Series: Fate/Stay Night: Volume 6
Release date: 7th June 2010
Certificate: 12
Running time: 100 mins
Director: Yuji Yamaguchi
Starring: Ayako Kawasumi, Kana Ueda, Noriaki Sugiyama, Atsuko Tanaka, Hiroshi Kamiya
Genre: Animation
Studio: MVM
Format: DVD
Country: Japan
The final four episodes of the anime series, part of the highly profitable Fate/Stay Night franchise (visual novel, from which it was adapted; computer game; radio show…), which originally aired in Japan in 2006.
Having previously saved them from Caster and Kuzuki, the eighth servant Gilgamesh complicates matters for the will they/won’t they duo of Shiro and Saber, by laying his claims to the once King Arthur – although this tends to involve beating her to within an inch of her life.
However, Gilgamesh is not the only tremendously powerful enemy who stands in the way of Saber obtaining the Holy Grail, as the mysterious Kirei makes his appearance, revealing secrets from recent events as well as those long dormant from Shiro’s past, and leading to an almighty battle between the four remaining protagonists…
As you’d expect from a series finale, the last four episodes are concerned with tying up any loose ends and answering any questions that may have cropped up, but there’s a feeling too little time was afforded to the pay offs – too much squeezed into episodes 21-23 (events in the final episode simply questions the worth in investing your time over the previous course – and it’s not a series you can pick up at any time), compounded by the fact the creators thought it a good move to create further concerns to the Holy Grail back-story not previously on the radar. You can understand wanting to add in a few unexpected twists, but the telling becomes so convoluted that it’s almost impossible to follow.
Perhaps they understood events would necessitate more explanation than is standard, and much of the running time is given to Shiro thinking out loud. Too much reliance is given to this aspect, however, to help speed up the final chapters, with recollections and brief flashbacks used to inform the reader of recent actions, which, had we witnessed in full glory, would have certainly ramped up the excitement a few notches. The animation is fairly custom, lacking detail, and a crisp edge, which doesn’t help with the story’s complex telling – never quite sure when we are in the midst of a flashback.
The tone of the series had become progressively more serious over its evolution, but here it’s depressingly grave – not to mention melodramatic and far too soppy (it’s time for the big L word) to appeal to any adolescent young boy, who is surely their target market (the mawkish soundtrack doesn’t help, although it does enliven the otherwise dull battle scenes) – the threatened love triangle would have been more entertaining had it arrived a fair bit earlier in the series, and given time to develop.
When we do get to the action, there’s plenty of posturing and cocky diatribes from their enemies, but little else. The animators may try to inject some excitement into these verbose exchanges, but drawing lines across the screen to show the characters’ fast movements is little compensation. When characters finally tire of insulting each other, we get some embarrassingly dated, brightly coloured squiggly lines to indicate their force, and after we miss everything via some apparently censored fight scenes, characters lay bloodied and dying only to regenerate a few minutes later (when enemies do pass away they simply disappear).
Whilst the series’ early humour has vanished, of course, the dialogue is laughable as Gilgamesh, for example, tells Saber how unstoppable and powerful he is again and again (“I’ll shove so much down your throat that you’ll look pregnant,” definitely the pick of a few top drawer one-liners), and there’s plenty more unintentional amusement to be taken from the slushy affections our leads show each other; the dim-witted conversations Shiro has with himself (even ignoring his own warnings not to enter dark basements); or when the arrogant and evil Gilgamesh retains his composure in defeat/near death to eloquently explain a complete shift in his mindset - now gracious and caring, gently caressing the face of the girl he a few minutes ago had no qualms in tearing apart.
It’s a shame because with such an original concept that opened up so many genre-hopping opportunities, otherwise never previously explored in Japanese anime, and without reliance on the uneasy adolescent humour that can afflict otherwise enjoyable adventures, this really could have been something special. However, the early potential never materialised, and it’s a messy and disappointing conclusion.
An enjoyable enough series to this point, but with so many loose ends to tie up – and more unnecessarily added – the series’ finale seems rushed, whilst the overcomplicated and syrupy telling frustrates and annoys. DH
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