Post — Aaron Ngo

Major Spoilers are included in this season review. Please read with caution.

Got around to finishing the second season of this anime. I had five episodes left and decided to grind it out to start the next Fate series on Netflix. Anyways, let’s get into the major events of this season, the simple ending, and how I didn’t really care for certain characters.

My review of the first season is here, if you want to check that out as well.

Short recap: this series is set in a alternate timeline and has teams of Servants versus each other in a battle royale version of the Holy Grail War. A tournament normally between 7 Masters who control Heroic Spirits known as Servants. However, in this series, the tournament has factions known as Red and Black, the main two teams comprised of 7 Servants and 7 Masters. So, there are a total of 14 major characters alone plus the side characters running around.

Yes, the concept had huge potential to become similar to Fate/Zero with teamwork, but this story did not treat their characters well. The complications and numerous characters running around made following the story too difficult. Taking a break from the first season also hurt my flow, having difficult time recalling all the cliffhangers and who was working with whom.

Our main characters are Sieg, an artificial human known as homunculus, and Jeanne, the Ruler Servant who oversees the Holy Grail War. I wish Mordred had a bigger role to play out, and Astolfo’s role was lessened in this second half. The season improved their focuses on Sieg and Jeanne, as the previous season had a difficult time choosing a main character.

The ending saved the series for me. I did enjoy how simple it was with tying all the loose plot lines.

Unlike Fate/Zero, the writing did nobody in this show any favors. Sieg, our main male protagonist, keeps repeating how he’ll save everyone almost every episode, reaffirming his motive for the audience, and it’s annoying. I don’t know why Jeanne keeps getting surprised by this recycled speech.

Jeanne and Gilles scene was amazing. I am so happy those two got some resolution in this series. The theme of redemption ran strong for these characters. The Jeanne vs Shirou, the main antagonist, was never really expanded from the simple level of Good vs Evil. Shirou’s plan to save humanity was not explained properly until the end, which made seeing him in a sympathetic light almost impossible. He seriously came off insane without the needed context.

Overall, I can’t blame the writers for losing control from time to time with all the characters running around in this series, but I’d definitely rank this show below the classics of Fate/Zero and Fate/stay night. The show was fun from time to time, I mean, the bathroom scene caught me off so bad. I was not expecting that trap, but the teams and changing sides made the plot too convoluted to follow. Glad I watched it for the ending, which somehow simplified things for everyone.

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