revolved around Kiritsugu and the other adult Masters.

Short recap: Shirou Emiya, a high school student, is dragged into the Fifth Holy Grail War, where seven participants engage in battle using Servants (reincarnations of Heroic Spirits) to win the Holy Grail, an omnipotent chalice that can grant the victor's wish. Emiya is forced to team up with Rin Tohsaka and her Servant to stay alive and achieve victory.

The main protagonists in the series are Rin Tohsaka and Shirou Emiya. Their Servants are Archer and Saber respectively, the same as their fathers in the previous series. However, Rin has a different Archer, who has no clue to his former identity but holds a strong idealism about heroism. 

Saber is the same female swordsman who served under Kiritsugu. She recognizes the relation Shirou holds with Kiritsugu, but she does not declare her knowledge or the partnership she had with Shirou's foster father. Her personality is also different than in Zero as she does not like being treated like a real person.

Archer is also mysterious and serves as a foil to Shirou's white/black view of heroism. They clash several times in the first season as Archer loathes the alliance Rin made with Shirou and he believes Shirou's amateur skills in magic will effectively cost them the Holy Grail.

Unlike Zero where all the Masters and Servants are revealed early on (info-dump first episode), this first season sets up a mystery on who has a Servant and which Master is controlling them. In the first two episodes, we are introduced to the Servant Lancer but are left in the dark about his Master.

The Masters introduced in the series, other than Rin and Shirou, are Illya, Shinji Matou, and their teacher Kuzuki. The Servants introduced, other than Archer and Saber, are Lancer, Berserker, Assassin, Caster, and Rider. 

However, that is not the "real" Assassin as Caster summoned it to serve her rather than a human Master owning the Servant. This is where things got interesting as Caster effectively became a Master in the Holy Grail War. Like in Zero, Caster is the main antagonist of the first season. She causes trouble for her own personal gain and treats her Master Kuzuki like her own personal Servant. 

Rin is an interesting female protagonist as she acts both "cute" and "serious" at the same time. Serious in her actions but cute in her tone. She is a determined and experienced Master, who keeps getting stuck with Shirou Emiya and making alliances with him throughout the season. 

Her dynamic with Shirou is interesting and refreshing, and it is also clear that Rin harbors romantic feelings for Shirou. This is hinted throughout the season and insinuated by both Archer and Saber in addition to outside characters like Taiga Fujimura. 

Overall, Fate/stay night is an enjoyable anime filled with high school antics and an incredible Holy War that promises death to all participants. It is less dark compared to Fate/Zero and definitely easier to follow as a whole. 

Season Two Review will come once I finish it.